Chapter 742: Joining Forces to Repel the Enemy

"Guimu already knows about our escape, and now that Moguang has lost contact, he will catch up soon. We can't hide our tracks at all. The key now is to buy time and reach the Cleansing Pool as quickly as possible," Han Li broke the silence and said.

"Since there are no more scruples, the fastest way is to search the souls of those two Nether Clan children. Wait a moment, I'll be right back," Shi Chuankong nodded and said.

With that, his figure flickered and vanished from the spot.

Han Li and the others quickly moved to the passage exit and looked toward the Karma Fire Lake.

They saw the two children still sitting with their eyes closed in cultivation, seemingly unaware of the spatial fluctuations behind them, making no move.

Shi Chuankong appeared silently out of thin air behind them, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth as he reached out to grab their necks.

Han Li watched from afar, and suddenly a figure flashed before his eyes—Ti Hun had darted past him and appeared behind Shi Chuankong in an instant. A crimson glow lit up on her raised palm as she chopped toward the back of his neck.

Everyone was startled; Hu San almost cried out.

A dull thud sounded!

Shi Chuankong felt a tremendous force from behind, sending him crashing heavily to the ground. He rolled several times before slamming into a distant cliff wall. Before he could turn over, his expression suddenly changed.

Only then did Han Li and the others see clearly: a gray shadow was clinging to his back, and Ti Hun's strike had been aimed at it.

Shi Chuankong reacted quickly. Realizing something was wrong, a crackling sound erupted from his body as a powerful invisible force burst from his pores, sending a massive shockwave in all directions.

The gray shadow on his back clung tightly to him. Buffeted by the force, it floated lightly outward like a kite, but soon reattached itself.

Ti Hun's expression was grave. She waved her hand, and a crimson chain shot out with a clatter, like a spiritual snake stabbing toward Shi Chuankong's back.

The gray shadow seemed wary of this and actively flew off Shi Chuankong's body, drifting to the side.

The two Nether Clan children were startled but showed little panic, instead darting behind the gray shadow.

"You Nether Clan traitor, daring to help outsiders kidnap our people?" The gray shadow gradually solidified, revealing a pale-faced, hook-nosed Nether Clan member who shrieked in a sharp voice.

"Yin Xiao." Ti Hun frowned and spat out two words.

As she spoke, she transmitted to Han Li and the others: "This man cultivates the Illusory Void Law, a Taiyi Peak cultivator. His law is quite peculiar, excelling in concealment and assassination. Be careful."

"We can't delay too long. Let's all act together and finish this quickly," Han Li said with a slight frown.

"Elder Yin Xiao, forgive me." Ti Hun's face turned cold. She shook her hands, and over a dozen crimson chains shot out from her sleeves, crisscrossing to envelop Yin Xiao.

The latter sneered and, instead of retreating, charged straight into the chains.

The moment all the chains pierced his body, his form rippled like water, and the chains passed through without any resistance, clattering as they embedded into the ground.

Yin Xiao passed through the chains at an astonishing speed, raised a palm, and struck down at Ti Hun's head. In his palm, a spiral gray light swirled like a gray vortex, emitting a tearing force.

A flicker of panic crossed Ti Hun's eyes. She tried to pull back the crimson chains, but they seemed locked in the ground, utterly immovable.

Just as the gray palm was about to shatter her skull, a sly smile of triumph flickered in Ti Hun's eyes.

She raised a finger and drew a line across her brow. A dark red blood mark appeared at her glabella, the skin parting to reveal a dark red demonic eye.

Seeing this third eye, Yin Xiao's expression changed drastically, and he made to retreat.

But the demonic eye on Ti Hun's brow had already flared brightly, emitting a burst of dark red light that swept toward his face.

In an instant, Yin Xiao's soul seemed struck by lightning, violently shaken. His body swayed as if he could no longer control it, about to fall.

At the same time, Han Li's figure suddenly appeared behind him. The golden electric threads on his Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword flickered intensely as he thrust it straight at the back of Yin Xiao's head.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

Yin Xiao, who appeared to be swaying uncontrollably, suddenly tilted his neck to the left, dodging Han Li's sword tip. A blurry light flashed at the back of his head, revealing a pale face—still Yin Xiao's.

"Heh, I knew it wasn't just the two of you..."

His head shot forward, seemingly splitting into two figures that peeled away from the original body and flew toward Han Li, a black dagger in hand, stabbing at his throat.

Han Li seemed prepared for this. A golden light flashed behind him as the Truth Dharma Wheel roared out, spinning rapidly, emitting waves of golden light.

As Yin Xiao's arm thrust out, it entered the golden light and instantly froze, its speed drastically reduced.

