Chapter 578: Descending

About a quarter of an hour later.

Han Li flew down onto a protruding cliff platform, waved his sleeve to sweep away dozens of scattered bones, and a large patch of幽绿 phosphorescent fire immediately danced into the air, drifting slowly toward the depths of the abyss.

This place was already nearly a thousand zhang from the entrance.

After glancing around, he waved his hand, and three beams of light—two gold and one white—flashed simultaneously. The figures of Crab Immortal, Gold童, and White Jade Pixiu appeared on the cliff.

"Uncle, this place..." Gold童 felt uncomfortable as soon as he appeared and quickly asked.

"Such heavy baleful qi..." Crab Immortal frowned and said.

"We are already inside the abyss. The level of baleful qi here should still be tolerable for you, but if we go deeper, you will be contaminated. So you will stay here for now, while I go further down to go into seclusion." Han Li scanned the surroundings and said.

"Uncle, rest assured in your cultivation below. We'll handle things up here." Gold童 nodded firmly upon hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, to be safe, I'd like your help in setting up a formation." Han Li patted Gold童's head and then said to Crab Immortal.

"Alright." Crab Immortal nodded.

"Master, this place feels eerie. Will there be any problems?" Xiao Bai suddenly spoke, somewhat worried.

"The baleful qi in the abyss is so dense that even you cannot bear it, and the same goes for other desolate beasts. Besides, I have already probed with my divine sense and found no signs of living creatures for now. I expect there won't be major issues." Han Li said after a brief deliberation.

Xiao Bai fell silent and nodded quietly.

"Gold童, despite that person's warning, you must still keep a close watch on that Devouring Gold Immortal's movements while I am in seclusion. If it makes any unusual move, inform me immediately." Han Li looked at Gold童 and said.

"Uncle, rest assured." Gold童's body trembled slightly at the mention of "Devouring Gold Immortal," but he still nodded.

Han Li nodded, flipped his hand to take out a formation plate, and after discussing with Crab Immortal for a while, the two rose together, flying back and forth along the cliffs on both sides of the abyss, beginning to set up the formation.

"Back when I followed that old witch Qu Ling, we also had life-and-death battles, but mostly we were the ones chasing and killing others. We were rarely chased so miserably. But since returning to Uncle's side, I've had no shortage of scares." Gold童 looked at Han Li's retreating figure and suddenly said slowly.

"Boss, do you regret it?" Xiao Bai asked tentatively.

Jin Tong slapped it on the head and said with a smile, "Following Uncle, every day is so thrilling—how could I regret it? Besides, Uncle is no ordinary man; he must have a way!"

The corner of the white jade Pixiu's mouth curled, and it even showed a trace of a smile.

…

After about half a quarter of an hour, Han Li and Crab Daoist bid farewell to Jin Tong and once again left the cliff edge, flying back down toward the depths of the abyss.

As his figure descended, the wind howled past his ears, and the swirling air currents stirred up the phosphorescent flames within the abyss, sending them scattering and flickering in the deep, thick fog.

At a glance, they looked like stars reflected in the night sky, but without the slightest hint of the open, sparse beauty of the starry heavens—only an utterly eerie and terrifying aura.

The further down he went, the more puzzled Han Li became.

He had originally thought that the baleful aura within the abyss would be evenly diffused, the same everywhere, but as he descended, he found the surrounding baleful energy growing denser and thicker, while the bones of strange beasts on the cliff walls on both sides became noticeably fewer.

After descending about fifty or sixty li in this manner, there was no longer any light in the space around him; everything around was enveloped in baleful energy that was almost as solid as matter.

Although Han Li had cultivated his baleful apertures, he now found it difficult to breathe and felt somewhat uncomfortable.

He frowned slightly, enduring the assault of the baleful energy, and continued his descent, heading straight for the bottom of the abyss.

The further down he fell, the denser the surrounding baleful energy became, and rolling waves of fierce baleful aura continuously invaded his body, unable to be completely blocked even by his protective spiritual light.

After flying nearly a hundred li down this way, the surrounding baleful energy suddenly began to churn violently, and gusts of eerie wind howled out.

Waves of violent and ferocious intent suddenly surged forth, the temperature in the nearby void plummeted sharply, and a layer of black ice crystals formed on the rocks of the surrounding cliffs, with some places cracking open from the cold.

Caught off guard, Han Li was instantly covered in a thick layer of black ice, and the ferocious intent invaded his mind in an instant.

He felt his vision suddenly turn blood-red, and looking around, he saw countless piles of demon beast corpses like mountains and rivers of blood.

At the same time, his ears were filled with the sounds of ghostly wails, screams, and cries.

Before he could do anything, millions of blood-red ghost hands reached out from the surrounding mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, waving and grabbing at him, as if trying to drag him into the depths of this boundless slaughter hell.

