Chapter 2479

The small bottle merely spun in the wind, then suddenly flashed and vanished from its spot.

The next moment, violent winds surged above the forest, and five-colored spirit clouds rolled forth.

With a thunderclap from clear skies, a bottle mouth vast enough to cover the sky and sun suddenly emerged from the spirit clouds, and after a slight downward sway, countless dark-green talismans sprayed out from within.

The instant these talismans flew from the bottle mouth, they each transformed into exploding bursts of azure vapor.

In an instant, a mighty fluctuation of law enveloped the entire land.

Boom—!

The air merely trembled slightly, and countless trees, soil, and seawater surged skyward.

What began as individual trees and clumps of dirt instantly expanded into vast forests and tracts of land.

Anything drawn within a thousand zhang of the bottle mouth instantly shattered into powder and was completely sucked in.

The void within a ten-thousand-li radius blurred and distorted, enveloped by a thin layer of azure light, while the ground spontaneously sprouted a vast, pitch-black basin, its bottom unnervingly smooth, devoid of vegetation, and rapidly deepening in a most peculiar manner.

With an angry shout, a ball of white light burst from beneath the soil at a certain point in the basin, and after a flicker, transformed into a ferocious white elephant over a thousand zhang tall.

This elephant's body was crystalline and snow-white, with a pair of purple-red fire wings on its back; a slight flap immediately sparked rings of purple lightning and fire, and it charged toward Han Li with overwhelming momentum.

"So it is the Heavenly Phenomenon Venerable—no wonder he possesses the divine power to transmute wood into spirit."

Upon seeing the white flying elephant, Han Li's pupils constricted slightly, but he merely pointed a finger upward at the bottle mouth in the air and silently began to chant.

"Bang!"

The bottle mouth's azure light flickered again, and something indistinct shot forth from within.

The white giant elephant let out a mournful cry, and a dark-green chain mysteriously appeared upon its body, binding it tightly in an instant.

The elephant's wings flailed wildly, its body flowing with shifting white crystalline light, and astonishing waves of air surged outward, yet the dark-green chain clung to it like a bone-deep maggot, tightening suddenly as the surrounding air blurred.

A low roar!

The giant elephant shattered like porcelain, breaking apart piece by piece, revealing a middle-aged monk clad in a white kasaya within.

The monk had a refined appearance, but his face was now filled with panic. Seeing the chain sway and wrap again, he gritted his teeth, shook his sleeve, and drew a blood-red, slender, strange blade, which flashed and struck hard against the chain.

Boom—!

A thick stench of blood rolled outward in the bloodlight, and a piercingly bright blood flower blossomed in the sky, nearly engulfing the monk's form entirely.

Yet the dark-green chain remained unharmed amidst the rapidly rolling blood flower, and after a brief blur, it settled firmly back onto the monk.

At the same time, patches of green light appeared in the nearby void, converging toward the center, and instantly a murky green whirlwind shot skyward, within which an unbelievable force surged forth, tearing the blood flower into countless fragments.

Then, within a flash of crystalline light, the whirlwind suddenly transformed into countless azure blades that slashed downward toward the monk at the center.

Each of these blade-like fragments was as thin as paper, their surfaces covered in a strange dark-green spiritual pattern, while simultaneously emitting a faint aura of law.

As the monk, bound and scanning these azure blades with his divine sense, his face turned deathly pale, he suddenly shouted before they could truly strike:

"Stop. This monk concedes defeat and is willing to surrender the Dao tablet willingly." As his words fell, he hastily opened his mouth and spat out a pale silver tablet.

Han Li's chant halted abruptly, his gaze swept over the silver tablet, yet he remained expressionless as he said:

"Just one? What about the others? If Master refuses to relinquish them all, then do not blame me for acting ruthlessly."

"Very well, I surrender them all! Having encountered a Daoist as powerful as you, I must consider myself unfortunate and can only withdraw entirely from the contest." Upon hearing this, the middle-aged monk's pupils constricted slightly, but after a brief consideration, he gave a wry smile and said:

Then he opened his mouth again and spat out two more silver tablets.

This time, the instant the two tablets left the monk's grasp, the ground beneath him rippled, and a five-colored light array spontaneously appeared in the void.

This array merely spun once, and together with the monk, it vanished from the void in a flash.

Only the three silver tablets and the dark-green chain remained at the original spot.

Han Li witnessed this scene without surprise, instead smiling slightly before raising his hand and beckoning.

With a "pfft," the dark-green chain and the bottle mouth in the air both blurred and vanished, the surrounding green light curtains and dark clouds in the sky dissipated, and a small green bottle slowly descended from the high heavens.

At the same time, the three silver tablets trembled and shot forward on their own toward Han Li.

Han Li swept his wide sleeve, and a murky azure radiance rolled before him, causing the silver tablets and the green bottle to instantly vanish without a trace.

His body then shifted, transforming into a streak of azure light that shot skyward; after a few flickers of his escape light, he departed the area.

