A ghostly claw blotted out the sky, and a bloody wind lashed his face! The furious strike of a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator had enough power to flatten a small hill! Han Li could already feel the bone-piercing chill and the breath of death at his back!
Ahead stood the Profound Yin Altar, radiating ominous, ancient fluctuations. Like a silent behemoth, it waited for its prey to walk into its jaws.
In that lightning-fast instant, madness and resolve flashed through Han Li's eyes! Rather than turn aside or withstand the blow head-on, he poured every scrap of dark spiritual power in his body into his legs, regardless of the cost. His speed surged again, and like a bolt of black lightning, he hurtled without hesitation toward the inconspicuous depression at the altar's center!
Just as his body was about to touch the altar-
Hum!
The entire altar shuddered violently! The seemingly haphazard markings carved into its surface suddenly lit up with a dusky glow. An immense surge of incomparably pure Profound Yin Fiend Qi, seemingly drawn from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds, erupted from the altar's center like a savage beast awakening after ten thousand years of slumber!
This fiend qi was more than a hundred times stronger than the yin energy in the surrounding marsh! Cold and deathly still, it carried the terrifying power to corrode all things and freeze souls!
The first to bear its brunt was not Han Li, but the Black Fiend Cult's Foundation Establishment deacon, who had pursued him relentlessly, certain of victory!
The moment his enormous ghostly claw touched the erupting Profound Yin Fiend Qi, it dissolved as though made of paper! Its momentum undiminished, the terrifying fiend qi slammed into him like a raging wave!
"No! This is... Profound Yin True Fiend!!" The Foundation Establishment deacon's vicious grin instantly gave way to boundless terror and horror! He frantically drove his protective spiritual light and deployed several defensive magical artifacts, but before the pure Profound Yin True Fiend, every defense seemed hopelessly fragile!
Crack! Crack!
His protective spiritual light shattered, and the glow of his defensive artifacts dimmed as they cracked apart! Like countless icy needles, the terrifying fiend qi burrowed madly into his meridians, dantian, and sea of consciousness!
"Aaargh!" He let out an agonized scream. Black frost spread over his body at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into a pile of rocks dozens of zhang away. His aura weakened to an extreme in an instant; he had clearly suffered devastating injuries!
Yet Han Li, standing at the heart of the eruption, experienced something entirely different!
The instant the Profound Yin True Fiend, powerful enough to freeze a Foundation Establishment cultivator to death, touched Han Li's body, the dormant pale-green Small Bottle in his dantian suddenly began trembling violently beyond his control! The indistinct rune on its surface burst into an unprecedented radiance!
An invisible suction arose from the Small Bottle. As though it had met its nemesis, or like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, the erupting Profound Yin True Fiend was swallowed and absorbed by the Small Bottle at a frantic pace!
Han Li felt an indescribable, supremely pure, frigid energy pour through his limbs, bones, and dantian's sea of qi like a torrent after being transformed by the Small Bottle! Although the energy was bone-chillingly cold, it shared the same origin as his dark spiritual power. Rather than harming him, it was rapidly refined and absorbed!
[Ding! Vast quantities of pure Profound Yin Fiend Qi detected. Being transformed and absorbed by an unknown wondrous object... Host receiving partial feedback... Cultivation rising rapidly...]
Even the system's notification sounded a little hurried.
Qi Refining Seventh Layer, late stage... peak!
Eighth level of Qi Refining!
Mid-eighth level... late stage!
Under this terrifying infusion of fiend qi, Han Li's cultivation soared as though riding a rocket! His meridians widened, his dantian's sea of qi churned and expanded, and even his spiritual sense became more concentrated under the cleansing rush of fiend qi!
Within a few breaths, his cultivation had already broken through to the peak of the eighth level of Qi Refining! He was only one step away from the Qi Refining Ninth Layer!
But the eruption of fiend qi ended as quickly as it had begun. The altar's light rapidly dimmed, and the surging fiend qi stopped abruptly, as though everything that had just happened had been an illusion.
Han Li stood where he was, wreathed in dense black fiend qi that had almost become tangible. An eerie light flickered in his eyes, making him resemble a demon god returned from hell! As he felt the surging power within him, an unprecedented sense of strength filled his heart!
"Cough, cough... pfft!" In the distance, the Black Fiend Cult's Foundation Establishment deacon struggled to rise, only to spit out another large mouthful of black blood mixed with ice fragments. His gaze toward Han Li brimmed with incredulous fear and venom. "You... what kind of monster are you?! How could you possibly absorb Profound Yin True Fiend?!"
He could not understand. Even he, a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator who practiced a yin fiend cultivation method, could not withstand that terrifying fiend qi. How could a mere Qi Refining junior absorb it so easily and even use it to send his cultivation soaring?
