Chapter 734: A Fall Short at the Last Moment?

"Soul-Devouring Worms? Hmph, since you wish to know, I'll tell you. The so-called Soul-Devouring Worms are a unique ability of the Netherworld Tribe. Their clansmen can extract the soul power of others, then refine it with their innate divine ability to transform it into soul-devouring worms." The white-haired old man first let out a self-mocking laugh, then explained.

"And then implant these soul-devouring worms into a person's body?" Han Li raised an eyebrow slightly and asked.

"Correct. These worms can erode into another's soul, usurping control of their movements, body, and even thoughts and ideas. Puppets made with soul-devouring worms are the highest grade; the puppet's consciousness remains, and all its abilities and laws are preserved." The white-haired old man nodded and continued.

Upon hearing this, everyone, including Shi Chuankong, looked even more grim.

"To think such a strange art exists. If that's truly the case, I would rather destroy my own Nascent Soul and die than become such a walking corpse." Shi Chuankong's face was ashen, and he said fiercely.

"Destroy your own Nascent Soul? We haven't reached the end of our rope yet. Are you willing to take your own life just like that?" Mo Guang glanced at Shi Chuankong and said coldly.

"If there's even a glimmer of hope, I won't take my own life." Hu San took a deep breath and said with a bitter smile.

"No wonder the Netherworld Tribe has been able to rule this Netherworld Domain for so many years. They indeed have their means." Bai Liyan also sighed and said.

Han Li remained silent, his gaze flickering slightly as if pondering something.

"I can sense that your soul power is formidable, but don't think you can resist. The soul-devouring worms are utterly unstoppable." The white-haired old man seemed to read Han Li's thoughts and spoke.

"Have you all been implanted with soul-devouring worms?" Han Li glanced at the white-haired old man and the long-eared man and asked.

"Correct. On the ninth floor, apart from you five, everyone else has been implanted with soul-devouring worms." A ferocious glint flashed in the white-haired old man's eyes, as if touched on a deep scar in his heart, then he sighed and said.

"Then aside from becoming a puppet, is there no other way?" Han Li asked again.

"We have no hope left. If you five don't want to end up like us, you'd best decide now. Once implanted with a soul-devouring worm, even suicide becomes impossible." The white-haired old man sneered and said.

"Thank you for the advice." Upon hearing this, Han Li cupped his hands toward the white-haired old man and said no more.

Shi Chuankong, Hu San, and the others also fell silent, their expressions uncertain.

Han Li was silent for a moment, then shook his head and stopped thinking. He sat down cross-legged, enduring the pain of the baleful qi invading his body while sensing his current internal condition.

He found that in his mind, ripples of black light were undulating, emitting a powerful binding force that completely sealed his soul and divine sense power.

Although his divine sense was imprisoned, he could still sense the situation inside his body. His dantian was filled with strands of black lightning, leaving no gap whatsoever.

His nascent soul was now bound in the middle by dense black lightning strands, unable to move in the slightest, and its connection with Han Li was also severed.

These black lightning strands not only imprisoned the nascent soul but also continuously emitted specks of black mist, slowly eroding toward the nascent soul and Han Li's internal organs.

His physical body was extremely powerful, and his internal organs had long become exceptionally tough. Although they were now being eroded by this black mist, they could still withstand it without major harm.

But the nascent soul was different. Its surface was now covered with a layer of light black, and its small face faintly revealed a hint of ferocity.

"Damn it!" Han Li cursed inwardly at this sight.

His connection with the nascent soul was now cut off, and he could not investigate how much harm this change would cause to the nascent soul. But it was imaginable that once the connection with his nascent soul was interrupted for too long, it would definitely cause incalculable damage.

Han Li took a deep breath, suppressing the grief and indignation in his heart, and glanced at his fingers.

That Youluo had only taken away the storage magic tools on his body and had not sensed the existence of the Flower Branch Space. This could be considered a blessing in disguise.

After all, nearly half of his wealth was in the Flower Branch Space, and the Celestial Bottle was also inside. If the latter were discovered by someone, he dared not even think about what would be attracted.

It was a pity that the Heavenly Fox Blood-Transforming Saber had been put into his storage magic tool and had now fallen into that Youluo's hands. Otherwise, with Shi Qinghou, that old fellow who seemed quite familiar with the Netherworld Tribe, there might still be some chance of a turnaround.

Han Li secretly looked around, and after confirming there were no surveillance restrictions, he leaned his back against the cell wall, placed his right hand on his forehead, and put on a pained expression as if unable to bear the invasion of baleful qi.

He fully mobilized the power of his divine sense in his mind and charged it toward the black ripples in his mind.

The function of this ripple restriction was only to bind the power of divine sense within the mind, preventing it from leaking out, but it did not completely imprison it.

Now that his cultivation had reached the peak of Golden Immortal and could not advance further, during these years in the Gray Realm, whenever he had free time for bitter cultivation, he spent most of it practicing the Soul-Refining Art, and his divine sense power had improved somewhat.

