Автор: sergey

The four arms blurred, punching through the mist surrounding him. Two of them flashed through the phantoms, easily blocking them with dense golden palms.

Meanwhile, the other two golden arms flicked their fingers at the two wood spirits, releasing ten golden streaks of them.

The wood spirits were alarmed, but a set of azure wood armor appeared from their bodies. They also had yellow wooden shields to protect themselves.

However, the ten swordstreaks were formed from Han Lis Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

In a single flash, the two wood spirits were slashed apart into several pieces.

However, Han Li didnt stop there. Of two of the summoned arms, he flicked their palms without end. They launched a dense barrage of swordlight, instantly submerging the wood spirits in golden light.

Han Li took a deep breath and caused his struck arms to tremble. A series of golden ripples strangely appeared from them.

The two stuck arms in the wood spirits body and the azure spear were slowly freed after touching the golden light and trembling. The wood spirit and the spear eventually scattered into azure wood fragments and disappeared.

Han Li stretched his arms and golden light suddenly withdrew from his body. The four golden arms he summoned disappeared as well.

Using the second portion of his Provenance True Devil Arts to deal with these Nascent Soul-grade wood spirits was beyond excessive.

However, he only cultivated the technique to a shallow degree and wasnt able to use its true abilities. He still couldnt use it to face powerful enemies and could only use it to catch them off guard.

However, once he reached Spatial Tempering-stage and cultivated the third portion of the dual cultivation technique, he was confident the Provenance True Devil Arts power will reach an inconceivable stage. It will definitely be comparable to a top-grade technique.

With that in mind, Han Li turned into an azure streak and shot away.

Along the way, Han Li was encountered by several more waves of wood tribe beings.

However, their cultivation was mostly at Nascent Soul-stage. There were even a few that were weaker.

Han Li was able to evade these wood spirits with ease. If he couldnt, he quickly dealt with them as he couldnt afford to tangle with them for long.

However, despite his mad rush, he eventually came across a large problem half a day later.

He encountered two wood spirits with purple belts. One was tall and sturdy while the other was slender. They appeared to be a man and a woman.

Behind the two were four wood ape beasts that were twenty meters tall. They had silver fur and large yellow rods in hand.

The four wood apes had bright eyes and looked at Han Li with intelligence, giving Han Li the impression that they were dangerous. In fact, Han Li felt about the same threat from them as the two wood spirits.

These purple grade wood spirits were equivalent to Deity Transformation-stage cultivators and wouldnt be easy to deal with.

Now that Han Li is at the edge of the Black Leaves Forest, he wanted to immediately leave and avoid any battles. However, the wood spirits and apes were looking at him with an air of hostility, and Han Lis face turned ice cold.

Suddenly, he slapped the back of his head. A large wave of grey light suddenly soared to the sky, circling once before turning into a grey ring at least a hundred meters wide. It whirled once in the air and attracted the attention of his opponents.

Meanwhile, his other sleeve stirred as he silently summoned seventy-two small swords and sent them off in every direction.

He first planned on using the Divine Essensefused Light to occupy them. Then, the Aureate Sword Formation would exterminate them.

…

Meanwhile, Xiao Hong was floating in midair with a pale complexion. She was staring at several green blurs that appeared.

The three were wood spirits that wore purple belts!

…

Off in a different direction, Long Dongs golden light continued to fly. A pure golden wood ape was carrying a huge black axe chasing after him. Rainbow light continued to wander around its body as it chased after him like a shooting star.

Most of the five-clawed golden dragon phantom had already dispersed. However, when he looked at the ferocious gold-furred wood ape chasing after him, he showed no intention of fighting him and continued to rush forward.

In a few hundred kilometers, he would soon arrive at the edge of the forest.

…

A white streak let out a piercing whistle as it tore through the air. A few kilometers behind her, a silver light closely chased after her. The two streaks intermittently flashed and they soon arrived several kilometers away.

The white streak hadnt been able to shake off the silver light and the silver light wasnt able to catch up to the white streak.

The two lights continued to flutter as they rushed out of the forest and into the distance.

…

As Han Li floated in the air, he saw the countless golden threads from the sword formation condense in a ball. Eventually, it reached the last of the silver-haired wood apes and easily tore it into pieces. He then let out a sigh and held his hands together in a spell gesture. He uttered, Withdraw.

Several hundred golden lights suddenly appeared from the air and let out a clear ring. In a bright flash, they returned to their forms as seventy-two small swords.

The sword quickly spun around him and quickly shot into his sleeve.

Then with a tremble of his sleeve, the swords vanished.

At the very heart of where the sword formation used to be, there was a mist of blood that had yet to disperse. гeewebnovl.com

Han Li blinked. The genuine Aureate Sword Formation formed with the seventy-two swords were far more deadly than he anticipated. In a moment of surprise, he trapped the two purple-grade wood spirits and four troublesome silver wood apes. The sword formation released golden threads that easily slew them without the slightest resistance.

When he recalled Long Dong mention Qing Yuanzi, a Spatial Tempering cultivator, was able to use a grand sword formation to block a Body Integration-stage cultivator, it appeared he was telling the truth.

With that in mind, he didnt stay there for any longer. With the flying swords put away, he quickly headed off to the edge of the forest.

An hour later, Han Li finally arrived at the edge.

When he was fifty kilometers outside the forest, he immediately placed a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman on his body.

Suddenly, his body turned to void.

When he saw this, he let out a massive sigh of relief. Afterwards, he suddenly changed direction.

Not long after he departed, two yellow streaks arrived from behind him. Their light disappeared to reveal two wood spirits wearing yellow orange belts.

The two were the wood spirits that originally accompanied the silver-tier wood spirit. The white-robed woman had used a high-grade technique to trap them.

They circled the location where Han Li originally stopped and whispered to one another. After finally making sure there were no further tracks of Han Li, they could only resentfully return.

Han Li couldnt have known that his careful actions had allowed him to escape calamity.

Otherwise, two Spatial Tempering-grade orange belt wood spirits wouldve started pursuing him. It wouldve been impossible for him to safely escape them.

After flying for myriad more kilometers, Han Li became certain that he had escaped the wood tribes pursuit and he pinched his hands together. Suddenly, talisman characters flashed from his body and his body returned to normal. At that same time, a ball of spiritual light flew off from his body and turned into the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

He waved the talisman between two of his fingers and made it vanish.

Then, he carefully looked around him before carefully landing on a small mountain. He began to ponder with a sullen face.

At that moment, he felt rather gloomy.

The wood tribe beings destroyed the jade slip in a moment of surprise. Could it be he had failed the mission? In that case, he wouldnt be able to acquire his needed Earth Cleansing Pills. Wouldnt he need to return to Deep Heaven City?

No! Whoever suddenly retrained the silver-tier wood spirit was clearly the spy the humans and demons had placed in the wood tribe. In that case, the jade slip mightve not been genuine. Perhaps information on the wood tribe is still on their body. So long as he finds this person, the mission will be complete.

With that, he suddenly sensed a glimmer of hope.

He seems he would have to find the white-robed young woman. Now, how would he find her?

Han Lis face stirred and a strange smile appeared on his face.

His sleeve trembled and a transparent ball shot out. It circled him and turned into a palm-sized leopard.

It was the Leopard Kirin Beast.

The beast glanced at Han Li with its adorable green eyes and let out a soft purr.

Without speaking, a light flashed from his hand and he summoned an azure spell plate. He chanted a few words and he swiped the plate through the air.

Suddenly, a pea-sized white light flew out from the plate. It floated half a foot high from the plate and silently kept still.

Han Li whistled and waved his hand at the small beast.

The Leopard Kirin yawned and remained still as if it were lazy.

Han Li was dumbfounded. On the way to the wood forest, he let the beast mingle with the Weeping Soul beast for a few days. Could it be that it adopted the Weeping Soul Beasts sleepy nature?

However, now was not the time to bother with this. He stroked his hand past his storage bracelet and took out a small green bottle. He poured out a scarlet medicine pill and tossed it at the leopard.

The lethargic leopard kirin immediately felt its spirit roused and it left an afterimage as it pounced into the air and swallowed the medicine pill. It wagged its tail as it purred and fawned over Han Li as if to get another.

Without speaking, Han Li pointed at the spell plates white light.

Without needing to speak, he passed over his thoughts to the beast through spiritual sense.

The small beast stirred without any further hesitation. In a moment, it strangely appeared on top of the spell plate and looked at the white dot several times. It tilted its head and then swallowed it.

In the wood spirits fright, green light flashed from their bodies as they summoned wood armor, shields, or green mist to block the crimson threads.

But the crimson threads pierced through their defenses as if they were passing through air and burrowed into their bodies.

The wood spirits glowed crimson and were then captured in a crimson net, rendered incapable of moving.

At that same moment, the sword Qi that Han Li used to chop the ancient tree had turned into two faintly golden blurs, chopping towards the silver-tier wood spirit, Mu Rui.

Mu Rui coldly snorted and pointed at them.

Two silver lights flashed as they streaked forward to meet the golden blurs.

Muffled clangs sounded and the golden blurs ruptured in countless golden specks. The specks then covered Mu Rui.

Then as the ground roared, a spell formation made of golden talisman characters suddenly lit up around Mu Rui. Its radiant glow covered the high-grade wood spirits in balls of light.

The purple light in Mu Ruis eyes withdrew. He closed his hands together and balls of silver light appeared from his palms. Afterwards, countless silver streaks erupted.

A rumbling explosion sounded. Silver light and golden talisman characters intertwined. The golden talisman characters possessed some sort of odd ability that allowed them to block the strikes of the silver-tier wood spirit. Only a small portion of the talisman characters was dispersed.

Mu Rui felt furious at the sight of his attacks being ineffective.

Without another thought, silver light appeared from his hands and condensed balls of silver light that were even more dazzling than the last.

But at that moment, all of the wood spirits, Mu Rui included, were completely enveloped by the golden light. Although Han Li and Long Dong were astonished, they werent about to continue a battle to the death. They each used their own life-saving measures to immediately fly away.

Xiao Hong clutched her hands in an incantation gesture and her body sank towards the ground, instantly turning into a beautiful phoenix wrapped in black flames. She charged at the army of wood apes and turned their bodies and weapons to ash as she brushed past them.

In the blink of an eye, the phoenix traveled over three hundred meters.

Long Dongs expression turned harsh and he swallowed a rainbow medicine pill. Soon after, he chanted an incantation and summoned a set of winged armor on his body.

The wing spread out and a golden dragon phantom appeared from the armor.

The dragon let loose a long cry and circled once around Long Dong before entering his body.

