Chapter 1242: A Temporary Measure

After entering the lightning region, Han Li raised both hands simultaneously and made a grasping motion in the air.

Below, the thunderclouds stirred like writhing white flood dragons, converging from all directions.

In his sea of consciousness, thunderclaps rolled in violently, and a brilliant white light blazed within the gloomy thunderclouds below.

At the moment all the lightning dragons converged, a pillar of pure white lightning shot up from the thunderclouds, instantly piercing the sky of his sea of consciousness.

Han Li, standing at the very center of the lightning, was struck directly by the sword-like bolt that rose abruptly, letting out a harrowing scream that lasted for over ten breaths.

Ti Hun strained to open her eyes wide, staring toward where the lightning pillar had risen, but the light there was too dazzling; she could not see any trace of Han Li's soul.

After waiting for a long time, as the thunder gradually subsided, the towering pillar of light slowly contracted toward the center, growing thinner, and the unbearable glare within finally dimmed.

Ti Hun then saw that above the thunderclouds, two Han Lis had appeared, as if he had truly split in two.

The one on the left wore a ferocious expression, raising both arms and examining himself with wild joy, while the one on the right looked much calmer, though a deep furrow was etched between his brows.

"They're the same person, how can the difference be so great..." Ti Hun studied the auras of the two and said worriedly.

The aura of the evil corpse soul was clearly much stronger than that of Han Li's original soul.

"Haha... finally separated, finally separated... Haha, do you know how painful it was to be suppressed like a vile dragon in a well, coiled in the abyss? Today I have broken free, and I will make you taste the agony of being crushed in the depths of the heart, where thoughts are strong but cannot be freely released!" The evil corpse soul stared at the opposite Han Li soul with hatred, roaring almost hysterically.

With this outburst, the sea of consciousness, which had just calmed slightly, immediately stirred with wind and clouds, undergoing another transformation.

On the left side of the sea of consciousness, the leaden black clouds were suddenly tinged with a layer of blood, gradually turning blood-red, transforming into a sea of blood clouds.

On the right side, the sea of clouds grew even darker, with frequent flashes of lightning and continuous rumbling.

"You are worthless now. Rest assured and hand over this space to me completely," the evil corpse roared.

He suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed toward Han Li in front of him, and the entire sea of consciousness behind him immediately pressed forward aggressively toward the other side.

Han Li's soul naturally would not surrender without a fight; he immediately charged toward the evil corpse, and streaks of lightning surged from the leaden clouds behind him, rushing toward the blood clouds.

The two seas of clouds collided violently, instantly splitting the entire sea of consciousness into two halves, pressing against each other, and for a moment, they were locked in a stalemate.

"The present you is merely a bit stronger than a remnant soul—what right do you have to contend with me?" The evil corpse's divine soul laughed wildly, its form surging forward once more, charging directly at Han Li's divine soul.

"Just an evil thought I severed, and you dare to boast so arrogantly?" Han Li sneered coldly, meeting it head-on.

The sea of consciousness space instantly became a battlefield for the two divine thoughts, just like the great world outside the body, and they fought back and forth as if in physical combat.

But since divine souls were not physical entities, the cultivation techniques they had practiced in the past were utterly useless. All they could rely on was the power of the divine souls they had each seized.

The evil corpse's divine thought was inherently stronger by a fraction, and Han Li's divine soul soon fell into a disadvantage.

Just as the evil corpse reached out and grabbed Han Li by the throat, Ti Hun's heart suddenly leaped. Her form flickered and appeared behind the evil corpse, striking a palm toward its back.

"I've been waiting for you." The evil corpse twisted its head at an eerie angle toward its back, speaking viciously to Ti Hun.

Ti Hun was startled and wanted to retreat immediately, but it was too late—her palm had already touched the evil corpse's spine.

Immediately, a powerful devouring force emanated from within the evil corpse. Ti Hun felt her mind waver, and this strand of divine thought she had forcibly projected was pulled and began to merge into the evil corpse's body.

"Damn it..."

Ti Hun regretted deeply in her heart. Her intervention had not helped but instead backfired. Once this strand of her divine thought was devoured by the evil corpse, Han Li would have no chance of defeating it.

Just then, a sword cry suddenly rang out in the void of the sea of consciousness. A great white sword condensed from divine thought materialized and slashed down at the evil corpse.

"Spirit-Shocking Thorn!" The evil corpse was also startled at the sight, releasing Han Li and retreating swiftly.

"Ah..." Han Li's original divine soul, unable to dodge, was struck by the white light sword and let out a miserable scream.

After the evil corpse retreated a hundred zhang, it still had Ti Hun attached to its back, and it sneered:

"Haha... Ti Hun, look, following such a useless piece of trash, what future can you have?"

"How could you possibly understand the master's wisdom?" Ti Hun suddenly revealed a strange smile and spoke.

As her words fell, her hands formed seals rapidly before her chest and struck fiercely at the evil corpse's body.

A dark red light lit up from her palm, instantly landing on the evil corpse, transforming into a spherical light barrier that trapped the entire evil corpse within.

The evil corpse was startled at first, then burst into loud laughter.

"A mere barrier can't trap me for even a moment. Once I break free, I'll make your life a living hell." The evil corpse's expression suddenly turned ferocious as it roared.

