Chapter 769: The Great Battle Approaches

Seeing the flood dragon soul merge into the spirit hide, Han Li, without hesitation, flipped his hand. A blue spirit talisman brush, about six or seven inches long, small and delicate, appeared in his palm, looking exceptionally exquisite.

With his other hand, he gestured towards a green jade box with an open lid, and a mass of golden liquid floated lightly out of the box.

Han Li swiftly dipped the talisman brush into the golden liquid. His expression then became solemn as he aimed the brush at the floating spirit hide, expertly drawing points and lines in the air.

One by one, arcane golden runes surged from the brush tip, shooting forward in a flash and disappearing into the blood-red spirit hide.

Afterward, runes of varying sizes appeared on the surface of the spirit hide, glowing with brilliant golden light and appearing as neat as if etched into the material.

The moment these runes appeared, the spirit hide began to tremble violently, and a dragon's roar suddenly emanated from it. Then, the surface of the spirit hide pulsed, and the blood-red flood dragon soul abruptly burst forth, seemingly attempting to escape.

But at this instant, the golden runes on the spirit hide blazed with light, twisting and emerging as if alive. They tightly enveloped the flood dragon soul and then pulled it back with great force.

Although it lacked intelligence, the flood dragon soul, as the essence of a spiritual beast, instinctively sensed danger. It struggled desperately against the golden runes, attempting to break free and escape.

At this point, Han Li created runes with his brush even faster. Golden runes of all sizes directly enveloped the flood dragon soul. In a moment, they completely trapped it, gradually pulling it back into the spirit hide.

Seizing this opportunity, Han Li paused his movements and immediately switched to a different, purple liquid. Dipping the brush into it, he calmly drew strange symbols, like spirit patterns, casting them out one by one.

In this manner, Han Li changed the cinnabar-like spirit liquid periodically, and various symbols and patterns appeared one by one on the spirit hide.

Before long, the palm-sized spirit hide talisman paper was densely covered with shimmering, multi-colored light, exuding vibrant spiritual energy.

Han Li's expression, however, grew increasingly solemn. His writing became slower and slower, and blue light flickered ceaselessly in his eyes as he pushed the divine ability of his Luminous Spirit Eyes to its limit.

Just as a red rune was completed and flew into the spirit hide, a sudden, abnormal spiritual energy fluctuation erupted from the half-finished talisman, growing increasingly violent.

Han Li's face changed drastically, and he inwardly groaned with bitterness. But immediately, without thinking, he swept his large sleeve across the ground. A swath of green mist flew out, instantly collecting all the materials. At the same time, with his other hand, he drew a line in the air before him; a small blue shield shot out from his sleeve, instantly expanding to block his front.

Just as Han Li finished all this, the spirit hide exploded with a deafening dragon's roar.

A dazzling five-colored light mass erupted. Astonishing spiritual energy surged outwards, as if a giant wave crashed against the blue shield.

The large shield swayed slightly, then held firm, completely blocking the impact. Han Li was startled, quite surprised by this.

According to the immense power of a Spirit Descent Talisman, an explosion from a failed crafting attempt should possess considerable destructive power. That it was blocked so easily was vastly different from his expectations.

As Han Li pondered in surprise, a streak of blood-red light shot out from the light mass, flashing instantly to the top of the secret chamber, about to escape.

However, just as the blood-red light touched the ceiling, a layer of white light curtain suddenly appeared without warning. It bounced the blood-red light back, revealing its true form.

It was the small blood-red flood dragon, the venomous flood dragon's essence soul.

Han Li was startled at first, then overjoyed.

Without hesitation, he raised a hand and grabbed at the void. A large green hand suddenly appeared above the flood dragon soul, instantly seizing it and pulling it downwards.

At this moment, Han Li extended a finger and casually pointed at the shield in front of him. After blue light rippled, the shield rapidly shrank, spiraled once, and flew into his sleeve.

Then Han Li gazed at the flood dragon soul he had just captured and once again used his Luminous Spirit Eyes divine ability.

Han Li's face showed surprise, and he let out a soft exclamation of astonishment.

Although it was still the original essence soul, the soul power within it was noticeably much weaker than before, and the small blood-red flood dragon also appeared dispirited.

Looking at the flood dragon soul, Han Li stroked his chin, a pensive look on his face.

It seemed that the failure to craft the Spirit Descent Talisman did not immediately cause the demonic soul to collapse; it merely lost some soul power. If this was the case, although the Spirit Descent Talisman was difficult to craft, it could be repeatedly attempted several times before the soul power was completely exhausted, offering a good chance of success.

Of course, if crafting was repeated too many times, the soul power would be greatly diminished, and the power of the Spirit Descent Talisman would certainly be severely reduced.

Understanding the reason, Han Li let out a soft breath, and the tense expression on his face relaxed slightly.

Even a slight loss of soul power was better than the venomous flood dragon's essence soul disintegrating immediately.

This could be considered a great fortune amidst misfortune!

Han Li gave a bitter smile, then retrieved all the auxiliary materials one by one and rearranged them. Naturally, he used another piece of spirit beast hide.

A new round of crafting began.

While Han Li painstakingly crafted the Spirit Descent Talisman in his secret chamber, the entire Heavenly Eon City was fully mobilized within just two or three days.

