All of a sudden, azure light flashed and a humanoid figure appeared out of thin air, reaching out before grabbing the streak of light.
It was none other than Han Li, who had been in seclusion for three days.
There was a little leopard beast sitting on his shoulder and he delved his spiritual sense into the ball of light in his hand in an unhurried manner.
This was a voice transmission talisman sent by the Heavenly Jade Pavilion regarding the battle for the Spirit Land.
"The Vast Martial Hall, eh?"
Han Li murmured to himself before rubbing his hands together, and the ball of light immediately disappeared.
He then strode directly over to the door.
Four hours later, in the air high above an outdoor plaza, Han Li hovered in mid-air within a massive barrier of white light. Outside the light barrier, there was a burly man wearing a suit of golden armor with a scar on his face, wearing a cold expression.
Time passed by slowly, and Han Li continued to wait patiently, but the same could not be said for the man clad in golden armor. He looked up at the seven scorching suns in the sky from time to time, as if he were calculating the amount of time that had elapsed.
All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed in the distance, following which a streak of blue light shot forth. It appeared beside the light barrier in the blink of an eye before the light receded to reveal a cultivator.
"Please forgive me, Senior; I'm late because I was refining a treasure. I hope I'm not too late?" The man extended a respectful bow toward the armor-clad cultivator with a fawning smile on his face.
This man was none other than the man with the Weng surname.
The armor-clad man replied coldly, "Hmph! If you had come any later, I would've disqualified you! You're lucky that you made it in the nick of time. Get up there now."
He then made a hand seal and cast a golden incantation seal toward the white light barrier. Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light erupted from the barrier, following which a passageway around 10 feet wide opened up before Han Li's opponent.
"Thank you, Senior."
The man was ecstatic as he shot forth into the light barrier as a streak of blue light.
When he cast his gaze toward Han Li, a twisted sinister smile appeared on his face.
"So you really came; looks like you have some guts, after all. To think that you would dare to accept my challenge as a mere early-Deity Transformation cultivator," the man said in a sinister voice.
Han Li merely gave a lazy smile response, as if he couldn't even be bothered to offer a reply.
The man was immediately enraged upon seeing this, and the killing intent in his heart grew even fiercer.
"Listen up! There are no rules or restrictions in this battle. As long as you don't leave the boundaries of this restriction, anything goes. Unless one side surrenders in a verbal concession, I won't step in. If you feel like you're not up to the task, then it's best to concede early on. Not many people have perished during battles for Spirit Lands, but it's rather common for severe injuries to be inflicted. If neither of you have any objections, then we'll begin soon," the armor-clad cultivator announced.
Han Li and his opponent looked at one another from afar, and neither of them said anything. The armor-clad man nodded, and loudly declared, "Begin!"
Han Li and his opponent sprang into action at the exact same moment.
In the face of an opponent whom even late-Deity Transformation cultivators treated with respect, Han Li naturally wasn't going to make the mistake of underestimation and complacency. He rustled his sleeve, and 72 small swords shot forth in a frenzy, each of which was around an inch in length. Amid a burst of shimmering golden light, they transformed into golden lotus flowers that circled around Han Li's body.
At the same time, he opened his mouth to expel a miniature cauldron. The cauldron swelled to around 10 feet in size amid a burst of brilliant spiritual light.
It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron! In contrast, the man with sharp brows made a hand seal, and specks of blue light began to emanate from his body.
These specks of light were only around the size of grains of rice, but there was an innumerable amount, and they almost inundated his entire body.
The man then made a grabbing motion, and a ball of piercing silver light flashed, following which a shimmering silver wheel appeared over his hand. The wheel was around the size of a palm and was quite an antiquated artifact. From the layers of runes carved onto the surface of the wheel, it was quite apparent that this was an extraordinary item.
The silver wheel was tossed into the air and immediately transformed int a ball of silver light. Following a string of urgent chants, the ball of light began to swell drastically.
Moments later, it transformed into a massive ball around 30 to 40 feet in size, hovering directly above his head like a silver sun.
After doing all that, he cast his gaze toward Han Li, and his expression stiffened involuntarily. The 72 golden flying swords weren't all that fearsome to him, but the massive azure cauldron hovering before Han Li made his heart jolt in shock!
Chapter 1323: Thousand Soul Bell
Even though it was impossible to identify the caliber and ability of the treasures based on its appearance alone, generally speaking, cauldron, lamp, and mirror treasures all had some special abilities that were very hard to defend against.
In particular, the Heavenvoid Cauldron was emanating spiritual pressure far beyond that of a normal treasure, so Han Li's opponent immediately became quite wary. He had a feeling that this battle wasn't going to be a very easy one.
With that in mind, he immediately unleashed the first attack without any hesitation, hoping to seize the initiative.
At the same time, he made a hand seal, and the specks of blue light around his body receded, transforming into grains of shimmering blue sand that rose up into the sky. These grains of sand then began to multiply at a staggering rate, obscuring the entire sky in the blink of an eye.
