Yet Han Li did not wish any unforeseen factors to disrupt his plans. At once, a surge of murderous intent stirred within him. Immediately after a roar like that of a macaque, a streak of dark light shot forth from the void, darting straight toward one side of the hall's gate, while Han Li himself shifted slightly, materializing from his ethereal state and moving toward the opposite side. "Ah!" "Who is that?" Two cries of surprise rang out from either side of the gate. On one side, a gust of阴wind swept in, revealing a colossal skeleton with two heads. On the other, a strong scent of blood and decay filled the air, and a white-haired zombie with blood-red eyes stepped into view—its back adorned with a pair of green wings, emitting a most pungent odor. The dark light flashed, and a giant macaque materialized. Without a word, it exhaled a surge of golden mist, which swept directly toward the two-headed skeleton. The skeleton chuckled strangely, its two arms blurring into mist, and countless clawed shadows bloomed throughout the air, making a series of sharp "shhh" sounds. Clearly confident in the strength of its form, this Instead of retreating as the white-robed woman had done, stepping back in alarm. As soon as contact was made, the dense network of skeletal claws instantly dissolved, and under the sweep of the radiance, the pair of claws were enveloped within the glow. With a flash of light, the two-headed skeleton cried out in agony—the once rigid, iron-like claws instantly turned into swirling masses of dark mist. Startled, the skeleton hurried to move and recoil, but it was too late. A flash of yellow light swept through, engulfing the entire skeleton. As the white bone body and the pair of claws spun around, they too transformed into thick, eerie black mist, and were swiftly drawn into the mouth of the Ti-Hun beast. The creature delighted, emitting a joyful cry and turning its head to gaze at Han Li. Just in time, Han Li was seen hovering above the white-haired zombie, his single hand pointing at the towering Yuan-Magnetic Divine Mountain, some dozen zhang high, stabilizing the spirits beneath. Meanwhile, two golden-armored figures were drawing back a golden spear and two long swords from behind the zombie. The golden arcs on the spear's surface trembled continuously, piercing straight through the zombie's heart and leaving a scorched patch around the wound. The two long swords were drawn from the zombie's back, flashing with a steady white glow; the pair of foul-smelling green wings unexpectedly transformed into translucent, crystalline ice, sealed firmly in place. Han Li did not send the two shadow puppets to strike again, but instead gestured toward the Ti-Hun Beast. The beast first paused, then instantly grasped the meaning of Han Li's gesture, leaping with great joy, and after several jumps, landed beside him. A radiant glow emerged from its nostrils, vividly transmuting the zombie into pure negative energy, which it then drew into its mouth. With a satisfied rumble, the beast clapped its hands vigorously against its chest, clearly delighted. These three spirits were long-time refined, fierce ghost essences from the Yin River region, and thus offered an exceptional nourishment to the Ti-Hun Beast. Han Li smiled slightly, and with a subtle shift of his divine awareness, suddenly had a thought. After carefully observing the Ti Hun beast several times, he quietly issued a few instructions to it. The Ti Hun beast widened its eyes, listened attentively, then nodded repeatedly. After flipping over once in place, its entire body flashed with a deep black light, transforming into a strange creature with a single horn on its head and limbs emitting electric sparks—exactly the same as the冥雷兽 that had nearly devoured Han Li earlier, though now slightly smaller in size. Han Li chuckled, then waved his hand toward the transformed冥雷兽, and the creature immediately shrunk down to a few inches, then shot into the sleeve of his robe. He then pressed the Tai Yi Hua Qing scroll against his body, causing his form to become ethereal, and stepped through the hall doors. The palace consisted of a main hall and several side halls; Han Li entered the main hall directly. The hall was exceptionally clean, save for a few large stone pillars, and otherwise appeared spacious and empty. Han Li paid no attention at all, his gaze completely drawn to the large opening in the center of the hall, glowing with a soft white light. Carefully approaching it, he settled himself along the edge and leaned down to peer inside, his expression instantly brightening. The opening sloped downward, with curved, exceptionally smooth walls—there were no steps or staircases at all. To his eyes, the area below shimmered with a faint white glow, yet the bottom remained completely out of sight. Han Li thought for a moment, then moved his body with a gentle motion and stepped into the opening, drifting downward slowly. The cavern was extremely deep; even after descending over a thousand feet, he still hadn't reached the bottom. Yet a steady cool breeze blew from below, clearly indicating that there were ventilation passages within. After descending several hundred more feet, Han Li's expression changed, and faint rumblings of thunder and animal roars began to reach his ears, occasionally interrupted by thunderous crashes that caused the surrounding stone walls to tremble. Han Li stiffened, slightly slowing his descent, and then began to extend his awareness downward. A few moments later, a brilliant white glow flashed below, and the exit had suddenly appeared. After a mental sweep, nothing seemed hidden beneath. This brought peace to Han Li's mind, who silently descended to the ground and quickly surveyed his surroundings. Here lay another vast hall, several times larger in area than the one above, yet in terms of refinement, the difference was nothing short of remarkable. The ground was covered with exquisitely beautiful white jade, while the walls and ceiling were adorned with large crystalline stones—each the size of a bowl—glowing with a soft white light, casting the hall into a magnificent and