Chapter 658: A Party of Four

"Roar!"

The blood-striped giant ape let out a low growl. The black banner above its head immediately rolled back, emitting ten thousand beams of black light that, like a giant black hand, instantly caught the descending green flying sword.

Seeing this, Han Li sneered and made a hand seal.

The green flying sword suddenly trembled violently, bursting with intense green light, while thick golden arcs of lightning shot through it, twisting violently.

With a "rip," the black banner was torn apart, scattering into several tattered pieces. The green flying sword, without pausing, continued to slash down at the blood-striped giant ape.

The giant ape's face showed terror, and the blood-colored patterns on its body blazed with light.

With a "pop," a pair of blood-red light wings materialized behind its back and flapped rapidly.

The blood-striped giant ape's body blurred, and with a series of afterimages, it shifted sideways.

With a tearing sound, the ape's figure appeared dozens of zhang away. A long, deep sword wound gaped on its left shoulder, nearly severing the entire arm, yet still no blood flowed.

This black ape-like creature did not seem to be made of flesh and blood.

Han Li showed no surprise. He casually raised his hand and beckoned.

The green flying sword immediately shot back, transforming into three green small swords with a flash of green light, which disappeared into his sleeve. It turned out to be a fusion of three flying swords.

The blood-striped giant ape's face now showed fury, but it did not pounce again. Instead, it opened its mouth wide and spewed a continuous stream of pitch-black flames, which instantly turned into a towering black wave that surged toward Han Li with incredible speed.

The black flames covered a vast area, giving a sense of inescapability.

Han Li's brow twitched, and he shrugged his shoulders.

Thunder roared as countless golden arcs of lightning materialized around him, then surged outward, forming a golden sea of lightning that collided with the black wave of flames, intertwining once again.

A series of earth-shattering explosions rang out. The two forces were evenly matched, neither able to overpower the other, and they stalemated once more.

The nearby stone pillars immediately shattered, sending debris flying, and the entire hall shook violently.

Whether due to the hall's inherently sturdy material or internal prohibitions reinforcing it, it did not collapse from the shockwaves.

At that moment, Han Li made hand seals, and golden lightning flashed around him. He vanished instantly.

The blood-striped giant ape seemed quite clever. Seeing this, it immediately flapped its blood-colored wings, preparing to flee.

Just then, a cold snort echoed in the giant ape's mind, and a sharp, piercing divine sense force stabbed fiercely into its brain.

The blood-striped giant ape's face contorted in pain, and it let out a miserable scream. Its body, about to flee, froze momentarily.

Almost simultaneously, a golden lock materialized near the ape's right arm with a crisp clang, locking onto its arm.

Countless golden rays burst from the golden lock, and a large ancient golden character "Lock" appeared, imprinting itself on the giant ape's body.

The blood-striped giant ape's body stiffened, as if frozen solid, and it stood motionless.

Golden lightning flashed, and Han Li's figure appeared behind the ape. He raised his arm, and two crystalline jade-like fingers, as if plucking a flower or folding a leaf, gently tapped the back of the ape's head.

A dazzling crystalline light flashed, within which a silver flower pattern faintly emerged, sinking into the ape's head.

The blood-striped giant ape's head instantly split into several pieces, but after the crystalline light passed, it remained in that state, motionless.

Han Li withdrew his finger, then made a hand seal and pointed. The "Lock" character on the ape vanished, and the golden lock shrank to the size of a palm and fell into his hand.

Over the years, he had already fully refined this small golden lock, and its power proved impressive in this first trial.

He put away the small golden lock. The blood-striped giant ape's split head immediately exploded, turning into black mist that dissipated.

Its headless body trembled violently, then also turned into a large cloud of black baleful qi, scattering in all directions.

A fist-sized black crystal emerged from the black qi and fell downward.

Han Li waved his hand, sending a beam of green light to wrap around it and draw it into his hand.

The black crystal emitted an extremely intense yin baleful aura, clearly the core or similar of the blood-striped giant ape.

"So it was a Earth Soul Demon..." He raised an eyebrow and muttered to himself.

Although called a demon, the Earth Soul Demon was actually a type of ghostly creature, born only in places with extremely dense corpse and baleful qi. It excelled at concealment and ambush, had considerable intelligence, and was a very formidable ghostly being.

"What pure baleful crystal! Fellow Daoist Han, give it to me; it's useful to me." Mo Guang's voice sounded in Han Li's mind.

Han Li glanced at the black crystal in his hand, then flipped his hand and stored it into the Flower Branch Space, tossing it to Mo Guang.

