However, this wasn't sustainable, and at his current cultivation base, the enhancements brought to his body by those treasures were no longer sufficient to satisfy him. Thus, he was planning to pick up the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra again and truly cultivate it this time.
With his current physical constitution, he would naturally be able to cultivate this secret technique without any issues.
Chapter 1997: Battle of Deep Heaven City (1)
However, this immortal secret technique would definitely take a very long time to cultivate, and it wasn't something that would yield any benefits for him in a short time, so he wasn't planning to make a start on it right away.
Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the two outer pages and carefully reviewed their contents for a while, and after ascertaining that there weren't any issues, he stowed them away before slowly closing his eyes.
He was going to get himself into prime condition before he began refining that Heavenly Halberd Talisman.
With that talisman up his sleeve, he should be able to ensure self-preservation no matter what mishaps arose in the upcoming battle.
Of course, this wasn't the only thing that Han Li was going to be relying on against that Xue Guang clone.
With his current enormous wealth of spiritual sense, he would be able to just barely control all of his unevolved Gold Devouring Beetles in battle.
If he were to release several thousand mature Gold Devouring Beetles at once, they would pose a substantial threat even to the Xue Guang clone.
Furthermore, he was preparing to practice the abilities enclosed in the Provenance True Devil Arts right away, and all of these abilities were extremely powerful.
On top of that, he had his Leopard Kirin Beast and Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles to assist him. With all of that up his sleeve, he should be able to ensure self-preservation even against the true body of a Sacred Ancestor, let alone a mere Sacred Ancestor clone.
With that in mind, Han Li gradually relaxed and entered a meditative state.
A period of silence ensued in the secret chamber, following which a low buzzing abruptly rang out, accompanied by the occasional resounding boom.
Half a month later, an ear-piercing ringing sound erupted within the secret chamber, and a golden pillar of light rose to the ceiling of the secret chamber, then appeared at the top of the stone pagoda right above Han Li.
The golden pillar of light was over around 10,000 feet tall, and as thick as a water tank. There was a giant halberd projection hovering above the pillar of light, and it was emitting an astonishing ringing sound.
Furthermore, there were thousands of shimmering silver runes dancing around the halberd projection, creating a mystical sight to behold.
In the next instant, the sharp ringing sound erupting from the halberd projection abruptly ceased, and at the same time, a burst of indescribably terrifying fluctuations surged forth in all directions.
As the fluctuations swept through the air, specks of golden light began to appear out of thin air.
These specks of light were only the size of grains of rice, but there were far too many of them to count, and they were surging toward the pillar of light in a frenzy.
Every speck of light was emanating extremely pure metal-attribute spiritual Qi, and all of the metal-attribute spiritual Qi in a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers was being drawn to the pillar of light.
On top of that, the metal-attribute armor and treasures being carried by the patrolling guards and other cultivators in the area also began to release their metal-attribute spiritual Qi, all of which surged toward the golden pillar as specks of golden light.
These cultivators were naturally quite startled by this, and they immediately tried to prevent their treasures from leaking spiritual Qi, but no matter what they tried, their efforts proved to be futile.
Within mere moments, close to half of the metal-attribute spiritual Qi in their treasures had been lost, and the light emanating from them dimmed significantly. It was quite clear that if things were to continue like this, these treasures would soon be reduced to useless pieces of scrap metal.
All of the nearby cultivators were petrified to see this, but they could only look on in helplessness and despair.
Just as things the situation was truly about to get out of hand, the halberd projection suddenly shuddered, and all of the fluctuations it was releasing abruptly ceased.
The giant pillar of light then vanished on the spot, and at the same time, the leakage of metal-attribute spiritual Qi from the treasures in the surrounding area was also cut off.
If it weren't for the fact that the auras of these treasures had become extremely feeble, the cultivators in the area could easily be led into thinking that they had just experienced a hallucination.
Many people began to exchange bewildered glances with one another.
Of course, it was soon determined that the phenomenon that had just taken place had stemmed from Han Li's abode. Everyone naturally came to the conclusion that Han Li had been refining a certain treasure that required an enormous influx of metal-attribute spiritual Qi, and they certainly didn't dare to demand compensation from a late-Body Integration Stage senior, so they could only lament their ill-fortune.
None of the elders of the city witnessed this phenomenon, but they received news of it shortly thereafter.
They were rather surprised to hear about this, but didn't think much of it, and they didn't even send anyone to inquire Han LI about what had happened.
At this point, the devilish army was becoming more and more active, and it was quite apparent to all cultivators of Deep Heaven City that a battle was imminent.
Under these circumstances, the high-grade cultivators in the city naturally weren't going to concern themselves with something trivial like this.
Two months later, Han Li was seated in his secret chamber with golden light shimmering from his body. His eyes were tightly shut, and his hand were clasped in front of his chest with a golden and silver talisman held between them.
