Chapter 352: Identity Exposed

Under the cover of the black lightning net, the four Black Wind Island cultivators, including the yellow-faced middle-aged man, struggled desperately, but their bodies were like small insects trapped in a spider web, firmly stuck to the lightning net, unable to break free in the slightest.

The bald burly man sneered and pointed a finger in the void.

The black banner above his head swelled, and four dazzling lightning pillars as thick as water buckets shot out, flashing and striking the four of them.

Crackle!

The protective artifacts of the three Combined Apex cultivators shattered like paper, and without even a scream, their bodies turned to ashes.

Although the yellow-faced middle-aged man had slightly higher cultivation than the other three, his body was also pierced through by the lightning pillar, and then with a "bang," his physical body was blasted into two halves.

However, his remnant body took the opportunity to break free from the lightning net, suddenly erupting into a large mass of blood light that enveloped the two halves of his corpse, transforming into a ball of blood light that fled swiftly in another direction.

The bald burly man's pupils contracted, and he changed his hand seal.

"Whoosh"

The surface of the black banner lit up with black lightning, suddenly growing larger in the wind, becoming thousands of times longer, and chasing after the blood light with such speed that it almost intercepted it in an instant.

Then the black banner flipped with incredible speed, wrapping around the blood light.

Chi chi!

A large swath of dazzling black lightning emerged from the banner's surface, instantly enveloping the blood light.

Accompanied by a scream that abruptly cut off, the mass of blood light directly burst apart, turning into ashes.

This entire sequence, though seemingly complex, took no more than a few breaths from start to finish.

The bald, burly man beckoned with one hand, and the black banner flashed once, returning to its previous form, then vanished and reappeared before him. At the same time, he turned to look in the direction Lu Yuqing had fled.

In that short time, even though Lu Yuqing's escape speed was not slow, she had not managed to fly very far, but the goateed old man still had not caught up.

Seeing this, the bald, burly man suddenly transformed into a streak of black lightning, urgently chasing after the direction Lu Yuqing had fled.

No matter how fast Lu Yuqing was, compared to a True Immortal realm cultivator who was an entire major realm above her, the gap was immense. In no more than a dozen breaths, the black lightning caught up to Lu Yuqing.

"Hmph! A mere Mahayana stage cultivator, and you truly think you can escape my grasp? Ridiculous!" A cold laugh sounded from within the black lightning.

The next moment, a giant black lightning palm the size of a mu abruptly emerged from within, reaching down to grab Lu Yuqing.

Before the giant hand arrived, a terrifying pressure had already swept down, stirring up a fierce gale. Lu Yuqing's body spun wildly in the wind, unable to control herself.

Panic appeared on her face. The cyan feathered fan in her hand blazed with light, swelling to twice its size. Its feathers stood on end, radiating an unparalleled might as she fiercely fanned it above her head.

Whoosh!

A thick cyan wind pillar shot forth, taking on a solid form. It emitted a dreadful howl and exuded faint ripples of law power, actually managing to hold back the lightning giant hand.

"Eh... a Xuantian treasure!" The bald giant's figure flickered into view in midair, a hint of surprise on his face. He then snorted coldly and slapped the void with his palm.

Boom!

The black lightning giant hand suddenly blazed with light, swelling to twice its size. Numerous black lightning runes appeared within the radiance, also emitting ripples of law power.

Bang!

The cyan wind pillar was immediately crushed and collapsed. The lightning giant hand continued to grab downward, the air below turning as solid as substance.

Lu Yuqing felt the surrounding void tighten. She tried to struggle again but could not move at all, a look of despair creeping onto her face.

Just as the giant hand was about to descend, a sudden change occurred!

A ripple suddenly came from the void beside the giant hand, and then a cyan shadow flickered past like a ghost.

A bizarre scene unfolded!

The lightning giant hand stopped in midair without any warning, then violently exploded into countless bolts of lightning, scattering in all directions.

Lu Yuqing's body immediately regained its freedom. Astonished and overjoyed, she shot forward, flickering to a spot thousands of zhang away.

The woman did not take the chance to flee. Instead, her beautiful eyes swept around.

"Who is it! How dare you ruin my good deed!" The bald giant roared, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

The old man with the goatee also flew over. Seeing what had just happened, a look of alarm appeared on his face. He quickly flickered to the bald giant's side and released his divine sense to sweep the area.

The sky was clear and bright all around, with no sign of movement.

"Hmph! To be able to break my Great Hand Seal, you must be a True Immortal! What, a dignified True Immortal skulking about, afraid to show yourself?" The bald giant sneered.

"I have no intention of interfering in the conflict between Black Wind Island and Green Feather Island. However, this woman has some connection with me. I wonder if you could spare her?" A faint voice suddenly rang out, echoing around the bald giant and the old man, but its source was impossible to pinpoint.

"Let her go? That depends on how much weight you carry!"

