Chapter 772

Han Li was deeply frustrated, half because the two Tianhu beasts were extraordinarily cunning.

They clung to him like sticky medicine, never daring to directly confront him face-to-face, yet never leaving his side, relentlessly harassing him.

Not long ago, he deliberately revealed a weakness, luring the two beasts close, then suddenly struck, severing half of one beast's claw with several sword beams. Since then, the two beasts refused to fall for the same trick again, only attacking from afar with light projectiles, never approaching within ten zhang of Han Li.

But whenever Han Li used his Wind-Thunder Wings to shake them off, the two beasts immediately teleported back, incessantly harassing him, forcing him to halt his Thunder Dash and fend them off.

The other half of his frustration, of course, came from that green light.

The green light seemed entirely composed of pure wood spiritual energy. The Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords had no effect on it whatsoever—no matter how many sword qi shattered it into fragments, it immediately reformed, utterly immune to Han Li's attempts to kill it.

This was the first time Han Li had encountered such a phenomenon since entering the cultivation world—it was truly an eye-opener.

Seeing this, Han Li naturally activated Ganlan Ice Flame.

Unexpectedly, the green shadow spat out a blue ceramic bowl; as the Ice Flame shot toward it, the bowl absorbed it entirely. Han Li broke into a cold sweat! Fortunately, the Ice Flame had long been fully assimilated into his body, and after channeling it with his spiritual sense and incantation, it finally struggled free from the bowl and returned to his body.

Otherwise, since he had barely cultivated much of this flame, losing even a portion would have been a devastating blow.

Thus, Han Li dared not lightly use his Purple Luo Ultimate Fire.

As for treasures like the Silver Bell and Thousand Peaks, Han Li had also tried them later, but they proved equally useless against the opponent.

Although the green shadow was not immortal, each time it suffered heavy damage, its green light dimmed and its form shrank slightly—but it was far from an opponent that could be swiftly defeated. Fortunately, it had no potent offensive techniques or magic treasures, only releasing wave after wave of green spiritual threads. Han Li handled them with complete ease.

It seemed this so-called avatar merely intended to stall him.

On the other side, the red-clad beauty Feng Bing, though at the peak of Nascent Soul mid-stage, was still vastly inferior to her opponent who had advanced to the late stage. Despite unleashing all her abilities, the woman remained thoroughly on the defensive.

The occasional cold glances cast by the Fourth Divine Master toward Han Li made him feel as if needles pricked his back—he was deeply uneasy.

At this moment, a divine bird of unfathomable power appeared among the Law Masters, and seven Nascent Soul cultivators wielding strange treasures were reduced to mere defense, unable to counterattack. Han Li's heart sank at the sight.

The only remaining chance for victory was to rescue the several cultivators trapped within—only then might they reverse their disadvantage. Otherwise, this battle would end in utter defeat.

Han Li pondered briefly, then made up his mind—he would no longer delay.

He immediately sent out several sword qi to repel one Tianhu beast's teleportation, while with his other hand he slapped his storage bag, producing a wooden box covered entirely in talismans.

The green shadow, seeing Han Li's action, let out a soft "hmm," then raised a hand, sending countless wood-spirit green threads cascading down upon Han Li.

Han Li remained motionless; with a thought, the sword light around him transformed into a radiant aura, slicing every green thread into countless fragments. The wooden box's surface flashed green, the talismans fell away, and a streak of blood-red light shot out, swirling once before landing in his palm.

It was the Spirit-Calling Talisman.

Han Li did not hesitate—he slapped the blood talisman onto his own body. A flash of crimson light, and the talisman vanished instantly.

A flash of green light appeared on Han Li's face, and he suddenly exhaled gently.

A massive serpent shadow emerged atop Han Li, over ten zhang long, entirely crimson—the very form of the Level Eight Poisonous Dragon.

As soon as the shadow appeared, it coiled above Han Li's head and let out a deafening, earth-shaking roar that stunned nearby cultivators, causing the two fighters nearby to turn their gazes in shock.

Seeing the dragon shadow, Tian Zhong frowned, his expression turning grave; Feng Bing's eyes gleamed with faint anticipation.

The dragon's roar ceased. The shadow shot upward, spiraled once, then rapidly shrank before plunging downward, vanishing into Han Li's back.

At that moment, Han Li felt a searing heat on his back; bloodlight pierced through his skin, revealing a crimson dragon pattern, several inches across, vividly dripping with color.

Simultaneously, bloodlight flickered across Han Li's entire body, and from his cheeks to his arms, evenly sized blood-red scales—each the size of a thumb, dazzlingly crystalline—emerged. After intense pain in his head, a small, crystalline dragon horn sprouted from his scalp, and his fingertips had somehow transformed into sharp, gleaming claws.

Han Li had become a half-dragon, half-human form.

"This…" Han Li, sensing the astonishing surge of spiritual energy within him, felt both surprise and alarm.

