Chapter 572: Burning the Source

"What do you all think of the insect spirit's surprise attack on the Lion Clan's territory?" Nuo Qinglin's gaze swept over the crowd as he spoke.

"Spending decades gathering the elite of hundreds of clans near and far, deploying them before the Dark Star Canyon, only to abandon the insect army after a failed assault and launch a lone sneak attack on the Red Snail River Valley... this is... unreasonable..." Ulu rubbed his head, pondering.

"This behavior is indeed baffling, and inconsistent with the insect spirit's past temperament..." Manlin also spoke up.

Everyone chimed in, but in the end, no conclusion was reached. However, Nuo Yifan, who had been standing silently with the clan elders on one side of the hall, lowered her head as if she had realized something.

"Senior Li was at the Dark Star Canyon, and the insect spirit, against all reason, led the insect tribes' armies to attack the Youchen Clan. Senior Li left the Dark Star Canyon, and the insect spirit, again against all reason, attacked the Lion Clan... Could there really be some intrinsic connection between these two events?"

She remembered that when they first met Senior Li, there had been a strange golden insect by his side, whose aura was somewhat similar to that of the insect spirit. Earlier, she hadn't thought much of it because she had seen the golden insect kill Gray Toad clansmen without mercy, but now she began to vaguely sense some clues emerging.

Rumor had it that some insect tribes practiced cannibalism. Could it be that the insect spirit's attack on the Dark Star Canyon was truly aimed at the golden insect Senior Li carried?

Thinking this, Nuo Yifan was startled. This would mean that the upheaval at the Dark Star Canyon had been entirely brought upon by herself...

Her face turned pale, and she hung her head low, ultimately not daring to voice this speculation that could not yet be confirmed.

It wasn't that she feared blame or punishment from her father or others, but rather that it might incur the displeasure of other clans toward the Youchen Clan—a responsibility she could not bear.

...

Time passed, and another few months went by.

After the battle at the Red Snail River Valley, the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal had severely wounded the Lion Clan's true spirit, Jiuling, but had also expended a great deal itself. Thus, its pursuit of Jintong slowed, allowing Han Li a rare period of relative ease.

However, this ease was only relative to the earlier predicament of being relentlessly chased by the Devouring Gold Immortal.

In fact, as they ventured deeper into the wildlands, the surrounding environment became increasingly complex. Beasts of the same level as the sand beasts and octopus-like creatures they had first encountered were now everywhere, and those with even stronger auras were not uncommon.

Fortunately, having learned from past experiences and gained some understanding of the wildlands' complex environment, Han Li relied on his vast divine sense to avoid them from the start, never intruding into their territories.

Even so, they could not avoid some ferocious beasts that actively attacked them. Regardless of the strength of their auras, Han Li was unwilling to engage, fearing it would waste time and slow them down.

Yet, despite this, their speed inevitably decreased significantly.

One day, at night.

Crab Immortal piloted the jade flying carriage as it sped across a vast plain.

Han Li sat cross-legged at the rear of the carriage, holding a black jade slip in his hand, gently rubbing it.

His brows were tightly furrowed, as if he were pondering something, showing some hesitation.

After a moment, he let out a light sigh, raised the jade slip, and pressed it against his brow.

The jade slip contained nothing other than the fourth layer of the Art of Refining the Spirit. Although he had previously delved into it for a time after obtaining it, resolving the backlash issues he faced then, he had never mastered it. He had planned to wait until after crossing the wildlands to find a safe place to cultivate it properly.

But now, he had no choice but to start early.

The reason was simple: he wanted to have more means to protect himself when facing a powerful opponent like the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal. It was difficult to improve his cultivation level in a short time, but he might find a breakthrough in his soul cultivation techniques, which he excelled at, especially since the Devouring Gold Immortal was weak in soul arts.

As the jade slip glowed brightly, Han Li's expression gradually calmed, and he entered a meditative state.

Jintong sat sideways on the edge of the flying carriage, her back to him, her feet dangling and gently swaying in the air.

Since the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal seemed to have gradually figured out her method of hiding in the Pixiu's belly to change direction, it would simply stay put after she hid, waiting for her to emerge before continuing the chase. Thus, Han Li no longer had her hide all the time, only using this method at critical moments.

As a result, she spent more time outside.

Jintong's face now bore less of the usual smile; she seemed to have grown up overnight, becoming much more silent.

Being pursued relentlessly by such a powerful mortal enemy for so long was by no means a pleasant experience.

