Chapter 2069: Illusory Night White Family

Han Li's body trembled. All the silver threads flashed and disappeared into his skin, causing his body's surface to become continuously uneven, as if countless eggs of varying sizes were moving irregularly beneath it.

At the same time, a burning, boiling sensation emanated from Han Li's freshly hardened flesh, while his meridians felt intensely numb and itchy, making him wish he could immediately tear off a layer of his own flesh with his bare hands. This kind of pain, which seemed to penetrate to the soul, could only be endured by Han Li because his spiritual sense was incredibly powerful. Any other Soul Transformation cultivator would either lose control of their true essence and suffer qi deviation, or immediately jump up screaming, utterly unable to continue their cultivation calmly.

Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground, motionless and expressionless, enduring the various anomalies that continued to manifest on his body.

Three or four hours later, as his body remained continuously translucent, faint outlines of bones, noticeably thicker than those of an ordinary person, became visible. These bones not only gleamed with a faint silver light, as if crafted from pure silver, but also had faint golden patterns on their surface. Although extremely subtle, thin as silk, and almost imperceptible without close inspection, these golden patterns subtly formed intricate golden runes, as if naturally imprinted onto the bones.

If powerful cultivators were to see these golden runes, they would immediately exclaim "Golden Seal Script" in great astonishment. The profoundness of a cultivation technique that could form such Celestial Realm spiritual script within the body was self-evident, likely originating from an even higher True Immortal Realm. Even Grand Ascension stage beings would be deeply moved by it.

This cultivation technique was precisely the "Hundred Meridians Refinement Art" that Han Li had officially resumed practicing. This technique indeed originated from the True Immortal Realm. If Han Li could master it, his physical body would truly be comparable to that of a True Spirit, perhaps even stronger.

However, the difficulty of cultivating this technique was considerable. Han Li only dared to resume its cultivation after reaching the late-stage Soul Transformation. It was uncertain when he would successfully master it; perhaps he would already be in the Grand Ascension stage before fully completing this technique. Given Han Li's actual age and his unimaginably long lifespan, he was in no hurry to master this technique, allowing him to gradually comprehend it bit by bit.

Time passed slowly.

Several hours later, Han Li opened his eyes. His bones suddenly emitted a thunderous rumble, and his body swelled slightly, radiating a brilliant golden light. With a single hand sign, the internal rumbling instantly vanished, and his expanded body returned to its original size. Han Li then exhaled slowly, a wry smile appearing on his face.

Practicing the true "Hundred Meridians Refinement Art" was indeed excruciating. Even with his formidable physical body, he could only cultivate it for short periods. If he were to spend too much time cultivating it continuously in a day, he might overdo it, leading to ruptured meridians and injury.

After concluding the cultivation, he did not immediately dismantle the formation. Instead, with a wave of his hand towards the air, the three-headed, six-armed golden body dharma idol dissipated. Han Li then calmly placed his hands on his knees, closed his eyes again, and entered meditation.

However, after only a moment, the golden light on his body receded, replaced by a layer of seven-colored radiance. This radiance grew increasingly bright, faintly forming a seven-colored halo that enveloped Han Li's body. At this point, a layer of crystal light flowed erratically across his face, and the black demonic eye between his brows flickered gently, seemingly coming alive for a moment.

After finishing his cultivation of the Hundred Meridians Refinement Art, Han Li surprisingly began practicing another mysterious Celestial Realm technique: the "Spirit Refinement Art." With his current late-stage magic power and physical body, he could finally cultivate this extraordinary art with peace of mind. If he could successfully cultivate the second layer of the Spirit Refinement Art, causing his spiritual sense to surge several times over, he would still have a glimmer of hope to advance to the Grand Ascension stage, even if he failed to find the Spirit Cleansing Pool and Pure Spirit Lotus during his trip to the Demon Realm.

Han Li deeply understood the importance of the Spirit Refinement Art. Since the great war with the demon race in Tianyuan City, he had unremittingly cultivated it daily. However, due to the limited time and the significantly greater profundity of the second layer compared to the first, he had only made slight progress on it. It appeared that fully mastering the second layer of the Spirit Refinement Art would also require a long time. Han Li had long anticipated this, so he showed no impatience, merely cultivating silently after entering meditation.

Early the next morning, a streak of green light shot out from the island. After a single sweep, it sped towards the horizon.

Two days later, Han Li flew out of the ocean and entered a vast mountain range of dark green. This mountain range was unusually humid, with colorful mists rising slowly from the ground from time to time, obscuring everything within three to four hundred zhang of the low sky, making it impossible to see clearly. Fearing that some unruly demonic beasts might suddenly emerge from the mist and delay his journey, Han Li did not fly at low altitude or use his spiritual sense to scan the mountains below this time. Instead, he sped through the air several thousand zhang high. As for altitudes above ten thousand zhang, there were often powerful demonic birds that even Han Li preferred not to provoke, as they regarded such heights as their territory. He would not easily enter such high altitudes unless necessary.

