Chapter 698

The Marquis of Lord Nanlong spoke as he swept his hand across his chest, a soft white glow flashing briefly.

The sunken spot on his chest instantly returned to normal.

Wang Wang Tiangu and the others showed slight changes in expression, but the Yun elder calmly said:

"Don't worry. He's merely using a secret technique to temporarily suppress his injuries—he's not unharmed! But what's the point of dawdling with this Han boy? Send one person to hold him off while the rest eliminate the Marquis of Lord Nanlong first."

The elder finished coldly, then calmly pointed at the silver wheel before him.

The magic treasure instantly transformed into a silver streak that flew to his head, then poured down a vast expanse of silver light to shield his entire body.

His figure became faint and indistinct within the silver glow.

Clearly, he knew the Marquis of Lord Nanlong hated him deeply, so he sought only to avoid harm, not to gain advantage.

Wang Wang Tiangu frowned slightly, as if finding this reasonable, then turned to the Yu cultivator beside him and said:

"Brother Yu, handle this boy for now. Don't fight him to the death—just keep him occupied for a moment. Once we've dealt with the Marquis of Lord Nanlong, his time is up."

Wang Wang Tiangu finally dropped all pretense of restraint toward Han Li; he cast a cold, icy glance at Han Li, and suddenly black radiance several feet high erupted from his body, swallowing him whole into darkness, appearing utterly eerie.

The old woman and the black-faced man, seeing this, also spat out their magic treasures and slowly closed in.

"No problem—this Han cultivator is mine!" The Yu cultivator chuckled, and a white, misty jade Jade Ruyi silently slid from his sleeve; he stepped forward a few paces and stood facing Han Li with a half-smile.

To him, holding off a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator was child's play—far safer than directly confronting the Mid-Nascent Soul Marquis of Lord Nanlong.

Han Li stared at the Yu cultivator, standing motionless. But the instant the old woman left the staircase entrance, his heartbeat surged violently; his hand, hidden in his sleeve, gripped tightly onto an ancient treasure.

At that moment, the Marquis of Lord Nanlong suddenly swept his hand backward; a golden mist shot out, wrapping around three jade boxes on the jade bed behind him, then pulled them back into his grasp.

"Catch!" The Marquis of Lord Nanlong tossed one of the jade boxes toward Han Li without the slightest hesitation.

This move took everyone by surprise, and no one had time to stop it.

Han Li easily caught the jade box, but he blinked, his eyes filled with doubt.

"Since you've refused to join forces with them, I present this jade box to you. If it truly holds the secret of the Fallen Demon Valley, and you survive to carry it out, then it is your destiny." Having said this, the Marquis of Lord Nanlong clasped his hands behind his back, speaking with hidden meaning.

Upon hearing this, Wang Wang Tiangu and the Yun elder and others instantly paled.

Han Li looked down at the jade box in his hand, pressed his dry lips together, and suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to laugh wildly—but his extraordinary reason held it back.

The very object every cultivator in this pavilion had fought to seize was now being offered to him freely—how absurd.

The Marquis of Lord Nanlong's actions, of course, carried no good intent.

With Wang Wang Tiangu and the others so determined to claim the jade box, giving it to Han Li now was clearly a scheme to shift the trouble eastward—to divert their attention and ease the pressure on himself so he could escape.

Still, the man had the resolve to let go—he could endure the pain of surrendering a treasure he'd just seized, revealing a true warlord's nature.

But now that the treasure was in his hands… heh!

Han Li let out a cold laugh, then without hesitation flipped his palm—the jade box vanished, absorbed into his storage bag.

"Chan'er, you two assist Brother Yu. Don't let this Han boy slip away by trickery. The fighting here is enough for us old ones." Wang Wang Tiangu's face darkened, giving the order without hesitation.

He remained remarkably calm—not blinded by the treasure's lure. He sent only the weakest, Wang Chan and another, to watch Han Li, refusing to divert any more hands to deal with him.

The others exchanged glances but said nothing.

Though the treasure tempted them, once they killed the Marquis of Lord Nanlong, Han Li—a mere Early Nascent Soul cultivator—would be easily captured.

"Yes, Second Uncle! I've been eager to test this 'Han Elder'!" Wang Chan's eyes flashed with malice as he grinned darkly in reply.

He then gestured to Yan Yan Ru Yan, and they walked toward Han Li.