Soon after, golden light brightly shined from the blood-marked youth and he tore through the sky in a thirty-meter-long golden streak. The image of a soaring five-claw dragon could faintly be seen in the golden light. Anything that obstructed the light turned into a cloud of blood and gore.

Like their abrupt world-shaking speed, Han L silently put his own technique into action. He unfolded a pair of azure and white wings in a clap of thunder.

He opened his mouth and spat out several crimson blood mists. They spiralled around his body before submerging his entire body in the blood mist.

The blood mist pulsed several times and shrunk, releasing a crimson streak. It blinked several times and appeared in the vast horizon, making his way past the wood ape beasts as if he were a host.

Then in another flash, Han Lis crimson figure disappeared once more.

At Deity Transformation stage, Han Lis Bloodshadow Evasion was several times quicker than even Long Dongs and Xiao Hongs movements.

When the two looked at Han Li, they couldnt help but be dumbstruck.

As for the young white-robed woman, she waved her hand and summoned a sparkling red broken blade. Without making any flashy movements, she simply waved the blade in the direction where the wood apes were the most concentrated.

All of the worldly essence Qi in the vicinity trembled and crimson blade light over three hundred meters long and leisurely traveled through the air.

The blade light inspired an uproar at the wood apes that were targetted. They all thought to flee in their terror.

But before the wood apes could flee, their bodies trembled and they combusted, instantly turning to bursts of red flame, soon turning to ash.

A clear path was now made where the apes had been.

Before the huge blade light touched anything, it had strangely disappeared.

At that moment, a fist-sized green flame bird shot out from the bottom portion of the damaged tree that hid the jade slip. It flew into the young womans body in a green streak.

The white-robed young woman was overjoyed when she heard this. Her body disappeared in a blur. Then she appeared in the direction of the opened passage in a flash. Then, in another blur, she reappeared at the end of the cleared passage.

Afterwards, she turned into a white streak as she tore through the air. The flight light was indistinct, but over the span of a few breaths, she already made her way past the horizon.

The speed of her flight seemed no different than Han Lis Bloodshadow Evasion.

At that moment, Mu Ruis silver light suddenly burst forth from the formation of golden talisman characters.

The silver light was clearly more powerful than before. In a single strike, most of the golden talisman characters had scattered with only a remaining few revolving around him.

The wood spirits face turned expressionless, but a purple light wildly flickered from his eyes. Suddenly, he raised his head and a series of clear screeches sounded.

At that moment, the wood ape beasts stirred and they immediately turned into several clouds, each chasing after one of the cultivators.

Meanwhile, in the distant areas of the other Black Leaves Forest, a similar screech was sounded.

Han Li hadnt used the Bloodshadow Evasion to travel far. Once he saw no more beasts in sight, he withdrew the crimson light and continued to fly as an azure streak.

Even so, his face had still become bloodlessly pale.

It appeared that two consecutive uses of the Bloodshadow Evasion took a heavy toll on his vitality.

But when he thought of the possibility of being pursued by silver-tier wood spirits, he didnt dare to be careless. Those wood spirits were equivalent to Body Integration-stage cultivators. Despite the confidence in his heaven-defying abilities, there was far too great a difference in their realms. He didnt dare to hope he could win, even if it was a lower silver-tier being.

Were it not for the hidden people who assisted them and used a secret technique to restrict the silver-tier wood spirit, he feared they wouldnt have had the opportunity to flee.

However, it was clear that the golden talisman restriction wouldnt hold them for long. Thus, they hurriedly fled. As it was possible any of them could be pursued by the silver grade wood spirit, he didnt dare to linger.

Although he couldnt use the Bloodshadow Evasion again, the Thunderstorm Wings on his back continued to flack. With each flash, his speed abruptly increased. With a dozen more, his speed would be equivalent to a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

But even so, Han Li didnt dare to turn around and focused on moving forward as quickly as he could.

Winds tore from beneath him and soon after, several gales shot towards him at immense speed.

Han Lis expression sank and his flight came to a sudden stop.

Three azure light appeared from underneath him, each of them only a meter away from his body.

If Han Li hadnt stopped, he feared he wouldve been skewered.

The three azure lights circled in the air and they turned into three wood tribe beings. All of them blocked his way forward.

Han Li swept his sights at the three and discovered they wore faint yellow belts at their waist and he felt relief.

They were only equivalent to Nascent Soul cultivators. He had no need to worry. freewbne.com

Unwilling to use his various treasures, he simply flapped his wings and he shot forward in azure-white lightning.

The speed of lightning was instantaneous. He arrived in front of the center wood spirit in a blur.

The wood spirit didnt show any emotion, but purple light quickly circled from its eyes. Then, it fearlessly stabbed its wood spear into Han Lis abdomen.

Before the spear touched him, countless azure thorns ruptured from it, wanting to turn Han Li into a pincushion.

Han Lis eyes godly glinted and golden light flashed from his hands, instantly covering his body in transparent golden scales. The azure thorns clanged and bounced off upon impact, leaving no damage.

Then, his arms strangely reached out and grabbed the tip spear. The wood spirit tried to pull it back with all its might, but the spear didnt move in the slightest.

Azure Qi lit up from the wood spirits face and then it released the spear, quickly fleeing back like a shooting star.

However, Han Lis other hand suddenly burst forward as sharp cracks sounded from it. It instantly arrived at the wood spirits chest and sank his fingers through like a sword.

A clear ring sounded. The wood spirits body was torn like paper by Han Lis powerful strength. Then, he tore out a faint yellow crystal from the wood spirits body.

This entire attack only took a single instant.

When the other two wood spirits saw this, they let out a strange screech. They spat out a yellow mist and waved their spears, creating countless phantoms to surround Han Li.

Han Li sneered and twisted his arms, wanting to use them to battle.

But something outside his expectations occurred.

With one hand in the wood spirits body and the other grasping the spear, green light brightly shined from the wood spirits body and he feels an inconceivable attractive force.

His hands blurred, and soon, he found he couldnt move them in the slightest.

In that slight delay, yellow mist instantly covered his face and countless phantoms released azure streaks at him.

Han Lis face strangely twisted and his lips moved as if he were about to say something.

Suddenly, golden light brightly shined from his body. Four indistinct golden arms suddenly appeared through the ribs of a few of the phantoms.

From a distance, the hill looked ordinary as if there were no changes to it at all, but it was actually just an illusion.

Han Li was standing on the hill, right in front of the half-charred ancient tree.

When Han Li looked at it, he recalled what Long Dong and Xiao Hong had mentioned.

According to what they said, if it was possible, they could meet a spy planted by the humans and demons and receive information that was difficult to record. But if it was too dangerous, and they personally couldnt make the trip, the spy could be disregarded.

Now that he swept his spiritual sense past the area, it appeared that no one had come.

In this case, the assignment was actually quite simple. So long as he removes the item, the mission will be considered complete for him.

With that decided, Han Li extended his finger and swiped it at the ancient tree.

A crackle sounded and an azure sword streak shot forward, cleaving the tree into two.

It contained a white jade slip there.

Han Lis face lit up with joy and he reached out for it, summoning it into his hand.

At that moment, a muffled sound traveled through the air. A golden light suddenly pierced through the illusion, directly shooting towards the jade slip.

Han Lis face slightly changed. Without another thought, azure light flashed from his hand. A hand of azure light appeared in the air and swiped at the golden light.

A sweet giggle sound from the golden light. It broke through the azure hand like it was an illusion. The jade slip that was flying in Han Lis direction stopped and a faint white blur appeared to the side. She raised her hand and nimble took the jade slip.

Fellow Daoist Ye! Han Li narrowed his eyes, recognizing the true figure wrapped in white light. It was Ye Ying, the young white-robed woman.

Brother Han. It appears youve arrived here smoothly and easily. The young woman flipped the jade slip in her hand and chuckled.

What do you mean? Did Fairy Ye encounter trouble on her way here? When I left the Southern Skyline and arrived at the edge of the forest, I waited for you all for a while and I received no messages. What happened to you? Han Li asked with an odd expression.

Its quite simple. Fellow Daoist Long and I encountered a group of wind wyrms in the skyline. We had no choice but to split off. To escape them, we had no choice but to change direction. There were a few other problems along the way. That is why you didnt see us. The young woman sweetly smiled with significant grace.

Han Li felt his heart tremble. He faintly made out something from her words.

Just as he was about to ask her something, a green light flashed from the sky and charged towards them. The light faded away to reveal a man and a woman.

They were Long Dong and Xiao Hong.

Its you!

As expected, you arrived here first!

The two spoke with a tone of surprise.

When Xiao Hong saw Han Lis unharmed appearance, she revealed a trace of surprise, but when Long Dong saw the white-robed woman, he revealed joy.

The white-robed woman looked at the two and casually said, So it was Brother Long and Fellow Daoist Ye. I wasnt fast, you were just slow.

Did Lady Ye already grab ahold of the item? Long Dong glanced at the young womans hand and wore a mysterious smile.

Xiao Hong glanced at the jade slip in the white-robed womans hand and her expression faintly changed.

The young woman let out a bright laugh and leisurely said, Thats right. I have it in my hand. In truth, Fellow Daoist Han came here first, but I was still a step ahead of you two.

Xiao Hong paused for a second and suddenly asked, Brother Han, was there only one jade slip here?

Han Lis heart stirred, but he nodded with a calm expression.

Xiao Hong fell silent upon hearing Han Lis answer, Long Dong looked at the white-robed woman silently, and the white-robed woman simply looked down while fiddling with the jade slip in her hand.

For a time, silence filled the air. The heavy atmosphere was an omen for a coming storm.

Xiao Hongs expression relaxed and she wore a pleasant face. She asked, Junior Sister Ye, could you let me take a look at the jade slip? The spies we sent to the wood tribe included those from my clan. Perhaps they have some information for my clan.

The white-robed woman pursed her lips and then sweetly smiled, Im afraid I cant. Ill be open and say that the spies had people from my Ye Clan as well. Why dont I take a look at it first and then tell you about it?

Xiao Hongs expression vastly changed and her smile froze. Her gaze became sullen.

Long Dong calmly said, Since you already have it, we shouldnt stay here for much longer. Lets hurry away and talk about it when we leave the forest.

I agree. The white-robed woman said.

Xiao Hongs lip stirred but she raised no objections.

Han Li naturally agreed as well. The young woman smiled and her bright eyes flickered around. Just as she was about to put away the jade slip, a silver streak shot out of the ancient tree behind her. It quickly and silently streaked towards the center of her back.