Simultaneously, the massive silver wheel also vanished within the cloud of sand.
A loud cry erupted as the cloud of sand came crashing down toward Han Li, creating a sound akin thunderclaps from the countless sand particles grating against one another.
Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, but he didn't immediately take any action. The golden lotus flowers twirled around him before flying up to meet the oncoming attack.
As the lotus flowers flashed through the air, countless rays of light began to emanate from them, making them appear just as formidable as the blue sand cloud.
As soon as the sand came into contact with the lotus flowers, the latter instantly expanded drastically to around 10 feet in size each, rotating rapidly in the sky. Their petals were like sharp blades, forcibly tearing through the sand cloud amid a string of resounding booms.
The 72 golden lotus flowers had managed to stop the oncoming blue sandstorm dead in its tracks.
A hint of surprise flashed through the eyes of Han Li's opponent, but he then chuckled coldly as he cast an incantation seal.
Silver light suddenly flashed within the sand cloud as a massive silver wheel emerged, crashing down with violent force and striking one of the 72 golden lotus flowers.
A sinister smile appeared on the man's face.
This Metal Severing Wheel was refined using a rare material sourced from the primordial world, Dark Gold Sand. The wheel's sharpness was unmatched and its destructive power stood well above that of normal flying swords and flying sabers. Ever since he had refined this treasure, they had helped him slice through countless flying sword treasures unleashed by his enemies.
Those golden flying swords did appear to be quite powerful, but they shouldn't stand a chance against the silver wheel.
A string of clangs rang out in rapid succession as dazzling golden and silver light intertwined with one another. The two treasures appeared to be evenly matched.
The man's expression changed
slightly upon seeing this.
All of a sudden, the golden lotus flower suddenly spread open its petals to encapsulate the entire silver wheel.
An anguished screech sounded from the wheel before it was shattered into countless pieces and disappeared into the lotus flower.
Before the man had a chance to recover from his shock, Han Li pointed a finger toward the massive cauldron hovering before him. The lid on the cauldron immediately flew off of its own accord, following which countless streaks of azure light swept forth from within. The azure strands flashed past the golden lotus flowers, latching onto large clumps of the blue sand in the sky before dragging them back into the cauldron.
Han Li had taken these measures as fast as lightning, and when his opponent finally returned to his senses, some of his blue sand had already been abducted into the cauldron, and his connection with those grains of sand had been completely severed.
"Spirit treasures!" the man exclaimed.
The blue sand and that Metal Severing Wheel were both treasures that he had personally refined.
Aside from spirit treasures, no other treasures would be able to forcibly take them from him. Now that they had been taken away, over a century of arduous cultivation had gone to waste.
With that in mind, he immediately opened his mouth to expel a fist-sized ball of blood essence.
He extended his index finger and dipped it into the ball of blood essence, using it as ink to inscribe a crimson rune into the air. He then slammed a hand toward the rune, following which it disappeared in a flash.
However, in the next instant, the rune reappeared only around 10 feet away from Han Li, having already transformed into a massive azure ghostly head with a pair of sharp horns before pouncing toward Han Li.
It appeared that he was trying to use this surprise attack to force Han Li to stop acquiring the blue sand and silver wheel treasures.
Han Li was in the process of making hand seals while the Heavenvoid Cauldron assimilated the blue sand at his behest. As soon as the ghostly head appeared, it rushed toward him with ferocious might, but he remained completely unflustered as he abruptly opened his mouth. An arc of golden lightning shot forth from within, striking the ghostly head with unerring accuracy, causing it to vanish into a cloud of azure smoke.
Even an avatar of the elder devil didn't dare to take an attack head-on from the Divine Devilbane Lightning, so this ghostly head naturally stood no chance at all.
Han Li's opponent faltered upon seeing this. A thought then occurred to him, and his expression darkened significantly.
At this point, the strands of azure light from the Heavenvoid Cauldron had already taken half of the blue sand in the sky.
A bone-chilling harrumph sounded as Han Li's opponent furrowed his brows, then made a strange hand seal. At the same time, what sounded like Buddhist chants rang out, following which he slowly pointed a finger toward the air before him.
The grains of blue sand that were locked in a fierce battle with the azure light and the golden lotus flowers suddenly became completely stationary. Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light erupted as the grains of sand began to expand drastically.
In the blink of an eye, these tiny rice-sized grains of sand transformed into head-sized blue rocks, all of which were translucent and giving off vibrant blue light. These glittering and translucent rocks immediately came crashing down from above, finally causing the freely-rotating golden lotus flowers to slow down. Even the strands of azure light from the Heavenvoid Cauldron also became unable to draw in these heavy blue rocks.
Han Li faltered upon seeing this before casting his gaze toward his opponent.
He discovered that the man's entire body was radiating brilliant spiritual light while his hair danced in a frenzy around him. There was also white light flashing from within his visible orifices, and it was quite clear that he was using the power of his essence.
Han Li's expression darkened as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head. All of a sudden, murky grey light erupted forth before sweeping through the air. The incredibly heavy blue translucent stones in up above immediately became almost completely weightless before being forced to revert back to their sand form.
