Chapter 787: 抢灯

**Volume 4: Rise of the Overseas Lands****Volume 5: Renowned Across the Region**

“Hiding so close to a lit Primordial Lantern. What a death wish!” the woman murmured softly, without bothering to inspect further. For her, knowing the opponent was a Heavenly South cultivator was enough.

Since lighting the ancient lamp, five or six cultivators had already tried to seize it. After all, ever since the giant bird was summoned by the ancient lamp, the nine lamps had remained constantly lit, clearly indicating something extraordinary. Some cultivators, confident in their concealment techniques, naturally tried to extinguish the lamp. However, none escaped; all were annihilated by the woman's lamp flames.

At this moment, Han Li was only a few hundred feet from the woman. Seeing the unknown cultivator effortlessly killed by her, his heart tightened. His slowly approaching form silently halted.

Although the woman’s murmuring was almost inaudible, Han Li's extraordinary divine sense still caught most of it. He stroked his chin, pondering as he gazed at the ancient lamp not far away. It seemed the ancient lamp was truly not ordinary; not only could it summon demonic birds, but it also possessed the ability to reveal hidden presences. This was quite troublesome.

Han Li’s expression flickered between solemn and thoughtful for a while. Then, his eyebrow twitched, and an idea suddenly struck him. He reached into his storage pouch with one hand, pulling out some items. His gaze then fell on a certain spirit beast pouch at his waist. He smiled faintly, feeling a surge of caution.

She sat cross-legged before the ancient lamp, a subtle lotus shadow shimmering around her. Her bright eyes constantly monitored the lamp, linking her divine sense to it, sensing every movement within dozens of feet nearby.

Suddenly, a hundred feet away, a flash of white light appeared, and over a dozen tall, gigantic apes materialized. Seeing their brazen appearance, the woman, surnamed Le, showed a look of surprise. These gigantic apes did not approach after appearing. Instead, they stood in a line, raising both hands. Dozens of light beams, of various colors, shot forth.

“Puppet Arts!”

The woman, surnamed Le, paused for a moment, then recognized the apes. She frowned, cautiously glancing around. She found no sign of the puppet masters. The woman paid little attention to the light beam attacks; she simply chanted a spell, causing the lotus shadow to flicker, effortlessly blocking the beams. Then, she moved, plucking a lamp flame from one of the ancient lamps. This time, the flame was not immediately cast out. Instead, it floated gently in her palm.

The woman, surnamed Yue, stared at the ancient lamp, her eyes flickering, preparing to adapt to whatever came. After only a brief moment, her expression shifted. Without hesitation, she opened her delicate lips and blew a puff of spiritual energy towards the lamp flame in her hand. The lamp flame shimmered with a green light and mysteriously vanished from her palm. Only then did the woman, surnamed Le, turn her head, staring at a spot dozens of feet away.

With a soft "puff," a figure first materialized, and a ball of green light instantly enveloped it. Under the woman's incantation, the green flames immediately ignited on the figure. The woman's lips curved upward in a cold smile.

“Huh! Why hasn't it been refined yet?” Her smile suddenly froze. She realized the figure neither instantly turned to ash like the previous few, nor did it show any sign of struggle. Startled, she quickly fixed her gaze on it.

“This person is... no, it's a puppet!”

At first glance, the figure in the green flame resembled Han Li, but its expression was blank, and its movements stiff, clearly a dummy. Moreover, it seemed impervious to the green flames, showing no signs of being burned.

“Not good!” The woman instantly realized something. She hastily turned her head towards the ancient lamps, intending to reattach her divine sense to them.

But in that brief moment of delay, at another spot about twenty feet away, a figure flashed in a green light. With a low crackle of thunder, the figure vanished within a flash of lightning.

Seeing this, the woman, surnamed Le, was utterly shocked and furious. She simultaneously formed hand seals with both hands, then sharply flung them forward, sending several magical spells towards the ancient lamps. But it was too late.

Lightning flashed beside the ancient lamp, and a figure faintly emerged within it. Following that, a black and red hand shot out from the light, expanding to about a丈 (approximately 10 feet) in size in a flash, gripping fiercely at one of the ancient lamps.

“How did this person identify the main lamp?! Which one is the real one? Only the caster can know. Even a late Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't discern the truth from the illusion!” The woman, surnamed Le, was even more shocked and furious.

At such close range, the giant hand almost simultaneously touched the ancient lamp with the woman, surnamed Le's, spells. The ancient lamp first flickered with green light, just about to change, when it was snatched up by the giant hand. The lamp flame was then forcibly extinguished by the black陰火 (yin-fire) on the hand. At the same time, the other eight bronze lamps trembled in response, their spiritual light flickering, and their flames vanished one by one. These ancient lamps instantly dissolved into balls of spiritual energy, dissipating.

“No!” The Mulan Clan’s first female high priestess turned deathly pale upon seeing this. She bit her silver teeth, raised both hands, and a large expanse of lotus shadows surged towards the black hand, attempting to retrieve the ancient lamp.

