These several individuals spoke one after another, in a rather casual tone. "Transportation?" Han Li, however, caught the crucial point from their conversation. After glancing at the two war vessels, he finally began to understand their puzzlement over their sudden appearance. The war vessels themselves were equipped with direct transportation arrays—an astonishing discovery. This kind of transportation was quite different from ordinary fixed arrays; the cost of transporting must have been substantial. Moreover, according to their words, there should have been another group of travelers arriving as well. But due to the destruction of one of the war vessels, only these few had managed to reach this location. To send such a large number of transcendent-level beings—just to secure a single stage-5 cultivator—demonstrated that this extraterrestrial being who controlled the puppets was indeed of immense importance. Yet, surprisingly, these individuals immediately recognized him. That was beyond his expectations! The stage-4 cultivator from Green Light City had not yet given up hope. No, rather, he had not yet given up on the two jade boxes within his storage bracelet. It seemed the contents of the boxes were no ordinary matter—after all, the tall man hadn't greatly exaggerated. Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he swiftly grasped all of this in an instant. At that moment, the Leopard-Mounted and the Cry-Soul beasts had already ceased their pursuit of the angular infantrymen and silently flew back to Han Li's side, now fixing their fierce gaze upon the four nearby figures. They too sensed that these four were different from the ones they had previously slain, and thus chose not to launch immediate attacks. The barefoot stranger, having heard his companions' words, had his eyes flash several times, clearly intending to speak something to Han Li. Yet at that very moment, Han Li suddenly swept his sleeve outward, simultaneously gesturing to the four. A sharp rushing sound erupted as dozens of strands of green silk split into four streams and shot directly toward each of the four figures. The speed of this movement was nothing short of lightning-fast—within a single flash, they had already reached the immediate vicinity of each person. Four Dao-Immortal-level beings from the Jiaochi clan, including the barefoot monster, were instantly startled. After all, they had witnessed firsthand the scene where Han Li summoned the sword-thread to eliminate the other soldiers—yet at that time, the sword-thread's speed was barely one-tenth of its current velocity, making it utterly insignificant in comparison. Under the shock and outrage, all four swiftly stepped back to defend themselves. Only the massive man clad in fur raised his hand without hesitation, a flash of crimson light revealing a great axe, about one zhang in length, blazing with red flame, now firmly gripped in his hand. With a simple arm motion, the axe stood before him like a colossal shield! Li...! The figure of the barefoot stranger materialized at another spot some thirty paces away, instantly startled and enraged upon seeing the giant slain right before his eyes. The elderly woman and the dwarf who had just emerged from their respective corners also reacted with shock. Though they knew Han Li possessed great prowess, they hadn't expected their companion to be cut down so swiftly in a single encounter. Yet even as they hesitated to immediately launch an attack to avenge the giant, a flash of silvery threads darted once more, swiftly pursuing them. Witnessing the sharpness of these threads firsthand, the barefoot stranger and his companions could no longer rely on their precious artifacts to absorb the attacks—they were forced to summon their own powers and merely dodge them skillfully. For a moment, the three beings of the same stage as Han Li—each at the Lingxu level—were left scrambling, flying through the air in sheer panic, as though they had no strength left to defend themselves. Han Li remained motionless at his post, his expression calm, continuously channeling the silvery threads to pursue and press the three opponents. At that very moment, a thunderous roar echoed through the sky. Then Han Li felt a vast expanse of white light flashing above his head, and suddenly hundreds of luminous beams descended from the sky. It was the war vessel, undamaged, sensing that the three of them were in trouble, and thus launching an offensive to assist them. Han Li raised his head and glanced at the beams with slightly narrowed eyes—his body showed no intention of dodging. Amid the roar, he vanished completely within the white light. The streaking silken threads that had been pursuing the three suddenly halted, as though affected by something. The barefoot man and the old woman exhaled in relief, steadying themselves and hastily summoning several treasures. The old woman waved her hand, releasing a strange, shimmering painting, upon which a complex golden spell array was clearly inscribed. The dwarf opened his mouth and expelled a green ceramic bowl, while with a gesture of his hand, several yellow darts shot out in succession, spiraling and dancing around his body. Yet the barefoot stranger merely rubbed his hands together, and suddenly a pair of dark, lustrous armguards appeared on his arms, their surface etched with dense, intricate patterns—some of whose wonders remained unknown. With the three of them displaying their treasures, they still bore no sign of ease, each standing at a distance and