The bald, burly man said, suddenly turning around to look at a certain empty spot in the distance. The black banner blazed with lightning, and a thick bolt of lightning shot out, striking that spot.

Boom!

A vast expanse of dazzling lightning erupted, causing the void there to tremble violently and emit a deafening roar as if the sky were falling and the earth were splitting.

The lightning quickly dissipated, and the trembling void returned to normal, but the spot remained empty.

The bald, burly man was stunned, a look of shock spreading across his face.

At that moment, a soft sigh suddenly sounded in his ear, followed by two words murmured like a whisper: "Storm!"

As soon as the words fell, the scene before the bald, burly man changed drastically. The surrounding sea vanished instantly, and he found himself suddenly in a vast yellow desert.

Around him, fierce winds howled, everything in sight was a hazy yellow, and massive tornado pillars roared and raged.

The bald, burly man was dumbfounded, but quickly came to his senses.

"Illusion!"

At that moment, with a soft "puff," a beam of green light pierced through his dantian—it was a green flying sword, on which was pinned a miniature infant soul.

Staring at the flying sword in his abdomen, the bald, burly man's eyes bulged, his face full of disbelief.

The green flying sword twisted violently, shredding the infant soul to pieces, then flashed with green light and vanished without a trace.

The howling winds around them suddenly dissipated, and they returned to the sea surface.

The bald, burly man had lost all signs of life, a large bloody hole torn in his abdomen. The lightning glow on his body quickly faded, and his body fell from midair toward the sea like a stone.

At that moment, a silver flame suddenly appeared and struck the man's corpse.

Boom!

The bald, burly man's corpse immediately burst into blazing silver flames, turning into a pile of ashes in an instant, which scattered.

The goateed old man's face changed drastically, his eyes darting around in terror.

To kill a True Immortal realm cultivator in an instant—he could guess what that meant.

"Spare... spare me, Senior..." the old man trembled, falling to his knees with a thud.

But at that moment, a green sword light appeared from nowhere, then flashed past with lightning speed, making a casual turn around the old man's body.

The old man's expression froze instantly, and then several bloody gashes suddenly appeared on his body before it split into pieces.

As his physical body was severed into several parts, his Nascent Soul and divine soul were completely shredded by the sword qi. Large amounts of filthy blood scattered, and the several severed remnants of his corpse fell into the sea with a splash.

The azure sword light flashed once more and vanished, and the surroundings returned to calm, leaving only the sound of waves on the sea surface.

"Lu Yuqing of Black Wind Island, many thanks for your life-saving grace, Senior. I humbly request that you appear and meet me." Lu Yuqing watched this scene, her expression still relatively composed. After regaining her composure, she immediately performed a curtsy toward the void.

Amid the white clouds in midair, Han Li waved his hand to recall a Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword. The flying sword was now transparent, with two storage magic tools and a small black banner attached to it.

He flipped his hand to put these items away, showing no intention of appearing, and was about to fly away.

"Eh, Brother Liu, it's you!" Lu Yuqing's surprised and delighted voice suddenly came.

Han Li was startled, paused his movement, turned his head to look at Lu Yuqing, and his expression changed slightly.

Lu Yuqing's eyes were now covered with a strange black light in a rippling pattern, like layers of water waves undulating, and she was looking straight at him.

Han Li frowned. Under the gaze of this woman's somewhat eerie eyes, he felt as if everything about him was being thoroughly seen through.

If this situation had occurred with a cultivator of the same rank, he would not have been so surprised, but Lu Yuqing was merely a Mahayana cultivator, yet she possessed such a bizarre pupil technique.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. He made a hand seal and waved, his form materializing as he landed not far in front of Lu Yuqing.

Lu Yuqing looked at Han Li, her expression suddenly freezing.

Seeing Lu Yuqing's expression, Han Li felt somewhat puzzled but did not speak.

"Brother Liu, your appearance now is different from back then. Are you concealing your features now, or were you doing so back then? Or have you... never shown your true face?" Lu Yuqing asked with a light sigh, her tone carrying a hint of resentment.

"You can't see through my illusion technique... so how did you recognize me?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and said slowly.

Lu Yuqing hesitated briefly, then smiled and said, "To be honest, Brother Liu, these eyes of mine are naturally born Illusion Ghost Eyes, capable of seeing directly into a person's soul and thus identifying them."

Han Li's expression remained calm upon hearing this, but inwardly he was startled, clearly not expecting such a miraculous innate spiritual eye to exist in this world.

Although the illusion technique of the Wuchang Alliance masks was exquisite, it could only alter appearance, not the soul. No wonder this woman had recognized him.

At this thought, he couldn't help but touch his nose and let out a bitter laugh inwardly.

He had once saved this woman, making her an acquaintance with some history. He had thought it was just a casual act of kindness, never expecting it to expose his identity.

But now that he had saved her, he couldn't very well kill her to silence her, could he? After all, Han Li was not truly hard-hearted; he couldn't bring himself to commit such a ruthless act against an innocent woman.