Ha hastily looked up in alarm and saw a ball of silver light. The Saintess was floating a hundred meters above him and ancient silver patterns appeared on her forehead. As she continued chanting, a small cauldron appeared in her hand. The cauldron then released a large expanse of silver light that enveloped an area of a hundred meters around it.
“The Heavenvoid Cauldron!?” Han Li shouted out its name in alarm and his face completely paled.
He hastily looked inside of himself to find the Heavenvoid Cauldron safely stored. 'What was happening? Could there be a second Heavenvoid Cauldron in this world?'
Yet to recover from his bewilderment, the small cauldron above him began to glow with light and surge in size. In the blink of an eye, it grew to twelve meters in size. Then under the command of the Saintess’ spell seal, the cauldron dazzlingly glowed and release an unending stream of sparkling azure sand. The stream of sand gathered together into a cloud before moving to envelop Han Li.
When Han Li saw this, his wings flapped without another thought and silver lightning sparked from his back.
But then, faint roars of thunder could be heard from the white mist. The soundwave of the thunder swept past Han Li and caused the silver lightning of his wings to flicker and completely disappear, disabling his lightning movement for the time being.
‘What ability is this?’ Han Li hastily glanced at the mist in alarm and saw the faint silhouette of the Endless Sky Beast at the edge of it, but he was unable to tell if it was its genuine body.
With the cloud of sand only thirty meters above him, Han Li was helpless to escape it. He could only point at the Bluelight Shield and have it wrap around him in a large blue barrier.
As soon as the sand and blue light barrier made contact, the azure sand brilliantly shined and massively expanded in size, each grain turning into the size of a boulder as it smashed down on the blue light barrier.
A series of booms echoed through the air. No matter how formidable the blue light barrier may be, it wasn’t able to withstand such a vast number of powerful strikes. In an instant, it blurred and dimmed. In addition, the cloud of sand split into two and transformed into two flood dragons, wrapping around the light barrier to restrict Han Li.
Without another thought, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a small cauldron. He flicked his finger against it and a blue icy flame appeared on its surface. It was the Divine Spirit Treasure he cultivated to its first layer, the Heavenvoid Cauldron!
Although he was only able to make use of only a small portion of the cauldron’s power, Han Li had no choice but to use it after being pushed to the brink. He swept his hand past the surface of the cauldron and a wave of blue light flew out from it, tightly wrapping around him.
Han Li then spread out his arms and flicked his fingers at the two sand flood dragons. A dozen streaks of azure sword Qi were released, weaving through the air and fiercely striking the flood dragons. As a result, a dozen thumb-sized holes appeared in the flood dragons’ heads but to little effect.
Han Li felt his heart grow tense. Just as he thought to avoid the incoming attacks, his body felt as heavy as a mountain and his actions were brought to a standstill, restricting his movements in their entirety.
The flood dragons appeared before him and charged into him, collapsing into clouds of sand on impact in two muffled groans. Then with bright light glowing around Han Li’s body, the cloud of sands condensed into a giant cocoon around him, soundly sealing him inside.
The Saintess had been initially shocked when Han Li brought out a small cauldron similar to her own holy cauldron, but when she saw how easily Han Li had been trapped by the sand, she simply smiled.
The might of the holy cauldron’s sand was immensely powerful. So long as someone was trapped in it, they would be completely disabled and at her mercy. Even late-Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn’t be able to escape in a short time.
A huge bang sounded out as Han Li’s blue light barrier was shattered and another layer of sand immediately wrapped around his body.
In that moment, the woman felt at ease and floated down as she stood on top of her huge cauldron. But after descending only thirty meters, a massive changed occurred.
Countless beams of light suddenly penetrated from within the hardy cocoon from every direction. Before the Saintess could give another command, the sand cocoon collapsed back into a cloud and floated motionlessly in the air. At the center of the sand cloud was a large dazzling blue light. Han Li was inside of it, holding a small cauldron in his hand as he stared at the Saintess.
