Chapter 1341: Seizing the Spiritual Land

Upon seeing the black crack appear, the Nascent Soul of the bushy-browed man plucked the black bell five or six more times in the air. With each pluck, his face grew a shade paler, and the black crack suddenly widened a bit. After numerous rings, the black crack had expanded into a semi-circular opening. Black mist filled the interior, and eerie winds swirled, making it impossible to discern anything clearly.

"Caw-caw!"

An extremely bizarre cackle suddenly echoed from within.

Han Li's pupils contracted. A brilliant golden light erupted from his body, and simultaneously, his Primordial Magnetic Divine Light surged, enveloping him in a formidable defense. Facing a Spirit Treasure-grade artifact, he dared not be careless.

At that moment, a bizarre scene unfolded. Suddenly, tangled black threads appeared around Han Li, swirling around his body without any apparent intent to attack. Han Li was momentarily stunned, not yet understanding the nature of this spell. The black threads then twisted and condensed, forming a dark, luminous formation that completely encircled him.

"Not good!" Han Li exclaimed in surprise. A gray light flashed around him as he desperately tried to sweep away the formation. But it was clearly too late.

The black formation pulsed with light, and after a moment of dizziness, Han Li, along with his giant cauldron and golden lotus, vanished from the spot. The next moment, he stumbled, finding himself abruptly in a bizarre space. Shadows loomed in all directions, and the wails of ghosts echoed loudly. He had been directly drawn into the black crack.

Han Li was momentarily surprised by this sight, but then the corner of his mouth curled into a smile, showing no alarm.

Simultaneously, outside the crack, the bushy-browed man's Nascent Soul frantically activated the black bell once more. As the bell chimed, the gaping entrance of the crack slowly began to close, eventually vanishing to become a faint black line, over ten zhang long, suspended motionless in the air. The Nascent Soul then flashed and returned to its physical body.

The bushy-browed man's true body opened its eyes, a sinister smile spreading across his face. That black crack was a space exclusively created by the Thousand Souls Bell. Though named "Thousand Souls," it contained not just a thousand, but at least eight thousand, if not tens of thousands, of vengeful spirits. These spirits were collected from the essence of particularly vicious demonic beasts, specially refined through secret techniques, making them almost as formidable as they were in life. The principal spirit within the Thousand Souls Bell had, in its past life, been a Heaven-Earth Spirit Beast at the Mid-Incarnation stage. By a stroke of luck, his master had refined it into the bell's main spirit. With the cooperation of the other spirits, this principal spirit's divine abilities could be further amplified. Moreover, this space contained special restrictions: any cultivator drawn into it, unless they possessed a spirit body, would find their magical power significantly suppressed. Consequently, even a Late-Incarnation stage cultivator trapped inside would likely face a grim fate.

Outside the light barrier, the golden-armored cultivator gazed at the faint black line suspended in the air. His eyes flickered a few times, but he made no move. The bushy-browed man, meanwhile, calmly sat cross-legged in the void, quietly awaiting the moment the fierce spirits in the spirit space devoured Han Li, thus ending the battle.

After a full tea's time, the black bell in the air suddenly vibrated violently, emitting a bizarre black light. At the same time, a series of buzzing sounds, long and short, emanated from it, sounding extremely strange. Although the bushy-browed man couldn't achieve a telepathic link with the bell, he recognized the unusual phenomenon. Yet, he was utterly bewildered, unsure of what had transpired.

With a mournful wail, the black bell's colossal external phantom suddenly shattered into countless pieces, dissolving into wisps of black gas that swiftly reabsorbed into the Thousand Souls Bell's main body, vanishing in an instant.

"Impossible! The principal spirit has been destroyed!" The bushy-browed man finally comprehended what had happened, and alarm seized him.

Just then, in a certain void space above his head, a black light silently pierced through from a single point, creating a fist-sized hole out of thin air. A flash of spiritual light, and a streak of green escape light shot out from the hole, instantly transforming into a human figure suspended in mid-air. The bushy-browed man, a Mid-Incarnation stage cultivator himself, seemed to sense something and abruptly raised his head to look. But before he could fully react, the figure moved, vanishing from its spot. The next instant, after a series of afterimages, the figure eerily and silently appeared directly behind the bushy-browed man.

A thunderous shout made the man's ears ring. A fierce gust of wind accompanied a golden fist, which then struck.

"Argh!"

The bushy-browed man, greatly alarmed, swayed, and his body seemed to shatter like a mirror, instantly manifesting seven or eight illusions that shot out in all directions, attempting to flee.

"Hmph! Trying to escape!" The figure was, of course, Han Li. He let out a cold snort. The fist he had unleashed blurred slightly, also manifesting seven or eight identical fist shadows. With a few "thud" sounds, each fist shadow accurately struck the back of an illusion. All of them shattered and vanished instantly! Only behind the man's true body did a small silver shield appear, perfectly blocking a golden fist.

With a "bang," the silver light shield merely delayed the fist for a moment before shattering into pieces. The golden fist struck the man's back without hesitation. The instant the fist made contact, a layer of green armor suddenly appeared on the man's body. With a mighty crash, golden and green light intertwined as the fist slammed into the battle armor. Under the immense shock of the green light, the fist sank several inches deep, and the bushy-browed man let out a cry of agony, flying backward.

