Chapter 757: Entering the Pool

"Ah..."

In the Thunder Pool, the Flame Immortal Lord's face was twisted in agony as he let out a heart-rending scream.

Han Li and the others stared intently, seeing bolts of azure lightning surging from all directions, like a vast expanse of thunderbolts, piercing straight through the Flame Immortal Lord's body.

He looked like a blue hedgehog, completely enveloped in azure electric light, his clothes tattered and torn, the exposed skin covered in cracks and scorched black marks from the lightning burns.

At the same time, all his acupoints involuntarily opened wide, and countless fine azure electric threads drilled into them, immediately stirring the black baleful qi that had long been entrenched within.

Like driving a tiger to devour a wolf, the azure lightning that surged into the acupoints paid no heed to whether the acupoints could withstand it, merely burrowing deeper. The baleful qi, as the local power, naturally refused to yield, gathering to resist the lightning.

However, the electric threads in this Thunder Pool were of the Bone-Washing Golden Thunder, which was extremely effective at countering baleful qi. Thus, in their clash, the black baleful qi was utterly routed, streaming out from the Flame Immortal Lord's acupoints.

At a glance, it seemed as if countless incense sticks had been lit on the Flame Immortal Lord's body, with wisps of black smoke continuously emerging, contrasting with the flashing azure electric threads of the Thunder Pool, creating a very peculiar scene.

Seeing this, Han Li's tense heartstrings relaxed slightly.

From this observation, it seemed that Liuqi Patriarch was indeed genuinely helping them deal with the Thunder Pool.

"Time is pressing; let us begin as well," Han Li said, looking at Shi Chuankong and the others.

The two nodded and were about to enter the Thunder Pool when they suddenly heard a nearly berserk roar.

Their gazes shifted to the Flame Immortal Lord, who was tilting his head back, fists clenched and raised to the sky, roaring. Black baleful qi surged from his seven orifices—eyes, ears, nose, and mouth—shrouding his entire face, making it indistinct.

Meanwhile, no more baleful qi emerged from his physical body in the Thunder Pool. The cracks covering his skin began to glow with a magma-like red light, emitting waves of scorching heat.

With a "whoosh," the Flame Immortal Lord's body suddenly burst into flames, burning fiercely.

In an instant, his legs were completely charred, and a bolt of lightning struck them, reducing them to ashes.

The Flame Immortal Lord's body suddenly dropped, his upper torso falling into the Thunder Pool.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned. The Truthful Word Wheel within him spun rapidly in reverse, and with a flash, he appeared at the edge of the Baleful Cleansing Pool, reaching out both arms to grab the Flame Immortal Lord.

"Don't waste your effort. His physical body was already riddled with holes; after the baleful qi escaped, it could no longer withstand the lightning's power. You can't save him," Liuqi Patriarch suddenly spoke, his tone flat.

Han Li ignored him, stubbornly plunging his arms into the Thunder Pool to grab the Flame Immortal Lord.

The moment his arms entered the Thunder Pool, countless azure electric threads converged, instantly shredding the sleeves on his arms and wrapping around his skin.

Han Li felt a jolt in his heart; a violent lightning force penetrated through his skin, instantly causing the baleful qi he had suppressed for so long to nearly run wild.

With a fierce shout, he immediately activated the Spirit Refining Art, forcefully suppressing the violent thoughts that had suddenly arisen in his mind, while golden scales emerged on his arms.

However, this momentary delay was already too late.

The instant Han Li's hands scooped up the Flame Immortal Lord's remnant body, it collapsed again, turning directly to ashes.

Watching the gray-white embers slip through his palms, Han Li's gaze lifted, and he immediately reached upward, trying to save the Flame Immortal Lord's nascent soul.

But at the moment of the body's collapse, the exposed nascent soul was struck by several bolts of lightning and also disintegrated.

Han Li only managed to catch a wisp of remnant soul before withdrawing his hands.

All this seemed lengthy but actually took only a few breaths. By the time Hu San and the others reacted, Han Li had already returned.

After standing still, he slowly opened his palm with a solemn expression.

In his palm, a layer of faint azure light enveloped a blurry, five-inch-tall figure, flickering unsteadily like a candle flame in the wind, on the verge of extinguishing.

"I'm sorry, Daoist Flame, I couldn't save you..." Han Li sighed.

"Daoist Li, do not blame yourself... It is fate... destiny... no one else is to blame..." The Flame Immortal Lord's remaining wisp of soul could no longer speak, communicating only through divine sense.

"This remnant soul is too weak; even if I wanted to nurture it, it would be impossible. In a moment, the wind will blow it away and it will dissipate. Daoist Flame, if you have any last wishes, speak them now." Han Li sighed softly and said slowly.

"The truth behind the annihilation of the True Word Sect has been uncovered, and my master is in that state. There's nothing left for me to hold onto in this world. It's just a pity that I can never return to Wild Crane Valley. I wonder if this last remnant of my soul can still re-enter the cycle of reincarnation? Will I ever be able to return to the Immortal Realm?" The remnant soul of the Flame Heat Venerable grew increasingly ethereal as he spoke with a bitter smile.

