Chapter 53: Demon Flame Scorches the Body

As soon as the words fell, Han Li's figure blurred and vanished from the spot.

"Watch out..."

The hawk-faced old man's expression changed in alarm as he shouted loudly.

But before his words faded, he only saw a blurry figure flash before his eyes, and then his entire body felt as if struck by a giant mountain, flying backward like a torn sack, crashing heavily into a mountain peak outside the square, embedded deep into the rock wall, his fate unknown.

Two muffled thuds sounded!

The white-haired old man and the swarthy giant had just watched the hawk-faced old man fly off, still not understanding what had happened, when they felt their vision darken, and then their bodies shot off like riding clouds in a certain direction, smashing heavily into the mountain wall.

The entire square fell into dead silence.

Liu Le'er looked at the chaotic mess of black figures strewn around the square and the various oddly shaped magical artifacts, her mouth wide open, unable to close for a long time.

Although she knew her Stone Brother was very powerful, this scene still far exceeded her imagination, feeling like a dream.

While the girl was still in a daze, Han Li appeared beside her and asked with some concern:

"Le'er, how are your injuries?"

"Thanks to the treasures you gave me, I'm fine. Qi Xuan had ulterior motives—he coveted your spirit flame and wanted to lure you here using me. But aside from imprisoning me, he didn't do anything to me." Liu Le'er shook her head, still speaking with lingering fear.

Han Li nodded, sat down cross-legged on his own, and took out a white pill to put into his mouth.

This mental attack technique, given his current magical power, had nearly drained his mana even though he had deliberately reduced its power.

"Brother, shouldn't we leave now?" Liu Le'er was slightly startled, looked around, and said with some worry.

The commotion Han Li had caused in the square naturally alarmed the entire Tian Gui Sect; streaks of light flew out from various places, heading toward the square.

"Since we're here, why rush to leave?" Han Li smiled faintly, speaking nonchalantly.

In just a short moment, a loud sound of breaking air rang out, and several grand streaks of light arrived first, flashing to reveal six figures, whose auras were no less than those of the three hawk-faced old men.

Seeing the scene before them, the few people's expressions changed in shock, and their gazes simultaneously fell on Han Li below.

Although they were somewhat alarmed and uncertain, after releasing their spiritual sense to scan and exchanging glances, they unanimously moved back some distance before offering their magical treasures.

A sharp whistling sound exploded through the air, and six rays of magical treasure light in different colors descended from the sky, simultaneously attacking Han Li, creating a formidable spectacle.

Han Li did not rise; still maintaining his cross-legged posture, he spun in place, his arms blurring slightly as he punched out in six directions at once into the void.

"Boom, boom!" Several loud explosions rang out.

Ripples of fluctuation arose all around, spreading outward in concentric circles.

Earth-shattering roars erupted on all sides. All the magical treasures' attacks seemed to collide with an invisible wall, bursting into six enormous spiritual masses. The noise was so tremendous that the entire space seemed to roar in response.

As the light faded, Han Li, who had been sitting cross-legged, was nowhere to be seen.

The six figures in the air were startled. Then, before one of them—a middle-aged man with narrow eyes—could react, a figure flickered before him, and Han Li's form materialized. Without a word, he raised his hand and punched out.

"Bang!"

Before the man could make the slightest move, he was sent flying backward under the impact of a tremendous force.

While still midair, he heard five consecutive loud crashes behind him, then slammed heavily into something. His vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

After sending the other five Deity Transformation cultivators flying with a single punch each, Han Li returned to Liu Le'er's side and stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

At that moment, the other Heavenly Ghost Sect disciples who had rushed over from all directions happened to witness this scene. Startled out of their wits, they halted their遁光 and looked at each other in dismay, at a loss for what to do.

These Deity Transformation elders, who usually held themselves so high, were now swatted away like flies by an ordinary-looking Nascent Soul cultivator. Some crashed into various parts of the square, smashing deep pits and sending碎石 flying; others directly slammed into nearby great halls, causing them to collapse with a thunderous roar.

Especially the hundreds of half-conscious disciples scattered around the square and the magical artifacts littering the ground were a shocking sight.

Just then, a white rainbow shot over from afar, hovering above the already half-collapsed Hall of Heavenly Ghosts, from which a burly man in brocade appeared.

He looked to be no more than thirty or forty years old, with a square face and a ring of purple short beard under his chin, exuding a rather imposing aura.

"Supreme Elder..."

"Elder Lu is here, wonderful..."

The square was a scene of devastation and wailing, but as soon as everyone saw this man appear, joy lit up their faces, and they called out as if they had found their pillar of support.

The man's gaze fixed directly on Han Li, his expression extremely solemn, and he immediately began to rapidly form hand seals before him.

"A Combined Essence cultivator..."

Han Li glanced at the man, curled his lips, and turned his wrist. A black light flashed in his palm, and a miniature mountain appeared.

He extended his long arm and swung it fiercely.

The black mountain "whooshed" as it flew out of his hand.

Midway, the black mountain flashed with black light, expanding in the wind to several tens of zhang, hurtling straight toward the purple-bearded man.

Before the mountain peak had even flown over, an astonishing momentum came rolling in.

The man remained as calm as ever, his hands forming hand seals at an inconceivably fast speed.

