Chapter 174: The Mastermind Behind It?

At this moment, Han Li's entire body was charred black like coal, devoid of any vitality, and he couldn't muster the slightest bit of magic power.

He tried to control his body but found that he couldn't even move a finger, and could only let his body drift toward that dark rift.

"This is just an illusion, not real, definitely not real..."

Han Li kept telling himself inwardly, his sea of consciousness churning with violent waves as he struggled to wake up.

But just then, in front of the rift high in the sky, the void suddenly rippled, stirring up a visible ring of ripples, and then three faint black shadows passed through and drifted toward him.

Their speed seemed slow but was actually fast, closing the distance with unimaginable swiftness.

Though his body was immobile, his eyes saw clearly. The three shadows were all ethereal, like spirits drifting without anchor, except for their heads, which appeared solid, and their faces were identical to his own.

"Is this... a heart demon? No, it's an extraterrestrial demon..." Han Li's heart tightened.

But the next moment, one of the demon shadows appeared right before him and, without a word, slammed into him.

With a "bang,"

the scarlet cracks on Han Li's body blazed with light, and his entire form shattered along those cracks, like an ancient porcelain vase smashing on the ground, breaking into countless pieces.

In his terror, Han Li suddenly realized that though his body had shattered, his soul had spilled out, transforming into a faint green radiance.

Yet it too was completely immobile!

Seeing this, the three demon shadows, like sharks that hadn't eaten for days spotting fish, immediately swam over from all sides, opened their mouths wide, and bit into his soul shadow.

With a soft "pop,"

a large chunk of the green light on Han Li was torn off and swallowed into their bellies.

An indescribable pain surged through him. He had always prided himself on his rigorous body refinement and his far greater tolerance for pain than ordinary people, but now even he felt his scalp go numb.

The pain was not like gnawing bone or flaying skin, but even more intense. He couldn't pinpoint where it originated, only that his soul was being torn apart bit by bit, and his consciousness was gradually weakening.

He could see the three shadows continuously devouring his green body. With each mouthful they swallowed, their ethereal forms grew more solid, and the greedy smiles on their faces became more pronounced.

Was this... still an illusion?

Helpless to resist, a sliver of doubt arose in Han Li's heart.

Had he really not succeeded in his tribulation? Were everything before—Linghuan Realm, Liu Le'er, Black Wind Sea, Gan Jiuzhen—nothing but a hollow dream conjured by the extraterrestrial demons?

He had considered himself immensely powerful, hailed as the number one Mahayana in the Spirit Realm, but in the end, he still couldn't withstand these extraterrestrial demons...

All is in the past...

Han Li's consciousness grew fainter, and the green light around him became thinner, almost transparent and on the verge of vanishing.

"Fellow Daoist Han, do not sink into the illusion. Extraterrestrial demons are not like this..."

Suddenly, a cold voice rang out in the surrounding void, like a basin of cold water poured over Han Li.

His blurred vision cleared, and a cold, low shout resounded in his divine sense. A sharp screech pierced his ears, as if several awls were drilling into his brain, causing a soul-rending pain.

At the same time, the demon shadows gnawing at his body let out shrill cries, rapidly retreating and vanishing into the void.

Han Li's vision suddenly brightened, and he woke up.

He was still standing in place, holding the formation plate, his finger poised to press down.

Directly ahead, Fang Pan in his black robe was frozen mid-stride, the tip of his long blade pointing at Han Li's brow, less than a foot away.

The tall stone pillars around them shimmered with dazzling light, constantly flashing with captivating radiance, but they could no longer affect Han Li.

"Fellow Daoist Muguang, thank you..." Han Li transmitted his voice with lingering fear.

"This illusion formation is truly formidable. If not for the fact that we Outer Celestial Demons are adept at this art, and your divine sense power is far beyond that of ordinary True Immortal cultivators, which nourished my severely injured body, the consequences would have been dire..." Muguang sighed in reply.

Han Li pondered for a moment, then said no more. He raised his hand and pressed on the formation plate again, chanting incantations.

With a flash of five-colored light from the grand formation, Han Li found the surrounding scenery shifting, and his figure appeared in a dimly lit hall.

In his sight, Fang Pan was kneeling on both knees, his face full of terror, kowtowing and begging for mercy, repeatedly crying out, "Master, spare me, Master, spare me..." seemingly completely unaware of Han Li's presence.

Han Li stepped forward a few paces and saw, in the blurry light before Fang Pan, a middle-aged man wrapped in chains like a zombie, sitting majestically on a large black chair.

"Bold wicked disciple, using the Soul Severing Chains without authorization. Do you know your crime?" the zombie-like man scolded in a deep voice.

