Just as it so happened, Han Li’s previous retreat had put him out of range of the ruler’s attack.
Dumbstruck, Han Li heard the woman shout and the lotuses simultaneously ruptured, converging together, each to form the petal of a giant lotus. Countless Buddhist scripts flowed out from every petal and the chanting began to resound throughout the hall like an army.
Trapped inside the flower, the three figures weren’t able to pick up any of the treasures and all began to sway as if they had become drunk.
Chapter 1025: The Might of the Yang Ring
Just as an overwhelming sight bloomed in front of Han Li, the vajra barrier within his body suddenly began to pulse in size.
In his alarm, he hastily concentrated his magic power to the barrier and suppressed it. He then took a deep glance at the lotuses in the distance before beating his wings and disappearing from sight.
In the next moment, he reappeared at the edge of the Greatnorth Essence Light and flew in as an azure streak.
In his eyes, stealthily running away was the wiser action with the sudden appearance of this immensely powerful jade ruler, whose might was no lesser than the Triflame Fan, even if its abilities were inclined to illusions and restriction. It was most likely a Divine Spirit Treasure replica of some kind and since he already managed to acquire two treasures, why should he put himself at greater risk?
Although he felt vengeful towards the ruler’s master for her initial ambush, now was not the time to settle debts. After all, Old Devil Qian and the Nightfiend wouldn’t prove easy opponents. No matter his confidence in his powers, his life would be at risk if he were attacked by them all at once.
The beautiful woman stowed inside the huge gold-silver shuttle clasped her hands in an incantation gesture and controlled the white jade ruler with a strained expression. Although she saw that Han Li had withdrawn, she was too busy to pay him any heed. After all, he hadn’t taken away the vital Dragon Call Crest.
Lady Mu saw her junior martial sister trap Old Devil Qian and the others in the huge rainbow lotus. After hatefully glancing in the direction Han Li had escaped, she entered the illusion.
Due to her junior’s control, she was free from any influence of its power, and easily grabbed ahold of the Dragon Call Crest.
But when she reached out for the small purple sword next to it, the Buddhist light flashed and a portion of the lotus above her began to collapse. Old Devil Qian and the two demons were able to escape the restriction and reappeared to glare at Lady Mu with an ominous gaze.
The magic power of her junior martial sister had been exhausted and the Four Skies Ruler lost effect.
The woman paled.
...
Not long after Han Li charged back through the Greatnorth Essence Light, he ran into the horned woman - the human form of the Vast Cliff Tortoise.
She was clad in a strange green armor that seemed to completely repel the silver strings. But strangely enough, the horned woman walked slowly as if she were incapable of any movement techniques.
It was no wonder the other two had left her behind and arrived in the hall first.
When Han Li appeared before the demon, the horned woman glanced at him and paused in surprise. Then with a wary expression, she held a pitch-black rod in front of her and began to prudently observe him.
Maintaining a calm expression, Han Li promptly flew to the side and walked around her.
There was no grudge between them to the best of his knowledge. And while they were restricted in such a dangerous area, there was no reason for them to take action.
But he had been mistaken. As soon as he swept past her, her expression stirred and she rigidly turned to watch Han Li with terror.
This had greatly alarmed him and he unconsciously came to a stop, bafflingly staring back in turn.
“Hand over the items you took from the hall!” The woman shrieked. Then, she pointed the black rod at Han Li and had it extend ten meters long. It blurred, producing countless copies itself to form a small mountain above him.
The mountain’s sudden appearance caused Han Li’s heart to tremble, and the woman’s crazed expression and words had left him baffled, but he didn’t reveal any fear in the slightest. He simply raised his hand and released a black ring to the rods above him.
When the woman saw this, she rejoiced.
The rod in her hand was something she had refined from the materials around her while she was trapped. Along with continuous tempering for tens of thousands of years, she created a grand treasure. Although the mound of rods appeared unremarkable, each one weighed nearly a ton. She was completely confident this would be enough to crush Han Li.
With that thought, killing intent flashed through her mind and she roused all the might in her body to pour copious amounts of spiritual power into the rods, causing them to swell.
It wasn’t difficult for him to immediately guessed what she was doing. Although he didn’t know why she was trying to kill him, this inspired him to do the same.
He then expressionlessly pointed to the black rods above him.
As soon as the ring touched the mass of rods, it released a hum, causing all the nearby silver strings to hum in chorus. They immediately trembled and densely weaved together around the rods with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, they had completely disappeared from sight.
“You can control the Greatnorth Essence Lights!” The horned woman shrieked with complete disbelief.
The Heaven-Earth rings were a set of two: one Yin to protect against the essence lights and one Yang to control them.
Han Li snorted in contempt. If they were outside the lights, he would be greatly fearful of a late-Nascent Soul stage demon as he would hardly be capable of killing her. Their current circumstances, however, was a different story.
Since she took the initiative to court death, he decided to spare no effort in fulfilling her wish. Although he couldn't make out what creature she was, her body and soul should prove to be incredibly rare top grade materials.
