Against such might, the defenses of the other three were reaching their limits. They hastily brandished their treasures in alarm as if they couldn't hold out much longer.
However, Han Li’s rainbow flames seemed to be endless. As the might of the black flames increased, the rainbow flames surged a meter high and kept the black flames at a distance.
At that moment, the Black Spirit disciples’ expressions turned unsightly. But before they could say anything, Han Li narrowed his eyes and glanced at the others who were struggling against the flame. He promptly spat out a ball of silver flame and turned into a silver firebird in a crackle.
As soon as the silver firebird appeared, it stared at the black flames and let out a cheerful cry. It spread its wings and expanded several times in size, turning a meter-wide.
Without waiting for Han Li’s command, the silver flames flew out to the black flames. Black and silver flames silently roiled together and soon, the firebird’s body turned into a magnet and absorbed the black flames towards itself.
The Spirit Engulfing Flame was originally a fusion of other powerful flames. Furthermore with the instinct it possesses, it is quite adept at devouring different flames.
Although the Golden Crow Flames they used weren’t the Golden Crow True Spirit Flames that could melt space and burn earth, with the support of the golden crow feather, they could use a sliver of the golden crow’s divine flame. It was something the Spirit Engulfing Flames happily enjoyed consuming.
Thus, when the bird formed from the Spirit Engulfing Flames entered the fire, it devoured them without reserve and within the span of a few breathes, the bird circle around the black flames and devoured them entirely.
All of the Black Spirit disciples were left dumbstruck.
Lei Lan and the others were overjoyed.
Furious, the Black Spirit leader shouted, “Who are you? The Tian Peng Race doesn't have such techniques!”
“I don’t have to answer you,” Han Li lazily said. He spread his wings and vanished in a bolt of azure-white lightning.
But as someone with rich battle experience, the Black Spirit leader quickly reacted, shaking one of his sleeves and forming an incantation gesture with his other hand.
Suddenly, a net of black threads shot out of his sleeve, but it wasn’t aimed at Han Li. Rather, it covered himself. In the blink of an eye, a thin black cloth thoroughly covered him. As for his other hand, he summoned three cup-sized balls of black lightning to circle around outside.
In a clap of lightning, Han Li appeared next to the black cloth.
Three booms sounded as the black lightning flashed and struck Han Li. However, a black armor had already emerged around him.
Despite having scattered away half of his armor, the lightning hadn’t done any damage to him.
Rather, Han Li remained expressionless as golden light flashed from his body, revealing a layer of golden scales underneath. Then, his hand became blurred as it stretched out faster than sound with his fingers aimed at the Black Spirit leader’s vitals.
Zap. The golden lightning from his fingers tore through the black cloth like paper.
The Black Spirit leader felt a chill run down his back as the golden hand pierced his chest. Strangely enough, blood didn’t dripped down Han Li’s arm.
Chapter 1458: Infernal Flame Fruits and the Rotten Leaf Forest
The Black Spirit leader wore an expression of disbelief. He shouted and grabbed the arm in his chest.
A cold glint then flashed from Han Li’s eyes and golden light brightly shined from his arm. A meter-long sword then strangely appeared from his hand.
A flash of swordlight flickered, followed by a metallic ring.
Not only did the Black Spirit leader’s arm fall off, but his body had been sliced in two by the sword light. Only a crystal core and a ball of green flames appeared from the bisected body; his soul had been destroyed by the swordlight.
The other Black Spirit holy disciples turned pale with fright. Their leader was a high spirit general grade being. In regards to cultivation and abilities, he was unrivaled. How could the Tian Peng holy disciple slay him in a single strike?
Soon, four of the Black Spirit holy disciples let out furious shouts and they aggressively dived towards Han Li in the form of large black crows. As for the remaining two, they wordlessly exchanged a glance and withdrew their feathers, immediately taking off to the distance in black streaks of light.
Han Li smirked and thunder rang from his back as he disappeared in a flash of lightning.
The large black birds were startled by this and couldn't help but stop.
In that brief delay, azure light flashed and the image of a winged figure appeared underneath one of the black crows.
Before the crow could take action, the figure’s arm moved and released a glaring flash of golden light.
The crow was startled, but its body immediately felt a chill before it was split into two. The two corpse halves rained blood into the air as it fell.
The figure underneath blurred and strangely vanished once again. Soon after, it appeared near another golden crow and waved its hand, releasing another streak of swordlight.
The crow was similarly cut down faster than the speed of sound. Its iron-like feathers weren’t able to stop the attack in the slightest.
As such, Han Li’s figure continued to flicker with ghost-like agility several more times, before he clearly stopped in midair. The remaining four Black Spirit disciples were cleanly massacred.
However, Han Li didn’t stop there. He glanced at the two Black Spirit disciples a hundred meters away and expressionlessly spread his wings, tearing through the air in a white streak.
Air shrieked as he cut through it!
With formidable speed, he only traveled for thirty meters before blurring and disappearing into a thin white line.
The line then strangely wrapped and disappeared into space.
Behind one of the desperately fleeing Black Spirit disciples, a white-azure line appeared along with a fluctuation of space.
