Han Li's Caution, Poison Jiao!

Faced with Han Li's relentless questioning, Liu Yunfei's mind turned to mush.

He dared not say that he came from another world, afraid he would be treated as some kind of monster and killed.

"I... I'm just a passing merchant."

Liu Yunfei waved his hands in panic.

"Little brother, I don't want this Eternal Spring Technique anymore. You can have all the money on the table—let's call it the price of making friends. I'll be leaving now!"

With that, Liu Yunfei abruptly stood up, turned, and reached for the wooden door.

However, the instant his hand touched it, a faint red glow suddenly flashed across the door.

A searing pain shot through his fingers, making Liu Yunfei cry out as he hurriedly pulled his hand back.

Looking down, he saw that a layer of flesh on his fingers had already been burned black.

When the viewers of Douluo Continent saw this, their hearts sank.

"There's a restriction placed on that door!"

Tang San gritted his teeth, his clenched fists cracking.

"From the moment he entered, that man had already set the trap. Liu Yunfei walked right into his net."

On the screen, Han Li rose to his feet.

He looked at Liu Yunfei, who was pressed against the wooden door and trembling all over.

"Brother, since you're already here, why be in such a hurry to leave?"

Han Li lightly rubbed the talisman hidden in his sleeve with his fingers.

"You still haven't answered my questions."

"As long as you honestly tell me where you came from, and what exactly that strange energy you cultivate is..."

"I can consider sparing your life."

Upon hearing the words "spare your life," Liu Yunfei clutched at them like a drowning man grasping a straw.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

With a thud, Liu Yunfei dropped to his knees.

"My name is Liu Yunfei, and I come from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

"The energy we cultivate is called soul power. It is increased through meditation and by absorbing the soul rings of soul beasts."

Like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, Liu Yunfei poured out all the basic knowledge of Douluo Continent.

At this point, all he wanted was to stay alive.

As Han Li listened to Liu Yunfei's account, his brow gradually furrowed.

Martial souls? Soul power? Soul rings?

These were all terms he had never heard before.

An ordinary person could awaken all sorts of weapons or beasts at the age of six, then attach them to their body for combat?

By absorbing the halos left behind after beasts died, they could acquire fixed spells?

This cultivation system was utterly unheard of, even somewhat inconceivable.

"How strong is the strongest person in that Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect you mentioned?" Han Li continued asking.

"Our sect has two Titled Douluo elders."

Liu Yunfei hurriedly answered, trying to use his sect's strength to intimidate the other party.

"They each possess nine soul rings. With a single sword strike, they can split mountains apart. Moving mountains and filling seas is nothing to them!"

At the words "moving mountains and filling seas," Han Li's pupils contracted slightly.

The ability to split open a mountain was destructive power that only old monsters at the Core Formation stage—or even the Nascent Soul stage—could possess.

If the man before him was telling the truth...

Then this so-called Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was undoubtedly a colossal force comparable to the Seven Great Sects of the Yue Kingdom.

A powerful sense of danger rose within Han Li.

He had killed a disciple who likely belonged to a major sect, and now he had encountered another one.

If he did not cleanly settle this matter, then once those old monsters capable of moving mountains and filling seas came looking for him, even ten lives would not be enough.

It seems I absolutely cannot leave any witnesses alive.

Han Li silently made his decision.

He looked at Liu Yunfei on the ground, his expression still calm.

"So you are a fellow cultivator from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. My apologies, my apologies."

Han Li cupped his hands in greeting.

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, fellow cultivator. Since the misunderstanding has been resolved, please help yourself."

As he spoke, Han Li waved his hand, and the red glow flickering on the wooden door instantly went out.

Seeing that the restriction had been lifted, Liu Yunfei was overjoyed.

"Thank you, little brother! Thank you!"

He scrambled up from the ground and turned to push open the wooden door.

Yet at the very moment his back was fully exposed to Han Li's view—

Han Li's right hand suddenly shot out from his sleeve. A dazzling azure light flashed from his joined index and middle fingers.

"Go."

A sharp wind blade silently sliced through the dim stone room.

Along with the lightly spoken word from Han Li's mouth—

An azure wind blade silently sliced through the dim stone room.

Liu Yunfei's hand had just touched the edge of the wooden door, his face still wearing the joyful smile of a man who had escaped death.

The next instant, azure light flashed across his neck and vanished.

Liu Yunfei froze completely.

Before the smile on his face could even fade, his perfectly good head slid from his neck and dropped onto the bluestone floor with a thud.

Blood gushed from his severed neck like a fountain, splattering across the door.

The headless corpse swayed twice before collapsing limply into a pool of blood.

Han Li sat by the table, his expression as calm as water.

He rose and walked over, then skillfully searched Liu Yunfei's corpse.

Before long, the gem-studded storage soul tool fell into his hands.

Han Li weighed it in his palm, then flicked out a crimson fireball from his fingertip.

