He launched the thousand-souls bell into the air. As soon as the sound reached his ears, Han Li felt his consciousness resonate with a deep, thunderous boom. His entire body then surged with electric shock, trembling violently, nearly falling from the sky. Han Li was startled, and the Great Yüan Technique automatically began circulating within him, sending a cool sensation straight to his mind and spiraling around it. After his face paled several times, his body gradually stabilized. "Indeed a spiritual artifact—how could a regular treasure produce such power!" A surge of astonishment passed through Han Li's heart. Yet, driven by his growing anger, he instinctively launched a fierce counterattack. With a single hand gesture, he focused his mental awareness into a concentrated sphere, which then surged powerfully toward the boisterous man across from him. Despite the man's initial astonishment, Han Li's calm recovery only deepened his own amazement. Though this soul-seizing attack was not the supreme prowess of the Thousand-Soul Bell, it proved exceptionally effective and extremely difficult to resist against foes of lower rank. As he gritted his teeth, determined to continue unleashing the attack at the cost of his magical energy, a sudden, searing pain surged through his consciousness—like a sharp spear being forcibly driven into his brain. Unlike Han Li, who possessed a particularly strong spiritual awareness, this "shock-spirit spear" struck him down with overwhelming force. He let out a piercing, agonized cry, then clutched his head with both hands, collapsing into a hunched, shrimp-like posture. His Yuan-Emperor stage instantly vanished from his body. For a moment, he lost control over the Thousand-Soul Bell floating in the air. Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flashed with cold intensity. He did not even glance at the life-sized puppet giant rushing toward him, but instead pointed his hand toward the massive golden lotus hovering above. Instantly, the great lotus spun around and then pressed down with powerful momentum, effortlessly engulfing the black bell within its petals, radiating brilliant golden light. As the Golden Lotus smoothly enveloped the Thousand-Soul Bell, the jade-like puppet had already grown to six or seven zhang in height and surged forward, raising a massive fist to strike hard at Han Li. With a tremendous "thud," the puppet's fist was deflected by the great bronze tripod formed by the Virtual Sky Ding, which slightly rocked but managed to block the impact. However, the tripod emitted a resonant hum and shrank in size by half. This puppet proved to possess astonishing strength and remarkable prowess. Meanwhile, within the rapidly spinning golden lotus, a sudden wail of ghostly lamentation arose. Suddenly, a translucent, black, one-zhang-high bell appeared at the center of the lotus, seemingly intangible, unaffected even as the lotus petals swiftly sliced through it. From within the black bell, black filaments began to emerge and swiftly wound around the lotus, causing the petals' rotation to suddenly falter and grow sluggish. Han Li emitted a soft "Ah!" as he was about to urgently cast another spell to activate the artifact. Suddenly, a flash of black light appeared several zhang behind him, and a black giant wolf materialized like a ghost, swiftly materializing into a faint, translucent silhouette and charging forward. As its sharp claws made contact with the gray luminous shield formed by the Primordial Magnetism Light, they penetrated effortlessly, as if encountering no resistance at all. Though the Primordial Magnetism Light was powerful, it proved powerless against something entirely unrelated to the Five Elements, unable to halt or impede the claws in the slightest. Just as the wolf's eyes flashed with the brilliance of a successful surprise attack, two unexpectedly golden fists suddenly appeared before its claws and delivered a direct, unyielding blow. With a thunderous "boom" and another "boom," the wolf's claws were instantly shattered upon impact, reduced to a fine pulp. The wolf then let out a piercing cry and was forcefully propelled backward, as though struck by an immense force. At that moment, Han Li, who had been facing away from him, suddenly turned around, his entire body glowing with a brilliant golden light, as if forged from divine gold. Gazing at the black wolf that had been flying backward, Han Li's face grew cold, and as his form slightly blurred, he emitted a series of lingering after-images before suddenly appearing atop the flying wolf. After restoring his inner energy, Han Li managed to perform Luo Yan's step—hardly executed in the void. Though this step was not as swift as Feng Lei Chi Dun, nor as unexpectedly fluid as Ji Feng Jiu Bian, under Han Li's powerful command, it proved remarkably elegant and precise in terms of maneuvering within a confined space. Upon seeing Han Li appear directly above him, the black giant wolf stirred its fierce instincts, opening its mouth to expel a dark orb of light aimed straight at Han Li. With a soft "puff," Han Li merely waved his golden palm casually, and with the ease of swatting a fly, he sent the dark orb flying away. At the same time, the magical power surged into his eyes, flashing a brilliant blue glow from deep within his pupils, instantly revealing every detail of the massive wolf. As his expression remained unchanged, his figure seemed to shift mysteriously and appeared suddenly within the wolf's abdomen. Raising both arms, he swiftly grasped the wolf's head with one hand and one of its hind legs with the other, pinning it firmly like two iron clamps, rendering the beast completely immobile. With a powerful cry, he exerted force with both arms. With the divine strength he now possessed—far beyond that of a mere beast—any creature, whether a