Chapter 1508: Control

The Five-Dragon Slicer and I are long unified. Even if it’s taken from here, I can recall it at will.

"Moreover, even if I lend you this treasure, you wouldn't be able to unleash its full power, especially since you're merely possessing a puppet body. I'll teach you a technique: use your spiritual power to control the Five-Dragon Slicer. Although you won't be able to maintain its full power for long, it will be sufficient against the outsiders. However, using this technique will severely damage the spiritual sense you've attached to the puppet, potentially even affecting your true body. Do you still wish to proceed?" the ancient voice added.

Hearing this, the puppet's eyes flickered with green light before it spoke. "If we fail to stop these outsiders, even if we return safely to our clan, we'll face severe penalties. I'd rather sacrifice this spiritual sense and take my chances."

"Good, your resolve makes things easier. Listen carefully; I'll transmit the incantation directly to you." The ancient voice chuckled, then fell silent.

The blood-armored puppet's eyes, however, continued to flash with light, revealing a focused expression as it seemingly listened intently.

After a while, the puppet let out a long breath, bowed towards the cave, and then bid farewell.

"Thank you, senior, for the technique. I will not linger here any longer; I must go prepare."

"Wait," the voice interjected. "Here's a bottle of pills for the other ghost creatures to consume. Once they recover their vital energy, they can still lend you a hand. This old man wouldn't take advantage of you young ones."

As soon as the ancient voice finished speaking, a strange gust of wind surged out from the cave. When the wind dissipated, a white jade bottle appeared before the puppet.

The blood-armored puppet was naturally overjoyed. After putting away the jade bottle, it bowed in thanks and departed. The ghost creatures silently followed the puppet out.

At the same time, Six-Legs and the others were leading their team over a dry forest when a dense swarm of skeletons flew out from below. These skeletons appeared to be the remains of some kind of insectoid beasts, their front limbs abnormally large like two giant bone blades. Their bodies were enveloped in yellow mist, and they charged directly towards the puppets and Yin Soldiers flying at a lower altitude.

Six-Legs and the others held back to conserve their magical energy. However, the puppets and ghost soldiers unceremoniously met them with a variety of attacks. Waves of blade light, sword qi, and gusts of Yin wind swept down from above, shattering all the skeletons into pieces. But then, something strange occurred! No matter how much these skeletons were damaged, even if shattered into countless fragments, as soon as they fell into the dry forest below, they immediately re-coalesced and reformed. Then, they would fiercely charge back into the air. These creatures seemed to possess immortal bodies. Han Li, who had also held back, subtly changed his expression upon seeing this.

"Thankfully, we have puppets and numerous Yin Soldiers," Han Li mused. "Otherwise, these creatures would be impossible to eliminate." No wonder Six-Legs and the others insisted on bringing so many puppets and Yin Soldiers with them.

Amidst rumbling explosions, the group, shielded by the puppets and Yin Soldiers, flew for a good half day before finally emerging from the dry forest. As soon as they flew beyond the forest, any insectoid skeletons that were shattered and fell outside the woods immediately dissolved into clumps of yellow ash, vanishing without a trace. Seeing this, the remaining skeletons, as if sentient, immediately halted their advance, then turned around and retreated back into the dry forest.

Han Li couldn't help but marvel inwardly at this. It seemed there was definitely some hidden mystery within the dry forest. If Six-Legs and the others weren't solely focused on traveling, he would have been very tempted to go down and investigate.

The team hadn't flown much further when a vast, inky black lake appeared ahead, its surface permeated with a faint green mist. It was clearly not a benevolent place. Six-Legs, however, showed no concern as he led the team directly into the thin mist. Soon, the sounds of battle echoed from within the mist once more...

A month later, after suffering the near-total depletion of thousands of puppets and hundreds of Yin Soldiers, Six-Legs and his party finally reached their ultimate destination after spotting a grayish mountain range in the distance: the Yin Bone Mountain Range, rumored to contain the Nether River Divine Milk!

By now, aside from Mu Qing, Six-Legs, and a few other demon kings, high-ranking demonic creatures in the team were scarce. Given Han Li's and Golden Spirit's divine abilities, they were naturally unscathed. Yuan Yao and Yan Li had faced several dangers along the way, but thanks to Han Li's deliberate care, they only sustained minor injuries and had not lost their lives.

The team now halted about a hundred miles from the mountain range. Several demon kings gathered with grave expressions to discuss something. Han Li's heart was heavy as he gazed at the distant mountain range. The latter half of the journey had been somewhat unexpected. He had initially believed that with the dangers of the Nether River region, he would eventually find an opportunity to escape from Gui Fan and the others.

However, to his surprise, while the journey ahead was troublesome, there were no more dangers significant enough to divert all the demon kings. Furthermore, Golden Spirit, the psychic ape, seemed to have received some instructions from Mu Qing, as it remained almost inseparable from Han Li. What frustrated Han Li even more was that he discovered this spiritual ape was also skilled in a certain divine eye ability. Even if he tried to use a concealment technique, it would be difficult to escape its scrutiny.

