Chapter 1977: Shedding the Shell

Several "Han Li" figures flickered and simultaneously shot off in all directions.

"Hmph, you dare show off such petty tricks in front of me!" A blood-light avatar's face darkened, and he let out a cold snort. Immediately, he formed a hand seal with one hand, and a gray light flashed behind him as a massive, dark demonic shadow instantly emerged.

The demonic shadow had two horns on its head, with several colossal tentacles writhing wildly behind it. After letting out a terrifying low roar, a blood-red light suddenly flashed on its chest, and a giant vertical eye emerged. This eye alone occupied nearly half of its chest, its pupil glowing with a faint green light, making it terrifying to behold!

The blood-light avatar roared! Instantly, a green beam of light shot out from the giant eye, vanishing in a flash as it disappeared into the crystal wall.

The next moment, the blood-light avatar closed his eyes, and a faint blue light flickered on his face.

"Two real, six illusory. One must be his avatar, and the real ones have changed direction, escaping to the sides," he said with certainty a moment later.

"It seems he has also detected our intention and wants to go into hiding again. Speed up the Qiankun Plate; we cannot let this brat escape!" another blood-shadow avatar said grimly.

"Of course, but..."

Another blood-light avatar nodded, but just as he was about to say something more, the spiritual light on the crystal wall suddenly switched to a scene of Yuansha seated on a stone chair.

"Two real ones, each responsible for one. Once the main body is found, immediately notify the other party!" the woman said expressionlessly and unceremoniously as soon as she connected with the three.

"Alright, we'll handle it as you say, Fellow Daoist!" a blood-light avatar readily agreed.

Yuansha nodded, and with a wave of her sleeve, the crystal wall suddenly became a vast expanse of white.

Almost at the same time, the stone hall hummed, and countless runes surged out from it, instantly forming a massive teleportation array below. The stone hall, at the center of the array, spun rapidly and instantly vanished in a flash.

"Let's go too!" a blood-light avatar said lightly.

Then, as the three formed hand seals, intense blood-red light erupted from their bodies!

The next moment, the giant jade plate emitted a dazzling white light, immediately producing a sharp whistling sound as it cut through the air, its escape speed increasing by more than twofold.

On the other side, several "Han Li" figures either soared through the air or sped away on artifacts, vanishing completely from their original positions in the void in a blink of an eye.

Hundreds of thousands of miles away, a contingent of over a thousand elite demon cultivators had been quietly lying in ambush. However, moments after receiving an order, they immediately swarmed into action. They split into two groups and pursued in two different directions.

As for the place where Han Li had originally been, neither these demon cultivators nor Yuansha and the blood-light avatars had the slightest interest in looking there again.

About fifteen minutes later, beneath the void where the "Han Li" figures had split up and departed, and behind a seemingly ordinary green stone standing on the ground, a faint purple glow flickered, and a silvery figure eerily emerged.

It was another "Han Li."

This "Han Li" completely concealed his aura. The moment he appeared, he immediately closed his eyes and released his spiritual sense, sweeping across several thousand miles around him. After confirming there were no demon lords present, a hint of joy appeared on his face.

Without a word, he flipped his palm, and a thin, skin-like object suddenly appeared in his hand. He tossed it onto himself, then rolled on the ground, instantly transforming into an inconspicuous gray giant wolf. Then, with a push of its limbs, it transformed into a faint gray light and shot forward.

Remarkably, its direction of travel was still the same as before, still heading towards Tianyuan City.

About half an hour later, above a dense forest, a "Han Li" figure was streaking through the air as a green rainbow. Just a few miles away from him, a stone hall was fiercely pursuing him without letting up.

At this moment, a massive mountain peak suddenly appeared ahead, tens of thousands of feet tall, covered with lush green vegetation, and exceptionally beautiful. The "Han Li" ahead, upon seeing this mountain, his eyes immediately lit up, and he surprisingly dashed directly towards it without dodging. After a few flashes, he eerily vanished at the mountainside.

With a whistling sound, the giant stone hall appeared with a tremor at the top of the huge mountain. After slowly circling above the peak, various runes emerged and instantly condensed into a massive five-colored light array. As soon as this light array formed, it emitted bursts of humming. In its center, the five-colored light condensed, astonishingly forming a massive light sphere several tens of feet in diameter.

After a cold snort emanated from the stone hall, the giant light sphere immediately flashed out of the light array and descended towards the highest point of the mountain with astonishing momentum. The five-colored spiritual light flashed furiously!

The moment the light sphere touched the peak, it silently sank into the rock, leaving only a dark, gaping hole on the ground. This hole was not only immensely vast, over a thousand feet wide, but its edges were also exceptionally charred and smooth, with a faint burning aura emanating from within.