Yan Yan Ru Yan's beautiful face flickered with complex emotion, then vanished; she followed silently.

Seeing this, Han Li glanced at the two with indifference, his expression utterly unchanged.

It was amusing, really: though the pavilion was thick with killing intent, neither Wang Wang Tiangu's group nor the Marquis of Lord Nanlong had moved first.

It wasn't out of any lingering courtesy—everyone knew the Marquis of Lord Nanlong was a cornered beast; if he struck, it would be earth-shattering, and he might well drag one or two opponents down with him in a final suicide.

The deadly backlash of a Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator was terrifying, and every old hand here knew it well—no one wished to be the first to act and bear the fatal blow.

Moreover, they themselves weren't worried about delay—the longer the Marquis of Lord Nanlong waited without resting, the worse his injuries would grow, and the more advantageous it became for them.

Strangely, the Marquis of Lord Nanlong also stood motionless, as if utterly unconcerned with his injuries. But the crimson hue on his cheeks deepened further, now glowing as vivid as dripping blood.

This made Wang Wang Tiangu and the others even more hesitant to act, fearing he had already activated a deadly life-or-death technique; they stared at him with icy eyes, never blinking.

As for the Yu cultivator beside him, he held the same mindset toward Han Li—so long as he held him off, there was no need to strike first.

Wang Chan wanted to kill Han Li immediately, but knowing his own cultivation was insufficient, he dared not act rashly.

Thus, though the pavilion brimmed with lethal intent, it fell into sudden silence.

Moments later, Han Li, his face thoughtful, suddenly sighed softly. Though quiet, the sound stood out sharply in the stillness.

Yet every Nascent Soul elder in the pavilion was a cunning old fox; apart from the Yu cultivator across from him, none so much as lifted their eyelids, not one glancing over.

Wang Chan sneered, a flicker of mockery in his eyes.

In their minds, Han Li would surely wait for the Marquis of Lord Nanlong to strike first—only then could he seize the slimmest chance of survival amid the chaos.

But no one expected that after sighing, Han Li actually moved.

Han Li raised his hand calmly, and a dark object appeared in his palm.

The Yu cultivator narrowed his eyes; before he could identify it, Han Li unhesitatingly flung it into the air. The object spun rapidly, swelling instantly to seven or eight zhang in size, like a towering black wall between them, severing their connection.

Only then did the Yu cultivator clearly see—it was a small, pitch-black mountain, shimmering with dark radiance, its nature unknown.

Yet after a momentary shock, he did not panic; instead, he pointed at his jade Jade Ruyi before him.

Instantly, the Jade Ruyi emitted a loud hum, then blazed with white light; within concentric rings of radiance, a massive white tiger materialized.

Though the tiger appeared somewhat blurred, the moment it formed, it opened its gaping maw and shot out a blazing white beam, thick as a bowl's rim, striking the black mountain directly.

A thunderous boom echoed as the white light instantly swallowed more than half the mountain.

Wang Chan also reacted—he instantly formed hand seals, and thick crimson mist erupted from his body, swallowing him whole. Simultaneously, a nauseating stench of blood flooded the entire pavilion.

Yan Yan Ru Yan's face remained expressionless; she too formed hand seals, and similar crimson mist rose around her—but this time, no stench emerged; instead, a strange, sweet fragrance filled the air, making one drowsy and clouding spiritual sense instantly.

Seeing this, the Yu cultivator grew even more confident. He continued controlling the white tiger to fire another beam, while his other hand slapped his storage bag—a pale blue gourd, no more than an inch long, appeared in his grasp.

Just as he prepared to activate the gourd, he suddenly heard a faint thunderclap from across the way. Startled, his vigilance spiked; without hesitation, he formed a seal, and a thick white light shield instantly formed before him.

Almost simultaneously, silver lightning flashed beside him—Han Li's figure, wings sprouting from his back, appeared right against his protective shield.

"Ah, you—"

The Yu cultivator's face turned pale with shock, but his combat experience kicked in—he swiftly raised the blue gourd in his hand, and a bolt of blue lightning shot from its mouth, blindingly bright.

But in the instant the blue lightning fired, Han Li made no move to dodge; instead, he calmly opened his mouth and blew gently—a slender thread of blue flame, finer than a silk thread, shot out, passing effortlessly through the white shield and striking the Yu cultivator directly.

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