In a blur, the line pierced through their body, quickly circled around it, and released a golden flash.
By the time the Black Spirit disciple was separated into eight pieces, the white line wrapped and disappeared once more.
Soon, azure-white light brightly flashed from above the remaining Black Spirit Tribe disciples. In a blur, Han Li came into full view. His hand silently blurred, turning the small golden sword in his hand into dense sword light.
In a flicker of golden swordlight, it cleaved into the head of the being below.
Horrified, the Black Spirit disciple simply folded his wings and slapped the top of his head.
As black light flashed from his wings, their feathers turned into countless arrows, filling the air in the dense barrage. Then, a black wooden shield appeared from his skull and turned into a black cloud as it faced the golden sword light.
Regardless, the shield was unable to withstand the incisiveness of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.
Golden light flashed and the black cloud was split into two along with the Black Spirit disciple’s body.
As for the black feather arrows, they were blocked in midair by a grey mist.
When the grey light swept past them, the arrows disappeared, leaving Han Li completely unharmed.
Han Li looked at the corpses with a raised brow as if something came to mind and he reached out to them.
With a rustle, a foot-long black feather flew out from one of the corpses and into his hand.
Han Li stroked the feather in his hand as he observed them.
The pitch-black feather glowed and traces of gold faintly shined from them. With a slight shake, black talisman characters appeared from them and they turned into balls of black flame, releasing a scorched scent into the air.
Han Li revealed interest and black light flashed from his hand.
As for the corpses, they were each given a fireball and turned to ash.
Han Li circl
ed the air at a low height, collecting all of the black feathers from the corpses and took them into his hand.
In an azure flash, Han Li returned to the others in a fierce streak.
“Let’s continue!” Han Li said as if nothing had happened.
Lei Lan and the others had pale complexions but they obediently nodded nonetheless.
...
Half a day later, Han Li arrived in the air of an unfamiliar land. Not far from him was a short dense forest. Most of the trees in the forest were only a bit over ten meters tall, but their leaves were a sickly yellow and released a putrid scent.
When the party stopped at the edge of the dense forest, Han Li stood in front and silently observed the forest with a sullen expression.
Bai Bi and the others didn’t know what he was thinking. They simply stood ten meters behind him, not daring to stand at his side. They all viewed Han Li with traces of awe.
To tell the truth, ever since Han Li easily killed the seven Black Spirit holy disciples, they realized how truly powerful Han Li was.
Perhaps even the legendary Sevenpass Race’s Ao Qing and the Nan Long Race’s Fei Ye couldn't rival him.
Therefore as they continued on their way, Lei Lan and the others spoke to Han Li with an unconscious tone of reverence as if Han Li was one of their clan seniors.
With a powerful companion like Han Li, they shouldn’t have much trouble passing the trial.
Han Li eventually said with a soft voice, “If I’m correct, this is the Rotten Leaf Forest. It is the place most concentrated with filthy Qi on the second level. Our luck is good to have come here. Although our chances aren’t high, we can acquire Infernal Flame Fruits here. Do you plan on spending some time to find them here, or will you rush to the Myriad Vine Path?”
The three hesitantly exchanged a glance and Bai Bi respectfully replied, “Brother Han, The Rotten Leaf Forest isn’t very large. Although our spiritual senses are restricted, we’ll be able to search through it in only half a day.”
Feeling that there was no problem, Han Li nodded and said, “Oh, I understand. Half a day’s time isn’t much. We’ll stop here for the time being.”
Lei Lan and the others were happy to hear this.
If they could find the Infernal Flame Fruits here, they wouldn’t have to risk looking for them in the third level.
The three had a quick discussion and Qin Xiao shook her sleeve, summoning a dozen more lizard puppets. She had them spread out to various parts of the rest before disappearing.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi were also making their own preparations.
Lei Lan raised her head and summoned a white jade box. She muttered to it a moment and its lid flew off to reveal tens of inch-long butterflies. They flickered with silver light and flew off.
Bai Bi’s wings trembled and a dozen small golden snakes shot out from his body. They burrowed into the ground with a flicker.
Following that, the three sat down cross-legged in the air, controlling their puppets and insects to search through the forest.
Han Li floated motionlessly in the air, completely separating himself from the matter.
Time slowly passed by.
Hours later, Lei Lan and the others searched through most of the forest but to no avail.
But after consuming so much spiritual sense in the search, their complexions had turned faintly pale.
Han Li held his arms behind his back and he frowned. He looked at the horizon with a trace of shock.
At that moment, he sensed a powerful aura, but it quickly flickered and disappeared, causing him to doubt his senses.
His eyes flickered. Just as he thought to examine this more closely, Lei Lan cried out in alarm and delight.
Han Li tossed the matter to the back of his mind and turned around in surprise, “What? Did you truly find the Infernal Flame Fruits?”
Lei Lan’s beautiful eyes lit up and she excitedly said, “That’s right. I’ve truly found an Abyss Fruit Tree. Furthermore, it has six fruits. Most of them seem ripe.”
Bai Bi’s heartbeat quickened. Unable to further control his butterflies, he asked, “Junior Martial Sister Lei, are you sure?”
