Chapter 752: The Battle of Breaking the Formation (VIII)

Volume Four: Winds of the Outer Seas. Volume Five: Fame Spreads Far and Wide.

Han Li was overjoyed at the sight. Meanwhile, the green-robed woman's face instantly turned deathly pale, followed by an expression of extreme shock and fury. She raised both hands, sending out large swathes of white light, while the white lotus beneath her spun wildly, instantly creating a surge of lotus shadows, like mountains, rushing upwards.

However, a flash of purple light from the cloud above bypassed the white light, revealing a large purple net that descended.

Instantly, the purple light, white glow, and the accompanying lotus shadows violently collided. Silver Moon's playful laughter echoed in the air once more.

Behind the purple net, the light receded, revealing Silver Moon's slender figure.

She stood smiling, holding the ancient flower basket artifact. Inside, white light pulsed, trapping the ancient bronze lamp, rendering it immobile. Once they returned and removed the green-robed woman's trace of spiritual consciousness from the lamp, anyone would be able to wield the artifact.

Han Li was naturally just as delighted. However, before he could even show his excitement, the stumbling figure who had just entered the area clearly saw Han Li and the green-robed woman engaged in combat. He immediately turned his head and frantically shouted at Han Li:

"Fellow Daoist Han, run! The Mulan Divine Masters have arrived; Fellow Daoist Lu has already been killed. It will be too late if we don't leave now!"

It was none other than the old man surnamed Ma. At this moment, his hair was disheveled, one arm was missing, and his face was etched with terror.

"Mulan Divine Masters?" Han Li was startled by the revelation. Just as he was about to inquire for details, the old man, enveloped in a flash of white light, attempted to flee, not daring to linger for a moment.

But at that very moment, a faint male voice immediately followed.

"Too late!" a male voice stated. "This Divine Master has already found this place. You only escaped last time by sacrificing an arm. This time, let's see what secret techniques you have left. You haven't turned your other arm into a substitute puppet, have you? If so, this Divine Master would truly be somewhat impressed! 'Huh,' isn't that our Mulan's Yuanming Lamp? Little fox, you've got guts. How dare you take our Mulan's ancestral treasure. This is not something a monster like you should touch." The man's speed was astonishing; his initial words seemed to come from a distance, but in an instant, he sounded as if he were right beside them. His final words, tinged with surprise, revealed that he had instantly recognized Silver Moon's true form as a white fox demon.

Then, a silver ray shot out from the misty sea. It appeared slow, yet in a blink of an eye, it was right before Silver Moon.

Silver Moon's pretty face turned deathly pale. She swiftly waved her hand, and a large purple net materialized before her. Simultaneously, she instinctively shot backward.

However, the silver rainbow paused only for a moment before instantly transforming into a massive silver hand. It forcefully snatched the Purple Cheng Dou. Simultaneously, from over ten zhang away, the silver hand clenched into a fist and lightly struck the empty space in the direction of Silver Moon's retreat.

Silver Moon's yellow escape light was struck by a silver orb that appeared out of thin air, hitting her before she could react. She immediately let out a pained cry, and her escape light dissipated as she fell.

However, she was incredibly astute. Gritting her teeth and enduring the severe pain, she abruptly threw the ancient artifact in her hand. It transformed into a wisp of white energy and flew towards Han Li in the distance.

"You seek death!" The man's voice, emanating from the silver hand, seemed tinged with anger.

Light flashed, and the silver hand remarkably split into two, forming another identical hand. One swept towards the ancient flower basket artifact, seizing it instantly. The other lunged directly at Silver Moon, who was falling from above, with the clear intent to crush her to dust.

Both actions occurred with lightning speed.

Silver Moon was greatly alarmed. She hurriedly tried to activate her spiritual energy to cast an escape technique and flee.

But a flash of silver light on her body indicated she couldn't activate any magic power. The opponent's strike in the void, while severely injuring her, had also placed a simple restriction on her.

Although easy to break, there was simply no time to do so at this moment.

As the colossal silver hand, like a small mountain, descended to seize her, Silver Moon's heart turned cold. She closed her beautiful eyes, simply awaiting death.

But at that very moment, a thunderous sound echoed behind her. An arm appeared from behind her and scooped her up around the waist.

"Go!" Han Li's clear, cold voice abruptly materialized, followed by another roar, and both Silver Moon and Han Li vanished simultaneously.

The colossal silver hand narrowly missed its grasp.

The next moment, Han Li reappeared dozens of zhang away at the edge of the thick fog, one arm around Silver Moon's slender waist, and the massive bi-colored purple and green sword in his other hand. His expression was grim.

"Oh! The Lightning Evasion Technique!"

A surprised voice emanated from the silver giant hand. Then, the other silver hand swiftly returned. The two colossal hands collided, erupting in a blinding silver radiance.

As the light receded, a spellcaster resembling a middle-aged scholar appeared within the silver glow. He held the Purple Cheng Dou in one hand and the ancient flower basket artifact in the other, calmly observing Han Li in the distance.

Upon seeing this person appear, the old man surnamed Ma's face turned ashen. Though the spiritual light on his body flickered incessantly, he dared not attempt to break through the air and escape.

Han Li's eyes flickered. He carefully observed the late Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the first he had ever seen. Individuals with such a cultivation level, aside from those Soul Transformation stage cultivators who rarely interact with the mortal world, were among the absolute pinnacle of the cultivation realm.