Although the black ripples were an extremely powerful restriction, when Han Li used all his divine sense power to charge at them with full force, they still trembled slightly.

"It works!" Han Li rejoiced inwardly and continued to mobilize his divine sense power to charge at the black ripples.

Wave after wave of divine sense power struck the black ripples.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. The black ripples shook more and more violently, but they did not show the slightest crack.

Han Li's face was somewhat pale. His immortal spiritual power was now sealed, and sustaining the use of his divine sense for a long time placed a great burden on his body.

But no matter how great the burden, he could not stop. Yin Gua might arrive at any moment, and once he came, he would forcibly inject the Nether Soul Insects into their bodies, leaving no hope of recovery.

Thus, he must break free from the restraints before that happened and escape this place, no matter the cost.

Having made up his mind, Han Li took a deep breath and continued to use his divine sense to assault the seal.

Soon, another hour passed. Under his relentless assault, the black ripple restriction in his mind finally began to loosen.

Han Li rejoiced inwardly and once again mobilized all his divine sense power, striking fiercely at the black ripple restriction.

The black ripples trembled violently, especially in the central area near his soul, where the fluctuations were particularly intense.

“Sword Mind Art!”

Han Li's eyes lit up. The soul in his mind flashed, and a crystalline light split off, transforming into a blurry, crystalline sword shadow that slashed at the central area of the black ripples.

With a tearing sound, the black ripple restriction was finally cut open, creating a small fissure. The divine sense sword shot out and vanished into the Flower Branch Space.

After the divine sense sword flew out, the black ripples flashed, and the fissure instantly closed, restoring the restriction to its original state.

Han Li paid no further attention to the black ripple restriction and guided that strand of divine sense power deep into the Flower Branch Space.

In the pavilion of the Flower Branch Space, a golden figure stood looking up at the sky. It was the Crab Immortal.

At that moment, a beam of crystalline light descended from above, landing in the pavilion and transforming into a blurry figure of Han Li.

“Fellow Daoist Han, what happened? I felt my connection with you suddenly cut off,” the Crab Immortal immediately walked over and asked.

“A lot has happened; it's a long story. I've been captured and my immortal spiritual power sealed…” The blurry figure began to speak, briefly explaining the situation outside to the Crab Immortal.

The Crab Immortal was proficient in the law of lightning and might have a way to break the restraints within his body.

“The law of baleful lightning… I do have some information about this law in my memories. The law of baleful lightning is an anomaly among lightning laws. My lightning law shares the same origin, which should help you break the seal in your dantian. However, the restraint in your body was set by a Da Luo existence, so I'm not certain of success,” the Crab Immortal said after a moment's deliberation.

“As long as it helps, if Fellow Daoist Crab can break one seal in my dantian, I can activate the law of time and break the rest myself,” the blurry figure said with joy.

“If that's the case, I have some confidence,” the Crab Immortal nodded.

“Then I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Crab to make preparations here. I'll begin shortly,” the blurry figure said, then turned and flew out, arriving in a corner of the medicine garden.

In the medicine garden grew a pitch-black spiritual herb that emitted a strange odor—it was the Myriad Soul Grass.

After obtaining this herb from Shi Chuankong, Han Li, worried that storing it in a jade box for too long would affect its potency, had transplanted it into the Flower Branch Space.

The blurry figure raised a hand, and a beam of light wrapped around the Myriad Soul Grass, pulling it out. A hint of joy appeared on his face.

Fortunately, he had planted this herb in the Flower Branch Space; he needed it now.

With the power of this Myriad Soul Grass, he had a fifty percent chance of coordinating from within and without to break the black ripple restriction in his mind.

Once the restriction in his mind was broken, with the Crab Immortal's help, his chances of breaking the baleful lightning seal in his dantian would be much greater.

As he pondered, the blurry figure wrapped the Myriad Soul Grass and was about to fly out when his expression suddenly turned extremely grim, and he halted.

At that moment, in the ninth level of the Nether Prison, a black-robed figure slowly floated in from the entrance—it was Yin Gua.

“Damn it!” Han Li gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

The white-haired elder and the others were startled to see Yin Gua appear.

Yin Gua's form flickered, and the next moment he appeared before Han Li's cell. He looked at Han Li with a burning gaze.

Seeing this, Han Li's heart sank, and he slowly stood up.

Was it all going to fall apart at the last moment?

Before Han Li could think further, Yin Gua made a hand seal and waved. The restriction on the cell door flashed and opened automatically. He stepped inside and, without a word, raised his hand and waved.

Black lightning flashed on the ground, and two enormous black lightning giant hands emerged, gripping Han Li's body and firmly restraining him.

Han Li felt the air around him tighten, and then he could not move at all.

Shi Chuankong and the others were all shocked at the sight.

“You want to turn me into a Nether Soul Insect puppet?” Han Li made no attempt to resist, looking at Yin Gua and speaking slowly.