The grey light rapidly swept forth, completely capturing all of the grains of sand in the air.
Not only did this turn of events cause the expression on the face of Han Li's opponent to darken even further, even the perpetually emotionless armor-clad cultivator outside the light barrier revealed a hint of surprise for the first time. It was quite clear that Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light had even drawn the interest of this Spatial Tempering cultivator.
"What ability is this? Why is it able to wrest away my Blue Crystal Sand?" the man asked with a vicious expression.
"Do you think I'll tell you?" Han Li chuckled with a carefree expression. In his eyes, this man was only acting so cocky because his cultivation base far outstripped that of Han Li's. However, Han Li didn't know who this man was, and he also appeared to have a Spatial Tempering Stage master. As such, he was rather cautious in his approach and had no intention of killing this man just yet. Otherwise, he would've already retaliated with a relentless storm of attacks, giving his opponent no chance to even catch his breath.
Of course, this was also a sign of Han Li's extreme confidence in his current set of abilities.
With the Divine Essencefused Light, Aureate Sword Formation, and Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, he wouldn't be fearful in the slightest even if he were to come up against a late-Deity Transformation cultivator.
An indecisive look appeared on the man's face. Han Li's abilities were far more powerful than he had anticipated, and defeat was not an option for him. With that in mind, he finally made a decision as he flipped both hands over at once.
On one hand, a palm-sized yellow copper badge appeared with white mist swirling around it, making it impossible for anyone to glean its actual appearance. On his other hand, a silver talisman appeared, and it was filled with beveled silver text runes!
Han Li's pupils immediately contracted upon seeing this as he activated his sword arts.
The golden lotus flowers that were circling around overhead suddenly converged toward the center, forming a super massive golden lotus flower that was over 100 feet in diameter, and the gargantuan flower hurtled toward the man at Han Li's behest.
As for the murky grey light up above, it came crashing down to create a grey light barrier that formed a secure cocoon around Han Li.
At this moment, Han Li's opponent raised both hands at once, and the copper badge immediately hovered into the air. At the same time, brilliant white light erupted from the badge and a projection emerged from within before rapidly expanding.
A half-naked giant of a man that was around 20 feet tall soon appeared.
The giant was carrying no weapons, but its skin was like translucent green jade and there was spiritual light shimmering in its eyes. It was a humanoid puppet.
Meanwhile, the silver talisman exploded into a ball of silver mist that was around a foot in size.
The silver mist materialized into a giant black wolf with a pair of sinister green eyes, which were cast toward Han Li in a completely expressionless manner.
After summoning these two creatures, Han Li's opponent still wasn't content. He took a deep breath and his face suddenly turned as crimson as blood. He laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and blue light flashed up above as a blue Nascent Soul appeared, holding a black bell that was around an inch in size.
"That's the Thousand Soul Bell! Has Eccentric Ming gone senile? How could he lend such important treasures to his disciples?" The armor-clad cultivator outside the light barrier displayed no reaction to the puppet, nor the giant black wolf, but his brows furrowed and his expression immediately darkened at the sight of the bell in the blue Nascent Soul's hands.
"Senior! This is a treasure that I borrowed from my master; I'm not breaking any rules here, right?" The blue Nascent Soul chuckle
d as it spoke in an infantile voice.
"Hmph, of course not. However, the Thousand Soul Bell is an extremely powerful treasure, and you'll only barely be able to use it through the help of a secret technique. Even if you come out on top in this battle, you'll sustain severe injuries for forcibly using power beyond your capabilities. Are you sure you want to do this just for a plot of Spirit Land?" the armor-clad cultivator asked in a cold voice.
"Thank you for your words of caution, Senior, but I've naturally thought long and hard before making this decision," the Nascent Soul replied. The massive golden lotus flower was almost upon it, and it immediately hurled forth the black bell in its hands in response.
At the same time, the green puppet began to rush toward Han Li, expanding even further with each and every step it took.
After reaching the halfway point between Han Li and his opponent, it had already swelled to more than twice its original size.
Meanwhile, the giant black wolf swayed before disappearing on the spot as a burst of black mist.
Chapter 1324: The Might of a Body Refinement Warrior
As soon as the black bell was hurled into the air, it released a string of crisp chimes.
Han Li was suddenly struck by the feeling that a massive boom had erupted within his spiritual sense, following which his body spasmed as if he'd been electrocuted, and he almost plummeted from the sky.
Han Li was naturally shocked by this development, and his Great Development Technique activated of its own accord to send a stream of coolness circulating through his mind.
His face had paled significantly, but his body was finally back to normal.
"That's also a spirit treasure! There's no way that a normal treasure could possess such power!" A hint of wariness flashed through Han Li's heart as he reflexively retaliated.
He made a hand seal, and his spiritual sense converged into a ball in his mind before being expelled toward his opponent.
Meanwhile, Han Li's opponent was even more shocked than he was to see Han Li recover so easily from the effects of the Thousand Soul Bell.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 737