Although the white-robed woman was faced around, she snorted and her body stirred. Her body grew vague and she disappeared.

A moment later, she appeared over thirty meters away, but there was a silver streak that shot then shot up from the ground.

This time, the young womans expression faintly changed.

Her shoulder suddenly blurred and she shot ten meters to the side as if there were a spring underneath her, allowing her to avoid the attack.

But at that moment, the sound of tearing air blew past her.

A near indistinct line of transparent line shot out of a sprace nearby her. The target wasnt the young woman, but the jade slip in her hand.

Alarmed, the young woman suddenly pulled back her hand, but she was too late.

Bang! The jade slip immediately ruptured, turning into countless shards. In the young womans fury, her face warped and she grabbed ahold of the transparent line and fiercely pulled it towards her.

Clang. She dragged out a huge transparent beetle out from the void.

This insect was a meter-long and resembled a huge silkworm, but there were a pair of cicada wings on its back. It fluttered for its life to break free. The end of it that spouted out the thread seemed to be its mouth.

At that moment, the young woman pulled, keeping the insect there.

In the instant the jade slip was destroyed, Han Li and the others were blank in surprise.

At nearly the same time, the remaining ancient trees lit up in green light. Soon after, the ancient trees hollow images were dissolved to be replaced with several green silhouettes. It appeared as if they were born from the trees.

A towering silhouette swept their gaze past Han Li and spoke human words in a harsh tone, Hehe, I didnt expect that it was hidden there. If you werent guiding us, we wouldnt have found it. Our clan wont have to worry about later consequences.

Han Li glanced at the figures appearance and his eyes narrowed.

The person resembled a human, but their skin was green and their eyes were purple. Other than that, they appeared human. Two of the slender figures resembled women.

These silhouettes were wood tribe beings.

What was most astonishing to Han Li was the orange belt they wore at their waist around their long robes.

The belt of the towering being was yellow orange with a silver stripe.

According to what he knew of their grades, Han Li felt his heart plummet.

A silver tier! Youre a silver tier tree spirit! When they recognized the towering figures belt, the young womans expression turned unsightly.

I am the lower silver tier spirit master Mu Rui. Since youve arrived here, there is no need to leave. Allow my clan to welcome you! The towering figure spoke expressionlessly and waved his hand.

The other orange belted tree beings crouched down and placed their hands against the ground.

A layer of green light suddenly shot out from the hill in every direction at inconceivable speeds.

Han Li and the white-robed woman immediately took off from the ground without another thought.

A huge rumbling sound shook the air and the illusion restriction Han Li placed down was effortlessly destroyed.

Once the illusion was dispersed, the hills surroundings were made clear.

Wherever the green light passed, green trees would turn into towering furred beasts. They had a variety of weapons on hand. Their fur had many differing colors as well. There were even monstrous winds that blew into the sky.

Upon closer inspection, there were several thousands of beasts that densely surrounded the hill.

Long Dong and Xiao Hongs face turned bloodlessly pale.

Han Li wryly smiled. Only the white-robed woman sullenly glared at Mu Rui. It was unknown what she was thinking.

Mu Rui wore a stiff expression, but he spoke with a derisive tone, These are the Tree Ape Beasts that our tribe spent a thousand years researching. If you looked through that jade slip, you shouldve had information about them, but now…

Attack! freebovel.com

An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded. Before Han Li and the others realized what was happening, the white-robed young woman suddenly opened her mouth and released a crimson blood light. Suddenly, it turned into several threads and directly shot towards the wood spirits excluding the silver-tier wood spirit.

At first glance, the two huge beasts appeared to be giant apes. But their green fur was exceptionally long and they had three black eyes. They were continuously flickering around out of vigilance.

Han Li calmly observed them as they walked past. After they were farther away, he blurred and arrived at a distant tree.

When he watched them disappear, a trace of bewilderment appeared on his face.

The two patrolling beasts werent wood tribe beings. Why would they appear in the forest? They were intelligent as they were carrying huge copper prongs.

Could it be another unknown tribe?

After some thought, Han Li couldnt help but shake his head.

According to what he knew, the wood tribe was extremely xenophobic. They wouldnt allow other foreign tribes to boldly strut in their territory. Could it be beasts of war bred by the wood tribe? Han Li thought.

So-called beasts of war were spirit beasts of another name. Like humans and demons, through secret techniques these foreign tribes were able to control spirit beasts. Other foreign tribes understood they could put ancient beasts to their own devices after training them with medicine or anything else.

Of course, various races had differing talents. The beasts they could train and control differed. Not all of them could tame the same beasts.

The shadow tribes two-headed Shen Beast was a powerful war beast exclusive to their tribe. He also reckoned only the shadow tribe had a method of taming it.

As for the wood tribe, he wasnt aware that they had any war beasts. Could this be a new development?

Han Li held curious thoughts for half a day before eventually putting the matter away.

Since the two beasts with long green fur passed him by without discovering him, he reckoned, they would be the king to have thick flesh and skin. He had nothing to fear.

As a result, Han Lis body blurred and he vanished.

…

A day later, below a huge tree in the forest, Han Li was sullenly looking at eight long-furred beasts in front of him.

They were different from the two ape-like beasts he had seen before. Not only were their bodies smaller by half, but their bodies were fire-red and their furred hands carried sparkling black wolf fangs, not copper prongs.

These eight huge beasts were all glaring at Han Li with bared fangs.

Han Li smirked.

Originally, he believed the beasts to have extremely dim spiritual senses. But when the pack of beasts brushed past him, they discovered him hiding behind a tree and immediately surrounded him.

Han Li looked at the black-lit third eye on the beasts forehead and frowned. He faintly sensed something.

When he saw those green-haired beasts, their third eye was closed.

At that moment, the eight red beasts let out a roar and leaped at him. They fiercely waved their fangs.

Their fangs immediately lit up in a layer of green light released fierce winds in Han Lis direction.

Han Li raised his brow but showed no intention of blocking them. He simply waved his sleeve.

Eight small golden swords appeared and they blurred, quickly coiling around each of the beasts.

Pfff. Their heads rolled off like cabbages.

When the eight swords trembled and returned to Han Li, the corpses were already pooling their green blood on the ground.

Han Li waved his other sleeve at the corpses and released fireballs upon each of the corpses.

In a few crackles, the bodies immediately turned to ash.

With that done, Han Li expressionlessly blurred and he left a string of afterimages as he headed deeper into the forest.

But not long after he left, two green streaks appeared on a huge tree near what had happened. They were two foot-long green eyes. The green eyes emotionlessly looked around and stared in the direction that Han Li disappeared.

In an area myriad of kilometers away, under the concealment of other unremarkable trees, another pair of green eyes opened.

The pair of green eyes silently stared at the air three hundred meters away. A man and a woman were standing shoulder to shoulder. The man wore green robes while the woman wore black robes. They were Long Dong and Xiao Hong.

The two were communicating something through voice transmission. On the ground near them, there were a dozen green and red-furred beasts.

Brother Long, those creatures seem weak, but they can see through our concealment techniques. My Illusion Haze Flag is supposed to conceal me even from similar grade cultivators. Xiao Hong said through voice transmission.

With a trace of bewilderment on his face, Long Dong replied, It should have something to do with their third eye. Beasts that are born with multiple eyes tend to carry particular abilities. In that case, we should be careful.

That is most likely it. Lets go. We need to catch up with that girl. Otherwise, itll fall into her hands. She said with a sullen face.

Long Dong strangely smiled and eerily said, Hehe! I didnt expect you and that girl to take on this assignment with a secret plan. It is a pity the item has little value to our Long Clan. However, Fairy should forget about our previous agreement. The item goes to you, but she goes to me.

Xiao Hong snorted and said, Although I am also interested in her Heavenly Phoenix Blood, the item is significant in the eyes of the clan. I know what is more important.

Hehe, thats good. Lets go! Long Dong chuckled.

After the two blurred, they disappeared.

Off in another direction, a strange white image was quickly shooting past the forest floor. It was travelling at unbelievable speeds.

…

The Black Leaves Forest was a secretive place with many layers of restrictions. Under a silver tree that paled in size to the rest of the rest, several dark figures were sitting cross-legged. One of them suddenly opened their eyes, revealing dark green eyes that shined with golden light. It let out short strange cries.

The other figures opened their eyes as well. Among them was a figure that was far taller than the others. It let out a dignified tone as if it were asking something.

The figure that first screeched immediately crouched down and began to respectfully. answer.

With that done, the towering figure uttered a string of commands.

The others immediately rose and surrounded the small tree.

The towering figure let out a roar and pointed at the small tree next to him. A green light suddenly shot out and entered the tree.

Suddenly, the silver tree trembled and several silver eyes opened from it. At the same time, it released several bowl-sized silver beams of light, striking each of the figures.

When the beams of light struck them, their bodies grew vague and they disappeared.

…

Han Li naturally was unaware of what was happening in other parts of the forest. He was stealthily traveling.

His path forward became extraordinarily smooth. Apart from occasionally encountering long-furred beasts, he didnt see anything else, wood tribe beings included.

While this was cause for joy, Han Li couldnt help but feel somewhat suspicious.

But after a brief thought, he believed this to be nothing out of the ordinary, given the grand size of the forest.

And as the assignment was the key to his much needed Earth Cleansing Pills, he couldnt abandon the mission now that he was this deep into the forest.

So even with a trace of unease in his mind, Han Li continued forward with a somewhat cautious attitude.

…

Two days later, Han Li stopped on top of a thin tree branch. His body seemed to weigh nothing more than a calm wind. He looked at a three hundred meter tall hill not far away.

There were sparsely any trees or vegetation on the hill. All the trees were ancient as well.

Han Li stared at the hill for a long while before flipping his hand, summoning pitch-black triangular spell disc.

The heart of the spell plate flickered with white light.

He lowered his head to look at the plate for a moment and then looked at the hill in the distance. He then struck the plate with an azure spell seal.

Black light suddenly lit up from it and a white light speck flew out and circled the plate. It released a thin white thread, pointing at an ancient tree on the hill.

Han Lis eyes stirred.

The ancient tree indicated was half shriveled. It was over a hundred meters tall and its surface was scorched black as if it were struck by lightning. The bottom half of the tree was yellow and its roots were green.

Han Li looked at it for a moment and narrowed his eyes. He slowly released his spiritual sense and examined his surroundings.

A short while later, he opened his eyes and wore a trace of relief.

He was alone.

Han Li didnt immediately set off. He narrowed his eyes in thought, deciding to wave his sleeve first. He summoned several balls that shimmered silver and opened his mouth to spit out fist-sized silver firebirds.

