At the same time, a flash of black light appeared above the giant, and a second green silhouette emerged from the void, silently diving downward. Yet the giant formed of wood seemed to have anticipated this move all along; suddenly lifting his head, he expelled a column of emerald light. This column was as thick as a water barrel and moved with astonishing speed, and the green figure had no time to react, being struck squarely in the face. A sharp cry of pain rang out as the figure stumbled and was thrown backward. The giant smiled coldly. At that very moment, a surge of purple light burst forth from behind him, close at hand, and an entirely unexpected figure materialized—his sleeves fluttered, and instantly hundreds of golden specks shot forth. The green figure was none other than Han Li himself. Even if the giant had immediately noticed the presence of the green figure, he would have been powerless to stop it. The sound of the golden specks striking the giant's back was like the steady patter of rain on a fence, resonating continuously. Stunned, the giant roared low, and suddenly a second, strange green hand materialized above Han Li's head, reaching out with great force to pluck him down. Han Li did not panic. With a spread of his wings behind him, he prepared to vanish into the void. Yet the giant sneered coldly, snapping his fingers with a sudden flick of the two fingers in his grasp. Instantly, the tips of his fingernails trembled and shot out, then vanished in a flash. In the next moment, two streaks of green light pierced through Han Li's wings at an astonishing speed, and the thunder that had just begun to roll abruptly ceased. Han Li was now truly startled. As he prepared to shift his position and take flight once more, he found himself too late. The great hand above him radiated brilliant light, and he felt the air around him tighten, becoming as solid and dense as steel. Despite his full strength, he was momentarily held back, only managing to break free with some effort. But this brief delay was enough—the giant's massive hand seized him firmly, pinning him in mid-air. The strength of the green giant was no less than his own. The giant then darkened in expression, his eyes flashing with a fierce, wrathful glow. With a firm grip of his five fingers, the great hand radiated a steady green light, and he seemed poised to crush Han Li into a pile of flesh and pulp. Han Li's face paled dramatically, and suddenly began muttering words under his breath. Light surged continuously across his body. As the giant's fingers closed, Han Li's form glowed brightly, then seemed to crumble like a paper figure, shattering into scattered points of luminous energy. These points coalesced in the air around him, forming a greenish scroll, which then suddenly unfurled and shot out toward the distance. At that moment, the figure in the sky, struck by the beam of light projected by the giant, suddenly stirred and tumbled down, landing near Han Li, looking disheveled. Though his clothes were torn and his face pale, he turned his head slightly and offered the giant a strange, eerie smile. Clearly, he was another version of Han Li. The giant blinked, momentarily stunned. But the Han Li who appeared shortly after had his entire body shimmer with dark light, then instantly shrunk in size, transforming into a small, glossy black monkey only half a foot tall—none other than the Ti Huo Beast! During Han Li's attack, the beast had silently emerged and assumed the form of Han Li, joining him in the assault. The silver-rank wood spirit, momentarily distracted, had genuinely been drawn away. Meanwhile, Han Li, concealed by the welcome gesture and the presence of the Ti Huo Beast, had quietly activated the "Heaven's Will to Purify" seal and slipped past. Otherwise, given the spirit's powerful awareness, Han Li would have found it nearly impossible to approach the giant so closely. The Green Giant subtly sensed something was amiss. Recalling the golden light spots shot out by Han Li's sleeve as he ran, he suddenly frowned and reached back. Though the fusion of human and tree had made the wooden spirit remarkably strong, its sense of perception had grown sluggish. Originally, it had never believed that Han Li could truly harm it. Yet, after a firm grasp and a gentle placement before him, several golden beetle-sized insects appeared, motionless and crawling steadily within his palm. "What is this?" the Green Giant stared, then clenched and then spread his fingers. The beetles remained unharmed. Its expression suddenly turned grave. At a distance, Han Li observed this, his expression sharpening instantly, and then sent a surge of consciousness toward certain objects. Suddenly, a brilliant golden light erupted from the Giant's back, and one after another, large beetle-sized creatures—half a foot in size—emerged in a strange manner, crawling across half of the Giant's