Chapter 579: Sinking into Depravity

In an instant, the thought of brutal slaughter filled Han Li's mind.

A faint blood-red light appeared in his eyes, and the scenery before him became blurry. Then, he found himself in a world of blood, once again falling into an illusion.

Around him was an ocean of blood, in which countless bones and corpses of demon beasts were immersed. The air was thick with a rich, bloody stench that made one want to vomit.

Han Li suddenly bit his tongue, regaining some clarity. He activated the Spirit Refining Technique as much as possible to protect his mind, while a blue light flickered in his eyes as he looked around, his pupils slightly contracting.

Although the previous illusions had disturbed his mind, they were still within his tolerance; he could escape by operating the Spirit Refining Technique.

But now it was different. He seemed to have completely fallen into it, and escaping would not be easy.

Waves of deathly, bloody aura washed over him. Despite his utmost efforts to calm his mind, Han Li still felt his blood faintly boiling. A raging fire surged in his chest, with no outlet, almost making him want to tear open his chest to vent the pent-up frustration.

"Not good!"

He had experienced this situation once before, back in the Black Wind Sea region, when the Spirit Refining Technique suddenly backfired. But after he began cultivating the fourth layer, the backlash had been temporarily suppressed and should not have erupted again for a short time.

Could it be that this illusion had prematurely triggered the hidden danger of his Spirit Refining Technique?

At this thought, Han Li immediately activated the Spirit Refining Technique at full power. A cool sensation spread through his mind, and the fire in his chest slowly subsided.

His mind raced, thinking of ways to break this illusion.

Just then, a splashing sound came!

Han Li turned to look, his brow furrowing.

The blood sea on the ground began to churn and flow. Not far from him, the corpse of a demon wolf over a hundred feet long slowly rose from the blood. Two faint red lights appeared in its eyes, and it let out a roar as it pounced toward him.

Han Li flicked his finger, and a beam of green light shot out, cleaving the demon wolf corpse in two.

Splash!

The blood flowed, and two more demon beast corpses rose and charged at him.

Han Li waved his hand, and a green light swept out, killing the two corpses.

But before the two corpses could fall, the blood sea around him surged violently, and even more corpses rushed forward.

Han Li waved his hands, sending out attacks to fend off the surrounding demon beast corpses.

Although these corpses were not very powerful at first, their numbers grew, and among them, powerful ones began to appear—True Immortal demon beast corpses, and even Golden Immortal demon beast corpses.

By now, Han Li had transformed into a mountain-like giant ape. His huge fists glowed with golden light, swirling like two gusts of wind, shattering the corpses wherever they passed.

But no matter how many he killed, more appeared, until they surrounded him in layers upon layers.

A sharp sound of breaking air arose. A hundred-foot-long thick green beast-tail skeleton suddenly emerged from the blood sea below and swept toward him.

Busy fending off attacks from other directions, Han Li could only punch at the beast-tail skeleton.

A golden fist shadow shot out and collided with the beast-tail skeleton, producing a loud noise.

The golden fist shadow shattered like an egg.

The beast-tail skeleton did not stop. It blurred and appeared beside Han Li, striking his waist like a meteor.

Han Li's body shook violently. He was sent flying like a straw, crashing into the nearby demon beast corpses.

The surrounding corpses let out excited roars and surged over him like a tide, burying his body and madly tearing at his flesh.

The mountain giant ape's originally tough defense suddenly became extremely fragile, easily torn open by the countless corpses. In almost an instant, most of the flesh on the giant ape was gnawed away, revealing the white bones beneath.

Han Li was furious. His arms blazed with golden light as he swept them around in a circle.

An irresistible, immense force erupted from the golden light. The air exploded with a deafening roar, and the void trembled violently.

Rumble!

The nearby corpses were all blasted away.

With a flash of golden light, the golden giant ape shot high into the air, temporarily evading the attacks of the surrounding demon beast corpses.

Han Li looked at his broken body, and the fury on his face slowly faded.

Half of his body was gone, but he did not feel severely injured. With a flash of golden light on his surface, the damaged body instantly restored itself.

"That's right, how could I forget? I am currently in an illusion..." Han Li realized that his momentary impatience had nearly caused him to fall for it.

The main reason was that due to the premature eruption of the Spirit Refining Technique's hidden danger, his mind was unsettled, leading to a momentary lapse of reason.

None of what lay before him was real; it was an illusion. If one were deceived by its surface appearance, one would never find a way out.

"Roar!"

