Chapter 431: A Hidden Paradise

Not far away, after hearing what Patriarch Cold Flame said, Han Li's eyes flashed with a sharp glint. He suddenly dispersed the concealment technique in his hand, and the figures of the two immediately emerged.

"Let's go!"

He gave a low shout, wrapped one arm around Lu Yuqing's waist, and golden arcs of electricity suddenly appeared on his body surface.

These arcs flashed once, then converged above their heads, instantly transforming into a thick golden bolt of lightning that wrapped around their bodies and shot upward through the air.

Blood Han was startled at this sight and swiftly turned around.

"I knew you wouldn't go far. I've been waiting for you to show yourselves!" He sneered, formed a hand seal, and pointed.

With a "crackle" sound!

The black net above the medicine garden suddenly rumbled loudly, radiated intense light, and immediately became twice as thick.

At the same time, countless black threads, like spirit snakes, shot out from various nodes around and above the net, swiftly winding toward the golden lightning that was soaring upward.

These black threads seemed to meander through the air, but their speed was astonishing, leaving behind hazy afterimages, appearing even faster than the golden lightning.

The golden lightning tried its best to dodge, moving closer to the black net above, but just as it was less than ten zhang from the net, it was quickly entangled by the overwhelming black threads that surged in.

A strange law power emanated from the black threads, somewhat similar to the law of confinement. The golden lightning immediately dissipated, revealing the figures of Han Li and Lu Yuqing.

The black threads from all directions did not pause but flew toward the two from every side, dense as rain, leaving no room to evade.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly, but he showed no sign of panic. A golden light flashed behind him.

A golden wheel emerged, spinning rapidly, and then immediately merged into his body.

A faint golden light appeared on Han Li's body, and his figure suddenly became blurry as he continued to charge toward the black net above.

His speed suddenly became incredibly fast, and his movements were extremely agile. The countless black threads shot down, seemingly engulfing his form, but after Han Li's figure continuously transformed into dozens of afterimages, he astonishingly evaded all the black threads with ease.

This series of changes was completed in the blink of an eye.

Blood Han had just turned around and hadn't taken a step yet when Han Li, carrying Lu Yuqing, had already dodged the countless black threads and appeared before the black net above.

A flicker of surprise passed through Blood Han's eyes, but then he quickly regained his composure.

So what if he reached the black net? These black threads were just one transformation of his black spirit net.

This net not only contained the power of confinement law but was also extremely tough, more than enough to trap a Golden Immortal cultivator, let alone Han Li, who was merely a True Immortal.

Blood Han put away the silver pagoda with a flip of his hand, transformed into a black shadow, and pounced toward the two.

At that moment, a powerful aura erupted from Han Li, reaching the level of a Golden Immortal.

Crackling!

Golden lightning emerged from his body. This golden lightning was crystalline and extremely thick, far more powerful than the previous golden lightning, and it even contained a faint fluctuation of law power.

At the same time, a huge crab claw suddenly extended from Han Li's body, wrapped in thick, crystalline golden lightning, like a giant lightning scissors, snipping at the black net.

"Rip!"

The black net was torn open, creating a hole, though not large, it was enough for two people to pass through.

Blood Han's expression changed drastically at this sight.

Han Li's figure flickered, transforming into a phantom, and shot out through the hole, escaping.

Without pausing, his figure blurred, and in the next moment, he appeared in the distant sky, then flickered again and vanished completely.

Almost as soon as Han Li fled, Blood Han followed closely behind, arriving outside the black net and looking in the direction Han Li had escaped.

"Damn it! After them!" Blood Han roared in anger.

...

In a dense forest to the left of the peak.

A golden light flashed and landed there. As the light faded, the figures of Han Li and Lu Yuqing reappeared.

"Brother Han, why didn't we just fly far away from here?" Lu Yuqing asked, somewhat flustered.

"The leader is a Golden Immortal. If it were just me, I might not lose to him in speed, but with you, I'm not confident we could get away cleanly. Once we escape to the sea, with no cover, it would be hard to shake them off." Han Li's gaze swept across the high sky as he explained.

Lu Yuqing's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she inwardly felt grateful that Han Li had not chosen to abandon her.

"However, hiding here is not a foolproof plan. We need to conceal our auras and hide elsewhere on the island. By the way, do you have any spiritual treasure that can mask your aura?" Han Li withdrew his gaze and asked.

"Yes, my father once purchased one for me at a high price." Lu Yuqing nodded quickly.

