Chapter 994: Is It Me?

Shi Kongyu showed no fear as the black Crab Daoist swung his blade down from above; he raised his arm and punched upward, his fist blazing with purple lightning.

A thunderous boom erupted!

Where fist and blade met, space violently trembled, tearing open seven or eight spatial cracks.

Shi Kongyu and the black Crab Daoist each staggered backward.

But soon, the three were locked in battle once more.

Hidden in the distance, Han Li watched the scene. After an initial shock, his expression quickly calmed, and he fell into thought.

What was happening here matched what the Crab Daoist had told him not long ago; it seemed the Crab Daoist had not lied to him, and the battle was even fiercer than described.

Han Li looked up at the circular wheel phantom above; the time patterns on it had dimmed considerably.

He withdrew his gaze and considered whether to leave now.

In truth, staying served little purpose. With his current frail body, he could do nothing for the Crab Daoist of that time. And knowing that the Crab Daoist would eventually attain Dao Ancestor status, what was unfolding before him might not be a bad thing.

But having traveled here only with difficulty, he wondered if he should go elsewhere to look around.

Just then, with a thunderous crash, the fierce battle abruptly ceased.

Shi Kongyu shot backward and stopped near the entrance of the underground cavern.

Startled, Han Li quickly hid in the shadow behind the door, fully activating the Myriad Aperture Void Technique to conceal his aura.

Shi Kongyu did not attack again; he stood there quietly, a faint smile even appearing on his face.

Since he did not attack, the two corpse puppets also held back.

But seeing the expression on Shi Kongyu's face, the two puppets frowned like ordinary people, their expressions vivid and lifelike, no different from real humans.

“Fellow Daoist Shi Kongyu, our strength is evenly matched; fighting longer will yield no result. I say again, you should leave,” the white Crab Daoist said slowly.

“Indeed, I have long known our strength is equal, and defeating you is nearly impossible,” Shi Kongyu said with a slight smile.

Behind the entrance, Han Li was taken aback by Shi Kongyu's words.

If what Shi Kongyu said was true, why had he fought so fiercely with the two corpse puppets for so long? He clearly had another motive!

The two corpse puppets also realized this issue. Their expressions darkened, and they immediately transformed into streams of black and white light, charging at Shi Kongyu.

“Haha…” Shi Kongyu laughed heartily, paying no heed to the puppets' actions. He suddenly punched himself in the chest.

With a tearing sound, a fist-sized gray bone shot out from his body, inscribed with a black rune resembling a dried octopus.

As soon as the gray bone left Shi Kongyu's body, gray flames erupted on its surface, blazing fiercely.

Within the gray flames, countless black runes faintly emerged, coalescing into a human face pattern with ferocious features, filled with bitter resentment and hatred, a sight that chilled the heart, emitting rapid and frantic strange sounds.

Instantly, a cold law fluctuation radiated from the gray flames, spreading in all directions.

The Scale-Scale Void rejected all other forms of energy, and law power was no exception.

As soon as this cold law appeared, it began to weaken, but it did not vanish immediately; it continued to spread, soon filling the entire underground space.

Han Li, being closest behind Shi Kongyu, was the first to be affected by this law force.

He felt his mind go dizzy as a strange, invisible force directly penetrated the depths of his soul, disturbing his spirit.

Han Li's originally pure soul suddenly dimmed, as if covered in a layer of dust; his soul power churned restlessly, and the miniature soul in his mouth let out irritable roars.

Before his eyes appeared all kinds of bizarre illusions—a sign of rising inner demons.

At the same time, Han Li felt a nauseating disgust in his heart, and his body experienced a vomiting sensation he had not felt in years, as if he wanted to expel his very organs.

“What kind of law is this!”

Terrified, Han Li quickly severed his connection with his physical body and fully activated his Soul Refining Art to stabilize his soul fluctuations.

The two corpse puppets were also enveloped by the cold law force, and pain immediately appeared on their faces.

“Curse Law!” The two puppets' expressions changed drastically; they halted and then rushed toward the Crab Daoist with all their might.

At the same time, black light flared on their bodies, and two powerful law fluctuations erupted, enveloping the Crab Daoist and the blood-colored protective barrier.

Though the two puppets acted quickly, they were still a step too late. Before they could deploy their law defenses, a cold law force invaded the blood-colored barrier and entered the Crab Daoist's body.

“Pfft!”

Inside the blood-colored barrier, the Crab Daoist, who had been fully focused on breaking through to Dao Ancestor by severing the third corpse, was struck by the curse law and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The light around him was in turmoil, and the humanoid mass of light above his head fluctuated violently, showing a tendency to collapse.

