Chapter 597: Life or Death

"Golden Boy, what's wrong?"

Han Li's heart tightened, and he quickly asked through their spiritual connection, but the latter gave no response.

A blue light flashed in his eyes, and he hurriedly looked into the distance toward the Devouring Gold Immortal, only to find that it had already fallen back to the ground, its figure submerged in the tumultuous dust and rolling baleful aura, impossible to see clearly.

At this moment, the Crab Immortal, who had earlier fled far away, transformed into a streak of golden light and flew over, arriving beside Han Li.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, something seems to have happened to Golden Boy. I need to go down and check. You stay here and protect Mo Guang," Han Li said, sensing a bad premonition.

"Alright, go ahead." The Crab Immortal glanced at Mo Guang in the baleful aura and nodded.

A flash of green light surrounded Han Li as his figure rapidly descended, once again charging into the completely collapsed abyss.

Following a faint trace of aura, his figure flickered among the chaotic rocks and soon found the massive golden beetle deep within.

But then, he furrowed his brows slightly.

The Devouring Gold Immortal at the Taiyi stage was lying motionless on the ground, covered in a layer of nearly crystalline light, and there was no sign of Golden Boy.

If not for the faint spiritual connection, he would have thought Golden Boy had met with misfortune.

Steadying himself, Han Li immediately urged his divine sense to sweep over the golden beetle, finding that its vitality, though somewhat damaged, was still quite vigorous, especially with exceptionally strong spiritual fluctuations.

After a moment's deliberation, Han Li suddenly understood: it was likely that the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal, seeing Golden Boy about to bite through its heart meridian, had no choice but to rush into Golden Boy's sea of consciousness, attempting to devour her soul.

And indeed, that was the case.

Within Golden Boy's sea of consciousness, towering waves were churning violently as two golden beetles, one large and one small, fiercely tore at each other.

The larger Devouring Gold Beetle, though dominant in size, had somewhat dimmed light, evidently not fully recovered from its injuries, while the smaller one, radiant with golden light and holding the home-field advantage, fought even more ferociously.

There was no verbal or mental communication between them; they both harbored only one thought:

Either you die, or I die!

"Chii..."

"Rip..."

"Boom!"

Sounds of tearing rang out continuously as parts of the two beetles were devoured by each other, yet no blood flowed—only layers of hazy golden light dispersed like mist.

The Taiyi Devouring Gold Beetle's soul lunged forward, but Golden Boy's soul dodged, and before it could recover its balance, Golden Boy bit off a section of its wing and tore it away.

Just then, the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal suddenly spun around, ignoring its severed wing, and lunged at Golden Boy's head.

Golden Boy couldn't dodge in time and was about to be bitten off.

At the critical moment, a streak of white crystalline light suddenly appeared above the sea of consciousness, striking the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal's head like a bolt of white lightning, causing it to shudder violently and fall.

With the flash of that white crystalline light, Golden Boy's soul also felt a sharp pain, almost unbearable.

But this was, after all, her own sea of consciousness, the source of her divine sense power. Gritting her teeth and enduring, she immediately lunged at the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal's soul, biting into its head.

Outside the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal, Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground with a slightly pale face, eyes closed, regulating his breath.

It was he who, sensing Golden Boy's danger, had once again used his soul refinement technique to forcibly drive a divine sense crystal thread into Golden Boy's sea of consciousness, saving her.

...

Noon the next day.

A crisp "crack" startled Han Li awake.

He first glanced at Mo Guang and the Crab Immortal sitting not far from him, then looked at the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal's shell, discovering that the crystalline light enveloping it had shattered, and the vast vitality within was rapidly draining away.

Immediately after, Golden Boy's figure flew out from the wound on the Devouring Gold Immortal's body.

Seeing this, Han Li revealed a hint of a smile and was about to speak when Golden Boy said expressionlessly:

"I'd trouble you, Uncle, to protect me for a while."

Han Li's brow twitched almost imperceptibly, then he nodded silently.

He, the Crab Immortal, and Mo Guang all retreated over ten li away, each taking a position in a triangular formation, surrounding Golden Boy and the Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal's corpse in the center.

Jin Tong cast a distant glance at the three of them, then golden light flared up from his body as he floated up and hovered over the corpse, slowly closing his eyes.

With a wave of his small hands, a vast expanse of golden light surged out from his body, intertwining and swirling in midair. It churned violently and formed a golden vortex that continuously expanded, in the blink of an eye reaching several hundred zhang in size.

Countless golden runes spiraled and flickered within it, emitting waves of powerful law fluctuations that carried a restless aura.

The remnant body of the golden beetle was drawn into the vortex, slowly sinking into it.