Han Li slowly turned his head, his cold gaze locking onto the deacon. The fiend qi coiling around him lent him an added air of sinister authority.
"Now it's my turn."
Before his words had faded, Han Li moved, leaving only a faint afterimage behind. In the next instant, he appeared before the Foundation Establishment deacon like a phantom!
"How dare you, brat!" Shocked and furious, the Foundation Establishment deacon forced out his remaining spiritual power. His withered hand clawed toward Han Li amid a mournful wind in one final struggle.
"Fiendish Fiend Fist: Devour Spirit!"
Han Li shouted in a low voice and drove his fist forward! The punch carried not only the corrosive properties of dark spiritual power, but also a trace of the icy, deathly stillness of the Profound Yin True Fiend he had just absorbed! Wherever the wind from his fist passed, even the air seemed to freeze!
Fist and palm collided once more!
This time, the outcome was completely different!
Crack!
A teeth-grating sound of splintering bone rang out! The Foundation Establishment deacon's hand and arm twisted and deformed under Han Li's punch. A trace of Profound Yin True Fiend invaded in its wake, instantly freezing his meridians!
"Aah!" He screamed again, and despair finally appeared in his eyes.
Han Li pressed his advantage without mercy. His other hand shot out like lightning, its five fingers hooked and coated in dense black fiend qi, and seized the crown of his opponent's head!
"Soul search!"
Since they were already mortal enemies, there was no need for mercy! He would squeeze out this man's last remaining value and obtain every scrap of information about the Black Fiend Cult, the Profound Yin Altar, and that ancient cultivator's cave abode!
"No!! The cult leader won't let you get away with this!!" The Foundation Establishment deacon uttered one final venomous curse before his voice cut off and his eyes turned vacant.
A moment later, Han Li released his grip. The man collapsed limply to the ground, all signs of life gone.
[Ding! One Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator slain. Plundered fifty percent of his cultivation essence, a portion of his soul power, a large quantity of blood essence, and part of the cultivation technique "Profound Yin Fiend Refining Formula." Cultivation increased to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer! Spiritual sense greatly enhanced!]
An influx of energy far greater and purer than any before poured into his body. Han Li shuddered from head to toe, and his aura surged once more. At last, he broke through the bottleneck and officially entered the Qi Refining Ninth Layer! He was now only one step away from Foundation Establishment!
He had leaped through several stages and turned the tables to slay a Foundation Establishment cultivator! If word of such a feat spread, it would shake the entire Southern Heaven Cultivation World!
Han Li exhaled a long breath of stale air, which actually carried wisps of black fiend qi. He swiftly cleared the battlefield, collecting the Foundation Establishment deacon's Storage Bag and every valuable item on his body. Through the soul search, he had obtained a wealth of precious information:
A map of the Black Fiend Cult's influence throughout Heavenly South, information on some of its senior members, detailed intelligence on the ancient cultivator's cave abode-the place where a man called Venerable Xuan Gu had passed away in meditation, containing his legacy and treasures-and the incantations used to control the cultists here, among other things.
More importantly, he had learned the origin and purpose of the Profound Yin Altar! It was the core of a formation used by the ancient Profound Yin Sect to draw in and condense Profound Yin True Fiend. It took hundreds of years to accumulate enough true fiend qi for a single eruption, making it an invaluable treasure for cultivating supreme fiend techniques! The deacon had intended to wait until the restrictions were broken, then use a magical artifact within the cave abode to guide the fiend qi into refining corpses. Instead, he had unwittingly sewn a wedding gown for Han Li.
Profound Yin True Fiend... Venerable Xuan Gu's cave abode... Han Li's eyes flickered. Although he had narrowly escaped death this time, his gains had far surpassed his imagination! Not only had his cultivation soared, but he had also obtained information about a crucial opportunity that could shape his future path!
He glanced at the altar, whose light had completely faded, leaving it looking like an ordinary stone platform. He knew it would be useless for the time being. Then he glanced deeper into the marsh, where dozens of terrified Black Fiend Cult members were scattering like birds and beasts.
Han Li had no intention of pursuing them. He needed to stabilize his Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivation, and the commotion here had been too great to avoid attracting other prying eyes. His immediate priority was to digest his gains, and then... explore Venerable Xuan Gu's cave abode!
He swallowed a medicinal pill and briefly regulated his breathing, drawing in the fiend qi around his body. Then his figure flashed away. Rather than retrace his steps, he sped along a more concealed route to the ancient cultivator's cave abode that he had learned through the soul search.
After this battle, Han Li truly possessed the confidence to contend with Foundation Establishment cultivators and even turn the tables to kill them! Treading upon the bones of a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator, he had climbed a new step on his path to immortality!
The winds and clouds of Poison Dragon Marsh had been stirred by him alone. And an even greater storm awaited him within Venerable Xuan Gu's cave abode.
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