A loud thunderclap rang out, and the crimson rune lashed out as an arc of crimson lightning.
The lightning struck the black runes up ahead amid a resounding boom, and after a few erratic flashes of light, the black runes were parted, thereby allowing the lightning to strike the surface of the black suit of armor.
A muffled thump rang out as the crimson arc of lightning vanished, revealing a palm-sized hole that had been blasted onto the surface of the suit of armor.
A sinister look reappeared on the crimson shadow's face, and after a burst of wicked cackling, it rushed forward as a rapid streak of crimson light again, reaching Han Li in a flash before pouncing toward the hole on his suit of armor.
However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a large golden hand appeared in front of the hole on the suit of armor. The hand spread open its five fingers and caught the oncoming crimson shadow like lightning.
The crimson light receded, and the crimson shadow reappeared in the golden hand with a horrified look on its face. However, it then abruptly opened its mouths to blast a burst of crimson flames directly toward Han Li's face.
This was an extremely vicious and unpredictable attack!
Han Li was completely immobilized right now, and the crimson flames had been unleashed at point-blank range, so there should've been no way for him to evade it.
However, a cold smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face, and black light flashed on his glabella, following which an inky-black eye was abruptly opened.
Black light flashed, and a beam of black light shot forth before striking the crimson flames with unerring accuracy.
The nearby space warped, and the two intertwined before vanishing into thin air together.
The crimson shadow was quite startled to see this, and bright crimson light erupted from its body as it attempted to unleash some other type of ability, but it was already too late.
A layer of silver flames suddenly appeared over the golden hand that it had been caught in, and the crimson shadow was instantly inundated.
Bloodcurdling howls rang out from within the silver flames as the crimson shadow struggled with all its might, changing its size and form at will to try and escape. However, the large golden hand was like an inescapable vice that refused to let it get away.
After just the span of a few breaths, the bloodcurdling howls ceased, and the crimson shadow was incinerated into nothingness.
Come to think of it, this crimson shadow had been quite unlucky. With its formless body, normal treasures and abilities would've completely failed to trap or harm it.
However, that large golden hand belonged to the Provenance Golden Body, and after its multiple refinements and Han Li's vast improvement in cultivation base, it had attained incredible abilities, thereby allowing it to pluck the formless crimson shadow straight out of the air.
As for the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, it possessed the power to devour all types of energy in the first place, and after devouring many other types of flames, it had become extremely potent against devilish beings and evil Qi.
Only then was this vastly powerful crimson shadow destroyed so easily.
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon seeing this, and the Law Destruction Eye on his glabella slowly closed before fading away.
He then began to chant something, and golden light swirled around his body as he opened his mouth to expel a fist-sized ball of light.
The ball of light was enshrouded within a layer of golden light, and it was revealed to be a clump of greyish-white threads.
The strange threads that had infiltrated his body earlier were forcibly condensed by his true essential power before being expelled from his body.
This was also a result of his massive cultivation base improvement and the significant progress he'd made in his Provenance True Devil Arts. Otherwise, he still wouldn't have been able to accomplish this.
As soon as the greyish-white clump was expelled, he regained control over his body, following which he immediately pointed a finger at the silver flames.
The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames instantly swept forth toward the large golden hand before encompassing the ball of greyish-white light.
Meanwhile, the golden hand vanished into thin air amid a flash of light, and the ball of light flashed a few times before disintegrating into nothingness within the silver flames.
Only then did Han Li turn around to appraise the mangled remnants of Xiang Zhili's body, and he couldn't help but heave a faint sigh.
He still couldn't figure out exactly what had happened to Xiang Zhili for such a sinister being like the crimson shadow to be lurking in his body, but this physical body definitely did belong to Xiang Zhili.
From the unsettling transitioning faces of the crimson shadow, it seemed to have already devoured Xiang Zhili and Old Devil Hu's souls before fusing them as one.
Thankfully, the hibernating Weeping Soul Beast had suddenly displayed a slightly restless and uneasy reaction when he had met Xiang Zhili in Cloud City for the first time, thereby alerting him to the fact that something was amiss. Otherwise, he would've failed to notice anything.
If this "Xiang Zhili" hadn't been attempting to plot against him, Han Li naturally wouldn't have gone out of his way to kill him. However, during their two previous encounters, "Xiang Zhili" had clearly been intent on making him fall for some kind of sinister trap, thereby igniting the killing intent in his heart, which was why he decided to meet him as planned.
However, he wasn't 100% sure that there was something wrong with this Xiang Zhili, which was why he had waited until the trap was sprung.
Following the huge strides Han Li had made in the Vast Glacial Realm and the seed of wariness that had already been sowed into his heart, he was confident that he wouldn't fall prey to the devious plot he was potentially walking into.
Even if he hadn't used his golden body and Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, there were still many other ways for him to kill that crimson shadow with ease. After all, there was too much of a disparity between his and Xiang Zhili's powers.