The Saintess came to a sudden stop and looked at Han Li with an unsightly expression, disbelief flooding her mind.
A cold snort could be heard from Han Li as he slapped the lid of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Ripples upon ripples of blue light clearly resonated from the cauldron and soon spread around him, causing the surrounding sand to vanish as soon as the ripples of light passed by them, appearing almost as if the light had consumed it.
The Saintess was wildly alarmed by the scene and hastily formed a hand incantation, ordering the sand to resume its attack. However, the sand quietly remained in place as if having completely lost connection to the Saintess’ spiritual sense.
Suddenly, the Saintess betrayed panic from her face and stamped down on the huge cauldron. It continued to revolve for a time before spouting out a blinding azure light to envelope Han Li.
[1] Bagua, also known as the eight trigrams. It is most often represented as a Yin-Yang symbol with eight different trigrams surrounding it in an octagon.
Chapter 900: A Startling Change
Han Li narrowed his eyes and began to circulate the first layer of the Heavenvoid Cauldron’s Artifact Imprint Technique.
A dragon’s cry roared out from the cauldron and the cauldron’s lid launched into the air in a streak of blue light, revealing the rainbow light that shined from within it. Then the sea of azure light the Saintess used to freeze Han Li’s movements was quickly absorbed into the Heavenvoid Cauldron.
They were both shocked to see what was happening.
The Saintess’ huge cauldron had released a strange hum and suddenly shot down in a streak of light.
The Saintess turned deathly pale at this sudden change and hastily formed a hand incantation, ordering the cauldron to stop, but her commands were ineffective and the cauldron disappeared into the Heavenvoid Cauldron down below.
Furious alarm filled the Saintess’ mind, but it didn’t stop there.
The Heavenvoid Cauldron suddenly flew out from Han Li’s grasp and spun in the air before pointing its mouth towards the white mist at the side. As the cauldron faintly glowed with light, a roar of terror sounded out from the mist, followed by a black silhouette shooting out from it into the sky. It was a flood dragon with a bull’s head, the Endless Sky Beast.
Then, an enchanting azure mist shot out from the Heavenvoid Cauldron and chased down the Endless Sky Beast with incredible speed, instantly wrapping around the beast. The Endless Sky Beast wildly howled and struggled with all its might, but the blue mist held firm as if unaffected by the beast’s attacks. The mist spun around and quickly shank itself along with the beast before flying back into the cauldron. Then, the cauldron's lid spun once more before slamming into the cauldron and sealing it shut.
This strange turn of events had occurred all in the blink of an eye.
The Saintess’ expression turned completely pale in complete disbelief. It was clear that she was initially winning the battle. How was it that she had fallen into the abyss of defeat so quickly? Not only did Han Li escape from her cocoon of sand, but he seized both the holy cauldron and the incarnation of the holy beast.
However, the woman was someone of unordinary character and still retained her composure. Her gaze then dropped down to the Heavenvoid Cauldron in Han Li’s grasp.
She clearly understood that the change of circumstance in the battle was due to that cauldron. The loss of control over the holy cauldron must’ve been due to a conne
ction between it and Han Li’s cauldron, or something so great wouldn’t have occurred. She had to acquire that cauldron!
In the blink of an eye, the Saintess resolved herself.
Han Li was delighted by this sudden turn of events, but when the woman’s icy gaze flickered past him, he smiled, knowing precisely what the woman was thinking. Then, his wings flapped, he disappeared in a flash of silver lightning, only to reappear a hundred meters away.
He then recalled his condensed flying swords without any hesitation and his fingers blurred as they formed a series of strange hand gestures. Azure light flashed around his body as astonishing spiritual Qi was emitted from his body. He then opened his mouth and spat several mouthfuls of blood essence into the air. They transformed into threads of blood mist before turning into a strange azure-red color. Additionally, his complexion turned from dark red to a blood-crimson in an astonishing display and his figure grew indistinct inside the mist of blood.
