Chapter 600: Confrontation

Inside the cave.

Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands forming hand seals as he fully activated the True Word Wheel Sutra. Dazzling golden light erupted from his body, and the True Word Wheel materialized.

Streams of pure time law force permeated the golden light that rolled like waves, enveloping his body.

Han Li knew better than anyone that this omen was precisely the fifth decay of the Five Decays of Heaven and Man—the Decay of Baleful Qi—about to descend.

Due to previous fortuitous encounters, his cultivation in the Golden Immortal realm had advanced by leaps and bounds. The fourth decay, which other Golden Immortals might encounter after years of cultivation, would likely not befall him. But now, only a step away from the Tai Yi realm, he could not avoid the fifth decay.

The reason, he suspected, was related to his cultivation of the Profound Baleful Nether Spirit Art provided by Mo Yu to resolve a crisis, and also to his advancement of the Spirit Refining Art to the fourth layer, which seemed to have some connection.

Although he had mentally prepared himself, the sudden onset of this decay still caught him off guard.

But since it had come, he had to face it.

Unlike the previous Decay of Orifices, the Decay of Baleful Qi erupted violently. He felt the baleful qi lurking within his body gradually stirring, surging toward his sea of consciousness. At the same time, some of the baleful qi triggered the dozens of immortal apertures containing baleful qi on his body, causing the baleful qi to spill outward.

At this moment, Han Li felt the violent rage within him rising. If not for his strong self-control, he would have long gone mad.

Meanwhile, the air in the cave where Han Li sat had become dark without warning. Masses of black clouds appeared in the sky, with faint red shadows tumbling within them.

A wailing sound, like the cries of vengeful spirits, echoed through the void.

Within hundreds of miles, the vegetation rapidly withered, and the ground and rocks slowly turned gray-black.

What was once a picturesque landscape instantly transformed into something like a netherworld hell. Mo Guang and the others, seeing this scene from afar, also changed expression.

Before long, several black spots appeared on Han Li's skin, as if stained by ink, slowly spreading. At the same time, traces of black light emerged in the pure spiritual power of his mind.

The red light in his eyes grew stronger, and waves of bloodthirsty killing desire surged within him.

Han Li let out a low shout, his hands quickly forming hand seals. A low thunderclap sounded, and thumb-thick golden arcs of lightning appeared on his body—the Evil-Crushing Divine Lightning.

At the same time, the spiritual light of various immortal artifacts flickered and intertwined on his body.

The golden arcs crackled and bounced, but these Evil-Crushing Divine Lightning, which normally suppressed all baleful and evil forces, had no effect on the baleful qi on Han Li's body.

On the contrary, under the constant erosion of the dense baleful qi, the originally thick and dazzling Evil-Crushing Divine Lightning quickly became thin and dim, soon disappearing entirely.

The spiritual light of the immortal artifacts also dimmed rapidly when struck by the baleful qi, with only the law forces contained within them offering slight resistance.

Unfortunately, the impact of the baleful qi was too fierce. The thin law forces of the immortal artifacts soon became riddled with holes, leaving only Han Li's time law force to hold on alone.

Han Li was not surprised by this. His hands continued to interweave, forming hand seals.

The True Word Wheel behind him spun rapidly, the time dao patterns on it trembling and flashing, continuously emitting streams of time force that stubbornly resisted the assault of the baleful qi.

No matter how violently the baleful qi surged, the time law remained unyielding, firmly blocking the way.

Seeing this, Han Li felt a slight relief.

Although he had not prepared much for the eruption of the Decay of Baleful Qi, he had studied it. This decay was terrifyingly powerful, especially in its eruption, which was like the breaking of the Heavenly River or the collapse of a flood, swift and fierce, unlike the gentle drizzle of the other four decays.

Most people could not withstand the violent eruption of baleful qi and would soon fall into madness after the decay descended, ultimately causing both their Nascent Soul and physical body to explode and die.

Fortunately, he had the time law, one of the three supreme laws, as a protective measure; otherwise, he might not have survived this first hurdle.

However, although the time law force was powerful, the baleful qi did not come from outside but originated from within his body and immortal apertures. No matter how hard the time law force tried to resist, some baleful qi still slowly invaded his body and mind.

The black spots on Han Li's body spread rapidly, now covering nearly half of his body. The red light in his eyes was bright, and the bloodthirsty urge within him grew stronger.

He activated the Spirit Refining Art to suppress distracting thoughts while raising his hand and waving it.

A white light flashed in his palm, revealing a white carved jade box. On it was pasted a silver talisman that emitted streaks of silver light mixed with traces of law force fluctuations.

Han Li quickly chanted an incantation and formed several hand seals.

The light from the silver talisman suddenly brightened, then with a puff, it burned and turned to ashes.

The jade box opened with a soft sound, revealing a dragon-eye-sized silver pill inside, exuding a rich medicinal fragrance—the Tai Yi Pill.

Han Li secretly thanked his luck for having obtained three Tai Yi Pills back then; otherwise, he wouldn't know what to do today.