With that in mind, Han Li tossed aside any intentions of a peaceful resolution and struck the ring above him with a spell seal.
It circled in the air and lit up with a hum. It radiated a mysterious dark light and took control of the silver strings a hundred meter around it. Then with a mere mental command, they immediately lined up together to form a huge silver wave and rippled in the horned woman’s direction.
The woman screamed out in alarm and didn’t dare to further tangle with Han Li. She hastily spat out a ball of black-red blood essence and held her hands in an incantation gesture, commanding it to form a mist around her armor and turning to blood-red.
At that moment, the silver wave collapsed on top of her and completely engulfed her like driftwood before the tide.
Green and red light flared from her armor, followed by the deafening clangs of metal.
Although she had used a secret technique, the armor could barely resist the Greatnorth Essence Light to begin with. Now that there was a great quantity that attacked in full force, her armor was littered with holes in the blink of an eye.
The woman screamed with twisted pain on her face and she pressed her hands on the armor, producing multiple layers of grey light to condense into a stone-like material as an additional layer of defense, and slowing the erosion of her armor from the assault of silver strings.
The stone just as quickly turned to rubble underneath the assault, forcing the woman to use her true essence to continuously replenish it. At a glance, it was only a matter of time before it was completely destroyed.
However, Han Li was fully intent on killing the demon and promptly struck the Yang Ring in his hand with several spell seals. The ring revolved once in the air and pulled in the Greatnorth Essence Light from a distance to form another wave with overwhelming momentum.
Her face turned as pale as the grey light shining around her armor upon seeing the incoming attack; there was no time for her to react. It struck and her armor was completely
shattered. It would only take a moment before it collapsed in its entirety.
With complete fright, her eyes frantically darted around her and she shouted, “Stop, Fellow Daoist! Please spare my life! I am willing to recognize you as my master and become your spirit beast!”
The light had penetrated a portion of her armor and mashed her arm to a pulp.
Given the many years she’s lived, how could she be willing to die in a place like this?
“Become my spirit beast?” Han Li’s expression stirred and he temporarily paused his attack. Staring at the woman trapped underneath the silver tide, he calmly said, “Do you believe me to be a child? Soul restraint techniques have no effect on demons of your caliber. How could you possibly become my spirit beast?”
If the woman didn’t quickly reply, he would immediately kill her without any hesitation. He wasn’t about to let her buy time for anything to save her.
Seeing that his killing intent had yet to fade away, she fearfully said, “There is no need for me to explain in detail. You acquired a wooden tile from Kunwu Hall: my Soul Binding Tile. Until I finish cultivating the Great Dao, I will be restricted by it.”
Chapter 1026: Subjugation
When Han Li heard the horned woman mention the tile, his face betrayed surprise.
It hadn’t looked particularly special when he acquired it and was skeptical of her words.
He slapped his waist and produced the tile in a crimson streak, circling once in the air before falling into his hand.
It was the size of a palm, shone intermittently with crimson light, and had a small circle of grey Qi on its surface.
Han Li quickly looked at it with his spiritual sense and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. With a trace of happiness on his face, he raised his arm and struck it with azure light.
Suddenly, the crimson light from the tile brightly glowed, and the circle of grey Qi disappeared to be replaced with an image of a black-white spirit tortoise.
After staring at the wood tile for a long while, the blue light in his eyes faded away and he raised his head, calmly saying, “So you were a Vast Cliff Tortoise? It is no wonder you were able to endure the Greatnorth Essence Lights for so long.”
In fear that a misunderstanding could occur, the horned woman hastily explained, “Fellow Daoist should know my words are true. My lifesoul tile was something that the Three Kunwu Masters had personally refined. There should no longer be anyone in the world that is capable of creating such a high-grade life tile. So long as it’s in your possession, my life is in your control.”
“That’s true, but it also depends on who is the owner of this tile. If anyone under Nascent Soul-stage wished to refine this and have you become their servant, their cultivation would be lacking and a backlash.”
“...What? Does Fellow Daoist still feel ill at ease even with the tile in your possession?” The horned woman’s expression grimaced unsightly.
“Of course I am! Even if I refine the tile, I will only be able to temporarily control you. If you were to risk everything, it’s possible for you to momentarily break free of control and betray me. I have no interest always being on edge. What use would I have in sparing you?” His expression fell deeper with every word and the Yang ring above his head began to hum, causing the silver strings surrounding the woman to stir.
With a heart full of fright, she flusteredly shouted, “Fellow Daoist, if you still feel uneasy, I am willing to add a portion of my soul to the tile. If I truly harbor any malice, you would be able to immediately sense it.”
“Oh? That method will certainly do. Since you’ve said as much, go ahead,” He spoke indifferently.
She hesitated for a moment, but when she saw his stern expression, her heart tightened and she slapped the back of her head without any further reservation.
Black-white light flashed from the crown of her head and a crimson Nascent Soul appeared on top. It proceeded to open its mouth and spit out a fist-sized ball of green light.
