Chapter 998: Golden Escape and the Essence of Ice Flame

Han Li vanished from his spot after a clap of thunder. After more than twenty arcs of light flashed, Han Li reappeared.

However, the moment he materialized, Han Li stared at the source of the bright light with a solemn expression.

With his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he clearly saw what was happening within the light.

The Azure Cloud Bee Swords, infused with Geng Essence, should have been incredibly sharp. However, as the sword lights from these flying swords struck the golden barrier, they were easily deflected, as if their power had not been fully unleashed before the barrier repelled them with their own force.

The electric pythons formed by the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder merely caused the barrier to tremble slightly before dissipating without further effect.

But when the purple flames landed on the golden barrier...

A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes. After the light subsided and vanished, a massive, pale purple ice block appeared in the distance. The golden barrier and the Silver-Winged Yaksha were astonishingly encased within it.

The Silver-Winged Yaksha was unharmed within the barrier, but its face showed surprise.

Clearly, it hadn't expected the purple flames to be able to freeze the golden barrier.

However, since its main body wasn't frozen, it would naturally be easy for the fiend to escape.

The Silver-Winged Yaksha pressed both hands into the golden barrier. Countless golden rays burst from the barrier, piercing tiny holes in the ice.

The entire purple ice block shattered inch by inch.

Han Li's heart tensed. He extended a hand, and all the flying swords immediately flew back after a quick swirl.

A moment later, the Silver-Winged Yaksha's figure flickered, and it effortlessly appeared outside the purple ice.

Then, with a dead gaze, it coldly stared at Han Li for a moment before suddenly raising a hand.

Golden light shone brightly on its hand as a golden orb of light emerged.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly spoke:

"Now I can finally be certain. Besides Earth and Wind Evasion, you truly possess Gold Evasion. As far as I know, very few human cultivators can master Gold Evasion. And among refined corpses, only the legendary Golden-Bodied Moon Corpses possess such divine abilities. Could it be that you've already begun to advance?"

As Han Li finished speaking, his gaze lingered for a moment on its pale golden scales.

Hearing Han Li's question, the Silver-Winged Yaksha was somewhat surprised, but then it let out a cold, sneering snort:

"Hmph! I began advancing ten thousand years ago. If you few Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators had teamed up from the start, perhaps you would have had a chance. But now, it's just you alone. Even if you possess some divine abilities, it's nothing but a pipe dream."

As soon as it finished speaking, the Silver-Winged Yaksha no longer concealed its power. With a gentle flap of its wings, its fleshy wings transformed from silver-white to a pale gold. A soaring aura also erupted without restraint. Such powerful spiritual pressure caused even the massive light curtain covering the formation to tremble.

Han Li's pupils contracted. This aura was absolutely far more powerful than any Late-Nascent Soul cultivator he had encountered. It was incomparable to the level of the Three Great Cultivators of Tiannan. The only ones who could potentially suppress this flying corpse were probably the two ancient demons he had seen in the Demon-Fallen Valley.

Han Li was secretly alarmed, but on the surface, he calmly probed:

"Even if you started advancing long ago, trapped in this sunless place, you can't absorb the essence of the yin moon. Even if you cultivate for another ten thousand years, you still won't succeed. At most, you've only grasped the rudiments of Gold Evasion, and your method of application is somewhat peculiar. But against artifacts and magic treasures not infused with gold-element materials, these techniques are useless."

As Han Li spoke, he recalled the opponent piercing through the Bronze Evasion and deflecting all his flying swords, which made him feel that the situation was tricky. After all, few artifacts and magic treasures nowadays don't use gold-element materials.

"Heh heh, is that so? Then you'll get a good taste of it. However, I'm not interested in chasing you around anymore. With the next strike, you'll obediently surrender your life."

The Silver-Winged Yaksha said nothing more to Han Li. It raised one hand, and the golden orb in its palm grew even more dazzling. With its other arm, it suddenly lifted its splayed fingers, aiming at the mummified corpses on the surrounding stone pillars, and shot out several gray light beams.

In an instant, the light beams flashed and disappeared into the corpses.

Han Li had no time to stop them, and his face sank. He vaguely knew something was wrong.

Sure enough, there was a loud clanging sound from the stone pillars. Chains fell off one by one, and the mummified corpses opened their emerald eyes, then stumbled away from the pillars.

However, after only a few steps, the corpses stopped moving and stared emotionlessly at Han Li in the air.

"With so many Corpse Fiend avatars assisting me, you have no chance of winning. If you surrender obediently, you might suffer less soul-refining agony!" The Silver-Winged Yaksha stood firm, speaking grimly to Han Li.

Han Li swept his gaze over the surrounding mummified corpses, fell silent, and then let out a long sigh after a moment.

"I didn't expect to actually need this treasure on this trip. I wonder if that makes you unlucky, or me rather unlucky!" Han Li muttered in a low voice, then without delay, he slapped a remarkably exquisite storage pouch at his waist.

With a 'whoosh,' a fist-sized orb of light shot out from the pouch, circled once, and landed in Han Li's hand, revealing an ancient-looking feather fan.

This fan was only a few inches in size, divided into gold, silver, and red. It was densely covered with talismans and spirit patterns, layer upon layer. With a slight shake, the three-colored spiritual halos shifted unstably, and countless runic symbols emerged simultaneously, making one feel dizzy and disoriented just by looking at it.

