Chapter 763: Second Severing of the Lightning Chain

As soon as Han Li entered the purple lightning pool, the purple arcs within, like sharks catching the scent of blood, surged and converged, forming a spiraling pillar of lightning around him.

In an instant, a great roar erupted!

Thick purple arcs shot out, lashing his entire body, producing a series of startling explosions.

Han Li's skin instantly turned blood-red, split into wounds from which blood gushed out in a shocking sight.

Not only that, but as soon as these purple lightning bolts touched his body, his brow turned pitch black, his mind was thrown into turmoil, surging with murderous thoughts, and his eyes turned crimson.

Waves of powerful baleful aura burst forth from him.

The decline of baleful qi he had forcibly suppressed earlier now erupted again.

Seeing Han Li's miserable state, Hu San's eyes showed a trace of fear; he grimaced and secretly felt lucky he hadn't gone down.

In the distance, Ti Hun, who was casting a spell, also glanced at Han Li with a hint of worry.

For a moment, various colored lights flickered around Han Li, and the phantom images of true spirits—the Mountain Ape, the Five-Colored Phoenix, the Five-Colored Peacock, and others—emerged again, noticeably clearer than before.

This lightning pool possessed both destructive power and the ability to regenerate; after the baptism of the green lightning pool, the various true spirit bloodlines within him had subtly strengthened.

However, the strengthening of these true spirit bloodlines was not a good thing for Han Li; waves of foreign blood surged violently within him, increasing the burden on his physical body.

Han Li took a deep breath, his face showing no sign of panic.

After experiencing the green lightning pool, he had gained experience in dealing with various conditions within his body.

Steadying himself, he immediately activated the Art of Refining the Spirit; waves of immense divine sense flowed, resisting the murderous thoughts in his mind and firmly guarding his heart. At the same time, he activated the Great Cycle of the Starry Sky Technique to protect his vital organs and other important areas, allowing the purple lightning power to surge through his body.

Waves of violent lightning power invaded his body, eroding it while also dispersing the baleful qi within him, causing black qi to rise from his body surface; once it left his body, it dissipated in the vast lightning.

His immortal apertures throughout his body were now filled with purple electric sparks, and the stubborn baleful qi entrenched there began to seep out bit by bit.

As the baleful qi within Han Li was washed away, the murderous thoughts in his mind gradually receded, and his eyes slowly regained clarity.

This process was evidently more painful than the previous green lightning pool, but he gritted his teeth and endured the waves of excruciating pain that came one after another.

Time passed little by little, and in the blink of an eye, the time it takes to burn an incense stick had passed.

At this moment, Han Li's skin was almost entirely damaged, covered with wounds of all sizes, making him look like a tattered bag.

Yet his eyes were tightly shut, his expression calm, as if he felt nothing; large streams of black baleful qi continued to pour out from all over his body.

Suddenly, the surging baleful qi came to a halt and slowed down.

Han Li frowned slightly, opened his eyes, and then leaped upward.

Crack!

The surrounding purple lightning immediately followed, forming a purple lightning net that descended toward him.

Han Li snorted coldly; the Truthful Speech Wheel within him spun rapidly, and he once again used the Reversal Wheel's power, transforming into a golden shadow that shot upward.

However, the surrounding purple lightning net was exceptionally tough, far surpassing the previous green lightning pool; his charge failed to break through.

The purple lightning pool seemed to feel provoked; it suddenly brightened, and the pool water near Han Li exploded violently. Seven or eight thick purple arcs shot out from the bottom of the pool.

These purple arcs were completely different from the other lightning in the pool, giving a dazzling and piercing sensation. Around the arcs flickered countless rice-grain-sized lightning runes, exuding astonishing lightning law power, like seven or eight purple electric snakes biting at Han Li's body.

Han Li's heart tightened; golden light blazed from his body, and the Truthful Speech Wheel emerged behind him, spinning rapidly. Countless golden ripples surged out, instantly covering an area of over ten zhang around him.

The purple arcs were enveloped by the golden ripples and immediately came to a halt.

However, these purple arcs contained exceptionally powerful energy, causing the entire golden ripple area to tremble slightly.

Seeing this, Han Li immediately raised his hand and waved.

A mass of emerald light flew out from his sleeve, then stopped in midair above his head, spinning rapidly—it was the Profound Heaven Gourd.

He formed hand seals and pointed; the Profound Heaven Gourd emitted a surge of emerald light, and a large expanse of emerald radiance swept out, instantly wrapping around these purple arcs.

The purple arcs, enveloped by the emerald radiance, quickly dimmed and shrank.

“Collect!”

Han Li changed his hand seals again; the emerald radiance wrapped around the purple arcs and rolled back, vanishing into the Profound Heaven Gourd in a flash.

The purple lightning net around him was also partially absorbed by the Profound Heaven Gourd; his body immediately felt lighter, and with a “whoosh,” he shot upward, breaking free from the purple lightning net and landing near the pool.

Han Li made a hand seal and waved; the Truthful Speech Wheel retracted into his body, and the golden ripples around him also disappeared.

The purple lightning net flickered a few times, found no target to bind, let out a few thunderous roars, and slowly sank back into the lightning pool.

After escaping, Han Li immediately took out several recovery pills and swallowed them.

As streams of cool energy surged from within his body, countless tiny granulations grew wildly at the wounds on his body; the wounds of all sizes healed rapidly, and his complexion improved slightly.

