Chapter 2016: Heavenly Halberd Talisman

"The Holy Ancestor's incarnation commanding the demon army outside the city has remained hidden within the army and never shown itself. We aren't very clear on its specific divine abilities and cultivation either. But judging from some intelligence reports, even if it is powerful, it absolutely cannot be stronger than the incarnation that once pursued you. Both incarnations originate from the same Blood Light Holy Ancestor's true body, so even if their divine abilities differ somewhat, there should always be some connection in the lineage of their arts. If Fellow Daoist Han were to deal with it, it should be somewhat easier than facing other Holy Ancestor incarnations." The silver-haired elder said earnestly.

"Oh, from the tone of Fellow Daoist Gu, could it be that you intend for Han to be the opponent of this demon Holy Ancestor's incarnation!" Han Li was not surprised and said slowly.

"Fellow Daoist Han sees clearly! If it were ordinary times, this old man would absolutely not let Fellow Daoist Han take such a great risk. I would certainly arrange a more secure method to eliminate this Holy Ancestor incarnation. But this time the demon army has come with tremendous momentum; the number of demon Venerables in the army alone is nearly more than double that of the Elder Council. This old man and several other Fellow Daoists racked our brains analyzing the situation and felt that even with the advantage of terrain, we could only barely cope. As for this Holy Ancestor incarnation, it is a being several times stronger than an ordinary late-stage Integration cultivator. If it were to personally act, there really is no good way in the city to receive its strike. Once it relies on its divine abilities to forcefully break through a weak point in the city's defenses and lets the demon army pour in behind it, the entire Tianyuan City would be as good as lost." The gold-and-silver-haired elder said without hesitation.

"How did the Elder Council originally plan to deal with this Holy Ancestor's incarnation? Don't tell me you hadn't prepared any related plan at all!" Han Li pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked.

"What other method could there be? Naturally we could only rely on numbers and the power of restrictions. Originally we planned that once the great battle began, we would send people to lure it into a prepared grand formation, relying on the power of restrictions and a specially arranged group of people to trap it first. We don't expect this method to truly slay the Holy Ancestor incarnation, but entangling it for a period would be good. However, this method seems simple, but actually arranging it is extremely difficult, and the chances of success aren't very high." Zen Master Jin Yue began to explain.

"Mm, that is indeed so. These demon Holy Ancestor incarnations are each and every one cunning and sly; luring them out alone is indeed fraught with difficulty." Han Li seemed to recall something and nodded solemnly.

"Indeed, originally Fellow Daoist Jin and I had planned to ask Fellow Daoist Han to be the one to act as the lure, but given Fellow Daoist Han's previous cultivation, the risk was too great, which is why we never brought it up. Now that Fellow Daoist Han has advanced to late-stage Integration, naturally there is no need for such excessive worry. Fellow Daoist Han also has no need to fight this Holy Ancestor incarnation head-on; once the great battle begins, you only need to entangle it tightly so it has no time to charge the city's restrictions. As for the demon army and the other demon Venerables, our Elder Council will naturally find a way to take them all on. This matter concerns the upcoming decisive battle with the demons and the survival of this city. I hope Fellow Daoist Han will not refuse." The silver-haired elder said sincerely.

"Since Han once agreed to your city that during the demon tribulation I would do my best to assist in resisting the demons, naturally I will not go back on my word. Moreover, if it is only a matter of entangling the opponent, Han still has some confidence in himself. This Blood Light Holy Ancestor's incarnation, leave it to me to deal with." Han Li deliberated for a short while, then suddenly smiled and agreed.

"Many thanks to Fellow Daoist Han for being so righteous! As long as this city truly survives this tribulation, we will surely reward you handsomely in the future." The silver-haired elder was overjoyed upon hearing this and replied.

"It's nothing; Han is merely doing his part. This battle concerns the overall trend of the entire human race, so I will naturally give my all. Very well, Han has only just advanced not long ago and still needs to further consolidate his realm a bit, so I won't linger here any longer." Han Li smiled faintly and actually rose to take his leave.

The silver-haired elder and Zen Master Jin Yue were somewhat surprised, but upon hearing Han Li's words they could not press him to stay. They immediately both expressed their thanks profusely and personally escorted Han Li to the outside of the hall gates before turning back to sit down.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, why didn't you speak up and invite Fellow Daoist Han to join this city? That was a good opportunity just now." Zen Master Jin Yue's smile faded from his face as he suddenly asked.

"Does the Master think it would have been useful? Originally this old man still held a shred of侥幸 in his heart, but after seeing Fellow Daoist Han post-advancement today, I realized he absolutely would not agree to join any faction. What do you think of Fellow Daoist Han's current strength compared to all the late-stage cultivators of both races?" The silver-haired elder narrowed his eyes slightly for a moment before asking in return.

"Mm, I have met one or two of the other late-stage Integration Fellow Daoists of both races. But none of them gave me the feeling that even their cultivation cannot be seen through. Added to that, when he was only at the mid-stage realm he already slew several beings of the same level, and has even crossed hands with a demon Holy Ancestor incarnation. Therefore it can be judged that Fellow Daoist Han is most likely already one of the top two or three figures of our two races, aside from Senior Mo and Senior Ao." Zen Master Jin Yue's heart stirred, and after deliberating for a long time, he replied thoughtfully.