The birds circled his body and turned a foot long. They flew into his palm and consumed each of the silver beads. Then in the flash, they burrowed into the ground.

With that done, Han Li swept his hand over his storage bracelet, producing a set of azure spell flags. He wordlessly tossed them in front of him.

Eight green streaks shot out and disappeared all around the hill.

Han Lie continued, forming a hand gesture and softly uttering an incantation.

A layer of green light surrounded the hill, but soon, Han Li commanded it with a spell seal, and it turned invisible with a few flashes.

When Han Li saw this, he sighed and he leaped off. Blurring several times before arriving at the edge of the hill.

In a green flash, he disappeared.

Han Li didnt react to their words. His eyes simply glowed blue as his gaze penetrated the dense sandstorm. He was able to see into the far distance.

Fifty kilometers away, an inconceivable omen suddenly appeared.

At the very edge of the vast horizon, he saw a black sky, yellow earth, and a white line right in between. The white line seemed to have no end and stretched out as far as the eye could see.

But as it was too far away, the image was vague.

Han Li raised his brow and the spirit light faded from his eyes.

At that moment, the party resumed their flight and headed towards the omen marked area.

A short moment later, the party saw something strange.

Originally, the black mist roiled in the sky and yellow winds stormed below it. A huge channel of white light appeared where they touched. Then, the black mist and the yellow winds parted to reveal a crack. No matter how much the black mist and yellow sands blew into the crack, it all vanished as if they entered an abyss.

Thats the Southern Skyline? How interesting! The young white-robed woman smiled at the sight.

Long Dong examined the scene for a moment and sullenly said, Lets go. The sandstorm is at its weakest. If we wait a few more days, well have to spend great effort just to make it to the entrance.

Soon after, he flipped his hand and a fist-sized azure bead appeared in his hand.

He flicked his finger and the bead spun before shrinking several times.

Long Dong then swallowed it.

The others took out a similar bead and swallowed it in the same method.

A layer of strange light surrounded their bodies and soon a whistling gale brushed past them. When they touched the lustrous light, the gales seemed to vanish.

They were Wind Steadying Beads that the upper echelon of Deep Heaven City had specially prepared for them.

Without any further consideration, the party already took off, arriving three kilometers away from the skyline. Without using any of their flight light, an invisible force suddenly appeared around them. Several streaks of light flashed as they were pulled into the crack.

Once Han Li entered the crack, he felt the attractive force relax and felt that his freedom was restored. However, countless white wind blades then appeared and he heard sharp icy screeches. Inside the crack, the huge winds were incredibly harsh.

Were it not for the wind beads they consumed, they would immediately release their magic treasure to protect themselves.

This wouldve consumed quite some magic power.

Now, the wind blades disappeared upon contact with the lustrous light.

Han Li swept his gaze around him and discovered that his spiritual sense wasnt able to leave his body. He could only use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to look three hundred meters around him. As for the others, they had disappeared from his perimeter.

He frowned. Without any hesitation, the light around him glowed brightly and he shot forward in an azure streak, disappearing into the storm.

Several days later, the entrance to the skyline suddenly flashed with light and two streaks of light flew into it.

The light faded away to reveal two embroidered-robed middle-aged cultivators.

They were dressed similarly and there was a purple band worn on their heads. A shining light radiated from their eyes. Upon closer inspection, the two had faces that somewhat resemble Long Dong. However, one of them was rather pale while the other had torn robes as if they had gone through a battle.

The two carefully examined the huge crack and they spoke in voice transmission. They then entered the crack in each others embrace.

Not long after, a crimson shadow entered the sand storm, but it stopped in front of the skyline. It resentfully let out howls of rage as it flew in circles before it returned.

Soon, there was no one else that appeared apart from howling winds.

…

Several months later, on the top of a small green mountain, Han Li stood alone on a huge stone. He was looking off to the distance.

About ten kilometers away from the small mountain, there was a giant endless forest.

The forest was odd in truth. Regardless of the type of tree, their leaves would carry a few black designs. From a distance, it caused all the leaves to appear black and green.

The location was Han Lis objective. It was the location of the Wood Tribes farthest border, the Black Leaves Forest.

After looking at it for a long while, Han Li withdrew his gaze and frowned in thought.

His passage through the Southern Skyline had taken much time, but it went smoothly. He encountered no surprises.

However, the other three had yet to arrive, leaving him somewhat worried. They were either lost or they encountered mishaps. He emerged from the skyline several days before and hadnt encountered anyone since.

After cautious deliberation, he decided to no longer wait and bluntly tread forward.

On the way, he did encounter a few small problems, even exterminating several waves of low-grade tree beings before arriving at the mountain.

Before this, the blood-marked youth and Xiao Hong had already given them the details of their assignment.

Han Li clearly understood what he had to do.

According to what was said, the people that were dispatched to the Wood Tribe, Han Li included, were of high status. Their purpose was to conceal themselves deeply in the Black Leaves forest and collect information as they remained hidden. Afterward, they would observe the movements of the Wood Tribe and see if there were any large movements.

The mission sounded simple, but half of the danger was making it to the Wood Tribe territory through the wilderness. The other danger was to remain undetected in the Black Leaves Forest.

Of the surrounding tribes, the Wood Tribe had the least contact with humans. They would only know what was happening with the Wood Tribe from what they gathered from Black Leaves Forest. The humans and demons needed information on them or they wouldnt dare to wage war on them.

Han Li quietly waited there for a month and saw no others had come. The deadline to start the assignment was drawing closer and closer.

With the deadline running close and the possible encounter with trouble, he could no longer stay there.

Han Li pondered for a long while before he raised his head to look at the distant sky.

It was the four suns that have been shining for three months. Soon, the sky would become dark.

According to his information, the Wood Tribe beings innately lacked their five senses. When they came into contact with enemies, they relied on their spiritual awareness. As such, the high-grade cultivators that gave them this assignment gave them a suggestion. When they entered the Black Leaves Forest, it would be best to move during night and stay hidden by day. It was safer that way.

Han Li took another look at the distant forest and eventually resolved himself. Regardless of whether the others would arrive, he was determined to unlock the bottle of Earth Cleansing Pills. He feared he would have to finish the mission alone.

Having resolved himself, Han Li immediately sat down on the rock and closed his eyes. Several hours later, the sky turned dim. Han Li waited until the forest was dark and silent like a predator lying in wait.

Han Li opened his eyes and suddenly shot forward in a burst of light. Then in a flash, the light became lightlessly dim.

He formed an incantation gesture and his body turned into a blur as if he were only an illusion.

In truth, Han Li already employed a concealment technique by the time he was in the air. Under the cover of night, he slowly made his way forward.

Tens of kilometers away, Han Li flew as quietly as he could. An hour later, he appeared at the edge of the forest.

With the forests endless expanse, it was impossible for him to make his way past every location with Wood Tribe beings. However, Han Li didnt dare to take the risk.

Normally, it is said that inside the Wood Tribe beings sphere of influence, there was always a Dream Sifting Spirit Tree.

This was the Wood Tribes sole protective tree. It had a range of control and commanded a number of other trees. It also possessed various other inconceivable abilities.

Of course, each Dream Sifting Tree had a different sized area they could monitor and a different number of trees they could command.

The Dream Sifting Trees in the Black Leaves Forest was already made certain by the scouts of Deep Heaven City.

Because Black Leaves Forest was at the very border of the Wood Tribes lands, the Dream Sifting Trees were particularly alert and had wide monitoring areas, filling various places in the forest. But on the other hand, the Dream Sifting Trees didnt control a large number of trees. Also, they could only perceive existences at Spatial Tempering stage and above.

Of course, if there was a foreign tribe that dared to brazenly fly above the forest and escaped notice by the Dream Sifting Trees, there would be other Wood Tribe beings that would sense them.

Therefore, Han Li not only completely concealed his aura, but an empty shadow always appeared wherever his feet touched the ground. As soon as he entered the forest, he was an invisible blur.

With the overbearing power of Han Lis flesh body, he used the Nine Gale Transformations and the Smoke Sifting Steps together to become a ghost-like existence.

He appeared to flicker in appearance with every step and treat fifty kilometers deep into the forest in the blink of an eye.

As Han Li heard the winds whistling through his eyes, he calmly pondered.

According to the mission details, if everything goes smoothly, he would arrive at the determined location in three days. So long as he acquired the information, the mission was already mostly complete. Finding out further information on the Wood Tribe was only supplementary. In truth, it wouldnt be a problem if he did nothing more at that point.

He briefly stopped and blurred, strangely disappearing from atop a large tree.

Meanwhile, heavy footsteps sounded from his front and slowly approached his direction.

It seemed to be a giant creature.

At that moment, Han Li already concealed himself in exceptionally dense foliage and remained absolutely still.

A moment later, two thirty-meter-tall green ape-like beasts boldly passed by, each of them carrying a huge copper prong.

Han Li felt gloomy.

The original joy he felt from witnessing the Gold Devouring Beetless strength was mostly gone.

Although he had eight thousand fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles, if he released the lot of them, he feared his spiritual sense would run dry before his beetles confronted the enemy.

Bafflingly enough, the beetles had no drain on his spiritual sense when they werent fully matured.

This left him perplexed.

He couldnt ignore this sudden development. He would have to find what caused this at the very least.

Otherwise, he wouldnt dare to use the beetles in battle.

With that in mind, he waved at the beetle.

The beetle circled in the air before landing on his palm.

He released a thread of spiritual sense and wrapped it around the beetle. As a result, he found nothing out of the ordinary.

He took a shallow breath and narrowed his eyes in thought. Suddenly, something came to mind and he waved his hand. The beetle flew back into the air and he wrapped his spiritual sense around it once more.

A short moment later, his face vastly changed.

The spiritual sense that coiled around the beetles body became gradually weaker and continued to enter the huge beetles body.

Han Li now realized everything.

The reason why his spiritual sense was decreasing was that the mature Gold Devouring Beetles were expelling it as they flew. It was no wonder why his spiritual sense was worn to such a degree without any knowledge.

Know that he knew the problem, he frowned in thought for a long while and felt that he couldnt come up with a good answer.

Although the exhaustion of his spiritual sense was only temporary, typically recoverable with a days rest, it would be fatal if this occurred in battle.

Regardless of the secret technique or magic treasure, they needed large quantities of spiritual sense to sustain them.

Until he could figure out a method to resolve this, he would keep the beetles as a reserve measure.

However, the sight of the beetles alone was enough to scare away the crimson shadow. Even in the spirit world, the Gold Devouring Beetles possessed a truly infamous reputation.

