Chapter 2290: Giant Puppet

Inside the silver flame, an unusually indistinct gray thread twisted continuously. Despite its struggles, it could not escape his palm.

"This is..." Silvermoon was startled to see it.

"This is 'Defiled Yin Qi'," Han Li said unhurriedly. "Although it appears alive, its true form is shapeless and intangible. It can infiltrate the physical body invisibly, making it incredibly insidious against enemies. Even a Body Integration stage cultivator typically wouldn't detect it until a certain amount accumulates and erupts within their body."

"What? Such a thing exists? Does that mean I already have..." Silvermoon was greatly alarmed and quickly swept her spiritual sense through her body.

"Don't worry," Han Li chuckled. "Since I know about this substance, how could I let it get close to us? I already used my spiritual sense to isolate it."

"That's good, you gave Yue'er quite a scare! Brother Han, you didn't deliberately avoid telling me beforehand, did you?" Silvermoon calmed down upon hearing this, but couldn't help but give Han Li a reproachful glance, revealing a hint of captivating charm.

Han Li's gaze swept over Silvermoon's delicate face. Even though his state of mind had long been cultivated to be unswayed by external matters, a trace of an unusual feeling still emerged, but he immediately averted his eyes.

"It's not that I didn't want to mention it earlier. While this substance is insidious, its true power lies in being invisible and intangible. Once it's detected, it naturally poses no further threat. As long as one uses spiritual sense for protection, even a Void Refinement cultivator can easily isolate it."

"So it's that easy to deal with? Then Yue'er can relax." Silvermoon was delighted to hear this and quickly released her own spiritual sense.

"Since this thing is so powerful, then leaving this illusory palace should lead to the Crying Spirit Ancestor's treasure trove, right? The previous two so-called treasure pavilions, although they contained some items, could only fool ordinary demons. They weren't worthy of our attention." Silvermoon's eyes twinkled as she suddenly spoke with a smile.

"If it were an ordinary Demon Realm Saint Ancestor, the methods left behind might only amount to this. But the Crying Spirit Saint Ancestor's reputation... he was almost on par with the Primordial Ancestors in the Demon Realm back then. Besides this illusory palace, he should have left even more formidable contingencies." Han Li mused for a moment before replying.

"More formidable contingencies? What could they be? Probably just some more powerful restrictive spells or formations, right?" Silvermoon said with a slight smile.

"Perhaps," Han Li replied noncommittally.

As they spoke, both of them struck out, instantly obliterating a group of illusory beast phantoms that had manifested.

At that moment, the dense forest of pillars ahead finally brightened, reaching its end. At the edge, a vermilion gate, dozens of feet high, appeared. Its surface was covered with dark demonic patterns, making it seem incredibly heavy.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the giant vermilion gate. A blue light flickered in his pupils, and he said with some surprise:

"Fire Elemental Crystals? This gate was actually forged from such a material. It seems the Crying Spirit Ancestor's wealth is greater than I initially imagined." As Han Li spoke, he suddenly pointed a finger at the vermilion gate.

With a soft pop, a silver flame shot from his fingertip, vanishing into the giant gate in a flash.

The previously silent giant gate roared, as countless crimson flames surged forth, instantly transforming it into a colossal gate of fire.

The tightly shut doors slowly rumbled open.

A scorching aura instantly surged from behind the gate. Silvermoon, standing dozens of feet away, felt it and her face immediately paled, her protective spiritual light flickering wildly. She quickly retreated several steps, barely managing to avoid the searing heatwave.

Behind the giant gate, a vast expanse of red light revealed a world of rolling crimson flames.

This fire was clearly not ordinary. Its extreme temperature prevented Silvermoon, a Body Integration stage cultivator, from allowing it to directly touch her body. She had to fully activate her protective spiritual light to resist it.

Han Li frowned slightly at this sight, but his body remained completely still.

With his own Spirit Devouring True Flames, such minor flames naturally couldn't harm him in the slightest.

However, faint ripples of restrictive spells were discernible within the sea of fire, indicating that it was clearly more complex than it appeared.

After a few thoughts, Han Li unhesitatingly formed a hand seal with one hand and simultaneously opened his mouth to release something.

With a 'poof', a silver fireball shot out. As it expanded against the wind, it instantly transformed into a silver firebird, about ten feet in size.

The firebird was wreathed in rolling silver flames. After spreading its wings and letting out a clear cry, it plunged headfirst into the sea of fire.

A strange scene unfolded!Wherever the firebird passed, the rolling crimson flames suddenly parted, creating a path roughly ten feet wide.

"Silvermoon, if not now, when?!" Han Li called out to Silvermoon. With a flicker of his body, he strangely appeared on the newly formed path.

Seeing this, Silvermoon smiled charmingly and, with a graceful movement, followed him.

