The smoke of battle over Broken Stone Cliff slowly dispersed in the evening breeze of the Star Shard Sea, leaving only deep gouges and mottled bloodstains on the black crystalline ground to tell of the carnage that had just unfolded.
Han Li leaned against the griffin's neck, star power slowly seeping from his fingertips into its caved-in breastbone. The Magnetic Essence Griffin had taken Man Huzi's Star-Shattering Copper Hammer for him. Now its golden feathers were dull and its breathing faint. Fortunately, the vitality in its Magnetic Essence Scales had not faded; nourished by star power, the sunken area was slowly rising at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Don't waste your strength," Han Li said softly, pressing his palm to the griffin's forehead. "Look after yourself first." The wound on his own back was still bleeding, and the flesh where his protective spiritual light had shattered was tinged blue and purple. This was the "savage bear fiend aura" carried by Man Huzi's copper hammer, which required repeated tempering with the Star Magnetic Art to eradicate.
The Second Elder approached, leaning on his Star-Magnetic Sword. His left shoulder was bandaged over the wound left by the poisoned barb the griffin had extracted with magnetic essence power. His face remained pale, but his eyes had brightened somewhat. "Is the griffin all right? This feathered brute has followed you through life and death for so many years. If it fell here, I'd have no way to answer to you."
"It won't die." Han Li smiled bitterly. "Its hide is thick and its flesh tough. It can take more punishment than I can." As he spoke, he looked down at the remnants of the Inverse Star Alliance bound by Star Palace disciples below the cliff. Over a hundred Core Formation cultivators hung