A cold glint appeared in Han Li’s eyes and he snorted, speaking with an emotionless tone, “You wish to know whether or not I have the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure on hand, but how about telling me the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse first?”
“The method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse is inside this jade slip, but let me take a look at the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure first. I am not like my sect master, and I only want the Golden Lightning Bamboo. I have no intention of trying to avenge his dead Dao Companion.” The youth’s smile disappeared and he revealed a jet-black jade slip in his hand then deeply stared at Han Li.
With raised brows, Han Li firmly said, “Of course. Although the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure is valuable, it isn’t nearly as important as my own Dao companion.” He placed his hands on his chest and then slowly drew them away. In a clap of thunder, golden lightning jumped out as a small azure arrow appeared in his hand. Holding it with two fingers, Han Li expressionlessly glanced at the youth.
When the youth saw this, greed momentarily appeared on his face. Then after a moment of thought, he flicked his wrist and sent the black jade slip flying towards Han Li at an incredibly slow speed as if it were being dragged through the air by a rope.
Han Li immediately understood what he intended. Without speaking another word he flung the small arrow over, making it travel through the air at a similar speed.
Although the two were controlling each of the items, their gazes were fixed on each other’s faces. By the time the two objects arrived in front of each other, Han Li and the youth both let out sighs of relief. The two took the exchanged items into their hands and quickly looked them over, only to find themselves wearing a bitter smile.
“This is your Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasure?” The black-robed youth coldly smiled and pinched the small azure arrow in his hand. In a silver-white fire, it turned into ash.
“I’ve also never heard that the simplest of the five elements techniques was capable of dissolving the Soul Seal Curse.” Han Li grasped the jade slip in his hand and burned it with blue flame, causing it to freeze and shatter into glistening light.
The black-robed youth wore a stern expression and he snorted as traces of fiendish Qi began to emerge from his body. “It seems neither of us trusts the other. However, that doesn’t matter. I will ask you one last time whether or not you are willing to exchange the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure. So long as you hand it over to me, I will give you the method to save your Dao Companion and leave. Otherwise, I will just seize the treasure after killing you. Since it isn’t an ancient treasure, you must be carrying it within your body.”
With a light sigh, Han Li icily said, “As it just so happens, my plans are similar to your own. Since you’re the caster of the Soul Seal Curse, the method to eliminate the curse must be within your mind. Once I kill you, I will perform a soul search on your primal soul and acquire what I want to know.”
“You will perform a soul search on me? You are the first person to dare say that to me for several hundreds of years. I will honor your audacity by leave your corpse intact.” The black-robed youth smiled in fury before he raised his hands and shot several spell seals all around him. Then with a series of hums, seven pillars of blinding white light shot into the air. At the same time, silver-white flood dragons emerged from each of the pillars of light, roaring towards the skies.
“Not good! The Seven Pillar Dragons! Master must quickly leave.” Before Han Li could clearly recognize the pillars, he heard Silvermoon’s terrified voice in his ear.
Chapter 788: Sword Formation Revealed
Although Han Li didn’t know how powerful the Seven Pillar Dragons were, when he heard the terror in Silvermoon’s voice, he steeled his heart and summoned thirty-six of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords with a wave of his sleeve, having them flow around him like a school of fish.
Knowing that his opponent was a powerful devil cultivator, Han Li had no intention of slowly probing his abilities. With the full force of his newly tempered flying swords, he planned to subdue his opponent in a single blow.
As the thirty-six streaks of golden light revolved above Han Li’s head, he struck the swarm of swords with several spell seals. This caused the golden lights to faintly tremble and immediately form over a hundred identical copies of themselves.
Just as Han Li thought to execute another spell seal and form the swords into the Aureate Formation, the seven pillars of light surrounding him rushed to attack him. The silver flood dragons inside the pillars looked at Han Li and opened their mouths, condensing sparkling silver balls of light.
Without further thought, Han Li pointed to the blue shield in front of him and in a flash of light it transformed into a barrier of blue ice that surrounded him. He then released the embroidered scarf with his other hand, and it transformed into a white mist of frost surrounding the ice barrier.
At that same moment, a while silhouette flew out of his sleeve and landed on the ground, revealing itself to be a beautiful woman. In Han Li’s surprise, Silvermoon immediately raised her hand and released a streak of purple light, the Purple Cloudlace. With a tense expression, she made the cloudlace transform into a purple net of fire, forming the final layer of protection around them.
Han Li’s heart trembled as he had already placed down two layers of protection and Silvermoon still didn’t believe it to be enough. Just how power were the Seven Pillar Dragons? Just as these thoughts appeared in Han Li’s mind, the seven silver flood dragons silently released beams of nearly solid silver light.
The beams of light immediately struck the net of purple flames. The net managed to endure for a short moment before seven holes were melted through, and the seven silver lights continued to strike the mist of frost formed from the embroidered scarf. The mist roiled as soon as it was struck as if it wouldn’t be able to endure for long.
When Han Li saw this, his felt breath turned cold. As things were going, the three layers of protection were about to be destroyed in an instant. These beams of light were incredibly powerful.