However, just a few breaths later, an earth-shattering roar echoed from within the mountain! As the earth trembled, countless bowl-sized beams of light furiously erupted from the mountain's surface, instantly riddling the entire mountain with countless holes. After the mountain rumbled and shook a few times, it completely collapsed and crumbled. Countless rubble and earth surged outwards like giant waves, forming a vast, dusty ruin.

At the center of the ruins, there was remarkably a massive pit, over a dozen acres in size and several tens of feet deep. In the very center of this pit, a large area was empty, everything seemingly having been directly vaporized and disappeared.

At this moment, the light array in the sky flickered, and from it, a dense torrent of over a hundred thick light beams erupted in one go, sinking into various parts of the ruins. But apart from muffled roars faintly emanating from underground, there were no other anomalies.

Only then did the stone hall slowly descend from high in the sky, stopping only when it reached a low altitude a few hundred feet above the ruins, before halting. A white light flashed above the stone hall, and Yuansha appeared there with a hint of doubt on her face, her gaze constantly flickering as she scanned the surroundings of the ruins.

"That boy just hid in the mountain's core; he shouldn't have been able to escape the attack's range! But to be annihilated so easily, it seems the one I pursued was just an avatar. Even if it's an avatar, some remains should be left. Could it be that he just happened to be at the center of the attack, leaving no trace of his body?" Yuansha watched for a while, frowned, and muttered to herself.

Then, the woman tilted her head and thought for a moment, then extended a slender finger and gently touched her brow, closing her eyes. Instantly, spatial fluctuations arose around her, and an immensely powerful spiritual sense surged forth, spreading out in all directions like a rolling tide. This spiritual sense conducted an extraordinarily thorough search, scrutinizing almost every inch of the ruins.

But the woman still found nothing!

"It seems I was overthinking it!" Yuansha opened her eyes and said with a sigh of relief.

But just then, a strange fluctuation suddenly emanated from her. The woman's expression changed. She flicked her sleeve, and a black light immediately flew out. With a flash, it transformed into an ancient mirror. After circling above the woman's head, the ancient mirror obediently floated in front of her.

A moment later, the mirror's surface flashed, and the face of the blood-robed youth appeared.

"Fellow Daoist Yuansha, you don't need to chase that boy anymore. That one is most likely just an avatar. The one I'm chasing has not only killed most of the people I sent to stop him but also broke through three blockades in one go. He's so powerful; he must be the true body! Fortunately, I have him trapped in a certain location with the Qiankun Plate. However, I can't find him quickly because I don't know what kind of concealment technique this boy is using. Furthermore, the three of us need to cooperate to control the treasure to seal off the surroundings, so we can't personally go and do this. I'll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Yuansha to come and assist us," the blood-light avatar said with a solemn expression.

"Yours is the true body? Hmm, that seems correct. The one I was chasing has been dealt with, and indeed, it didn't seem to be the main body! I'll go over and rendezvous immediately. We absolutely cannot let this boy Han escape." Upon hearing this, the woman no longer had any doubts. She immediately replied coldly, then instantly put away the ancient mirror, transformed into a white rainbow, and shot upwards.

After a few flashes, Yuansha returned to the stone hall, and with a surge of power, it immediately left the area with a roar. Instantly, this desolate ruin was silent except for the sound of the gentle breeze.

A full two hours later, in a corner of the ruins, a seemingly ordinary thick dead tree branch suddenly had a layer of green light flow over its surface. After briefly blurring, it astonishingly transformed into a green-skinned youth. The youth's face was identical to Han Li's, and his body emanated pure wood spiritual energy.

It was Han Li's spiritual body!

The moment the spiritual body regained its human form, it immediately slapped the top of its head with one hand, and a ball of green light emerged from it, vaguely encapsulating a seemingly young, pale child. The girl's face was somewhat pale as she sat cross-legged above the spiritual body, forming a hand seal and remaining motionless. After a good while, the girl took a deep breath, and some color returned to her face.

"Master was not wrong in his calculations. Using the spiritual body's plant-based form to hide in its original state among trees and rocks truly allowed us to deceive them. Now that the task is complete, I'll go find a place to hide as originally planned, and try to rendezvous with Master later. I hope Master can escape this great calamity," the girl muttered worriedly to herself, glancing at the nearby giant pit with lingering fear.

Then she swayed and transformed into a ball of green light, re-entering the spiritual body.

The next moment, the spiritual body opened its eyes. After emotionlessly determining its direction, it immediately twisted its body and soared into the air, flying towards a chosen direction.