Chapter 1101: Great Increase in Strength

The Essencefire Firebird looked at Han Li with a pained expression, but a hint of joy gleamed in its eyes.

Han Li was momentarily startled at the sight.

At that moment, a wisp of white flame emerged on the Essencefire Firebird's body, then swiftly swept from head to tail.

The seven-colored flames on the Essencefire Firebird instantly vanished, and the power of the Seven-Colored Fire Cinnabar was completely refined, merging into the firebird's body.

Not only that, but the flame power within the Essencefire Firebird was also washed and purified, with all impure flame energy eliminated, leaving only the essence.

The bumps on the Essencefire Firebird's body disappeared, its silver flames rippled, and its body shrank by nearly half, but the flame fluctuations it emitted doubled in intensity, and a trace of fire law fluctuation emanated from within.

This fire law was not the law power of the white fire bead, but another, higher-level fire law.

Han Li sensed the change in the Essencefire Firebird and was intrigued.

Over the years, the Essencefire Firebird had devoured various flames, continuously increasing its strength, but the flaw was that it had never truly generated law power within. Unexpectedly, with the help of the white fire bead, it refined its internal flame energy and finally began to generate law power, and a very high-level fire law at that.

The Essencefire Firebird let out joyful cries, spread its wings, and flew out, its silver flames blazing, instantly transforming into a hundred-zhang-sized silver flame giant bird, circling and dancing nearby.

This flame giant bird formed by the Essencefire Firebird was vastly different from before—its body was much more slender, a tall flame crown appeared on its head, and nine long flame tail feathers grew behind it, giving it a more noble appearance.

A terrifying heat radiated from the silver giant bird, several times stronger than before, not much inferior to the flame power unleashed by the white fire bead earlier. The nearby void trembled violently, as if about to ignite.

The Essencefire Firebird circled and flew in midair, its cries growing louder, its eyes filled with excitement. Suddenly, it flapped its wings.

Its wings blazed with silver light, and streaks of silver flame shot out like meteors, striking the towering mountain wall and over a dozen nearby branch peaks in a torrent, like a meteor shower of fire.

Those branch peaks were instantly pierced through by the silver flames, while the towering mountain was riddled with deep, bottomless holes.

Then, with a series of booming sounds, the silver flames exploded and spread, connecting with each other, instantly forming a silver sea of fire dozens of li in size.

A terrifying high temperature emanated from the silver sea of fire, and everything within its range melted rapidly. Over a dozen branch peaks melted like candles, turning into wisps of green smoke and vanishing.

The areas of the towering peak touched by the silver sea of fire also melted instantly, leaving a huge gap in the mountain body.

But this peak was so massive that the gap was negligible compared to the whole; the towering mountain remained unchanged, not even shaking.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flashed with surprise—the Essencefire Firebird's current strength exceeded his expectations.

But then he frowned. This place was not too far from the Fire Yuan Palace, and making such a commotion might attract Qimozi and the others.

With this thought, he immediately sent a divine sense message, ordering the Essencefire Firebird to stop at once.

But the Essencefire Firebird seemed to be having too much fun, ignoring Han Li's message. It turned its gaze to the main peak, squinting, as if dissatisfied that its attack hadn't shaken it.

It let out a high-pitched screech, its silver flames flared, and it opened its mouth to spit.

The white fire bead shot out from its mouth, heading straight for the main peak.

The bead blazed with white light, rapidly expanding.

From a mere three inches in diameter, it instantly grew to three zhang!

Then thirty zhang! Three hundred zhang! Three thousand zhang!

In the blink of an eye, the white fire bead swelled into a giant white orb three thousand zhang in diameter, its surface roiling with scorching white flames, blinding to the eye, as if the sun itself had appeared there.

Within nearly a thousand li, everything turned into a blazing white, and the temperature soared to a terrifying level. Not only did all the mist instantly evaporate, but the mountain itself began to melt rapidly.

A devastating aura emanated from the giant white orb. As it rotated slightly, the void within dozens of li became blurred, and then with a tearing sound, countless space cracks of all sizes appeared!

Han Li was about to fly out and stop the Essencefire Firebird when the surrounding void flickered, and space cracks emerged, slicing toward his body.

He frowned, let out a low shout, and the True Word Wheel appeared behind him, emitting golden ripples that spread instantly, covering a hundred zhang around.

The space cracks within the hundred-zhang range froze, but the power contained in these cracks was immense, and the golden ripple zone trembled violently, seemingly unable to hold them.

