Chapter 1273: Severing the Corpse

Han Li slowly withdrew his gaze and, with a wave of his hand, moved the seated Earth Immortal body to the center of the yin fish diagram in the middle of the formation, though its position was slightly offset from the yang eye in the diagram.

He himself sat opposite the Earth Immortal body, on the yang fish diagram, also slightly offset from the yin eye.

After sitting down, he calmed his mind and regulated his breath. His entire being seemed to employ the Ten-Thousand-Aperture Void-Silencing Art, as all his aura fell silent, almost identical to that of the Earth Immortal body.

After a moment, the Golden Boy and the Soul-Devouring Beast returned and took up positions at the northern and southern ends of the island, respectively.

Han Li then focused his eyes, formed hand seals, and began to chant incantations.

Immediately after, the outermost ring of talisman arrays on the altar lit up with a golden light, within which seemed to resound Buddhist chants, continuously spreading in all directions, forming a hemispherical solid light barrier that shielded the entire altar.

On the light barrier, one could see Buddhist true words appearing, flickering with dazzling golden light.

Then, the middle-layer square-shaped talisman patterns also lit up. The seven or eight treasures placed on them suddenly shone brightly, and from them rose pillars of light reaching the sky. Depending on their attributes, some were entwined with blazing flames, some condensed with extreme cold, and some wrapped in dense lightning, crackling with blue and purple electric sparks...

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

With the sounds of breaking air, from these light pillars shot out virtual light chains, some frozen, some flaming, some electrified, piercing into various major acupoints of the Earth Immortal body, such as the Shanzhong, Baihui, and Dantian.

These places were crucial points where the evil corpse had transformed the Earth Immortal body. To be safe, Han Li had to control them first.

After the second-layer formation, like shooting at a target, pinned the Earth Immortal body full of chains, the central yin-yang dual fish talisman array lit up with a layer of black-and-white light.

Unlike the phenomena of the first two layers, the third-layer talisman array only emitted a thin layer of light.

Han Li looked outside the altar and soon saw that on the entire island, pillars of light shot into the sky, condensing into a golden pagoda above, suppressing the entire Heavenly Frost Island.

Seeing that the Golden Boy and the Soul-Devouring Beast had activated the "Pagoda Suppressing Demon Formation," Han Li took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and immersed his divine sense into his sea of consciousness.

Inside his sea of consciousness, half was now covered with dark clouds, and the other half surged with a sea of blood.

Ever since he had partially unlocked the restriction of the Soul-Separating Chains last time, the power of the evil corpse had grown rapidly. Although Han Li had suppressed it several times, the effect was poor.

Generally speaking, once an evil corpse forms a fetus, it must be severed as soon as possible. Allowing it to coexist in the same body for such a long time, as Han Li had done by separating but not severing, is a major taboo in corpse severing.

Now, not only was the evil corpse growing extremely fast, but its erosion of Han Li's sea of consciousness was also very severe, having reached a point where it could almost contend with Han Li.

If delayed any longer, perhaps before Han Li could sever the corpse, the evil corpse would break free from the restraints of the Soul-Separating Chains and come to trouble Han Li.

Han Li's soul strode forward in the sea of consciousness, with surging waves behind him and dark clouds pressing overhead, charging majestically toward the blood sea side.

The evil corpse was still bound in midair by the Soul-Separating Chains, standing with hands down. Suddenly, he looked up at Han Li with a strange expression, grinned, and said:

"Heh, I've been waiting for so long, and you've finally come..."

"Oh? It seems you've been waiting for me?" Han Li smiled and asked.

"You know it's impossible to trap me forever. When to release me is just a matter of time," the evil corpse twisted his neck and said indifferently.

"True. Since you have already been separated, even if I trap you like this, I cannot stop you from growing stronger and rebelling against me. So today, I am here to sever you," Han Li said.

"Don't speak too soon. Who severs whom is still uncertain," the evil corpse sneered without fear.

"At present, you indeed have the capital to compete with me. But if we fight, this physical body will inevitably be riddled with holes, and neither of us will benefit," Han Li nodded and said.

"I was originally just a lingering thought of your evil. Even if I end up with a damaged Dao fate, I still come out ahead. But no matter how you calculate, you lose. So you'd better worry about that yourself," the evil corpse said coldly, completely indifferent.

"You think clearly. But if I fail, I would rather destroy my soul and blow up this body. What would you do then?" Han Li remained unmoved and said.

Hearing this, the evil corpse's expression finally stiffened, but then he laughed again and said:

"I don't believe you would go that far. I am derived from you; I am you. Even if you are controlled by me and I become the master, it's better than you perishing both body and soul! Besides, you are not decisive and ruthless enough. I would do better than you!"