"That's exactly it. With Fellow Daoist Han's strength, how could he join any faction and be needlessly constrained by others? And with his current strength, what could our Tianyuan City possibly offer to make him willingly stay? Since that is the case, this old man naturally need not do anything that would displease Fellow Daoist Han." The silver-haired elder said with a bitter smile.

"That is true. But thinking about Fellow Daoist Han's origins, I'm afraid neither of us could have imagined that an ordinary guard in this city just over a thousand years ago would achieve such astonishing accomplishments, and actually walk ahead of us on the great Dao." Zen Master Jin Yue was silent for a while before slowly saying.

"Hehe, as the saying goes, the affairs of the world are hard to predict. Well, now is not the time for you and me to sigh. Let us hurry and continue discussing the previous topic. I still believe we need to deploy those few heavy treasures on the city walls to suppress the initial frenzied attacks of those low-level demon beasts…" The silver-haired elder quickly pulled himself out of his sentiment, his expression turning serious as he changed the subject.

"No, those few heavy treasures are one of the trump cards we painstakingly refined; how could they be used on those demon beasts? Once revealed, they won't be able to deliver the intended surprise effect in the later great battle…" Zen Master Jin Yue shook his head repeatedly in objection upon hearing this.

"But the number of those low-level demon beasts is truly too great. If we don't use them…"

The two actually began arguing right there in the great hall.

Han Li naturally knew nothing of all this. After leaving the great hall, he immediately flew toward his residence.

Just as he had said to Zen Master Jin Yue and the others, if he wanted his late-stage realm to truly stabilize, he still needed to spend quite a bit of time. Each additional day of cultivation before the great battle with the demons would let his magic power become one fraction more stable. Moreover, after advancing to late-stage Integration, his Brahma Saint True Demon Art was also close to great completion, and several great divine abilities recorded therein could finally be employed.

However, to use these divine abilities directly against enemies, he naturally also had to spend some time becoming familiar with them.

Therefore, as soon as he finished conversing with the silver-haired elder and the other, he headed back without wishing to delay even a moment.

Returning to his residence, Han Li summoned Qi Lingzi, Ice Phoenix, and the others, gave them a few brief instructions, and once again entered the secret chamber.

Han Li sat cross-legged on the cattail hassock in the middle of the secret chamber. He did not immediately enter meditation, but after quietly deliberating for a long time, flipped one hand over, and two milky-white jade tokens simultaneously appeared.

Both objects were no larger than a thumb, but their surfaces flashed with silver light, faintly inscribed with densely packed silver runes.

They were precisely the two outer pages of the Golden Pavilion Jade Book Han Li had obtained in his early years.

One recorded the refinement methods for several kinds of profound talismans, and the other recorded the bizarre secret art called the Hundred Meridian Treasure Refining Art.

Although the first page of the jade book was incomplete, Han Li had long since refined most of the talismans recorded on it through later research and some borrowing of ideas. Only one talisman called the "Heavenly Halberd Talisman" remained, which he had not yet had time to refine.

This talisman was the last one recorded on the jade book, and also the only offensive talisman. According to its description, its power was almost unimaginably great.

Unfortunately, compared to the previous types, comprehending this talisman was several times harder. Had Han Li not later had some fortuitous encounters and exchanged much experience with talisman masters of some foreign races, refining it would have been almost impossible.

But Han Li had long since mastered the refinement method for this talisman, only to find helplessly that refining it not only required some materials that were not easy to find, but also placed astonishing demands on the refiner's magic power.

With Han Li's cultivation at late-stage Integration at the time, his magic power was actually still insufficient to support the refinement of this "Heavenly Halberd Talisman."

This left him frustrated for a long time.

But thinking carefully, this was perfectly normal. Given the terrifying power described for this talisman, it was probably no ordinary common item even in the True Immortal World, so for people of the lower realms like them to refine it would naturally be extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Han Li had entrusted the matter of materials to his disciples, who, after spending a large amount of spirit stones, had gradually gathered everything completely over these several hundred years.

Now that he had already advanced to late-stage Integration, and his magic power was sufficient to support the refinement of this talisman, he naturally planned to refine this "Heavenly Halberd Talisman" during his seclusion.

As for the "Hundred Meridian Treasure Refining Art" recorded in the other jade token, it should also be some kind of profound body-refining method from the immortal realm, capable of refining the physical body as if it were a treasure.

Unfortunately, this secret art had extremely high demands on the physical body. When Han Li first obtained it, he could only barely cultivate a little of it, and used a clever method to refine treasures like the Magnetic Extreme Mountain together with various parts of his body, thereby temporarily greatly increasing his divine abilities.

But clever methods were ultimately not the proper path. Now that Han Li had reached his current realm, the small boost to his physical body from borrowing treasures back then naturally no longer mattered to him, and he planned to pick up the Hundred Meridian Treasure Refining Art again and truly cultivate it properly.

Given the current degree of his physical body's strength, cultivating this art naturally posed no further obstacles.

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