Chapter 1162: Excellent Spirit Stones

Volume 6: Heavenly Spirit Treasures

This momentary hesitation cost the demon its life.

Han Li appeared a few dozen feet away, his purple flames flickering. Without a word, he waved his sleeve at the turtle demon. Thirty-six small swords instantly shot out, transforming into hundreds of golden sword-lights that ripped through the air with a great whoosh. A dense sword net descended, enveloping the turtle demon.

"It's you?"

The turtle demon twisted its head, finally seeing Han Li's true face, and cried out in alarm as if seeing a ghost. It recognized Han Li in an instant. But upon seeing so many sword-lights descending upon it, its face turned stark white. It had seen from afar how Han Li had easily killed another eighth-level demon beast of the same cultivation level with just one golden sword-light, and how even its highly prized treasure couldn't block it in the slightest.

In its terror, the turtle demon roared a few times, then violently tore off its long robe, which instantly transformed into a black cloud and surged towards the sword net. Meanwhile, it condensed dark demonic energy, preparing to use a secret technique to escape. But just then, an icy cold snort suddenly emanated from Han Li's lips.

In that instant, the turtle demon felt a tearing pain in its spiritual sense. It clutched its head, letting out a pained shriek, as black blood simultaneously streamed from its ears and nose. The demon immediately fell from mid-air.

As soon as the black cloud met the golden sword-lights, it was chopped into countless pieces as sword energies intersected. The remnants of the black cloud instantly transformed into fingernail-sized turtle shells and fell. With a brilliant golden light, the sword-lights continued their descent without pause, enveloping the turtle demon below.

The turtle demon finally recovered somewhat from the tearing pain in its spiritual sense, but at this point, there was nowhere to escape; it was completely ensnared by the sword net. In despair, the demon gritted its teeth and cried out loudly:

"Brother Jin, he's the one named Li from back then—" But before it could finish its words, Han Li's face darkened, and he instantly activated his sword art.

The sword net abruptly retracted, and countless golden lights flashed across the turtle demon's body. The demon was chopped into countless segments, and even the green flame formed from its soul was engulfed by rolling sword-light, disappearing without a trace, in a single flash.

The act of killing the turtle demon only took a few breaths. Han Li's figure flickered, once again transforming into a piercingly bright light that ripped through the air, departing. In the blink of an eye, he was hundreds of feet away. A green light flickered a few times on the horizon, and the green rainbow then completely vanished without a trace.

The Golden Flood Dragon King was naturally unwilling to give up and pursued Han Li beyond Azure Spirit Island. Seeing that he couldn't possibly catch up, and also admitting he wasn't confident of winning in a one-on-one fight, he could only helplessly abandon the pursuit and return to the rocky ridge, his face naturally extremely gloomy.

"Named Li?" When the Golden Flood Dragon King returned above the rocky ridge, his expression suddenly shifted, and he mumbled a few words to himself. At this time, the other transformed demon beasts gathered around, their expressions equally displeased.

"Brother Jin, who is that late-Nascent Soul cultivator? From his appearance, he doesn't resemble the rumored Six Paths. The Heavenly Star Dual Saints cannot leave Star City, so it's certainly not them. Could it be a newly advanced grand cultivator among humans?" a demon cultivator whose entire body was enveloped in flames, concealing his true face, couldn't help but ask first.

"I'm not entirely sure," the Golden Flood Dragon King replied in a low voice. "Although we didn't fight directly, this person's magic treasures and cultivation techniques are very unfamiliar. It seems none of the well-known Nascent Soul cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas fit this description."

"This person's divine abilities are truly immense. Fellow Daoist Lan and Fellow Daoist Wu couldn't even withstand a single exchange against him. His magic power is probably even stronger than Six Paths and the Dual Saints by a few points," another green-robed demon cultivator said with lingering fear. Most of the other demon cultivators also had a trace of fear faintly visible on their faces. After all, most of the demon cultivators present were eighth-level demon beasts, and they knew their cultivation wasn't much stronger than the two turtle demons. If Han Li could so easily kill those two demons, wouldn't they likewise be helpless if they encountered him? Many demon cultivators immediately made up their minds: if they encountered Han Li again, they would have no choice but to flee first.

"I once fought the Six Paths Extreme Saint. This person seems two parts more troublesome than him. At least Six Paths, without a sneak attack, would certainly have no way to so decisively kill our Sea Race's transformed brethren. However, fellow daoists, there's no need to regard this person as overly powerful. This was our first engagement with him, and we were simply too unfamiliar with his divine abilities. Otherwise, this human cultivator wouldn't have succeeded so easily," the Golden Flood Dragon King calmly stated.

Upon hearing this, some demon cultivators showed an expression of realization, while others remained silent. But just then, a ninth-level demon cultivator, the stout man who had initially been fighting the thin old man, suddenly asked:

"Brother Jin, what did Fellow Daoist Wu mean by his words before he died? Do you have any clues? He suddenly called out the other person's surname as Li, acting as if he knew him. And if I recall correctly, some years ago, the Flood Dragon clan and the Extreme Pillow Royal clan once jointly attacked human cultivators and islands near the Myriad Miles Sea, searching everywhere for a cultivator named Li. I wonder if that person has any connection to the individual just now?"