Han Li urgently activated the True Word Wheel with all his might, stabilizing the golden ripples, and looked in shock at the Essencefire Firebird and the giant white orb.

When he had earlier activated this bead with all his strength, he had only produced a tongue of flame, which was insignificant compared to the giant white orb before him now.

Moreover, the power unleashed by Xiong Shan and Lan Yan with the Desolate Ancient Sword and the blue pouch was far inferior to that of the giant white orb.

The giant white orb did not stop; it shot forward, seemingly slow but actually fast, reaching the towering peak and smashing heavily into it.

A thunderous roar echoed!

This time, even the boundless towering peak shook with a dull rumbling that lingered, and countless rocks of all sizes rained down.

The giant white orb embedded itself directly into the mountain wall, its surface spewing scorching flames that burned through layer after layer of rock, drilling inward as if determined to pierce the peak through.

But at that moment, a layer of dazzling golden light spread out, enveloping the giant white orb.

Within the golden light, a time law power surged, slowing the orb's advance tenfold.

Han Li's figure flickered and appeared near the mountain wall, waving his hand.

Over two hundred time law crystal threads shot out, and the golden light within his time domain converged, coalescing into a giant golden hand that reached deep into the mountain wall and grabbed the giant white orb.

Flames roiled on the orb's surface, fiercely burning the golden hand, but no matter how the flames scorched, the golden hand remained unmoved.

“Enough, stop this nonsense!” Han Li glared coldly at the Essencefire Firebird and shouted.

Under Han Li's cold stare, the excitement in the Essencefire Firebird's eyes quickly faded, replaced by a timid look. Its massive body rapidly shrank, turning back into the Essencefire Boy.

The giant white orb also shrank instantly, returning to its original form, and with a whoosh, flew back to the Essencefire Boy's side.

The surrounding silver sea of fire also flickered and extinguished completely.

The silver flames on the Essencefire Boy dimmed considerably, and the trace of fire law it had just generated was mostly consumed, barely perceptible.

But the Essencefire Boy seemed unfazed, flying over to Han Li, hanging its head in dejection like a child who had done wrong, stealing a glance at Han Li before lowering its head again.

“Forget it, don't be so playful in the future.” Han Li looked at the Essencefire Boy, smiled, patted its head, then formed hand seals and put away the time domain and time crystal threads.

The Essencefire Boy chirped happily, as if pardoned, and sat on Han Li's shoulder, opening its mouth to absorb the white fire bead into its body.

With the bead inside, its silver flames immediately brightened, and wisps of fire-attribute energy converged from the void, merging into the Essencefire Boy's body.

Han Li sensed this and showed a surprised expression.

Previously, when the Essencefire Boy consumed energy, it could only recover by devouring existing flames like earth fire. Now, with the help of the white fire bead, it could directly absorb fire-attribute energy from the void.

It seemed the white fire bead was not only useful for attack but also had other functions.

Regardless of what other abilities the white fire bead might have, its offensive power alone was sufficient.

The attack of the white fire bead just now was earth-shattering; even he was not sure he could withstand it. If not for the giant white orb's impact on the towering peak, which dissipated most of its power, he would not have been able to capture it so easily.

Judging by the changes in the Essencefire Boy's aura, it should be able to activate the white fire bead for two such attacks.

With the Essencefire Boy as a trump card, his strength had increased significantly, giving him a better chance against Qimozi.

Han Li let out a silent breath, suppressing his excitement, and transformed into a streak of golden light, shooting upward.

The Time Tower was no longer calm; demons released everywhere might be roaming, and the commotion caused by the Essencefire Boy made this place unsafe to stay.

As the Essencefire Boy retracted the white fire bead, white mist reappeared in the void. Han Li's figure flickered and vanished into the mist above.

Less than half an hour after Han Li left, two beams of light flew up from below, arriving at the spot where Han Li and the Essencefire Boy had been. The light faded, revealing two figures: Qimozi and Xiong Shan.

Qimozi looked at the pockmarked mountain wall, then at the void, frowning slightly, his expression uncertain.

“Judging by this, a fierce battle seems to have taken place here. The combatants were not weak,” Xiong Shan said, looking around and taking a light breath.

“There is still a trace of time law here. One of them should be that Han Li. The other cultivates fire law and was using that Lihuo Heavenly Bead to fight Han Li,” Qimozi said slowly after a moment's thought.