Above his head was a projection with three heads and six arms that was hovering at a low altitude. The projection's three faces were identical to Han Li's, and they each wore a different expression. Hovering above the six outstretched hands of the projection were six golden treasures of different descriptions, all of which seemed to be substantial objects with intricate silver runes inscribed all over them.
These treasures were all releasing different phenomena, and it was quite clear that not only were they extremely powerful, they also possessed vastly different abilities.
All of a sudden, Han Li's expression stirred slightly, and the golden and silver talisman abruptly disappeared from between his hands as he opened his eyes.
Almost at the exact same moment, the golden projection also vanished into his body.
A ball of red light then shot forth into the secret chamber before landing in Han Li's grasp.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised the ball of red light, then suddenly released his spiritual sense out of the secret chamber.
His enormous spiritual sense instantly swept through all of the levels of the stone pagoda before stopping in the hall on the top floor.
"Seeing as she's come here in person, the devilish army must've already begun attacking the city. Otherwise, she wouldn't disrupt my seclusion for no good reason," Han Li murmured to himself as a solemn look appeared on his face.
He waved a hand through to snuff out the ball of red light, then rose to his feet and flew out of the secret chamber as a streak of azure light.
On the top floor of the stone pagoda, a silver-robed woman was waiting for him with a concerned look on her face.
Qi Lingzi, Hai Yuetian, and the Ice Phoenix were standing nearby in a respectful manner.
This woman was none other than Fairy Silver Light, and her brows were currently tightly furrowed.
"Rest assured, Senior, I've already sent a voice transmission talisman to Ma
ster, so he should be here soon," Qi Lingzi reassured.
Fairy Silver Light nodded in response. "The devilish army has already begun to advance toward our Deep Heaven City, and an all-out battle is imminent, so it would be best if Brother Han can meet up with the elders of the city as soon as possible. You three can come with Brother Han as well; the elders will make sure not to send you out to battle too early, so you should have a greater chance of survival than the average cultivator."
"Thank you, Senior!" Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi immediately expressed their gratitude, and a grateful look also appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face.
Right at this moment, azure light flashed within the hall, and a humanoid figure suddenly appeared without any warning.
"Has the devilish army commenced their attack, Fellow Daoist? This isn't just another harassment attack, is it?" Han Li asked in a calm manner as soon as he appeared in the room.
"It's good to see you, Brother Han. The devilish army is indeed about to begin attacking the city, and they've deployed all of their devilish beasts and troops, so this definitely isn't just a harassment attack. Even that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clone seems to have appeared in the devilish army. I can see that your powers have received another significant boost as a result of your breakthrough, Brother Han; I can't even ascertain your exact cultivation base anymore," Fairy Silver Light said with an elated look on her face.
"Seeing as the situation is so urgent, I'll meet up with Brother Gu and the others right away. You can all come with me as well," Han Li said with a smile as he turned to his disciples and the Ice Phoenix.
The three of them naturally agreed, and thus, all of them immediately departed from the stone pagoda together, heading directly toward the direction that the devilish army was situated in.
After flying for a short while, the gigantic city wall of Deep Heaven City appeared in the distance, and there was an enormous palace that resembled an island hovering in mid-air just behind the city wall.
Han Li and the others flew toward the palace before landing on a massive platform in front of it, and there were already thousands of high-grade cultivators gathered on the scene. At the center of the platform was a stone pagoda that was over 1,000 feet tall, at the top of which stood several people; they were none other than the members of the panel of elders.
Han Li naturally had no intention of hanging around with the ordinary cultivators, and he issued a few instructions to his disciples and the Ice Phoenix before flying toward the pagoda with Fairy Silver Light.
The white-robed elderly man was ecstatic to see Han Li, and he immediately pointed toward the devilish army outside the city as he said, "Welcome, Fellow Daoist Han. Take a look over there; that should be the clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang."
Chapter 1998: Battle of Deep Heaven City (2)
Han Li cast his gaze toward the same direction, and blue light flashed through his eyes, allowing him to see the devilish army with an extremely high level of clarity, even though it was situated several tens of kilometers away.
Amid the countless devilish battle arks, there was a giant pyramid, at the tip of which stood a group of extremely eye-catching crimson-armored high-grade devilish beings.
They were gathered around a giant carriage that was drawn by several devilish beasts, each with five lion heads, a layer of deep blue scales all over their bodies, and a long scorpion-like stinger extending behind each of them.
The carriage itself was extremely intricate in design with an inky-black flag situated at its center, upon which were inscribed several large crimson devilish characters.
Beneath the flag were clouds of churning devilish Qi, within which stood a young man in a crimson suit of armor with seven or eight devilish lords standing on either side of him in a respectful manner.
The young man bore an identical appearance to the three Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clones who had pursued Han Li, and a hint of killing intent flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of him.
The crimson-robed young man seemed to have immediately sensed something, and he turned to meet the gaze of Han Li's spirit eyes. His crimson pupils then instantly turned as black as ink, releasing a burst of bone-chilling suction force that attempted to forcibly draw in Han Li's gaze.