With the blood-striped giant ape slain, the other black apes let out frightened cries, turned around, and fled into the distance as several afterimages, disappearing quickly.

Feng Qingyuan and the other two did not block them, letting them escape.

The three put away their immortal artifacts, exchanged glances, and then all looked at Han Li.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for slaying that Earth Soul Ghost King and driving away the other ghosts. Otherwise, we three might not have escaped so soon," the burly man said with a smile, cupping his fist toward Han Li.

Feng Qingyuan and the purple-robed woman also expressed their thanks.

"You flatter me, fellow Daoists. With your abilities, if you truly wished to leave, you wouldn't need my help," Han Li said with a faint smile.

Although the three before him had each used secret techniques to conceal their cultivation levels, with his divine sense, he had already roughly discerned their backgrounds.

These three had vast auras, comparable to his own, and were at least late-stage Golden Immortal cultivators.

When they had fought the Earth Soul ape demons earlier, they had not used their true strength. Compared to dealing with the Earth Soul demons, they had been more focused on guarding against each other.

The burly man, Feng Qingyuan, and the purple-robed woman's eyes flickered upon hearing this.

"Hehe, regardless, we still thank you for your help, fellow Daoist," the burly man said with a hearty laugh.

Han Li nodded slightly. Though his face remained calm, his mind was racing.

He could not immediately discern the origins of the burly man, but he knew Feng Qingyuan. As for the purple-robed woman, she was clearly a demon. Her appearance in the Truthful Speech Sect ruins—could it be related to Shi Chuankong?

"Since we four have met here by fate, why don't we get to know each other and explore these ruins together? After all, we don't know what lies ahead," the burly man, who seemed articulate, suggested.

"That makes sense. This place is eerie and unpredictable; it's better to move together," Han Li said in response.

With so many people appearing unexpectedly, the journey to the Truthful Speech Sect ruins had gained many variables. He even felt that there were many hidden secrets here that he did not know.

Although the three before him were powerful, Han Li was confident he could handle them. Traveling together would allow him to investigate some matters.

Feng Qingyuan and the purple-robed woman hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Haha, excellent! Let me introduce myself first. My surname is Ren, single name Hao," the burly man said with a smile, cupping his fist toward the three.

"I am Li Jiangliu," Han Li gave a name, the same as on the identity token from the Heavenly Sand Sect that Hu San had procured for him.

"Yuan Feng," Feng Qingyuan reversed his name.

"Feng Lin," the purple-robed woman said with a charming smile.

The four each gave their names, whether real or fake, and the previously tense atmosphere eased somewhat.

Although Ren Hao was tall and sturdy, he was unexpectedly sociable. He chatted and laughed with the three, and the atmosphere seemed to grow more harmonious.

During the conversation, they instinctively avoided sensitive topics.

"May I ask how long you three have been here? I just arrived. This place is full of connected palaces, like an imperial city. My exploration has been limited, and I'm still quite confused," Ren Hao said with a wry smile.

"I also just arrived, perhaps even later than you three. I'm still in the dark," Han Li said, shaking his head.

Feng Qingyuan and Feng Lin also shook their heads, indicating they knew nothing about the place and were still exploring.

"In that case, let's continue forward. This area hasn't been heavily damaged; there might be some treasures. But be careful not to trigger any mechanisms or prohibitions," Ren Hao said after a moment's thought.

Han Li and the other two nodded in agreement.

After a brief rest, the group of four continued forward.

As they walked, they occasionally exchanged words, but still maintained a certain distance from each other.

Han Li walked at the rear, scanning the surroundings while his mind churned with countless thoughts.

The Heavenly Court and the demon race had also intervened in the Truthful Speech Sect ruins. Did Hu San and the Reclining Flame Immortal Venerable know about this?

If Hu San and the others were unaware, that was fine. But if they had known all along and kept it from him, he would need to be cautious.

Thinking this, Han Li couldn't help but regret taking on this mission. But since things had come to this, he had to grit his teeth and press on.

After passing through several more palaces, they finally emerged from the continuous palace complex. The view ahead suddenly opened up, and the terrain sloped upward, as if they had reached the foot of a hill.

A wide, straight white jade road appeared on the ground, extending up the hill.

Light flickered deep in Han Li's eyes. Here, the fluctuations of the Time Law had become quite strong, emanating from ahead on the white jade road.

But since the Time Law was so obvious, the other three must have sensed it too. How to seize that object would require careful consideration.

As he thought this, he glanced subtly at the three beside him and was slightly startled.

The three were also gazing ahead, their faces a mix of bewilderment and anticipation, but without any hint of surprise.