Chapter 297: Enemies on a Narrow Road

"Ha!"

Chong Luan's eyes flickered, and with a low shout, the muscles on his arms tensed. The black longsword in his hand, undiminished in force, slashed heavily down at the Heavy Water True Wheel below.

With a thunderous "boom,"

Chong Luan felt his arms go numb as an indescribable force surged through the blade. It was as if he had been struck by something heavy, and his body stalled.

As the pool water behind him surged forth, waves of immense water-attribute law force rolled in, pressing his elbows inward and threatening to send him flying backward.

Sensing the unique aura emanating from the Heavy Water True Wheel, Chong Luan's expression shifted abruptly. Despite being at a disadvantage, he suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha... I've searched high and low for you. Han Li, who would have thought I'd find you here! Excellent, saves me the trip to the Ancient Cloud Continent!"

With that shout, a dark light flickered in his eyes, and his pupils turned pitch black.

He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a dark thread that shot into the black blade.

The black blade trembled violently, a layer of black crystalline light glowing over it, and its weight instantly multiplied several times.

Chong Luan let out a fierce roar, wisps of black mist seeping from his body. He pressed down hard with both hands, forcing the Heavy Water True Wheel back.

Han Li had already leaped out of the water. He beckoned, recalling the Heavy Water True Wheel to shield himself, and hovered in the air with sword in hand, facing Chong Luan from a distance. He asked coldly, "You know me? What is your relationship with Fang Pan?"

Though he didn't know the man's identity, from his perfect use of the black blade's true power and his ability to call out Han Li's real name, it wasn't hard to infer that he was connected to Fang Pan.

After all, since entering the Immortal Realm, Han Li had used an alias; very few knew his real name.

Now that Fang Pan and the other two who had attacked him had fallen, the one who could remotely control the mysterious chains, the original owner of Fang Pan's black blade, and the mastermind behind Fang Pan were still those he needed to guard against.

This man before him was likely the original owner of the black blade, but what exactly was his relationship with Fang Pan?

"I thought that no matter how incompetent my junior brother was, his killer would at least be a late-stage True Immortal. But from the information gathered from the Ten Directions Tower, you were said to be only an early-stage True Immortal Mystic Immortal. Seeing you today, you do have some skills," Chong Luan said from afar, not attacking immediately.

"So you're Fang Pan's senior brother. My respects. What, here to avenge him now?" Han Li's heart stirred, but his expression remained unchanged.

"That waste is dead and gone; I can't be bothered with such trivial matters. But he borrowed my Black Emperor Immortal-Slaying Blade at great cost to deal with you, and you, clever as you are, sold it off cheaply. Don't you think I, as the owner, should come and demand an explanation?" Chong Luan's eyes flickered as he spoke unhurriedly.

"Your blade is indeed a rare treasure. I intended to return it to its rightful owner, so I consigned it to the Everlasting Union to see if anyone would recognize it. It seems my efforts weren't in vain. No need for thanks; it was just a small favor," Han Li blinked and said blandly.

"Heh, so I should thank you! Speaking of which, knowing my junior brother, his relentless pursuit of you was no random act. Also, the Soul-Separating Chain on you is something my master demands be retrieved. So, you can die now. Rest assured, as a token of gratitude, I'll make it quick!" Chong Luan's eyes were pitch black, and black mist swirled around him as he spoke slowly.

As his words fell, the black mist around him surged, engulfing him entirely.

Then, a gentle breeze blew, and the black mist before him suddenly dissipated, revealing nothing inside—empty.

Han Li's divine sense had already enveloped the area, but even before the mist dispersed, he had thought Chong Luan was hiding within it.

The next moment, black mist condensed in the void behind him. Before it fully formed, a black blade shot out, aiming for his back.

With a thought, Han Li summoned the Heavy Water True Wheel, which appeared behind him to block.

With a "clang,"

The tip of the black blade lodged in the patterned hollow of the Heavy Water True Wheel, grinding against it with a grating sound.

Chong Luan's figure slowly emerged from the black mist, a cold smile curling at his lips.

Wisps of black mist around the blade condensed into fine black needles, shooting from the blade tip through the gaps in the Heavy Water True Wheel, piercing Han Li's robes and heading for his body.

At the critical moment, golden light blazed from Han Li's body. Layers of coin-sized golden scales flipped up, covering him entirely.

A series of sharp "clinks" rang out.