While the woman grimaced in pain, the green light trembled before being split into uneven halves.
The larger half flew in a circle and returned to the Nascent Soul’s mouth, and the other lingered in the air before slowly making its way towards Han Li.
When he saw this, he raised the lifesoul tile towards it.
In a flare of crimson, the green ball was absorbed and the tile let out a clear ring.
When he looked down and saw that the black-white image of the tortoise was more vivid, and it looked up at him in a life-like display.
He now felt truly relieved and swallowed it to take it into his body.
When she saw this, her heart coldly shuddered. Apart from entering Deity Transformation stage, she would have no hope of breaking free from his control.
Han Li pointed to the ring above him, having the Greatnorth Essence Light surrounding the woman disperse.
He then blurred and instantly arrived in front of her, frowning upon seeing the ruined state of her arm.
He flickered his finger and had black light shine around them, commanding the Yin ring to form a barrier around them, warding off any of the remaining silver light.
He then withdrew the Yang ring and casually said, “Be at ease, I don’t intend on binding you for eternity. When I perish or ascend to the spirit realm, I will release you. I have no intention of passing you down through a clan or sect.”
“Fellow Daoist, are your words true?” When she heard this, her expression lit up.
Caring not for her casual address of him, he simply smiled, “You’ll find out in the future. To spirit beasts like you, the lifespan of a human isn’t anything noteworthy. So long as you act faithfully and diligently, I won’t treat you unfairly. I’m sure you will come to know that becoming my spirit beast isn’t such a bad thing!”
“In any case, so long as you hold true to your words, I won’t mind following your orders.” She wryly chuckled.
“Alright, enough of that. First, take this pill and recover your magic power and injuries.” With a blank face, he raised a small bottle.
“Recover my magic power? Yi! Could it be...?” The woman looked at the small bottle doubtfully and opened the lid to face extremely pure spiritual Qi.
With his hands behind his back, he leisurely elaborated, “It is a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk. It should be enough for you to recover your power. I am in need of your service.”
“Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!” She muttered a few words of thanks before taking the drop down her throat.
After circulating the liquid through her body, she felt an abundant spiritual power spread through her.
The woman was elated and formed an incantation gesture. With black-white light glowing around her, she looked at her ruined arm and began to chant.
Much to his surprise, he saw the light concentrate on the wound and cause new flesh to wildly grow from it. In the blink of an eye, it had completely mended.
“An undying body!” Han Li exclaimed.
This was a rare ability possessed by a handful demon beasts, something he had seen only once before by the flame toad in Devilfall Valley. It was unknown to him how many times stronger her ability is in comparison to that beast. In a single breadth of time, the wound had been completely restored.
It seems that he only managed to subdue the demon by a fluke.
Had they not been in the Greatnorth Essence Light and if her magic power hadn’t been greatly exhausted from threading through it, it wouldn’t have nearly been as easy to deal with her.
In truth, he hadn’t known that the woman had also been drained from passing through the restrictions of the Goldweight Spirit Trees, or she would’ve been able to hold out for much longer.
After all, a grade-ten demon beast possessed cultivation deep beyond his imagination.
With that done, the horned woman waved her newly grown arm with a pleasant expression, “The spirit milk is well deserving of its reputation. It would’ve taken me three days to restore it otherwise.”
“Now what should I call you? Since you were together with the Nightfiend, you should’ve heard about me.”
“My name is Gui Ling,” the demon beast hesitantly answered, “Indeed, I have somewhat heard about you, but only with regards to your ability.”
Han Li faintly smiled, “I will speak more of that during a more suitable time, Fellow Daoist Gui. Your abilities and cultivation, on the other hand, are quite astounding. Although I control your life-soul tile, I can’t control you like a low-grade beast. I will have to befriend you when matters settle down.”
“Then I must thank you. Ah, you mentioned having me do something?” When she recalled what he earlier said, her face turned serious.
She was somewhat worried that he would have her attack the other two demon guardians. Although their relationship wasn’t deep, they were still friends.
A cold glint flashed from his eyes, “In a moment, Old Devil Qian will enter this area. When that time comes, you will join hands with me and kill him.”
Relieved, the woman confirmed, “You mean the late-Nascent Soul cultivator who uses devil techniques?”
“That’s him,” Han Li coldly smiled, “Originally, I hadn’t planned on taking action against him now as his movement techniques are entirely bizarre. Even if I could control the lights here, I will need to take him in alive. This should be possible now that I have your help.”
“In that case, I will assist the best I can,” Gui Ling responded with delight.
“Then I will have to trouble you. When you attack him, make sure to spare his Nascent Soul. I have questions that demand answers.”
She glanced at him and hesitated for a moment, “Forgive me for being too forthright, but even if we have the advantage, killing him is an entirely different matter. With his techniques, he can pass through here without fear. It may prove easy to gravely injure him, but if he was focused on escaping, the two of us could hardly block him.”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 554