A peculiar turn of events unfolded!
As soon as the white threads came into contact with the purple flame, they came to an abrupt halt as if they had been dealt a heavy blow, revealing them to be a series of needles that were as thin as hair.
Han Li swept an arm through the air and the purple flames over his body expanded by over a foot, instantly engulfing the thin needles within.
Purple light flashed over the needles, instantly sealing them in layers of purple ice, upon which the needles all began to plummet as they had lost their spiritual nature. As for the oncoming green jade hammer, Han Li nonchalantly waved a sleeve through the air and a purple light flashed past, sending the hammer flying as if it had been struck by an immense force.
Daoist Master Swift Crane hurriedly made a hand seal to try and arrest its momentum, but all to no avail. Light began to shimmer along the surface of the hammer as well before it was also sealed in a block of purple ice in the blink of an eye.
The Daoist priest's expression had become extremely strained!
The yellow-robed man was also struggling to believe his own eyes.
Never would he have thought that the treasures he relied so heavily upon would be nullified so easily. This was simply incredible to him!
At the sight of the oncoming Han Li, he hurriedly sent a silver wheel flying out from within his sleeve.
However, Han Li was moving as fast as the wind and he reached the yellow-robed man in a flash as his purple flames tumbled through the air.
The silver wheel had only flashed twice before a golden light appeared, upon which the wheel was soundlessly sliced in half and plummeted toward the ground.
The yellow-robed man's pupils contracted drastically upon seeing this. There was yellow light flashing in his mouth and he was just about to summon his magic treasure. However, during this split-second delay, an eerie smile appeared on Han Li's face as one of his arms suddenly turned blurry before disappearing in a flash. Almost at the exact same moment, the yellow-robed man felt something tighten around his neck as a frosty hand rested itself around his throat. A purple light then flashed in front of his eyes and his spiritual sense lost connection with the magic treasure that he was about to release.
"Argh!"
The yellow-robed man was absolutely petrified. He only had time to let loose a howl of anguish before purple ice began to spread from his neck, encompassing his entire body and rendering him completely immobilized. His face was immortalized in an expression of the utmost horror in the block of ice.
Han Li chuckled coldly as he carried the humanoid ice sculpture in one hand. He turned and swept his expressionless gaze across all of the other cultivators.
The four Core Formation cultivators knew that they wouldn't be able to intervene in a battle between Nascent Soul cultivators and even though they had all summoned their treasures, they could only look on from afar with fear surging through their hearts. At the sight of the yellow-robed man being subdued by Han Li, they all glanced at one another before yelling in unison as they dispersed, transforming into streaks of light as they fled for their lives.
As for Han Li's main target, Daoist Master Swift Crane, he had fled the scene even before the four Core Formation cultivators.
In the instant that the yellow-robed man was captured by Han Li, Daoist Master Swift Crane was extremely shocked to discover that Han Li was far more powerful than he had imagined. He knew that he had zero chance of securing victory, so he immediately made a snap decision and hurtled toward the stone city as a green streak of light.
He was initially quite concerned that the golden beetles in the air would converge to try and stop him. However, to his surprise, the spirit insects were all rooted to the spot, as if they were puppets, allowing him to escape without any impediment.
Daoist Master Swift Crane was overjoyed to see this and after flashing through the air a few times, he had already covered a distance of over 1,000 feet.
Han Li didn't waste any time upon seeing this. He swept his long sleeve toward the Core Formation cultivators first, upon which four streaks of golden light shot forth, traveling so quickly that they were able to catch up to the four cultivators almost instantaneously.
A series of agonized cries rang out in quick succession!
The cultivators' protective treasures were all punctured by the golden light, sending blood raining down from above along with their mutilated bodies and ruined treasures.