Upon hearing this, the demon cultivators nearby stirred. The Golden Flood Dragon King, however, frowned deeply and pondered.

"There shouldn't be any connection. Years ago, one of my sons was ambushed and killed by a Core Formation human cultivator. That's why I sent people to search for the culprit. But this person is a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. How could he be the same person? Unless this person is a cultivation genius seen once every hundred thousand years, how could he possess his current divine abilities in less than two hundred years?" The Golden Flood Dragon King mused for a moment, then finally shook his head.

"That's not necessarily true," the stout man said with a chuckle. "I once killed a human Nascent Soul cultivator and, after soul-searching, learned that the Human Immortal Cauldron, known as the human race's top secret treasure, had appeared and was obtained by a Core Formation cultivator named Han. However, later investigations by human Nascent Soul old monsters revealed that this person had used the alias 'Li' in our Outer Seas for a long time. And the Heaven-Mending Pill within the Human Immortal Cauldron is quite renowned. With this pill, along with other unknown ancient spiritual elixirs from the cauldron, it's not impossible for this person to have advanced to the late stage so quickly."

After the stout man spoke these words, all the demons present listened, dumbfounded. Some couldn't help but immediately whisper to each other.

The Golden Flood Dragon King likewise fell into thought upon hearing this. After a long while, his eyes flashed with a cold light as he said: "If what Fellow Daoist Nie said is true, then this person might indeed be the cultivator who killed my son back then. If that's the case, this king will absolutely not let him off lightly. Whether it's the revenge for my son or the deaths of Fellow Daoist Wu and Lan today, this person must be offered as a blood sacrifice. What's more, this person stole the top-grade spirit stone and possesses a supreme treasure like the Human Immortal Cauldron."

"This person is a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, and his divine abilities are extraordinary. Unless he is forced into a desperate situation, and there are three or more fellow daoists of the same cultivation level as Brother Jin acting together, I'm afraid we won't be able to do anything to this person at all. Let alone talk about seizing his treasure or seeking revenge," the stout man said, shaking his head cautiously.

"This person is indeed not to be underestimated. We need to plan for the long term when dealing with him, and we must invite Brother Jie and Fellow Daoist Bi to act together. However, there's no rush for this matter now. As long as this person remains in the Star Seas, we will always have an opportunity. On the contrary, although we lost two fellow daoists on this trip, we also killed six human Nascent Soul cultivators, and the spirit mine on Azure Spirit Island will belong to our Sea Race from now on. Even if that top-grade spirit stone was taken, there might be other top-grade spirit stones yet to be excavated in the mine, so there's no need to be too concerned. Our top priority is to re-establish the restrictions and gather our forces to prevent human cultivators from attacking again. The Anti-Star Alliance and Star Palace will not be willing to admit defeat so easily. Ten out of ten times, they will combine forces and return. We must..." The Golden Flood Dragon King seemed to have little interest in revenge, and in a blink of an eye, he shifted the topic back to the current spirit mine.

This matter, which concerned the interests of all demon cultivators present, indeed drew their full attention. They all listened solemnly to the Golden Flood Dragon King's words. Only the stout man frowned deeply, his eyes flickering uncertainly, appearing somewhat restless.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, after Han Li sensed with his spiritual sense that there were no pursuers within hundreds of miles, he immediately slowed his escape light. The light slowed down, turning into a leisurely pace. Of course, Han Li would no longer return to the so-called "Thunder Void Island." After determining his direction, he flew directly towards Silver Shark Island, the way he had come.

Inside the escape light, Han Li couldn't help but reach out, pull out the green storage bag from his embrace, and then excitedly shake it. Immediately, a white glow surged from the mouth of the bag, and then a thumb-sized, verdant spirit stone appeared in his palm. Han Li held the spirit stone in one hand and carefully examined it.

The spiritual light on the stone's surface flowed unsteadily, the green radiance flickering between dim and bright, almost like a living creature. On the surface of the spirit stone, tiny, whitish things seemed to be constantly emerging, but they were too minuscule to be clearly seen for a moment. Han Li was surprised. His pupils contracted, and blue light suddenly flashed in his eyes. He finally managed to clearly see what was inside the green light.

They were milky-white light points, like flakes of snow, yet also like runes. These light points continuously emerged from the verdant spirit stone, then burst open on their own, transforming into dots of pure wood spiritual energy. This spirit stone actually contained so much spiritual energy that it had no choice but to forcefully overflow outwards.

Upon seeing this, Han Li was both surprised and delighted. This was definitely the legendary top-grade spirit stone, and it happened to be a wood-attribute spirit stone, perfectly suited for him. However, thinking about it, it wasn't strange that it was a wood-attribute spirit stone. The spirit mine on Azure Spirit Island seemed to have originally been abundant in wood-attribute spirit stones, so a top-grade spirit stone also being wood-attribute was an expected outcome.

Han Li closed his eyes slightly, sensing the wood spiritual energy emanating from the spirit stone. After a moment, he hesitated, then a green light flashed from his five fingers, and he attempted to absorb some of the vast spiritual energy from the crystal.