Fang Pan, kneeling on the ground, trembled as if struck by lightning and quickly replied:

"Master, I used this treasure out of necessity. The person I was dealing with was too formidable. Back then, the three of us went together, with one lost and the other two severely injured. In the end, if I hadn't used the chains, we couldn't have suppressed him."

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.

After taking a deep breath, he slowly stepped forward to the zombie-like man, turned around, and sat down on the large black chair. His figure gradually merged with the man's, eventually fully integrating.

"Oh? Who exactly is that person, and why did you fight him to the death?" he asked after a moment's hesitation, adopting the zombie man's demeanor.

"This man is named Han Li, an immortal who ascended from the lower realms. He possesses a special crystalline particle containing the power of time laws. The three of us pursued him for that very item," Fang Pan quickly explained.

Han Li sighed inwardly upon hearing this. So it was for that thing.

"Oh? Such a rare item exists? Have you found out where he obtained it?" Han Li continued.

"Well... back then, though we fought fiercely, we never truly captured him, so we couldn't perform a soul search on him. Thus, I do not know," Fang Pan replied.

"You truly don't know?" the zombie man Han Li had transformed into raised an eyebrow and asked coldly.

"I truly don't know, I wouldn't dare deceive Master. Because this matter wasn't handled properly, both I and the other person received considerable punishment," Fang Pan answered tremblingly.

Han Li felt a slight surprise and, after a moment's thought, asked:

"Punished by whom? Could it be that you three were also acting on someone's orders?"

"Well... Master, this person's status and background are extraordinary. I truly dare not speak recklessly. I hope Master will understand..."

Before Fang Pan could finish, a heavy blow struck his chest, sending him tumbling backward and slamming into a stone pillar in the hall with a "bang."

The zombie man waved his snow-white sleeve, and a cyan-black chain shot out like a spirit snake toward Fang Pan.

With a soft "pop,"

a flash of blood burst forth in the hall. The cyan-black chain, like a spear, pierced straight through Fang Pan's chest.

Fang Pan's face was deathly pale. He knelt on one knee, half-supporting himself, and coughed up a mouthful of bright red blood.

"Master, spare me..." he begged, but still dared not reveal that person's name.

"Still daring to deceive me even now. It seems you won't confess until you see the coffin. Today, I'll clean house and eliminate this wicked disciple." The zombie man's face turned cold, and a clanking sound echoed throughout the hall.

All the cyan-black chains on the ground floated up, suspending in midair.

Fang Pan felt an immense pressure like a mountain bearing down from all directions, giving him a suffocating sensation as if facing death.

"Master, spare me... I'll talk, I'll talk..." he cried out loudly.

Seeing this, Han Li waved his hand, and all the chains in the hall fell back down, restoring calm.

The zombie man he had transformed into gazed silently at Fang Pan, waiting for him to continue.

"The one who drove us three back then was..." Just as he was about to reveal that person's name, his face suddenly twisted, and he clutched his head, wailing.

A strange soul aura clearly not belonging to Fang Pan emanated from his head, directly impacting the surrounding illusion, causing it to ripple and nearly dissipate.

Han Li muttered a curse, surged forward, and immediately broke out of the illusion.

Fang Pan before him still maintained his original posture, but his eyes were rapidly moving beneath his eyelids, on the verge of waking.

Han Li acted decisively, stepped forward, grabbed his jaw, forced his mouth open, flipped his hand to produce a black bead the size of a dragon's eye, and tossed it in.

Then, without looking back, he shot into the sky.

At that moment, Fang Pan, who had been trapped in the illusion for a long time, finally woke up, but it was too late.

As soon as his eyes opened, a bolt of cyan-purple lightning burst from between his lips.

A thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth suddenly erupted!

A huge black sun then blazed, and the world began to tremble violently, unable to calm for a long time.

Han Li hovered tens of thousands of feet high, watching the collapsing peaks and rising dust below, his expression uncertain.

After all the twists and turns, though he had finally killed Fang Pan, his mood was not light.

He had never expected that behind Fang Pan and the other two, there seemed to be a person of great status pulling the strings.

Moreover, that person had placed a mark on Fang Pan's soul. It was this mark that had nearly helped him wake from the illusion formation. Han Li wondered if that person would now know that something had happened to Fang Pan, and he would have to be even more cautious in the future.

Once the aftermath below had subsided, Han Li moved and flew down.

By now, the formation on the peak was completely destroyed, Fang Pan's body was obliterated, and not even a trace of his soul aura could be sensed.

Han Li retrieved Fang Pan's storage bracelet from the ruins and found the black long blade under a huge rock. After collecting everything, he transformed into a rainbow and shot away, disappearing beyond the horizon.