Chapter 445: Ghost King (3)

As the gray shadow was about to pierce through the black-robed man, a blinding white light suddenly flared between them. The gray shadow shrieked and shot back, seemingly terrified of the light.

The black-robed man, having narrowly escaped death, was momentarily stunned, but his shock quickly turned into a mix of surprise and joy.

Without hesitation, he immediately flew away, reappearing beside Han Li amidst a flash of red light.

Han Li looked at the black-robed man with a hint of surprise. He had clearly seen a giant bird-like entity flash by in the white light, which had repelled the gray shadow. Han Li grew curious about this.

The black-robed man, however, did not give Han Li a pleasant look. Still reeling from his brush with death, he was filled with lingering fear. He deeply regretted not heeding advice and rashly coming to the Arcane Hall.

Yet, the thought of the life-saving white light brought something to mind. He hurriedly reached into his robe and pulled out an ancient, mottled bronze mirror. Han Li glanced at it curiously. The mirror had an unusual shape, subtly revealing spiritual energy. Could it be another ancient treasure?

As Han Li pondered this, a cracking sound echoed. The ancient mirror's surface had shattered into seven or eight pieces without any warning. The spiritual energy it once contained vanished without a trace, rendering the item useless.

Seeing this, the black-robed man's eyes filled with regret. He sighed and, with a hint of reluctance, carefully put the broken bronze mirror away. Then, he looked up and met Han Li's gaze. Remembering Han Li's earlier refusal to help, he angrily snorted and turned his head away.

Han Li paused, surprised by the black-robed man's behavior. But then, seeming to understand something, he simply gave a knowing smile, choosing not to argue with the man, and looked towards the ghostly figures ahead.

Zi Ling Fairy, observing the black-robed man, also wore a thoughtful expression. By now, the Tihun Beast had already run over, automatically climbing onto the black-robed man's shoulder. It sat motionless, appearing exceptionally well-behaved.

Beside the black ghostly figure opposite them, the gray shadow faintly reappeared. With several muffled sounds, seven or eight more demon ghosts of the same form leaped out from the surrounding mist. Han Li recognized these ghosts instantly; they were a fierce type called Wei Wu.

Ordinarily, the appearance of even a single one in the human world would cause great commotion. The sight of a whole group here made Han Li's expression turn grim. These horned, sharp-taloned fiends, though far less formidable than the two main ghostly figures, were no weaker than cultivators in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

At this moment, they all crouched menacingly nearby, completely surrounding Han Li and his companions. Seeing this, Han Li knew a tough battle was inevitable. He immediately spoke, giving unceremonious instructions.

"You two handle the Wei Wu ghosts. I'll deal with those two ghostly figures. Just buy me some time!"

Han Li's voice was low and solemn. Despite his deep dissatisfaction with Han Li, the black-robed man recognized the gravity of the situation and reluctantly assented to Han Li's command. After all, he knew he couldn't fight two ghostly figures alone. Han Li's willingness to take on the two main figures was exactly what he wished for.

No sooner had Han Li finished speaking than the fierce ghosts revealed their malevolent intentions. Upon seeing this, Han Li instinctively activated the spirit beast pouch in his hand. A large swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles emerged, forming a shimmering golden-silver cloud that floated in the air.

At that moment, the surrounding demon ghosts, as if on command, ferociously lunged at the three of them, spitting out dark ghostly flames. The black-robed man and Zi Ling Fairy unhesitatingly unleashed their magic treasures and artifacts to intercept them. The Tihun Beast was even more formidable; with a stretch and curl of the misty light from its nose, it directly sucked a nearby demon ghost into its belly. However, that was all it could do, as the two green-furred yakshas once again wielded their bone forks, entangling it.

Han Li, meanwhile, completely ignored the Wei Wu fierce ghosts and transformed into a streak of green light, shooting towards the two distant ghostly figures. The Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed loudly, following closely behind.

Upon seeing Han Li approach, the black ghostly figure's eyes flashed green. It opened its mouth and once again spat out a glowing green orb, striking directly at the green streak of light that was Han Li. The gray one, after flickering a few times, vanished into thin air.

Han Li frowned. Without getting closer to the opponent, he expressionlessly stopped midway. But with a flick of his finger, two Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords transformed into two crisscrossing streaks of green light and shot out. At the same time, the Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed and dispersed under his spiritual command, then hovered around him, no longer flying aimlessly.