Only then did Han Li turn his attention to Daoist Master Swift Crane, who had almost disappeared from view. He chuckled coldly upon seeing this and didn't give chase. Instead, a loud thunderclap erupted from the hand that was carrying the ice sculpture, summoning several bolts of thick golden lightning, instantly transforming into a golden net that ensnared the ice sculpture within.
Lightning flashed violently and the ice sculpture was pulverized by the golden light. At the same time, a yellow Nascent Soul that was about an inch in height appeared. The features on the Nascent Soul were completely identical to that of the yellow-robed man.
The Nascent Soul wore an expression of sheer panic as it quickly made a hand seal. Spiritual light flashed over its body and it disappeared on the spot.
However, in the next instant, a loud boom erupted from a certain spot on the golden net and the Nascent Soul was forced to reveal itself. Teleportation techniques were completely useless in the face of restrictions created by the Divine Devilbane Lightning.
Han Li didn't say anything as he feigned a grabbing motion. The golden night abruptly contracted, forming a golden ball of light that ensnared the Nascent Soul within. He then raised a hand and several talismans flew through the air, plastering themselves to the Nascent Soul's body.
The Nascent Soul's spiritual power congealed as a result, and it was immediately completely immobilized.
Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and turned his attention away from the Nascent Soul. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and directed his gaze toward the direction that Daoist Master Swift Crane had disappeared in.
At this point, Daoist Master Swift Crane was already several thousand feet away. Magic power was flowing within his body without any reservation and he was traveling almost as fast as lightning. Even so, he still turned to look behind him from time to time, seemingly in constant fear that Han Li would be able to chase him down.
After seeing only a vast expanse of inky darkness behind him, Daoist Master Swift Crane finally heaved an internal sigh of relief. However, he didn't slow down in the slightest. Instead, he flipped a hand over to summon an azure talisman before making a hand seal, appearing as if he were preparing to activate the talisman.
Unbeknownst to Daoist Master Swift Crane, in the instant that he had turned to face forward once again, a faint silver light appeared behind him, following which an azure humanoid figure emerged in a wraith-like manner.
The humanoid figure appeared to be flying at a leisurely pace, but it wasn't being outsped n the slightest. This was naturally the humanoid puppet that Han Li had already released in advance.
However, the Daoist priest was completely oblivious to this as his attention was focused on the talisman in his hand.
The puppet raised a hand and a silver fist flew soundlessly through the air.
The protective barrier around the Daoist priest's body formed by that red shield was instantly punctured by the silver fist as if it were a mere papier mache construction. The fist then struck him on the back and the protective layer of spiritual light over his body was also instantly pulverized.
Daoist Master Swift Crane's heart sank at the realization that he was being attacked from behind, but it was already too late for him to react.
The fist suddenly protruded out from the front of the Daoist priest's chest, leaving a gruesome crimson trail in its wake. The fist was then violently withdrawn, creating a puncture wound with a diameter comparable to that of a bowl on Daoist Master Swift Crane's chest. A bloodcurdling howl erupted as Daoist Master Swift Crane's body plummeted powerlessly toward the ground.
The humanoid puppet rubbed its hands together before waving them downward, upon which a silver net of light descended from above. 10 minutes later, Han Li had already settled onto the nearby mountain peak when he saw a silver streak of light appear in the distance. The streak of light was flying directly toward him and a faint smile appeared on his face.
A loud thump erupted as Daoist Master Swift Crane was hurled down from above, landing heavily at Han Li's feet. He had already been encapsulated in a layer of silver light and there were talismans of all different colors plastered onto his body.
A humanoid figure flashed and the puppet appeared behind Han Li.
Only then did Han Li turn his attention to Daoist Master Swift Crane. The latter's body was splattered with blood and he was already half-dead. A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face...
Four hours later, a streak of azure light silently flew out from Lightning Sky Island, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.
The azure streak of light was none other than Han Li and he was holding two green storage pouches in his hands with a contemplative look on his face.
