Chapter 2445: Obtaining the Fruit
The vial then abruptly vanished into thin air, and in the next instant, fierce winds were swept up above the forest, while five-colored spirit clouds converged from all directions.
A gargantuan vial opening suddenly emerged from the clouds, then released a flurry of countless dark green runes.
As soon as these runes surged out of the vial, they exploded into clouds of azure Qi, and an enormous burst of law fluctuations instantly descended upon this entire space.
A burst of loud rumbling rang out, and the air tremored slightly as countless trees and tons of soil were flung up into the air.
In the blink of an eye, a vast region of the forest had been uprooted, and everything that rose up into the air was instantly reduced to powder upon reaching within 10,000 feet of the vial's opening before being instantly drawn in.
Everything in a radius of thousands of kilometers was instantly erased before being enshrouded under an azure light barrier, creating a giant black basin that was extremely smooth and completely devoid of life, and it was also rapidly growing deeper.
All of a sudden, a ball of white light erupted out of the basin, then transformed into a massive elephant that was over 10,000 feet tall.
The elephant was snowy white in color and had a pair of reddish-purple fiery wings on its back, which sent waves of purple flames surging toward Han Li with just a single flap.
Han Li's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the white flying elephant, and he immediately pointed a finger up at the vial opening in the sky while chanting an incantation.
Azure light flashed again within the vial, and something shot out in a flash.
All of a sudden, the white elephant let loose an anguished cry, and a dark green chain had appeared around its body in a wraith-like manner, binding it tightly in the blink of an eye.
The giant elephant flapped its wings frantically as a layer of white light surged all over its body, sending enormous power erupting forth in all directions, but the green chain refused to be shaken off and was only growing tighter and thicker.
A thunderous roar rang out as the giant elephant was shattered like a piece of fine china, revealing a middle-aged monk in a white kasaya with a panicked look on his face.
He cast his gaze toward the converging green chain, then gritted his teeth before pulling a thin crimson blade out of his sleeve, which he slashed viciously toward the oncoming chain.
A burst of crimson light exploded as a strong rank odor wafted through the air, and a scintillating crimson flower bloomed in the sky to envelop the monk's entire body.
However, the dark green chain remained completely unscathed and wound itself around the monk's body with ease.
At the same time, bursts of green light appeared nearby before converging toward the center, and a series of green tornadoes rose up into the heavens, releasing a burst of incredible force that instantly tore the crimson flower into shreds.
Immediately thereafter, the tornadoes transformed into countless azure paper-thin blades that surged toward the monk.
All of the blades had dark green spirit patterns all over their surfaces and were giving off faint law fluctuations.
The bound monk's face completely paled as he swept his spiritual sense toward these azure blades, and he hurriedly yelled, "Stop! I concede and am willing to offer you my dao badge!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, he opened his mouth to release a silver badge.
Han Li immediately ceased chanting his incantation before casting an expressionless gaze toward the silver badge.
"Only one? Where are the others? If you don't surrender them, I'll have to take them by force."
The monk's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he sighed with a wry smile, "Alright, I'll give you all of my dao badges! Looks like I had no choice but to completely back out of this competition."
Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth again to release two more silver badges.
Right after those two badges were released, spatial fluctuations erupted beneath the monk, and a five-colored light formation appeared, following which the monk abruptly vanished on the spot, leaving only the three silver badges and dark green chain behind.
Han Li was completely unsurprised to see this, and the green chain and massive vial opening in the sky both disappeared at his behest.
The surrounding green light barrier and five-colored clouds in the sky also vanished, following which a small green vial slowly descended from the heavens.
At the same time, the three silver badges also flew toward Han Li on their own.
Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to stow the vial and badges away, then departed from this area as a streak of azure light.
Moments later, several streaks of light converged from different directions, then inspected the area with their spiritual sense from afar before carefully departing as well.
......
Several days later, Han Li was in his giant golden ape form with three heads and six arms, and he pulverized a giant insect with a single punch, upon which a silver badge emerged.
Han Li opened the mouth of his central head to swallow the badge, then reverted back to his human form before flying away.
......
Half a month later, Han Li was facing off against a yellow-robed elderly man and a red-robed woman above a boundless sea in a triangular formation.
In contrast with the grim expressions worn by the other two, Han Li remained completely expressionless.
Between them was a golden whale that was over 10,000 feet in length, and its body was riddled with wounds, while its aura was barely detectable, indicating that it was on the brink of death.
"Judging from the power of this illusionary beast, it must have more than one dao badge in its body. You two clearly don't intend to back out, so I'll take your dao badges as well," Han Li said in a bone-chilling voice.
"Your powers are indeed incredible, but aren't you underestimating Mistress Hua Rong and myself? Let's see if you can back up your arrogance!" the yellow-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.
As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a grabbing motion with both hands, summoning a giant black sword and a green pagoda.
The black sword immediately conjured up a massive black sandstorm, while the green pagoda swelled to the size of a mountain before layers of dazzling light swept toward Han Li out of its bottom.
Meanwhile, the red-robed woman made a hand seal, and bursts of crimson flames erupted out of her body as she transformed into a massive crimson fiery phoenix.
The phoenix raised its head and let loose a clear cry, then flapped its wings vigorously and swept toward Han Li as a sea of scorching flames.
In response, Han Li raised a hand to summon his three extreme mountains, which formed a protective barrier before him, then flipped his other hand over to release the small green vial, which he tossed up into the air while chanting an incantation.
......
A month later, several elders of the True Dragon Race were standing on a platform in a mysterious space, casting their eyes toward a certain direction.
All of a sudden, a streak of azure light shot forth from that direction before quickly arriving above the platform, then descended in front of the elders.
Upon landing on the platform, Han Li cast his gaze toward Elder Jin with a faint smile on his face.
"Haha, as expected, you're the first person to have gathered enough badges and arrived at the dao platform, Fellow Daoist Han," Elder Jin chuckled.
"You're far too kind, Senior Jin; I was very fortunate to have been able to collect these dao badges so quickly. Please examine the badges to make sure that there are enough," Han Li replied as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing over 100 silver badges, all of which hovered in mid-air before the group of elders.
Elder Jin swept his spiritual sense over the badges before quickly giving a nod of approval. "There are 108 badges here; enough for a Vast Spirit Dao Fruit. Elder Feng, bring out a dao fruit for Fellow Daoist Han."
A white-robed elder nodded in response before pulling a pristine white jade box out of his sleeve, then removed the lid to reveal a fist-sized reddish-purple fruit.
The fruit was as translucent as a crystal, and was giving off an indescribable fragrant aroma.
Even just a slight whiff of the fruit from afar struck Han Li with an instant boost in alertness, and he accepted the jade box before appraising the fruit inside with an intense gaze.
"As expected of the number one spirit fruit in all realms; this is truly an extraordinary creation of nature."
"Hehe, I'm sure you already know the effects of this fruit, so I won't bore you with an explanation. Unfortunately, this fruit can only be consumed once in a lifetime. Otherwise, there's no way we'd be willing to hold this convention. By the way, prolonged exposure is detrimental to the Vast Spirit Dao Fruit, so please stow it away as soon as possible," Elder Jin cautioned in a friendly manner.
"Thank you for the advice, Senior Jin, but that won't be necessary," Han Li said with a smile before pulling the fruit out of the box, then consumed it in a few quick mouthfuls.
All of the elders looked on with stunned expressions, while Han Li smacked his lips a few times, seemingly eager for more.