However, the black and red hand had anticipated this. As soon as it snatched the ancient lamp, it immediately flew back without a moment's delay. But a cold snort came from within the lightning, and the sound of thunder rang out again. Just as the black and red hand disappeared into the light cluster, the figure and the black and red hand vanished simultaneously and perfectly. The next moment, the figure reappeared beside the puppet trapped in the green light, holding the ancient lamp. It was Han Li, who had secretly infiltrated, taking advantage of her distraction.

“You won't escape!” The woman, surnamed Le, glanced nervously at the direction of the green bird. Upon finding that the sacred beast was not immediately disappearing, she calmed down slightly and shrieked loudly. Immediately, green light surged around her body, transforming into a gust of clear wind, chasing directly after him.

Han Li’s expression darkened. With a flash of white light in his hand, the ancient lamp was collected into his storage pouch. At the same time, his Wind-Thunder Wings moved, and he vanished, reappearing dozens of feet away. Just then, the clear wind formed by the woman arrived at his original position.

Han Li's eyes flickered. He suddenly formed a hand seal and uttered the word “Explode!”

The puppet in the green light suddenly spat out a green spherical bead, which precisely struck the barrier of the green flame. With a "boom," golden arcs and green flames intertwined and exploded. Not only did it blast off half of the puppet’s body, but it also affected the nearby woman, surnamed Le.

The lotus shadow on her body had an automatic protective ability for its master. Although its owner was agitated and unprepared for this move, the lotus petals flickered rapidly, actually blocking the attack head-on. However, the thunder pearl Han Li had hidden in the puppet was no ordinary power. Although the woman escaped death, her body was knocked back several feet, and her wind escape technique was temporarily thwarted.

Han Li sighed, feeling a bit of pity, but without hesitation, he flapped his wings and vanished in a flash, quickly fleeing into the distance.

By the time the woman, surnamed Le, regained her footing, Han Li had already escaped over a hundred feet away. As the Mulan high priestess gritted her teeth, about to pursue, the puppet, now only half-remaining after the explosion, suddenly emitted a strange humming sound. Startled by this new sneak attack from Han Li, the woman quickly looked.

She saw the remaining body of the shattered puppet glow with a brilliant green light, then instantly disintegrate and scatter, transforming into groups of three-colored flying insects that soared into the air. The woman, surnamed Le, was alarmed but couldn’t afford to be entangled with these flying insects. She hastily activated the white lotus protection around her body, intending to force her way through.

However, the three-colored flying insects instantly condensed and transformed, forming several large three-colored shields that continuously crashed into the woman. Each time she attempted to cast the Wind Escape spell, a wave of impacts caused her spellcasting to repeatedly fail.

The woman, surnamed Le, was furious. She unleashed several spiritual attacks, but found she couldn't harm these flying insects. At this point, she was surprised to realize that these three-colored flying insects were identical to Gold Devouring Beetles in every way except color, as if they were mutated Gold Devouring Beetles.

Slightly surprised, she immediately reached into her storage pouch for a wood spirit treasure to trap these flying insects. But at that moment, the insects buzzed and scattered in all directions. The woman paused, then her expression changed. She quickly looked into the distance.

She saw that at some unknown point, Han Li had already used a concealment divine ability and completely disappeared without a trace. The woman, surnamed Le, her face a mix of red and white, floated alone in the air, somewhat at a loss.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the green bird had just broken through an elder's ancient treasure defense with a ball of green fire. It was about to swoop down in delight and seize its opponent when it suddenly felt its spiritual power rapidly draining. Startled, the bird ignored its prey and quickly turned its head to look. It then discovered that the ancient lamps, which had been floating there, were now completely gone.

The giant bird panicked, only managing a shrill cry before its body rapidly shrank. The fire spiritual energy it had controlled also instantly lost control. The green sea of fire below violently churned before vanishing, revealing the stunned faces of the Seven Cultivators of Taizhen.

On the other side, the two freed demons unhesitatingly transformed into a green wind, fiercely rushing towards the green bird whose magical power had greatly diminished. This demonic bird, now shrunk to a few feet in size, stared at the two demons with an unwilling gaze, showing no intent to evade.

With a soft "puff," before the two demons could even reach it, the bird's body exploded, turning into countless streaks of green spiritual light, vanishing without a trace. The Yin-Yang Twin Demons froze, their forms suddenly halting.

“What happened?” the elder who had narrowly escaped death asked, greatly relieved. At this moment, he had not a drop of magical power left. He had just thought he was certainly going to die.

“Look over there, it seems the treasure they used to summon the demonic bird malfunctioned. Those ancient lamps are no longer in the distance,” the leading elder also let out a long breath, sweeping his gaze towards where the ancient lamps had been, and said. His face also bore the look of relief at having survived a disaster. If it had dragged on a little longer, even he might not have survived!

(There's one more chapter today!)