Chapter 589 Awakening

"Alas, if only I could advance further and reach the mid-Taiyi stage, then when we join forces with Uncle to deal with that fellow, we'd have a much better chance." Jin Tong sighed and said.

Han Li raised an eyebrow slightly upon seeing this. He noticed that after being chased all over the wilds, Jin Tong seemed to have matured a bit in temperament.

However, before he could finish his sigh, Jin Tong's next words immediately dispelled that notion.

"Hey, Uncle, this corpse looks pretty good too. How about letting me eat it? Maybe it could help me advance further to the mid-Taiyi stage..."

"This is a Gray Immortal's remains, filled with pure baleful qi. Are you sure you want to eat it?" Han Li asked, amused and exasperated.

"Uncle, I haven't fully digested yet, but that little white guy has a good appetite. Why not give it to him..." Jin Tong shook his head like a rattle-drum upon hearing this.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Just then, sounds like heavy breathing came from the Gray Immortal corpse.

Han Li quickly stepped forward to look and saw that the chest of the Gray Immortal corpse was rising and falling, as if a living person were breathing.

Moreover, its originally open eyes had closed at some point, and its eyeballs were moving back and forth under the eyelids, as if trapped in a nightmare, struggling to wake but unable to do so.

"How is this guy coming back to life? Looks like he's having a nightmare?" Jin Tong asked, wide-eyed and puzzled.

Han Li's expression shifted slightly, but he said nothing.

Seeing this scene, he instinctively recalled the situation when he saw Mo Yu's corpse in the Minghan Immortal Mansion. That corpse was also in a living state at the time, but without a soul to inhabit, it could not awaken.

Now this Gray Immortal corpse had turned from dead to alive, indicating that the earlier refinement and integration of demon light had succeeded. But why wasn't it waking up? What had gone wrong?

After pondering for a long time, Han Li's eyes suddenly lit up as realization dawned.

Back then, for the Gray Immortal corpse to awaken, besides Mo Yu's soul returning, it also required a special item:

Void Yuan Pill!

Before entering the Minghan Immortal Mansion, Jiao San had gone to great lengths to have him refine the Void Yuan Pill. It was definitely not a pointless endeavor. Another key to Mo Yu's revival was that Jiao San had fed him the Void Yuan Pill.

With this thought, Han Li turned his wrist, and a pill the size of a dragon's eye appeared in his palm.

After a brief hesitation, he pinched the Gray Immortal's cheek, opened its mouth, tossed the pill in, and guided it down into its stomach.

Having done this, Han Li made no further moves but retreated three zhang away to observe.

Jin Tong was baffled by this series of actions, but seeing Han Li so serious, he also stepped back and stared eagerly in that direction.

After about a dozen breaths, a loud burp sounded.

The Gray Immortal corpse's lips suddenly parted, and a thick black smoke burst out.

Han Li's heart tightened at the sight. He shielded Jin Tong behind him and secretly activated the Soul Refining Technique.

"Fellow Daoist Han, don't attack. It's me..." At that moment, Mo Guang's voice suddenly came from the Gray Immortal corpse.

With that, the Gray Immortal's limbs began to move, stretching left and right, as if getting used to the body.

"How can you prove it?" Han Li did not stop the Soul Refining Technique and asked coldly.

"Mo Guang" hesitated briefly, then formed a hand seal. His gray-white eyes turned pitch black, and he opened his mouth to spit out a jet-black cloud of qi.

The black qi condensed into a dark scroll, which slowly landed before Han Li.

Han Li swept his divine sense over it and knew it was the demon contract they had signed. But after a moment of thought, he still did not retract the Soul Refining Technique.

Feeling the multiple restrictions left by the Soul Refining Technique within his body, Mo Guang opened his mouth to swallow the black scroll back and said helplessly, "Fellow Daoist Han's caution truly never changes, even after millions of years."

"If I weren't careful, the one signing the contract with you now would still be Ma Liang," Han Li said calmly, his expression unchanged.

"At first, I didn't feel much, but now I increasingly realize that someone like Ma Liang is far inferior to Fellow Daoist Han—a difference like clouds and mud," Mo Guang said with a smile.

"Instead of saying these flattering words, you'd better explain your cultivation level. Why is it different from what you said before?" Han Li's gaze sharpened, and his tone grew colder.

At this moment, Mo Guang's aura had actually broken through the Golden Immortal stage and reached the early Taiyi stage, but it fluctuated up and down like a candle in the wind, seemingly unstable.

Seeing this, Jin Tong raised his little eyebrows, golden light flickered around him, and he released his early Taiyi aura without restraint, sizing up "Mo Guang" with a hostile look.