He picked up the pill, tilted his head, and swallowed it. He immediately wrapped it with immortal spiritual power and began to refine it vigorously.

The silver light of the Tai Yi Pill immediately flared up, emitting waves of scorching heat that burned Han Li's lower abdomen, causing pain, as if it had turned into a silver fireball.

Han Li took a deep breath, enduring the heat of the Tai Yi Pill, and continued to drive his immortal spiritual power to refine it.

The silver light of the Tai Yi Pill brightened again. Amid the flashing silver light, waves of vast warmth flowed rapidly through his body.

As soon as the baleful qi within Han Li's body encountered this warm current, it immediately melted and vanished like ice and snow meeting fire.

However, correspondingly, that warm current was also continuously being consumed.

The red light in his eyes, which had been slowly brightening, immediately halted, then gradually dimmed. The black spots on his body also stopped spreading and began to recede.

Joy surged in Han Li's heart; the Taiyi Pill had not disappointed him.

Without a word, he continued forming hand seals, refining the Taiyi Pill to dispel the baleful qi within him, and shut off all perception of the outside world.

Inside the cave, strands of silvery-white light emerged from Han Li's body, interweaving with the golden light in a radiant display.

A strange medicinal fragrance emanated from the silvery-white light, clearly detectable even by Mo Guang and the others from a great distance.

"Eh, the master has begun to refine the baleful qi, and this medicinal fragrance—could it be that the master was already prepared to deal with the baleful decay!" In midair, the Pixiu was both surprised and delighted.

A hint of surprise appeared on Mo Guang's face, but he said nothing.

A faint golden light flickered in the eyes of the Crab Daoist; without a word, he urged the flying carriage to slowly descend toward a nearby location.

Seeing that the other two remained silent, Pixiu also laid its head down, and the flying car fell into silence once more.

Time passed little by little, and in the blink of an eye, over half a year had gone by.

Most of the baleful qi within Han Li had been dispelled, and the black spots on his body had largely disappeared, leaving only a few small patches. The same was true of the baleful qi in his mind, which had almost completely vanished.

However, the Taiyi Pill within his body had now been fully refined and had disappeared without a trace.

That vast warm current slowly receded, and the remaining baleful qi in Han Li's body was forced into a corner. As soon as the medicinal warmth vanished, this baleful qi began to churn slightly, showing signs of reviving.

Startled, he immediately flipped his hand and took out another white jade box, inside which lay another Taiyi Pill.

Han Li picked up this Taiyi Pill and, without any hesitation, swallowed it again.

As the pill entered his body, the interrupted warm current resumed, surging toward the remaining baleful qi.

With the second Taiyi Pill, it wasn't long before the last traces of baleful qi were completely eradicated.

The black spots on Han Li's body vanished entirely, and his skin became as white and smooth as jade, so translucent that one could faintly see the bones beneath his skin and flesh.

But Han Li did not show any sign of relief. Although the baleful qi within him had been swept clean, he knew in his heart that the Baleful Tribulation had not yet been fully overcome.

Of the one hundred and seven immortal apertures opened within his body, seventy-one had been opened using baleful qi.

Although the baleful qi in his body had been dispelled by the medicinal power of the Taiyi Pill, each of these seventy-one apertures harbored strands of black baleful qi that had not been driven away.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned.

As he had expected, the baleful qi in his immortal apertures had obstructed his path to advancing to Taiyi.

But the next moment, his furrowed brow relaxed.

Although the baleful qi in his immortal apertures had not yet been cleared, more than half of the medicinal power from the second Taiyi Pill remained in his body, and he still had a third, even more special Taiyi Pill on him—more than enough to expel the baleful qi from these apertures.

Han Li took a deep breath and urged the remaining medicinal power of the Taiyi Pill toward the baleful qi in his immortal apertures.

Torrents of powerful warm currents surged into the immortal apertures, and the black strands of baleful qi immediately trembled and began to churn slightly.

But unlike the previous baleful qi, no matter how the warm currents struck, these black strands only stirred incessantly, as if they had long since taken deep root in the immortal apertures, and were not dispelled.

Seeing this, Han Li's heart sank, but he continued to drive the medicinal power of the Taiyi Pill, wrapping around these black strands and grinding them fiercely.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, another half year went by.

The relaxed expression on Han Li's face was long gone, replaced by a look of deep gloom.

After half a year of effort, the black strands of baleful qi in those immortal apertures appeared slightly dimmer than before, but that was all—they still clung stubbornly to their positions.

Not a single one of the seventy-one immortal apertures had its black baleful qi dispelled.

A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes as he clenched his fist tightly.

Just then, a soft sound came from within his body.

The second Taiyi Pill was finally fully refined, dissolving into specks of silver-white light and vanishing without a trace.

With the Taiyi Pill gone, the warm currents within his body quickly receded from the immortal apertures.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

As soon as the medicinal power of the Taiyi Pill faded, the black strands of baleful qi in the immortal apertures abruptly brightened, as if a long-suppressed ferocious demon had finally lost its restraint and erupted violently.

The black strands of baleful qi emitted a bright black radiance and began to spin rapidly on their own.