Han Li's expression of caution flickered briefly, then he bowed slightly, quickly scanning his own form with his gaze—his face subtly changed again. Now, though his attire remained unchanged from before, he appeared slightly thinner, and the several storage bracelets, spirit-beast rings, and other items on his wrists had vanished entirely. More strangely, upon scanning his face with his spiritual awareness, he found that his facial features had returned to those of a young boy from his early teens—yet his skin, no longer dark, had become pale and luminous as jade. "My spirit has departed!" Han Li murmured, touching his face with a touch of wonder. At that moment, a strange, gender-blending laughter suddenly echoed in his mind: "Young one, it's good to see you again. I hadn't expected you to reach this point so swiftly." But this time, the true form of this magus has personally arrived. Even if you are a reincarnation of a Great Luo True Immortal, you will surely find it impossible to surmount this heart-magic trial." With a booming laugh, a gray-hazy sky suddenly split open, and from the rift emerged a massive green-faced ghost head, the size of a small mountain. It then extended a tongue nearly ten zhang long, lapping it thickly across its broad lips, before emitting a cold, unkind chuckle. This enormous ghost head was none other than the celestial magus from beyond the heavens who had once harbored enmity toward Han Li—and now, leveraging the power of the heart-magic trial, had directly manifested his true form within this realm. "Indeed? I never expected you to be so foolish as to appear before me directly!" Han Li replied calmly. "Now you dare to speak such words? Soon, I shall show you what it means to be unable to survive, yet unable to die!" the celestial magus thundered, his words still unfinished, as the ghost head instantly swelled in the black light around it. The young man before him, Han Li, suddenly felt a chill on his face. Then, without a sound, he opened his mouth and expelled three golden beams, each the size of a clenched fist. The golden light blurred slightly before materializing just inches from the ghost's head—three crystalline, prism-shaped objects! Their surfaces shimmered with brilliant gold, densely covered in fresh red runes, resembling slightly shrunk golden spear heads. "Unfavorable," Han Li thought, though the celestial demon king had not yet identified the three objects, a profound, instinctive sense of danger had already struck him, prompting the ghost's head to swiftly sway and attempt to dissolve into a black mist to evade. But at that moment, Han Li extended a finger, pointing silently at the three golden beams, while simultaneously uttering three consecutive syllables—"Bao!"—and instantly, the three spear-like objects exploded outward, spewing forth countless golden flames and crimson electric arcs that surged forth, instantly engulfing the ghost's form in black vapor, accompanied by a continuous, resonant roar. "Not... the Golden Jiaoming Thunder... how could you possibly have this?" The vast black mist in the golden light swiftly vanished, and a piercing, heart-wrenching cry of disbelief escaped the outer realm demon king, who looked utterly stunned. "This matter will be thoroughly reconsidered after you're reduced to ashes," Han Li sneered, then, with a single breath, emitted four more golden flashes. "You think mere handfuls of Thunder of Extinction can extinguish me?" The outer realm demon king roared, and as his black mist suddenly twisted, it burst into countless black filaments that shot out in all directions, each one flashing as it raced toward the four corners. Yet Han Li seemed well-prepared. After a serious expression, he slightly tightened his fingers and once again pointed into the air. Instantly, the four golden flashes swayed and appeared precisely before the four fleeing black filaments, then burst simultaneously into brilliant splendor, showering the surroundings with cascading waves of golden flames and electric arcs. Those black threads, shot forth in ten to one, turned to ash in the golden light, while only a handful of them—barely a dozen—managed to escape the attack and re-converged at a distance of over a hundred paces, reforming into a single ghost head. Yet this ghost head had shrunk to the size of a basin, its body hazy and nearly indistinct, clearly suffering severe depletion of vital energy. As soon as it appeared, it burst into rage, raised its head with a piercing, mournful cry, and then rolled onto the ground, transforming into a dozen vivid, grim ghost specters that surged forward, aiming to pounce upon Han Li with outstretched fingers. Yet Han Li merely smiled with an air of strange calmness, flung out his sleeve, and instantly summoned seven golden luminous orbs, which darted ahead and struck the ghost specters first. Upon seeing this, the specters instantly lost their fury, their expressions of anger fading as they gave a strange cry, then twisted their forms and shot off into a solid black glow. After a few crackling sounds of rushing air from above, the black glow vanished completely into the void. But at that very moment, a furious voice—both male and female, emanating from beyond the sky—resounded: "Human youth, once again you have outwitted me. Yet do not rejoice too soon. When you face the celestial ascension trial, I shall summon every demonic sovereign from the nearby realms to block your passage. Then, even if you possess the Golden Sturdy Thunder of the Divine Demonic God, you shall find it impossible to enter the Immortal Realm." As soon as these thunderous words were spoken, the voice abruptly ceased, and the sky fell silent. Han Li's face slightly tightened, yet he breathed a deep sigh of relief. With a single hand motion, he summoned the seven golden orbs that had been launched, which then spiraled back and returned. However, when Han Li brought both hands together and gently compressed them, the orbs transformed