Faced with this situation, Han Li frowned slightly but did not lose consciousness.

He knew that this was a hallucination caused by the excessive density of baleful energy eroding his mind, and he had already secretly activated the Spirit Refining Art to protect his consciousness.

He closed his eyes and urged his technique. Streams of cooling clarity flowed through his mind, and the surrounding illusion began to recede.

However, the yin wind below continued to blow unceasingly, with a mournful howl. The illusion of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood stubbornly lingered in his mind, refusing to disperse.

Han Li snorted and cycled the Divine Refining Art several times. The vast power of his divine sense surged and churned within his mind.

The illusion in his mind trembled and finally began to fade.

He let out a light breath. A flash of azure light on his body shattered the black ice crystals on his skin. But instead of continuing downward, he bent over and peered into the abyss below, his eyes flickering.

The intensity of the baleful qi here far exceeded his expectations. If not for his Divine Refining Art, which was nearly at the fourth layer, protecting his mind, any other mid-stage Golden Immortal would likely have been ensnared by the illusion just now and died in madness.

He was now in a pitch-black darkness. Below, the yin wind howled and black mist churned in the bottomless abyss, clearly far from reaching the bottom.

Moreover, the boundless baleful qi and yin wind here greatly hindered divine sense; his divine sense could not extend very far.

He had originally planned to rely on his physical strength to see if he could reach the bottom of the abyss, using the denser baleful qi to aid his breakthrough. But upon reaching this point, he found that he was nearly at his limit. Forcing himself to go further might cause damage.

Not to mention, the killing illusion from before would surely reappear, and its power would likely be even stronger. He was not certain he could handle it.

Just as he was hesitating, his brows suddenly lifted, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

He discovered that after overcoming the recent illusion by urgently cycling the Divine Refining Art, the art, which had been stuck and making no progress, had actually improved somewhat, nearly equivalent to several years of arduous cultivation.

Han Li fell into contemplation, his mind stirring.

Under the stimulation of the baleful qi environment, his divine sense was constantly on the verge of collapse. But this, in turn, helped the Divine Refining Art to operate at full capacity.

He had originally intended to use this place to condense baleful qi and break through his acupoints. Now he discovered that this place was also an excellent training ground for the Divine Refining Art—an unexpected bonus.

After all, such dense baleful qi was rare in the outside world. He grew even more curious about what lay below.

After a moment, Han Li's gaze hardened, and he continued to descend.

This time, after flying down only a dozen or so li, the surrounding baleful qi became even denser, and the howling yin wind grew more piercing and loud, like the desperate screams of dying demon beasts.

Han Li stopped and, with a thought, relaxed the Divine Refining Art that had been continuously operating in his mind.

The boundless ferocious aura around him surged into his mind. His vision blurred, and the earlier illusion of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood reappeared, even more perilous than before.

Han Li immediately cycled the Divine Refining Art. The vast power of his divine sense churned, striving to expel the illusion from his mind.

Time passed bit by bit. Only after half a day did he open his eyes and let out a light breath.

As he had expected, the Divine Refining Art had advanced considerably again.

Seeing this, Han Li was delighted. The bottleneck that had been holding back his Divine Refining Art would likely be broken before long at this rate.

After a brief rest on the spot, he continued flying downward.

The further down he flew, the fiercer the surrounding baleful qi and yin wind became, endlessly spewing from below, as if the bottom of the abyss connected to a hell of yin and balefulness.

As before, Han Li would pause after descending a certain distance, using the yin wind and baleful qi here to temper his Divine Refining Art.

Under the stimulation of the surrounding baleful qi, the cultivation of the Divine Refining Art progressed unusually smoothly.

After several months like this, Han Li's Divine Refining Art had reached the peak of the fourth layer, only one step away from true completion.

He stopped on a protruding boulder on the cliff face of the abyss and looked downward.

According to his calculations, he had descended nearly a thousand li during this time, but the abyss still showed no sign of reaching the bottom.

Han Li then turned his gaze to the surrounding cliff walls. After a moment of thought, he shot downward again.

Not far down, he let out a soft exclamation.

At this point, the abyss had become narrow. Clusters of pitch-black yin wind shot forth, stirring the nearby baleful qi into rolling, forming eerie whirlpools of various sizes.

The baleful qi here suddenly intensified severalfold, and the howling of the yin wind abruptly grew louder.

Waves of ferocious aura surged into Han Li's mind like a tide. Even though he had not stopped cycling the Divine Refining Art, the baleful qi here still shook his mind.

His expression changed slightly, and he was about to stop.

With a loud bang!

A fierce gale suddenly erupted from the abyss below. A thick black wind pillar shot out and wrapped around Han Li's body.

A tangible baleful aura burst forth from the yin wind pillar, smashing through the defenses of his Divine Refining Art in his mind like a force of destruction.