Chapter 501: Return of the Soul

Among the shocked crowd, only Hu Yan appeared quite composed.

Having witnessed Han Li's True Word Wheel earlier, he was naturally not too surprised.

Bathed in golden light, Han Li flickered and easily shot out from the yellow chessboard, appearing beside Feng Tiandu and the others.

Feng Tiandu's movements were slowed by the True Word Wheel, and a flicker of terror passed through his eyes.

A layer of black light emerged on his body, flickering extremely slowly, while a powerful binding law surged within, crashing against the surrounding golden ripples in an attempt to break free.

Beside him, Qi Tianxiao also had a layer of rolling gray light on his body, from which a corrosive law force surged, striking the golden ripple zone.

But the golden ripples were filled with immensely powerful time law force, as steady as Mount Tai, and did not waver despite the impact of the two laws.

“Elder Feng, have you exhausted all your tricks? Now it's my turn,” Han Li said coldly, then raised a hand and waved it lightly.

Two streaks of cyan light shot out from his sleeve, two cyan swords that cut through the golden light, their surfaces flashing with golden light before piercing through the two men's protective spiritual light and then through their brows.

Two dull thuds were heard!

Walnut-sized bloody holes appeared on their brows, but not a drop of blood flowed out. Their bodies continued to move slowly along their previous trajectories, but the light in their eyes gradually faded away.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged; he gently brushed with his other hand, and a wave of cyan light swept over the two corpses.

Their storage devices, several immortal artifacts on their persons, and a black and a gray nascent soul were all swept up by the cyan light, then skillfully collected by him.

After doing all this, Han Li made a hand seal and pointed, and the True Word Wheel behind him flashed and merged into his body.

The surrounding golden ripples fluctuated slightly and then vanished completely.

Once the golden ripples disappeared, everything around returned to normal. The corpses of Feng Tiandu and Qi Tianxiao fell to the ground with a thud.

The series of events seemed to happen in a brief instant, yet also felt like a very long time.

Not long ago, the deep and arrogant Feng Tiandu, along with Qi Tianxiao, the sect master of one of the three great sects of the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, Fuling Sect, had become two cold corpses.

The onlookers gasped, looking at Han Li with disbelief and even more wariness.

Even Hu Yan was taken aback, then a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes as he marveled.

Han Li glanced at the distant crowd and frowned slightly.

Having revealed his true strength and being seen by so many, trouble would likely follow.

But then, a surge of boldness rose in his heart.

Thinking back to his early days in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, with low cultivation and weak strength, surrounded by powerful enemies, he had to be cautious at every turn, not daring to let loose, lest he repeat past mistakes.

Now, with his mid-stage Golden Immortal cultivation and a hint of insight into the time law, he had no fear of any Golden Immortal cultivator. Moreover, after leaving the Minghan Immortal Mansion, he had other plans, so he didn't need to worry too much about these people.

With the disappearance of the golden ripples from the True Word Wheel, Gold童 also returned to normal.

“Uncle! Why did you kill the old zombie and the one-eyed dragon? I clearly said I wanted to do it myself!” Seeing the corpses of Feng Tiandu and the others on the ground, Gold童 complained discontentedly.

“I gave you a chance just now, but you didn't seize it. You can't blame me,” Han Li said with a wry smile. Before Gold童 could say more, he swept her up in a cyan light and prepared to fly toward the edge of the hall.

But as he rose, he suddenly stopped, his expression shifting as he looked toward the emerald-green cauldron, a strange light appearing in his eyes.

The emerald-green cauldron shook again, emitting a rumbling sound. The white flame at its base suddenly flared up, expanding tenfold, rising from the bottom and enveloping half the cauldron, rolling violently.

An indescribable scorching aura spread outward, causing the temperature in the hall to soar dramatically. The void became distorted and hazy, and the ground near the cauldron slowly melted.

The gray-white statues seemed to fear the white flame, retreating one after another, and the yellow chessboard restriction they had released dissipated with a flash.

By now, everyone had left the vicinity of the cauldron, and the gray-white statues did not stay either, turning and flying back to stand on either side of the hall.

Han Li watched the white flame, his eyes flickering slightly.

The others in the distance were also startled, and all eyes once again converged on the emerald-green cauldron.

The spirit patterns on the cauldron flashed, emitting streaks of emerald light. The lid trembled violently, sending out thick white columns of gas in all directions with sharp hisses.