Moments later, several streaks of escape light flew in from other directions, scanned the area with divine sense from afar, and then each departed cautiously in their own way.

……

Several days later, above a strangely crimson-red desert.

Han Li, transformed into a three-headed, six-armed golden giant ape, punched a ferocious worm over a hundred zhang long into powder from thin air, and from its body actually fell this silver tablet.

The central head of the giant ape opened its mouth and inhaled, drawing the silver tablet into its mouth, then withdrew its Dharma-image transformation and resumed human form as it soared away.

……

Half a month later, above an endless ocean.

Han Li, a yellow-robed elder, and a red-robed lady stood in a triangular formation, facing each other from afar.

The expressions of the other two were solemn, while Han Li's face remained devoid of expression.

Between the three, a golden whale a thousand zhang in length hovered in midair, its body covered in various wounds, its breath faint, appearing on the verge of death.

"This phantom beast is so troublesome; there must be more than one Dao tablet within it. You two Daoists seem unwilling to retreat as well, so since that is the case, do not leave—hand over your gains together." Han Li finally spoke, but his voice was icy and piercing, causing listeners to feel their hearts startled.

"Even if your divine powers surpass others, to face two alone is to underestimate me and Lady Huaron too much. We two, having no choice, will have to contend with you, Daoist." The yellow-robed elder felt a jolt in his heart, yet let out a cold snort from his nose as he spoke.

As his words fell, he grasped the void with both hands, and a pitch-black, ink-like giant sword and a verdant, oil-slick treasure pagoda appeared.

The black giant sword merely swayed slightly, and instantly, vast clouds of black wind and sand rolled forth!

After the green treasure pagoda was cast forth, it swayed in the wind and transformed into a mountain-like massive form, its base emitting layers of splendid radiance as it pressed directly toward Han Li.

Beside him, the red-robed lady, without a word, formed a hand seal, and streams of crimson flame shot skyward from her body; after rolling on the spot, she transformed into a colossal fire-wind entity entirely crimson-red.

After this phoenix raised its head and let out a clear cry, its wings suddenly flared, and it surged forward, dragging rolling seas of flame toward the opposite side.

"Good timing"

Han Li let out a low shout, waved one hand, and three differently colored Shanfeng appeared before him, flickering to shield his back; at the same time, his other palm flipped over, and a green small bottle flashed into view.

He muttered some words, then tossed the green small bottle high into the air...

One month later, at the center of the mysterious space, on a towering platform that pierced the clouds, several dragon clan elders stood upon it, gazing in a certain direction at something.

Suddenly, a streak of escaping light appeared in the distance, a piercing green rainbow shot forth, and after a few flashes it arrived above the platform; when the escaping light retracted, a person drifted down lightly, appearing right before several dragon clan elders.

This person was Han Li.

After sweeping his gaze across them, he paused on one of the gold-robed elders and revealed a faint smile.

"Haha, Han Daoist friend truly is the first to gather enough Dao tokens and arrive at the Dao platform," said the gold-robed elder with a hearty laugh.

"Senior Jin, you flatter me; I was merely fortunate to gather enough Dao fruit tokens so quickly. Please, elders, check whether the number is sufficient," Han Li replied, flicking his sleeve, whereupon over a hundred silver tokens flew out and hovered steadily before the several dragon clan elders.

"Hmm, a total of one hundred and eight—these are enough to exchange for one Guangling Dao fruit. Elder Feng, take out one Dao fruit and give it to Han Daoist friend," said the gold elder after scanning the tokens with his divine sense, then nodding slightly and speaking bluntly to the white-robed middle-aged man beside him.

The white-robed man smiled upon hearing this, reached into his sleeve, took out a box as white as jade, opened it, and revealed a crimson-red crystal fruit the size of a fist.

This fruit appeared as translucent as jade throughout, faintly emitting an indescribable fresh fragrance.

Han Li, from such a distance, lightly sniffed it and immediately felt a coolness in his mind, his hearing and vision sharpening.

"Truly worthy of its reputation as the number one spiritual fruit across the myriad realms—indeed extraordinary," Han Li said without hesitation, reaching out to take the jade box, gazing intently at the object inside for a while before sighing slightly.

"Hehe, the effects of this spiritual fruit need no further explanation from this old man; I'm sure Han Daoist friend understands them well. Unfortunately, this fruit can only be consumed once in a lifetime, or else our clan would not bear to bring it out for such a grand gathering. By the way, the Guangling Dao fruit should not be exposed to the open air for long; Han Daoist friend had better store it properly soon," said the gold elder proudly, then added a kind reminder.

"Thank you for the guidance, senior, but I have no need for such trouble," Han Li said, smiling at the gold elder, then snatched the spiritual fruit from the box, raised it, and directly stuffed it into his mouth, emitting a few crisp chewing sounds before swallowing every bit without residue into his belly.

This scene instantly left the dragon clan elders present staring in stunned silence.

Han Li, however, smacked his lips a few times, still showing a hint of lingering satisfaction.