Chapter 1515: 甲元 Charm

The creature resembling a Roc transformed into a streak of green light. With a flap of its wings, it shot forward over ten yards, moving with the speed of lightning and thunder.

However, Han Li, in his Roc form, had his Great Evolution Art furiously circulating within him, using his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly envelop the four demon kings' imprints. But these demon king imprints were simply too powerful. Even after employing several secret arts from the Great Evolution Scripture and simultaneously borrowing the power of the Sky Roc after his transformation, it was merely a temporary seal. He estimated that in at most a day and a night, the imprints would break through the seal and reappear.

Han Li did this to make Six-Legged and the other demon kings believe he had perished, thereby facilitating his subsequent actions. What he needed to do now was to rescue Yuanyao and the other woman from Ghost Granny's domain as quickly as possible. He would then find a place of extreme Yin where the two women could help him expel the imprints. Only then could he completely resolve this major concern.

Under normal circumstances, Han Li would naturally not be able to achieve this. However, with the assistance of the Nether Thunder Beast, it would be a different story.

Considering the time he had bought for the demon kings, it wasn't too long. They should have only recently entered the so-called "Divine Pool area." Even if they knew this beast had returned, given their high regard for the Divine Nectar of the Underworld River, they would absolutely not abandon their efforts and hastily retreat.

When the Nether Thunder Beast escaped from the Nine Palaces Sky-Dry Talisman and furiously returned to its lair, it should precisely intercept these demon kings. At that time, with the disaster diverted, as long as he didn't directly confront Six-Legged, Mu Qing, and the others, there was still a great chance to rescue Yuanyao and the other woman.

As Han Li rapidly pondered in his mind, the Sky Roc he had transformed into flew back furiously along the original path, moving at lightning speed.

Just as he was about to re-enter the gray mountain range, a faint thud suddenly emanated from the Sky Roc. With a flash of green light, the Roc instantly transformed back into human form.

Han Li flicked his sleeve, and a white jade tablet shot out, circled once, then landed in his hand. The jade tablet was engraved with a massive Nine Palaces Diagram, but at this moment, it had shattered into countless pieces from its center.

Han Li's expression changed. He instinctively glanced behind him, then immediately put away the jade tablet. With his other hand, he swept over his storage bracelet, and amidst a flash of spiritual light, a purple talisman adorned with mysterious runes appeared in his hand. It was precisely the Grand One Purification Talisman!

Han Li did not hesitate. He lightly shook his hand in front of him, then released his grip. The purple talisman exploded, and several glistening silver runes emerged, flying up and down around Han Li for a moment. After a few soft *poofs*, these runes transformed into wisps of silver mist, instantly engulfing him.

A short while later, the silver mist dissipated, and the spot was completely empty. Han Li had already dematerialized his body and slowly descended downwards, finally hiding beneath a large tree. He then looked up, silently gazing at the sky.

After about half an hour, faint sounds of thunder could be heard from the horizon. Soon after, a flash of lightning appeared in the sky. The Nether Thunder Beast, enveloped in electric arcs, swept past through the nearby air, completely unaware of Han Li hidden in the mountains below. After a few more flashes, the silver arcs vanished without a trace on the horizon.

Han Li's eyes flickered, and he remained hidden and motionless beneath the tree. After another fifteen minutes, Han Li seemed to feel that the time was right. He then shrugged his shoulder, and after a flash of silver light, his figure slowly reappeared. Silver runes continuously flew out from his body. They gathered in the low air and transformed into a purple talisman, which drifted gently downwards.

Han Li beckoned with one hand, and the purple talisman transformed into a streak of purple light and disappeared into his sleeve. Following this, a green light emanated from him, and he once again transformed into a green rainbow, flying towards the horizon. His direction was precisely the same as that of the Nether Thunder Beast just now!

Not long after, Han Li returned to the original black light barrier. As his escape light dissipated, and he hovered in the nearby air, sweeping his gaze downwards, his expression subtly changed.

Below, a scorching smell filled the air. Thousands of charred black ghost creature corpses piled up on the nearby ground, as if they had been swept by a violent lightning storm. Around them, chilling winds swirled, and the remnants of unusually strong restrictive fluctuations lingered, as if a formation had been forcibly broken mid-setup.

Han Li's surprise flashed, and a hint of doubt appeared on his face. He naturally didn't know about the Blood-Armored Puppet and his group waiting in ambush to capitalize on the situation. After Soul Devourer devoured the White-Robed Ghost Woman, these ghost creatures had no idea the Nether Thunder Beast would return so quickly. Unable to hide or evade in time, they were naturally turned to ashes by the extremely enraged fierce beast, using countless lightning strikes.

If the Blood-Armored Puppet knew that the preparations he had left outside had been completely wiped out, he would naturally be furious and curse angrily. If the White-Robed Ghost Woman were still alive and had used a Thousand-Mile Talisman to inform them in advance, those ghost creatures could have calmly evaded the Nether Thunder Beast and then returned to set up the Yin formation. He had originally intended for a high-level ghost creature to secretly monitor Han Li and the Nether Thunder Beast's movements, but unexpectedly, Han Li had ruined it.

