Chapter 1658: Mountain Collapse

Even without a close examination, Han Li generally understood the content of the silver tadpole script. It detailed a mysterious artifact refining technique he had never encountered.

A brief look at the specific details gave him an incredibly outlandish feeling. The materials and refining methods described were almost entirely beyond anything Han Li had ever conceived.

The scripture concluded by asserting that artifacts crafted using this secret method could rival Profound Heaven Treasures, which was why it was named the Profound Heaven Artifact Refining Technique.

Methods like "Refining the Sun" and "Melting the Sea," which defied the heavens, were presented as merely the most basic artifact refining techniques in this scripture. Such methods were likely only within the grasp of True Immortals from the True Immortal Realm. For Han Li, it was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Despite not delving into the details, Han Li felt a profound sense of disappointment.

If the scripture hadn't been written in silver tadpole script, he would have almost certainly dismissed it as a fabrication by the demonic ape.

After a brief, somewhat unwilling contemplation, Han Li's eyes suddenly glowed blue again as he looked back at the blood-colored bed.

A moment later, his expression shifted; he had indeed found something new.

Han Li's form suddenly wavered, then blurred momentarily, and he appeared directly above the blood-colored bed.

He spread the fingers of one hand and slapped down onto the top of the blood-colored bed.

A thunderous rumble erupted as countless slender golden arcs shot from his fingers, forming a vast golden net that enveloped the entire blood-colored bed.

The silver runes instantly recoiled as if meeting their bane, vanishing without a trace in the shimmering light in an instant.

Under the furious assault of the golden arcs, the blood-colored bed fractured inch by inch. Simultaneously, a thick, nauseating bloody mist dispersed from it.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, then closed the five fingers from which the golden arcs emanated.

The lightning net below immediately contracted. As the electric arcs pulsed, the bloody mist was instantly swept away by the lightning.

Then, within the golden electric net, a milky white jade tablet, about the size of a palm, became visible. Faint silver characters shimmered erratically across its surface.

"Another outer page, just as I suspected. This item must be genuine," Han Li murmured, his brow slightly furrowed, showing no surprise. "But the Golden阙 Jade Book should originate from the lands of humans and demons. How did it end up in the outside world, and in the possession of this demonic ape?"

This was, in fact, the third Golden阙 Jade Page Han Li had acquired. Unfortunately, the information inscribed upon it was quite useless to him at his current level. Perhaps if he could advance to the Mahayana stage, he might find a use for its contents.

Nevertheless, he could still glean insights from this Profound Heaven Artifact Refining Technique. Even if he only understood a fraction of it, it could prove to be immensely beneficial.

With these thoughts in mind, Han Li knew this was not the time to thoroughly examine the jade page. He promptly swept his sleeve.

A swathe of green radiance coiled downwards.

Just as the shimmering light was about to draw the jade tablet in, it spun rapidly and, as if sentient, abruptly flew off to one side.

However, Han Li had already anticipated this. His hand shot out like lightning, grasping at the empty air.

Instantly, an invisible force descended, encompassing the entire area within a radius of over ten zhang below.

With a whoosh, the jade tablet was forcibly pulled into his hand.

Han Li immediately retrieved another jade box from his storage bracelet, carefully placed the jade tablet inside, and, after applying several restrictive talismans, swiftly put it away.

Having completed these tasks, there was nothing left in the hall to warrant his continued presence.

He moved, instantly transforming into a green rainbow that shot out of the hall, then vanished into the demonic energy passage after a few blinks.

As he flew, Han Li held a top-grade wood-attribute spirit stone in each hand, both pulsating with verdant light.

Simultaneously, the elixir he had previously consumed began to take effect, as wisps of pure spiritual energy emerged within his body and were slowly absorbed into his meridians.

He was now speeding towards the location sensed by his Gold Devouring Beetle.

That location was Qianqian's true objective for venturing deep into the Demonic Gold Mountain Range.

Although he didn't know what her scheme entailed, he was certain it wasn't for anything simple.

Having now concluded his own affairs for this trip, Han Li had no further worries. Naturally, he was greatly interested in getting involved to see what was unfolding.

Although his recent struggle with the demonic ape had been extremely perilous, it had actually lasted for a relatively short time, no more than the duration of a meal.

The Gold Devouring Beetle he had sent to track her had stopped moving, suggesting the Crystal Race woman hadn't fully achieved her goal. The timing for him to intervene seemed perfect.

Despite a significant depletion of his spiritual power and his Dharma Body having shrunk by nearly half, the Crystal Race woman's cultivation was so low that Han Li had no reservations about facing her.

Otherwise, if he were facing an opponent with comparable cultivation, Han Li, wary of his weakened state, might have feigned ignorance and simply fled the area to avoid further complications.

Han Li's escape light was incredibly fast, but just as he had covered nearly half the distance, a colossal, earth-shattering roar suddenly erupted from deep beneath the massive mountain, immediately followed by an unexpected anomaly.

