Chapter 324: Eerie

"Bang," "bang"—two dull thuds. Liu Jing and his companion's corpses were flung carelessly onto the ground by the ambusher, and the corner of Han Li's eye twitched faintly.

"Since you've come, don't leave. I happen to be short a few Foundation Establishment cultivators for a blood sacrifice!" After saying this, the man let out a sinister chuckle, baring his gleaming white teeth, which glittered under the moonlight.

This person was actually the Yue King, who had been in a panic just moments ago. But now, not a trace of that flustered, wretched look remained. A fluctuation of magic power no weaker than the blue-robed man's emanated from him—he too was a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Sensing this man's cultivation, Han Li's expression grew even colder.

He truly had no idea what technique the other had just employed to conceal his cultivation so thoroughly that none of the Yellow Maple Valley group had detected even the slightest trace. This reminded Han Li of the time he had met the Little Prince and Steward Wang—on that occasion too, he had been unable to sense any magic power on them. Only this time, that mysterious premonition of danger had not appeared, which made Han Li all the more wary and cautious.

Han Li flicked a finger, and the White Phosphorus Shield and the tortoise-shell magic artifact flew out at the same time, slowly orbiting around him.

Chen Qiaoqian, Song Meng, and the others nearby watched the Yue King and the blue-robed man with tense expressions, likewise releasing their magic artifacts to shield their entire bodies.

Seeing Han Li's group looking as if they faced a formidable enemy, the Yue King and the blue-robed man exchanged a glance, then simultaneously let out cold snickers.

Then the blue-robed man's figure swayed, and he suddenly appeared at a spot over a dozen zhang away, where there was a pile of glittering ice shards—the dismembered remains of the ice demon Han Li had sliced apart with his Blade Storm.

The blue-robed man reached the spot, casually extended a hand toward the pile of ice shards and grabbed lightly. With a "whoosh," a blue bead flew out from the ice demon's remains and into his palm.

At the same time, the treacherous Yue King also flashed to the spot where the two Blood Servants had perished, refined by the fire-bird true treasure. He slammed his hand viciously against the ground, and one golden and one yellow bead burst out from the earth, obediently flying into the Yue King's hand.

"What is this?"

The moment Han Li saw these beads and recalled that cyan bead from before, he immediately guessed what was going on, and his heart tensed at once.

He had not yet figured out how to achieve the goal of this trip, yet the item had unexpectedly appeared right before his eyes.

These must surely be the "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pills" the Little Prince had mentioned, which were related to Core Formation. But there were only four here—where was the fifth?

Just as Han Li was caught between delight and astonishment, the Yue King and the blue-robed man, having obtained these beads, likewise let their joy show plainly on their faces.

Standing on opposite sides, they suddenly threw their heads back and laughed uproariously. Then, amid their laughter, they cast cold glances toward Han Li's group, making no attempt to hide the killing intent on their faces. This caused the cultivators on Han Li's side to involuntarily pale slightly.

"Everyone, into the air!" After a swirl of thoughts in his mind, Han Li suddenly said in a loud voice. Then, as the Divine Wind Boat appeared, he was the first to fly up into the sky.

The others were stunned for a moment, but out of trust in Han Li's extraordinary performance earlier, Song Meng and the dual-cultivation partner of that "Snow Rainbow" senior sister all subconsciously did as Han Li said and flew up together. Only Chen Qiaoqian hesitated at Han Li's words, but then she grabbed Zhong Weiniang behind her and ascended on her artifact as well.

Seeing this, a strange look flashed across the Yue King's and the blue-robed man's faces, but they immediately sneered in unison. Though they were clearly two people with entirely different appearances, they gave Han Li the eerie feeling that their expressions and smiles belonged to the same person, sending a chill through his heart.

"These little ones are quite sharp. Looks like I'll need you to offer yourself up early!"

"What's mine isn't yours anyway? Just take it!"

The Yue King and the blue-robed man exchanged these casual remarks below, but the eerie content of their words sent chills running down the backs of Han Li, Chen Qiaoqian, and the others.

"Junior Brother Han, what are they saying!" Song Meng sidled up to Han Li and asked after swallowing hard.

Having witnessed so many fellow disciples die horribly before his eyes, even a combative person like Song Meng had lost that initial fearless, indomitable spirit. His question to Han Li now was more for reassurance—after all, Han Li carried a certain mystique in his eyes, making him feel somewhat dependable.

Han Li gave a bitter smile inwardly. The corner of his mouth moved as he was about to say something, but what happened below made his face change drastically, and he swallowed the words back. Chen Qiaoqian even cried out involuntarily, causing Song Meng to look over in alarm.

They saw the Yue King had thrust one hand into the blue-robed man's chest, while the blue-robed man spread both arms wide, showing not the slightest sign of struggle, and was even smiling as if nothing were amiss.

