Chapter 1275: Ghost Gate

Guided by the Vial Spirit, Han Li sped at full speed, chasing in the direction the evil corpse had fled.

With his current cultivation at the mid-stage of the Great Luo realm, Han Li covered millions of li in the blink of an eye.

Although he could lock onto the evil corpse's position with his divine sense, the evil corpse used some unknown method to rapidly increase its speed whenever Han Li closed the distance to within ten thousand li, pulling away again.

Thus, in a chase, they unknowingly arrived at the edge of the Black Wind Sea region.

Before them, fierce winds howled, black mists swirled, and countless black yin winds connected heaven and earth, daunting any who approached.

"Damn! The Desolate Yin Wind!"

Han Li murmured, and suddenly a brilliant golden light blazed from his body. A golden wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly in reverse, and his entire figure became hazy.

But at that moment, the evil corpse ahead also flared with golden light, its speed abruptly increasing. Before Han Li could catch up, it plunged headlong into the black yin wind and vanished.

"Haha, try to catch me in another million years..." Only the evil corpse's voice echoed through the heavens and earth.

Han Li's expression darkened. His divine sense instantly expanded, spreading into the black yin wind.

But in the blink of an eye, the evil corpse had used some technique to disappear without a trace, undetectable even by his divine sense.

Han Li pondered for a moment and did not rashly pursue.

Although leaving the evil corpse would be a future threat, he had just advanced and his cultivation base was unstable. Rashly chasing after it would not be wise.

As the saying goes, choose the lesser of two evils. If he couldn't capture the evil corpse this time, he would have to deal with it later.

"Master, let me out for a moment." Just then, the Vial Spirit's voice sounded in Han Li's mind.

Hearing this, Han Li raised his hand and waved.

The space beside him rippled, and the Vial Spirit's figure materialized, her eyes gleaming as she gazed at the Desolate Yin Wind ahead.

"Vial Spirit, what have you found?" Han Li asked.

"I sense a very familiar aura in this yin wind, and..." As she spoke, she formed a hand seal and waved. A small dark red cauldron appeared before her—the Yan Luo Cauldron.

The Yan Luo Cauldron's surface flickered with light, stirring restlessly toward the depths of the Desolate Yin Wind, as if wanting to fly in.

"Quickly, summon that Sun Zhongshan!" Han Li seemed to think of something and said hastily.

The Vial Spirit was startled, then immediately nodded. She raised her hand and beckoned. The space beside her rippled, and Sun Zhongshan's figure appeared out of thin air.

He looked around, his gaze stopping on the black yin wind ahead, a look of astonishment on his face.

"What, Fellow Daoist Sun has been here before?" Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing Sun Zhongshan's expression.

"This environment is very similar to the place where I obtained the Yan Luo Cauldron in the Tian Shang Immortal Domain," Sun Zhongshan replied honestly.

Han Li nodded slowly, continuing to gaze at the Desolate Yin Wind ahead, his eyes flickering as if in thought.

"Master, have you been here before?" the Vial Spirit asked.

"A long time ago, I once ventured into this area ahead, but for certain reasons, I didn't go too deep. These yin winds are called the Desolate Yin Wind. They are nearly boundless within, and the yin-cold energy deep inside is extremely dense, inhabited by creatures similar to yin beasts... There's a legend in the Black Wind Sea that this Desolate Yin Wind blows from the Netherworld Ghost Domain," Han Li said, rubbing his nose in a matter-of-fact tone.

"The Netherworld Ghost Domain... Perhaps this legend is true." The Vial Spirit squinted her eyes, speaking with some excitement.

"You seem very interested in this Desolate Yin Wind," Han Li said.

"I want to go in and take a look. Is that possible?" The Vial Spirit looked at Han Li with a pitiful expression.

"Since this place is related to the Yan Luo Cauldron, I also want to investigate further. But before that, I need to go into seclusion for a while. You will be responsible for guarding me," Han Li said.

"Alright!" The Vial Spirit agreed without hesitation and put Sun Zhongshan back into the Yan Luo Cauldron.

Thus, in the following time, Han Li took the Vial Spirit to find a relatively secluded island nearby, opened a temporary cave dwelling, and entered the Flower Branch Space to go into seclusion and stabilize his cultivation base.

This seclusion lasted nearly twenty years, but due to the time acceleration in the space, only a little over half a day had passed in the outside world.

Before the dark, oppressive Desolate Yin Wind, Han Li and the Vial Spirit stood side by side in mid-air, while Sun Zhongshan had been released again by the Vial Spirit.

Sun Zhongshan stared at Han Li, utterly dumbfounded.

He couldn't imagine how Han Li, who just the day before had unstable aura and even seemed to have suffered significant damage to his vital energy, could have fully recovered his aura and become full of energy in less than a day.

Could it be that he had taken some miraculous elixir that was effective even for Great Luo cultivators?

Though his mind was racing with thoughts, he wisely refrained from asking and waited obediently for Han Li and the Vial Spirit's orders.

