Han Li raised his brow, then glanced at the swarm of bats before him, extending one hand from his sleeve and lightly tapping it. A deep, resonant boom echoed, causing the celestial and terrestrial qi within a hundred li to tremble violently. Countless streaks of five-colored light surged upward, rapidly coalescing into a massive, five-colored palm the size of a small mountain, which then pressed down with tremendous force upon the bat swarm. At once, the surrounding void was enveloped in an indescribable, immense pressure. The ordinary blood bats, even before the palm fully descended, burst into blood mist and exploded in succession. The transparent tidal wave, under this overwhelming pressure, vanished entirely. Only the great bat roared in surprise and alarm, its golden patterns on its body flaring brilliantly, surging upward from within to form a shimmering golden shield that enveloped it. But under the immense pressure, the golden light screen trembled violently, twisting and distorting. The giant bat, inside, flattened out into a broad character and remained motionless. "Interesting—indeed a natural protective divine ability! Yet still rather weak; otherwise, it would have been worthy of becoming a spiritual beast," said Han Li, his eyes flashing with surprise, yet with a touch of regret. Then, with a single finger, he pointed again at the five-colored giant palm, extending it remotely. Immediately, a myriad of shimmering rays radiated from the surface of the massive palm, and as it expanded in volume, it grew even larger. A thunderous "boom" followed, and as the giant palm finally collapsed, the surrounding space dimmed momentarily before a radiant aura burst violently into splendor. The golden light screen shattered piece by piece within the expanding light, and the giant bat, unable to utter even a single sound, was completely dissolved. Han Li smiled, then waved his sleeve forward, and with a gentle flick, the five-colored giant palm trembled and vanished into nothing. The entire realm instantly returned to its original state. However, at the spot where the giant bat had once stood, faint traces of golden script emerged, barely visible. Han Li narrowed his eyes and, without hesitation, raised his hand and waved it. A sound of rushing air followed, and under the pull of a subtle suction, the script surged forth, each one flashing and landing precisely in the palm of his hand. Han Li glanced upward, then clasped his hands together, gently rubbing the script between them. A distinct metallic scraping sound arose, and the inner glow of the script flickered wildly. When he separated his hands again, a shimmering, golden-animal hide lay there, clearly formed. The delicate golden patterns on the hide were exactly the same as the bright golden patterns that had once adorned the giant bat's body. "This should prove valuable when crafting defensive magical artifacts," Han Li murmured to himself. After a simple hand motion, the hide vanished completely. Then, his expression shifted, as if sensing something. A blue glow flashed in his eyes, and his gaze pierced through hundreds of miles, revealing a massive, gray-shrouded, unidentified creature charging wildly toward them. Han Li's eyes narrowed, clearly seeing the forms of these strange beasts—each resembling a giant eagle with four wings on its back and a single horn on its head, their faces fierce and filled with a bloodthirsty gleam. Frowning, he drew his gaze back, glanced at the vast expanse of fresh, crimson mist still lingering beneath the small hill, and shook his head. A shimmer of green light rippled over his body as he swiftly vanished into a streak of brilliant light, leaving the scene. Though these creatures were of little consequence to him, he had no intention of engaging the endless horde of beasts drawn by the bloodshed. With such time and energy, he naturally remained focused on locating the Shura Spiders. Time flew by swiftly—within just two days, the passage of days had passed. During this time, Han Li slew several seemingly powerful monsters and discovered some rare materials from outside the realm, but otherwise achieved no further breakthroughs. Among the materials he obtained, except for two unidentified toxic herbs, the rest, though precious, were not particularly useful for his current level of cultivation and could only be reserved as rewards for a few of his disciples. However, on the third day, while exploring a valley paved with black stones, Han Li finally uncovered something related to the Shura Spiders. Now standing in a secluded animal den tucked in a corner of the valley, he found several strange creatures resembling both humans and bears, lying silently on a bed of dry grass. Their fur was snowy white, their flesh and muscles nearly withered to the point of resembling bones, yet their bodies bore no wounds—appearing as though they had simply aged and passed away naturally. Han Li stood beside one of the half-naked beast corpses, observing quietly for a moment before shaking his sleeve and sending several fire serpents shooting out, instantly reducing several bodies to ashes. Han Li's face darkened as his fingers trembled, instantly withdrawing from the crystalline thread. At the same time, golden light