Chapter 543: Conflict

After the black flood dragon's claw drove Han Li away, it paid him no further heed, and its other enormous claw descended, heading straight for the golden lotus below.

Seeing this, Han Li's pupils contracted slightly.

Although he knew full well that the black flood dragon possessed terrifying strength, the golden lotus was an unparalleled spiritual object, and he was naturally unwilling to give it up easily.

As he pondered, he waved his hand to put away the jade flying carriage, and a brilliant golden light burst from his body as he transformed into a golden rainbow, hurtling straight toward the golden lotus.

But before he had flown far, the ground ahead suddenly shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

Han Li's figure abruptly halted, and without a word, he rapidly retreated backward, moving even faster than when he had advanced.

With a thunderous roar!

The ground ahead exploded violently, and an enormous black object emerged from beneath the earth, coiling toward the black flood dragon in midair.

An overwhelming force radiated from the black object, stirring up a gale. Although Han Li was now hundreds of zhang away, his body was like a fallen leaf in a fierce wind, involuntarily blasted backward.

In that instant, his entire body was struck as if by a heavy blow, nearly falling apart. Had he not reacted quickly and possessed an exceptionally resilient physical body, he would have been crushed to pulp.

After steadying himself over ten li away, Han Li immediately looked ahead and was startled.

That colossal black object was none other than an enormous black tentacle, a thousand zhang thick, covered with huge black suckers, like a sky-supporting demonic hand emerging from the earth. It had now coiled around the black flood dragon's body.

The once ferocious black flood dragon, before this tentacle, was like a chick caught by an eagle. It let out a piercing shriek and struggled desperately, but to no avail.

With several more thunderous roars, the ground in other nearby areas also exploded, and several more identical sky-supporting black tentacles emerged, all coiling around the black flood dragon's body, binding it tightly in an instant.

"This..." Han Li was utterly horrified at the sight before him.

The black tentacle had appeared without any warning, and with his vast divine sense, he had not detected the slightest clue.

Rumble!

The entire swamp shook as a colossal black figure slowly emerged from the ground behind Han Li—a monstrous beast of unimaginable size.

The upper half of this beast resembled a lizard, with a long neck and a bright red fleshy comb on its head, like a rooster's comb.

Its lower half, however, was like an octopus, with over a dozen huge tentacles—an unknown creature.

This giant monster was dozens of times larger than the black flood dragon, its massive figure obscuring half the sky. Huge black tentacles danced wildly around it, wrapping around the black flood dragon and delivering it into its mouth.

The black flood dragon in the monster's mouth looked like a large earthworm held by a rooster.

An boundless, overwhelming aura emanated from the black monster.

Han Li's face turned deathly pale, and a long-forgotten fear arose in his heart.

He abruptly turned around, his body blazing with golden light. The Truthful Word Wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly in reverse.

Han Li's figure suddenly transformed into a blurry golden shadow, shooting away into the distance like lightning.

The monster's crimson eyes shifted, and a black tentacle lashed out like lightning, its speed inconceivable. It caught up to Han Li, who had already fled nearly a hundred li away, and wrapped around his body in a flash.

Han Li's vision went dark as he was completely enveloped by the black tentacle.

A tremendous force squeezed from all directions, causing his bones to creak.

Han Li grunted, his body blazing with golden light. The reversing Truthful Word Wheel instantly stopped and began to spin forward.

Countless golden ripples emerged, spreading outward, forming a thousand-zhang area of golden ripples that also enveloped part of the black tentacle.

The part of the black tentacle covered by the golden ripples seemed frozen in golden ice, and the entire tentacle suddenly halted, unable to move.

The black monster let out a low roar, and the tentacle blazed with black light as it gave a violent tug.

The area of golden ripples shook violently, on the verge of shattering.

At that moment, a flash of golden lightning passed.

The golden ripples vanished in an instant, and the black tentacle regained its freedom, flying back to the black monster.

The black monster uncurled its coiled tentacle, but Han Li was no longer inside. It let out a slightly surprised cry.

At that moment, a flash of golden lightning appeared ten thousand li away, and Han Li's figure emerged. His face was deathly pale, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and one arm was twisted at an odd angle, clearly broken.

He paid no heed to his injuries. Golden lightning once again erupted from his body, spreading outward to form a lightning array.

With a thunderous crack, Han Li's figure vanished again.

...

Above a dense green forest, arcs of golden lightning appeared, coalescing into a lightning array.