The crimson shadow had detonated Xiang Zhili's body before absorbing most of the body's blood essence, but that still wasn't enough for it to unleash much of its power.
Han Li stood on the spot and heaved an internal sigh.
Xiang Zhili had once stood at the very pinnacle of the human world, yet he had fallen to such a tragic fate; it was truly a saddening sight.
Han Li didn't know if he and Old Devil Hu had fallen prey to that crimson shadow in the spatial node or after they had arrived in the Spirit Realm. If it were the latter, then that would be even more tragic.
Han Li heaved another faint sigh before gently sweeping a sleeve through the air, unleashing a wave of crimson flames that instantly incinerated the mangled set of remains into nothingness.
As for that so-called Giant Spirit Talisman, it had already crumbled into nothingness following the demise of the crimson shadow.
After that, Han Li didn't delay there any longer. He made a grabbing motion in the air around him, and barely detectable spatial fluctuations immediately erupted in the air around the mountain peak.
A dozen or so balls of light of different colors then emerged before vanishing up his sleeve in a flash; these were none other than the formation flags he had released earlier.
The formation flags had formed a simple formation that concealed spiritual Qi fluctuations.
In the instant that "Xiang Zhili" arrived on the mountain, Han Li had secretly activated the formation to conceal the energy fluctuations that had erupted from their battle. Otherwise, to some beings, they would've still been able to notice what was happening on this mountain, which was only less than 100 kilometers away from Concealed Wyrm City.
The formation wouldn't have been able to completely conceal the signs of their battle, but it wouldn't have been very noticeable even to high-grade beings.
Han Li rose up into the air as a streak of azure light b
efore flying toward Concealed Wyrm City.
Not long after that, a group of patrolling armored warriors arrived on the scene from another direction. However, after searching around the mountain, they discovered nothing and could only return in a frustrated manner.
As for Han Li, as soon as he returned to Concealed Wyrm City, he went back to the inn and remained in his room.
During the next few days, Qian Jizi and the others sent the missing materials to Han Li in batches, and it seemed that they really were going to keep their promise.
Han Li naturally accepted them without any qualms.
A month later, Han Li finally emerged from the inn before flying toward the tallest mountain in Concealed Wyrm City.
It was said that the most important buildings in Concealed Wyrm City were situated on that peak, along with a few secrets that weren't known to outsiders.
Half a day later, the entire mountain suddenly shuddered before a massive pillar of light erupted into the heavens from a certain place within the belly of the mountain.
After just a few flashes, the huge pillar of light vanished. These events drew some attention from the nearby Heavenly Cloud beings and became the topic of conversations for a few days, but as time passed, everyone gradually forgot about this and carried on with their daily lives.
At the same time, a pillar of light also erupted from the heavens from an obscure location on another continent that was countless kilometers away from the Thunder Continent. Immediately thereafter, a humanoid figure appeared at the center of a giant formation while the pillar of light receded.
Chapter 1755: Lightning Formation
In the primordial world of the Tian Yuan Continent, there were countless types of unidentifiable beasts and monsters. There were also some extremely perilous locations that were lethal to even high-grade cultivators, and countless beings of all races perished each year in the primordial world.
Even so, countless cultivators were still willing to enter the primordial world for its precious materials and potential opportunities.
The human race was situated in a secluded corner of the Tian Yuan Continent, and it was far weaker than the major races on the continent. It wasn't even much more powerful than its few neighboring races.
Thankfully, they were able to ally themselves with the demon race, which was roughly comparable in power. Furthermore, the three regions and seven territories had all been sealed away by a super restriction set up by the primordial mighty figures of the two races.
Aside from Deep Heaven City, there were no other entrances leading into the land of the two races, and this was what had allowed the two races to exist in the Spirit Realm to this very day.
Of course, Deep Heaven City was regarded as an extremely important place by the two races. Not only were there large numbers of powerful beings from both races constantly stationed there, the city itself had a panel of elders that was solely responsible for defending the city.
There were only 10 members in the panel of elders, but all of them had to be at the early-Body Integration Stage or above. If one of them were to perish, another Body Integration Stage being would immediately be elected from the two races to take the perished elder's place.
It was through these arrangements that Deep Heaven City had always remained an impregnable fortress.
At the same time, Deep Heaven City was the only exit available to the cultivators of the human and demon races if they wanted to access the primordial world.
Most cultivators didn't dare to venture too deep into the primordial realm and only scoured the area that was within a month's travel away from Deep Heaven City. If they were to encounter any powerful ancient beasts or other hazard, they would still have a chance to return to Deep Heaven City for refuge.
Of course, there were also many courageous characters who were confident in their own abilities and ventured much deeper into the primordial world, but the mortality rate among those beings naturally spiked dramatically.
In the air above a lake in the primordial world, there were currently several human cultivators who were in this type of imminent life-threatening danger.