Then, dazzling blood light erupted from both the blue-robed man and the Yue King, and through the arm the Yue King had thrust into the blue-robed man's chest, their blood lights connected. Immediately after, the blood light on the blue-robed man began surging madly toward the Yue King—whether it was being absorbed by the Yue King or being offered up voluntarily, it was impossible to tell—leaving Song Meng staring in dumbfounded amazement.

Then the radiance on the blue-robed man grew weaker and weaker, his flesh shriveling bit by bit, while the blood light on the Yue King grew stronger and stronger, his face actually growing younger by the moment.

"What kind of evil art is this?" Song Meng cried out in horror.

But Han Li's face was utterly grim at this moment. He had no time for this Senior Brother Song's astonishment. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly flung both hands outward.

Countless fire serpents, fireballs, and other fire-type talismans surged from his hands toward the Yue King and the blue-robed man below, scrambling over each other. He threw out a hundred or even two hundred of them—these were all the fire-type talismans Han Li had on him.

The result was that these talismans transformed into a sky-covering wave of fire-attribute spells in midair, and a massive surge of flames rushed over with overwhelming momentum. Its scale even exceeded that of Liu Jing's fire-bird true treasure. However, being able to throw out over a hundred talismans at once—probably not many in the entire cultivation world could do that. After all, this wasn't tossing talismans; this was tossing away hundreds of spirit stones.

The sheer scale of this move startled Song Meng, Chen Qiaoqian, and the others. Even the dazed Zhong Weiniang blinked blankly a few times, staring down for several glances. The Yue King below was also given a tremendous fright at first, but he quickly saw that these were merely low-level spells and dismissed them with contempt.

He was well aware that, with the protective blood light on his body, these spells could not harm him in the slightest. Better to focus on the matter at hand. Once that was done, killing those few opponents would be as easy as reaching into a bag to grab something.

Just as a heart-stopping glint flashed in the Yue King's eyes for an instant, the sky-full of firelight engulfed him and the blue-robed man opposite him amid rumbling explosions.

Sure enough, no matter how deafening the explosions, no matter how冲天 the flames—

—the Yue King within the blood light and the blue-robed man opposite him remained completely unharmed. Most of the blood-colored radiance on the blue-robed man had already transferred to the Yue King, who now looked to be only about thirty years old. This brought a look of delight to the Yue King's face!

Seeing Han Li make his move, Chen Qiaoqian and the others also released their magic artifacts to attack below. After all, it appeared the two were performing some evil art and could not counterattack—naturally, they had to strike while the iron was hot.

But the instant their magic artifacts were launched, a ball of dazzling white light erupted between the Yue King and the blue-robed man, followed by an earth-shaking roar. As the white light contracted and then expanded, it engulfed the two of them within it.

The terrifying spiritual power contained within the white light, and the look of terror on the Yue King's face, fell clearly into the eyes of Chen Qiaoqian and the others, filling them with both shock and joy. They simultaneously looked toward Han Li—clearly, this was the work of this fellow disciple before them.

But the Han Li in their eyes showed not the slightest joy; instead, his expression grew even colder and more grim.

"Don't celebrate too early—that guy isn't dead yet!"

Han Li cast a casual glance at them and said coldly. This sentence made their hearts jolt, and they hurriedly looked down.

Sure enough, though the smoke and dust below obscured everything, the Yue King's spiritual energy was still faintly present. It seemed that even if he still lived, his magic power had been greatly depleted.

After sensing this information with his divine sense, Song Meng and the other two were heartened once more. Each directed their magic artifacts to circle overhead, waiting for the Yue King to reveal himself so they could join forces to strike him down—avenging their brutally slain fellow disciples.

"Cough… good! … good! Cough! I really misjudged you. I never expected that you, sir, were the most formidable one among this group! What on earth did you hide among those talismans? Even my protective blood light couldn't block it!" A bout of coughing came from the smoke, but gradually his voice steadied. The more he spoke, the colder it became, and his vigor grew stronger.

Song Meng and the others' expressions changed drastically, and even Han Li was inwardly horrified.

"Just a single Heavenly Thunder Bead! I truly didn't expect that there really is a Foundation Establishment cultivator in this world who could withstand a Heavenly Thunder Bead and not die!" Han Li sighed and said slowly. Then, with a wave of both hands, over a dozen puppet beasts and puppet soldiers appeared before him in a flash of white light, each one aimed at the gradually clarifying figure on the ground.

The moment that figure appeared, Song Meng and the others attacked without hesitation with their magic artifacts. But after a flash of red light, all the magic artifacts simultaneously lost their connection with their masters. Then the Yue King, covered in bloodstains and grime, walked out from the smoke, a pair of eyes filled with venom fixed dead on Han Li.

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