Chapter 1264: Return to the Eight Desolations

"Heh heh... Don't hold on any longer. Rather than dragging me down with you, let me take a gamble. At least... your two little followers might have a chance to survive." The evil corpse urged again.

Han Li's mind wavered, hesitant, but time was running out.

Seeing that his body had reached its limit, he gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve. With a thought, the隔元锁链 binding the evil corpse clattered open.

"Haha, that's more like it..." The evil corpse laughed wildly.

But his laughter was cut short, for Han Li had not fully undone the seal; he had only removed half of the隔元锁链.

"Borrowing power doesn't have to be all or nothing." Han Li sneered.

"You..." The evil corpse flew into a rage.

As part of the隔元锁链 opened, half of Han Li's immortal apertures that were on the verge of opening spontaneously connected, and a surge of replenishing power flowed within him, regaining control of his body.

He turned his hands, and lightning and golden light coalesced again, emitting terrifying fluctuations.

Yue Qing, startled by the sudden turn of events, couldn't fathom how Han Li had managed it. He quickly formed a hand seal, retracting his expanded domain into his body, and erupted with an immensely profound aura.

Holding his giant sword with one hand, he traced a hand seal along the blade with the other, infusing it with a dense earth-attribute law power. The seven mountain runes reappeared on the blade.

With a roar, Yue Qing struck first, raising his sword and slashing down at Han Li.

In the void, a colossal sword light split heaven and earth, revealing seven majestic peaks, each engraved with a huge runic character, shrouded in yellow clouds, exuding a majestic aura that suppressed the world.

But at that moment, Han Li's gesture suddenly changed from holding a sword to drawing a bow. A golden bow formed of lightning appeared in his hand, with a solid golden arrow nocked, aimed at Yue Qing.

A sharp sonic boom rang out.

In an instant, the golden arrow of heavenly lightning pierced through the first peak.

Then the second, third... The golden arrow passed through all seven peaks as if they were nothing, arriving directly before Yue Qing.

The latter, after all, was a late-Daluo stage cultivator; though flustered, he was not panicked, reacting with extreme speed.

He first raised his broadsword to block in front of him, then shifted his body to avoid a fatal hit.

"Boom boom boom..."

The arrow's momentum was too fast; as it embedded into the sword, the explosions from the peaks behind came in succession, drowning out the sound of it piercing through the sword and into Yue Qing's left chest.

Yue Qing was sent flying backward thousands of zhang by the immense impact, crashing into the ground like a meteor.

"Boom"

Dust rose from the earth, and for a thousand li around, the ground sank a hundred zhang. Where Yue Qing landed, a huge crater thousands of zhang deep was formed.

High above, Han Li was not much better off. His body was charred black, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and the dark color in his eyes had deepened. He staggered and fell from the sky.

The thirty-six Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, using their last bit of strength, flew over to catch him and brought him to the ground.

Seeing this, Wu Hui and Po Feng were greatly alarmed. They had not expected that Yue Qing, a late-Daluo stage cultivator, could be sent flying by Han Li, who was two whole minor realms lower.

Their morale plummeted.

Jin Tong and Xiao Bai seized the opportunity to force back Wu Hui and Po Feng and hurried over to Han Li.

The two did not pursue but immediately went to where Yue Qing had fallen.

"Uncle..." Jin Tong helped Han Li up, frowning.

Han Li was completely weak, and within his sea of consciousness, waves surged. He barely managed to take out a pill but couldn't bring it to his lips.

Seeing this, Xiao Bai took the pill and fed it to him.

"Go, quickly, leave this place." Han Li said after swallowing the pill.

Without a word, Jin Tong hoisted Han Li onto her shoulder, ready to take him away.

"Where do you think you're going?" An angry voice rang out from afar.

Han Li looked toward the sound with difficulty and saw a tall figure slowly flying out of the dust.

In his hand was the broadsword, now with a fist-sized hole in it, clearly greatly damaged in spirit.

His scale armor was even more battered, and on his exposed chest was a huge spiral wound, with golden blood flowing from the center, surrounded by charred flesh that had formed ugly scars like earthworms.

"A late-Daluo cultivator is indeed terrifying." Han Li sighed sincerely as he watched Yue Qing approach step by step.

"A mere early-Daluo cultivator managing to wound me so severely—you are the first and the only one. If I don't grind you to dust today, my hatred will not be appeased." Yue Qing gritted his teeth and said word by word.

Jin Tong's expression hardened. She set Han Li down and stood in front of him and Xiao Bai.

