Just as the Great Han had utilized the power of the scroll to enter the void, he suddenly felt a tremendous force striking him from behind, silent and unperceived. Though the golden blossoms at his back gathered fiercely to resist, upon the sound of "thunder," he was forcefully hurled back into his original space. At the same time, a bitter taste surged in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood. Then, a thunderclap resonated from behind. The Golden Blossom Elder turned in alarm. To his astonishment, at a distance of over ten zhang, Han Li emerged into view, shimmering in a silver glow, slowly drawing back his fist, which glowed faintly green, and sneering at him. The bald Han felt a deep chill. Only now did he truly realize that the opponent was no mere Yuanjing Stage I cultivator—indeed, he must have at least the level of Yuanjing Stage II or beyond, and in terms of法宝, spiritual beasts, and divine abilities, he far surpassed him. With this thought, the Golden Blossom Elder dared not continue fighting Han Li, completely abandoning her determination to engage in combat and suddenly threw the golden scroll she held high into the air. A surge of golden light radiated from her body, transforming her into a golden rainbow that shot through the sky—completely ignoring the beautiful woman below. Then, amid the roaring sound, the Ding cover slowly unfolded, revealing a narrow crevice. A shimmering green light surged forth from the gap, expanded under the wind, and formed a long, slender green ribbon several dozen feet in length. With a single flash of skyward green light, the ribbon swept across half the heavens, instantly engulfing all the golden toxic bees. It then spiraled once, contracting into the Ding, carrying with it scattered golden streaks of lightning. The virtual Heavenly Ding had, upon its first activation, completely captured all the golden toxic bees floating in the sky. Yet, despite this brief pause, the magnificent rainbow formed by the Golden Flower Elder had already reached fifty or sixty zhang away—such speed was truly astonishing for a Yuan婴初期 cultivator. Han Li observed this scene with a subtle expression of scorn, neither hastening to pursue nor immediately acting. Instead, he first cast his gaze around. Upon doing so, his brows furrowed, and he emitted a cold exhalation. In the very instant when Han Li and Jin Hua Elder were locked in a dazzling exchange of combat, the gray-robed elder and the blue-robed youth had already silently retreated to over a hundred paces away, seemingly preparing to turn and flee. Since Han Li and Jin Hua Elder appeared, these two had long since lost interest in securing any treasures—they only cared about how to escape the current peril unscathed, lest they meet their end here. Jin Hua Elder, of course, was clearly there to kill and eliminate the beautiful woman. Even after a brief conversation with the unnamed cultivator, the fact that the cultivator had now decided to eliminate even a Yuan婴 cultivator made them realize the gravity of the situation. However, when Jin Hua Elder, in her impassioned speech, mentioned the Xutian Ding, they suddenly grasped the full significance. Though only Jie Dan cultivators themselves, as disciples of Man Hu Tu, they had surely heard of the Xutian Ding’s emergence when it first appeared. And now, despite the ongoing pursuit of the Xutian Ding by the Xisheng Alliance, that pursuit had never been lifted. They knew well the gravity of the situation, and as they murmured in quiet alarm, they naturally no longer wished to stay in place. When Han Li and the bearded man began to clash, the two of them immediately retreated slowly and silently. Now, as Han Li's cold gaze swept over them, their hearts leapt with fear, and without any further hesitation, they instantly activated their flight spells, taking separate paths to flee. As for the beautiful young woman, when the Golden Blossom Elder dropped her and began to retreat, she too felt startled and immediately spun around, transforming into a streak of red light and shooting off swiftly. The lower-level cultivators at the farther shore of the lake—those in the Foundation and Qi stages—due to their relatively low cultivation levels and the distance from the center, were completely unaware of what had transpired in the middle of the lake. Yet, upon seeing their masters and elders all fleeing in panic, they exchanged glances in bewilderment and, with growing fear, scattered in all directions. Observing this scene, a shadow of gloom passed over Han Li's face. Suddenly, he reached down to his waist and summoned a spirit-animal pouch, which floated into the air. Immediately, a sharp cry echoed from within the bag, followed by a surge of pale, misty cold vapor, mingled with several dozen snow-white centipedes. Each about half a foot long, they bore a pair of transparent wings on their backs, fierce and menacing, swirling and darting around Han Li's head. Han Li said nothing, merely pointing with his fingers at the three figures in the distance. It would probably be several days later, by then he would have been thousands of miles away. But after a glance at Jinhua Elder far off, a flash of murderous intent passed through his eyes. With a gentle flick of his backwind and thunder wings, he vanished into a silver arc right where he stood. Though at that moment Jinhua Elder was