Chapter 522: Joyful Reunion

"How dare you flaunt such paltry illusions!"

Han Li showed no sign of panic. The giant ape he had transformed into gave a cold snort, then moved its arm, sweeping the dark green giant sword around with the force of a thousand armies.

A sun-like dark green light suddenly burst forth, stirring up a terrifying, explosive wave of air that swept outward.

Wherever the wave passed, all the illusions around instantly collapsed like bubbles, and the surroundings changed back to the sky above the endless wild forest.

But at this moment, two earth-yellow puppets had appeared on either side of the golden giant ape, less than a hundred feet away, emitting a dense earth-yellow glow mixed with waves of profound law fluctuations.

The puppets swung their arms down violently, and the two clumps of earth-yellow light detached from their bodies, shooting out to transform into two earth-yellow dragons several hundred feet long, which swiftly coiled around the golden giant ape.

The two earth-yellow dragons connected head to tail, like thick chains, firmly locking the giant ape's arms.

At that moment, the void before and behind the golden giant ape flickered, and the masked old man and a white-robed man wearing a mask appeared out of thin air.

As soon as the masked old man appeared, he formed hand seals and waved his hand. The nine white flying swords shot out again, their surfaces blazing with flame-like platinum light, merging into a single hundred-foot platinum giant sword.

The platinum giant sword let out a clear cry, danced wildly in the air, and instantly transformed into a huge white sword wheel, slashing toward the golden giant ape.

A vast law emanated from the white sword wheel, even surpassing the earlier white sword dragon.

At the same time, a cyan-black light shot out from his body, transforming into a cyan-black strange hammer.

"Boom!"

Clumps of cyan-black flames emerged on the strange hammer, emitting a bone-chilling cold aura that swept toward the golden giant ape.

Almost simultaneously, the white-robed middle-aged man waved his hand, and a pitch-black wooden ruler shot out. As it caught the wind, it spun and transformed into a hundred-foot black giant ruler, pressing down toward the golden giant ape.

The surface of the black giant ruler was wreathed in black mist, pressing down like a towering mountain peak. Before it even landed, the surrounding void began to twist and deform, emitting a dull hum.

At the same time, the man opened his mouth and spat out a string of over a dozen purple beads.

Each purple bead exuded a terrifying lightning aura, shooting toward the giant ape.

Facing this scene, the golden giant ape's expression remained unchanged. Its entire body blazed with purple-gold light, and purple-gold scales emerged on its surface. Purple-gold light flashed under its armpits and on its shoulders, and four more thick arms grew out, while two ferocious heads appeared on its shoulders, instantly transforming into a three-headed, six-armed purple-gold demon god.

Two arms of the purple-gold demon god lightning-fast grabbed the two earth-yellow dragons coiled around its body and pulled with all its might.

An indescribable force erupted from the purple-gold demon god, causing a boom around it and ripples to appear in the nearby void.

"Bang!" A loud crash!

The two earth-yellow dragons were forcibly torn off by the golden giant ape, exploding into a sky full of earth-yellow mist.

The spiritual patterns on the surface of the purple-gold demon god suddenly brightened, and the vast immortal spiritual power within it surged into the dark green giant sword in its hand. The silver runes on the giant sword writhed like living creatures, suddenly glowing several times brighter, and it swept around in a circle.

A mountain-like dark green sword light surged out, mixed with rolling law fluctuations, rushing in all directions like angry waves, twisting the void wherever it passed.

A rumbling explosion erupted!

Whether it was the masked old man's two puppets, the white sword wheel, the cyan-black strange hammer, or the white-robed middle-aged man's black giant ruler, all collided with the dark green sword light like waves hitting a reef and were easily sent flying.

Those purple thunder beads, when struck by the dark green sword light, directly exploded into purple light clusters, emitting a powerful lightning law fluctuation.

But these purple light clusters were immediately engulfed by the dark green sword light and swept away cleanly like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

The masked old man and the white-robed middle-aged man's bodies shook violently, and they were also sent flying, staggering back several hundred feet before barely steadying themselves.

Blood flowed from the corners of their mouths, and their eyes showed disbelief and terror.

The white-robed middle-aged man glared fiercely at the masked old man, then suddenly turned and shot away into the distance, not even bothering to retrieve the black giant ruler.

Seeing the white-robed middle-aged man's actions, the masked old man also turned and fled.

"Since you two are here, stay." The purple-gold demon god sneered, its body blazing with golden light as a golden wheel appeared behind it.

Countless golden ripples emerged from the wheel, instantly spreading to a thousand feet around, enveloping the masked old man and the white-robed middle-aged man.

"You are Li..." The white-robed middle-aged man's face changed drastically, his eyes filled with endless regret and fear.

But before he could finish, his body was covered by the golden ripples, his voice cut off, and everything froze there.

The masked old man was also frozen in place.

The purple-gold demon god looked at the dark green giant sword in its hand and nodded with satisfaction.

This sword contained immense power of destruction law and was extremely heavy, making it quite suitable for use after the Nirvana Sacred Body transformation.

He formed hand seals with both hands and waved, his massive body rapidly shrinking, and in an instant, he returned to his human form.

The dark green heavy sword also shrank, reverting to its original size.