This group consisted of four humans, two male and two female, and they had been trapped by a gargantuan ancient beast in the lake.
The giant beast had the body of a massive turtle, but there were a dozen or so tentacles on its back that were sweeping through the air, creating fierce gusts of wind and forming a giant net that trapped the four people within.
The four of them were all powerful Deity Transformation cultivators, and the treasures they were wielding also appeared to be quite powerful, but regardless of whether they were flying swords, flying daggers, huge wheels, or giant staves, all of them were instantly repelled by the tentacles, leaving the four cultivators completely trapped.
There was a scholarly middle-aged man among them wielding a particularly powerful silver scepter treasure that withstood most of the pressure being exerted on them by the huge net of tentacles. If it wasn't for that treasure, they would've already had their defenses breached and been killed by this giant beast.
Even so, all four of them were panting heavily and sweating profusely, clearly unable to last much longer.
"Brother Huo, release your Extreme Lightning Bead! We have to make one final roll of the dice now!" the scholarly man yelled in an urgent manner to the man beside him.
A crimson-armored man with a set of hideous facial features replied in a grim manner, "The Extreme Lightning Bead is indeed powerful, but I'm afraid that setting it off in such an enclosed space would harm us as well."
"I'm aware of that, but we'll just have to risk it. This Stone Origin Turtle possesses early-Spatial Tempering Stage powers, and my Hundred Spirit Scepter won't be able to last much longer against it. If we don't use the Extreme Lightning Bead now, we won't get another chance!" the scholarly man insisted in a decisive manner.
The crimson-armored man was still rather hesitant. Right at this moment, the ancient beast's tentacles began to accelerate, and the sound of howling winds and rumbling thunder rang out. The enormous power erupting from the giant net also increased significantly.
The countless streaks of white light conjured up by the scepter quickly dimmed significantly after a few more clashes, and the safe enclosed space around the four human cultivators shrank even further.
This turn of events finally prompted the crimson-armored man to make up his mind, and he gritted his teeth before flipping a hand over to produce an egg-sized bead.
The bead was shimmering with blue light and had blue patterns all over its surface, giving it a rather mysterious appearance.
The two female cultivators were quite alarmed at the sight of the blue bead, and one of them hurriedly chanted something before waving both of her sleeves through the air, summoning a dozen or so high-grade talismans that formed layers of light barriers around all four of them.
Meanwhile, the other woman raised a hand to send a small black bell flying through the air.
The bell then expanded drastically before releasing a layer of black light amid a faint clang, and this black light also encompassed all four human cultivators.
A ferocious look appeared in the scholarly man's eyes as he expelled several mouthfuls of blood essence in succession. With each mouthful of blood essence expelled, his complexion would pale slightly, but that didn't stop him from pointing his finger rapidly into the air.
The blood essence vanished into the scepter up above in a flash, and the spiritual light that had dimmed slightly immediately brightened, manifesting into a dense barrier of white light.
Seeing as all of his companions had adopted defensive measures, the crimson-armored man didn't hesitate any longer as he tossed the blue bead forward.
As soon as the bead left his hand, it transformed into a ball of dazzling blue light.
The crimson-armored man made a hand seal, and the ball of blue light instantly expanded to the size of a wagon wheel, then crashed directly toward an onc
oming tentacle.
An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the blue ball of light exploded as soon as it came into contact with the tentacle, sending bursts of blue shockwaves erupting forth in a frenzy.
The giant net formed by the dozen or so tentacles was instantly inundated by blue light, and the shockwaves spread to cover a radius of over 500 meters. Gale-force winds howled incessantly within the blue light amid a string of explosions, and four streaks of light rushed out of the blue light before linking up in a flash and fleeing into the distance.
The four human cultivators within the streaks of light were all in an extremely sorry state. The scholarly man had blood all over his body, and one of his arms had gone missing.
His three companions also had extremely pale complexions, and their clothes were in tatters, clearly having also sustained severe injuries.
Thankfully, none of them had lost their abilities to fly, and they were still able to flee at an astonishing speed.
Moments later, the shockwaves in the air dispersed, and the blue light faded as well.
Most of the ancient turtle beast's tentacles had been destroyed, and the remaining ones were also all charred and incomplete.
A thunderous roar of fury erupted from the ancient beast's mouth, and green light flashed from its mangled tentacles, upon which they began to rapidly regenerate. Turbulent waves then surged over the nearby surface of the lake, following which a vast amount of water was swept up before enveloping the giant turtle. The vast expanse of water then formed a giant cloud that was several acres in size before setting off in pursuit of the four human cultivators.
The four of them were naturally quite alarmed by this, and they fled as quickly as they could to try and shake off the cloud.
However, despite its enormous size, the giant cloud was able to keep up with the combined speed of the four human cultivators, and not long after that, the cloud and the human cultivators had flown for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1009