gazing toward the vast expanse of white light. They did not believe that Han Li had truly been so simply extinguished. Indeed, a thunderous roar erupted within the white glow, followed by a flash of green light—then a great phoenix surged forth from the light. At first only several dozen feet in size, it rapidly expanded in body as its entire form shimmered with ethereal radiance, soon growing into a colossal creature measuring seventy or eighty zhang in height. With a single flap of its wings, it swept a gale of wind that reached the old woman’s head, then reappeared in its original form. As the thunder roared! Numerous white lightning arcs, each as thick as a serving bowl, suddenly surged across the phoenix’s body. Its two massive claws—each the size of a house—then descended with a brilliant flash of electric light. The colossal claw had not yet firmly grasped its target, when an astonishing surge of spiritual pressure—like a mountain pressing down—already surged forth and descended with overwhelming force. "Watch out!" The red-soled giant and the dwarf, seeing this development, both reacted with sudden alarm, shouting the warning simultaneously. Instantly, the giant raised both arms toward the empty space in front of them, and the ghostly howling sounds intensified across the arm guards, launching two beams of dark light that flashed and vanished in an instant. Meanwhile, the dozen yellow darts swirling before the dwarf transformed into a dozen bright streaks, shooting toward the great phoenix-shaped form of Han Li. Both were attempting to counteract Han Li's attack. Now they had clearly realized that Han Li's mastery of spiritual arts far surpassed what could be expected from his current cultivation level—no single one of them could stand against him alone. With this sense of dread firmly established, they would not allow Han Li to defeat them one by one. As for the elderly woman herself, upon sensing the terrifying spiritual pressure contained within the giant's claw, her face instantly turned pale, almost lifeless. The phoenix had come so swiftly that there was simply no time to evade it. At last, the old woman gritted her teeth and spat a ball of refined blood onto the scroll before her. Instantly, a "pop" echoed as a mist of blood burst outward and was swiftly drawn into the scroll. At the same moment, a brilliant golden glow surged from the scroll, and the golden seal array engraved upon it shot forth, spinning rapidly before expanding into a massive formation several dozen feet in height and rocketing upward. The great crane, seemingly unbothered by the incoming black light columns and the dozen yellow streaks, next seized the golden array with a massive claw. A thunderous roar followed as white lightning and golden light intertwined, radiating an intense brilliance that caused the surrounding space to ripple and distort. Though the crane remained undisturbed, the old woman beneath the golden array gasped suddenly, her face turning pale, and then expelled a gush of blood. Yet this golden array managed to barely withstand the descent of the giant claw. The old woman's smile had not yet fully formed, and a glint of cold determination flashed in the great crane's eyes. With no hesitation, his second massive claw followed and descended. "Unfortunate," the old woman thought, her heart suddenly sinking. With no choice, she opened her mouth and expelled another orb of refined blood, merging it into the golden array floating in the air. The array instantly surged in strength. She now hoped that, under the pressing force of this effort, it could withstand the next strike. As long as she had a moment's respite, her two companions would arrive, allowing her to escape and join them. Though her opponent displayed extraordinary prowess, with the combined strength of the three of them, they certainly still held a strong chance of defeating him. The old woman had swiftly assessed the situation and weighed the advantages and disadvantages. Yet she had still underestimated the old woman's mastery of Han Li's Jingzhe Decision, specifically the "Kunpeng Transformation." After all, this form of transformation was the one among the five Han Li had mastered that he understood most thoroughly. Moreover, it absorbed the essences of the remaining four True Spirit beings, along with the additional benefits from four more fully developed transformations. The power of the koupeng formed by Han Li was likely no less than that of the spiritual birds inheriting the koupeng lineage. Combined with Han Li’s already exceptionally robust physical form, their synergy amplified their strength exponentially. As the two massive claws approached simultaneously to grasp the golden spell array, a flash of cold brilliance swept across the great penguin’s eyes. Suddenly, it opened its mouth, and a remarkably thick electric arc struck the array before the other claws even made contact—precisely timing its attack. The golden array trembled violently. At that very moment, the second massive claw firmly pressed down upon the golden light. A thunderous roar of earth-shattering magnitude erupted. The golden radiance emitted by the array flashed wildly before being torn apart like thin fabric, split evenly by the force of the two colossal claws. The old woman was instantly transfixed, yet before she could summon any further magic, one of the colossal claws swept past her. A flash of clawlight passed, and her body was instantly severed into several segments, blood mist spreading downward from the sky.