The exotic insect ranking he acquired from the Devil Dao cultivator in the mortal world was no longer relevant in Han Lis eyes.

Given the experiences of a low-grade cultivator, there were many mistakes to be had. The rankings were particularly useless in the spirit realm.

The power of the fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles was far beyond Han Lis expectations.

With that thought in mind, Han Li didnt dare to linger for much longer and promptly made certain of his bearings before flying off.

If the others hadnt died, they would likely show up at the meeting point. Although the spiritual Qi markers they placed on one another had disappeared, they had another method of contact. So long as they werent too far away from another, they could establish a mutual connection.

Two weeks later, an azure streak silently flew across the desert sky.

Although the streak was azure, the flight light had become dim and lightless through some technique. One wouldnt be able to spot it if they werent looking closely.

This, of course, was Han Li.

In the two weeks, Han Li hadnt encountered anything, nor did any more shadow tribe beings pursue him.

It was as if the crimson had been scared away by the Gold Devouring Beetles.

With his heart at ease, he focused his mind on travel.

As he continued to travel, his exhausted spiritual sense was restored to completion.

At that moment, he was fiddling with a glossy jade bottle. The words Earth Cleansing Pill was engraved on the surface of the bottle in ancient script. It also contained all the Earth Cleansing Pills that were given to him by Deep Heaven City.

This was one of his rewards for taking on the dangerous mission.

They said so long as he assisted the others in completing the mission, he would be granted complete freedom.

Not only him, but the other ascended cultivators that undertook dangerous missions were also given sufficient Earth Cleansing Pills.

But in order to protect them from abandoning the mission or half-heartedly undertaking the mission, the medicine bottle had a formidable restriction placed on the bottle.

They attempted to break the restriction forcibly, the bottle would rupture and destroy the pills they contained.

So long as he finished his assignment, he would be sent a Myriad Distance Talisman to dissolve the restriction, after multiple methods of verification of course.

Han Li stroked the bottle for a moment and his expression stirred. Spiritual light suddenly flashed from his hand and he put away the bottle.

At an unknown time, a flock of giant cranes had appeared before them. They had light yellow wings and had purple warts on their heads.

The birds clearly discovered Han Li and were screeching as they dived towards him in various directions.

As the birds grew closer, Han Li sighed. Light flashed from his body and he vanished. A moment later, he appeared at the center of a group of thirty yellow birds.

Before Han Li took any action, a robe of sparkling light appeared around him.

The robes wildly flashed and countless golden-silver arcs of lightning sparked, completely enveloping the surrounding three hundred meter area.

With an astonishing roar of thunder, golden and silver lightning violently flashed, vaporising the nearby birds in an instant.

The surrounding air was left clean.

Han Li expressionlessly looked around him and continued on his way.

…

The giant half-broken pillars and the remains of the three meter stone walls marked by gales clearly marked they didnt belong to any ordinary construct as they still remained standing despite the countless years.

In the heart of the ruins, there sat a black-robed woman sitting against a wall. There was also a purple-robed youth that was pacing back and forth. They were both silent and wore solemn expressions.

The two were Xiao Hong and Long Dong.

The youths face appeared ordinary. It appeared he quickly recovered from the large quantity of blood essence he had burned to rid himself of his pursuers. It was unknown if this was a result of medicine or through some sort of secret technique.

Otherwise, it wouldve normally taken him several years to recover from at the very least.

A moment later, the two sensed something and they turned to look at the sky.

They saw a golden blur silently appear and fly in their direction.

It flashed several times and the light faded to reveal the white-robed young woman.

Older Sister Xiao, Fellow Daoist Long, did you wait for long? I see that you two are doing fine. the young woman giggled. She didnt appear injured in the slightest.

Xiao Hong forced a smile and a flash of joy appeared from Long Dongs face.

The youth sighed and said, I knew that Lady Xie is quite clever and that nothing would happen to her. There are still two others that have yet to appear. On that day, I fear that they had done more to Brother Li after he was captured. As for Brother Han, he had yet to contact us. I fear something has happened to him in the shadow clans pursuit.

The white-robed woman pursed her lips and her eyes flickered. Eventually, she decided to keep silent.

The young woman slowly drifted down from the sky and stood before the two. She leisurely said, Brother Li mightve only been captured, but Fellow Daoist Han isnt so simple. We may as well wait a few more days.

Xiao Hong insipidly said, Wait a few more days? This is the time of the year where the Southern Skyline Sandstorm is at its weakest. If we miss it, well lose too much time. We can only wait two more days at most.

Two days should be enough. The white-robed woman said little more and readily agreed. Soon after, she sat at a clean corner and meditated.

As half a day slowly passed, a buzz sounded from the sky and caught the three cultivators attention.

Their expression faintly changed and they glanced at one another. Long Dong said, Ill activate the location plate. How fortunate! Nothing has happened to Brother Han!

Soon after, the blood-marked youth shook his sleeve and the azure spell plate appeared in his hand. He struck it with a spell seal.

It brightly lit up and the blood-marked youth closed his hands. The plate then disappeared.

With that done, the youth stood up and held his hands behind his back.

Several hours later, an azure streak silently appeared. It flashed several times and appeared before the three cultivators. It circled in the air and the light disappeared to reveal Han Li.

Long Dong smiled, Brother Han, it is good that you are well. It is good fortune that we all made it out of the shadow tribes ambush.

It is also fortunate that you are well! Han Li swept his gaze past them and smiled.

Xiao Hong calmly proposed, Since Brother Han has arrived, lets go. If were slow, well be tangled with the shadow tribe.

Long Dong shook her head. Fairy Xiaos words are reasonable. This isnt a place we can stay for long.

Han Li and the white-robed woman also raised no objections.

Half a day later, the party flew off and traveled with diligent attention.

This time, they flew for thousands of kilometers before slowly appearing before a storm. It was violently stirring. Not long after, the party flew into the sandstorm. They were surrounded by yellow debris and countless gales of sand brushed past them.

Were it not for the protective light surrounding their body, he feared that the yellow winds wouldve forcefully landed them.

After traveling straightforward for a thousand kilometers, Long Dong, the one in the lead, came to a sudden stop. Soon after, the rest of the party heard a voice transmission from him, Weve arrived. Weve arrived at the Southern Skyline. Hehe, were it not for the two Wind Steadying Beads theyve given us, I fear even Spatial Tempering cultivators wouldnt dare to rush here. With these beads, we can safely head in. However, everyone should be careful about the wind wyrms that live here. If we arent completely cautious, we will chance encounter one despite how large the Southern Skyline is.

Xiao Hong added with a serious expression, Fellow Daoists will also need to be careful of other dangers that exist. After all, the shadow tribe was already waiting for us outside. They could be inside as well. If we truly encounter something, youll have to depend on yourselves for survival.

An illusion technique? When Han Li saw this, he was startled, but he waved his sleeves nonetheless. Tens of small golden swords swam around him like fish, each turning a foot-long in a blur.

He commanded them in his mind, and they each created several copies of themselves, adding more to the swarm.

Golden light filled the air. The swordstreaks weaved around, slicing apart the beasts in a hundred-meter radius.

Beast blood, howls, and corpses, filled Han Lis surroundings.

He tightly frowned!

Be it the feedback from the swords or what he saw with his eyes, he sensed it all to be real. He couldnt distinguish these illusions from reality.

Despite his bewilderment, none of it showed on his face, and his swords continued their rampage and kept him safe.

Standing on top of the Shen Beast, the old Daoist wore an odd smile.

There were seemingly countless beasts surrounding Han Li. With the sharpness of Han Lis swordlight, they cut down several hundred beasts in the blink of an eye.

However, the strange beast corpses seemed to float in the air rather than falling to the ground. It caused the bloody scent to grow increasingly dense and pungent.

Soon, just as Han Li felt something was amiss, the Shen Beast let out a cry. The chopped corpses turned into pitch-black fog and roiled underneath Han Li.

The several hundred swordlights continued to flutter around Han Li, occasionally chopping away at the black fog, but as more of the black fog tangled with the flying swords, they became sluggish.

Meanwhile, the Shen Beasts giant body blurred and silently shot forward in a streak of black Qi, vanishing into the black fog.

A moment later, two long red shadows shot out from the black flog. In a blur, they strangely arrived in front of Han Li. One of them aimed for Han Lis head while the other went for his chest, both striking at lightning speed.

Were it not for Han Li employing his full techniques to protect himself, including his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he wouldnt have reacted fast enough to block the attacks if he relying on his spiritual sense alone.

His face sunk. Without using any of his magic treasures, golden light flashed from his face and he smoothly whipped his hands in seemingly slow motion.

His hands turned sparkling gold as if formed of pure gold.

Bang, bang. The two golden hands grabbed the two scarlet tongues in a ball of flesh. Then, an immense force pulled at his arms.

His shoulders simply blurred as if nothing happened.

The old Daoist looked at this with shock.

The Shen Beasts transformative abilities had not only reached perfection, but its immense strength was renown in the shadow tribe. A display of this strength was when it used its tongues to fling away the giant mountain from before.

Now, this unremarkable human youth was able to use his hands to grab ahold of the Shen Beasts tongues with ease. It was rather inconceivable.

However, the old Daoist wasnt truly worried. The Shen Beast had more than just brute force alone.

As expected, the two tongues remained motionless in Han Lis grasp. Suddenly, white light glowed from them and the two tongues turned into huge scarlet pythons. They fiercely opened their mouths and they both aimed for Han Lis head.

Han Li simply felt a huge tremble through his fingers as if the tongues became cold and slick, and they both attempted to go for Han Lis head.

Blue light brightly flashed from his eyes and his golden hands blurred, each of them separately turning black and white. His black hand had a silver mountain image on its back and his fingers grew several times thicker.

Pop. Scarlet blood scattered. The hand squeezed down on one of the pythons, splitting it into two.

The large white hand had a white skull appear from each of its fingers. With a flick, all of the skulls bit seven inches deep.

The skulls began to wildly inhale, soon turning the serpents body into a husk drained of blood essence.

These were the results of the Divine Essensefused Mountain and the Unbreakable Cinque Devils being condensed into his two hands.

This method was only one cultivation technique that was mentioned in the Hundred Meridians Treasure Refinement Mantra.

The process of cultivating his body into treasures was an incredibly long process, but it allowed him to make use of his treasures ingeniously and several times quicker as well.

The cultivation of this not only condensed the power of the two treasures into his hands, but it fused the power of the treasures into one. It was incredibly flexible and their combined power would grant him greater odds of victory.