But just as these thoughts appeared in Han Li’s mind, Silvermoon felt relieved and said, “So these turned out to be a counterfeit. I was worried over nothing.” Silvermoon muttered to herself before forming an incantation gesture and spitting out a pearl the size of a thumb surrounded by a pink mist that carried a strong fragrance.
Silvermoon then began to utter an incantation with a sweet voice and extended her finger towards the pearl. Bang. The pearl exploded and transformed into countless gleaming specks of dust that soon merged with the blue ice barrier.
Han Li was somewhat surprised, but didn’t intend to block her in the slightest. Once the ice barrier absorbed the fragments of the pearl, it flourished with light and its exterior shined as if it were suddenly covered with countless identical mirrors.
At that moment, the silver light pierced through the white mist and made its way towards the last layer of defense.
Han Li grew nervous at the sight, but he continued to cast spell seals without interruption. At an unknown time, the golden lights revolving around his head had begun to disappear.
The ice barrier released a blinding light as the seven silver beams faintly trembled before being reflected, striking back at the seven pillars of light at an even greater speed than before.
Not only did this come as a surprise to Han Li, but the black-robed youth was caught completely unprepared as well. His attention was now focused on the beautiful woman at Han Li’s side. When she had uttered the word “counterfeit”, a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.
Then in a series of explosions, the silver dragons within the pillars of light were submerged in silver light and disappeared without a trace.
Han Li stared blankly and found it difficult to believe that such vicious treasures were so easily taken care off.
Silvermoon pursed her lips, her face revealing a slight trace of satisfaction. She then pressed her hand against her chest and sighed with r
elief as spoke to Han Li, “Not only were they counterfeit, but they were only half finished. They had truly given me a fright.”
The black-robed youth’s expression grew stern upon seeing the Seven Pillar Dragons being destroyed. When he heard Silvermoon utter the words ‘half finished’, he said with a harsh tone, “Half finished? How could you know the method to destroy the Seven Pillar Dragons?”
Although he knew that the treasure he had acquired wasn’t the genuine article described in legends, he had still felt that its abilities were somewhat lacking. This lingering doubt caused him to feel as if there was a ring of truth to Silvermoon’s words.
Silvermoon’s gaze flickered upon hearing him, but she had no intention of replying. Instead, she formed an incantation gesture with her hands and struck the ice barrier with a spell seal.
Suddenly, light flashed from the barrier and a pink mist shot out from it, instantly condensing back into the pearl. Silvermoon then spat out a mist of light and swept the pearl back into her mouth.
The black-robed youth’s initial fury soon disappeared and was replaced with delight, as he exclaimed, “Demon core! Hehe! So you were a demon fox! However, your cultivation is only in the seventh grade. This is truly baffling. As it just so happens, there are many cultivators in the Jin Empire that wish for a demon fox concubine of their own. The price for a demon fox capable of transformation is incredibly high. It seems this trip wasn’t a wasted effort after all.”
Silvermoon’s expression changed, but soon her luminous eyes flickered. She then chuckled with her hand covering her mouth, “Although this servant does wish to leave with this Immortal master, I already have a master. I’m afraid I cannot comply.”
Staring at Silvermoon with fierce greed, he casually said, “Your master? Soon that master will have his soul scattered. If you obediently follow me, I will spare your life, otherwise, you are simply ignoring my good intentions. Following this senior will be much better than staying in this remote and desolate land.”
Still standing in place, Han Li derisively said, “Is your mind muddled? Her current master is doing quite well. If you wish to change my servant’s mind, you should first pay attention to your surroundings.”
The black-robed youth glanced at the swordlights surrounding him and disdainfully said, “My surroundings? Are you talking about this rubbish swordlight? Although it is surprising that you managed to refine so many flying swords, don’t you know that a magic treasure’s might depends on how much one has tempered it? Refining so many flying swords was an incredibly foolish decision.
“As for those transformed swordlights, that is merely a flashy but worthless trick. What use is this ability in a fight against cultivators of similar rank? I can stand in place and you swordlights still won’t be able to injure me.”
When he heard this, Han Li wore a weird expression and killing intent burst from his eyes. “Your words are reasonable. However, I must first ask you if you are a late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator? If you aren’t, then you will die.” At that moment, he completed a spell seal and activated the stealthily placed Aureate Sword Formation.
When the black-robed youth heard Han Li, he felt a wave of unease and hastily flipped his hand, summoning a pitch-black hatchet. Talisman characters could be faintly seen on its surface and a vivid ghost face was carved on its handle.
At that moment, streaks of golden swordlight suddenly burst with radiance and released loud, clear rings as they streaked across the air, yet to attack.
The black-robed youth hastily spread out his spiritual sense to find the swordlights, but he wasn’t able to locate a single one of them. This caused his heart to drop. Without any further hesitation, he snorted and released the black hatchet. In a flash of black light, it grew to twenty meters in the blink of an eye, and its edge gleamed from its sharpness.
In a blur, the huge hatchet fiercely chopped at the air, only for a golden light to suddenly blossom. An unremarkable golden thread suddenly appeared from underneath the huge hatchet and flashed before instantly fading away.