The fireball landed on the corpse and instantly burst into fierce flames.

Within just a few breaths, the corpse on the ground, along with the head, had been burned into a pile of ashes.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Han Li sent a gust of breeze rolling up the ashes on the floor and blowing them through the crack in the door into the thick fog outside.

Destroying the corpse and erasing the evidence, all in one smooth motion.

After finishing all this, Han Li returned to the table and poured himself a cup of water.

"Douluo Continent... martial souls... Title Douluo..."

Holding the cup, his gaze was unfathomably deep.

"Those old monsters capable of moving mountains and filling seas are definitely far more than mere Core Formation cultivators."

"It seems I'll need to act even more discreetly in the future. The waters of this cultivation world run far deeper than I imagined."

Heaven Dou City, main hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Fengzhi slumped in the Sect Master's throne, his eyes bloodshot as both hands gripped the armrests tightly.

Bone Douluo Gu Rong ground his teeth to pieces and smashed his fist into the nearby pillar.

"Why?!"

"Yunfei had clearly told him everything, and that bastard even said he would let him go!"

"Why did he still strike from behind?!"

Sword Douluo Chen Xin closed his eyes and sighed.

"That is simply how people in that world do things."

Elsewhere, on the training grounds of Shrek Academy.

Tang San watched the light screen, a deep wariness flashing in his eyes, along with some approval of Han Li's actions.

"Third Brother, he already got the information, and Liu Yunfei had no ability to fight back. Why did he insist on killing him?"

Oscar swallowed, feeling that the dark-faced young man named Han Li was simply a demon with no sense of martial honor.

Tang San shook his head and turned to Oscar.

"Little Ao, you're wrong."

"That man named Han Li isn't a demon. He's a smart man who has studied the laws of survival to the utmost."

Tang San's voice was somewhat low, carrying a maturity beyond his years.

"Liu Yunfei's greatest mistake was bringing up the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's two Title Douluo in order to save his own life."

Hearing this, Dai Mubai frowned as well.

"Isn't bringing up a powerful backer to intimidate your enemy common sense?"

"It is common sense on Douluo Continent." Tang San took a deep breath and began his analysis in earnest.

"But in that cultivation world, for a low-level independent cultivator with no backing, that was a death warrant."

"Think about it—Liu Yunfei claimed that powerful figures capable of moving mountains and filling seas stood behind him."

"If Han Li let him go, what if Liu Yunfei went back and brought those powerful figures to seek revenge?"

"Han Li couldn't afford to take that risk."

"So the moment Liu Yunfei revealed the strength of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he was already a dead man."

"Pulling weeds out by the roots and leaving no future trouble behind—that was the law of survival there."

Tang San's analysis plunged everyone at Shrek Academy into silence.

Cruel, rational, cold-blooded.

That young man named Han Li had taught everyone on Douluo Continent a vivid lesson through his actions.

Here, do not flaunt your background, and do not blindly trust others' promises.

Because before profit and safety, human lives were thinner than paper.

The scene in the sky lingered for several seconds on Han Li's calm face as he drank tea.

Then, the third viewport slowly shrank as well.

At the center of the light screen, the fourth viewport suddenly enlarged.

The cold notification tone rang out across heaven and earth once more.

[Current livestream perspective locked: Shrek Academy, seventy-sixth-level Soul Sage, Zhao Wuji.]

[Transmission location: Mortal Cultivation World, Human Realm, outer waters of the Chaotic Star Sea, an unnamed sea region.]

As the words appeared, a violent gale carrying an intense fishy sea stench surged from the light screen and hit them head-on.

The image lit up, revealing a vast, boundless black ocean.

The sky was blanketed by heavy storm clouds. Thick bolts of lightning occasionally flashed through the clouds, illuminating the churning sea below.

The gale whipped up waves dozens of meters high, which crashed viciously across the surface.

Zhao Wuji's massive body stood atop a black reef no larger than a few houses.

Seawater continuously washed over the reef, soaking the boots beneath his feet.

"Pah!"

Zhao Wuji spat out the bitter, salty seawater that had poured into his mouth and raised a hand to wipe his face.

"What the hell is this place? Why is the wind so strong?"

He looked around. As far as he could see, there was only an endless expanse of black seawater—not even the shadow of an island in sight.

However, Zhao Wuji was not panicked like those before him.

He was a seventy-sixth-level battle Soul Sage, and his martial soul was the Vigorous Vajra Bear, possessing tremendously powerful defense and strength.

On Douluo Continent, he was honored as the Immovable Bright King. In his early years, he had been a ruthless figure who lived with his life on the line.

Buzz!

Zhao Wuji bent his legs slightly, and soul power erupted from within him.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.

Seven soul rings in the optimal configuration rose from beneath his feet, pulsing up and down around his burly body.

A dense dark golden radiance enveloped his entire body, blocking every wave that crashed toward him.

"With my defense, even if a Titled Douluo showed up, I could take a couple of hits head-on."

