Chapter 1969: Breakup

Seizing this opportunity, Han Li didn't hesitate. He rubbed his hands together and then flung them upwards.

A thunderous roar erupted!

As golden electrical light flashed, countless arcs of electricity shot out. In an instant, they transformed into a giant electrical net, enveloping the Stone Spirit and simultaneously tightening around it.

By the time the spirit creature fully regained consciousness from that cold snort, its body was already tightly enveloped by layers of electrical arcs.

The Soul Eater was naturally unwilling to be captured like this. With a sharp screech, yellow demonic flames surged from its body once more.

Upon contact with the flames, the golden arcs formed by the Divine Exorcism Thunder began to melt away amidst a low crackling sound.

The Stone Spirit was about to break free!

But Han Li had managed to trap it with great difficulty; how could he give it any more chances? A cold sneer appeared on his lips as he formed a hand seal, about to instantly teleport to a spot right next to the Stone Spirit.

But just then, a slightly urgent telepathic message from Venerable Black Rain suddenly reached his ears:

"Fellow Daoist Han, wait! This spirit creature can be subdued by my spirit insects."

Han Li was momentarily startled, and his hand movements naturally paused.

He saw the elder, who had been suspended motionless in the air, suddenly move his eyes a few times before letting out a long howl.

Almost simultaneously, the azure flying scorpion's body slightly blurred, and its phantom image flickered wildly, transforming into more than a dozen identical flying scorpions.

As these flying scorpions flapped their wings, they each transformed into a ball of blue light and vanished from their original positions.

The next moment, spatial fluctuations arose, and these flying scorpions appeared above the Stone Spirit. Their tail stingers glowed, and they simultaneously sprayed out the blue light that had appeared before.

This time, the Stone Spirit, bound by the golden arcs, couldn't move at all, and the blue lights naturally flashed and disappeared into its body.

A layer of faint blue mist instantly appeared on the spirit creature's face. The yellow demonic flames that had been fiercely burning on its body instantly dimmed as if they had met their nemesis, eventually dissipating and extinguishing with a final muffled sound.

Seeing this, the Huangliang Stone Spirit instantly became incredibly furious. Gritting its teeth and baring its fangs, it suddenly opened its mouth and inhaled fiercely. Its body rapidly inflated like a balloon, while an extremely terrifying aura emanated from it.

Sensing the strangeness of this aura, Han Li's expression suddenly changed as if he remembered something. With a flicker of his body, he abruptly appeared more than a hundred zhang away.

In just this instant, the Soul Eater's body had completely swollen into a round, bulging form, stretching the golden electrical arcs until they crackled loudly, as if it could self-detonate at any moment.

"You scoundrel, still trying to self-detonate! I already anticipated this move of yours!" exclaimed Venerable Black Rain, who had just escaped from the illusion. He let out a cold snort, then suddenly grabbed at the void.

Amidst the flashing silver electrical light filling the sky, a fine, thread-like silver net instantly appeared above the mountain peak. With a flash, it immediately enveloped the Huangliang Stone Spirit.

A roaring sound echoed!

The silver net firmly attached itself to the Stone Spirit's enormous body and then swiftly tightened under the elder's incantation.

Instantly, dazzling streaks of electrical light and countless silver runes surged wildly from the net, transforming the entire Stone Spirit into an exceptionally blinding silver orb of light.

An incredible scene unfolded!

Under the tightening silver net, the Stone Spirit's originally swollen body rapidly shrank.

In just a few breaths, it returned to its original size. No matter what divine ability the spirit creature tried to activate, there was no movement within its body.

Although the Stone Spirit was seething with rage, it was utterly futile.

After a hint of a smile appeared on the elder's ugly face, he clasped his hands and spoke. "Heh heh, since you've fallen into my Silver Firmament Lightning Net, don't even think about causing any more trouble. Just obediently come with me to Saint Island! Don't worry, I'm not taking your life; I just need to borrow your true form for a bit." As soon as he saw that the Huangliang Stone Spirit was truly captured, Venerable Black Rain was filled with joy. He couldn't help but smile as he slowly descended from the sky.

Tianchan, standing nearby, suddenly spoke with a hint of apology. "Haha, congratulations, Brother Yu. It seems this mission has been successfully completed. I'm quite ashamed; this monk didn't provide much help. If it weren't for Brother Han's assistance, this little creature might have really gotten away."

Evidently, the moment the Stone Spirit was captured, the illusion that had previously trapped him naturally shattered and vanished, allowing him to escape confinement.

"Master, you are too modest," Venerable Black Rain said with a hearty laugh. "If it weren't for Master and I acting together, it wouldn't have been possible to draw out this spirit creature's illusionary abilities so quickly. Nor could Fellow Daoist Han have stopped it so easily. But Master, you were right about one thing: this time, we truly owe thanks to Fellow Daoist Han for his assistance!"

"Both of you are too polite," Han Li said with a smile, adding nothing more. He then made a grasping motion with one hand towards the Stone Spirit tightly wrapped in the silver net.

With a crackle of thunder, countless golden electrical lights shot out from the silver net, transforming back into golden arcs and disappearing into its body.

