Chapter 1062: Shouting True Thunder

"While I'm not afraid of your Heavenly Azure Temple, I certainly don't wish to form such a deep-seated enmity. So, the matter of planting the Sacred Beast Seal and joining your temple is out of the question. How am I to know what peculiarities that so-called Sacred Beast Seal might hold? It would be best if your Heavenly Azure Temple simply stopped bothering me. Of course, if you truly lack judgment and insist on pestering me, don't blame me for being ruthless." Han Li calmly stared at the Nascent Soul of the young man surnamed Xu as he spoke.

"Of course. Given your current divine abilities, how could our Heavenly Azure Temple possibly break its word? Daoist friend, could you please release our Saintess first?" the young man surnamed Xu asked eagerly, clearly pleased by Han Li's words.

"Don't be so eager; I haven't finished stating my conditions yet," Han Li snorted, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

The young man surnamed Xu was startled, then felt a sudden chill in his heart. "Brother Han, what other conditions do you have? Please, speak your mind."

"I will return the Sacred Beast's clone to you," Han Li said, a peculiar glint in his eyes. "However, that cannot be done immediately; it will likely take a few years. Rest assured, I can promise you that I will not harm the beast's life."

"Unable to return the beast clone immediately? This... this is rather inconvenient," the young man surnamed Xu said, pausing after hearing this.

"That's just the first condition," Han Li continued unhurriedly, ignoring the young man's expression. "Second, as a guarantee that you won't go back on your word afterward, I will place some restrictions on both your Nascent Soul and that of the Saintess. Don't worry, it's not the kind of soul-binding technique; at our cultivation level, such spells are ineffective. It just so happens that I've acquired the refining method for an ancient secret art called 'Soul Command Divine Thunder.' You merely need to let your Nascent Soul swallow a pellet of this thunder, which contains a trace of my divine sense. That will suffice."

"'Soul Command True Thunder'?! No, that's impossible!" the young man surnamed Xu exclaimed, startled and without hesitation.

"If you're unwilling, then I will erase both of you from this world. After that, I'll make a trip to the Heavenly Azure Prairie, find the three Celestial Masters when they are alone, and eliminate them one by one. Then, I'll return to Tiannan and inform the Mulan people. I imagine the Mulan would be delighted to reclaim the prairie. At that point, the existence of the Heavenly Azure Temple, or even the Tuttu tribe, would be highly uncertain," Han Li said unhurriedly.

"You dare do that?" the young man's Nascent Soul cried out, a chill running down its back in a mix of shock and fury.

"Why wouldn't I dare? What you proposed earlier about me joining and accepting the Sacred Beast Seal was merely a ploy to bind my hands and feet. There are countless ways to circumvent such an imprint and deal with me regardless. Besides, I have never had the habit of being controlled by others; everything about me must be controlled by myself. If you refuse to have the Soul Command True Thunder implanted, I cannot simply let this opportune moment pass. The only alternative is for you to completely vanish from this world. Very well, I'll give you one last chance. If you haven't agreed by the time I curl all five of my fingers, I will consider it a rejection of my condition and act immediately. One!" Han Li said chillingly, raising one hand and extending his thumb, showing no intention of further delay.

"How can I know you won't take the opportunity to harm us after implanting the True Thunder?" the young man surnamed Xu asked, a hint of panic in his voice, yet still unwilling to give up easily.

"Do I need to go to such lengths to eliminate you right now?" Han Li scoffed, uttering the word "Two" and curling down another finger.

"But..." The Nascent Soul stood on the peacock's head, muttering incessantly while its eyes darted around, as if searching for an opportunity to escape.

Unbeknownst to it, Gui Ling had already positioned itself on the other side of the Runic Peacock, glaring menacingly at the Nascent Soul.

The young man's heart sank abruptly.

With all three of them simultaneously locking onto him, attempting to escape in his Nascent Soul form was absolutely wishful thinking.

"Four."

In the blink of an eye, Han Li curled down his fourth finger, leaving only his pinky extended. Almost concurrently, Gui Ling and the humanoid puppet no longer concealed their overwhelming aura and astonishing spiritual pressure, which began to press down on the Runic Peacock.

With a flick of its hand, the silver axe appeared in Gui Ling's grip, while the Thunder-Fire Bow in the humanoid puppet's hand glowed intensely red. The Golden Lightning Bamboo arrow on the bow also flickered with emerald light, fixed firmly on the distant Runic Peacock.

As for Han Li, he expressionlessly turned his other hand, and with a flash of spiritual light, the Three-Flame Fan materialized directly. With a gentle shake, runes surged and swirled on its surface, emitting a brilliant three-colored aura and beginning to let out clear phoenix cries.

The young man, hidden within the five-colored spiritual light, saw this, and the Nascent Soul's face instantly drained of color, yet its mouth remained tightly shut.

Han Li's eyes gleamed with a cold, knife-like intensity. His lips moved, and the word "Five" was about to escape them.

"Alright, I, Xu, will allow you to place the restriction on my Nascent Soul!" The young man finally discerned Han Li's unwavering resolve from the murderous intent on his face, and he could only grit his teeth and concede.

Hearing this, Han Li's eyes flickered, and he nodded. He formed a hand seal with one hand, and a series of ancient incantations emanated from his lips.

After a moment, his face turned pale, and a bean-sized white light orb, seemingly encasing something, squeezed out from between his brows and floated gently toward the young man's Nascent Soul.