"Boss..." Xiao Bai murmured, looking at Jin Tong's girlish back.

"Is being a late-Daluo cultivator such a big deal?"

At that moment, a cold voice sounded without warning, as if from beyond the heavens, echoing over the entire Mount Tihu.

"Who is it?" Yue Qing stopped in his tracks, looking up warily.

The next instant, the clear sky darkened, as if night had suddenly fallen.

Han Li's heart leaped with joy. He looked up and saw a huge figure descending from the depths of the sky, shrinking until it became a burly man in a cloak.

His face was angular, covered in gray-black stubble, with slightly sunken eye sockets, exuding a sense of vicissitude. It was none other than Yue Mian, the Roc of the Nine Heavens, one of the Eight True Spirit Kings.

"Uncle Yue, why are you here?" Xiao Bai exclaimed in surprise.

Jin Tong looked Yue Mian up and down, feeling a rare sense of awe.

"Hmph, if I hadn't come, you little one would have been done in by Han Li here." Yue Mian glanced at Han Li and said grumpily.

Hearing this, Jin Tong's awe vanished, and she glared at the burly man.

"Don't blame Master... Fellow Daoist Han. I insisted on coming from the start." Xiao Bai quickly defended.

"We'll talk about that later." Yue Mian waved his hand and turned to face Yue Qing and the other two.

"So the long-vanished Roc of the Nine Heavens has reappeared. It seems that little one's identity is indeed unusual..." Yue Qing's surprise gradually faded as he spoke slowly.

"Get lost now, before I make a move." Yue Mian's reply was much more straightforward.

Yue Qing, already severely injured, naturally wouldn't seek death against a Dao Ancestor-level primordial true spirit. He only left the words, "Senior, don't forget the lessons of the Primordial Wasteland back then," and then flew away without looking back, along with Wu Hui and Po Feng.

"Thank you, Senior Yue." Han Li, having recovered somewhat, stood up and cupped his hands to Yue Mian.

"Rest a bit more. With me guarding, no one dares to disturb." The latter nodded and said with a frown.

He didn't really blame Han Li; his earlier complaint was only out of concern for Xiao Bai.

Han Li, hearing this, actually sat back down and closed his eyes to meditate.

The battle had cost him dearly; not only had he expended a great deal, but half of the evil corpse's restraints were undone, making the time for him to sever his corpse even more pressing.

"The agreed time was approaching, so I came early to pick you up. Before I arrived, I sensed you had used the golden talisman Bai Ze gave you, so I hurried over." Yue Mian said to Xiao Bai.

"Uncle Yue, you were afraid I wouldn't return on time, weren't you?" Xiao Bai asked.

Yue Mian neither nodded nor denied it.

"Don't worry. This trip has made me clearly see the gap between my cultivation and others'. When I return, I'll go into seclusion properly and won't come out until I've fully inherited my father's power." Xiao Bai continued.

"Good, you've learned something." Yue Mian nodded with relief.

Jin Tong, watching from the side, found herself smiling.

About an hour later, Han Li finished his meditation and slowly woke up.

Yue Mian exchanged a few parting words with him and was about to leave with Xiao Bai.

"Senior Yue Mian, please wait." Han Li suddenly spoke.

"What is it?" Yue Mian stopped and looked at Han Li.

"Senior, since you're returning to the Eight Desolations Mountain, could you give me a ride?" Han Li cupped his hands.

"Oh, that's rare. You want to go to the Eight Desolations Mountain too?" Yue Mian asked curiously.

"Yes, if it's not too much trouble." Han Li cupped his hands.

His trip to the Nine Yuan Temple was now completely over, and the experiences there made him more urgently desire to improve his strength.

After this incident, he was likely wanted in all the immortal domains. Nowhere would be safe, but the Eight Desolations Mountain, completely beyond the天庭's control, was more suitable for his cultivation.

"Of course." Yue Mian smiled and nodded, raising his hand.

A green storm materialized out of thin air, and Han Li's body involuntarily flew up, spinning dizzily, completely out of control.

Startled, he was about to use the time law to stabilize himself when his feet suddenly touched solid ground, and a resilient force surged up.

Han Li stumbled and sat down on something warm.

Looking around, his expression changed slightly.

He was sitting on the back of a huge green bird, so immense that it blocked all space below, like an endless green land.

Yue Mian had transformed into his true form as the Roc of the Nine Heavens.

Compared to this green giant bird, Han Li was like an insignificant grain of sand.

Xiao Bai sat beside him, his expression complex—beyond shock, there was more excitement and a hint of longing.