surged across his arm, forming a wave of golden mist that swept forward and decisively dispersed the spreading blue glow. Then, a fresh ripple of pale, misty crystalline light flowed through his arm, restoring it swiftly to its original fullness and luster—as if the entire incident had merely been a fleeting illusion. "Indeed, it's the power of time—though still not quite the true laws of time, it's an exceptionally rare innate ability. This area should now be within the activity range of the War Spider." After taking a deep breath, Han Li murmured these thoughts with a touch of excitement. Then, with a flash of green light in his hands, several crystalline threads vanished. Though not yet a serious threat, these items were far from something that could be casually left behind. Next, Han Li emerged from the animal den and began a careful search in the surrounding area, centered on the valley. But several hours later, when he returned to the valley once more, his expression was deeply somber—clearly, the initial exploration had not gone smoothly. Han Li hovered quietly above the upper valley, his face filled with thoughtful contemplation. Suddenly, a slight lift of his brow indicated he had recalled something. With a single hand gesture, he released his divine awareness, directing it downward and probing deeply into the earth—scanning through depths of hundreds and then thousands of zhang, without pausing or lingering at any point. After a full cup of tea's worth of time, Han Li's expression changed, a hint of joy appearing on his face. Then, he moved swiftly, transforming into a streak of jade light and soaring toward a specific direction. As the light faded, Han Li materialized above a lake not far away. He glanced down at it for a moment, then moved his body and descended toward the lake's surface. "Plush!" His light instantly submerged into the lake. A moment later, a thunderous roar echoed, golden electric flashes swirling around the vast lake surface. The water surged and churned, and countless strange, oddly shaped fish, belly-up, rose from the depths—each one blackened and barely breathing. Yet, once the thunder subsided, silence fell again, as if the lake had turned completely still. At the same time, Han Li found himself deep underground, in a simple, narrow passage several thousand feet below the surface. The walls were composed of uneven, pale green stones, barely wide enough to allow a single person to pass. The passage curved and twisted, winding deeper into the earth—precisely the spot Han Li had only recently discovered during his repeated spiritual inspections. These pale green stones were clearly no ordinary rock, yet throughout the entire lakebed, they were uniformly present. Even with his exceptionally sharp spiritual perception, Han Li could not penetrate the stone layers beyond a certain depth. This was precisely why he had failed to notice this unusual location at first. Yet, when Han Li stepped onto the projecting slab of emerald stone and discovered another crystalline filament, his doubts vanished entirely. He instantly shifted his body, and his speed surged. After breathing steadily for nearly ten thousand feet downward, waves of intense heat began to surge upward from beneath the passage. The temperature was so high that ordinary beings would likely turn to dry bones upon mere contact. Han Li paid the heat no heed at all; a faint shimmer of green light across his body merely pushed the hot air aside. With several more swift movements, he navigated through several turns, and soon red glimmers began to pulse ahead, accompanied by faint roars and human voices. Han Li narrowed his eyes, making no other gestures—his body gradually emitted points of luminous light, blurring into indistinct form until his trailing light finally faded. After passing through a wave of crimson flame, Han Li emerged silently from the passage, appearing above a vast subterranean molten lake. The lava lake churned with surging waves of heat, occasionally erupting towering columns of flame—thick as large bowls—that struck the exit passage, smoothing and polishing the surrounding rocks to a brilliant, deep crimson. More astonishing still, at the heart of the lake, translucent, fire-red crystalline stones floated freely within the molten lava. With a mere glance of his divine awareness, Han Li recognized these irregularly sized crystals as rare, top-tier fire spirit stones from the outside world. The fire spirit energy contained within them seemed even purer than the generally superior fire spirit stones found in the Spirit Realm. Yet none of this truly captured Han Li’s attention. Instead, he silently observed a group of creatures and a single "woman" gathered along the edge of the lava lake. These beings each had human upper bodies and fish-like lower bodies, and four arms. The males wore golden rings on their arms, while the females adorned silver sashes on their heads. Some held open, crimson-fisted hands, others wielded short, crimson spears. Their bodies shimmered subtly with constant movement. Near the opposite end of the group of fish-like monstrosities, a young woman seemingly no more than twenty-one or twenty-two faced the roaring surge that was rushing toward her with calm composure.