"No need for a full quarter-hour; ten breaths will suffice." At this moment, Han Li's voice suddenly came from afar.

With the evil corpse temporarily confined, control of the entire sea of consciousness space returned to Han Li's divine soul. He sat cross-legged and soon calmed the anomalies within the sea of consciousness.

At the same time.

In the underground space, Lan Yan was anxiously watching Han Li and Ti Hun.

From Ti Hun's ears, two streams of blood were winding down, while Han Li was even more miserable, with dark blood trickling from all seven orifices.

Just then, a soft exclamation suddenly came from Han Li's mouth, and his eyes snapped open.

Seeing his bloodshot eyes, Lan Yan's body trembled violently, clearly shocked, and she couldn't help but exclaim:

"Fellow Daoist Han..."

Han Li ignored her call, merely turning his palm over. In the center of his palm, a crystalline light flashed, and black crystal chains emerged.

As he pressed his palm against his own forehead, those black crystal chains shot up and directly plunged into his brow, vanishing in a flash.

And immediately after that, Han Li's eyes closed again, leaving Blue Yan utterly bewildered.

At the same time, within his sea of consciousness, a storm suddenly arose. Thirty-six black crystal chains transformed into crystalline light chains that plunged into the sea of clouds, like thirty-six black flood dragons, darting straight toward the evil corpse's divine soul, which was being restrained by Ti Hun.

"Soul-Severing Chains..." Seeing this, Ti Hun finally understood why Han Li had insisted on separating from the evil corpse.

If the evil corpse's divine thoughts were not separated, with their thoughts intertwined, he would not be able to contact Ti Hun alone, nor could he remind Ti Hun to imprison the evil corpse, nor could he temporarily take control of his body to use the Soul-Severing Chains.

"Mere Soul-Severing Chains, you think they can imprison me?" The evil corpse sneered dismissively.

However, though his words were light, his response was quite active. A fierce aura surged around him, turning into gusts of whirlwind that rushed toward Ti Hun.

Ti Hun was originally just a projection of a strand of divine thought, already barely holding on. Now, struck by this force, its power immediately dispersed, and it withdrew directly from Han Li's sea of consciousness. The spherical light barrier was also shattered by the impact.

"Seal!" Han Li suddenly shouted.

The thirty-six Soul-Severing Chains, already rushing forward, suddenly emitted streaks of golden light. Golden runic patterns emerged from the surface of the chains, blazing with dazzling radiance.

"This is... the Art of Spirit Refinement!" The evil corpse was greatly alarmed.

With a wave of his hands, bolts of lightning converged before him, forming a wall of electric light.

Yet in the next instant, strands of the Soul-Severing Law Chains shot forth, passing through the wall of lightning as if through nothing, piercing into the evil corpse, then emerging from its body and crisscrossing into the void of the cloud sea, directly sealing off that entire region.

"No, no..." the evil corpse's soul roared loudly, but it was ultimately to no avail.

He only felt his strength being gradually sealed away, and his roaring voice gradually faded.

"I had long since fused the Soul-Severing Law Chains into my soul-refining secret art, originally intending to keep it as a secret technique to use against others. I never expected that the first time I used it, it would be on myself." Han Li's soul felt a wave of exhaustion, and he staggered to sit down on the ground, sighing with emotion.

...

In the underground space, Weeping Soul sat pale-faced not far from Han Li, eyes closed, regulating her breath.

Lan Yan was like an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth beside them.

"Daoist Weeping Soul, nearly half a quarter of an hour has passed. Why hasn't Daoist Han awakened yet?" she asked, burning with anxiety, looking up at the high sky, unable to help herself.

"Master's soul has been severely injured; he won't wake up so quickly," Weeping Soul said indifferently, opening her eyes.

"What can we do? The commotion from the battle with Saint Envoy Gui Lingzi earlier was not small; this place must have been noticed. Even if the temple is in chaos now, a Da Luo level cultivator will soon come here. We can't stay here any longer," Lan Yan said, her face full of fear and worry.

Weeping Soul was about to speak when she suddenly heard a slight sound. She quickly turned her head and saw Han Li slowly exhale a long breath, his eyelids trembling as he opened his eyes.

At this moment, the bloodshot color in his eyes had completely faded, but they seemed much deeper than before.

"Master..." Weeping Soul quickly stood up and asked.

Han Li did not immediately speak; he only gently shook his head.

"Daoist Han is a man of good fortune; after this tribulation, there will surely be blessings to come," Lan Yan also stepped forward and said.

Han Li heard this and only nodded noncommittally.

"Master, how is it? Have you sealed the evil corpse?" Weeping Soul transmitted her voice to ask.

"It's temporarily sealed, but this is ultimately just a stopgap measure. It won't trap him for long. I need to quickly improve my cultivation, open more immortal apertures, otherwise it will still be very difficult to successfully sever the corpse," Han Li shook his head and replied with a bitter smile.

He did not say everything; now that the evil corpse had been separated from the soul, the longer it lingered in his sea of consciousness, the stronger it would become, and the more difficult it would be to sever the corpse later.

"Though it's a temporary measure, at least it buys us time," Weeping Soul said with a sigh of relief.

"Regardless, let's deal with the matter at hand first," Han Li took out another pill and swallowed it. Without sitting down to meditate, he directly stood up and said.