Chapter 172: Settling the Score

"What a pity."

Han Li looked in the direction Fang Pan had fled, then quickly withdrew his gaze.

His opponent had also been severely wounded in this battle, and even if he still wouldn't let him go, at least for a short time he should be more than willing but unable to do so.

Thinking this, he glanced again at the furious octopus sea monster, then his entire form suddenly turned into a blurry shadow, skimming the seabed as he flew into the distance.

He advanced tens of thousands of li along the seabed in one breath, and only after confirming that the octopus sea monster hadn't noticed him did he suddenly burst out of the sea surface. Hovering in midair, he quickly formed a hand seal with both hands.

Rumble!

Countless silver arcs of lightning materialized, forming a lightning array.

After a thunderous crack, his figure vanished without a trace, and the next moment appeared tens of thousands of li away.

He didn't stop at all, immediately casting the lightning array again, continuing to teleport tens of thousands of li in one direction.

After who knows how many consecutive teleportations, Han Li stopped on a small, uninhabited island.

He flipped his hand and produced a large pile of array flags and plates, along with other items, and began setting them up in an open area on the island. After half a day, he had arranged a grand star array, identical to the one on Wumeng Island.

Around the island, he also set up over a dozen protective arrays, layering them to completely envelop the island, making it watertight—so much so that even a late-stage True Immortal would be unable to break through in a short time.

After finishing all this, Han Li breathed a sigh of relief and sat cross-legged in the grand star array on the island.

Not long after, layers of multicolored light appeared in succession, enveloping the entire island, extremely eye-catching.

Fortunately, this sea region was desolate, with not a single person in sight, so there was no need to worry about attracting the covetous attention of ill-intentioned individuals.

Night soon fell, and stars dotted the night sky.

A patch of starlight appeared on the island, bright and brilliant, which even the surrounding barrier of restrictions could not conceal.

Countless stars descended from the sky, coalescing into seven brilliant pillars of starlight that fell down.

A rumbling sound rose from the island, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, spreading for dozens of li.

Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, over two months had gone by.

With a "boom," the multicolored light screens enveloping the island dissipated, revealing Han Li's figure, holding a green-black chain as thick as an arm.

This time, his nascent soul had not been completely sealed, and with previous experience, it had only taken about a month to break through the chain's seal. However, there was little joy on his face.

No matter what methods he tried, he could not completely eradicate the mark within his body.

As time went on, the possibility of Fang Pan, after recovering from his injuries, coming after him again was increasing day by day.

Yet the fact that his opponent still hadn't appeared only made a faint, indescribable unease stir in his heart.

He stood silently in midair, his eyes flickering.

After a moment, he took a deep breath, as if making a decision, and after packing up the array flags and plates set up on the island, his entire form turned into a green rainbow, shooting off into the distance.

…

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another three months had passed.

Somewhere in the Huanglan Continent, within a stretch of连绵 mountains, a long, joyful cry suddenly rang out.

The cry was ear-splitting, piercing the sky, enough to bore through the nine heavens.

The next moment, a dazzling green light flashed from somewhere in the mountains, then flickered and vanished, only to reappear in midair.

Within the green light was a young man in black attire, a sharp glint in his eyes.

It was Fang Pan.

At the spot where he had first appeared, a green afterimage still lingered, slowly dissipating.

"Haha, heaven helps me! Who would have thought that a Green Flood Dragon Pill, taken at a moment of life and death, would directly help me open the twenty-fourth orifice!" Fang Pan laughed wildly, shouting to himself.

As he spoke, waves of immense pressure emanated from his body.

At this moment, every move he made exuded great power, as if he had been reborn, having clearly and completely stepped into the late True Immortal stage.

He joyfully sensed the changes within his body, and only after a long while did he calm down, a cold smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"Han Li, run as much as you like! You'll never escape my grasp!"

As the last word left his mouth, his form had already turned into a blurry green rainbow, speeding eastward at a terrifying velocity.

At that very moment, above a dense forest countless miles away, a streak of light was flying forward at great speed—it was Han Li.

His expression suddenly shifted, his face turning extremely gloomy.

Just then, the mark that had lain dormant beneath his nascent soul for so long suddenly stirred.

"Finally here... time to settle this..."

After muttering to himself, the green light around him intensified, and he flew forward at an even greater speed.

Although he had been flying at full speed all the way, after less than half a month, a somewhat familiar aura appeared within his divine sense range, rapidly closing the distance between them.

"No wonder he hadn't shown up for so long—he broke through. This is going to be troublesome..."

Han Li frowned, his expression flickering with uncertainty, but his flying speed did not slow in the slightest.

Before long, the distance between them was less than ten thousand li.

Only at this moment did Han Li form hand seals with both hands, and a brilliant silver electric light burst from his entire body, seemingly about to condense into a lightning array.

Fang Pan behind him narrowed his eyes, and a dazzling green light radiated from his body as countless green runes emerged.