"Let's go. I hope we can still catch that fellow," Han Li said calmly, then waved his hand, emitting a golden light that enveloped the three of them.

With a "whoosh," the three turned into a beam of golden light and flew into the depths of the Desolate Yin Wind.

Inside the Desolate Yin Wind, yin energy still filled the air, and the wind howled fiercely.

But Han Li's cultivation was now many times stronger than when he had last entered the Desolate Yin Wind. He advanced quite easily and soon reached a fairly deep area.

However, to Han Li's disappointment, the evil corpse seemed to have been swallowed by the yin wind, leaving no trace at all. Even the Vial Spirit couldn't sense it.

Moreover, unexpectedly, the yin beasts that lived in the Desolate Yin Wind had not appeared for some reason.

At this point, the Yan Luo Cauldron in the Vial Spirit's hand hummed softly and pointed downward.

Without hesitation, Han Li and the others flew in the direction indicated by the Yan Luo Cauldron.

Last time, Han Li had only wanted to cross the Desolate Yin Wind region and hadn't tried to explore below. Now, as he descended, he found that the seawater below had vanished, replaced by rolling yin winds.

After descending for a while, the surrounding yin-cold energy grew heavier, piercing to the bone. Even the golden light Han Li emitted couldn't block it.

Sun Zhongshan's face was pale, and his lips moved as if he wanted to say something.

Just then, the yin wind behind him rippled slightly, and a black, mist-wreathed trident emerged from the wind, stabbing fiercely toward Sun Zhongshan's back.

A clang of metal striking metal rang out!

The black trident, upon touching the golden light enveloping the three, was immediately repelled without mercy.

Han Li's heart stirred.

He had encountered this thing before when he tried to cross the Desolate Yin Wind.

At that time, his strength was weak, and he had only driven it away without killing it. He hadn't expected to encounter it again.

But this one was far more powerful than the previous one, at least at the Golden Immortal level.

As Han Li thought this, his movements were swift. He raised his hand and pointed.

A bolt of golden lightning shot from his fingertip, striking the black trident.

"Bang!"

The black trident exploded, and the surrounding Desolate Yin Wind within dozens of zhang was torn apart by the scattered lightning, revealing a black humanoid creature.

This humanoid creature was roughly the size of an ordinary person, but its body was covered in black scales, and it had a tail dragging behind, looking like a little ghost.

The little black ghost's face was full of terror. It screamed and turned to flee.

Han Li raised his hand to kill the little black ghost, but a black light had already shot forth, wrapping around the ghost—it was the Vial Spirit acting.

With a "whoosh," the black light retracted, and the little black ghost, trapped in the light, was helpless as the Vial Spirit swallowed it in one gulp.

She squinted her eyes, black light flickering on her body, and a look of intoxication appeared on her face. It took a while for her to recover.

"What a rare delicacy. It's been a long time since I tasted such delicious yin soul power," the Vial Spirit smacked her lips and said.

"It's just a little ghost. Is there something special about it?" Han Li asked.

"Although this little black ghost doesn't contain much yin soul power, its quality is extremely high. Moreover, this yin soul power is very compatible with my body and greatly beneficial to me," the Vial Spirit said with some excitement.

"Oh, is that so?" Han Li said thoughtfully.

"Senior Han, Senior Vial Spirit, the yin-cold energy here is too heavy. I can't hold on much longer..." Just then, Sun Zhongshan interjected.

His face was now tinged with a dark blue, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Han Li glanced at him, then looked at the Vial Spirit.

"Hmph, useless." The Vial Spirit frowned and waved her hand, putting him back into the Yan Luo Cauldron.

"Let's go. Continue downward to take a look." Han Li looked down, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Thus, the two continued to descend. Half a day passed in the blink of an eye.

This place seemed bottomless. They had flown for so long without any sign of reaching the bottom.

The yin-cold energy here had become terrifyingly dense, and even Han Li felt slightly uncomfortable.

In contrast, the Vial Spirit not only didn't resist the dense yin-cold energy around her but seemed quite comfortable.

The two continued flying downward for a while. The yin wind ahead suddenly began to weaken, as if they had finally reached the bottom.

Han Li and the Vial Spirit were delighted and accelerated their descent.

Just then, the void ahead suddenly rippled, and a huge blood-red vortex appeared out of thin air, blocking their path.

An incredibly powerful devouring force emanated from the blood-red vortex. Caught off guard, before they could defend themselves, they were swallowed by the vortex.

Han Li and the Vial Spirit's vision blurred, and the next moment, they appeared in a blood-red space.

In the space was a huge lake, its water blood-red and gently rippling.

The lake water looked very much like blood, but had no bloody smell, only emitting a slight chill.

Behind the blood-red lake sat a massive blood-red city, very imposing. Above the city gate were two large characters, reading "Ghost Gate."

Seeing this, Han Li and the Vial Spirit exchanged glances, both seeing a trace of shock in each other's eyes.