In this manner, the two followed the firebird, boldly passing directly through the sea of fire.

Beneath the parted sea of fire, the ground was revealed to be covered with fist-sized crimson crystals.

Each crystal shimmered with red light, emitting wisps of crimson flames.

Han Li and Silvermoon both floated about ten feet above the ground, slowly following the silver firebird. In the blink of an eye, they reached the center of the sea of fire.

With a loud bang! The crystal ground beneath the silver firebird suddenly exploded, and a bowl-sized arm wielding a crystalline greatblade surged out from below. In a flash, it cleaved the firebird in two.

If an ordinary spirit beast had suffered such a severe blow, even if it didn't die instantly, it would certainly have been gravely wounded.

However, this firebird was merely a wisp of Han Li's Spirit Devouring True Flames, imbued with a hint of sentience. It was not a physical entity, so after the attack, its two halves merely twisted and instantly reconnected as if nothing had happened.

Furthermore, the silver firebird suddenly swooped down, powerfully flapping both its wings downwards at the same time.

A loud "hissing" sound erupted! The silver domain instantly transformed into a dense shower of silver light, engulfing the entire crystal ground from which the blade light had just shot forth.

A continuous series of rumbling explosions followed. The entire area of ground was enveloped in silver light, and countless crystals shattered and burst apart under the penetrating silver beams.

The crimson arm instantly became riddled with holes, on the verge of breaking into a pile of fragments and no longer able to maintain its original form.

Just then, another loud bang echoed from a nearby crystal patch. Another massive crimson fist burst out, striking the silver firebird's body hard. It erupted into countless crimson runes, scattering the firebird into numerous silver flames that flew in all directions, unable to regroup and restore its original form for a time.

Seeing this, Han Li halted his forward movement in mid-air, his eyes instinctively narrowing slightly.

A hint of surprise flashed across Silvermoon's face.

The flames in the sea of fire began to surge and churn, and after a violent tremor of the crystal ground, a humanoid puppet, dozens of feet tall, slowly emerged from it.

This puppet was clad in crimson armor that completely concealed its body. One damaged arm held the crystalline greatblade, and wisps of crimson flames wrapped around its form. Between its emotionless brows was a conspicuous crimson crystal.

"Demon Crystal Puppet!" Han Li exclaimed softly in great surprise as he clearly saw the giant puppet's appearance.

The puppet's appearance differed considerably from other Demon Crystal Puppets he had seen before, but the unique aura emanating from it undeniably marked it as a Demon Crystal Puppet. However, it was clearly not one of ordinary rank.

"Demon Crystal Puppet!" Silvermoon raised an eyebrow, looking at Han Li with some surprise.

"This is a unique puppetry technique from the Demon Realm, which I briefly studied when I entered the Demon Realm years ago," Han Li quickly explained. "However, this puppet is nearing the Grand Completion of the Body Integration stage, far surpassing any Demon Crystal Puppet I've encountered."

Just then, the colossal puppet fully emerged from the ground. With a cold glint in its eyes, the greatblade in its hand transformed into a streak of chilling light and slashed down towards Han Li.

Although the puppet was massive, the light from its greatblade was like a flash of lightning. In a mere flicker, it was already above Han Li's head, and a bone-chilling cold enveloped him first.

Wherever the cold spread, it instantly caused one's blood to curdle.

"Innate Freezing Light, how interesting. No wonder it could disperse my Spirit Devouring Firebird!" Han Li's eyes lit up as his spiritual sense made contact with the chill, and he blurred an arm upwards.

With a muffled thud, countless air currents surged outwards! The entire sea of fire trembled once more.

The greatblade was effortlessly parried by a single finger!

Han Li remained impassive, allowing the chilling light from the greatblade to cascade down, appearing utterly unaffected by the strange cold.

This was hardly surprising, given the strength of Han Li's current physical body; a mere strange cold truly couldn't harm him in the slightest.

However, the giant puppet's abilities naturally extended beyond this. Seeing its crystalline blade blocked, a cold glint flashed in its eyes. It suddenly opened its mouth and spewed out a milky white beam of light. Simultaneously, it swung its other arm, and a crimson giant hand instantly materialized in the air, enveloped by countless runes, fiercely clawing down at Han Li.

Before the giant hand truly descended, an intensely hot red light surged forth, and a burnt smell instantly permeated the air.

The red light seemed capable of directly piercing and melting the very void itself, its immense power easily imaginable.

Han Li's expression darkened. He suddenly swung a sleeve in front of him, and a gray hazy aura swept past.

The milky white beam of light that had arrived first vanished in a flicker, as if directly teleported away by the gray aura.

At the same time, a jade-white hand extended from his sleeve and calmly pressed against the surging red light and the crimson giant hand that followed.