body and devouring it fiercely. Han Li appeared expressionless, yet his heart leapt with anxiety. Though the golden insect was said to devour all things, classical records from the human realm noted that it was particularly vulnerable to precious objects such as wood and jade. The current wood-spirit being's mastery of the "tree-and-body-unified" technique was truly unusual—though his form resembled a great tree, Han Li could not be certain whether it truly belonged to the category of "wood" treasures. He could only hope to witness the outcome. Han Li was overjoyed. With a simple shake of his sleeve, he stored the Ti-Hun beast, then his entire body shimmered with a jade-green glow, transforming into a streak of green light that surged through the air. Though the Golden-Feeding Insects could hold their own against the opponent, Han Li, as their master, could not withstand a full-force assault. Naturally, he had to retreat swiftly. But not long after, the golden insect cloud once again hummed and spiraled back, now shrunk to mere inches in size, the insect swarm disordered and scattered, appearing unusually loose. Fortunately, the phasing speed of the gold-feeding insects remained unimpaired, rushing past the surrounding skies with the swift, thunderous roar of a galloping wind. At a random outcropping of stones some thousand li away, Han Li sat pale on the ground, desperately channeling his inner power to summon the insects toward him. At this moment, his spiritual awareness was being drained at an unprecedented rate. When he saw the golden insect swarm plummeting from the sky, his body could no longer bear the strain—his frame trembled violently, then collapsed, his hands clutching his head as he emitted sharp, agonizing groans, as though he were dying. It wasn't until half a minute later that he managed to cease the groans and once again settled into a meditative posture. This time, the effort to summon the insects had been perilously intense, nearly depleting all of his spiritual awareness. Even so, it had inflicted minor damage upon his spiritual sense. It seemed that, for safety's sake, they should never drive the golden-devouring insects to pursue their enemies too far again. Yet, if they didn't drive these insect predators to chase the fleeing high-tier wood spirit for some time, the spirit would surely notice the oddity and wouldn't easily give up. Now, however, the wood spirit had suffered a major blow from the golden-devouring insects, compounded by its earlier severe injuries. Even if it were bold, it would surely no longer dare to make any further attempts. Han Li gently stroked the jade ring in his sleeve, which housed one of the golden-devouring spirit beasts, and exhaled deeply. In the span of a cup of tea, as the scattered light points flying out from the surrounding trees dispersed, the giant's body fully restored itself. Yet, as his eyes began to glow, they appeared dim and lifeless. With a swift gesture of his hands, a translucent figure suddenly erupted from within the giant's body, swaying slightly before solidifying into a pale green, ethereal woodland spirit. At the same time, the giant flashed once, then dissolved into the form of an ancient tree, dispersing completely. As soon as the spirit took on its new form and appeared, it glanced at Han Li's direction twice, its gaze sharp and attentive. "This person possesses the golden-munching insects—indeed, hundreds of them—and that makes him truly troublesome. If I were at my peak strength, I could still venture to engage and defeat him, disrupting the insect army's coordination. But now, having sustained two serious injuries in succession, and with my life-giving spirit tree damaged to this extent, I fear that should I encounter his insect swarm again, I shall surely perish. Thus, I must now yield—let him go unharmed." Mu Rui pondered for a while, his face shifting between gloom and hope, before finally shaking his head and making up his mind. Suddenly, he transformed into a swirling mass of silver light, soaring upward and rushing toward the Black Leaf Forest. Not long after, Han Li, having slightly recovered his spirit, likewise could not stay in place any longer. Enduring intense pain in his mind, he too transformed into a streak of jade-green light and broke through the air, heading in the same direction—toward the One Sky Pass. Two months later, Han Li materialized on a desolate plateau. He randomly chose a remote small hillock and, with a flash of yellow light, vanished into it. Within this hillock, he effortlessly established a compact chamber measuring over ten zhang in size. After a brief arrangement, he simply took several pills, then settled into a meditative posture, closing his eyes and resting. A month later, when Han Li opened his eyes again, the light of vitality returned to his gaze, and his spirit, energy, and demeanor had fully returned to normal.