magical being forged from a spirit or a truly iron-bodied and copper-headed one, would instantly be torn in two. Yet, the wolf's large head was simply severed from its body by Han Li's sheer strength. An astonishing phenomenon unfolded: as soon as the head detached from the body, the wolf's torso immediately burst forth with dark light, transforming into swirling black mist, which then violently rolled and ultimately dispersed into nothing. Yet the wolf-headed form remained alive, its jaws clenched and teeth bared, still pulsing with life. Han Li coldly smiled, then with a mere gesture of his other hand, a sphere of silver flame materialized, shimmering briefly before transforming into a silver phoenix. With a clear, resonant cry, the phoenix darted swiftly toward the black wolf's head. "Crack!" The silver flame instantly enveloped the wolf's head, which cried out in terror, and within moments, it dissolved into a dense black mist. Then, the silver flame swept upward, drawing in and consuming all the mist, and reformed itself into the phoenix once more. As the phoenix opened its beak, it exhaled a silver scroll, which Han Li swiftly caught with a quick motion. Upon close inspection, it was exactly the scroll previously cast by the man who had arched his brows—though now its glow was dimmed, as if its power had been significantly diminished. The phoenix then circled Han Li, its silver flame flickering and dancing, clearly excited. Han Li turned his gaze, and as his form blurred once more, he materialized instantly at the head of the emerald puppet十余丈 away. This puppet was currently blocked by the Xuting Cauldron, delivering one punch after another in relentless assault. Though each blow caused the cauldron to retreat a few paces and shrink in size, the cauldron had once withstood a divine split attack from the ancient primordial demon of the Magian Realm—thus, it could not be so easily dispersed. It merely flickered and then expanded again, returning to its original position. Indeed, the puppet lacked any real intelligence, and the man with a furrowed brow had yet to recover from the intense pain in his consciousness, so he simply continued his unyielding attacks on the cauldron, completely unaware of any alternative strategies. While Han Li was not deeply familiar with the puppetry arts of the Spirit Realm, the puppetry technique preserved by the Daxian Sovereign in the Daxian Scripture was already among the most renowned secrets of the human world. Though this emerald puppet was exceptionally powerful, under the swift scan of its blue-lit eyes, Han Li instantly identified its key vulnerability. First, he tucked the silver scroll into his chest and then took a steady, graceful step, vanishing in a flash of golden light to stand behind the massive puppet. As his body resonated with a series of crisp, bamboo-like crackles, he roared and delivered a powerful punch aimed at a specific spot on the puppet's rib cage. Though the golden fist had not yet made physical contact, the force of the blow sliced through the air, carving a clear white trail as if tearing the very space apart. Han Li's fist suddenly halted, yet without looking back, he merely rubbed his hands together—immediately a golden lightning bolt shot forth and plunged into the puppet's body. A series of explosive sounds erupted within the puppet, followed by a sudden dimming of its green glow. Its form rapidly contracted, shrinking within moments to a size of just a few inches, then lying motionless on the ground. From the black wolf's surprise attack to Han Li's swift counteraction—slaying the giant wolf and destroying the puppet—it seemed like a lengthy sequence, but in reality, it had only taken a few breaths. At last, the man with a furrowed brow, struck by Han Li's "Jing Shen Ci," regained consciousness from the intense shock to his awareness, just in time to witness the final moment when Han Li radiated a brilliant golden light and brought down the puppet. "Your 'Jing Jin Ju' is fully perfected—you're truly a top-tier physical cultivator!" he exclaimed, his face filled with disbelief. The golden-armored cultivator with the scarred face outside the light curtain, though silent, clearly conveyed his astonishment as well. "Weng, shall we continue the battle?" Han Li said nothing in response to the questions, but instead calmly posed a counter-question. The middle-aged man with the surname Wang's face immediately grew pale! "Though you have achieved dual cultivation and your abilities surpass my expectations, do you truly believe you've won this contest? If so, I shall sacrifice a century of my painstaking cultivation to demonstrate the true power of the Thousand-Souls Bell!" Within, the man was furious. He raised his head and fixed his gaze upon the black-robed silhouette that had effortlessly supported the golden lotus, then spoke with sharp intensity. At once, the man began reciting incantations, and the azure clouds above his head shimmered, causing his Yuan婴 to reappear. This Yuan婴 now bore a serious expression. With one hand he pressed a series of gestures, and with the other he raised it toward the sky, launching a vivid, tangible blue light beam that struck precisely upon the black bell silhouette. At the same time, a series of profound incantations resonated from his mouth. The black bell silhouette trembled slightly, and then a point of dark light emerged within it—revealing the true form of the Thousand-Souls Bell. The bell gently rotated, and The man with a lowered brow below seized the opportunity, flicking his finger toward Hei Ling Yao with a distant snap. A crisp, seemingly ordinary sound echoed—“ding.” Suddenly, a violent ripple of spatial disturbance surged across the light screen, and then, without warning, a slender, black fissure appeared abruptly in the sky above. (Second chapter!)