“Brother Li, how are you? Although the ancestor can still hold on with the help of Brother Ti Hun, it is by no means a long-term solution. Once others arrive here, we will surely die. Only by severing the remaining three lightning chains and helping him escape can we be absolutely safe.” Hu San, seeing this, quickly transmitted his voice.

"All right, once Fellow Daoist Shi comes out, I'll give a brief reply." Han Li nodded, looking toward the purple lightning pool.

At this moment, Shi Chuankong was still immersed in the purple thunder water, surrounded by lightning, with deep cracks splitting his skin, and in some places even white bone could be seen.

Blood light flickered in his eyes, and his brow was pitch black; the baleful decay he had delayed for years with secret techniques had erupted again.

Though his face was full of pain and his body trembled incessantly, he was tenacious by nature, gritting his teeth and enduring the impact of the purple lightning on his physical body and sea of consciousness.

As streams of black qi surged from various parts of his body and quickly dispersed, the blood light in his eyes gradually faded, the blackness on his brow began to recede, and a faint crystalline luster appeared on his skin, as if it had turned to jade.

Han Li's brow twitched slightly, realizing that the baleful qi in Shi Chuankong's body was far less dense than his own; the purple lightning pool had already expelled most of it. If this continued, Shi Chuankong would likely pass through the baleful decay and achieve half-step Taiyi.

But just then, the black qi emerging from Shi Chuankong's body suddenly began to weaken, and the crystalline light on his skin flickered briefly before vanishing quickly.

Seeing this, Han Li sighed inwardly.

It seemed that, like himself, this second pool could not help him fully overcome the baleful decay.

Shi Chuankong suddenly opened his eyes and shot up from the lightning pool.

With a rumbling thunder, the surrounding purple arcs immediately pursued him, forming a purple lightning net.

Shi Chuankong's expression hardened, and silver light blazed from his body, condensing into a huge silver lotus around him that spun rapidly.

Silver light shot from the lotus petals like sharp sword qi, slashing at the purple lightning net.

With a series of crisp snaps, the purple lightning net trembled repeatedly and was cut open.

Seeing this, Shi Chuankong twisted his body sharply and shot out through the gap, landing at the edge of the pool.

His body was already battered, and using the secret technique aggravated his injuries; he groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Without bothering to say anything to Han Li and the others, he immediately took out a medicine bottle, poured all the pills inside into his mouth regardless of the quantity, and sat down cross-legged.

A layer of purple-black light appeared on his body, and the wounds healed rapidly.

"That was close, but unfortunately, it fell short." After a while, Shi Chuankong let out a long breath, looked up at Han Li and the others, and gave a bitter smile.

"Enduring the cleansing of two baleful cleansing pools is already remarkable. Fortunately, I don't have to suffer that ordeal. Are you all right now?" Hu San shook his head and said.

"I'm fine." Shi Chuankong turned to look at Han Li.

"You two, prepare to begin."

With that, Han Li's form flickered as he flew to the side of the silver lightning pool. With a wave of his hand, golden lightning flashed beside him, and the figure of Crab Daoist appeared.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, lend me a hand." Han Li said.

Crab Daoist nodded in agreement.

Han Li took a deep breath, gripped the Tianhu Blood Transformation Blade tightly, and golden light burst from his body as his immortal spiritual power surged into the long blade.

Red light flickered on the blade, all the patterns began to glow, and a dense blood baleful aura spread from the blade.

Hu San, Shi Chuankong, and Crab Daoist simultaneously raised their palms and pushed forward in the air, their immortal spiritual power gushing out and pouring into Han Li's body.

The immortal spiritual power of the four merged and flowed into the Tianhu Blood Transformation Blade.

"Hum..."

The Tianhu Blood Transformation Blade blazed with light, vibrating violently, and its released aura climbed steadily.

Layers of blood-red blade shadows emerged, overlapping like thousands of layers.

"Senior Shi, lend me a hand!" Han Li's eyes focused, and he shouted mentally, then swung the blade down.

The fox head on the Tianhu Blood Transformation Blade flashed, and a huge blood-red fox shadow suddenly appeared, lunging downward as if to pounce, merging into the blade.

The immortal spiritual power of Han Li and the other three surged out like a bursting dam, devoured by the Tianhu Blood Transformation Blade.

Having experienced this once before, the others were not surprised.

Countless blood-red blade shadows nearby gathered like swallows returning to their nest, merging into the blade.

The Tianhu Blood Transformation Blade suddenly doubled in size, turned crystalline, and slashed down on the purple chain.

The purple chain shook violently, and the runes inscribed on it blazed with purple light like an exploding sun!

"Rumble!"

The purple lightning pool erupted like a boiling cauldron; all the lightning surged up, forming a huge spherical electric light that shot along the chain toward Patriarch Liuqi.

But just as the spherical electric light reached halfway, the purple chain emitted a thunderous roar, a blood-red blade light flashed, and the purple chain snapped with a sound.

The spherical electric light suddenly stopped, then exploded, spreading outward in all directions.

Han Li's body trembled, and a layer of purple lightning halo appeared on his skin.

But this purple halo flickered once and immediately vanished, as if it had never happened.

His body recovered, and he raised an eyebrow, a contemplative look in his eyes.

With a crash, the broken purple chain fell heavily and sank into the lightning pool.