The demonic energy throughout the entire passage violently surged as if out of control. Concurrently, deafening roars echoed within the demonic energy, fierce winds swept through, and countless pitch-black wind blades densely materialized, flashing and shooting wildly in every direction throughout the passage.

Startled, Han Li merely flicked his sleeve, and instantly, a layer of gray light enveloped his entire being.

The wind blades, though seemingly ferocious, disintegrated upon striking the Primal Magnetic Divine Light.

Han Li frowned and, as his thoughts raced, he was about to ponder what had happened when a strange roar, akin to a horse's neigh, suddenly resounded in his ears like a clap of thunder.

Upon hearing this sound, he instantly felt his spiritual power within his body solidify, rendering him unable to move a single iota.

Then, the gray light around him dissipated, and Han Li's body plummeted downwards. As he fell, wind blades, shooting from all directions of the passage, assailed him like a torrential storm.

An ordinary human cultivator would undoubtedly have been instantly torn to shreds.

However, Han Li's physical body was exceptionally robust, comparable to that of an Integration-stage demonic beast. After a series of muffled thuds, he remained unharmed beneath his green light umbrella.

Nevertheless, Han Li was still filled with extreme shock and fury. With a swift mental command, the Great Evolution Arts transformed into a cool qi that circulated through his body, and the unusual state of his spiritual power instantly dissipated.

His escape light reignited, and he once more ascended into the air as a green rainbow.

Just then, the ground beneath the passage he was in suddenly fractured inch by inch. A thunderous roar erupted, and countless pitch-black electric arcs burst forth.

Any demonic energy or stone walls that came into contact with these electric arcs were instantly reduced to ashes.

Startled, Han Li's spirit stones vanished from his hands. He then formed a hand seal, and with a clap of thunder, a shimmering gold and silver lightning cloak materialized around him.

Even though the black lightning seemed to trap him, Han Li remained unharmed amidst the interwoven and flashing electric arcs of various colors.

However, as countless thunderous explosions erupted from underground, the entire demonic energy passage, under the furious onslaught of the black electric arcs, completely collapsed.

Countless boulder-sized rocks plummeted from above. Though Han Li's divine abilities were formidable, he was caught off guard and buried under an immense pile of these colossal stones, then further entombed as more rocks cascaded down with deafening rumbles.

Outside, the entire mountain peak was collapsing at an alarming rate, as if an invisible colossal hand had pressed down on it, powerfully squeezing it downwards.

From the crumbling mountain walls, streams of black demonic energy were also forced out, desperately attempting to dissipate in all directions.

A neighing sound once more echoed from the collapsing mountain peak, followed by deafening thunderous roars.

Over a dozen streaks of pitch-black electric light burst from the fractured rocks, instantly transforming into black lightning bolts over a hundred zhang in length, violently coiling and dancing in the air.

From afar, they resembled over a dozen thick tentacles thrashing continuously in the void.

Then, a cataclysmic roar thundered, and countless fragments of rock shot outwards from the collapsing mountain. The entire peak seemed to have been instantly razed to the ground, and in its place, a colossal entity, over a thousand zhang in length, abruptly materialized.

The monster's entire body was composed of black light, yet its surface incessantly pulsed with countless black lightning bolts of varying sizes. The dozen or so "tentacles" that had appeared earlier were merely the thickest among them.

At the very center of the black light, a startlingly large white face, roughly an acre in size, stared out with wide, round eyes that gleamed with chilling light.

Suddenly, a dragon's roar erupted from the black light. A crimson light flashed on the surface of the colossal monster, and a blood-red flood dragon instantly tore through its body, shooting forth. With a single flicker, it eerily reappeared over a hundred zhang away. After a brief hover, it suddenly transformed into a man clad in silver armor bristling with sharp barbs.

It was indeed the outsider, the man named Gui.

However, his face was now exceptionally pale, devoid of its previous sinister indifference, and his eyes blazed with furious rage.

At that moment, another muffled thud reverberated from within the massive monster below. Subsequently, a portion of its body, roughly a hundred zhang in size, exploded from within, unleashing a violent green hurricane. As the hurricane condensed, it astonishingly transformed into a gigantic, verdant-glowing Qilin, complete with scales and armored plates.

The massive face roared in fury. With a sudden crack of thunder, its thickest black electric arc descended like a colossal blade.

However, the colossal Qilin phantom merely flickered, then vanished like an unseen breeze.

The next moment, over a hundred zhang away in a different direction, the Qilin phantom reappeared with a gust of green wind. Its spiritual light then rapidly dimmed, and its body shrank by countless times, becoming only a few zhang in size. However, its form became exceptionally dense and substantial, as if it were a tangible entity.

Only then did it become clear that a glittering crystal had appeared between the brows of the green Qilin. Its eyes, too, expressed a mixture of shock and rage.