“That’s right, the earth abyss has many fruits that appear similar to Infernal Flame Fruits. Junior Sister Lei, let me have a look,” Qin Xiao spoke with a trembling voice.
The woman also was distracted from using her puppets.
Lei Lan shook her head and confidently said, “I can’t be wrong. Although this is the first time I’ve seen it, both the tree and fruit are exactly as described.”
Han Li calmly said, “Very good, let’s go verify it. If there is no problem, we won’t have to head to the third level.”
Originally, one could find the fruit on the second level, but the odds weren’t very high. It wasn’t an impossible outcome.
“Yes, let’s head over.” Lei Lan happily answered. She quickly stood up.
The other two also stood up. Although they were trying to appear calm, their excitement was betrayed by their eyes.
With Lei Lan leading the way, the party flew at full speed. A quarter-hour later, they arrived at a deep part of the forest covered in grey Qi.
Lei Lan pointed down and said, “It’s here. There is a pond nearby and the Infernal Flame Fruits are growing at the side of the pond.”
Chapter 1459: Blood River Infernal Spike
Looking at the fog below, Han Li’s eyes flashed blue, allowing him to clearly see through it.
He shook his sleeve, blowing a strong wind and clearing away most of the fog.
The bottom of the foggy area could be faintly seen.
There was a pond near it that was about three hundred meters wide. And about thirty meters away, there were tens of short trees but most of them were rotting.
A tree with black-green wood had black fist-sized fruits at the very top branch.
The fruit’s surface was rough and had countless thin cracks. Even odder, it had black Qi swirling into it.
Han Li narrowed his eyes. The fruit was similar to what was described in records.
When the others saw these fruits, they couldn't help but break into a smile.
Bai Bi happily said, “Junior Martial Sister Lei was correct. It truly is an Infernal Flame Fruit.”
Han Li took a deep glance at them and calmly said, “Pick off the ripe fruits. There is enough for us all.”
“If the Chi Rong are lying in ambush for us on the third level, let’s have them continue to wait,” Lei Lan jokingly said, clearly expressing her happy mood.
Qin Xiao was also cheerful.
But when the three planned on descending on grabbing the fruits, Han Li’s expression sank and he raised his arm without turning his hand, pointing at an empty space.
A loud crack sounded and a large rainbow hand appeared in the air.
It bluntly swiped down and crimson light flashed in response, summoning a blood-red hand to meet the attack.
A boom sounded as the hands struck one another. Rainbow and blood light intertwined and disappeared in a flash.
“Yi!”
“How interesting!”
The two different voices shouted.
The yelp came from Han Li who just turned around and saw what happened.
The other voice belonged to the tall figure in the ball of blood Qi where the large blood-red hand had appeared.
Han Li looked at the blood mist and solemnly said, “Who is your esteemed self, and why are you acting so secretively?”
“It is truly suspicious that a mere spirit general can discover me.” The person in the blood Qi let out a sinister laugh.
Han Li blinked and waved his arm at the other three and sternly commanded, “Head down and collect the Infernal Flame Fruits. I’ll deal with this person.”
“Yes!”
“As you command!”
“Be careful, Brother Han!”
Although Lei Lan and the others weren’t able to see the power of the figure from the blood mist, Han Li’s
serious appearance caused their hearts to drop.
Afterwards, the three flew down towards the fruits.
The blood figure glanced at the three and spoke with an odd tone, “What? You’re quite interested in those fruit trees. Hehe, although they aren’t anything good, they won’t be so easily acquired.”
Han Li’s heart trembled and his spiritual sense stirred. He immediately thought to warn the three, but it was already too late.
A huge boom sounded. A wave suddenly rose out from the pond and several pink tentacles emerged from the wave, shooting out a dense barrage of countless icicles.
Having already landed at the pond side, they were greatly frightened.
As the Abyssal Flame Fruits were behind them, they didn’t dare to dodge. With no other option, they unleashed their abilities to block the strike.
Lei Lan clapped her hands and unleashed several dense bolts of silver lightning. Bai Bi released a myriad of intertwining golden threads. As for qing Xiao, she opened her mouth and spat out a green mist.
The three abilities combined smoothly and knocked against the barrage of ice.
The deafening force of the impact forced the three several steps back.
What resulted from the many attacks was a scorching liquid on the ground and a messy bloody scene.
A painful wail cried out from the pond. Soon after, a wave of ice rose to reveal a brown octopus demon. When it glared at them with its strange green eyes, several tentacles emerged from the water and stretched forward. Each one rose over thirty meters high.
On the top of the demon’s head grew a dense batch of blue fur. Every time a tentacle swung, the fur released the cracking of torn space.
Lei Lan and the others felt their hearts sink. The wounded tentacles were restored to completion after they flickered with blue light.
The demon was unleashing its full strength as it regarded the pond’s surroundings as its own territory. It raised its head and released a savage roar as its tentacles began to stir, glowing to blue light as they swept towards the holy disciples.
As the three were aiming for the Abyssal Flame Fruit, they couldn't afford to step away and could only confront the attacks head-on.
Suddenly, rolls of thunder and explosions repeatedly boomed at they sank into battle with the demon.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 819