Feeling the abundant power within him, a surge of boldness rose in his heart.

"Who cares what kind of demonic beasts this cultivation world has? If they dare show themselves, I'll use them to stretch my legs!"

At Shrek Academy.

Flender watched the imposing Zhao Wuji in the light screen and could not help but worry.

"Old Zhao's temper is still as hot as ever."

"I just hope he gets lucky and doesn't run into a monster like the one Shi Nian encountered earlier."

Just as Flender prayed silently.

The sea before Zhao Wuji suddenly changed.

The waves that had been rising and falling with the gale strangely calmed at that very instant.

Then, the seawater began to rotate.

A massive whirlpool more than a hundred meters in diameter slowly formed on the sea before Zhao Wuji.

At the center of the whirlpool, large numbers of white bubbles rose.

A vast aura, heavy as a mountain, gradually spread through the deep seawater.

This aura made Zhao Wuji's expression shift slightly, but he did not retreat.

"Splash..."

Accompanied by a tremendous roar of water, a small dark-green "island" slowly rose from the center of the whirlpool.

When the spray dispersed, everyone on Douluo Continent finally saw the true form of that "island."

It was an absurdly enormous sea turtle.

Its shell alone, exposed above the water, was half the size of a football field.

The surface of its shell was covered in the marks of time, ancient natural patterns intertwining across it and emitting a faint blue glow.

A peak Level Seven demon beast!

A terrifying existence comparable to a human cultivator at the late Core Formation stage!

Moreover, this giant turtle was already preparing to form its Nascent Soul. One could say it was an old monster with one foot already in the Nascent Soul stage.

The giant turtle slowly raised its head, its enormous tumor-covered head emerging from the water.

A pair of eyes like blue lanterns coldly fixed upon Zhao Wuji, who stood atop the reef.

It opened its fang-filled mouth and exhaled a cloud of white mist dense with water spiritual energy.

"Hm?"

An aged, deep voice actually rang directly within Zhao Wuji's mind.

"A human?"

"How rare. In this stretch of deep sea, it has been several hundred years since I last saw a lone human cultivator."

The giant turtle spoke slowly, its tone carrying the vicissitudes of countless years.

"A few days ago, that fellow Poison Jiao sent me a message saying he had caught several humans for a snack. Their taste was rather mediocre."

"In a few days, I will be going to congratulate him on surviving his transformation lightning tribulation."

"If I capture you, human brat, and bring you as a gift, I'm sure he'll be very pleased."

Hearing the voice at his ear, Zhao Wuji was stunned for a moment.

Then, rather than feeling afraid, he laughed in fury.

"Using me as a snack to give someone else?"

Zhao Wuji rolled his neck, producing a series of crackling bone pops.

He looked up at the massive sea turtle, his eyes gleaming with fervor.

By Douluo Continent's understanding, a soul beast that was huge and capable of speech was a hundred-thousand-year-level existence.

And in the subconscious minds of most soul masters, although turtle-type soul beasts possessed astonishing defensive power, their offensive methods were often limited, and they were relatively sluggish.

Zhao Wuji was exactly Level Seventy-Six this year.

At his cultivation rate, he would need to begin preparing for his eighth soul ring in just a few years.

If he could kill this giant turtle, which appeared to possess a hundred thousand years of cultivation, he would not only obtain a top-grade defensive soul ring, but might even get an exceptional torso bone.

Such temptation made Zhao Wuji completely overlook the Poison Jiao mentioned in its words.

He had not realized at all that this old turtle before him was a monster on the same level as the Nascent Soul great demon Shi Nian had been melted by with a mouthful of thick phlegm.

"You old bastard turtle, who knows how many years you've lived, and you dare act arrogant before me!"

Zhao Wuji bellowed sharply, and the dark-golden light around his body instantly surged.

Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy.

Seeing this scene, Yu Xiaogang was so anxious that he nearly jumped in place.

"Idiot! Zhao Wuji is truly a brainless brute!"

"Didn't he hear that monster say it was going to congratulate Poison Jiao?"

"Anything that can call Poison Jiao a brother is definitely another monster from that so-called Nascent Soul stage. How dare he make a move?!"

But the battle had already begun.

In the image, the seventh black soul ring beneath Zhao Wuji's feet suddenly lit up with blinding radiance.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!"

Accompanied by an earth-shaking bear roar, Zhao Wuji's body swelled enormously in the wind, instantly transforming into a terrifying giant bear over ten meters tall.

His dark-golden fur stood erect like steel needles, while sharp claws half a meter long extended from his bear paws, gleaming with metallic luster.

After activating his Martial Soul Avatar, Zhao Wuji's attributes in every aspect received a terrifying boost.

He forcefully kicked off from the reef with both legs.

The hard black reef was instantly crushed into pieces beneath his feet.

The massive dark-golden bear soared into the air, lunging toward the giant turtle on the sea with the force to topple mountains and overturn seas.