As he pondered, the beast skeletons below let out greedy roars and pounced again.

Han Li let out a long breath, suddenly closed his eyes, and focused his mind on the Soul-Refining Art, ignoring the beast skeletons charging at him from all directions.

A crystalline light appeared at his brow, quickly growing larger and brighter, dazzling like the sun, impossible to look at directly.

The few beast skeletons at the front, less than ten feet away, were struck by the crystalline light and immediately let out piercing screams, turning to ash and scattering in the wind.

The remaining beast skeletons, also hit by the light, let out miserable shrieks and fled in panic, diving into the sea of blood and not daring to show themselves again.

In an instant, not a single skeleton could be seen in the blood-colored space; only a calm sea of blood gently rippled.

Han Li paid no attention to the skeletons. He suddenly opened his eyes, which gleamed with golden light, quickly swept his gaze around, and let out a low shout.

The crystalline light at his brow flared again, shooting out a thick beam that instantly condensed into a hundred-zhang-long crystalline blade, slashing into the void.

Rip!

Where the giant crystalline blade passed, the blood-red space rippled like water, but then immediately returned to normal.

Though he failed to break the space, Han Li felt slightly relieved. The crystalline light at his brow brightened again as he prepared to act.

At that moment, the sea of blood below churned violently, emitting loud gurgling sounds.

A massive body slowly emerged from the blood sea—a mountain-sized emerald-green corpse.

This corpse was an enormous green rat, most of its body still covered in rotting flesh, not yet reduced to bones. In its eye sockets burned two flames of red and green, giving it an extremely eerie appearance. Behind it dragged a hundred-zhang-long thick green tail.

An immense aura radiated from the green rat, causing the surrounding void to tremble incessantly, creaking as if it could not bear the overwhelming pressure and was about to shatter.

Han Li's pupils contracted.

The pressure emanating from this rat far surpassed that of the Taiyi Golden Immortal Devourer. Perhaps only the great-eared monk he had seen while traversing time and space could compare.

His mind raced, but he did not panic.

Though the green rat was powerful, it was merely an illusion.

Moreover, seeing the tail behind the rat, he immediately understood that the giant bone tail that had sent him flying earlier belonged to this creature.

Just then, the green rat's eyes flashed, and its massive body turned into a green blur, charging ferociously.

Han Li formed hand seals, and the crystalline light at his brow blazed, shooting out a thick beam that struck the green rat's head.

But the green rat suddenly opened its mouth wide and swallowed the beam whole. At the same time, it flickered and appeared before Han Li, its speed unabated.

Its massive body, like a giant meteor, slammed heavily into Han Li.

The crystalline light at Han Li's brow flared again, spinning and condensing into a huge crystalline shield in front of him.

With a series of crisp cracking sounds, the giant crystalline shield burst apart.

The next moment, a tremendous force, having easily shattered the shield, directly struck Han Li.

With a "whoosh," Han Li was sent flying, tumbling for over ten li before barely managing to steady himself.

But before he could counterattack, a long green shadow shot over like lightning, "piercing" through Han Li's body. It was a tongue from the rat's mouth, covered in a thin layer of green flames.

A searing pain suddenly struck Han Li's mind, as if his very soul had been pierced by flames. He could not help but let out a muffled groan, but he forced himself to endure the pain. His hands, seemingly slow but actually fast, grabbed the green tongue, intending to tear it apart.

But at that moment, the green tongue coiled like a snake, binding Han Li's hands together, then swiftly wrapped around his body, trussing him up like a green zongzi.

The green rat opened its gaping maw and inhaled sharply.

A terrifying devouring force suddenly erupted, enveloping Han Li's body, while the green tongue pulled back sharply.

With a "whoosh," Han Li was yanked back and flew straight into the rat's mouth.

Han Li's vision blurred, and the next moment he found himself in a dark space, surrounded by rotting purple-black flesh oozing foul, sticky liquid, emitting a nauseating stench.

Invisible forces pressed in from all sides, and the green tongue binding him did not loosen.

Han Li felt a wave of nausea. He struggled a few times but could not break free, and his heart sank.

But then his brow twitched. He stopped struggling and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, green light flickered around him, and clusters of green flames materialized, emitting a faint glow. They landed on Han Li and blazed fiercely.

Waves of scorching heat emanated from the green flames, merging into Han Li's soul.

Han Li's soul suddenly grew hot, as if placed on a rack and licked by raging flames. He could not help but let out a muffled groan.