Mo Guang immediately raised his hands in surrender and explained:

"Fellow Daoist Han, please don't misunderstand. When I was merging, I discovered that this Gray Immortal's body was far stronger than I imagined. I was almost completely suppressed and devoured by it. If you hadn't fed me that pill in time, I would have completely dissipated and merged into this corpse by now."

"Once the fusion was complete, he reached the early Taiyi stage. I don't think Fellow Daoist Mochi ever came close to being devoured." Han Li raised an eyebrow and said.

"You know very well that I only had True Immortal cultivation before. Although I occupied this body, it was quite a stretch. Moreover, my current realm is not yet stable. Once it stabilizes, at best I'll be at the late Golden Immortal stage. The strength of the Taiyi stage can only be exerted briefly; it's definitely not my true state." Mochi gave a wry smile.

Through their spiritual connection, Han Li could sense that his aura was indeed gradually receding, dropping back to late Golden Immortal, which put him somewhat at ease.

"It seems you are telling the truth. If so, I will trust that you are still the same Fellow Daoist Mochi. Rest assured and regulate your breathing; I will guard you." Han Li withdrew his Divine Refining Art and said.

"Then I'll trouble you." Without any hesitation, Mochi immediately sat cross-legged and began to regulate his breathing.

Han Li stood solemnly by his side, truly acting as a guardian.

Jin Tong watched the exchange between the two, his gaze slightly narrowed, lost in thought.

...

Above a peak in the cyan mountain range, a huge translucent white light floated.

This white light was dozens of acres in size, with white light waves flickering and flowing incessantly, dazzling and grotesque, like a kaleidoscope that would bewilder anyone who looked at it.

The light mass hovered conspicuously in midair, but nearby beasts dared not approach, sensing it from afar and immediately fleeing.

At the center of the white light mass, one could faintly see a huge golden beetle, precisely that Taiyi-stage Devouring Immortal.

Its entire body was motionless, as if frozen, its eyes half-open and half-closed, with a dazed expression.

But deep in its pupils, a small white vortex appeared, slowly rotating.

If the white vortex were magnified a hundred times, it would be seen as formed by countless white specks, each containing a flickering image...

In one of those images, a giant golden beetle had returned to the insect race, leading the insect army to annihilate the nearby beast race, seizing vast territories and numerous spiritual materials and treasures.

Before long, in another image, another Devouring Immortal appeared in the wild borderlands.

After some twists and turns, the golden beetle killed and devoured it again...

In an underground cave deep within the insect race's territory, the golden beetle curled up on a huge golden stone bed, its face contorted in pain.

It emitted an extremely intense golden light, churning like raging flames.

Immense auras surged and ebbed with the flickering golden light, rapidly rising and intensifying, soon approaching a bottleneck.

Yet at this moment, the aura emanating from the golden beetle did not cease but grew even more violent, like raging waves fiercely crashing against that invisible bottleneck.

With each impact, the underground cavern shook violently, emitting a loud crash as countless dust and碎石 rained down.

The booming sounds of "boom boom boom" echoed incessantly, the intervals growing shorter and shorter.

The golden light on the beetle grew increasingly bright and dazzling, gradually resembling a golden sun, impossible to look at directly.

Substantial golden light filled the entire underground cavern, flowing like water, and even the cave walls, reinforced by the beetle's spells, cracked, the fissures slowly widening with each wave of impact.

At that moment, a grand, sharp cry suddenly emerged from the blinding golden light.

Then, an immense, almost heaven-and-earth-supporting aura swept out from the golden light.

Boom!

The surrounding rock walls, struck by this terrifying aura, instantly collapsed like paper, and the entire mountain disintegrated.

Countless rocks of all sizes fell from above, but upon touching the golden light, they were immediately repelled and scattered.

At the center of the golden light, a huge golden cocoon hovered, its surface adorned with natural golden patterns, emitting a powerful aura of law.

The nearby spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged in like a tide, coalescing into dazzling golden masses that continuously merged into the cocoon, thickening it, while thunderous roars echoed from within, as if some fearsome entity was being nurtured.

Inside the cocoon, the golden beetle had transformed into a tall, sturdy man with thick eyebrows, a square face, sharp eyes, and strange golden patterns on his face.

Streams of substantial golden light continuously flew from the cocoon into the tall man's body.

The tall man radiated dazzling golden light, his aura still rising.

"Haha! Finally... I have finally returned to the Da Luo realm. One day, I will come back!" the tall man exclaimed, his face full of excitement, roaring towards the sky.

But at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

The scenery around the tall man suddenly trembled violently, then cracks appeared.

Finally, with a crisp "crack," everything shattered like glass, scattering into specks of crystalline light and drifting away.

The smile on the tall man's face froze, and he stood there stunned.