The pouches were storage pouch that he had obtained from Daoist Master Swift Crane and the yellow-robed man. There were over 100 high-grade spirit stones in each pouch and they were going to sneak them back to Green Spirit Island.
It turned out that Daoist Master Swift Crane appeared to have allied himself with the other powers on the island, but he had actually pledged his allegiance to the Starfall Coalition in secret. He was planning to control the islands near Green Spirit Island with the Starfall Coalition's support, and this Lightning Sky Island was one of his targets.
The high-grade spirit stones being sold on Lightning Sky Island by the sect that Daoist Master Swift Crane belonged to were given to him in secret by Starfall Coalition cultivators. The cultivators from the Starfall Coalition had excavated those spirit stones from Green Spirit Island and was doing this to support Daoist Master Swift Crane, so he could increase his influence on Lightning Sky Island. The yellow-robed man was a Nascent Soul itinerant cultivator who had been bribed by the Starfall Coalition. He was responsible for taking over another island and his position was similar to that of Daoist Master Swift Crane.
This man had appeared at Lightning Sky Island as he had received an incredible order, just as Daoist Master Swift Crane had. They were ordered to gather all of the high-grade spirit stones they had, then transport them over to Green Spirit Island as quickly as possible. It appeared that there was an extremely important matter that required these high-grade spirit stones as well as the power of these Nascent Soul cultivators. They had also been told to do their best to keep all of the cultivators from the other powers in the dark about this.
Due to the facts that this order was very strange, and the island that the yellow-robed man was staying on was very close to Lightning Sky Island, the two of them decided to meet up before traveling to Green Spirit Island together, thinking that they would have more strength in numbers.
However, unbeknownst to them, their conversation at the market about buying back spirit stones was overheard by Han Li. He didn't manage to hear the entire conversation, but from what he did hear, he deduced that the two of them had pledged their allegiance to the Starfall Coalition, they were both carrying a large number of spirit stones, and they were going to depart from the stone city soon.
Han Li had a score to settle with Daoist Master Swift Crane anyway, so he naturally wasn't going to hold back, especially after learning the fact that these two were both carrying large amounts of high-grade spirit stones, and taking into the account the fact that he had once been hunted down for a long time by the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Starfall Coalition. Thus, he immediately left the stone city and split his spiritual sense into countless threads, then releasing over 10,000 Gold Devouring Beetles all over the stone city to maintain surveillance over Daoist Master Swift Crane.
As a result, he was able to stop their group just as they were about to leave the island. With his current power as a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was naturally able to take down two early-Nascent Soul cultivators with ease.
Up to this point, he had achieved his objective for this journey and could immediately return to the Inner Star Seas.
However, when he was using his soul search technique on the two cultivators, he gleaned an important piece of information. It turned out that Zenith Yin, the man who had once almost taken his life, had also arrived in the nearby area. Furthermore, he was one of the mine-guarding elders deployed to Green Spirit Island by the Starfall Coalition.
Zenith Yin was definitely one of the enemies that Han Li detested the most in the Scattered Star Seas. Back when he was in the Heavenvoid Hall, if it weren't for his own resourcefulness and a copious amount of luck, he would've most likely been tortured to death by this old devil already.
As such, Zenith Yin was one of the main targets on Han Lis hit list.
After learning the fact that this devil was currently on the nearby Green Spirit Island, Han Li naturally wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to exact his revenge. Through his soul search technique, he had discovered that there were four Starfall Coalition Nascent Soul cultivators on Green Spirit Island, one of which was at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage while the other three were all early-Nascent Soul cultivators.
This was a formidable force that was perhaps enough to intimidate the other two powers on the island, but it was nothing in the eyes of the current Han Li.
He had absolute confidence in his ability to sneak onto the island, then kill Zenith Yin and depart without alerting anyone else.
With that in mind, Han Li naturally wasn't going to delay any longer. He immediately set forth for Green Spirit Island.
Three days later, Han Li finally arrived in the region of the sea close to Green Spirit Island