In his other hand, the Three-Flame Fan continued its low hum; Han Li had not dispelled the spell. Clearly, this was a deliberate precaution to guard against the young man seizing the opportunity to launch an attack.

Gui Ling and the humanoid puppet also remained vigilant; in the young man's perception, their auras even intensified slightly, firmly locking onto the Nascent Soul's location, leaving no opening for any attempt.

The young man sighed inwardly and eyed the white light orb with great apprehension. Its exterior was white, yet within, faint five-colored spiritual light flickered, precisely matching the description of the legendary 'Soul Command True Thunder' from ancient times. It had to be it.

The Soul Command True Thunder arrived in the blink of an eye but was blocked by the five-colored spiritual light barrier. After a brief moment of hesitation, meeting Han Li's chillingly cold gaze, the young man had no choice but to reluctantly allow the white light orb to enter the spiritual barrier.

As expected, after a flash of white light, the orb directly entered the Nascent Soul's body and vanished without a trace.

The young man quickly used his divine sense to thoroughly inspect the condition of his Nascent Soul.

However, there was absolutely no abnormality; the Soul Command True Thunder seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Seeing this, the young man felt not relief, but even greater alarm.

Rumors claimed that this Soul Command True Thunder was formed from condensed divine consciousness, capable of coalescing and dispersing without form. It turned out to be true.

If that were the case, how would he ever manage to remove it in the future?

At this point, Han Li said calmly, "Daoist friend, do not harbor any thoughts of forcibly removing it. This ancient secret art cannot be dispelled merely by brute force of magical power. As long as you behave honestly, I will naturally not activate this restriction. Otherwise, if it were to flare up, do not blame me for not warning you beforehand."

Upon hearing this, the young man's Nascent Soul's expression naturally became exceedingly grim.

Han Li turned his head to look at the unconscious Heavenly Azure Saintess, frowning slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he shook his head and, in the same manner, implanted another Soul Command Divine Thunder into her Nascent Soul.

Pitiably, the woman was still unconscious when Han Li unknowingly implanted the restriction within her.

"You don't kill us, so you intend to perpetually threaten and control us with this restriction, don't you?" the young man asked, after once again searching his Nascent Soul with his divine sense and finding nothing, his voice filled with bitter resentment.

"Threaten you? You could say that. But rest assured, as long as you behave obediently within Kunwu Mountain and lend me your assistance, once we leave this mountain, we will go our separate ways. You will remain an elder and the Saintess of the Heavenly Azure Temple, and I will return to Tiannan to continue my solitary cultivation. As for this Soul Command True Thunder, it will naturally become ineffective after three or four hundred years," Han Li replied calmly.

"Three or four hundred years!" The young man was utterly speechless.

"Alright. We've lingered here long enough; it's time to act," Han Li said, casting a sideways glance at the still unconscious Lin Yinping. He gently flicked his sleeve towards her, and a swathe of green mist swept over her, enveloping her.

As soon as the green mist enveloped her, her eyelids fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her beautiful eyes. She immediately caught sight of Han Li beside her, instantly startled. Without thinking, her body flickered, and she reappeared a dozen zhang away, immediately summoning a silver flying sword with extreme vigilance.

"Daoist Lin, hold on!" The young man's Nascent Soul naturally wouldn't allow Lin Yinping to act rashly, so he urgently called out to stop her, then quickly transmitted a message with barely perceptible movements of his lips.

Han Li did not intervene; he merely stood with his hands clasped behind his back, expressionless.

Gui Ling flew back to Han Li's side, while the humanoid puppet, at a flicker of his divine sense, once again concealed itself and vanished.

In that instant, the Heavenly Azure Saintess seemed to realize that the restriction of the Soul Command True Thunder had been implanted within her. Her beautiful face suddenly lost all color, and the panic in her eyes was impossible to conceal.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flickered a few times. Just as he was about to say something, a sudden deafening roar echoed, and the entire space trembled violently.

Just as Han Li paused in surprise, a thick sword energy suddenly pierced through the barrier that had previously trapped them. The barrier then swayed slightly up and down, and instantly, a giant hole about a zhang wide appeared. Two streaks of astonishing light then shot out from within, circling once before landing near Han Li and his companions, revealing a Daoist and a Confucian scholar.

"Brother Qimiao!" Lin Yinping exclaimed sweetly upon seeing the black-robed scholar among them, a faint hint of joy appearing on her face.

"Oh! So it's you, Daoist friend. How did Fairy Lin also come to this place?" the black-robed scholar said with a hint of surprise upon seeing Lin Yinping. He had a hooked nose, giving him a sinister and profound appearance.

This person was none other than True Master Qimiao, an elder of the Demonic Sect. Since the Demonic Sect and the Heavenly Azure Temple had some common interests, this old demon and Lin Yinping, as the Saintess of the Heavenly Azure Temple, had a certain acquaintance. The Mystic Sound Treasure Mirror, capable of seeing through illusions and transformations, had actually been borrowed by her from him.

Standing beside him was the white-haired, red-faced old Daoist with an immortal-like bearing, who was, of course, Xuan Qingzi of the Taiyi Sect. Upon seeing the Saintess, the old Daoist stepped forward with a smiling greeting, but then his gaze swept over Han Li and the others, gradually revealing a look of surprise.