Chapter 1340: The Power of Body Refinement

As the black bell shot into the air, it vibrated and let out a clear chime. The moment the sound reached his ears, Han Li felt a resounding "buzz" in his spiritual sense. His entire body jolted as if struck by lightning, and he swayed several times, nearly falling from the sky.

Han Li was startled. The Grand Evolution Arts within him automatically began to circulate, and a cool sensation rushed into his mind, circling within. After his face paled several times, his body finally returned to normal.

"It really is a spiritual treasure; how else could an ordinary artifact possess such power!" A trace of apprehension flashed through Han Li's mind, but fueled by immense anger, he subconsciously launched a fierce counterattack. With a single-hand incantation, his spiritual thought abruptly condensed into a ball and shot out wildly towards his opponent.

The man with the raised eyebrows, who had forcefully activated the Thousand Soul Bell for a soul-absorption attack, watched from a distance as Han Li merely swayed and then recovered as if nothing had happened. His astonishment, however, far exceeded Han Li's own. Although this soul-absorption attack wasn't the Thousand Soul Bell's most powerful ability, it was incredibly effective and extremely difficult to resist against enemies of a lower cultivation level.

Just as he gritted his teeth, about to continue forcefully activating the bell regardless of the cost to his spiritual power, a tearing pain suddenly erupted in his spiritual sense, as if a sharp awl had been forcefully driven into his brain. Unfortunately, he didn't possess a spiritual sense as powerful as Han Li's. After being struck by the "Spirit Shock Sting," he let out a piercing scream, clutched his head, and instantly doubled over like a curled-up shrimp. His Nascent Soul instantly retreated back into his body and disappeared. In that instant, he lost control of the Thousand Soul Bell in the air.

Han Li's eyes flashed with a cold light as he witnessed this. Ignoring the puppet giant charging towards him, he remotely pointed at the enormous golden lotus in the sky. The enormous golden lotus spun rapidly and then forcefully pressed downwards, instantly drawing the black bell into its core, where it radiated brilliant golden light.

As the golden lotus successfully enveloped the Thousand Soul Bell, the verdant puppet had already grown to six or seven zhang tall and charged in front of Han Li, raising a massive fist to strike him fiercely. With a loud "bang," the puppet's fist struck. The colossal cauldron formed by the Void Heaven Cauldron swayed, blocking the blow, but the cauldron itself hummed loudly and shrank by half its size. This puppet possessed astonishing and formidable strength.

Meanwhile, within the enormous golden lotus, where the petals were rapidly rotating, a ghostly wailing suddenly erupted. A shadowy, zhang-sized bell then appeared in the center of the golden lotus. Despite the rapid cutting action of the petals, it remained completely unharmed, as if it were an intangible entity. At the same time, wisps of black threads spontaneously emerged from the black bell, immediately coiling around the golden lotus. The rotation of the lotus petals instantly became sluggish and ineffective.

Han Li let out a soft exclamation. Just as he was about to swiftly cast another spell to activate his treasure, a black light suddenly flashed a few zhang behind him. A colossal black wolf materialized like a ghost, then transformed into a faint shadow and lunged forward. The beast's sharp claws, upon contact with the gray light shield formed by the Limitless Magnetic Divine Light, penetrated it without any obstruction. Although the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light was powerful, it was ineffective against things unrelated to the Five Elements, unable to block them in the slightest.

Just as the colossal wolf's eyes flashed with an unusual green light, having successfully launched its sneak attack, two brilliant golden fists suddenly appeared bizarrely in front of its sharp claws, delivering an unceremonious head-on blow. After two thunderous "booms," the wolf's claws, upon connecting with the golden fists, were instantly smashed to smithereens. The wolf immediately let out a pained howl, and its body shot backward as if struck by immense force.

At that very moment, Han Li, who had previously had his back to the wolf, had inexplicably turned around, his entire body glowing with brilliant golden light, like a divine being cast from gold. Staring at the black wolf flying backward, Han Li's face was frosty. His body blurred slightly, leaving a series of afterimages as he shot forward, appearing mysteriously above the retreating wolf's head in the next instant. After recovering his spiritual power, Han Li was astonishingly able to execute the Misty Cloud Steps directly in the void. While this footwork was not as incredibly fast as the Wind-Thunder Wings, nor as subtly deceptive as the Nine Transformations of Gale, under Han Li's forceful execution, it was incredibly marvelous for small-scale maneuvering.

Upon seeing Han Li appear above its head, the black colossal wolf was instead provoked into a frenzy. It opened its mouth and spat out a ball of black light, striking at Han Li, who was just within reach. With a "poof," Han Li casually waved a golden palm, swatting the black light ball away as if it were a fly. Simultaneously, he channeled spiritual power intensely into his eyes. Blinding blue light instantly shot forth from the depths of his pupils, allowing him to see through the colossal wolf's entire body. Han Li's expressionless figure then flickered, mysteriously reappearing at the colossal wolf's abdomen.

With a swift motion of his arms, two golden hands shot out like lightning, one grasping the wolf's head and the other seizing one of its hind legs. Like two iron clamps, they instantly rendered the colossal wolf completely immobile! With a loud roar, he exerted force with both arms simultaneously! With Han Li's current inhuman strength, let alone a demonic creature condensed from a beast's soul, even a real demonic beast with a bronze head and iron arms would be instantly torn in half. As a result, Han Li forcefully tore off the wolf's massive head. An unbelievable scene unfolded. The moment the wolf's head left its body, the torso immediately emitted a burst of black light, transforming into plumes of black mist that rapidly dispersed and vanished after violent churning. Yet, the wolf's head, still gnashing its teeth and snarling, remained alive in Han Li's golden hand.