All cultivators and sects, big and small, learned that a life-or-death battle with the Dharma Masters would commence in a few days. After a great commotion, all cultivators in the city emerged from their residences. Following their original formations, they organized into various Dharma Master armies, each with solemn expressions, heading successively towards the border garrisons.

Everyone knew that this war would either end with the Mulan people retreating in defeat or with the Heavenly South falling into the hands of the Dharma Masters, causing countless sects to lose their heritage. Thus, morale was already exceptionally high without needing to be spurred. Rumors also flew concerning the ten challenge battles.

Because of fears that Mulan spies might leak the list of participating cultivators, allowing the Dharma Masters to send targeted opponents, Han Li and others' names remained confidential. Apart from the old monsters present at the Heavenly Palace deliberation, very few people knew the specific list.

As a result, the identities of these ten Nascent Soul cultivators naturally became a subject of widespread discussion and speculation among many cultivators. They sought to predict the outcome of the battles, especially since the survival of over a thousand cultivators was also at stake.

Many sect cultivators, who had disciples hoping to participate, naturally paid even closer attention.

The disciples of the Fallen Cloud Sect also successively left Heavenly Eon City with their respective teams. Seeing this, Lu Luo had no choice but to go along with them.

However, he instructed the woman surnamed Song to remain at the residence, awaiting Han Li's emergence from seclusion.

Within a few days, Heavenly Eon City became increasingly deserted, with only a few cultivators remaining on guard.

As the days passed, Han Li showed no sign of emerging from seclusion, and the woman surnamed Song grew anxious.

Although heavy restrictions were placed on Han Li's secluded cultivation spot, faint sounds of dragon roars or explosions could still be heard from within. This greatly surprised her and also caused her some worry.

By the fifth day, the woman surnamed Song made up her mind. If her Uncle-Master Han still hadn't emerged from seclusion, she would have to bite the bullet and forcefully knock on his door.

Otherwise, delaying even one more day would likely mean missing the great battle.

At this moment, the woman surnamed Song was anxiously waiting on a chair in the residence hall, occasionally glancing outside. The faint afterglow of the setting sun was visible, and her expression fluctuated between worry and anticipation.

As the sky grew darker, the woman's delicate brows furrowed. She bit her red lip and abruptly stood up.

She had only gracefully taken two steps when a clear chime suddenly echoed into the hall. The woman was momentarily stunned, then her face lit up with surprise and joy.

A moment later, green light flickered at the hall entrance, and Han Li's figure suddenly emerged within the shimmering light.

"Greetings, Uncle-Master!" the woman surnamed Song hurried forward with graceful steps, bowing respectfully.

"What day is it now? It seems all the cultivators in the city have departed," Han Li asked upon seeing the woman. Immediately after emerging from the secret chamber, his divine sense had detected the emptiness of Heavenly Eon City, with only a few cultivators remaining.

After all, in the secret chamber, he could only roughly estimate the time. Although he felt he hadn't exceeded the scheduled day, asking would put his mind at ease.

"Reporting, Uncle-Master, it is currently the fifth day," the woman surnamed Song replied respectfully, now completely at ease.

"The fifth day. There's plenty of time. However, it's better to arrive at the destination early. Let's go," Han Li said decisively after hearing her.

"As you command!" the woman surnamed Song replied softly.

Han Li raised a hand, and a ball of white light shot out from his sleeve, floating towards the courtyard outside the hall. After the light receded, a white, winged, four-wheeled carriage appeared there.

It was the Wind Chariot.

"Get in. This carriage travels faster than your flight," Han Li said to the woman, turning his head after his figure flickered into the carriage.

The woman surnamed Song glanced at the carriage, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. She then silently got into the carriage as well.

Seeing this, Han Li lightly tapped the carriage with his toe. Immediately, the Wind Chariot flashed with white light, and a white light barrier enveloped both the people and the carriage. After a brief tremor, it transformed into a streak of white light and shot through the air.

The Wind Chariot truly lived up to its reputation as a specialized flying magical artifact. Not only did it consume little spiritual power, but its speed was also far beyond what ordinary cultivators could achieve.

In the blink of an eye, it had flown out of Heavenly Eon City and was shooting directly towards the border.

Seeing this, the woman surnamed Song felt even more at ease. She couldn't help but wonder if Uncle-Master Han was so composed because he possessed such a treasure, which was why he only emerged from seclusion now. She also wondered what formidable secret technique this enigmatic Uncle-Master had been cultivating these past few days, and what those dragon roars and explosions in the secret chamber were all about.

While the woman was lost in thought and fanciful ideas, Han Li spoke, asking something that somewhat surprised her.

"Are Fellow Daoist Ziling and her companion still at their original location?"

"Ziling and her companion have temporarily left Heavenly Eon City, intending to decide their future plans after this great battle concludes," the woman surnamed Song replied dutifully after a brief moment of surprise.

"Heh heh! That girl Ziling is quite clever. This is indeed a wise move. If I were in her shoes, I'd likely do the same," Han Li said with a faint smile, unfazed.

Then, Han Li's expression remained calm as he channeled spiritual power to his feet, causing the Wind Chariot's speed to increase significantly again. To the woman's astonished gaze, it instantly flew dozens of feet away, soon becoming a tiny speck of light that vanished on the horizon.