already hundreds of feet away, each time Han Li moved, he closed the distance by twenty or more feet—after just six or seven such movements, he appeared like a ghost, hovering above the great hall. Without a word, he raised his hand, and a vast wave of purple flame shot out, forming a massive hand that descended with great force, grasping downward. "Ah!" Jinhua Elder was utterly surprised. She had never imagined Han Li could seamlessly perform such rapid teleportations and catch up to her so swiftly. As the purple hand descended, she finally grew pale with fear. But with no choice, he opened his mouth and expelled a golden flying dagger, slashing it toward the massive hand, while at the same time quickly reciting incantations to attempt to deflect the blow. Yet how could a hand formed from the purple, crystalline fire—something even late-stage cultivators and ten-tier beast cultivators found somewhat daunting—be easily broken by a Yuan婴 (initial stage) cultivator? The golden flying dagger struck the hand, and as the purple light flashed, an instant layer of icy purple frost formed on its surface, causing it to lose control and plummet downward. Amidst the pale, stunned expression of the great Han, the purple hand's fingers suddenly spread out in an odd, almost fan-like motion, effortlessly seizing the Han's body mid-flight. A piercing cry escaped as the hand's purple flames surged several feet high, and the Golden Flower Elder was instantly transformed into a block of purple ice. Seeing this, Han Li in the sky immediately accelerated his hand seals, and the massive hand's fingers tightened with decisive force. A crisp crack echoed, and the entire ice sculpture crumbled inch by inch. Amidst the falling ice shards, a flash of golden light revealed the great cultivator's immaterial form attempting to flee. But Han Li had anticipated this move—upon a mere thought, his broad hand transformed into a surging wave of deep purple flame, instantly trapping the cultivator within. The immaterial form only held on for a brief moment before flashing violently and dissolving completely. Han Li then gently shook his sleeve, and the purple flame coiled into a serpentine form, darting back before vanishing into his sleeve. With a slight smile, he glanced downward and raised his hand once more, palm outstretched toward the empty space below. Instantly, the great cultivator's floating storage bag was seized and held in his hand. He then slipped the bag into his sleeve and lifted his gaze toward the other direction. There, the three figures had vanished, along with the eighteen snow-white centipedes, seemingly having pursued them far beyond sight. Han Li did not hurry. He drew in the already restored miniature form of the Ti Hun creature and settled into a meditative posture, closing his eyes and slowly extending his divine awareness outward. His form remained motionless in the air. At that moment, the surroundings grew quiet—save for the gentle sea breeze, there was scarcely a sound. After a period of about a cup of tea’s worth of time, Han Li suddenly smiled lightly and reopened his eyes. Almost at the same time, a flash of luminous light appeared on the horizon in one direction, and a gust of white, cold wind shot back toward him, arriving at his head within moments. As the wind dispersed, six formidable white centipedes emerged. Each centipede had grown to over a zhang in length, and on two of them, faint traces of sword marks remained on their white exoskeletons, as though they had just survived a fierce battle. With a low command, Han Li raised a hand and cast a spell into the air. The six centipedes then emitted a shimmering glow, rapidly shrinking in size and returning to their original form. Then, after summoning the Spirit Beast Bag once more, the six-winged frost centipedes transformed into six beams of white light and shot directly into the bag's mouth. After a while, two more groups of centipedes surged back from the other two directions, equally swift. One group arrived unharmed, but the other group had several individuals with a few legs severed, appearing to have sustained minor injuries. However, these spirit insects were naturally vigorous, possessing the innate ability to regenerate lost limbs; these small wounds would fully heal over time. After gathering these centipedes as well, Han Li turned his gaze toward the lake's center and immediately radiated a strong jade-green glow, transforming into a streak of jade-green light that plunged downward. A moment later, the brilliant streak vanished beneath the lake's surface. Though this magical lake was not particularly deep, Han Li had only descended some two hundred zhang before he began to glimpse the lakebed clearly. Yet the water here was truly strange—exceptionally vivid and emerald-green. Even with the Celestial Vision technique activated, Feng Li could only clearly see objects up to fifteen zhang away; beyond that, the view grew blurred. As for his spiritual awareness, once it entered the lake, it seemed to lose its connection with his physical form. This magical lake was naturally a place that severed spiritual perception. Nevertheless, Feng Li had already received the precise location from the bearded man, and after a brief flight around the area, he easily located his destination—a seemingly ordinary cluster of rocks at the lakebed. (First update!)