This mountain range was far more extensive than Han Li had imagined! He had initially thought he could fly out of the mountain range in three or four days at most, but even after more than ten days, there was still no sign of its end. This greatly surprised Han Li, and he couldn't help but become a little more cautious.

Although he did not fly at low altitude during his journey, he still encountered several waves of attacks from formidable demonic beasts along the way. These included huge demonic birds with goat heads and eagle bodies, as well as vast swarms of enlarged blood-sucking giant mosquitoes. While these demonic beasts caused Han Li some minor trouble, they all turned to ashes as soon as his Spirit Devouring Heavenly Flames emerged.

After flying over the mountain range for a few more days, the trees and peaks below gradually thinned out, indicating he was finally approaching the edge of the range. This invigorated Han Li. He immediately urged his magic power, and his escape light accelerated significantly. After a few flashes, he arrived above a nearly bare stone peak. Just as he was about to continue flying with another flash, his expression changed, the light dimmed, and he stopped his escape light some distance away.

Han Li tilted his head and glanced intently to one side, a pensive look on his face. After a moment, he seemed to make a decision, and his escape light set off, flying directly towards the point he had been observing. A moment later, Han Li's escape light had traveled over a thousand li. In the distance, between several mountain peaks, he saw an incredibly massive purplish-red tree, fully three thousand zhang tall.

Above the giant tree, more than a dozen male and female demon cultivators and a group of crimson bats with fleshy wings were engaged in a fierce battle. Most of these demon cultivators were around the Soul Transformation stage, but three of them were at the Void Refinement stage. They were jointly forming an intricate formation, wielding dozens of colorful demonic artifacts to fight the crimson bats. There were over thirty of these crimson bats, each about half a zhang in size. Their bodies were covered in black demonic patterns. As their fleshy wings flapped, gusts of grayish demonic wind surged forth, and they exhaled strange emerald-green flames from their mouths.

With the combination of wind and fire, the power of the green flames greatly increased, forming a vast sea of emerald fire that completely trapped the demon cultivators above the giant tree, preventing them from moving an inch. Although these demon cultivators could not break out of the encirclement, the several demonic artifacts wielded by the three leading Void Refinement stage demon cultivators were quite powerful. Combined with their intricate formation, they were temporarily able to withstand the frantic assault of the sea of fire.

Below these demon cultivators, a rich, peculiar fragrance wafted up. At the very top of the giant tree, within its massive canopy, several thumb-sized, emerald-green fruits were unmistakably growing. The fragrance originated from them. Han Li's gaze did not linger on the bats or the demon cultivators; instead, he swept his eyes over the scene and focused on the fruits on the giant tree.

"Purple Radiance Tree, Purple Spirit Fruit. But such a massive Purple Radiance Tree is truly rare!" Han Li murmured to himself, a curious expression on his face. Although Purple Spirit Fruits were rare and precious spiritual fruits, especially those borne on such a giant spirit tree, which might possess additional special effects, this type of spiritual fruit was only effective for cultivators below the Soul Transformation stage and was of no use to Han Li.

Therefore, after withdrawing his gaze, Han Li finally looked towards the demon cultivators. At this moment, the Soul Transformation stage demon cultivators among them seemed to be in a precarious situation. The faces of over ten Soul Transformation stage demon cultivators were turning pale, indicating their magic power was depleting too quickly for them to persevere. If these Soul Transformation stage demon cultivators were to falter, the other three Void Refinement stage demon cultivators, unable to maintain their formation, would also be doomed.

Han Li narrowed his eyes. Before he could decide how to handle the situation, one of the three Void Refinement stage demon cultivators suddenly shouted loudly: "Fellow Daoist, we are members of the Bai family from Illusionary Night City. If you are willing to assist us, the Bai family will surely reward you generously afterward!"

The demon cultivator who spoke was a beautiful young woman with a face like a peach blossom, appearing to be only in her twenties. Her long hair was tied up, and she wore a green dress. She had already detected Han Li's presence and finally could not help but cry out for help. Han Li, naturally, had concealed his true cultivation at this time, only revealing the aura of a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator.

"The Bai family of Illusionary Night City? Could it be the Bai family known for producing the famous Quanxiang?" Han Li's expression subtly changed as he slowly asked.

"Since Fellow Daoist knows of the Bai family's existence, you should know that what I just said is not false. If Fellow Daoist still doesn't believe me, I swear by my inner demon that I will absolutely not forget this life-saving grace," the beautiful young woman said, seemingly misunderstanding Han Li's hesitant expression, and hastily transmitted her voice again with a solemn tone.

Upon hearing this, Han Li pondered for a moment before calmly replying: "Since you are members of the Bai family, I cannot refuse to help. I only hope Fellow Daoist will not forget your promise!"

As soon as his voice fell, he performed a hand seal. His body suddenly swelled to three or four zhang in height, dense black scales appeared on his skin, and his hands, enveloped in dark light, instantly transformed into two dark demonic claws with razor-sharp, blade-like fingers. The moment Han Li completed his transformation, he let out a loud roar without hesitation and, accompanied by a gust of demonic wind, charged directly towards the group of crimson bats with astonishing momentum!