In the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land lay a treacherous place known as Blood-Weeping Gorge. Dark red cliffs rose on either side, steep as though sliced by blades, while pale pink miasma lingered year-round in the gorge's depths. This miasma was not merely deadly poison; it also eroded cultivators' spiritual power and left their minds dazed. Countless bleached bones of beasts and humans littered the gorge floor, silently bearing witness to its dangers.
At that moment, a fierce melee was raging across a relatively open stretch of rubble midway through the gorge.
One side consisted of seven Black Fiend Cult members led by the middle-aged man at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, with two early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators among them. They formed a rudimentary Seven Fiends Ghost Shadow Formation, its black vapors churning amid ghostly wails and wolfish howls, tightly enclosing an area at its center.
Trapped within the formation, alongside five or six struggling Rogue Cultivators and disciples of minor sects in assorted attire, was none other than Nangong Wan! A cool white barrier enveloped her, and she wielded a translucent jade ruler whose flickering images repeatedly shattered the attacking ghost shadows. Yet her barrier was already on the verge of collapse, and her face had grown somewhat pale. Clearly, she had either been swept into the battle or discovered something that prompted the Black Fiend Cult to surround her.
Outside the battle, two more groups stood confronting each other, watching like tigers eyeing their prey. One consisted of three cultivators in golden brocade robes with formidable auras, hailing from Heavenly Tower Fort, renowned for its body-refining techniques. Their leader was a burly man with a curling beard, whose cultivation had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment middle stage and whose body was exceptionally powerful. The other group comprised two green-robed disciples of the Spirit Controlling Sect, sinister-eyed, with several vicious venomous insects circling beside them.
All their gazes were fixed on a strange plant growing in a crevice at the center of the battlefield! Barely a foot tall, it was translucent amber throughout and shaped like a tiny figure seated cross-legged. Seven-colored radiance flowed among its branches and leaves, and it exuded a supremely pure spiritual essence that refreshed the heart and soothed the mind!
The Mystic Womb Spirit-Transforming Vine! Han Li lurked in the shadow of a cliff several hundred yards away. The instant his Profound Yin Spirit Eye pierced the miasma and revealed the plant, his heart shook violently! According to ancient records, this was a rare treasure of heaven and earth containing a trace of primordial creation energy, one of the principal ingredients for refining the Nascent Soul-Forming Pill, and an immense aid in forming a nascent soul! Even consumed raw, it could greatly purify spiritual power and nourish the soul, with miraculous effects on breaking through Foundation Establishment bottlenecks! Its value was simply immeasurable!
No wonder so many people are fighting over it... Han Li's gaze burned, but he immediately regained his composure. The situation was complicated: the Black Fiend Cult held the advantage, Heavenly Tower Fort and the Spirit Controlling Sect coveted the treasure, Nangong Wan was trapped, and the Rogue Cultivators were near death. If he rashly intervened, he would surely become the target of every arrow.
Like the most patient venomous snake, he pushed his Essence-Concealing Technique to its limit, blending his aura with the rock as he observed in silence. He was waiting-waiting for the snipe and clam to lock horns and leave each other wounded!
On the battlefield, the fighting had reached a fever pitch. The Black Fiend Cult's Seven Fiends Ghost Shadow Formation was formidable, steadily tightening its encirclement. A ghost shadow invaded an unwary Rogue Cultivator's body, instantly draining his blood essence and leaving him to fall as a desiccated corpse. Nangong Wan swept her jade ruler, scattering clear radiance and barely protecting the few people beside her, but her barrier grew ever dimmer.
"Nangong Wan! If you know what's good for you, hand over your Ice Soul Cold Jade and help our cult obtain this spirit vine. Perhaps we'll spare your life!" the late-stage Foundation Establishment leader of the Black Fiend Cult declared with a vicious grin, pressing his attacks harder.
"Dream on!" Nangong Wan's face frosted over. Her slender fingers flicked repeatedly, sending several ice spikes shooting forth, only for the opponent's Black Banner to block them with ease.
"Hahaha! Black Fiend Cult scum, you think this spirit vine is yours to touch? Break!" The curly-bearded man from Heavenly Tower Fort finally lost patience. With a wild laugh, golden light blazed from his entire body, making him resemble a golden-armored war god as he charged straight into the melee and punched at the ghost shadow formation! The force of his fist was unmatched in its ferocity, making the formation's barrier shake violently!
"You brutes from Heavenly Tower Fort dare snatch food from our mouths?" The two Spirit Controlling Sect disciples laughed darkly and shook their sleeves. Great clouds of multicolored poisonous mist spread out, while several Ironback Centipedes, impervious to blades and spears, darted like lightning to bite the Black Fiend Cult members!
A three-way melee erupted in an instant! The scene spiraled completely out of control! Ghost shadows, golden light, poisonous mist, and ice spikes clashed and collided, while explosions and screams rang out without end!
Now!
A sharp gleam burst from Han Li's eyes! He shot from the shadows like a phantom! Rather than charge toward the chaotic heart of the melee, he aimed directly for the unattended Mystic Womb Spirit-Transforming Vine! Pushing Shadowless Escape to its limit, he moved so fast that only a faint shadow remained!
"How dare you, junior!"
"You're courting death!"