Han Li put away the heavy sword, shifted his gaze, and looked at the two frozen figures.

He walked over to the middle-aged man in white, reached out and lifted the mask from his face, revealing the features of the pale-faced scholar from the Cangliu Palace.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, then turned and walked to the masked old man, pulling down the veil to reveal a grizzled face—it was the black-bearded old man.

Han Li frowned slightly, reached out and grabbed the black-bearded old man's head, and five points of dark light emerged from his fingertips, sinking into the old man's mind.

Originally, the Nascent Soul of a Golden Immortal cultivator was extremely solid, with the divine soul tightly locked onto it, making soul searching extremely difficult. But within the region of the True Word Wheel, everything slowed down a thousandfold, making soul searching much easier.

After a moment, Han Li released his hand, a look of understanding appearing on his face.

The black-bearded old man's eyes bulged, but the light in them had not faded.

Seeing this, Han Li curled his finger, about to flick out a spell to extinguish the divine souls of the two, but then his movement suddenly stopped, and he fell into thought.

"You're lucky," Han Li snorted, formed a hand seal, and waved his hand.

Two balls of red fire shot out, landing on the black-bearded old man and the other.

The two bodies were quickly reduced to ashes by the fireballs, leaving only two storage artifacts and two Nascent Souls floating in midair.

Han Li waved his hand, sending out a stream of green light that rolled up the two Nascent Souls, while with his other hand he waved, and two purple talismans were affixed to the foreheads of the Nascent Souls.

Immediately, purple runes emerged on the purple talismans, firmly binding the two Nascent Souls.

Only then did Han Li nod, and with a flip of his hand, he put away the two Nascent Souls.

After doing all this, he waved his sleeve again, sending out a stream of green light that collected the two storage artifacts, as well as the several immortal artifacts and the two puppets around, before forming a hand seal to put away the True Word Wheel.

The golden ripples around flickered once and then disappeared.

Han Li glanced toward Guanlan City, quickly withdrew his gaze, and was about to continue flying forward.

At that moment, a clear sound of applause emerged.

"Haha, worthy of being one of the three supreme laws, truly formidable!" A voice followed.

"Who is it?" Han Li frowned and looked toward a certain place.

There was a flash of void, and two figures materialized—none other than Hu Yan Daoist and Yun Ni.

“Brother Hu Yan, Brother Yun Ni, you two have made it safely as well.” Han Li’s face lit up with joy as he stepped forward to greet them.

“Seeing that you, lad Li, are still hale and hearty, we can rest easy.” Hu Yan Daoist chuckled.

“When did you two arrive here?” Han Li asked with a smile.

“We just got here and happened to witness you showing off your might. Those five Golden Immortal Palace Masters of the Cangliu Five Extremes Palace are all renowned in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, yet they couldn’t last a few moves against you.” Hu Yan Daoist exclaimed in admiration.

“Brother Hu Yan flatters me. They simply didn’t guess my identity and were caught off guard. If we were to fight in earnest, it wouldn’t be so easy for me to defeat them.” Han Li shook his head modestly.

“Lad Li, I’m truly sorry for leaving you alone to deal with Gongshu Jiu and Mo Yu earlier!” Hu Yan Daoist looked at Han Li with some apology.

Yun Ni said nothing but bowed to Han Li, a flicker of guilt in her eyes.

“It was forced by circumstances. Now that we’re all safe, there’s no need to mention it further. Brother Hu Yan, you’ve always been straightforward; why are you being so hesitant today?” Han Li waved his hand and laughed heartily.

“Good! You, lad Li, have become much more carefree than before.” Hu Yan Daoist was taken aback, then laughed as well.

A hint of amusement also appeared in Yun Ni’s eyes.

The three exchanged smiles, and all lingering resentment vanished from their hearts.

“Surviving the perils of the Minghan Immortal Mansion is worth celebrating. We should drink three cups! Yun Ni doesn’t like alcohol, so I’ve been drinking alone these past few days—it’s really no fun.” Hu Yan Daoist waved his hand, and a table and chairs appeared in the void.

“Oh? So you think being with me is no fun?” Yun Ni’s pretty face darkened as she shot a glance at Hu Yan Daoist, her phoenix eyes sharp.

“This… of course not. I meant drinking alone is no fun. Being with you is naturally great fun! Hehe…” Hu Yan Daoist shrank his neck and gave a dry laugh.

Yun Ni snorted and turned away, ignoring him.

“Excellent! Today, we three reunite after a calamity—we should indeed have a good drink! As the saying goes, ‘A jug of immortal brew for a joyous reunion; all the affairs of the Northern Cold, turned into laughter and talk.’” Han Li smiled at the two and sat down.

“Well said—‘turned into laughter and talk’! How refreshing! Whether the Immortal Domain falls into chaos or the Cangliu Palace dominates alone, today we’ll drink to our hearts’ content and not go home until we’re drunk!” Hu Yan Daoist nodded repeatedly and also sat down.

“Today, for Brother Li’s sake, otherwise…” Yun Ni glared at Hu Yan Daoist and sat down as well.

“Good brother, thanks for getting me out of that.” Hu Yan Daoist’s voice sounded in Han Li’s ear.

Han Li said nothing, only winked at him.