“Not good!” When the Saintess saw Han Li’s actions, she immediately thought of something and she cried out in panic. She raised her hand and released two beams of silver light, turning into countless silver threads in midair in an attempt to cover Han Li.
But by the time the huge sword returned to Han Li, his image inside the crimson mist began to blur and he disappeared from view. In the next moment, crimson light glowed from the horizon before fading away.
The Saintess’ heart sank and she quickly released her spiritual sense, but Han Li had already escaped the limits of her spiritual sense with his Bloodshadow Evasion. The woman remained floating motionless in place with an ashen complexion.
...
In that same moment, over five hundred kilometers away, the elegant man was glancing down at the vast borderless plains with a strange expression as nine humming dark green wheels fluttered around him.
“Wood movement techniques? It was still had the strength to use the vegetation to conceal itself after I injured it to that degree? And that devil artifact is extremely powerful and troublesome, but it risked backlash when using it. However, it has no hope for survival. It is merely a Nascent Soul. With the injuries it sustained, its body will soon vanish. Nevertheless, I have the feeling that something bad had occurred. Could it be something to do with the others?” The youth’s eyes flickered as he muttered to himself before raising his head in another direction. After some hesitation, the nine wheels joined together as one and he shot back in a dark green streak of light.
Under an unremarkable bush, a shining black flag was embedded in the earth. There was a half-foot-wide hole that faintly emerged from it where there was an inch-large black-green Nascent Soul laying inside of it unconscious. Black Qi roiled around its body as it quietly absorbed the pure devilish Qi in the flag to restore its wounds.
...
In another area of the plains, a beautiful purple-haired woman had used a jade ancient treasure to trap several thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles. And she blocked an attack from a bead of lightning before easily piercing through the body of the foreign cultivator with a single attack. However, the foreign cultivator’s body then glowed with silver light to reveal the body of a charming woman. Then, she completely disappeared in specks of starlight.
The purple-haired woman stood in place with shock.
...
Four hours later, the elegant man, purple-haired woman, and the Endless Sky Saintess met together once more. They gave each other an account of what happened and looked at each other with dismay.
The elegant man frowned and sullenly said, “You mean to say that not only did we not acquire the method to nurture the Gold Devouring Beetles, but we also lost the holy cauldron and the Holy Beast?”
The purple-haired woman wore an unsightly expression and said, “The holy cauldron isn’t significant as we have another alternative to summoning the Holy Beast. However, I fear that having the Holy Beast’s incarnation captured will invoke the fury of the Holy Beast in the realms above. We must reclaim it.”
“We were far too careless,” the Saintess said with an exceptional calm, “I didn’t think this person would have a method of restraining the holy cauldron and cause this to happen. I will have to go to the Great Jin to reclaim the Holy Beast incarnation. And that strange small cauldron that was used to control our holy cauldron is nothing to underestimate either.
I suspect that cauldron is the Divine Spirit Treasure that our holy cauldron was modeled after. It can’t be explained any other way.”
“Divine Spirit Treasure? That isn’t very likely,” the purple-haired woman doubtfully said, “Those treasures aren’t something that can appear in this world. There were treasures that ancient cultivators brought down from the realm above. The refinement method for the holy cauldron was something that a unique genius ancestor had acquired after using a secret technique to communicate with the Holy Beast. How could the Divine Spirit Treasure still remain in the mortal world?”
The elegant man shook his head and said, “That might not be certain. Since Elder Devils were able to appear in our mortal world, it is possible there are several Divine Spirit Treasures that exist in our world as well.”
When the Saintess and the purple-haired woman heard the Elder Devil being mentioned, their expressions changed.
The purple-haired woman snorted and said, “It was said the Elder Devil was extremely fearsome, but it is a shame we didn’t have the opportunity to fight it. However, the Devil’s movement techniques are truly wondrous. It was easily able to cross our plains and enter the Great Jin.”