"For being a manifestation of my evil thoughts, you know me so little. If you don't believe me, we can give it a try?" Han Li said, placing one hand behind his back and extending the other in front, making a gesture of invitation.

Seeing this, the evil corpse fell silent.

Although he had said that, he knew in his heart that Han Li was indeed capable of such a mutually destructive act.

"Since you've already believed, why don't we discuss a solution that benefits both?" Han Li took a step forward and spoke again with a smile.

"What solution?" asked the Evil Corpse.

"I have prepared a high-grade avatar body for you in advance. If you are willing to enter it peacefully and refine it, can't you be reborn?" Han Li said as he walked around the Evil Corpse.

"Haha... Such deceptive words wouldn't fool even a three-year-old child. Our paths conflict; how could you grant me freedom? Wouldn't that leave endless troubles for generations?" The Evil Corpse suddenly burst into loud laughter upon hearing this.

"For now, I only aim to sever the corpse. We'll deal with the future later. I've laid out the solution; believe it or not, it's up to you." Han Li returned to his original position, stopped, and spoke.

"Are you really not deceiving me?" The Evil Corpse hesitated.

"Whether I'm deceiving you or not, you can see for yourself." Han Li smiled and said.

With that, he partially released the restrictions, allowing the Evil Corpse to also sense the presence of the Earth Immortal body.

"Its aura matches mine; it seems you did prepare in earnest. In that case, I can trust you for now." After inspecting it, the Evil Corpse surprisingly agreed.

"Good." Han Li laughed heartily and then moved his mind.

"Clank, clank..."

With a series of chain rattling sounds, the remaining Separation Soul Chains piercing the Evil Corpse's body flickered with dark light, withdrew one after another, turned into a black mist, and dissipated.

The Evil Corpse slowly stood up, stretched his limbs, and his entire body crackled like popping beans.

"Heh, your goodwill truly moves me. But unfortunately, no matter how good that immortal body is, it doesn't match the original body's path. Since one of us must leave, wouldn't it be better for you to go?" He tilted his head, looked askance at Han Li, and grinned fiercely.

"Alas, kindness is met with ingratitude. I knew you'd be like this. Since negotiation won't work, I'll have to resort to force." Han Li sighed slightly and said.

With that, he twisted his wrist, and golden electric light flickered in his palm, directly condensing into an electric longsword, identical in shape to the Green Bamboo Swarm Cloud Sword.

"As long as you can defeat me, I'll willingly let you sever me—what's the harm?" The Evil Corpse grinned and said.

As he spoke, a longsword also appeared in his palm, identical to the Green Bamboo Swarm Cloud Sword, but instead of golden electric light, it was entwined with dark red blood-colored electric threads.

Han Li's pupils contracted, and he charged forward first, sweeping his sword horizontally at the Evil Corpse.

The Evil Corpse was not to be outdone; he raised his sword tip and thrust it straight at Han Li instead of parrying.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous crack, the sword in the Evil Corpse's hand suddenly flashed with blood light, and a thick bolt of lightning shot out, instantly extending a hundredfold, stabbing at Han Li like a blood spear.

Han Li, mid-air, had also feinted with his earlier swing; using the momentum, he leaped high and came above the Evil Corpse's head.

He twisted his sword, and golden electric arcs burst from the blade, forming a vortex of lightning that descended, enveloping the Evil Corpse in the center.

Seeing the danger, the Evil Corpse tried to move, but runic symbols lit up around his feet, and chains of lightning extended from the sea of consciousness, converging with the lightning above to form a golden cage, trapping him inside.

Han Li leaped aside and landed, looking at the Evil Corpse with a mocking expression.

"When was this lightning array on the ground set up?" The Evil Corpse asked, his face gloomy and suppressing his anger.

"Naturally, while I was talking with you just now. Otherwise, why do you think I wasted so many words?" Han Li retorted.

The Evil Corpse was silent for a long time, then suddenly looked up and laughed: "This is you, this is me, haha..."

Seeing his manic demeanor, Han Li frowned, feeling a sense of foreboding.

At that moment, as the Evil Corpse's laughter spread, the entire sea of consciousness space began to tremble violently, and the half-blood-colored space seemed to boil over.

The lake of consciousness churned fiercely, with huge blood-colored bubbles emerging on the surface, and mist rising directly into the surging blood clouds high above.

Blood waves surged beneath the Evil Corpse, engulfing him and the entire lightning cage. When the blood waves receded, he had already escaped.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes focused, and he immediately formed hand seals.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous roar that shook the heavens, golden lightning intertwined densely from the high sky in the half of the sea of consciousness behind Han Li, piercing down, while fierce winds and huge waves rose on the sea surface below.