His figure suddenly transformed into a green blur, his speed nearly doubling, while he let out a long roar like a dragon's cry.

Hum!

A peculiar roar spread rapidly outward, and ripples appeared in the void, instantly covering an area thousands of li around.

When Han Li heard this sound, his mind felt dizzy, and the silver lightning around him faltered.

Although he recovered almost in the next moment, a green blur had already chased to a short distance away.

Puchi!

A gleaming blade light arrived first like lightning, striking the lightning array.

Before the silver arc blade light, it was as fragile as tofu, and the silver array collapsed with a bang.

Seeing this, Han Li abruptly sank downward, narrowly dodging the blade light. His entire body radiated golden light, and countless golden hairs grew on his skin, instantly transforming into the form of a mountain-ape giant.

He had barely completed the transformation when a green blur blocked his path, trembling and solidifying.

Then, a golden giant fist, carrying a terrifying force, smashed forward, causing the nearby void to violently ripple.

Fang Pan's figure flickered and instantly shifted several zhang sideways, casually evading the golden fist shadow.

Then his figure blurred and split into three Fang Pans.

One Fang Pan moved his arm, and a crystalline blade light emerged, slashing into the giant ape's arm and sinking deep into it.

Puchi!

A huge wound appeared, and blood gushed out wildly.

The giant ape's defense, which had previously been able to block blade light, now seemed as fragile as paper or clay.

The other two Fang Pans lunged at the giant ape's main body like lightning, two blade lights slashing at its neck and chest.

The golden giant ape roared loudly, its body suddenly swelling, and streaks of golden electric-like light emerged on its fur.

Countless golden monkey hairs detached from its body, turning into dense golden rays that shot out in all directions, producing a piercing screech as they tore through the air, causing the void to tremble repeatedly.

The three Fang Pans' expressions changed slightly. Abandoning their attack, they simultaneously flickered and retreated, condensing a green protective shield around them.

Countless golden hairs struck the shield, producing a continuous sound like rain beating on a wicker fence!

The cyan barrier flickered violently but did not shatter, though the force contained in the golden fur still pushed it back some distance.

The golden giant ape did not continue its attack; instead, it rolled on the spot and transformed into a silver lightning-wreathed Roc.

With a flash of silver lightning and a thunderous boom, the Roc vanished, teleporting thousands of li ahead.

"Don't think you can escape again!"

Fang Pan roared in anger, and his three clones instantly merged into one, transforming into a blurry cyan shadow that pursued closely.

But the silver Roc, utterly disregarding the consumption of its internal lightning power, fully unleashed the lightning escape technique, teleporting several times in rapid succession like lightning, barely shaking off Fang Pan by tens of thousands of li.

Then, countless thick silver arcs of lightning emerged from the Roc, coalescing into a dazzling silver lightning formation.

In the distant sky, a blurry cyan rainbow shot over with incredible speed.

With a thunderous boom, an instant before the cyan rainbow arrived, the Roc's figure was already engulfed in silver electric light and vanished without a trace.

The cyan rainbow flashed, revealing Fang Pan's figure, his expression somewhat gloomy, but then a cold smile appeared on his face.

Han Li had consumed such a vast amount of his internal lightning power that it would likely be exhausted before long, and then he would have no choice but to die.

With this thought, he once again transformed into a cyan rainbow and sped off in pursuit.

Three days later.

In a stretch of lush green mountains and forests stood an old small temple made of blue bricks, its vermilion paint on the outer walls almost entirely peeled off, revealing layers of hard scabs like old tree bark.

A long-broken wooden door half-leaned against the other still intact door, leaving a gap half a person wide.

Through the gap, one could see that the temple had long ceased to have incense offerings, with cobwebs and dust everywhere, and a thick layer of moss had grown on the originally bluestone-paved floor.

A statue of some unknown deity sat upright in the hall, but its head had fallen into a corner of the temple.

Behind the head, a weary-looking man in a blue robe sat leaning against it; it was Han Li.

Just then, as if sensing something, he suddenly lifted his head and instinctively looked up toward the sky through the hole in the ancient temple's roof, but saw only a vast, clear expanse.

Without a word, his figure shot out, a flash of lightning in midair, and he swiftly fled into the distance.

Several thousand li behind him, a streak of cyan light immediately followed closely.

One silver and one cyan streak sped across the high sky, crossing dozens of mountain peaks in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's immortal spiritual power surged out, draining rapidly, and his flying speed had already reached its maximum, yet without using lightning遁, Fang Pan kept closing the distance, and in a moment, they were less than two thousand li apart.

At that moment, at the edge of his vision, several mountain ranges appeared in a semicircular formation. His figure immediately dove downward, straight toward one of the peaks with a whitish summit.

Not long after his figure landed on that peak, thick white mist rose from the summit, and soon enveloped several nearby mountain ranges.