Chapter 28: Startled

The big man let out a loud shout and swung both arms abruptly.

A black and a yellow beam of light shot out, revealing a black staff wrapped in black light and a large yellow seal covered with countless swirling runes, flying to meet the black giant peak.

An astonishing fluctuation of spiritual power emanated from the two magical artifacts, clearly their trump card.

The man in black robes formed hand seals and roared without hesitation.

Two loud booms sounded!

Two enormous halos, one black and one yellow, emerged. As the flames rolled, they managed to halt the descent of the black giant peak, causing it to pause for a moment.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the big man flickered and shot backward.

However, the two halos only held for an instant. As the big man barely flew a dozen zhang, black light swirled on the giant peak, immediately crushing the two halos and smashing into the ground, sending up another cloud of dust.

The man in black robes shot out from the dust, his movements no longer as swift as before. His face was pale as paper, half his body bathed in blood, and his left arm hung limply at his side.

Although he had dodged quickly, the giant peak was too fast. In his haste, his body was grazed, and he was severely injured.

Pfft!

The big man spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, his face full of terror. But he immediately gritted his teeth, waved one hand, and produced a white talisman. It was covered with countless dense runes, extremely complex, and emitted a strong spatial fluctuation.

The man in black robes muttered incantations, gathering his remaining spiritual power, and prepared to activate the talisman.

But at that moment, the sky above him darkened again, and a whistling sound of breaking air reached his ears. Another giant peak shot down, even faster than the previous three.

The man in black robes' expression changed drastically. Activating this spatial talisman required a little time.

His right hand rapidly formed a strange incantation gesture, and black light surged from his body, instantly coalescing into a black magical array.

As ripples arose within the array, the five giant ghosts that had been standing apart in the void moments before now appeared around him, shielding him in their midst.

The five ghosts' eyes blazed with blood-red light, and they roared in unison. Black light burst from their ten giant claws, shooting out long streaks of black claw light that grabbed toward the descending black mountain peak.

Bang bang bang!

The moment those black lights touched the giant peak, they shattered inch by inch. The peak's descent slowed slightly, but it still broke through all the claw lights with lightning speed and crashed down heavily.

The five ghosts let out a shrill shriek. Black qi roiled on their bodies, and their forms suddenly swelled, revealing rock-like muscles, especially on their limbs.

Their ten thick arms stretched out simultaneously, fearlessly bracing against the black giant peak.

Yet the moment the ten arms touched the peak, they shattered inch by inch under a tremendous force. The five giant ghosts still roared, using their bodies to prop up the black peak, refusing to retreat.

The black giant peak slammed heavily onto the five ghosts, producing a series of grinding sounds as flesh and blood flew everywhere.

The giant peak finally stopped.

The upper halves of the five ghosts were completely shattered, but their remaining torsos still stood upright, their feet deeply embedded in the desert like five massive pillars supporting the peak.

The man in black robes below breathed a sigh of relief. The remaining mana in his body surged out, pouring into the white talisman.

The talisman slowly emitted a white glow, and his face lit up with ecstasy.

But at that moment, a loud crash rang out.

The last giant peak descended from the sky, smashing onto the fourth peak.

A terrifying force pressed down, and with a bang, the remnants of the five ghosts exploded into dust.

The large man in black felt the air around him tighten, instantly rendering him unable to move a single inch.

Two colossal peaks crashed down, pressing onto his body.

Before the large man could even let out a scream, his body was crushed into a pulp of flesh and blood.

With a "whoosh,"

from the vast dust clouds kicked up at the base of the giant peaks, a golden light suddenly shot out, flashed once, and then sped off into the distance.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and saw a golden figure about three inches tall, with features identical to the large man in black, except that its hair was disheveled and its face was filled with terror. It clutched a silver storage bracelet tightly in its arms as it fled northwest.

It was the Nascent Soul of the large man in black!

"Go!"

He grabbed at the air with one hand and casually flicked his wrist. A black light flashed and disappeared as it shot out, speeding toward the direction of the large man's Nascent Soul.

Not far away, Gu Yunyue had just managed to stabilize the Spirit Moon Boat with her magic. She happened to look up and saw something, only hearing a sharp sound like an arrow whistling past her ear, but her eyes could not catch the trajectory of the black light.

The next moment, a sudden explosive "bang" sounded from the distant sky, and the Nascent Soul of the large man in black burst into a ball of golden light.

A palm-sized, pitch-black object also fell from midair, which turned out to be nothing more than an ordinary piece of refined iron.

As for the silver storage bracelet in the large man's hand, Han Li beckoned with one hand, and it steadily fell into his grasp. Then, with a few flickers of his figure, he shrank and collected the five scattered peaks before leaping back onto the Spirit Moon Boat.

Gu Yunyue stared blankly at Han Li, as if looking at a stranger.

Earlier, in her panic, she hadn't had time to think about the identity of the large man in black, but later, recalling his words and the techniques and secret arts he used, she recognized him. This man was an early-stage Deity Transformation elder of the Heavenly Ghost Sect named "Lu Ya," who excelled in ghost-controlling arts. It was said that over a decade ago, he had fought two cultivators of the same rank from the Jingyuan Temple without losing, earning him fame from that battle.

And such a renowned Deity Transformation cultivator was effortlessly eliminated by Han Li in the blink of an eye—this was far beyond anything she could have imagined.

This woman finally understood that the gap in strength between her and Han Li was as vast as the distance between heaven and earth, and one could imagine the extent of her shock.

"Han... Fellow Daoist Han, are you really just a Nascent Soul cultivator?" Gu Yunyue finally came to her senses and asked with a bitter smile, but the trace of awe on her face was obvious to anyone.

"Whether Han is a Nascent Soul cultivator or not, can't you tell, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li replied noncommittally.

"I can naturally discern your aura level, Fellow Daoist. But your strength is too unbelievable. Even among the Deity Transformation elders of our sect, I'm afraid few could easily kill a cultivator of the same rank." Gu Yunyue sighed.

"Han has merely trained his physical body to be a bit stronger; how could I dare to compare with the experts of the Cold Flame Sect?" Han Li shook his head and said no more. Instead, he looked at Liu Le'er and Yu Menghan, who were still unconscious on the ground. With a flick of his sleeve, a verdant spiritual light rolled out and swept over the two women.

With a soft "ying" sound, the two women slowly opened their eyes and woke up, though their gazes were still somewhat dazed.

Liu Le'er, being a Foundation Establishment cultivator, immediately thought of something and sat up straight with a start.

"Stone Brother! Just now..."

"Don't worry, it's all over. We can continue on our way." Han Li said gently, as if nothing had happened.

...

"Peak Master, based on the news just sent back by Junior Gu, this wandering cultivator surnamed Han is far from an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator. I didn't expect Junior Gu to have such an unexpected gain on this trip."

In the议事大殿 of a certain peak in the Cold Flame Sect, a rough-looking man stood before a middle-aged man in a scholar's robe, speaking thus.

The middle-aged man had a fair, beardless face, wore a scholar's headscarf and a green scholar's robe, and held a green ancient scroll in his hand, looking like a refined and elegant scholar.

"To be able to kill an early-stage Deity Transformation cultivator across ranks with just physical strength, he is indeed a high-level strength cultivator." The scholar-robed man nodded slightly.

"Hehe, regardless, it's gratifying that the Heavenly Ghost Sect has lost a Deity Transformation elder. I'm very interested in this wandering cultivator surnamed Han." The rough man chuckled, a hint of delight showing on his face.

Upon hearing this, the scholar-robed man also smiled and said, "In that case, you will receive him personally. You should know what to do, right?"

"Yes." The man agreed readily.