With that, she flipped her palm and produced an extremely thin, snow-white gauze robe, which she put on.

As soon as the robe was on, a faint white light flickered and then merged into Lu Yuqing's clothing, becoming invisible.

At the same time, her aura became faint and elusive.

"Not bad. As long as we keep a certain distance, we should not be discovered." Han Li gave a brief inspection and nodded with satisfaction.

As he spoke, he also activated his Wuchang Alliance mask and concealment techniques to completely suppress his own aura.

Then, the two walked in the opposite direction of the herb garden, deeper into the dense forest.

Not long after they left, four figures descended from the sky and landed where they had been.

"The auras of those two end here..." Bone Flame Hermit frowned as he looked around.

"They must have concealed themselves, afraid of being discovered." A burly, iron-tower-like man sneered.

"We must find them no matter what, or else we won't be able to bear the consequences if Blood Cold Lord investigates." Another Shifang Tower cultivator said worriedly, with a bitter face.

"Hehe, no need to panic. I happen to have some minor divination techniques for tracking people. Let me give it a try." Jingming True Man said with a smile.

With that, he flipped his palm, and a small purple-gold tripod the size of a palm appeared in his hand.

On the lid of the small tripod was engraved a strange beast with an unusually long nose and a peculiar appearance. Its eyes were closed, and its nose was coiled, looking endearingly naive and lifelike.

Jingming True Man first took out a piece of black incense, lit it by rubbing his fingers, and threw it into the small tripod. Then, he pressed his two fingers together, silently recited a spell, and tapped the head of the strange beast on the lid.

The strange beast's eyes suddenly opened, revealing ruby-like pupils. It stretched its neck and sniffed around, then turned its nose toward the direction Han Li and the others had left, emitting a thick white smoke.

"This Scent-Sniffing Tripod can detect traces of mana, odor, and aura left in the air by cultivators, and it is especially sensitive to women's body fragrance. However, the time interval cannot be too long, so we need to hurry." Jingming True Man chuckled.

The other three were delighted and quickly followed the direction indicated by the smoke.

Meanwhile, Han Li and the other had been walking through the dense forest and soon arrived at a dilapidated, abandoned garden.

Looking around, all the original pavilions and towers in the garden had collapsed, and everywhere was covered with slippery moss and entwined with thick vines.

The abandoned garden was not very large, basically situated at the edge of the dense forest. Exiting the garden meant reaching the end of the forest.

The exit of the garden was a half-collapsed circular archway, outside which a winding path overgrown with weeds extended down the mountain.

"Something's wrong. Someone is following us..." Han Li suddenly stopped and looked back toward the dense forest.

"We've already concealed our auras. How did they catch up?" Lu Yuqing also quickly looked back, surprised.

"We have secret techniques to hide our auras, but they may have secret techniques to track us. If all else fails, we can only try to flee far away..." Before Han Li could finish, his expression changed, and he let out a soft exclamation of surprise.

"What's wrong, Brother Han?" Lu Yuqing asked nervously.

Han Li did not answer but quickly walked to the half-collapsed stone archway, which resembled a crescent moon, and examined it closely.

Lu Yuqing followed, frowning as she looked at the archway.

Light simultaneously flickered in their eyes—one blue, one black—each displaying different phenomena.

"Brother Han, did you notice something wrong?" After a moment, Lu Yuqing withdrew her gaze and asked doubtfully.

"You didn't see anything either? Perhaps I'm overthinking. Let's go." Han Li glanced at Lu Yuqing and shook his head slightly.

With that, they stepped forward and entered the circular archway.

As soon as they entered the archway, the space around them twisted, as if a finger had poked a flat sheet of paper from the inside, causing ripples to appear all around.

Startled, Han Li tried to step back but it was too late. After a misstep, he stumbled forward before regaining his balance.

Beside him, Lu Yuqing lost her footing and fell forward. Fortunately, Han Li caught her quickly, preventing the embarrassment of a cultivator tripping.

"Where is this... We are..."

Lu Yuqing straightened up and looked at the scenery before her, exclaiming in surprise.

Before her eyes stretched a narrow mountain range spanning hundreds of miles, with undulating peaks and ridges, seemingly connected to the small island they were on.

Han Li looked back; the half-collapsed circular archway was still there, but it seemed out of place compared to the surrounding environment.

"It seems there is another hidden realm here, and this archway is the entrance." After pondering for a moment, Han Li's eyes flickered as he spoke slowly.