With a *bang*! The two green lights intertwined with the orb, which rapidly emitted a large stream of profound yin energy. In an instant, it enveloped the two flying swords, trapping them completely.

A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes as he formed a sword incantation with both hands. Immediately, the two flying swords expanded several times, transforming into two green flood dragons several zhang long. They thrashed their heads and tails, tearing through the black yin energy to break free, then turned back to fiercely strike the green ghostly orb.

Upon seeing this, the ghostly figure's originally ice-cold eyes showed a hint of surprise. It was known that this green ghostly orb, though originally an ordinary protective magic treasure of a fallen cultivator, had been refined for hundreds of years with profound yin ghost energy after being found by this demon ghost. It had become incomparably wondrous. The profound yin energy it emitted specifically harmed the spiritual essence of magic treasures; even a trace of entanglement would lead to continuous entrapment, making escape impossible.

However, for some unknown reason, Han Li's two flying swords showed no fear of the profound yin energy's entanglement. The green flood dragons they transformed into merely tore and scattered the profound yin ghost energy into pieces, preventing it from even touching the swords themselves. This made the ghostly figure, which had already developed sentience, wary. It had never encountered such a situation in its hundreds of years of sentience.

After a moment of hesitation, it suddenly raised its ghostly claw and tapped the green orb in mid-air. The ghostly orb flared with light, shot back several zhang, then spun around a few times in the air. After a sudden tremor, it transformed into a black demonic tiger. This tiger was immense, with bell-like eyes. As it roared, it spewed out black and greenish phosphorescent flames, appearing incredibly mighty. What was most surprising was that this colossal tiger, unlike the illusory green flood dragons formed by Han Li's flying swords, appeared to be a fully materialized entity, looking extremely formidable.

"An artifact spirit?" Han Li was slightly startled and involuntarily narrowed his eyes.

An 'artifact spirit' refers to the unique opportunity each magic treasure possesses since its creation: to seal the primordial spirit and essence of a demonic beast or ghost within it. This allows the spirit and treasure to merge during combat, greatly enhancing the treasure's power and enabling it to transform into the form and abilities of the artifact spirit's former life. It's essentially a shortcut to rapidly increase a magic treasure's strength.

However, for unknown reasons, regardless of whether the sealing ritual is successful or not, a magic treasure can only attempt to seal an artifact spirit once throughout its existence, from creation to ultimate destruction. If the sealing fails, the treasure will never have another chance to acquire an artifact spirit. This is because a second attempt at sealing will not be accepted by the magic treasure. This makes many cultivators extremely cautious; typically, unless urgently needing to boost a treasure's power, they only perform the sealing ritual when they have found a suitable target and feel confident in their success.

Back in the Scarlet Forbidden Zone, Nangong Wan took the primordial spirit of the Mo Jiao, presumably to seal an artifact spirit. After all, although that Mo Jiao was very young in cultivation, it was still a rare flood dragon, which explains Nangong Wan's extreme excitement upon obtaining it. Even after slaying numerous demonic beasts of various ranks in the Scattered Star Seas, Han Li still hadn't encountered a single spirit flood dragon. This had long frustrated Han Li, who had always wanted to use a flood dragon as his artifact spirit.

However, the success rate for sealing an artifact spirit is incredibly hard to control, with almost no discernible pattern. One thing is certain: the stronger the primordial spirit of the artifact spirit to be sealed, the lower the chance of success. Conversely, an overly weak artifact spirit wouldn't provide a satisfactory increase in the treasure's power. Consequently, most cultivators' magic treasures ultimately remain without artifact spirits. This is either because they couldn't find a suitable target, or because the artifact spirit they attempted to seal was too powerful, leading to failure.

Therefore, Han Li was startled to see that this ghostly orb actually possessed an artifact spirit. But Han Li quickly composed himself, licked his somewhat dry lips, and with a gesture, sent the two Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, once again transformed into green flood dragons, straight towards the demonic tiger, intent on strangling it. His flying swords did not possess artifact spirits; they were merely simple transformations of magic treasures, mimicking the form but lacking the true divine abilities of a flood dragon. Nevertheless, Han Li still wanted to test the power of this demonic tiger artifact spirit.