Chapter 388: Slaying the High-Rank

***A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality, Volume 4: The Overseas Storm***

As the Core Formation cultivator slowed down within the formation, a dozen crystalline white ice spears shot out from the surrounding seawater, fiercely assailing his back.

Elder Gu, whose movements had been clumsy moments before, suddenly regained his agility. He swiftly turned, then raised his hand, and a massive yellow crescent blade shot out. In the blink of an eye, it shattered the sneak-attacking ice spears with a barrage of cracks and pops. Without losing momentum, the blade continued its swift trajectory toward the direction from which the ice snake had emerged.

Simultaneously, the seawater behind Elder Gu abruptly parted, and a crimson red beam of light shot forth. Its speed was too fast, and the distance too short. Furthermore, Elder Gu was restrained by the formation, leaving him no time to dodge. With a slight change in his expression, he enveloped himself in a brilliant yellow glow, enduring the strike head-on.

The thick, arm-sized blood-red beam struck the Core Formation cultivator, forcing him to stumble forward two steps, leaving him somewhat unsteady on his feet.

But just then, a flash of green light appeared to one side, and Han Li materialized out of thin air beside Elder Gu. Gripping a large silver sword tightly in both hands, he brought it down in a fierce diagonal slash.

This truly startled Elder Gu!

There had been no one there moments ago. What kind of escape art did his opponent use that was so peculiar?

Though shocked, the yellow light around him intensified without hesitation, preparing to withstand Han Li’s great sword.

Han Li chuckled lightly, and his figure vanished before Elder Gu’s eyes. Instead, sounds of piercing air, "pfft, pfft," echoed from all around. A dozen red threads, as thin as harp strings, suddenly appeared from every direction and ruthlessly stabbed forward.

“Flying needles!” Elder Gu was horrified!

He was well aware of these infamous "yin artifacts" in the cultivation world.

Instantly, his body radiated an even brighter yellow light. He intended to immediately destroy these insidious magical artifacts to prevent any unseen harm.

With a loud “bang,” Han Li reappeared behind him and brought his sword down, causing the yellow radiance to waver. Then, more than ten red threads, like venomous snakes, cunningly burrowed into the yellow light, penetrating several feet and continuing to fiercely bore forward.

Elder Gu was both shocked and enraged. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he reached for his storage pouch.

At this point, he somewhat understood: under the opponent's formation and bizarre attacks, his severely weakened state, relying on just one magical artifact, made victory seem difficult.

But before he could retrieve anything else, two thumb-thick blood-red beams flashed into existence before him and then piercingly shot into his protective yellow light.

The yellow light, which had flickered and dimmed from Han Li's silver sword strike and from trapping those flying needles, was easily pierced by these inconspicuous blood beams.

Elder Gu’s face turned deathly pale!

However, he was a Core Formation cultivator after all. The moment the blood beams penetrated his protective yellow light, he sensed danger. He didn't even bother to retrieve any treasures. Instead, he forcefully tilted his body.

Immediately, one blood beam grazed past his ear, tearing away a large portion of the flesh from one ear. Although the other blood beam avoided his vital heart, it left a small, throbbing hole in his shoulder, gushing blood.

The pain caused Elder Gu to cry out, "Ouch!" His legs weakened, and he nearly knelt on the ground.

But Han Li’s offensive wasn't over. Qu Hun’s tall figure leaped out of the seawater, raising both hands. Two blood-red beams of light shot out.

At the same time, Han Li, expressionless, wielded his silver sword into a massive silver light orb, continuously striking the yellow radiance. This produced a harsh, grating sound, "ch-ch-ch," incredibly piercing! With his other hand, he took out a thick stack of talismans, instantly unleashing countless fireballs and ice cones, creating a continuous barrage of colorful light and explosions.

Recovering from the intense pain, Elder Gu became frantic.

He clearly felt that under the immense pressure of the formation and the opponent's relentless attacks, his "Primordial Harmony Bowl" was consuming too much spiritual energy, and the protective yellow light was about to collapse.

In his panic, he was about to use a secret technique to forcefully extract more spiritual energy, disregarding everything, when Han Li’s icy incantation sounded just before he could act.

Immediately, the surrounding seawater began to rotate madly, and the immense pressure on him instantly increased several times over. The last vestiges of yellow light around him emitted a "squealing" lament.

In his disbelieving gaze, the yellow light around his body vanished without a trace. The dozen freed flying needles immediately flashed red and pierced through his vital points, causing Elder Gu's body to sway a few times before he finally half-knelt on the ground.