The middle-aged spellcaster surveyed his surroundings. After his gaze briefly lingered on the woman surnamed Le, he raised a hand and tossed the ancient flower basket artifact, along with the bronze lamp inside, to her.

"Many thanks, Divine Master Zhong, for your assistance. Otherwise, how would you have arrived?" The green-robed woman, having recovered her bronze lamp, was naturally overjoyed. She exhaled in relief and profusely thanked him.

Even with her inherently cold and arrogant nature, she dared not show the slightest disrespect when facing one of her clan's three Divine Masters.

"It's nothing," the scholar said calmly, his expression unchanged. "I merely heard that the Tiannan people sent another batch of cultivators to reinforce the various grand formations, and your 'Heaven's Cry' cultivator strangely perished. So I was a little concerned and came to take a look. It's best if we can provide a reasonable explanation to those from the Great Jin; we cannot do without these cultivators now. However, since the opponent still has someone capable of using the Lightning Evasion Technique, even Master Le will find him difficult to handle."

He then turned his head again and calmly asked Han Li in the distance:

"This little fox, is she yours? You have guts. You even dare to touch our Mulan's ancestral treasure. Since you are her master, you might as well join her on the journey."

"Hmph! Big words," Han Li replied coldly, his eyes narrowing as he took a deep breath. "Even if I hadn't taken that bronze lamp, would you have let me go? You want my life? I wonder if you have the ability to take it."

Upon hearing this, the scholar's gaze swept over Han Li's giant sword. After seeing the peculiar sight of both green and purple flames coexisting, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he immediately spoke as if nothing had happened:

"Hehe! It's been many years since I last encountered a cultivator who dares to speak to me like that," the scholar chuckled. "Master Le, the cultivator over there with only one arm left is yours. As for this young friend who knows the Lightning Evasion Technique, I'll handle him. I wonder how long he can last?"

A cruel glint flashed across the scholar's face, then vanished. He didn't seem to use any magic treasure. After his figure blurred, silver lights flashed to his left and right, and two individuals identical to him suddenly appeared. Dressed identically and with the same expressions, the three figures all stared at Han Li as if he were already dead.

Han Li gasped, drawing a sharp breath. After scanning with his spiritual sense, he found himself unable to distinguish any difference between the two avatars and the original body. Their cultivation auras were all perfectly identical.

Although shocked, Han Li lightly patted Silver Moon's shoulder with one hand and quickly whispered something to her.

Silver Moon obediently nodded. Having already dispelled the restriction within her body, she shimmered with white light, revealing her true form as a small fox. With a 'whoosh,' she swiftly burrowed into Han Li's sleeve.

At this moment, the three scholars opposite swept their large sleeves, and all three slowly floated towards Han Li.

Their movements seemed slow and unhurried, yet in just two or three steps, they were suddenly only a dozen zhang away from Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed drastically. Without a second thought, he unfurled his silver wings behind him and abruptly vanished.

"Trying to run? Where can you escape to?" the central scholar chuckled. Then, he and the figures on his left and right simultaneously flashed with silver light, calmly stepping forward in pursuit. After just two steps in the void, they too vanished from that spot.

Upon seeing this, the old man, whose face had been deathly pale, suddenly leaped up with astonishing speed. Without a word, he transformed into a white rainbow and shot through the air in the opposite direction.

Seeing this, the woman surnamed Le sneered. She formed a hand seal with both hands and transformed into a wisp of light wind, giving chase.

With a Divine Master pursuing Han Li, she had nothing to worry about. And this Tiannan cultivator, possessing no knowledge of the Lightning Evasion Technique, certainly wouldn't escape her grasp.

As for the grand formation, without any Nascent Soul stage cultivators to guard it, dismantling it would naturally be effortless.

The sky was somewhat dim. In a seemingly desolate and uninhabited wilderness, a clap of thunder echoed, silver arcs flashed, and Han Li's pale figure appeared.

As soon as he stabilized himself, he hurriedly glanced behind him several times, his expression betraying a hint of annoyance.

"Silver Moon, how many days have we been fleeing?"

"About four days and four nights," Silver Moon replied worriedly in his mind. "This person is indeed a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator. The moment Master stops to rest for even less than fifteen minutes, they immediately catch up. Is it truly impossible to break free from their spiritual sense lock? This is extremely dangerous. Although you have ten-thousand-year spiritual liquid to sustain your magic power, your Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder is running low. Without the divine ability of Lightning Evasion, you simply cannot escape their Shrinking Ground Technique. This profound ability is in no way inferior to teleportation; in some aspects, it even surpasses it. If Master hadn't been clever enough to avoid direct confrontation and instead just kept fleeing, once approached and entangled, even the Lightning Evasion Technique would make it difficult to escape."

"A late Nascent Soul cultivator's spiritual sense is sufficient to lock onto a specific aura within several hundred li," Han Li said bitterly after a wry smile. "Although I believe my spiritual sense far exceeds that of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, there's still a definite gap compared to true late-stage cultivators. After all, I haven't fully learned the Great Development Art; I still need to acquire several more layers of the cultivation method. As soon as this situation is resolved, I will immediately head to the Extreme West to obtain the remaining incantations. Previously, my spiritual sense was always stronger than my opponents', so I never gave it much thought. But now, being inferior to my opponent, I immediately feel restricted, and many of my techniques simply cannot be executed."