The black mist needles struck Han Li's golden scales and shattered upon rebound, reverting to black mist.

Han Li spun around, sweeping his sword horizontally. The blade glowed with intense green light, slicing Chong Luan's body in two at the waist.

But Chong Luan just grinned at him, and both halves of his body turned ethereal, becoming a cloud of smoke.

Han Li's heart tightened. He activated his escape light and instantly flew thousands of zhang away from the black mist.

Before he could stop, he felt a chill on his back, as if a cold, slimy viper was clinging to his spine.

He quickly formed a hand seal, and protective light burst from his back, forcing the thing attached to him away.

It was a mass of black mist, dense and alive, with fine, hair-like tendrils writhing wildly, constantly reaching toward him as if trying to enter his body.

Han Li reached out, forming a green-glowing hand that held the black mist in midair. Upon careful inspection, he was shocked to find it contained a faint trace of law force.

But it was so weak that he couldn't discern its attribute. Fortunately, he hadn't rashly retracted his protective golden scales, avoiding its invasion.

As Han Li hesitated, the void around the black mist trembled. Wisps of black mist materialized, and Chong Luan's figure eerily emerged again.

At some point, the black cloth covering his face had been removed, revealing a sallow face. He opened his mouth with a soft "puff," and a dark thread shimmering with crystalline light shot toward Han Li's face with astonishing speed.

Han Li immediately swept his sword upward, slashing at the black thread.

Where the green light touched, the black thread snapped instantly, dissolving into a shower of black sparks.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned. He stamped his foot in the void and retreated rapidly.

As soon as he moved, a black thread recondensed at his original position and pierced through.

"Just as before, it reforms after destruction," Han Li thought to himself.

But even as he spoke, another change occurred before him.

The recondensed black thread was now connected to his green longsword from afar. With a flash of light, it shot up along the blade and into his palm.

Han Li felt a slight numbness in his palm and immediately focused his mind to inspect his body, but aside from the sensation in his palm, he detected no other abnormality.

Yet this only made him more uneasy.

At that moment, his divine sense detected several auras approaching, though he couldn't tell if they were from the Sacred Puppet Sect or the Ten Directions Tower.

Frowning deeply, after a moment's deliberation, Han Li beckoned and put away both the green longsword and the Heavy Water True Wheel.

Whether it was the Ten Directions Tower or the Sacred Puppet Sect, he planned to leave this place.

The sallow-faced man's techniques were bizarre, seemingly employing some law of mist, and Han Li couldn't go all out here, feeling too constrained.

Then, he formed hand seals, and electric light flickered at his fingertips. Silver arcs shot out, coalescing into a massive lightning array that enveloped him.

With a thunderclap, several silver arcs as thick as buckets emerged from the center of the array.

In a flash, Han Li's figure vanished from the array, leaving only a faint burnt smell in the air.

"Heh, interesting! Let's play a bit longer!" Chong Luan said with a hint of a smile.

With that, his figure was once again shrouded in black mist and dissipated.

...

Meanwhile, on the main island's square.

The clamor continued, but with less intensity than before.

On the Sacred Puppet Sect's side, nearly all puppets were destroyed and unable to fight. Of the surviving disciples, over half were dead or wounded. The large circle they had formed had shrunk considerably.

What was striking was that although these Sacred Puppet Sect cultivators were all wounded and grim-faced, none surrendered or fled.

In their eyes was a look of determination.

Partly, this was because they were the loyal remnants left to live or die with the sect after the core forces had evacuated. Partly, it was because all of them had family and descendants among those who had withdrawn.

As long as those people were safe, they had nothing to fear.

In contrast, the cultivators recruited by the Ten Directions Tower hadn't gained much advantage. They had suffered heavy casualties in the siege from outside, and many, like Cold Flame Ancestor, had left early. So now, the remaining forces on the square's periphery were few, scattered among the dense green-armored bean soldiers.

By this point, the pace of battle had slowed.

Those from the Ten Directions Tower who had survived to this point were no fools. They knew that a cornered beast's final counterattack was the fiercest, and pressing too hard would only increase losses.

Better to stall, let the Sacred Puppet Sect's last breath fade, and then reap the rewards easily.

Thus, the bean soldiers deployed by the scar-faced man became the main force grinding down the remaining Sacred Puppet Sect cultivators, charging at the forefront of the encirclement.