"The Heavenly Dao is unpredictable. If reincarnation is possible, anywhere is the same..." Han Li replied.

"I had said earlier that I could leave my natal treasure to Fellow Daoist Li, but unfortunately this lightning pool is too overbearing—nothing could be left behind. Take this last bit..." The soul fluctuation of the Flame Heat Venerable grew weaker and weaker until it vanished completely.

The four-inch-tall figure slowly dissipated, leaving only a speck of red light that shot out and landed between Han Li's brows.

Han Li felt a scorching heat in his sea of consciousness. Upon inspection, he found a dense mass of red characters had appeared, with the title "Collected Works of Severed Time Flowing Fire," clearly the fire-attribute time cultivation technique passed down from the Flowing Fire Palace of the True Word Sect.

Hu San and the others saw the Flame Heat Venerable vanish like smoke and ashes, and Han Li seemed momentarily lost in thought. None of them spoke to urge him.

Liu Qi Patriarch had already withdrawn his divine ability and was squinting in their direction.

After a moment, Han Li seemed to come to his senses. He lightly rubbed his empty palms, glanced at the scars left by lightning on his arm, and let out a soft sigh.

"Let's go," he said.

Seeing that the Flame Heat Venerable had barely withstood the might of the lightning pool and nearly met with utter destruction, a flicker of hesitation appeared in Shi Chuankong's eyes. But when he saw Han Li already leap up and descend toward a corner of the azure lightning pool, he no longer hesitated and strode over quickly.

Liu Qi Patriarch, seeing this, once again coiled his giant tail around the azure chain and repeated the same trick, drawing a large amount of azure lightning toward himself.

As the commotion in the lightning pool subsided, Han Li had already landed within the azure lightning pool.

"Crackle..."

The moment his body entered the lightning pool, a violent surge of thunder and lightning immediately resounded.

Han Li first felt a tingling numbness on his skin, followed by an intensely severe burning pain, as if thousands of red-hot branding irons were pressed against his skin at once, nearly igniting his flesh.

"Hmm..." Han Li let out a muffled groan, forcing himself not to cry out.

From the other two corners of the lightning pool, heart-rending screams rang out simultaneously, with Hu San's voice being the loudest.

Han Li clenched his teeth tightly, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. Yet he endured the intense burning pain radiating through his body without activating any divine ability to resist the lightning's assault on his flesh.

He knew that only by allowing more lightning to enter his body could he purge the baleful qi entrenched within as quickly as possible.

However, after just a few breaths, his skin turned blood-red, and veins bulged as if they might burst at any moment, yet his skin remained intact, not cracking like the Blazing Flame Immortal Venerable's.

Han Li understood that this was the result of his diligent cultivation of the Great Cycle Stellar Origin Art back in the day. It was thanks to the foundation laid by his Mystic Immortal physique and the subsequent continuous tempering of his body that his flesh could withstand the violent lightning strikes.

Bolts of lightning, like spears, continuously struck his body, and strands of electric light began to penetrate his skin, burrowing into his acupoints.

"One, two, three..." Han Li kept his divine sense tightly guarded in his sea of consciousness, silently counting in his mind.

As each acupoint was breached by lightning, his immortal apertures opened one after another, and like the Blazing Flame Immortal Venerable, wisps of black baleful qi began to rise from his body.

However, there was a difference: the rate at which baleful qi emerged from Han Li was noticeably slower.

At this moment, Ti Hun stood not far outside the lightning pool, having paused her recovery, her eyes filled with worry as she looked at Han Li.

"Little girl, don't worry too much about him. The slow release of baleful qi is not a bad thing; it means his acupoints are still under his control. If he were completely unable to hold firm like that previous person, that would be the real trouble," said Patriarch Liu Qi, glancing at her.

Ti Hun nodded silently to him without saying anything.

That old fox then stopped looking at her and turned his gaze toward Hu San.

At this moment, Hu San was drenched in sweat, his teeth clenched, his eyes tightly shut, and baleful qi swirled around him.

The rate at which baleful qi flowed from him was much faster than Han Li's, but far fewer acupoints emitted black smoke, and the baleful qi that seeped out was noticeably less dense than Han Li's, and even less than Shi Chuankong's.

Hu San's situation differed from Han Li and the other two. Both of them had experienced baleful decay and, besides being eroded by baleful qi in the Gray Realm, also had native baleful qi stagnating in their bodies—a dire scenario of internal and external troubles.

He alone was already a Taiyi Jade Immortal, and all he needed to purge was some foreign invading baleful qi that lacked a firm foundation.

However, in terms of physique, his body was inferior to Han Li's and also inferior to Shi Chuankong's, who was originally of the demon race. Thus, in this cauldron-like lightning pool for cleansing baleful qi, he too found it extremely agonizing.

On the other side, besides the wild surge of baleful qi, wisps of black demonic qi also overflowed from Shi Chuankong's body.

Under his curly snow-white hair, his features had become ferocious beyond recognition, with jagged fangs protruding from his mouth, drool flowing from the corners, and patches of black scales emerging on his body—he was nearly revealing his demonic true form.