The elegant man sighed and spoke with a wry smile, “That is because the Elder Devil was gravely wounded. If it were to encounter us, we would give chase, preventing it from finding the time to heal. If it weren’t for that, the devil could’ve spread chaos throughout the plains.”
Gloominess worn on her face, the Saintess said, “Regardless of whether that cauldron is truly a Divine Spirit Treasure, he had killed many of our Immortals and seized the Holy Beast. We cannot allow this to be. Since the holy cauldron was seized away from me, I must make the trip to personally find it and the Holy Beast’s incarnation. Otherwise, we will not be able to answer the Holy Beast’s questions the next time we summon it.”
When the other two heard this, they exchanged a glance as if communicating their opinions.
The elegant man then nodded and said, “Since the Saintess feels strongly about this, she may as well make the trip to the Great Jin. However, many cultivators sects of the Great Jin are prejudiced towards our Soaring Tribe Immortals. You had best keep your identity a secret. After all, those of the Great Jin should possess vast abilities. You should first take a look at the Yin Sifting Sect and see if that person is truly a Yin Sifting Sect Elder. After making his identity clear, you should immediately return to the plains and we will lend you our power.”
“I understand. Since that person’s abilities are likely beyond mine, I won’t rashly take action.” The Saintess said with a grave expression.
Thus, the three promptly returned. After the Endless Sky Saintess finished handling her affairs, she set off to the Great Jin to search for Han Li.
...
The Great Jin’s Liao Province was one of the hundred and eight provinces of the empire. It was split into ten prefectures, but a majority of them were located in a vastly snowy area where few lived. The more prosperous of these prefectures were still somewhat destitute.
The Liao Province’s Mystic River is the province’s second largest river and it was one of the few rivers that wouldn’t freeze during flood season. As a result, whenever the time came, merchants and travellers would all use this river to travel as it was far more convenient than carriage or horse. And at every portion of the river, there would be empire vessels making their patrols.
But regardless of this, there were many ships on this vast stretch of river. Naturally, there would be many criminals that would take the risk of seizing the ship of worse. As a result, there would be a few larger
ships that would hire skilled martial artists as guards.
Wang Tieqiang was a common example of such a guard. And as his name would suggest [1], he was somewhat skilled with spears, but this was secondary to his vast experience as a guard. He has been a guard for over twenty years, turning from a hot-headed youth to an experienced and profound Jianghu practitioner.
At the moment, he was steadily standing at the bow of the ship with a hand resting on the boat railing. He was examining the nearby waters with a calm expression.
On this journey, he was only a common bodyguard. The only thing exceptional about this job was that the ship’s owner was rumored to be the trusted confidant of a very important government official.
That being said, most bandits would be unwilling to take action against a ship, even if it were lightly guarded. And this was shown across their long journey, where not even a single event had occurred.
Just as he was lost in his thoughts, he recalled how generous the ship’s owner had paid him. The silver could afford his wife several good fabrics to make several sets of good clothing. With that thought, Wang Tieqiang couldn’t help but smile as he thought about his seven-year-old son.
But then a woman’s voice suddenly cried out, “Quick come! There a huge block of ice there. It... It seems to have someone inside.”
[1] The qiang in his name means spear.
Chapter 901: On the Boat
When Wang Tieqiang heard this, he was stunned for a moment. The voice sounded very much like the maid named Huang Ying. However, it was quite odd for there to be ice floating in the river during flood season, not to mention the day’s warm weather.
He couldn’t help but take a look above up at the sky and make sure that the sun was blazing in the middle of the sky. He felt on the verge of sweating even as he wore his thin clothes. Could it be there was someone on the ice? Despite the many years spent in the world of Jianghu [1], this was the first time he had heard of such a thing. He then reached behind him to grab the two short iron short spears he kept on his back before walking over to the source of the commotion with silent steps.
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