A silver flash. Han Li silently darted past his side, and then the great head of the Six Sects Elder flew over ten feet away.

Blood immediately spurted several feet high, and a thick,腥 bloody scent instantly diffused into the air.

Han Li let out a great sigh of relief!

With a quick stride, he rushed back to the corpse and snatched the storage pouch from its waist.

At the same time, Qu Hun picked up the yellow bowl-shaped magical artifact.

Next, Han Li and Qu Hun flashed out of the grand formation in a few moves, released the Divine Ark, and immediately soared into the sky.

After flying only twenty or thirty li, Han Li guided the artifact and plunged into the ocean below, diving dozens of feet deep.

He then put away his magical artifact, took out the red light veil that concealed spiritual aura, and covered himself and Qu Hun within it. Simultaneously, both of them used their nameless cultivation techniques to suppress their aura and cultivate qi.

Not long after completing all this, a powerful and furious divine sense descended nearby, searching the sea surface and sky.

Although this divine sense conducted a thorough search, it failed to detect Han Li and Qu Hun. The furious divine sense swept past them and then hurried off to search other areas.

Only then did Han Li truly relax.

Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to immediately surface. Instead, he simply activated a light blue protective barrier at the bottom of the sea, enclosing both of them and separating them from the seawater. He and Qu Hun then sat cross-legged to recover.

They remained hidden underwater for half a month.

During the first few days of this period, the powerful divine sense seemed unwilling to give up, repeatedly sweeping the area around Han Li several times. However, each time Han Li, sensing it early, would suppress his aura in advance, causing it to return empty-handed.

Now, this divine sense had completely vanished, having not appeared for over ten days.

Only then did Han Li dare to begin his actions.

He cautiously moved slowly underwater for over a hundred li before flying out of the sea. He then set a direction and flew at full speed.

Returning to Kui Star Island was naturally out of the question; he had to find another place to settle.

Although he didn't know what unspeakable relationship existed between Elder Gu, Elder Miao of the Six Sects, and the young man named "Wu Chou" that compelled them to commit murder, he was certain that as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he couldn't get involved. It was best to stay far away from their spheres of influence.

However, he truly regretted losing his cave abode on Minor Huan Island and those three sets of precious formation tools, not to mention the other magical artifacts lost in the conflict. He had suffered a massive loss indeed!

Han Li bitterly chuckled to himself as he furiously flew with his magical artifact.

Still, compared to the grim fate of the middle-aged scholar and the others, he had at least preserved his life, so there was nothing to complain about!

As Han Li was consoling himself, his heart suddenly stirred, and he took out Elder Gu's storage pouch.

He had been on edge for a while and hadn't had the chance to inspect the item. Now was the time to see what was inside.

A Core Formation cultivator's storage pouch shouldn't be too shabby! He hoped it could compensate for some of his losses this time.

As his divine sense slowly entered the storage pouch, Han Li was overjoyed and astonished by the seventy or eighty mid-grade spirit stones within.

This Elder Gu truly had a substantial fortune! He actually carried so many spirit stones with him!

Could it be that, like him, he was accustomed to carrying all his assets?

If that were the case, then so many spirit stones would seem normal for a cultivator who had been in Core Formation for many years!

With this thought, Han Li finally shifted his attention from the spirit stones and focused on a few other items: a yellow jade bottle about an inch high, two talismans shimmering with blue and gold, a Daoist scripture, and a blue glowing spherical orb.

The rest were various odds and ends of little value.

The Daoist scripture was nothing special, a high-level cultivation technique called "Earth Separation Art." While not common, he had no intention of cultivating it.

The two talismans, however, were good items: one was a talisman treasure depicting a small golden sword, and the other was an unknown talisman depicting a blue flood dragon, which brought a pleasant surprise to Han Li's heart.

Han Li took out the spherical orb and examined it for a while, finally confirming it was the inner core of a fifth-level demonic beast—naturally, an extremely rare item.

Finally, only the inconspicuous small bottle remained.

But when Han Li opened the lid of the yellow small bottle, five thumb-sized yellow pills rolled out.

These pills were not only uniform in size but also vibrant in color, crystal clear, and exuded a peculiar medicinal fragrance.

"Dustfall Pills."

Gazing at the pills in his palm, Han Li froze completely.

Although he had never seen the actual pills, their shape, color, and medicinal fragrance were identical to the description in the *Elixir Dao Compendium* he had purchased! What else could they be but these?