"Indeed, it is the law of curses. Unfortunately, within the Scaled-Sky Wasteland, demonic qi cannot be activated. I need some time to activate this Cursed Malice Bone. Shi Kongjie, I've told you before, you cannot win. No matter what law you cultivate, in this life, you are destined to be trampled under my feet!" Shi Kongyu laughed wildly, opening his mouth to spit out something akin to essence blood, which sank into the gray bone.

The flames on the gray bone immediately flared up, and the twisted face within became several times clearer.

Seeing this, Han Li's expression changed drastically. Ignoring the risk of being discovered by Shi Kongyu and the others, he endured the discomfort in his soul and fled upward.

But before he could escape a few steps, a curse force several times stronger than before struck through the air, hitting his soul.

Boom!

Han Li's soul felt as if it were about to burst. All his persistence collapsed instantly, and with a thud, he fell to the ground, rolling into the underground space through the entrance doorway.

But at this moment, he could no longer care about anything else. He clutched his head with both hands, his whole body trembling, yet unable to utter a single sound.

Hearing the commotion behind him, Shi Kongyu's expression changed slightly, and he turned around abruptly to look.

At that moment, the void before him flickered, and a black figure appeared out of nowhere.

This person wore a black robe, and his face was also covered with a layer of black mist. He opened his large hand, grabbed the gray bone in his grasp, and squeezed hard.

With a crisp sound, the gray bone turned to gray powder, and the gray flames burst apart, turning into a surging and violent gray current, mixed with strong fluctuations of law.

The black figure clearly had not anticipated the power of the gray flames. The black qi on his face was blown away by the gray current, revealing half of his face. But then, the black qi condensed and swirled, covering his face again.

Han Li was on the ground, clutching his head in pain, but his eyes swept around randomly and happened to catch a fleeting glimpse of the half-face of the black figure facing him. His body suddenly trembled, and he stopped struggling.

His pupils contracted sharply, revealing an expression of incredulous shock, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

The next moment, the surging gray current swept over Han Li's body, and an even stronger curse law invaded his soul.

With a bang, his consciousness shattered like a mirror, breaking into countless pieces. Then his vision went black, and he fell into endless darkness.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li's consciousness slowly recovered, and he opened his eyes.

What met his eyes was the familiar roof of the side hall, flickering with bursts of blood-red light. He had returned to his original body.

His soul still ached, but it had eased considerably compared to before.

Recalling the previous traversal, a chill ran from his spine to his mind. He suddenly sat up, his face filled with shock, and he was panting slightly.

After a while, his expression slowly calmed, but his eyes still flickered incessantly.

Although the figure in the black robe had only revealed a small part of his face, and only for a blink of an eye, he had seen it very clearly, and it was also very familiar.

This small part of the face looked ordinary, with somewhat dark skin—wasn't it exactly himself?

Not just similar, but truly his own face!

"What's going on... How is this possible?" Han Li's thoughts churned like wild waves.

How could there be another self? Could it be someone else disguised? But the last time the Crab Daoist had severed his Three Corpses was countless tens of thousands of years ago, long before Han Li was even born, so no one could have known his appearance.

Could it be a coincidence? Many tens of thousands of years ago, there was a person who looked exactly like him.

But his intuition told him that things were not that simple.

Han Li stood there frozen, his body motionless.

After an unknown amount of time, a knock sounded at the door.

Han Li suddenly snapped awake, tidied the things beside him, stood up, and pulled open the door.

A figure stood outside—it was the white Crab Daoist puppet.

"Fellow Daoist Han, Sha Xin and the others have arrived. Fellow Daoist Crab has prepared to open the spatial passage. Please come to the main hall," the white Crab Daoist said with a smile.

"Has half a year already passed?" Han Li was startled again upon hearing this.

Had his divine soul, after returning to his body, fallen into a deep sleep and only awakened after half a year?

"Indeed," said the white Crab Daoist.

"Alright, I understand. I'll be there shortly," Han Li said, his expression slightly dazed as he nodded.

The white Crab Daoist smiled and turned to leave.

"You're called Bai Ling?" Han Li's eyes flickered, and he suddenly called out to stop the white Crab Daoist.

"That's the name Fellow Daoist Shi Kongjie gave me," the white Crab Daoist said, slightly taken aback before replying.

"Fellow Daoist Bai Ling, I heard from Fellow Daoist Crab that many years ago, when he first severed his third corpse, he encountered an attack from a Shikong Fish. Is that true?" Han Li asked after a brief hesitation.

"That time, it was because E Kuai lured the Shikong Fish, causing Fellow Daoist Shi Kongjie's efforts to fail. Fortunately, he has been cultivating diligently over the years and finally overcame this hurdle," the white Crab Daoist nodded and said.

"Oh, when Fellow Daoist Crab was attacked by the Shikong Fish last time, I presume Fellow Daoist Bai Ling was also present? How did he manage to get through that crisis? Did he seek help from outsiders?" Han Li asked again, his gaze seemingly casual but actually focused on the changes in the white Crab Daoist's expression.