Han Li didn't need to dodge. He reached out and grabbed Yin Xiao's neck, while with his other hand he raised his sword and thrust it directly into his head.

But the moment the sword tip entered, Han Li's heart jolted. Sensing something wrong, he quickly withdrew his hand and dropped downward.

Immediately after, a sharp pain shot through his lower abdomen.

Han Li looked down and saw that from the belly of the Yin Xiao he held, another 'Yin Xiao' had emerged, holding a black dagger that had pierced just above his dantian.

The Yin Xiao who had stabbed him smirked, twisting the dagger upward.

A thick blade of pure baleful qi burst forth, cleaving Han Li in two. His entrails spilled out, and a gush of blood splattered everywhere.

Yin Xiao withdrew his dagger, licked the blade with his tongue, and was about to laugh in triumph when he heard Han Li's voice: "Fellow Daoist Shi, are you ready?"

"Ready," Shi Chuankong replied.

"Mirror Flower, Water Moon, disperse." Han Li gave a soft command, and the Law Manifestation Heaven and Earth technique dissipated.

Yin Xiao felt a momentary daze. When he looked again, Han Li was nowhere to be seen. He stood alone, dagger in hand, still in the pose of licking blood, while the two Nether Clan children were each held by Hu San, already unconscious.

"No..."

Yin Xiao cried out in alarm and tried to move forward, but found the space around him distorted. He was crushed by invisible spatial forces, unable to move or even phase his body.

Not far behind him, Shi Chuankong held a strange hand seal, gripping the strings of a silver pipa. His face was pale, his fingers bloodied, but he did not relax.

"Fellow Daoist Li, hurry! I can't hold on much longer..." Shi Chuankong shouted.

The moment his words fell, a bolt of lightning shot forth. As Shi Chuankong released the spatial suppression, it pierced through Yin Xiao's chest.

Almost simultaneously, a pitch-black Candle Dragon claw reached down from above, clamping onto Yin Xiao's head, ready to crush it along with his soul.

"Wait," Han Li called out quickly.

As he spoke, his hands moved rapidly, producing one Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword after another, their Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning flickering as he thrust them into Yin Xiao's vital acupoints.

Lightning ravaged Yin Xiao's body, and he screamed in agony.

Shi Chuankong's face was still pale, but he let out a long breath.

Earlier, Ti Hun had first shaken Yin Xiao's soul with her technique, then Han Li had used Law Manifestation Heaven and Earth to buy time for Shi Chuankong to activate the silver pipa with a secret art. Thus, with minimal combat disturbance, they had subdued the Taiyi Peak cultivator Yin Xiao.

However, Shi Chuankong's previous injuries had not healed, and forcing the silver pipa had caused significant backlash.

After restraining Yin Xiao, Baili Yan did not relax, still keeping a tight grip on his head.

"Master, you expended too much in the Karma Fire passage. Let me handle the soul search; you rest for a moment," Ti Hun said as Han Li stepped forward.

"Very well," Han Li nodded.

Ti Hun stepped forward, raised her hand, and pointed at her brow. A dark red blood mark appeared at her glabella, the skin parting to reveal the dark red demonic eye again.

A burst of dark red light shot from the demonic eye, sweeping over both Yin Xiao and the two children.

Simultaneously soul-searching three people—Han Li doubted he could do it even with his formidable divine sense.

The two sleeping children suddenly opened their eyes, but their bodies swayed as they sat up, their gray eyes utterly vacant, like wooden puppets.

Yin Xiao instinctively resisted, but the light in his eyes also faded.

After a moment, the red light from Ti Hun's demonic eye suddenly withdrew, and the two children closed their eyes again, falling unconscious.

"How is it?" Han Li asked.

"The Cleansing Pool is their clan's sacred ground. These two children haven't undergone Karma Fire soul cleansing, so they aren't true Nether Clan members and have never actually been there. Yin Xiao's divine sense is strong; even restrained, he could resist my soul search. But I've roughly figured out the terrain of the Cleansing Zone," Ti Hun said rapidly.

"That's enough," Han Li nodded.

"In that case, this guy is useless, right?" Baili Yan said.

Without waiting for a reply, he suddenly clenched his hand. The black Candle Dragon claw closed instantly, and with a bang, crushed Yin Xiao's head.

"No..." Ti Hun cried out, but it was too late.

"Fellow Daoist Ti Hun, you..." Baili Yan looked at her, puzzled.

Han Li glanced at Ti Hun and understood. Ti Hun was willing to help him, but that didn't mean she truly wanted to betray the Nether Domain Lord, who had shown her great kindness. She was also reluctant to harm Nether Clan members.