Inside the cauldron, a sound like muffled thunder was heard, startling everyone, but after a few tremors, the cauldron steadied again.

Then, a clear sound like a bell rang from within the cauldron. Five-colored auspicious clouds appeared on each of the remaining three chi dragons, indicating that pills were forming again.

The crowd was both delighted and puzzled.

Based on previous experience, after each batch of pills was formed, there was a wait before the next batch emerged.

But this time was different; the three Taiyi Pills had just been produced moments ago, and now three more were immediately refined.

Then they thought of the sudden surge of white flame beneath the cauldron and understood.

During alchemy, a surge of true flame in the cauldron could indeed accelerate pill formation, but the risk was great; if the flame was not controlled properly, it would immediately result in exploding pills.

At that moment, the spiritual energy in the air above the hall churned again, and countless golden clouds gathered, forming a huge vortex.

Three streaks of silver light fell from the vortex, striking the top of the hall heavily.

Dazzling silver light once again enveloped the entire hall, which shook with a rumble as golden light appeared in various places to resist the silver pill tribulation.

After a few breaths, with a dull thunderclap in the sky, all the silver light collapsed and scattered, and the golden light in the hall disappeared as well.

The others immediately flew out and gathered near the cauldron, but not too close.

After several attempts to seize pills, they had learned some lessons and discovered a safe distance that would not provoke the gray-white statue puppets.

Soon, the three chi dragons on the emerald-green cauldron opened their mouths, emitting even brighter five-colored auspicious clouds, each spitting out a Taiyi Pill.

The crowd's eyes lit up, and they flew out again.

Various colored spiritual domains emerged once more, covering the entire hall.

Although Han Li had already grabbed two Taiyi Pills, such precious items were always welcome, so he prepared to act.

Just then, a gray light suddenly flew out from him, shooting toward the emerald-green cauldron like lightning.

Within the gray light was a palm-sized incense burner, the Soul Nurturing Furnace. The talismans Han Li had placed on it had somehow become dim, clearly having lost their effect.

Han Li's expression changed, and he waved a hand.

A giant golden hand materialized, its five fingers spread apart as it grabbed downward, but only caught the afterimage of the gray light.

The gray light was terrifyingly fast, appearing before the emerald-green cauldron in a flash, as if teleporting, seemingly unaffected by the numerous spiritual domains around.

The gray light swept like lightning, wrapping around the three Taiyi Pills, then continued forward, appearing above the golden seat in the next instant.

The series of changes happened like lightning. The others hadn't flown far yet; seeing this, they halted in astonishment.

With a bang, the Soul Nurturing Furnace exploded, and the remnant soul of the old Daoist emerged.

“Haha, kid, I was right about you!” The remnant soul glanced at Han Li, laughed heartily, then merged into the living corpse on the seat.

The three Taiyi Pills also flew into the living corpse's mouth.

Rumble!

The ground near the seat cracked with a clatter, and nine golden stone pillars about a foot high rose up.

Golden light rose from these pillars, instantly forming a thick golden barrier that enveloped the seat and the living corpse.

Golden streams of light flickered on the barrier, making it look indestructible.

Under the barrier, a layer of gray light appeared on the living corpse, fluctuating.

Even through the golden barrier restriction, everyone could clearly sense a surge of life force emerging from the living corpse.

At that moment, two figures flew over and landed beside the seat. They were the two from the Nanli tribe, both with excited expressions.

Golden shadows flickered, and the three golden puppets beside the seat swayed, blocking the two and punching out.

Three thick golden lightning bolts shot out, striking at the two.

“Get lost!”

The white-haired crone shouted, and numerous dark red threads shot out, eight or nine of them, converging into a dark red light blade that slashed horizontally.

A vast law force emanated from the light blade, startling everyone.

“This law force…” Han Li stared at the dark red light blade, his gaze sharpening.

For some reason, he felt that the strangeness and power of this law force were not inferior to the time law.

The dark red light blade suddenly accelerated, turning into a dark red blur that swept across the three golden puppets in a flash.

The three golden lightning bolts trembled, exploded, and dissipated in midair.

The three puppets also swayed, then were cut in half at the waist, their spirit patterns losing all light as they fell to the ground.

The dark red light blade did not stop, slashing heavily at the golden barrier.

With a thunderous roar!

A ripple spread across the golden barrier, undulating outward, and the entire hall shook violently.

But in the next moment, the golden barrier calmed down again.