At a glance, it was clear this treasure was extraordinary.

Meanwhile, the Silver-Winged Yaksha opposite had finished casting its spell and launched its attack first.

With a loud roar, it suddenly threw the orb of light in its hand into the air.

After spinning rapidly, the golden orb instantly unleashed ten thousand rays of golden light.

The moment these golden rays left the orb, they shimmered and transformed into countless golden needles, as fine as ox hair. After circling near the orb, these needles surged towards Han Li in an overwhelming barrage.

For a moment, half the sky shimmered with golden light. The attack, like a downpour, left Han Li nowhere to hide.

At the same time, the mummified corpses at the base of the surrounding stone pillars raised both hands in perfect coordination. Countless strands of malevolent soul-silk continuously shot forth from their fingertips, weaving and converging in the low air.

In the blink of an eye, a gigantic, gray net, dozens of meters wide, formed beneath Han Li and wrapped upwards without hesitation.

This net was enormous, and the malevolent energy it contained was astonishing. If it were an ordinary cultivator, their limbs would likely have gone limp and their magic power lost control from the malevolent energy before the net even reached them, forcing them to surrender obediently.

However, Han Li himself possessed a malevolent energy body and had cultivated the Ming King Art, so he was naturally unaffected by this malevolent energy.

Nevertheless, the opponent's momentum was so immense, with an attack like a net from heaven and earth, that even Han Li was secretly horrified.

Immediately, his face darkened, and he rubbed his hands together.

Instantly, after a flash of light, the Three Flame Fan transformed, shrinking to several feet in size.

Han Li gripped the fan handle with one hand, concentrated all his magic power, and fiercely fanned downwards.

To Han Li's surprise, something alarming happened. He felt that more than half of his magic power was instantly drained away as he swung the fan, startling him so much that he almost dropped it on the spot.

Fortunately, after the Three Flame Fan emitted a phoenix cry, the drainage of his internal magic power immediately ceased. Then, the fan suddenly trembled, and a surge of three-colored flames erupted from its surface. All the flames then converged in the center, directly transforming into a massive fire phoenix, about three meters long, adorned with gold, silver, and red tail feathers, flying straight towards the colossal net.

This unusual phenomenon stunned Han Li for a moment, but he quickly put it aside. He had originally intended to use the fan against the golden needles as well, but now lacking sufficient magic power, he could only change his plan and point a finger at the flying swords in front of him.

Instantly, all the flying swords burst forth with golden light, swirling rapidly. Golden lotuses bloomed around Han Li, engulfing his figure.

But he didn't stop. He opened his mouth again and sprayed a mouthful of vital essence blood onto the Snow Crystal Bead hovering above his head.

As a result, the Snow Crystal Bead trembled violently and spat out a wisp of deep purple flame.

Under the activation of the spell, this flame rapidly circled Han Li as if it had a life of its own. The surrounding temperature abruptly plummeted, and an unusual crackling sound erupted.

A massive ice wall, over thirty meters high, appeared near Han Li as the purple flames dissipated. It glowed with purple light, completely shielding him within.

At this moment, amidst the flashing golden light, countless golden threads finally reached the ice wall.

A loud clanging sound arose!

After a flash where golden rays and purple light intertwined, golden points immediately lit up on the ice wall's surface, leaving behind dense, several-inch-deep fine holes. Under the continuous subsequent attacks of the golden threads, they covered the surface layer after layer.

Although Han Li's ice wall was about three meters thick, a layer over thirty centimeters thick was instantly eroded from its surface.

His expression subtly changed.

Naturally, Han Li didn't know that the Silver-Winged Yaksha opposite him was equally astonished by this sight.

It was important to note that although its golden needles were formed purely from gold-element spiritual energy, this energy was not something that could be replenished once consumed. Instead, it was slowly refined from an unknown gold-element ore during its confinement in this place.

This special spiritual energy, honed by its corpse fire for thousands of years, possessed extraordinary power. When transformed into needle-shaped magic treasures, they were exceptionally sharp.

Now, after such an overwhelming attack, it couldn't be brought down in one blow, which naturally astonished it. It was important to remember that it had just recently shattered a piece of purple ice with the very same golden rays.

The Silver-Winged Yaksha naturally didn't know that the purple flame Han Li was using, boosted by his vital essence blood, was no longer ordinary Violet Skyfire. Instead, it was a wisp of Ice Flame Essence, refined from that fire after continuously consuming Snow Soul Pills and leveraging the power of the Snow Crystal Bead.

This flame almost entirely concentrated the extreme coldness of all Violet Skyfire, making it naturally far superior to ordinary Violet Skyfire. However, to wield this flame, Han Li had to forcibly activate it with a mouthful of vital essence blood due to insufficient magic power.

Meanwhile, the three-colored fire phoenix Han Li had unleashed with his precious fan plunged into the gray giant net below.

The giant net, composed of malevolent soul-silk, flashed with gray light and immediately shot out countless gray threads from above, coiling around the seemingly small fire phoenix.

Instantly, the dense threads covered the sky and obscured the sun, almost completely concealing the bird's form.

The fire phoenix let out a proud, clear cry. After a swirl, it suddenly burst forth with rings of mysterious halo. Within the halo, gold, silver, and red lights rotated continuously, and profound runes emerged, appearing extraordinarily vibrant.

And the moment those malevolent soul-threads shot into the halo, an incredible scene unfolded!