Of course, if he were alone, he could still escape far away using the miraculous Taiyi Cleansing Talisman. His opponents likely couldn't break this spiritual talisman, especially since, with his increasing magical power, the talisman's concealment effect was far superior to before. But without Yuan Yao and Yan Li, the four demon king imprints within his body couldn't be removed. If so, how far could he truly get? As Han Li gazed at the distant gray mountains, he continued to ponder.

According to Six-Legs and the others, the so-called "Nether River Divine Milk" should be located at the very center of the mountain range. Although Mu Qing, Six-Legs, and the others never revealed the precise effects of this divine milk, for an existence at the peak of the Body Integration realm like Six-Legs to risk death by entering this place, its rarity was clear.

However, since the Nether River region was the sacred land of the Mayfly Clan, such heavenly materials and earthly treasures were naturally guarded by numerous powerful restrictions; they wouldn't be easy to acquire. He wondered if terrible restrictions had been set up, or if some other powerful entity was guarding it.

A sudden alert flashed in Han Li's mind. He suddenly looked towards the demon kings, who were conversing via spiritual transmission. He saw Six-Legs and the others subtly glancing his way. Their faces showed varying expressions, hinting at a heated disagreement, as if they were in a dispute. Mu Qing was repeatedly shaking his head, while Six-Legs' compound eyes flickered with green light, and a harsh expression appeared on his face. The white-haired beauty, however, wore an irresolute expression. The faces of the two blood-robed figures were obscured by blood light, making their expressions unreadable. All the demon kings were conversing via spiritual transmission while occasionally glancing at Han Li from the corners of their eyes. Han Li's heart sank. These demonic creatures were talking about him!

Although he didn't know the content of their conversation, being mentioned at this moment could hardly mean anything good. Han Li suppressed the unease in his heart. He withdrew his gaze and looked towards the distant mountains again, his eyes flickering with thought.

After roughly the time it takes to eat a meal, Six-Legs' cold voice suddenly echoed in Han Li's ears: "Fellow Daoist Han, come over for a moment. We have something we need you to do."

Han Li pursed his lips, then moved and slowly flew over. "May I ask what instructions you seniors have?" Han Li asked with unusual calmness, cupping his hands as soon as he arrived beside Six-Legs, Mu Qing, and the others.

Six-Legs' pair of compound eyes swept over Han Li's face emotionlessly, while Mu Qing's and the white-haired beauty's expressions were somewhat grim.

"Fellow Daoist Han, take a look at this!" Suddenly, Six-Legs raised a hand, and a dark, eerie spherical bead appeared within it, which he offered for Han Li to inspect closely. Han Li was startled upon seeing the object, feeling it was very familiar. He couldn't help but want to focus and examine it closely.

But as he looked, something went wrong. A dark glow flickered on the black sphere's surface, and a slender black beam shot out from the bead like lightning. "Oh no!" Han Li inwardly cried out, attempting to dodge, but the surrounding air suddenly tightened, becoming as hard as fine steel, trapping his body rigidly. It was Mu Qing and the beauty beside him, who had simultaneously raised a hand and cast a restriction upon him.

Even with his full divine power, under the combined assault of two Body Integration realm existences, Han Li could only flash with golden light and sway slightly twice before he was completely unable to move. The black thread flashed, instantly vanishing into his brow.

A black light flashed across Han Li's face. His eyes instantly became dull and unresponsive, his expression eased, and he no longer showed any will to struggle. "Ah!" From a distance, Yuan Yao and Yan Li, witnessing this scene, immediately gasped in shock.

Before the two women could make any move, a flash of blood light appeared before their eyes, and two blood-robed figures strangely appeared before them. With two soft *snaps*, two blood-red talismans immediately affixed themselves to the women's shoulders. The talismans instantly burst open, transforming into two plumes of blood threads that enveloped both women. As one of the blood-robed figures formed a hand seal, the blood threads flashed and dissolved into the women's bodies. Yuan Yao and Yan Li felt their bodies go numb, losing all sensation instantly, along with control over their limbs. Yet, their spiritual consciousness remained exceptionally clear. Their eyes were filled with shock and anger, but they couldn't even control their facial expressions, appearing utterly blank.

"This body control talisman can control every aspect of another person's body," the other blood-robed figure stated calmly. "Even the circulation of spiritual energy within the body can be perfectly controlled. Even if your consciousness remains clear, as long as I don't remove this talisman, you will remain mere living corpses."

Immediately, the two blood-robed figures shook their robes, transforming into two streaks of blood light that swept up the two women and shot away into the distance. After a few flashes, they reappeared at their original spot with Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

At this moment, Six-Legs was casting spell seals at the black spherical bead in his hand while chanting incantations. A moment later, the spherical bead let out a low hum, suddenly vibrated, and flew out of his hand. After a flash, it firmly embedded itself between Han Li's eyebrows, as if it had become a third eye. The surface of the bead flickered with a dark, eerie light, appearing utterly bizarre!