Chapter 424: A United Strike

"Perhaps due to the passage of time, something went wrong with the grand formation here. When you entered this place last time, the formation was not fully triggered, and that puppet was not fully awakened, which is why you narrowly escaped with your life." Han Li pondered briefly before speaking slowly.

Upon hearing Han Li's words, Cold Flame Ancestor thought it over and inwardly exclaimed his luck, while a chill ran down his spine. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Han Li suddenly shout, "Here it comes."

As the shout rang out, Han Li's figure had already vanished from where he stood.

The next instant, his figure appeared above the bronze puppet's head. He formed a strange sword seal with both hands and pressed down heavily.

A ripple spread through the void beneath his palm, and a cyan longsword gleaming with light flashed out, slashing down toward the bronze puppet's head.

"Crackling pop"

A sound of electric sparks erupted. The cyan longsword suddenly blazed with dazzling golden light, and layers of thick, solid golden electric threads surged out from it, enveloping the entire blade as it struck heavily on the bronze puppet's head.

"Boom!" A loud crash.

A golden lightning vortex several zhang high materialized out of thin air within the hall. As it howled and spun, sporadic golden electric threads shot out in all directions, striking the purple-golden light barrier and triggering a chain of electric crackles.

Cold Flame Ancestor stared fixedly at the vortex, but could not see the bronze puppet's figure at all. He could only sense the vast and violent power contained within the golden lightning.

"Is it dead..." he thought to himself.

However, after only a few breaths, a strange sound came from within the golden lightning vortex, causing his heart to tighten.

A thick arm, as white as jade and almost translucent, suddenly thrust out from the top opening of the vortex. Its fingers clenched into a fist and smashed upward toward the cyan longsword surging with electric light.

"Rumble!" A loud crash.

A cluster of white nebula exploded from the fist's end. Countless blue light dots emerged within it, flickering alternately, like the twinkling stars in a clear night sky, a beautiful sight to behold.

Immediately after, a violent and unparalleled force suddenly released from within, pushing layers of white light outward in all directions, directly forcing the golden lightning vortex to expand and grow larger.

At the same time, the blue stars within the white light annihilated one by one, and a destructive aura emanated from it.

"Roar..."

A furious roar sounded, and the already surging white light burst forth once more.

The golden lightning vortex finally could not withstand the strain and exploded in a thunderous roar. Countless golden electric threads shot out like golden snakes, darting in all directions and striking the purple-golden light barrier, causing a series of lightning flashes and thunderclaps.

The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, which had been slashing down from midair, was also sent flying backward by the immense force.

It struck the purple-golden light barrier on the ceiling, igniting a patch of electric sparks, then rebounded back. Just before it was about to pierce the ground, Han Li grabbed its hilt and held it in his hand.

The cyan longsword trembled and hummed, causing his arm to tremble slightly as well.

Han Li's face was slightly pale, and his breathing was a bit rapid, clearly having suffered a considerable shock.

He frowned and looked toward the center of the hall. The bronze puppet had now completely changed. Its entire body was translucent, the same color as green jade, with blue light dots glowing all over it.

At this moment, faint arcs of electricity still jumped on its body, but it paid them no heed. It simply raised a hand and wiped them away, then took a step forward. Its figure blurred, turning into a streak of light that instantly reached Han Li.

It raised one arm, not clenched into a fist, but formed a hand knife, carrying the force of a thousand jun as it slashed toward Han Li's neck.

Its speed was so incredibly fast that Han Li had no time to defend himself. He was struck with a "bang," his mind went dizzy, and his entire body was sent flying sideways, crashing into the purple-golden light barrier.

The light barrier immediately flared with electric light, emitting a dazzling burst of sparks.

"Fellow Daoist Han!"

Cold Flame Ancestor cried out in alarm. He wanted to flash over, but after glancing at the Golden Immortal puppet, he hesitated and stopped himself, not daring to move.

However, after knocking down Han Li, the puppet did not continue its pursuit. Instead, it turned around and fixed its pair of silver eyes on him, devoid of any emotion.

A chill ran down Cold Flame Ancestor's spine. He glanced at the green-gray stone slab in his hand and quickly threw it away like a hot potato.

Whether intentionally or not, the stone slab flew over a dozen zhang and landed precisely at Han Li's feet.

Han Li had just fallen from the purple-golden light barrier. White smoke still rose from his body, and his clothes were scorched in many places, making him look rather disheveled.

Leaning on the cyan longsword with one hand, he bent down and picked up the green-gray stone slab. After examining it, he gave a slight grin and directly put it away.

Upon seeing this, the Golden Immortal puppet seemed to be thoroughly enraged. Its figure blurred again, turning into a streak of light that shot toward Han Li.

Its hand was still in the shape of a hand knife, with white light condensing on it, hissing as it formed a serrated white flame, stabbing straight at Han Li's heart.

This time, Han Li was already on guard.