"This must be the Divine Exorcism Thunder, right?" Venerable Black Rain exclaimed in surprise, witnessing the scene. "Tsk, tsk, the demon-expelling properties of this divine thunder make it an unfailingly potent weapon against low-level demons!" He then extended a finger and pointed it at the silver net below, which enveloped the Stone Spirit.

A crackle of thunder echoed in the clear sky!

The net, under the elder's divine ability, shimmered with streaks of electrical light and tightened once more.

This time, under the intense flashing of the silver net, it subtly wrapped the Stone Spirit into a silver silk ball the size of a fist, which the elder then swept into his sleeve with a flick.

"Actually, it's not just the Divine Exorcism Thunder," the monk said, slowly floating down from the sky and glancing meaningfully at Han Li with a hint of emotion. "There are several other cultivation methods in this world that are quite potent against demonic creatures. However, these methods are either too difficult to cultivate and cannot be widely spread, or they have long been lost, leaving behind only legends. Among our human race, there aren't many who truly possess such cultivation methods and divine abilities. Otherwise, we wouldn't struggle so much against the demonic race..."

"Since you know this cannot be easily obtained, why dwell on it so much, Master?" Venerable Black Rain suggested with a smile towards Han Li. "Fellow Daoist Han's ability to acquire the Divine Exorcism Thunder is also due to his considerable good fortune. I hear that when this divine ability is truly activated with the Thunder Offering Art, its power is immense enough to threaten Demon Sovereigns at the Integration Stage. Unfortunately, our Saint Island only possesses the latter half of the incantation. Brother Han, if you have the chance, you might want to search for it in the Barren World. Perhaps some of those foreign races still retain the complete Thunder Offering Art."

"Thunder Offering Art! Half of the incantation?" Hearing this, Han Li's heart stirred.

Back then, he had indeed obtained a form of Thunder Offering Art from the Four Great Demon Kings of the Abyssal Lands. But although this divine ability was quite powerful, it took too much time to activate, making it unsuitable for actual combat, so he had rarely used it.

"Indeed," Venerable Black Rain explained. "The first half of the Thunder Offering Art teaches how to control the power of divine thunder and how to summon it. The latter half of the incantation, however, is the true method of manipulation and control. Neither can be without the other!"

"So that's how it is," Han Li said, nodding without any change in expression. "It seems if there's an opportunity, I truly must go to the Barren World to search for it." Inwardly, however, he couldn't help but curse repeatedly.

He understood why this Thunder Offering Art was so impractical: it turned out that the Thunder Offering Art the Four Great Demon Kings had taught him was only half complete. No doubt, this was definitely done intentionally by the Four Great Demon Kings.

But thinking about it, this was also normal; if it were him, he would most likely do the same.

For the next period, after the three of them exchanged pleasantries on the mountain peak, Tianchan was finally the first to bid farewell.

"Esteemed sirs, the situation in Saint Emperor City is not too good, and this old monk has been out for quite some time. I must return immediately to help His Majesty the Saint Emperor defend the city. I shall bid you two farewell here."

"Heh heh, since Master has put it that way, then I, too, must rush back to Saint Island with the Stone Spirit. The people of the island also urgently need this spirit creature. Fellow Daoist Han, Master Tianchan, I hope that after this demonic tribulation, we may still have the chance to meet again. Oh, by the way, Fellow Daoist Han, you'll be staying here for a few more days, won't you?"

"I still need to borrow the surge of earth fire, so I do need to stay for two more days," Han Li replied with a faint smile, calmly returning the gesture. "Farewell, both of you. Have a safe journey. I won't see you off."

Just like that, moments later, a ball of dark light and a streak of white light soared up from the mountain peak. After a brief swirl, they transformed into two dazzling streaks, shooting off in different directions.

After a few flashes, the two streaks of light vanished into the distant horizon, leaving no trace.

Han Li stood on a large rock atop the mountain peak, gazing at the vanishing streaks of light in the distance. The smile on his face gradually faded, and he finally muttered to himself:

"The latter half of the Thunder Offering Art! It seems I truly must make a trip to Saint Island. But for now, I need to communicate properly with that devil first and obtain the Two Primal Chaos Qi before anything else."

As his words faded, Han Li's body shifted, blurring, and he reappeared at the edge of the enormous pit, glancing towards the bottom of the pit once more.

During the battle just now, this pit had not been affected much and thus retained its original appearance.

The yellow mist at the bottom of the pit still permeated the area, making it impossible to see what lay beneath with the naked eye.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and gazed for a moment, then raised his head and swept his gaze around the mountain peak, his brows furrowing slightly.

He suddenly flipped his hand, and a thick stack of formation flags appeared in his palm. With another flick of his wrist, they transformed into dozens of streaks of light and shot out in all directions...

Under the flashing spiritual light, these formation tools vanished into the void.

The next moment, a layer of dense white mist spread across the mountain peak, and after a while, it completely enveloped the enormous pit along with Han Li.

Han Li stood motionless. He flicked both sleeves, and thirteen more purple lights shot out, buzzing as they disappeared into the mist.

Immediately after, green light flashed on his body again, and a green shadow darted out from within him. With a flicker, it strangely disappeared into the ground.

After completing all of this, Han Li finally let out a long breath. With a solemn expression, he sat cross-legged beside the enormous pit, forming a hand seal with one hand and sharply striking the top of his head with the other.