The Spirit-Calling Talisman's effects had been briefly mentioned at the end of its crafting incantation: it could overlay a portion of the assimilated beast's soul cultivation onto the user, drastically increasing their magic power and cultivation base.

But it had never mentioned that the user would transform into this half-beast, quasi-possessed state.

Of course, this beastly transformation was far milder than true possession. At least no fangs or dragon tail had grown. It bore a striking resemblance—some seven or eight tenths alike—to the Man Hu's Heavenly Demon Technique.

Han Li sighed, touched the sharp horn on his forehead, and fell silent.

Han Li did not know that this so-called Spirit-Calling Talisman was originally developed by the founding ancestor of Tianfu Sect, based on the Possession Technique. He had improved several of its flaws: the user retained full consciousness, avoided the fatal depletion of lifespan caused by mixed beast and spiritual energy, and never became a mindless monster.

The only drawback of this technique was that crafting the Spirit-Calling Talisman was exceedingly difficult.

In this realm, not only was possessing a Level Eight beast soul rare, but many cultivators would never even see a Level Eight beast in their entire lives.

Only the soul of a Level Eight beast that had already transformed could be refined without harming the user. Lower-grade beast souls, though usable, contained too much turbid beast energy; talismans made from them were just as harmful as the original Possession Technique. Thus, the crafting method repeatedly emphasized that only Level Eight or higher beast souls could be used.

Though Han Li was slightly surprised, he felt his cultivation base surging upward—now approaching the peak of Nascent Soul early stage. Clearly, the Spirit-Calling Talisman's effect was genuine.

After Han Li's dragon soul merged with his body, the two Tianhu beasts sensed the Poisonous Dragon's aura on him and again showed signs of unease—but the green shadow uttered a few low commands, and the beasts steadied themselves.

Han Li sneered. His Wind-Thunder Wings unfurled, and he vanished from his spot, reappearing over ten zhang away.

Seeing this, the two Tianhu beasts instantly flashed green and teleported beside Han Li; one opened its mouth and spat out several light projectiles.

Han Li's eyes flashed with purple light; thunder cracked behind him. He vanished again, reappearing directly behind the beast.

But at that moment, the other beast timed its strike perfectly and also spat out light projectiles.

According to their previous tactics, Han Li would have used sword qi to block the attack, allowing the front beast to escape via teleportation.

But this time, with his cultivation vastly enhanced, Han Li did not bother summoning sword qi. A flash of green and crimson spiritual light enveloped him—he dared to rely solely on his protective spiritual energy to absorb the projectiles. His body trembled slightly, yet he raised one hand and sent a green rainbow slashing downward, its speed like a celestial immortal descending, unstoppable.

The Tianhu beast, panicked, had no time to teleport. It spat out a green-yellow beast core, attempting to block the strike.

The green shadow, sensing danger, rushed forward, waving its hands as countless green threads shot toward Han Li.

"Boom!" The light projectiles exploded around Han Li—but he merely swayed slightly, completely unharmed. Meanwhile, his fully powered sword slashed through the beast core, splitting it in two, then cleaved the beast's entire body into two halves.

The beast, unable to teleport in time, stood no chance against Han Li's greatly enhanced cultivation.

But the green shadow's spiritual threads instantly wrapped around Han Li. A flash of crimson light surged from his body—the threads turned black upon contact with his protective aura, then dissolved into nothing.

"Incredible dragon poison!" Han Li was startled, then elated.

He had merely intended to block the threads with his protective aura—but when activated, it effortlessly nullified the attack.

It seemed the green shadow feared this extraordinary poison.

A piercing howl echoed. The other Tianhu beast, seeing its companion slain, filled with madness. Flashing green, it teleported directly beside Han Li, its claws glowing with foot-long claws of energy, slashing wildly at him as if it had lost all reason.

Han Li's expression remained cold. He did not summon sword qi, but raised his hand, revealing claws covered in scales. He flicked his hand through the air, crimson light flared, and met the beast's claws head-on.

Two soft thuds sounded. Han Li's crimson claws pierced through the beast's claws effortlessly, then his arm plunged through its body, snatching out a pea-sized green-yellow beast core.

The corpse plummeted downward.

From the moment Han Li activated the Spirit-Calling Talisman and his cultivation surged, to the moment he slew both beasts, only an instant had passed.

The green shadow froze, hesitating, no longer advancing.

Han Li, however, flashed forward, facing the green shadow, coldly studying it.

On the other side, Tian Zhong, who had been overpowering the beautiful woman, had clearly witnessed this scene. He was both shocked and furious. He unleashed a flurry of attacks with his Five-Colored Wheel against the woman, then vanished in a flash of light, abandoning his opponent and hurtling toward Han Li like a streaking rainbow.

But at that moment, a deep "boom" echoed below—the crimson barrier surrounding them suddenly exploded.

A vast, blinding white frost burst from the rupture, and a silver rainbow shot out amid the cold mist, swirling once before halting near Han Li.

Web