opulent setting. The ambient spiritual energy here was also far denser than that of the upper hall, with colorful spiritual flowers and herbs flourishing in two small flowerbeds flanking the hall, each vibrant and radiating a gentle luminescence, as though they had thrived here for countless tens of thousands of years. Yet upon closer inspection, Han Li furrowed his brow and promptly shifted his gaze, losing interest. With his keen eye, he naturally spotted that although the flowers and plants in the flower beds were indeed rare, most of them served primarily as ornamental—truly valuable ones were scarce. However, Han Li's view could only reach half of the hall's scene, as the other half was entirely enveloped by thick blood mist and raging lightning arcs. In a low section of the hall's upper air, the interwoven lightning and blood mist constantly surged and exploded, as though they were mutually incompatible. Yet clearly, the power of the lightning arcs surpassed that of the blood mist. Had it not been for the steady gusts of cool wind within the blood mist and the countless green filaments shooting out, the blood mist would have surely collapsed and been overwhelmed. Nevertheless, under these conditions, the silver lightning arcs, amid the unceasing thunder, gradually coalesced into solid, fist-sized thunderballs, which then surged outward and burst, ultimately shattering the blood mist and causing it to dissipate, leaving the blood mist in a clearly disadvantaged position. In the blood mist, nothing could be seen clearly, yet it seemed that the combined power of the Earth-blood elder and others was at play. On the other side, amid surging lightning, two unicorne beasts emerged and faded, roaring fiercely—as though two冥re-beasts were continuously driving the lightning in relentless assault. Indeed, it was no wonder that even the several妖kings could not hold their own. Han Li was quietly astonished, observing the battlefield for a while before his gaze swept downward, and his pupils suddenly narrowed. Directly beneath the battlefield, there lay a jade-green pool several zhang in diameter, veiled in white vapor, rich with spiritual energy, and faintly glowing with a blood-like radiance. "Is this the冥River Divine Milk?" Han Li thought quickly, yet did not linger long on the pool, instead continuing his careful search around. Immediately, his eyes brightened. In a quiet corner of the palace, opposite the battlefield, he spotted Yuan Yao and Yan Li standing motionless. Both women appeared expressionless, seemingly completely indifferent to the fierce combat unfolding nearby. Han Li had witnessed the state of the two women when they were under the seal—clearly, their minds were still alert, though their bodies were completely at the mercy of the seal. He felt confident he could unravel this particular restriction. Glancing at the thunderous host blocking his path, he suppressed his growing excitement and carefully scanned the rest of the hall. He hadn’t forgotten the appearance of additional ghostly beings beyond the black light curtain and at the ground-level palace entrance. There must be other high-ranking ghostly entities that had infiltrated the area. He didn’t want to be caught off guard by a surprise move from behind. Until he spotted any hidden ones, he would remain absolutely still. He gently extended his spiritual awareness, scanning all areas outside the battle group, but found no anomalies. Han Li frowned, then his eyes flashed with a faint blue light before fading away. In such a perilous setting, he dared not fully open his spiritual sight—he could only use a minimal amount of spiritual energy to swiftly activate a brief sense of perception. And finally, he made his discovery. In the farthest corner of another palace, far from the war assembly, there hovered a faint green aura—so delicate that even under the power of the spiritual sight, it appeared almost completely transparent. Was this the ghostly creature that had infiltrated? Han Li's heart stirred with sudden alarm. After a brief thought, he risked it all, sending a sharp burst of blue light from his eyes, aiming to clearly discern the true form of this spirit. What he saw, however, was not only fine threads of black light woven within the green aura, but also a luminous, crystal-like orb floating steadily in the center, rotating slowly and unusually. As soon as Han Li first observed this orb, it suddenly ceased its rotation, and a thin shimmer of green light briefly surfaced on its surface before fading away. Han Li's face paled, and his blue light instantly dimmed. He sensed, at the very moment of discovering the orb, that the creature itself—now evidently aware—had immediately sensed his observation. Yet he was confident in his swift spiritual perception and in his decisive decision to cut off his spiritual sight. He believed the creature could not have detected his presence. Even if the other's spiritual awareness were strong, how could he dare to project a powerful one to search for his location at this very moment? If it were weak, he would surely fail to detect the concealment of Taiyi Huaqing Seal; if too strong, the currently engaged妖 king and the Yin-Lei Beast, among others, would immediately notice. He was certain this ghostly creature would never make a foolish move. Indeed, shortly thereafter, a faint, almost imperceptible spiritual awareness swept past where he stood, yet no anomaly was detected anywhere else. With that, Han Li felt a great relief and finally felt at ease. But even as he began to consider how to quietly take his children away, a sudden roar erupted from the blood mist within the hall, and the intense battle instantly shifted. The blood mist surged and then burst forth with a vibrant purple-red glow, and a sturdy figure rapidly expanded in size—within moments, a towering, twenty-some-feet-high purple-blooded puppet emerged from the mist, its form still continuously swelling. Standing on one side of the puppet's shoulder, a figure in a blood-red robe stood with both hands behind his back. —— Excuse me, I didn't realize today was actually the last day of the month!