Jin Tong suddenly opened his eyes, and the golden light on his body intensified abruptly, shooting out substantial golden flames in all directions.

In the next moment, within a radius of ten thousand li, all the world's vital energy crazily converged toward the golden vortex. The nearby ground also suddenly cracked open, and streams of visible spiritual power gushed out from within—the spiritual energy from underground spirit veins below—also flowing toward the golden vortex.

In an instant, a vast expanse of five-colored spiritual clouds appeared above the golden vortex, covering the sky. Five-colored lightning arcs rolled within the clouds, faintly visible.

Inside the golden vortex, Jin Tong's body gradually became shrouded by the surrounding golden light, his figure slowly blurring as if merging into the light. Yet one could clearly sense his aura rising step by step, growing stronger.

Han Li stood in the distance in midair, took out two pills and swallowed them, silently watching everything before him.

Mo Guang stood with his hands behind his back, also silent, but his eyes flickered slightly, lost in thought.

Crab Immortal simply sat down cross-legged, eyes fixed on his nose, nose fixed on his heart, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

"Boss is about to advance again!" Pixiu appeared beside Han Li at some point, raising his head to gaze at the scene in midair, his eyes reflecting the blazing golden light, full of envy.

The golden vortex spun faster and faster, and the massive figure of the golden beetle was slowly drawn into it.

Boom!

The golden vortex suddenly expanded greatly, and a dazzling golden light mass emerged at its center, impossible to look at directly. Around it, countless golden runes of all sizes flickered, emitting a sound like Buddhist chanting.

At that moment, the surface of the golden light mass at the vortex center suddenly became unstable, bulging into large bumps and shaking incessantly.

At the same time, a low roar came from within, unmistakably Jin Tong's voice, sounding somewhat impatient and pained.

Han Li frowned slightly, a look of gravity appearing on his face.

Within the golden vortex, golden shadows flickered, and a vague giant golden beetle phantom emerged, seemingly the very Devouring Gold Beetle that had just been killed. It appeared to be galloping and roaring within the vortex, ferocious and menacing, constantly roaring at the golden light mass at the vortex's center.

"Although Jin Tong has extinguished the Devouring Gold Beetle's primordial spirit, some mixed resentments still remain in its corpse, some not belonging to it... To fully absorb that Devouring Gold Beetle, he must first overcome these resentments. I wonder if he can do it," Mo Guang suddenly spoke up.

As his words fell, a huge roar suddenly came from the golden light mass, followed by a thick golden beam shooting out from within. The light then scattered, transforming into another giant golden beetle phantom—Jin Tong.

With a thunderous explosion, Jin Tong's phantom blazed with golden light and charged fiercely toward the other golden beetle phantom.

The golden beetle phantom did not show weakness either, leaping forward to meet Jin Tong.

The two immediately clashed in battle, golden light rolling and intertwining violently, erupting with booming sounds.

Jin Tong's beetle phantom was slightly smaller and was at a disadvantage, being pushed back continuously.

"Oh no, boss seems to be losing ground, Master..." Pixiu said anxiously upon seeing this.

"We cannot help in this battle," Han Li shook his head, his expression calm.

As soon as he spoke, a loud noise came from ahead. The golden beetle phantom's body blazed with golden light, sending Jin Tong flying backward.

The golden beetle phantom let out an excited roar, its massive body relentlessly pursuing Jin Tong. Its two large foreclaws slashed down fiercely, swift and heavy, as if intending to cut Jin Tong into three pieces.

At that moment, Jin Tong's staggering form suddenly steadied. He twisted his body sharply, turning into a blur that swiftly passed between the golden beetle's foreclaws and appeared behind it in a flash.

The golden beetle was startled and before it could react, its body tightened as Jin Tong grabbed it from behind, holding it fast and immobile.

Jin Tong swung his two foreclaws, crossing them to slash at the golden beetle's head.

"Clang!"

Although the golden beetle could not turn to face its enemy, in desperation it raised its foreclaws beside its head, blocking Jin Tong's strike.

The four foreclaws crossed, and at the point of contact, golden sparks wildly flashed and screeched.

A look of madness appeared in Jin Tong's eyes. He suddenly raised his head and let out a piercing long cry that tore through the clouds. Golden light burst forth from his chest, and his foreclaws blazed with blinding golden light.

"Clang!"

Jin Tong's foreclaws severed the golden beetle's foreclaws and then swept across its head.

The golden beetle's head flew up into the air, and its massive body flickered violently twice before exploding with a bang, scattering into a vast expanse of golden light.

Jin Tong's phantom suddenly opened its mouth wide and took a deep breath.

The golden light from the golden beetle's dissolution immediately shot back, turning into a golden torrent that poured into Jin Tong's phantom's mouth.