Just as the black mountain peak, which had already swelled to a hundred zhang in height, was about to smash into his body, the man's movements suddenly stopped.

A dark purple light suddenly flared up beneath his feet, and a secret array covered with runes abruptly emerged, instantly swallowing him up.

The mountain peak struck empty air and crashed down toward the ruins below.

At the same time, an identical array appeared beneath Han Li and Liu Le'er's feet, and a sheet of purple light rolled downward, swallowing them both in an instant.

...

In a secluded valley within the Fengyin Mountain Range.

The space here was narrow and dim, with rolling black mist filling the valley. On both sides were rock cliffs over a hundred zhang high, carved with strange patterns and obscure ghostly runes.

At the four corners of the valley stood tall green stone pillars, each densely inscribed with runes, looking extremely ancient.

Just then, purple light flickered on the pitch-black ground, and Han Li and Liu Le'er simultaneously appeared out of thin air in the open space of the valley.

Liu Le'er was still trapped in the fire net formed by the silver fire bird. Suddenly teleported here, she felt a dizzy spell in her head and swayed a few times, but was otherwise unharmed.

As soon as Han Li steadied himself, he raised his head and glanced around.

The purple-bearded man from before had somehow already appeared on one of the green stone pillars, while on the other three pillars sat two men and one woman, all cultivators, seemingly meditating with their eyes closed.

The woman wore a red gauze dress, with a voluptuous figure and beautiful features. She looked young, yet exuded a mature charm.

The other two were a one-eyed giant and a hunchbacked old man.

All three had formidable auras, each being a Body Integration stage cultivator.

Sensing the disturbance in the valley, the three opened their eyes simultaneously, glanced at Han Li and the others below with surprise, and then fixed their gazes on the purple-bearded man.

“Elder Lu, weren't you handling the trouble at the Ghost Square? Why are you back so soon, and even bringing two outsiders into the forbidden area?” the beautiful woman frowned and questioned.

“No time to explain in detail. This man is a top-tier Body Integration stage physical cultivator. Hurry and activate the Earth Ghost Soul-Suppressing Array!” the purple-bearded man said with a grave expression and an urgent tone.

Hearing this, the three were startled. Though they looked puzzled, they did not hesitate and flipped their hands to produce black tokens.

Together with the purple-bearded man, the four let out a low shout and swung their wrists, tossing the tokens out.

“Clang, clang, clang, clang.”

With four metallic clangs, the tokens shot straight down, landing around Han Li and instantly burrowing into the ground.

"Go!"

A loud shout echoed through the valley.

Han Li felt the ground beneath him suddenly tremble violently, and a series of rumbling sounds like rolling thunder came from deep underground.

Within a hundred zhang around him, the soil churned, rocks cracked, and four eerie archways burst out of the ground, trapping him and Liu Le'er in the center.

Each archway had three bays and four pillars, standing about fifty to sixty zhang tall. The pillars were covered with human and animal bones, and from every flying eave hung a blood-red skull, swaying like red wind chimes.

In the center of each archway was carved a huge demon head, some with a single horn and eyes like copper bells, others with a human corpse in their mouths and blood dripping from their lips—each different.

Seeing this, Han Li was about to act when the giant demons on the four archways seemed to come alive. Their eight large eyeballs rolled around wildly and then fixed their gaze on him.

A loud "hissing" sound erupted!

All the eyeballs simultaneously shot out vast beams of blood-red light, which interweaved and flickered in the air, transforming into a rolling sea of blood that pressed down, enveloping the entire area of several hundred zhang around Han Li and the others.

Caught in the sea of blood, Han Li felt a tremendous weight suddenly press down on his shoulders. His clothes clung tightly to his body, and every movement became sluggish.

A faint blue light flickered in his eyes, and a series of crackling sounds like firecrackers rang out from within his body. His form merely swayed slightly before he steadied himself again, with no trace of any unusual expression on his face.

Under the pressure of this heavy force, the silver net covering Liu Le'er began to warp and deform, even sinking into a large depression at the top. However, after Han Li infused several magical incantations into it, it ultimately held firm, causing the young woman inside to startle at first, then relax her expression somewhat.

The beautiful woman looked down at Han Li and the others, who were completely unharmed, and said in disbelief:

"How can this be?"

"It seems we have underestimated this child. This formation can at most temporarily trap him. But now that he is in the Demon Flame Valley, we can borrow the power of the Nine Heavens Demon Flame left here by the Bone Flame Ancestor to directly refine him." The purple-bearded man's eyes flashed with a fierce glint as he mused.

"Let's move!"

The one-eyed giant and the hunchbacked old man exchanged a glance and said in unison.

The four immediately began rapidly forming hand seals, and obscure incantations sounded from their mouths.

The sound buzzed as it echoed and amplified within the valley, causing the entire valley to tremble in response.

On the cliffs on both sides, fine gravel rolled down with a rustling sound, while the ghostly runes carved on them blazed with brilliant light.

The patterns, which had been indistinct in appearance, suddenly became vivid, writhing and twisting as they transformed into patches of black fire lotuses.

The fire lotus flowers swayed, their leaves spinning, as clusters of black flames shot out from the cliffs and continuously fell into the valley. Before long, they converged into a sea of black fire, engulfing Han Li and the others.