This surprise attack resulted in the Shen Beasts tongues being eliminated.

The old Daoist clearly hadnt expected this to happen. Before he could act from rage, two painful howls sounded from the black fog. Soon after, the black Qi parted and the Shen Beast emerged in the blur. Its body turned vague as it traveled through the air and it turned transparent.

The beast also possessed invisibility.

A short moment later, Han Li was able to hear the beasts howls from all around him, hiding its concrete position.

Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes working at full force, he wasnt able to see through it.

Even so, Han Li smiled.

He waved his sleeves around him, followed by buzzing. Countless golden specks rushed out from them.

These golden specks flew out and immediately surged in size. They turned into half-foot-long beetles.

They were the fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles that Han Li spent painstaking efforts to nurture.

These beetles numbered over a thousand and flew out nearby.

In the blink of an eye, the beetles spread through the sky and several of them knocked against the Shen Beast, revealing it.

Without needing Han Lis command, the Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed and pounced at it. A cloud of beetles instantly drowned it.

The Shen Beast let out screams of pain, but with a pop, the beasts body flew out in a black mist.

Normally, insects wouldnt be able to do anything against an intangible body, but something extraordinary occurred.

Just as the black mist flew out from gaps of the Gold Devouring Beetles, the fearsome beetles claws flashed with golden light and firmly stuck onto the black mist, violently gnawing on it without any hesitation.

With over a thousand beetles, the huge black mist was reduced by a tenth in the blink of an eye.

Screams of pain continue to sound from the mist as the mist continues to roil. Then, ten slender silver serpents shot out from the mist, each of them three meters wide. They all swallowed ten of the beetles at lightning speed.

As the serpents blurred, another ten beetles disappeared into the serpents mouth.

But immediately after, the silver serpents hissed and they fell, turning back into clouds of black mist.

All the beetles flew out from the mist without the slightest damage and they circled around the mist to consume it.

Soon after, the black mist quickly turned into several beasts specialized in dealing with insects, but none of them were able to wound the beetles in the slightest. In a short moment, the black mist was torn away, quickly slowing down the speed at which these strange creatures appeared.

The beetle swarm had the black mist at its mercy in only the span of a few breaths. As the old Daoist watched from a distance, he stared at the beetles with an odd expression on his face.

Gold Devouring Beetles! Fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles! The old Daoist muttered. He slapped his head without the slightest hesitation.

Red light flashed and a crimson shadow emerged from the crown of the bodys head. It flew in a circle and suddenly turned into a fierce streak, blurring several times as it disappeared off the horizon.

The old Daoists body remained in place, now a shriveled corpse. With a gentle wind, the corpse scattered to ash.

Yi! Han Li remained motionlessly in place and stared in the direction that the crimson shadow fled. His expression wavered.

He actually abandoned his exotic beast. Could it be that Gold Devouring Beetles are that famous?

With that said, Han Li turned his head and looked at the black cloud. The beetles had consumed the black cloud in near entirety. Han Li stroked his chin and waved his hand, recalling the beetles. They circled around him and turned back into small pellets before going back into his sleeves.

With that done, Han Li wanted to fly over, but his complexion vastly changed and his body shook several times. He nearly plummeted from the air.

How is this possible? My spiritual sense is so exhausted, I nearly injured my soul. Han Li quickly looked inside him and his face paled.

He consumed nearly the entirety of his Spatial Tempering-grade spiritual sense. In the battle, he didnt sense this in the slightest.

Could it be…

Han Li was reminded of his recent use of the Gold Devouring Beetles and his face grew unsightly.

He suddenly waved his sleeve and summoned a single beetle. It fluttered its wings and flew around nearby.

He immediately peered at his spiritual sense and soon, he stood still in shock.

At the same moment he released the beetle, his spiritual sense was slowly consumed. Although it didnt appear harmful, it was only the result of a single Gold Devouring Beetles. If he were to command over a thousand of them, they would cause a bigger drain.

With his vast spiritual sense, he would hardly be able to sustain it for five minutes.

What was even more frightening was that he wasnt even aware of this immense drain.

Long Dong exterminated the two green shadows with ease and wordlessly waved his crimson sword.

Suddenly, the sword dissolved into a deep red cloud of blood essence and flowed back into his palms where it soon vanished. freeebnovel.com

He let out a long sigh and his face turned dark red, followed by a bloodless white as if he had lost much blood.

He quickly took out a scarlet bottle from his storage bracelet and tossed out a scarlet medicine pill into his mouth. Then without further delay, he quickly sped off.

At another corner of the desert, a young white-robed woman was standing at the top of a desert mound. Ten meters away, there were four ice-cold corpses.

There wasnt a single wound present on any of the bodies. They simply laid there without the slightest trace of life.

The woman stroked a slender jade bottle in her hand and wore a cute mysterious smile on her face. Suddenly, her body soared into the air in a golden streak. Several flashes later, she vanished.

In an area myriads of kilometers away, azure-white lightning repeatedly sparked through the air. A black cloud several kilometers away chased after him. Although it didnt appear very fast, it was able to accurately follow the lightning no matter the distance.

In the blink of an eye, the chase continued for a couple of hundred kilometers. Suddenly, the black cloud trembled and disappeared. A moment later, the black cloud blinked forward half a kilometer and continued its pursuit.

Suddenly, the azure-white lightning jumped forward and disappeared in white light. It traveled half a kilometer away and widened the gap once more.

The pursuit continued relentlessly.

Of course, the winged figure riding the lightning was Han Li.

He was tightly frowning and his gaze appeared gloomy.

Not long ago, he discovered the old Daoist was chasing after him in a cloud of black Qi. He then immediately spread his Thunderstorm Wings and made use of his Nine Gale Transformations to their fullest extent.

However, the black cloud was not only amazingly fast, but it also could blink forward.

The two remained in pursuit despite the vast distance they traveled.

Although the desert was vast, foreign tribes often roamed it. With Han Li being so closely pursued, it would be incredibly troublesome if he caught the attention of other foreign tribes.

As for the vitality intensive Blood Shadow Evasion, he had already used it once. He was unwilling to use it again unless he absolutely needed to. After all, the desert is filled with dangers. He would need to preserve his vitality in preparation for when he was past the Southern Skyline.

It appeared he would have no choice but to battle with the shadow tribe being.

The shadow being had possessed the body of a mid-stage Spatial Tempering cultivator, clearly illustrating his high position in the shadow tribe. He was most likely a crimson shadow, a being equivalent to a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

If it were the high-grade being from another tribe, he might feel some fear, but he had many abilities that were effective against them. He had some confidence in fighting them.

Furthermore, after he entered Deep Heaven City, he cultivated and refined several techniques and treasures. He had yet to test their might. He figured he would test their effectiveness on this crimson shadow.

With that thought quickly appearing in his mind, he blinked again and his wings trembled. He suddenly came to a stop.

As a result, the black cloud quickly arrived three hundred meters behind Han Li. It appeared that the cloud planned on directly pouncing at him.

This came as no surprise.

The shadow tribes most powerful techniques were consuming the primal souls of other tribes and directly controlling their bodies. They would also be able to use a majority of the bodys techniques.

Of course, Han Li wasnt about to allow the shadow to arrive near him. Without a word, he slapped his hands together and opened them.

A heaven shaking thunder roared. A bowl-sized bolt of lightning ruptured from his hands, directly targeting the oncoming black cloud.

A yelp sounded and the black Qi suddenly blinked, disappearing into a nearby spatial void.

Han Li coldly snorted and suddenly split open a crimson slit from his forehead. His law Law Destruction Eye opened and released a black light that vanished in a flash.

A deafening rupture sounded, violently shaking a space a hundred meters away. Wrapped in the black Qi, the old Daoist blurred and reappeared. He shouted in surprise, The Law Destruction Eye! You actually cultivate that ability!?

Han Lis lip twitched and he remained silent. Suddenly, he cast a spell seal and the dense bolt of lightning curved, fiercely striking at the old Daoist when he least expected it.

The old Daoist cursed and thought to dodge when Han Lis eyes brightly flashed blue. He could only let out a sharp breath in response.

The sound wasnt loud, but he felt as if the ringing of a huge bell was echoing through his eyes. He felt tearing pain through his mind and his body slowed.

Thunder clapped. Golden lightning struck the black Qi, spreading thousands of thin arcs through it. In an instant, the black Qi grew violently unstable.

At that same moment, a huge frogs croak sounded from the black Qi.

The black Qi roiled and condensed underneath the old Daoist, turning into a strange two-headed beast with snake heads and a frogs body. Its four crimson eyes glared at Han Li with rage.

Han Li couldnt help but pause upon seeing this.

The black Qi protecting the old Daoist was actually a transformed beast.

After receiving the lightning strike, the old Daoists body recovered and he eerily glared at Han Li, Good, very good! A trifling Deity Transformation cultivator was able to shock my mind. That ability was quite surprising. You may as well try to use it again!

Han Li frowned. His full-powered lightning bolt was received by the strange beast, not the shadow tribe being. If the strike hit the shadow being, he definitely wouldve been harmed.

As for the Soulfright Thorn, he wasnt foolish enough to use it again. It was only effective in a surprise attack. As the shadow beings soul was stronger than his, it wouldnt have any effect.

Han Li didnt say anything further. He raised his hand and revealed a pitch-black palm. He pointed it in the old Daoists direction.

Suddenly, the space above the old Daoist began to warp and a small black mountain appeared.

The mountain twirled in the air, abruptly turning three-hundred-meters tall. It brightly shined grey and released rings grey light downward.

A harsh expression appeared on the old Daoists face and he waved his sleeve. A transparent crystalline half-foot-long blade appeared.

The blade sliced at the air, releasing a dazzling streak.

Zap. The blade streak fiercely cut through the grey rings and struck at the base of the huge mountain.

A loud drone sounded like a gong being struck.

The mountain didnt move and the blade streak vanished.

The old Daoists face stirred. Before he could do anything else, Han Li stretched out his other hand, revealing a pure-white palm. He stretched his fingers, releasing five bone skull rings.

Five huge skulls appeared around the old Daoist. They simultaneously opened their mouths and spat out an icy flame. They merged into five-colored light and instantly submerged the old Daoists body.

The old Daoist wore a smirk, but after the flames drew close his body, his face vastly changed. Myriads of red streaks burst out from his body, wildly chopping at his surroundings in form of a red lotus.

As the lotus stirred, the rainbow flames were split apart, unable to approach the old man in the slightest.

Han Lis expression sank and he formed his hands together. He harshly roared and suddenly, his body wildly grew several times in size and pounced at the red lotus.