Han Li's heart stirred as he forcibly cut off their eye contact with his immense spiritual sense, and the crimson-robed young man's expression changed slightly in response to this.
"Did you discover something, Fellow Daoist Xue Guang?" A lazy voice rang out from the other side of the beast-drawn carriage. The owner of the voice was a burly bronze-skinned man wearing a beast-hide garment; it was none other than the man whom Xue Guang had referred to as the number one devilish lord.
He currently had his arms crossed and was leaning against the railing on the beast-drawn carriage in a lackadaisical manner.
"A human cultivator was spying on us, but I startled him away. However, they were able to easily break free from my Blacklight Devilish Eyes, so they're definitely no ordinary being," Xue Guang replied.
"Oh? They were able to resist your devilish eyes? Could this be the target you want me to deal with or perhaps that new late-Body Integration Stage being?" the burly man asked as an excited look appeared on his face.
"It's hard to say. In any case, this is definitely going to be a troublesome opponent. If you encounter them, I would suggest you take extra caution," Xue Guang said as his brows furrowed slightly.
"Haha, rest assured, all I'm concerned about is that this opponent won't be powerful enough to put up a good fight!" the burly man chortled.
Xue Guang could only shake his head with a wry smile in response.
Meanwhile, over at Deep Heaven City, Han Li had his eyes tightly shut, and only after a long while did he manage to recover from the sense of dizziness he had been struck by.
"Are you alright, Fellow Daoist Han?" the white-robed elderly man asked in a concerned manner.
"I'm fine. I was caught off guard by an opposing secret technique, but I'm alright now," Han Li replied with a nonchalant shake of his head.
"That's good to hear. Have you managed to confirm if that man truly is the Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clone?" the white-robed elderly man asked.
"I have. That man has an identical appearance and aura to the Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clones I've seen in the past, so he should be one as well," Han Li replied.
"I see. The fact that this clone has appeared in the devilish army reaffirms the notion that they're planning to launch an all-out attack. We'll be counting on you to take on that clone, Fellow Daoist Han. There's no need to defeat him; all you have to do is keep him occupied," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a solemn expression.
"Hehe, rest assured, fellow daoists; as long as no other devilish beings intervene, this clone definitely won't be able to affect the rest of the battle," Han Li said with a confident smile.
"We'll be counting on you then, Brother Han. We'll do our best to hold off all of the other devilish lords so they don't disrupt your battle," the white-robed elderly man assured in an elated manner.
Han Li nodded and offered no response to this. After that, several of the elders that Han Li had met in the past all approached him with greetings, and they were clearly treating him more politely than they had in the past.
It was quite clear that his status as a late-Body Integration cultivator had earned him some awe and veneration from the elders of the city.
Han Li wasn't very familiar with these other members of the panel of elders, so he only exchanged some obligatory pleasantries with them before falling silent again.
Right at this moment, a burst of loud rumbling rang out from the devilish army, following which hordes of ferocious devilish beasts rushed out of the sea of devilish Qi.
There were millions of devilish beasts with too many species among them to count. The devilish beasts rushed forward like a torrential flood, following which over 100 balls of black light flew out from among their ranks.
Each
ball of light contained a half-beast half-human metamorphosis stage devilish beast, and under their instructions, the chaotic hordes of beasts instantly became neat and organized. Aside from the occasional low beastly snarl, no other sound rang out from among them.
Aside from these ordinary devilish beasts, there were over 1,000 extremely eye-catching mountainous super devilish beasts dispersed throughout the hordes of beasts.
There was no end in sight to this army of devilish beasts, and more and more of them continued to emerge from within the sea of devilish Qi, as if there were truly no end to their numbers.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, over 10,000,000 devilish beasts had appeared, and the elders' expressions were becoming progressively more strained.
"How could there be so many devilish beasts? Wasn't there only supposed to be 5,000,000 to 6,000,000?" Elder Gu asked with a hint of alarm in his eyes.
"According to the information we had received earlier, there were indeed only supposed to be several million devilish beasts; these must be new additions to the devilish army," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue explained in a calm manner.
"With so many devilish beasts present, this battle is not going to be an easy one," a black-robed demonic man murmured with a dark expression.
"Rest assured, fellow daoists; these are only low-grade devilish beasts. No matter how many of them there are, they're not going to have a decisive effect on the battle. I had already considered such a potential situation in advance and prepared countermeasures accordingly," the white-robed elderly man said.
"I see. In that case, we'll leave it to you, Brother Gu." The other elders were quite relieved to hear this.
The white-robed elderly man smiled as he flipped a hand over to summon a white formation plate, then said something into it, and moments later, bursts of astonishing energy fluctuations abruptly erupted as several giant formations emerged on the city wall.
At the center of each formation hovered an altar that was as white as jade, and there were several ordinary-looking items situated on these altars.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1153