Han Li's heart tensed. He clearly sensed that his punch, despite containing immense power, had most of its force deflected by the green armor, which seemed to slip away like a loach. Only a small portion of the impact truly landed on the armor. Otherwise, that single punch would have been enough to pierce the armor and render the bushy-browed man severely injured on the spot. The moment he was drawn into the spirit space by the Thousand Souls Bell, Han Li finally perceived the opponent's killing intent. Naturally, he would not hold back.

Now, with his first punch not fully effective, he felt a flicker of surprise. But he immediately blurred, appearing spectrally above the bushy-browed man. With a single hand, he seized something from the void, and a golden longsword, about a foot in length, suddenly materialized in his grasp. With a flick, he prepared to strike downwards.

Just then, the man named Weng suddenly yelled out hoarsely: "Stop! I surrender!"

Han Li's mouth twitched upon hearing this, but he ignored the plea, swinging his longsword downward. Instantly, a shimmering wave of golden sword energy rolled relentlessly downwards, showing no mercy. With the sharpness of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, even if the opponent had the Azure Nether Armor for protection, he would undoubtedly be sliced in half.

The nearby space rippled. Suddenly, a streak of yellow light shot out, enveloped the bushy-browed man like lightning, and in a flash, he vanished without a trace. Although the golden sword energy was not slow, it still only narrowly struck empty air.

Han Li's expression shifted. He swept his gaze around and saw a burst of yellow light suddenly erupt in the void about twenty zhang away. Then, two figures eerily emerged from within the yellow light. It was precisely the scar-faced golden-armored cultivator and the man named Weng.

The scar-faced cultivator's face was devoid of expression, but the man named Weng was pale, with bloodstains on the battle armor covering his chest. He glared at Han Li with a look of bitter resentment. It seemed that even though the Azure Nether Armor had deflected most of the force from Han Li's attack, he had still suffered internal injuries, evidenced by the blood he coughed up. The fist imprint on the back of his battle armor was clearly visible.

Han Li's gaze swept over the man named Weng, his face showing no change. Instead, his longsword vanished with a flick, and he bowed to the golden-armored cultivator. "Thank you for intervening, Senior. Otherwise, I might have accidentally injured Fellow Daoist Weng before I could withdraw my strike!" Han Li said with a straight face.

Upon hearing Han Li's words, a flush of blood rushed to the man named Weng's face, and he almost coughed up another mouthful of blood. Han Li hadn't been "unable to withdraw his hand"; he had clearly harbored killing intent and deliberately tried to cut him down with a single sword stroke.

The scar-faced cultivator, upon hearing this, had a flicker of an unusual expression on his face, and a faint, knowing smile appeared in his eyes. He then spoke lightly: "It is normal for one to be unable to withdraw a strike during a battle; it's nothing significant. In this competition for the spiritual land, Fellow Daoist Weng has voluntarily conceded, so the victor is naturally Fellow Daoist Han. This spiritual land now belongs to Fellow Daoist Han. Do either of you have any objections?" Han Li smiled faintly, naturally offering no rebuttal. The man named Weng, however, was filled with reluctance. His lips moved slightly, but he ultimately remained silent.

Seeing that neither of them had anything further to say, the scar-faced cultivator nodded. He extended a hand towards Han Li and instructed: "Bring me your Azure Nether Pendant!"

Hearing this, Han Li unhesitatingly flipped his palm, and the green jade pendant flashed into his hand. He then tossed it to the other party. The golden-armored cultivator gestured, snatching the jade pendant from the air. At the same time, a thumb-sized emerald green crystal, which he had already prepared in his other hand, was pressed onto the pendant and instantly merged into it, vanishing from sight.

"Alright, the spiritual land's mark has been injected into your Azure Nether Pendant. Unless you voluntarily relinquish this spiritual land in the future, you will no longer be eligible to participate in the century-long spiritual land competition. You two may leave now. The next match is about to begin."

The scar-faced cultivator handed the jade pendant back to Han Li, then waved his hand, dismissing them. At this moment, an exit had appeared in the surrounding white light barrier, though neither knew when. Han Li said no more. After clasping his fist in a bow, he transformed into a streak of green light and shot out of the exit, vanishing without a trace after a few flashes.

The cultivator named Weng, his face grim, said nothing. He too transformed into a yellow streak of light and left the light barrier. But he reappeared nearby, his light fading as he glared darkly in the direction Han Li had gone. Then, he abruptly stomped his foot and shot away in the opposite direction as a ball of yellow light.

Although this man was suffering from internal injuries, his escape speed was not slow. In the time it takes to eat a meal, he had already appeared high above an unfamiliar location, his escape light dimming as he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong? Your aura is so chaotic! Did you fail to win the spiritual land, and get injured?" A familiar voice spoke coldly. Then, a flash of emerald light appeared in the nearby void, and the foot-long emerald dragon materialized. After scrutinizing the man, it asked with a chilling glint in its eyes.