In the center of the array, the void flickered, and Han Li's figure emerged.

He looked around and let out a long sigh.

A flash of gold and white light at his waist and hand revealed the figures of Gold Boy and the Pixiu.

"Uncle, that scared me to death. What was that monster just now..." Gold Boy seemed frightened, his face pale.

The Pixiu remained silent, but its eyes were also full of terror.

"I don't know. It should be some kind of primordial true spirit," Han Li said, his expression somewhat calmer.

"Are primordial true spirits that terrifying? I thought they were about the same as that big sand beast," Gold Boy said, still shaken.

Han Li said nothing, his gaze flickering as if lost in thought.

"Xiao Bai, weren't you born in the Primordial Wasteland? Knowing it's so dangerous here, you still led us around recklessly. Are you trying to get us killed?" Gold Boy then turned to the Pixiu and said angrily.

"Boss, although I was born in the Primordial Wasteland, I was taken away by those wasteland hunters shortly after birth, so I don't know much about this place. Besides, I've already signed a contract with Master. If he dies, I won't fare well either. How could I do such a thing?" the Pixiu quickly defended itself.

Hearing this, Gold Boy felt it made some sense, so he snorted and said nothing more.

"It seems we've underestimated the Primordial Wasteland..." Han Li murmured to himself, inwardly vigilant.

In recent days, while traveling and searching for treasures, he had encountered no major dangers, so he had grown somewhat careless. If not for his quick reaction just now, he might have lost his life.

As he pondered, he flipped his hand and took out a healing pill, swallowed it, and reset his broken arm. He then looked up at the endless Primordial Wasteland ahead, frowning.

He had only just entered the Primordial Wasteland and had already encountered such a terrifying giant beast. If he ventured deeper, he would face countless dangers.

"Uncle, what should we do next?" Gold Boy asked.

Han Li formed hand seals and traced in the void, causing strands of light to emerge and coalesce into a light map in midair. On it were drawn the areas they had passed through and regions that overlapped with most of the maps.

This was a composite he had made based on the map obtained from Jiao San and those purchased from Yuanhuang City.

"We'll go here," Han Li said, pointing to a hilly region.

"Luming Hill..." Gold Boy glanced at the small characters marked on it and read aloud.

"According to these maps, this area is not far from here. Only some primordial beasts live there, with no organized tribes. We'll go there to rest for a while and then decide what to do," Han Li said slowly.

Then, with a sweep of his hand, the light map disappeared.

The jade flying carriage's light rose again, flying close to the ground toward the distance.

With the previous lesson in mind, Han Li set aside his contempt for the Primordial Wasteland. He not only activated all the carriage's restrictions without regard for immortal essence stone consumption but also stopped recklessly searching for treasures. After flying without incident for over ten days, he finally reached the edge of Luming Hill.

As they approached, the dense forests on the ground began to thin out.

It was late at night, and Han Li, hovering high in the sky, could see below large, fierce-looking strange beasts either foraging in the forest or fighting with natural enemies.

Some of the more perceptive beasts sensed the anomaly in the sky and roared at them, their cries shaking the forest.

Han Li gazed into the distance, and his expression suddenly changed slightly, a hint of confusion appearing.

Several hundred li ahead, there were intense fluctuations of spiritual power, as if many people were engaged in battle.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li waved his hand and put away the jade flying carriage.

Then he took out the "Long Wu" mask and put it on. A flash of spiritual light passed over his body, and he transformed into a wooden-faced middle-aged man, concealing his aura. He then silently flew toward the area where the battle seemed to be taking place.

As he drew closer, the spiritual power fluctuations and noise grew stronger.

When he was less than fifty li away, Han Li flew down directly into a sparsely wooded area and, with a few flashes, arrived nearby.

In the center of an open clearing ahead stood a bonfire platform about a zhang high, with blazing flames illuminating everything around.

On either side of the bonfire, two groups of strange-looking alien races were fighting each other.

One side resembled humans, but they were tall and thin, with extremely long necks, each about a zhang tall. Their skin was dark green, and at the corners of their mouths grew two half-foot-long white fangs that protruded and curved outward.

The other side, in contrast, looked ferocious and terrifying.

Each of them was only about five feet tall, extremely broad and stout, looking very bloated. Their skin was grayish-brown, covered with a thick layer of plate armor. They had almost no necks, with their chins connected directly to their chests. Their lips were wide and thick, making them look like giant upright toads.