Han Li circled in the low air, finding no living ghost creatures. He didn't know if they had all been annihilated by the Nether Thunder Beast, or if the remaining ghost creatures had already fled.

Han Li didn't investigate further. After his eyebrows twitched and he stopped again, his gaze fell upon the shimmering blue passage. With a flash in his eyes, he flicked his sleeve, and a stack of silver talismans flew out from his body. Amidst the flashing runes, it was astonishingly another set of Nine Palaces Sky-Dry Talismans.

Because they were difficult to refine, Han Li had only managed to refine two sets of these talismans in total. He had already used one set previously, so this was naturally his last set of Nine Palaces Sky-Dry Talismans.

Han Li formed hand seals with both hands and unleashed streaks of magic arts towards the talismans. An incredible scene unfolded. Under Han Li's activation, the silver talismans shot towards the passage entrance but then all vanished into the nearby void. It seemed Han Li had cast some secret art, rendering this set of talismans invisible.

Han Li withdrew his hand seals. His eyes, flickering with blue light, surveyed the hidden locations of these talismans, and he nodded in satisfaction.

Then, as if remembering something else, he flipped his palm again, and two more silver talismans appeared. These talismans, however, were vastly different from the Nine Palaces Sky-Dry Talismans. No runes flickered on them; instead, they each bore a faint human figure. The figures' facial features were blurry, and they were fully clad in golden battle armor. The figure on one silver talisman held a golden spear, while the figure on the other talisman held two knives.

What was miraculous was that the two figures on the talismans slowly swayed, occasionally wielding their weapons, as if alive. After Han Li revealed these talismans, he brought them together in his hands. Instantly, amidst a flash of silver light, the two talismans exploded with two bangs. And amidst the flickering silver light, two golden phantoms shot out, disappearing in a flash. After circling nearby, they each shot towards the ground like dazzling rainbows. They actually submerged into the ground, disappearing into Han Li's shadow reflected on the ground.

Although Han Li wasn't floating very high in the air, his shadow cast on the ground was incredibly faint. Yet, even so, as soon as the faint golden phantoms from the two talismans entered it, they immediately vanished without a trace. These were precisely another type of talisman, the "Jia Yuan Talismans," refined by Han Li from a remnant jade scroll. Of this type of talisman, he had only refined three in total, and he had just used two of them at once, which showed how much importance he placed on this trip. It was no wonder, as the beings within the black light barrier were all terrifying existences at the Integration Stage or above. None of them were beings he could contend with, so he could only make more preparations as a precaution.

Han Li, having conjured the Jia Yuan Talismans, still didn't stop. With an open mouth, he spat out another silver fireball, which spun and twirled, transforming into a large Spirit-Devouring Firebird. Han Li then raised a hand, and over ten azure thunder pearls shot out. The silver Firebird opened its mouth and astonishingly swallowed all of them. Immediately after, the Firebird circled once and also plunged into a nearby towering ancient tree, disappearing from sight.

After doing all this, Han Li let out a long breath. After steadying his mind again, he moved one hand, and another purple talisman appeared between his fingers. With a shake, his figure transformed into a cloud of mist.

Han Li slowly drifted towards the blue entrance, which resembled a dragon's lair or a tiger's den, and silently entered it. The moment he emerged from the black light barrier, Han Li's gaze swept around, and he couldn't help but frown.

It was pitch black all around, incredibly dark. Only in scattered areas, near and far, did some green stones flicker with faint glows, making Han Li almost think he had returned to the Abyss. However, with his Spirit Eyes, he naturally wouldn't be bothered by this. Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly and immediately saw everything nearby clearly.

The surroundings appeared extremely desolate. Aside from various-sized stones on the ground, there was no other scenery. Even looking into the distance, not a single tall tree appeared in sight. The occasional vegetation consisted only of unusually low shrubs.

Han Li took a few breaths, sensing the unusually dense spiritual energy in the air, and felt secretly puzzled. However, he didn't linger at the entrance and immediately flew forward. Although he didn't know the exact location of the so-called Divine Pool, generally, searching within the center of a restriction would not be wrong.

Even with his body dematerialized, Han Li's escape speed was still not slow. He covered a distance of several miles in the blink of an eye. As a result, Han Li's eyes lit up: in the distant darkness, a palace-like building faintly appeared. This building wasn't particularly tall, only dozens of yards high, and appeared to be constructed entirely from rough, ordinary stones. But it was enough to prove that he hadn't found the wrong place.

Han Li immediately activated his magic arts and flew rapidly towards the palace. The entrance to the palace was a square hall gate, over ten yards high. A pitch-black stone door stood wide open, facing outwards.

Han Li subconsciously swept his spiritual sense around the gate. Suddenly, a strange glint appeared in his eyes, and his body instantly halted. On either side of this stone door, there was a significant surge of Yin energy, seemingly indicating two high-level ghost creatures hidden there.

Han Li was somewhat surprised, but then he remembered the thousands of ghost creatures annihilated at the entrance, and a realization dawned on him.

(To be continued)