Several harsh streaks sounded. As the five skulls charged to the edge of the red lotus, five dazzling blade streaks chopped at the skulls, splitting them into two like bolts of lightning.

Soon after, the crimson lotus was thoroughly opened.

The rainbow flames were thoroughly extinguished by the red light and the old Daoist reappeared with a calm face.

With a loud ghostly wail, the five cleaved skulls became whole once more.

But they continued to wail as if they held the old Daoist in great fear.

Han Li took a shallow breath and gravely pointed at his pitch-black mountain a distance away.

The huge mountain rumble and fell straight down.

As the huge mountain pressed downward, the old Daoist appeared unfazed. He simply tapped his foot on the huge beast below him.

The two serpent heads widely opened their mouths and apt out a dense red blur at the huge mountain falling above them.

With a violent crack, the huge mountain swayed and began to fall to the side.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight of this and his face grew unsightly.

The two serpent heads were able to spit out their tongues at such a great force, they were able to knock away his Essensefused Mountain.

Han Li gloomily reached out for the black mountain and five skulls, causing them to vanish.

Black and white light lit up from his palms, returning the color of their skin to normal.

Hehe, Brat, you have many treasures, but you are delusional to face me with your meager magic power. It appears you have no other methods. Hand over your body to me. The old Daoist seemed to be impatient, but he took no further action. Instead, the serpent heads of the beast let out a sharp shriek.

Invisible waves scattered around them, spreading several kilometers away.

Rainbow light continued to flash nearby and soon, countless rare beast images began to take form. A few as large as a hill with some only ten meters long. Each of them looked ferocious and smelled strong. They all surrounded Han Li and stared at him with evil eyes.

The one who had been captured was the white-browed young man.

Black light was flashing around his body as he desperately tried to keep the red threads at bay, but his efforts proved to be futile.

A sinister look appeared on the elderly Daoist priests face as he slowly made his way toward the young man.

At this moment, a few sharp cries erupted from within the city as several streaks of light of different colors hurtled toward this location.

The white-browed young man was naturally aware that more Shadow Tribe beings were converging toward the scene. Upon arriving at this realization, an expression of horror appeared on his face as he let loose a thunderous roar. The black light around his body began to circulate rapidly as his body swelled drastically in size. At the same time, a pair of inky-black wings appeared on his back, and his hands transformed into a pair of black metal talons.

In this dire situation, he had transformed into his half-demon state and was preparing to fight for his life.

For demonic cultivators like them, their best weapons were naturally their powerful bodies. Furthermore, the Dark Falcons were one of the seven major demon sub-species, so they were certainly no slouches. He swiped his sharp talons through the air around him, and streaks of black light erupted forth, tearing through the red threads around him.

The white-browed young man was naturally ecstatic to see his talons proving to be so effective.

He was confident that as long as he could sever all of these red threads, hed be able to escape using the movement techniques that were unique to his Dark Falcon Race.

However, before he had a chance to continue swiping his talons through the air, his expression changed drastically, and his face was drained of all color.

All of those severed red threads joined together again in a flash, and it was as if nothing had been done to them in the first place.

A deriding sneer appeared on the elderly Daoist priests face, and his body blurred before he appeared in front of the white-robed young man, seemingly out of thin air. He then laid a hand on the back of his own head, and a vibrant red shadow slowly emerged.

A crimson shadow! You really are from the Shadow Tribe! The white-robed young man was plunged into complete despair at the sight of the crimson shadow.

Crimson shadows of the Shadow Tribe were comparable to Spatial Tempering Stage beings among human cultivators. This was not an opponent a Deity Transformation demonic cultivator could stand up against.

Hehe, you possess quite a powerful body. Ill be taking it from you now. Dont worry, though, none of your companions will be able to get away. All of them will join you on the other side soon. Red light flashed within Master Purple Clouds eyes as a sharp and unfamiliar voice escaped from his mouth. The crimson shadow above his head then flashed before pouncing viciously toward the young man.

At the same time, the red threads punctured the protective black light around his body, binding him in an inescapable snare.

Despite his immense strength, the young man was unable to move, even in the slightest, and could only look on as the crimson shadow flew toward him. Dont even think about it!

The white-robed young man was in complete despair, and he knew that there was no way for him to survive this ordeal. A hint of insanity appeared in his eyes as he abruptly clamped his teeth together, biting off half of his own tongue in the process. He then opened his mouth to blast forth a thumb-sized black bead that was encased in black blood.

As soon as the bead left his body, the young mans eyes immediately became dull and lifeless. At the same time, his body began to shrivel and shrink, and he was instantly reduced to a white-haired elderly man.

That bead was none other than the demon core that the young man had been arduously cultivating for countless years.

The bead was emanating an extremely violent aura within the black blood before expanding and shrinking, then detonating on the spot.

An expression of shock appeared on the elderly Daoist priests face, and not only did the crimson shadow above his head hurtle back in retreat, his body also rushed back along with it.

An earthshattering boom erupted as a fist-sized ball of black light appeared. The ball of light flashed once before expanding to over 100 feet in size, and it was still swelling with all its might, sweeping up gale-force winds that whipped up the desert sand into the sky to create several yellow wind dragons.

The elderly Daoist priests body swayed before stopping over 100 feet away, and his eyes narrowed with a cold expression on his face.

The black light immediately came surging toward him. The elderly Daoist priests expression darkened as he suddenly let loose an unintelligible cry.

A massive red shadow appeared out of thin air without any premonition amid a resounding boom. The shadow then plunged into the black light before shrinking like lightning.

A peculiar turn of events unfolded immediately thereafter!

The yellow wind dragons were instantly vanquished, and the black light disappeared without a trace along with the white-browed young man. It was as if they had never even appeared here.

Only then did the elderly Daoist priest heave a sigh of relief, but a frustrated look immediately appeared on his face.

He didnt anticipate that the white-browed young man would still have the ability to self-detonate his demon core even after being captured by his restriction.

Right at this moment, a few streaks of light appeared nearby before receding to reveal eight cultivators.

There was a minor mishap, and they didnt fall for the trap, so its going to be a little troublesome. However, I released the shadow incense earlier, and all of them have been affected by it to a light degree, so the effects should persist for around two hours. Ill be taking the Shen 1. In Chinese mythology, the Shen beast is a shapeshifting dragon or sea monster believed to create mirages. beast with me to chase down that accursed brat who foiled our plans. Ill leave the other three to all of you, the elderly Daoist priest instructed in a sinister manner.

Yes, My Lord! The eight cultivators bowed in response before splitting up into three groups, flying off in pursuit of Long Dong, Xiao Hong, and Ye Ying.

In contrast, the elderly Daoist priest wasnt in a hurry to set off. Instead, he let loose a relentless ghastly roar that could be heard even in the heavens above and made the surrounding air vibrate audibly.

He then swept a hand toward the city gate, following a dozen or so grey shadows emerged from the bodies of the Foundation Establishment cultivators there, all of which disappeared into his body in a flash. Those cultivators slumped to the ground as soon as the grey shadows left their bodies.

Immediately thereafter, an incredible scene ensued.

All of the mortals and children beside the lake vanished like illusions amid his thunderous roar. The entire small town also began to shimmer like a mirage as countless streaks of black Qi rose into the air from countless different locations. Soon, the ground and all of the city walls had been obscured under the black Qi, and a piercing cry erupted from within.

The elderly Daoist priests roar drew to a halt as he swept a sleeve expressionlessly toward the black Qi, blowing it away in the blink of an eye by sweeping up gusts of violent winds.

A two-headed monster that was over 100 feet in length then appeared before him. It had two golden and silver snake heads and the green body of a frog. Its four crimson eyes were extremely unsettling, and the mere sight of them was enough to send chills running down the beholders spine.

The golden snake head opened its mouth and spat out the remains of a body.

The white-browed young mans body and beast core had been devoured by this beast, and the small town, along with the mortals as well as most of the cultivator there, had been manifested by this beast.

The elderly Daoist priests body swayed, and he abruptly disappeared on the spot. However, in the next instant, he reappeared atop one of the snake heads.

Go! He delivered a cold instruction.

The two snake heads of the giant beast immediately let loose frog croaks as it leaped into the air, transforming into a burst of black Qi that streaked into the distance. frewebnovel.com

It was traveling in the direction toward which Han Li had fled.

A crimson streak of light was hurtling through the air, within which a beautiful young woman wore a grim expression as she fled for her life.

All of a sudden, her expression changed as she rustled her sleeve to produce an azure jade badge, upon which was embedded a white bead. However, the item was shattered and appeared to have been completely ruined.

The young woman took a deep breath before flicking a slim finger toward the bead, upon which, the bead exploded into a white powder before disappearing.

She then stowed away her jade badge, and the red light emanating from her body brightened as she accelerated even further.

However, after an hour had passed, her expression suddenly changed as she abruptly cast her gaze behind her. There, in the extremely far distance, two streaks of spiritual light were flashing rapidly toward her.

The two then combined as one, and they were clearly traveling at a far faster speed than she was.

An indecisive look appeared on her face, but as the streak of light drew closer and closer, a cold light flashed through her eyes as she abruptly stopped cold in her tracks.

As such, it didnt take her pursuers long to appear just several hundred feet away from her. The spiritual light then receded to reveal a man and a woman.

Both of them were quite young, and the man was extremely handsome while the woman was exquisitely beautiful. Furthermore, both of them bore a close resemblance to one another, but they were wearing stiff and wooden expressions on their faces.

Seeing as she already knew that these were merely puppets possessed by the Shadow Tribe beings, Xiao Hong naturally wasnt going to pay any heed to their outward appearance. She merely glanced at them were a frosty expression before immediately making a hand seal. All of a sudden, two balls of black flames emerged from her sleeves before transforming into a couple of Fire Ravens that hurtled directly toward her two assailants.

The Shadow Tribe duo harrumphed coldly in unison as several streaks of grey light shot forth from their backs at the same time, heading directly toward the black flames without any hesitation.

The grey light and black flames clashed amid a resounding boom.

Xiao Hong raised her eyebrows as she suddenly rolled onto the ground. Brilliant black light then began to emanate from her body, and it was so bright that it was impossible for one to look directly at her.

The cry of a phoenix then rang out as a massive spirit bird emerged from the black light, circling around in the sky before spreading its wings to attack the two Shadow Tribe beings.

This bird was completely glossy black in color with a brown crest on its head. Its eyes were like bright emeralds, and it was none other than a black phoenix that was around 30 to 40 feet in length.