Han Li gave a cold smile. With his other hand, he made a grabbing motion in the air, and a ball of silver flames emerged, flickering once to transform into a silver firebird. With a clear cry, the silver firebird immediately plunged towards the black wolf's head. With a "bang," amidst the wolf's horrified wails, the silver flames instantly enveloped its head, turning it into a cloud of black mist in the blink of an eye. The silver flames then swirled in the air, devouring all the black mist, and reformed into the shape of a silver firebird. The bird opened its beak and spat out a silver talisman, which Han Li swiftly caught with his sharp reflexes. Upon closer inspection, it was precisely the talisman the raised-eyebrow man had conjured earlier, but its light was dim, indicating a significant loss of its power. The firebird, spewing silver flames, circled and danced around Han Li, seemingly extraordinarily excited.

Han Li's gaze shifted, and his figure blurred once more before instantly reappearing above the verdant puppet, which was more than ten zhang away. The puppet was currently blocked by the Void Heaven Cauldron and was continuously pounding the colossal cauldron with fierce punches. Although the cauldron was forced back about a zhang with each strike and simultaneously shrank in size, this treasure had once even blocked a divine manifestation strike from an ancient demon ancestor of the Demon Realm. Naturally, it couldn't truly have its spiritual light dispersed so easily; it would instantly flicker and re-expand to its original position. This was also because the puppet lacked intelligence, and the raised-eyebrow man had not yet recovered from the excruciating pain in his spiritual sense. Thus, the puppet foolishly continued to attack only the colossal cauldron, completely unaware of any alternative methods.

Han Li was not familiar with the puppet techniques of the Spirit Realm, but the puppetry left by Grandmaster Dayan in the Grand Evolution Scripture was already one of the top secret arts in the human world. While this verdant puppet could be considered exceptionally powerful, a sweep of blue light from his eyes instantly revealed its weakness. Tucking the silver talisman into his robe, he took a light, sweeping step, and with a flash of golden light, instantly appeared behind the colossal puppet.

A series of crackling sounds like firecrackers emanated from Han Li's body. He then aimed at a certain spot beneath the puppet's ribs and unleashed a punch with a loud roar. The brilliant golden fist hadn't even fully made contact with the puppet, but where its fist wind passed, it left a white streak in the air, seemingly tearing space itself. With a deafening "boom," despite the verdant puppet's incredibly hard body, a large, several-inch-deep fist print suddenly appeared under its ribs from such immense force. At the same time, it stumbled and was forcefully knocked face-down onto the ground by Han Li's tremendous power.

Han Li then held nothing back, unleashing a storm of punches, each strike landing on the same spot. In the blink of an eye, after a muffled "thump," the area beneath the puppet's ribs suddenly shattered open, revealing a dark, gaping hole. Han Li's fists suddenly halted, but then, without looking, he rubbed his hands together. A golden bolt of lightning immediately shot forth, striking directly into the puppet's interior. A series of cracking sounds immediately erupted from within the puppet. Then, its entire body emitted a brilliant green light as its size rapidly diminished, transforming into a foot-sized entity that lay motionless on the ground in an instant.

From the black wolf's sneak attack to Han Li's swift counterattack that annihilated the Heavenly Wolf and destroyed the puppet, it sounds like a lengthy description, but in reality, it only took a few breaths. At this moment, the raised-eyebrow man, who had been struck by Han Li's Spirit Shock Sting, finally recovered from the excruciating pain in his spiritual sense, just in time to witness Han Li's body radiating golden light as he destroyed the puppet in its final moments.

"The Vajra Arts have reached great perfection! You're still a top-tier body refiner!" he exclaimed, his face filled with an expression of utter disbelief. The scarred golden-armored cultivator outside the light barrier, though he said nothing further, clearly showed an equal level of shock on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Weng, do you still wish to continue this fight?" Han Li did not answer the question but calmly retorted with his own. The man surnamed Weng's face immediately darkened! "Although you cultivate both magic and body, and your divine abilities truly far exceed my expectations, do you really believe you've won this fight? Next, I will sacrifice a century of arduous cultivation to show you the true power of the Thousand Soul Bell!" The man surnamed Weng was enraged. He looked up at the shadowy black bell, which was easily held by the golden lotus, and spoke sternly.

Immediately, the man began to chant, and blue mist shimmered above his head as his Nascent Soul reappeared. The Nascent Soul's face was solemn. With one hand forming an incantation and the other raised towards the air, a seemingly tangible blue light pillar shot out, striking precisely the shadowy black bell, while an arcane chant echoed from its mouth. The shadowy black bell trembled, and then a point of black light appeared within the shadow, revealing the true form of the Thousand Soul Bell. The bell gently rotated, transforming the blue light pillar into specks of spiritual light, which it then absorbed into its body. The raised-eyebrow man below seized this opportunity, flicking his finger towards the black bell from a distance.

With a seemingly ordinary crisp 'clang', a sound resonated. Within the light barrier, an intense spatial fluctuation suddenly occurred, and then a slender black crack appeared in the sky without any warning.