Almost the instant Han Li moved, all the battling parties noticed him! The Black Fiend Cult leader, the Heavenly Tower Fort strongman, the Spirit Controlling Sect disciples, and even Nangong Wan each diverted an attack toward him, sweeping down like a storm that blotted out the sky! They might slaughter one another, but they would never allow an outsider to take the treasure so easily!
Facing furious strikes from several Foundation Establishment cultivators, Han Li's expression remained unchanged as his thoughts raced! He had anticipated this all along!
"Profound Yin Aura-Hiding Formation, rise!" Three formation flags he had secretly planted activated at once, surrounding him with a small black barrier. Though it shook violently under the attacks and was barely short of shattering, it still bought him a single instant!
At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat out the wisp of pseudo core flame he had been nurturing in his dantian. Rather than attacking his enemies, it traced a dark red line of fire before him! The air distorted wherever the line passed, and the surging poisonous mist and ghost shadows hissed as they burned, their power greatly diminished!
Taking advantage of the brief opening created by the formation and the pseudo core flame, Han Li slipped through the gaps between the attacks like a swimming fish, avoiding them by a hair's breadth! The subtle brilliance of Shadow Step was displayed to its fullest at that moment!
The next instant, he stood before the Mystic Womb Spirit-Transforming Vine! Without hesitation, he held two fingers together like a blade and sliced precisely toward its roots with pure dark spiritual power, while a jade box appeared in his left hand!
"Stop him!" The Black Fiend Cult leader's eyes nearly split with rage. Abandoning his opponent, he transformed the Black Banner into a massive claw that reached for Han Li's back! The Heavenly Tower Fort strongman's fist force and the Spirit Controlling Sect's venomous insects were closing in as well!
As though he had eyes in the back of his head, Han Li ignored the attacks entirely, concentrating every shred of his attention on harvesting the spirit vine! Dark spiritual power flickered at his fingertips, severing the vine at its roots, and he instantly placed it in the jade box and sealed it!
Just as the attacks were about to strike, he abruptly turned, a trace of madness flashing in his eyes. Instead of dodging, he stuffed the newly acquired jade box into his robes and formed a strange hand seal before his chest!
"Profound Fiend Power... explode!"
He instantly compressed the pure Profound Fiend Power within his body before him, then violently detonated it! A powerful dark shock wave, intensely corrosive, erupted outward with him at its center!
Boom!
The tremendous blast shook the heavens! The Black Banner's giant claw, the golden fist force, and the vicious venomous insects slammed into the Profound Fiend Power shock wave! Chaotic torrents of energy ran rampant, blasting a huge crater into the ground!
Han Li took a devastating blow and spat out a mouthful of blood. His body flew backward like a kite with its string snapped, smashing heavily into the cliff! Yet a cold smile curved his lips! With the explosion's recoil, he had escaped the most dangerous heart of the battle!
"Little bastard! Leave the spirit vine!" The Black Fiend Cult leader was so furious he nearly spat blood. Ignoring his injuries, he gave frenzied pursuit. The Heavenly Tower Fort strongman and Spirit Controlling Sect disciples also saw red, abandoning their opponents and lunging after Han Li!
An unusual glint flashed through Nangong Wan's beautiful eyes. She had never expected Han Li to be so audacious, or his methods so uncanny and ruthless. With a sweep of her jade ruler, she raised an ice wall to briefly hinder his pursuers and called sharply, "Go!"
Han Li gave her a long look. Without any hesitation, he forced himself to draw another breath and unleashed Shadow Step, fleeing desperately deeper into Blood-Weeping Gorge! His internal organs were injured and his spiritual power was in turmoil; he was no match for the pack of wolves and tigers behind him!
"After him!"
"Don't let him escape!"
The Black Fiend Cult, Heavenly Tower Fort, and Spirit Controlling Sect cultivators chased him relentlessly like rabid dogs, raining spells and magical artifacts down toward his back!
Han Li pushed Shadowless Escape to its utmost, darting left and right through the rugged gorge and using rocks to evade attacks. All the while, he kept swallowing pills to suppress his injuries. His situation could not have been more dire!
Yet fortune leaned upon calamity. Just as he fled into an extremely narrow stretch of the gorge, where the miasma was so thick it seemed almost solid, a strange pulse suddenly emanated from the sealed jade box inside his robes! The Mystic Womb Spirit-Transforming Vine seemed to have resonated with some aura in this place!
Immediately afterward, the cliff a short distance ahead, shrouded in dense miasma, rippled like water and revealed an opening just wide enough for one person to pass through, exuding an ancient, desolate aura! The opening was deep and dark, with faint sounds of wind and thunder coming from within!
A spatial rift? Or... an ancient cultivator's cave abode? Han Li had no time to ponder; his pursuers were already upon him! Gritting his teeth, he plunged headfirst into the opening without hesitation!
The instant his figure disappeared, ripples spread across the opening. It swiftly closed, returning to the appearance of an ordinary cliff.
When the Black Fiend Cult leader and the others reached the spot, they saw only an empty gorge and dense miasma. Where was there any trace of Han Li?
"Where did he go?!"
"Search! Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we'll find him!"
Outside the cave, furious, frustrated roars echoed for a long time. Inside, would Han Li find an unknown opportunity awaiting him-or an even greater danger?
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