With a bang, the huge hatchet was split down the middle and fell to the floor.
“This is...” The black-robed youth’s disdain suddenly disappeared and his expression turned grave. He quickly raised his hand and summoned an emerald saber, which shot through the air before a similar scene occurred. The green streak flew about thirty meters before being shredded by several streaks of golden threads. Then in a burst of green light, it fell to the ground in seven pieces.
“Xi! A sword formation!” The black-robed youth recognized what this was due to his vast experience as his blood ran cold. This kind of sword formation required several tens, no, several hundreds of cultivators in order to employ it. However, Han Li alone was able to lay down such a fearsome sword formation, much to the black-robed youth’s shock.
Han Li saw he had recognized that this was a sword formation, but had no intention of giving the black robed youth the opportunity to consider how to break it. Han Li promptly put his hands in an incantation gesture and contacted all of his swordlights with his spiritual sense, activating the entire Aureate Sword Formation.
A strange scene suddenly developed near the black-robed youth as countless golden threads suddenly flickered around the youth, intermittently coming in and out of existence. These flickers appeared without a pattern and slowly closed in on him.
When he saw this, the youth’s expression turned pale and he suddenly patted his storage pouch and took out ten white pearls filled with veins of crimson. He then began to spin and tossed the pearls all around him.
Chapter 789: Ghost Sifting Banner
Han Li’s heart stirred at the sight of these pearls. They appeared to be the same as his own lightning beads. As the thought appeared in his head, he willed the Aureate Sword Formation to continue onward.
The sword threads were one of the abilities of the Aureate Formation, similar to the sword threads used by sword cultivators, but the formation was capable of summoning over a hundred astonishing threads of sword Qi. With the sword formation’s might coupled with the Auric Essence infused swords, these sword threads were far more formidable than those from common sword cultivators. Ordinary treasures were similarly incapable of blocking the swords’ incisive strikes.
As for items like the Lightning Bead, Han Li had no fear of them. So long as the true thirty-six swords were unharmed, the sword formation would easily reform itself even if the sword threads were scattered. The Aureate Sword Formation couldn’t be set back by any attacks.
Just as Han Li thought this, golden light flashed as the pearls contacted the sword formation, splitting the pearls into several pieces.
Surprisingly, the pearls weren’t explosives. Instead, they released a dense black-red mist of blood. The blood mist immediately dispersed and leaked through the air, spreading a pungent, sickly sweet scent.
The bead was known as a Blood Mine and it was said that they were refined from the most putrid materials found in the world. So long as one didn’t have particular Devil Dao treasures, the treasure’s spiritual nature and power would greatly decrease upon entering the blood mist. Even if a powerful magic treasure with a highly spiritual nature were to enter it, they would take days of purification with Nascent flames in order to recover from the damage.
Of course, these Blood Mines were incredibly rare. Not only were the materials used to refine them seldom seen, but the odds of a successful refinement were minuscule. These tensome beads were something the black-robed youth had spent over a hundred years accumulating.
This youth was an elder from one of the Ten Great Devil Sects of the Jin Empire. With his vast experience, he immediately thought to use the Blood Mines to corrupt the swords comprising Han Li’s sword formation.
A sword formation needed great coordination in order to display its might. If a few of the swords fell out of balance, the sword formation would collapse. Using Blood Mines was one of the most common methods used by Jin Empire devil cultivators
to combat sword formations. And since the Blood Mines were incredibly rare items, the youth normally wouldn’t use them in solo battles. He would only deploy them in large-scale conflicts as sword formations usually couldn’t be activated by lone cultivators.
Although Han Li didn’t know what this blood mist was, he immediately sensed something strange about it. Just as he pondered about it, faint rolls of thunder could be heard coming from within it as flashes of golden light appeared from the blood mist, followed by arcs of golden lightning. When the golden lightning struck the blood mist, the mist scattered in an explosion. In the blink of an eye, the Divine Devilbane Lightning and the tensome pockets of blood mist had erupted in mutual destruction.
Han Li was astonished by the sight, as this was the first time he had ever seen the Divine Devilbane Lightning take action on its own. It had shot out of his flying swords without any orders! It appeared that the wicked nature of the blood mist had counteracted the Divine Devilbane Lightning, a truly astonishing discover indeed.
Han Li didn't know that the Blood Mines were specialized in dealing with the treasures of the Righteous Dao. When met by the Divine Devilbane Lightning, which specialized in subduing Devil Dao techniques, the two just so happened to counteract one another. However, the quantity of the lightning contained in the thirty-six swords was vastly greater than the amount of blood mist. As a result, the blood mist was cleanly eliminated in the blink of an eye.
The black-robed man’s complexion paled and he shouted with fright, “Divine Devilbane Lightning! The flying swords were treasures crafted from Golden Lightning Bamboo. Impossible! How did you acquire so much of it?”
“I’ll answer that after I send you to the underworld!” Han Li took a deep breath and ordered the sword formation to continue since the blood mist had temporarily stopped the golden threads. The swords threads then continued to closed in on the black-robed youth without a sound.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 424