Expressions of shock appeared on the faces of the Shadow Tribe duo, and after exchanging a glance at one another, both of them laid a hand on their own heads at the same time. Immediately thereafter, two green shadows appeared before pouncing directly toward the black phoenix.

Spiritual Qi erupted violently as resounding booms rang out incessantly.

Almost at the exact same moment, Long Dong was also being pursued by a pair of cultivators.

In the face of the two green shadows that had ditched their physical bodies, a deriding sneer appeared on his face as yellow light flashed from his body. The suit of yellow scale armor that he had used once before surfaced again, along with the pair of bronze wings on his back. He then rubbed his hands together, and a peculiar crimson longsword suddenly appeared within his grasp.

The sword was three feet in length with a dragon hilt and a phoenix blade. Crimson light was circulating over the entire sword, making it appear as if it had been manifested from fresh blood.

The crimson mole on the corner of Long Dongs lips appeared to be especially vibrant in that instant, and he wore a serious expression as he gently slashed his longsword toward the two oncoming green shadows.

The sword sliced through the air soundlessly, but the two green shadows suddenly let loose howls of anguish. Countless white threads then surfaced all over their bodies, and spiritual light flashed as both shadows were instantly reduced to countless fragments.

Long Dong slashed his longsword through the air once again, and the white threads flashed before those fragments completely vanished.

Han Lis eyes flashed upon hearing Long Dongs words, but he didnt say anything. Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man exchanged a glance with one another, and they also offered no objections, seemingly of the opinion that Long Dongs suggestion was more reasonable.

In contrast, Ye Ying sided with Han Li, and said, It really is quite strange that other cultivators would appear in this place. I think it would be best to continue ahead and spare ourselves from any potential trouble.

Long Dong contemplated Ye Yings words for a short while, but still shook his head in the end. Its exactly due to the abnormality of the situation that we should ascertain why these people have appeared here. As a safety precaution, we can ask the people outside of the city rather than entering the city. Brother Li just said that there are no Spatial Tempering cultivators in the small town, so we have nothing to fear anyway. Well reach the Skyline in a few more days, and the environment there is extremely perilous. If we go in without gathering all of the information we can, we could quite possibly all die in there. I still think we should proceed with as much caution as possible.

It really does sound like we should try and gather some information. How about this? Well survey the town from afar without alerting the cultivators there to our presence for now. If there really is an issue that requires further inquiry, we can just show ourselves then. Xiao Hong offered a compromise between the two proposed courses of action.

Thats a good idea. Long Dong nodded in response.

Han Li stroked his chin while Ye Ying offered a dainty smile, and neither of them said anything else.

Thus, everyone concealed themselves once again before flying soundlessly toward the small town.

Even though they had decelerated quite significantly in order to prioritize stealth above speed, with their cultivation bases, it still didnt take them long to cover the distance of several hundred kilometers to the small town.

At first, the oasis was only a smudge of green in the distance. After drawing closer, they discovered that it was indeed a relatively large area. Not only were there shrubs of different heights in the surrounding area, there was even a lake with a radius of several kilometers situated at the center of the oasis.

Beside this lake was a small town that was surrounded by white stone walls that were several tens of feet tall. Directly up ahead was a massive city gate that was over 100 feet wide, and there were a dozen or so yellow-robed cultivators standing guard there, all of whom were at around the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Outside the small town, near the lake, there were mortals who didnt possess any magic power milling around in a bent-over manner, seemingly planting something.

Han Li paused in mid-air before sweeping his spiritual sense toward the small town in a stealthy manner.

Long Dong and the others also stopped as they unleashed detection secret techniques of their own.

The inhabitants of this town are indeed all humans, and the mortals, as well as the cultivators, all seem to be normal as well. There are quite a few cultivators in the town, with about seven or eight of them at the Deity Transformation Stage. There are either no Spatial Tempering cultivators in there or theyve concealed their auras in order to not be discovered, Xiao Hong concluded after a short while.

It really does look like everything is normal. Has anyone else discovered anything amiss? Long Dong asked following a prolonged silence.

There doesnt seem to be any restrictions or formations set up around the town, and the only noteworthy feature about the place is that the temperatures there seem to be a lot cooler than it is everywhere else, the white-browed young man said.

That is indeed rather abnormal, but the fact that an oasis exists here is already quite incredible in itself, so that doesnt really tell us anything, Xiao Hong mused.

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar voice sounded in the air above. Theres no need for so much speculation, why dont you all come to visit our town and find out everything for yourselves?

Everyones hearts jolted with shock upon hearing this, and they instantly dispersed without any hesitation. All of them fled to several hundred feet away before carefully looking up into the air above.

It turned out that all of them had failed to notice an elderly purple-robed Daoist priest who had appeared overhead. At this moment, he was looking down at everyone with a benevolent expression on his face.

What was most shocking to everyone was that this Daoist priest was a mid-Spatial Tempering cultivator. If it werent for the fact that he was a human cultivator, all of them wouldve immediately fled the scene.

Long Dong cast his gaze toward the Daoist priest, and there was a hint of disappointment intermingled with the surprise in his eyes.

We pay our respects to this esteemed senior! Senior, who are you and why have you come to this place? Xiao Hong asked in a wary and respectful voice.

Ah, so youre a fellow Daoist from the Black Phoenix Race. I am Master Purple Cloud, and I was the one who built this town. I can see that all of you are quite confused, but this is not the place to talk. How about all of you pay my city a visit and we can have a chat there? The elderly Daoist priest smiled before extending a gesture of invitation.

Master Purple Cloud? Xiao Hong was quite alarmed by the fact that this elderly Daoist priest had managed to identify her origins right away, and she immediately exchanged a cautious glance with Long Dong.

Neither of them had ever heard of a Master Purple Cloud, so they were naturally rather hesitant to accept his invitation.

The elderly Daoist priest could see the caution in everyones eyes, and he adopted a benevolent smile as he said, Theres no need to be overly cautious, fellow Daoists. Ive always been living in seclusion and very rarely come into contact with anyone, so barely anyone has heard of me. I presume that all of you are trying to get to the Skyline, right? If thats the case, then it would be very much to your benefit to take some advice from me. Some changes have recently taken place at the Skyline, and it would be quite dangerous if you were to rush ahead without learning about whats happened first.

Master Purple Clouds words naturally couldnt completely erase everyones wariness, but their caution was slightly alleviated. Upon hearing that something had indeed taken place on the Skyline, everyones expressions changed minutely.

Seeing as youve extended such a warm invitation, it would be rude of juniors like us to refuse. Even though Long Dong had changed his mind, and the last thing he wanted to do now was to enter this town, he couldnt just reject such a polite invitation from a Spatial Tempering cultivator outright. As such, he could only muster up his courage and nod in agreement.

Han Li and the others naturally couldnt contradict Long Dongs words, so all of them also agreed to visit this small town.

Master Purple Clouds smile became even warmer and more benevolent as he guided everyone toward the city gates.

Everyone could only follow along behind the elderly Daoist priest upon seeing this.

There seemed to be a vast distance between themselves and the city gate, yet it didnt take them long to approach their destination. After a short while, they had already reached the oasis, and they could even clearly see the children playing happily beside the lake.

I only moved to this place recently with my clan, and I had to bring the mortals within my clan to this place as well. There isnt a whole lot here, but we do produce some spirit fruits that are quite rare in the outside world, and you must taste them before you leave, the elderly Daoist priest explained with a smile.

Everyone was enlightened by this explanation.

A short while later, everyone had reached the city gates. The Foundation Establishment cultivators atop the city walls extended respectful bows toward their group before stepping off to the side to allow everyone passage.

The elderly Daoist priest led the way into the town.

Long Dong and the others glanced at the cultivators guarding the city gates to find that all of them wore respectful expressions. Nothing seemed to be amiss, so he also entered and followed along behind Master Purple Cloud after a brief hesitation.

Han Li passed by a couple of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and everything seemed to be completely normal.

However, right at this moment, a crisp cry suddenly erupted in the air above. A ball of silver flames suddenly shot forth, striking one of the nearby cultivators.

Silver flames immediately completely engulfed that cultivator.

Long Dong and the others were all flabbergasted to see this.

What do you think youre doing? Ive extended a kind invitation to all of you, yet youre attacking one of my juniors? Master Purple Clouds expression abruptly darkened as he rushed toward Han Li. He raised a hand, conjuring up a massive hand constructed from red light, which came crashing down toward Han Li.

Han Li initially wore a rather perplexed look on his face, but he instantly understood everything as soon as the silver flames enveloped that Foundation Establishment cultivator. However, this wasnt the right time to be mulling over his discovery. The massive red hand was crashing down toward him, and a vast invisible force was squeezing his body at the same time, making him feel as if a mountain were weighing down upon him.

If a normal cultivator were in his shoes, they wouldnt even be able to utter a single sound. However, Han Li was walking the path of simultaneous cultivation, and following the enhancement effects from the Dragon Scale Fruits, Heavenly Corpse Bead, and Bone Tempering Arts, his body was significantly more powerful than even the likes of Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man even without using the Provenance True Devil Arts.

As such, the immense force that was clearly supposed to completely immobilize him was shrugged off with ease, and he abruptly disappeared on the spot. In the next instant, he appeared over 200 feet away.

He had unleashed his Nine Gale Transformations. With the state of his current body and his cultivation base, he could easily unleash the Nine Gale Transformations even without using his Thunderstorm Wings.

Get away from here! Theyre all puppets who have been possessed by Shadow Tribe beings! Han Li roared as he hurtled through the air as a streak of azure light.

At the same time, the cultivator who had been engulfed by silver flames let loose a bloodcurdling howl as a grey shadow suddenly shot forth from his body. However, as soon as the shadow came into contact with the silver flames, it was devoured into nothingness.

Only a split second had passed from the moment that the silver flames had erupted from Han Lis body to the instant that Han Li had escaped from the elderly Daoist priests sudden retaliation.

Everyone was initially completely puzzled and didnt know what was happening, but after hearing Han Lis cautionary words and witnessing the puppet within the silver flames, they immediately understood what was happening, and their faces turned deathly pale.

Run!

Spiritual light immediately erupted from their bodies as they fled into the distance.

The elderly Daoist priest was quite surprised that Han Li was able to escape from his attack, but he recovered from his brief stunned stupor. He immediately let loose a cold harrumph as he swept a sleeve toward one of the fleeing cultivators.

Countless red threads abruptly shot forth from within his sleeve, binding themselves tightly around that streak of light and forcing it to descend from the sky above.

The light receded to reveal a cultivator with an expression of shock and rage on his face, having already been completely bound by the countless red threads.