A gleam of light flashed through his eyes, and golden light surged violently behind him as a golden dharma wheel emerged. The only remaining usable dozen or so patterns on it all brightened simultaneously, emitting a layer of golden ripples that enveloped him.

When the Golden Immortal puppet's arm entered the ripples, it instantly seemed to fall into a river of time, becoming extremely slow.

However, all the blue light spots on its body grew even brighter at that moment, and the fluorescent white light around it seemed to come alive, frantically surging toward its arm.

Han Li then noticed with surprise that the light flame on the Golden Immortal puppet's hand blade had turned from white to blue, its range nearly doubling as it crazily cut through the surrounding golden ripples.

The golden ripples released by the True Word Wheel became somewhat unstable, and the arm trapped within it actually advanced again. Though not fast, it clearly reduced the wheel's influence on it by a hundredfold.

Such a situation had never occurred before.

“Fellow Daoist Crab, aren’t you ready yet?” Han Li asked while struggling to maintain the True Word Wheel.

“Ready. Now,” a voice came from the void.

Before the words faded, a golden radiance suddenly shot out from Han Li’s body, expanding in midair into a golden thunderfall that poured down, instantly filling the entire hall.

There was no standing room left in the hall, which had turned into a golden thunder pool, filled everywhere with violent golden lightning.

Since entering the hall, Cold Flame Ancestor had been shocked too many times; the muscles on his face had stiffened.

Now, with his mouth slightly open and his gaze somewhat unfocused, he fully activated a green chime, turning it into a green light screen to protect himself.

In the thunder pool within the hall, a giant golden crab emerged. Its vast golden shell pressed against the purple-gold light screen above, and the two-colored lightning bolts interwove with constant crackling.

One of its huge pincers, wrapped in golden lightning, suddenly shot out and clamped onto the waist of the Golden Immortal puppet.

“Crack—”

With a sound of thunder and lightning, two intersecting golden electric arcs flashed by.

The purple-gold light screen covering the hall instantly tore apart, its light scattering and vanishing. A huge gap also split open in the hall’s walls and roof, cleaving them in two.

As the golden electric light gradually dissipated, the thunder pool in the hall began to shrink, surging into the body of the golden crab. With a flash of light, it transformed into a yellow-robed man with a square face and thin eyebrows—naturally, it was Crab Daoist.

"Fellow Daoist Han, after this fight, the immortal jade you gave me earlier is almost completely used up," the Crab Immortal said, glancing at the golden immortal puppet lying broken in two on the ground.

"No matter. I'll replenish some for you later. Many thanks for this," Han Li said, putting away his True Word Dharma Wheel.

"No need. In my view, this golden immortal puppet is quite extraordinary. Although its intelligence was deliberately suppressed during refining, its abilities are comparable to a Mystic Immortal, and its combat power is actually very strong. If we hadn't joined forces, we couldn't have defeated it so easily," the Crab Immortal said, waving his hand.

His implication was naturally that he hoped Han Li would not waste it and would best collect it.

"I'll put it away. After we leave this place, Fellow Daoist Crab, do you have a way to repair it and refine it anew?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

"That blow just now—I didn't hold back. It has already damaged its puppet core. Whether it can be repaired is still uncertain," the Crab Immortal said noncommittally.

The golden immortal puppet had now reverted to its original bronze-man form. Its upper and lower halves were severed from under the right rib to the left hip, and at the break above the lower abdomen, a dark golden metal sphere was exposed, with a narrow crack on it as well.

Han Li felt a slight regret about this, but he knew it couldn't be helped. After all, when battling an opponent at the golden immortal level, if one's own side held back, it would be no different from seeking death.

"If there's nothing else, I'll go back first," the Crab Immortal said, glancing at the Cold Flame Ancestor leaning against the temple door. He turned into a beam of golden light, flew into Han Li's sleeve, and disappeared.

Han Li waved his hand, collected the two halves of the golden immortal puppet from the ground, turned around, and walked toward the rear hall.

Ancestor Cold Flame, watching Han Li's retreating figure, collapsed behind the temple gate, his body drenched in cold sweat.

At this moment, he finally understood just how vast the gap between them was, and also realized how foolish his previous actions had been.

After rounding the enormous screen, Han Li saw a hidden door wide enough for two people.

Stepping through the hidden door, he entered the rear hall.

The rear hall was relatively enclosed, with no windows on any side, so no sunlight entered, yet it was not dark inside.

The surrounding walls seemed coated with a layer of fluorescent stone powder, emitting a faint glow, with tiny points of light flickering on them, resembling stars.

In the center of the rear hall stood a bronze square platform, no higher than waist level, only a foot square, engraved with intricate patterns.

On the top surface of the platform, there were two recessed grooves.

Seeing this, Han Li's heart stirred.

The size of these grooves exactly matched the bluish-gray stone slab inscribed with the "Great Zhou Celestial Star Origin Art," and they also contained carved runic symbols.