She looked down at the winding river on the plain below, shimmering with fish-scale-like white light under the moonlight. Suddenly remembering that she still had a crystal that shone with a similar light, she quickly took it out, held it in her hands, and nibbled on it, a satisfied expression returning to her face.

In the middle of the night, the bright full moon had passed its zenith. Without clouds to obscure it, it shone even more clearly.

Han Li bathed in the moonlight, his body covered with a hazy glow, as if plated with a blurred white light, softening his outlines.

However, his body was trembling slightly. At his brow, it seemed a third eye had opened, with strands of crystalline threads entering and exiting, back and forth, looking very peculiar.

Crab Immortal stood at the front of the flying carriage with his back to Han Li. Sensing the strange fluctuations behind him, he couldn't help but look back.

His brow furrowed slightly, and a trace of worry flashed in his eyes.

Han Li's divine sense fluctuations seemed unstable at the moment, like a bubble constantly expanding and contracting, or like a ripple continuously widening and narrowing.

In fact, the scene in Han Li's sea of consciousness was indeed like this, only on a much grander scale.

All his divine sense power surged back and forth in his sea of consciousness like tides, the fluctuations growing larger and larger until they stirred up towering waves.

After a long while, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, took a sharp breath, and panted heavily.

"Uncle, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Jintong, sitting nearby, was startled. She quickly pulled her legs back and jumped over to Han Li.

Han Li did not answer immediately. He tiredly put away the black jade slip, took out a pill and swallowed it, then wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I'm fine. I was just a bit impatient while attempting to cultivate and nearly went astray," he said slowly, without elaborating.

The content of the fourth layer of the Art of Refining the Spirit was not particularly difficult to understand, but the further one progressed, the greater the risks. A moment's carelessness could lead to a storm in the sea of consciousness and a deviation.

"That's good... Your commotion just now startled me," Jintong said with a sigh of relief.

"Any new developments?" Han Li collected his thoughts and asked.

"It's still the same, sticking to us like a plaster. Right now, it should be..." As Jintong spoke, she carefully sensed her connection with the Devouring Gold Immortal, and her expression suddenly turned extremely grim.

"What? Is it catching up?" Han Li's expression changed as he immediately understood what was happening.

"Uncle, it was quiet just now, but suddenly it sped up again..." Jintong said quickly.

"How many days until it catches us?" Han Li asked solemnly.

"Not days. At this speed... at most a few hours, and it will catch us," Jintong said with a grimace.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, take a rest. I'll take over the flying carriage," Han Li turned and said to Crab Immortal.

The latter nodded without a word, then transformed into a golden light and flew into Han Li's sleeve, disappearing.

Han Li glanced at the immortalite stones in the carriage's formation, estimated that no replenishment was needed for now, and retook control of the flying carriage, urging it to glow brightly and speed forward.

"Don't worry. Go back into Little White's belly and hide your aura well. We'll change direction several times to see if we can shake him off," Han Li turned back to look at Jintong and comforted her.

Jintong nodded, took out the soul armor talisman, and was about to stick it on her forehead when her hand froze.

"Has it gone mad? It's actually burning its own source power, and it's gotten faster... At this rate, it will catch us in less than three hours," she exclaimed in shock.

"It seems its patience is wearing thin too..." Han Li frowned.

As he spoke, the jade flying carriage suddenly decelerated and came to a halt in midair.

"Why did we stop, Uncle..." Jintong asked in confusion.

"Fleeing like this won't work; we'll definitely be caught," Han Li said, looking at the deep night sky.

"But Uncle, your time dao patterns haven't fully recovered. We have no chance in a direct confrontation..." Jintong said in surprise.

"Who said we're going to confront him head-on? We're just changing our method of escape. First, put on the soul armor talisman and stay in Little White's belly," Han Li forced a smile and said.

Jintong acknowledged and stuck the talisman on her head.

Han Li then summoned the white jade Pixiu, which swallowed Jintong, who had transformed into a golden beetle, in one gulp.

After putting away the white jade Pixiu, Han Li frowned and murmured, "It's coming fast..."

Now, without Jintong's sensing, the Devouring Gold Immortal had already entered Han Li's divine sense range; the distance between them was very close.

Han Li waved his hand to put away the jade flying carriage, then narrowed his eyes. Silver electric threads flickered in his eyes as his hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals.

Soon, bright silver arcs around him began to intertwine and expand, forming a silver lightning array.

With a roar, the silver lightning array suddenly blazed with light, and Han Li's figure blurred before vanishing without a trace.