into seven smooth, round golden spheres, each subtly glowing with shimmering golden arcs—yet they were not the true Golden Sturdy Thunder of the Divine Demonic God. Han Li smiled faintly. With a simple flick of his sleeve, he neatly folded all seven spheres into his sleeve. These seven golden orbs could not be said to be entirely fake—they were merely half-finished versions of the Golden罡Might Thunder, a divine lightning. Since he achieved his late consolidation stage, whenever he had a moment of leisure, he quietly and secretly began refining this divine thunder. However, the process of refining this thunder was exceptionally difficult. Even though Master Han had an ample supply of Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves, it was extremely hard to gather the other required materials, and the success rate of the refinement was surprisingly low. With his advanced consolidation-stage abilities and the considerable time invested, Han managed to produce only seven completed divine thunders in total. As for the subsequent seven half-finished ones, he simply lacked the strength to complete them. Already before attempting to break through the final stage toward Great Perfection, Han had carefully considered how to handle the celestial demonic sovereign. The trial of heart-mind affliction was inherently difficult; and with such a powerful demonic lord actively interfering and stirring up chaos, the chances of successfully overcoming it were indeed slim. Thus, after much careful planning, he finally conceived this strategy: first unleash the genuine, annihilating divine thunder to severely wound the demon, then use the counterfeit divine thunder to intimidate and drive him back. The exceptional power of the Jin Gang Annihilating-Monster Thunder, specifically tailored to counteract demonic beings, was so formidable that even though the celestial demon king possessed powers comparable to those of a fully perfected being, he would surely be startled and compelled to retreat under the combined effect of both genuine and simulated techniques. Before reaching the threshold of achieving full enlightenment, he had fully absorbed and integrated both the true and false divine thunders into his own spirit, enabling him to deploy these divine thunders unexpectedly within this space. The subsequent developments indeed unfolded exactly as he had anticipated. After being severely struck by the first seven genuine divine thunders, the celestial demon king immediately fled upon the appearance of the next seven counterfeit divine thunders. This was precisely because those seven counterfeit thunders were originally half-finished versions of the Jin Gang Annihilating-Monster Thunder; otherwise, such a refined artifact would have been easily detected and noticed by him. Now that the celestial demon king has withdrawn, Han Li, relying on his strong spiritual awareness, feels somewhat confident about the subsequent heart-magic ordeal. As for the celestial demon king's mention of future obstacles—the "ascension trials"—though it has caused a slight weight in his heart, it remains something to be expected many years hence, so he does not need to worry about it now. For Han Li, the most pressing matter at present is to successfully pass this final heart-magic trial and attain the stage of Great Perfection. After swiftly contemplating this, Han Li immediately gathered his spirit, his piercing blue glow shifting steadily as he focused his gaze outward. At that moment, the hazy, still space around him began to ripple and surge. A short while later, as a subtle tremor rippled through the space, countless gray eyes—each about a zhang in size—suddenly emerged from all directions, each fixed intently upon Han Li, radiating an unusual hue of five colors. As soon as Han Li's gaze touched the shimmering light halos, his awareness instantly grew heavy, and his vision blurred. Suddenly, the surrounding world transformed—miraculously taking on the appearance of a lush green mountain range and flowing clear waters. A modest mountain peak, which had been far away, swiftly drew near. Han Li felt a moment of disorientation and found himself suddenly standing in a small village filled with the earthy scent of soil. At the same time, he himself had transformed into a child of about six or seven years old, dressed in a coarse cotton robe patched so extensively that its original color was nearly invisible. Without conscious effort, he joined in the games and playful antics of the other children. "Dog-wa, Hei-Dan, Tie-Zhu…" In this moment, Han Li instantly recalled memories buried deep within him for an unknown length of time, instinctively calling out the names of the other children. But just as the unusual sensation stirred within him, a powerful and mysterious force immediately acted upon his immortal essence, causing him to feel a sudden warmth and instantly forget everything—deeply immersed in the present moment, joining the other children in play and laughing heartily. Nearby, another slender figure stumbled toward them, and upon recognizing the familiar form, Han Li occasionally glanced over and immediately exclaimed, "Little sister!" At the center of the basin, Han Li’s physical body sat quietly upon the ground, his celestial crown open, with a golden infant spirit also seated calmly in a meditative posture. Meanwhile, among the four vessels, a hazy, dark and white magical aura surged and intertwined, completely enclosing the surrounding void, occasionally sending forth various spectral forms—ranging from black to white skeletons and other magical beings. However, as soon as these beasts came within three or four zhang of Han Li's physical form, a thunderous roar would instantly erupt, and countless golden arcs would surge forth from Han Li's body, sweeping away all the approaching creatures. Startled, the other beasts would dash back into the deeper expanse of magical aura, only to gradually extend their bodies again after a brief pause.