Chapter 766

Yin Gua steadied himself slightly, then raised his head to look ahead. He saw Shi Chuankong lying prone on the ground, trembling all over, his palms bloody and mangled, yet still clutching that silver pipa tightly.

"Tsk tsk, what a fine spatial immortal artifact. If you were a Great Luo cultivator and could fully activate it, I might not be your match. What a pity, you're merely a Golden Immortal..." Yin Gua cackled eerily.

As he spoke, his remaining hand suddenly opened wide. Black light flickered in his palm, and clusters of solid black baleful thunderbolts spun out, flying from all directions toward Shi Chuankong.

Shi Chuankong was now nearly completely drained, with no strength left to resist, unable even to emit protective spiritual light.

At the critical moment, Hu San's figure flashed and appeared before Shi Chuankong. Light blazed behind him, and nine thick white fox tails shot out, sweeping through the void to intercept the black baleful thunderbolts.

"Boom boom boom!"

A series of violent explosions rang out as large patches of black lightning scattered and burst.

Hu San cried out in pain. Lightning coursed across his huge white fox tails, and a scorched smell filled the air. He felt numbness throughout his body, and the flow of his immortal spiritual power seemed to stagnate.

Before he could adapt, another thunderclap sounded. A flash of black lightning arrived, and Yin Gua's figure emerged from it. He stomped down with both feet, as heavy as a mountain, directly onto Hu San's shoulders.

"Crackle!" Two streaks of black lightning shot from Yin Gua's feet, piercing through Hu San's shoulders and into his body.

"Crunch!"

Hu San felt a sharp pain in both shoulders; the bones on both sides shattered instantly. His body sank, his legs cutting through the ground like knives, and half of him was buried.

"Since you're tired of living, I'll be merciful and send you on your way first."

A vicious look flashed across Yin Gua's face. He curled his right hand into a claw, with black baleful thunder wrapping and condensing around his palm, forming a lightning claw over his hand, and stabbed straight down at Hu San's crown.

"It's over." In an instant, Hu San was completely immobilized, utterly despairing.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

"Zzzt!" A thunderclap sounded, and a dazzling silver lightning bolt shot out from the lightning pool, like a silver arrow suddenly approaching, distorting the surrounding void.

Yin Gua's eyes flickered. The hand stabbing toward Hu San suddenly veered, and from each of his five fingertips, a black thunder pearl the size of a dragon's eye condensed and shot out, colliding with the silver lightning one after another.

"Boom boom boom!"

A series of explosions erupted. Clusters of baleful thunder burst open, and countless black lightning threads, scorched by the silver lightning, dissipated like melting snow.

The silver arrow suffered almost no loss and sped onward, heading straight for Yin Gua's chest.

Yin Gua's expression changed drastically. He twisted his body violently, but only barely dodged the vital spot. The silver lightning still pierced through him, tearing a huge gash below his left ribs.

"Bang!" A heavy sound rang out.

Yin Gua was sent flying backward by the exploding lightning, crashing heavily into the wall of the great hall.

"How is this possible?" He looked down at the bloody wound below his left ribs, incredulous.

At the terrifying wound, strands of silver lightning clung on, lingering without dispersing, continuously devouring the baleful qi slowly seeping from his body and burrowing into him like venomous insects.

Yin Gua shook his shoulders, pulling himself free from the cracked wall. His body slowly landed, and the stone wall behind him shattered, sending countless rocks tumbling down in clouds of dust.

He narrowed his eyes, looking toward the lightning pool. The anger in his gaze gradually faded, replaced by his usual coldness.

Silver light surged in the lightning pool, and pillars of silver lightning shot up. A figure suspended within the lightning walked out step by step. His face was ordinary—it was naturally Han Li.

His body was scorched black, his clothes tattered, and his skin covered with red cracks like lava, from which wisps of black baleful qi rose.

However, his eyes were very bright now. The silver-gray color in his pupils was gone, restored to a tea-black hue, showing that the baleful qi in his body was nearly depleted.

Hu San had struggled free and, taking advantage of Yin Gua's focus on Han Li, retreated with Shi Chuankong to the edge of the lightning pool. Enduring unbearable pain, he fed a pill to himself and another to Shi Chuankong, then forced himself upright, watching Yin Gua warily while glancing at Han Li from the corner of his eye.

"Brother Li, you..." Hu San sensed something strange about Han Li's aura and couldn't help but transmit a message.

"I barely survived and endured the baleful cleansing. Most of the baleful qi in me has been washed away, and my physical body and divine sense have been tempered. Now, without the burden of baleful qi, I feel completely reborn," Han Li replied via transmission.

He only said half the truth. In fact, his aura had already reached the state of half-step Taiyi.

However, it was not quite the same as Bai Lian's half-step Taiyi back then.

Because he had taken that top-grade Taiyi Pill, both his physical body and sea of consciousness had undergone changes, forming a very subtle connection with the silver lightning pool, thus breaking the final bottleneck before breakthrough.

He even vaguely felt that as soon as he left the Gray Realm and returned to the Immortal Realm, he would immediately attract an influx of heaven and earth spiritual energy and truly take that final step to become a Taiyi Jade Immortal.

As he spoke, Han Li's gaze swept over Ti Hun and the gray-white giant fox formed by Liu Qi Patriarch not far away. Their battle was equally intense, no less fierce than this one.

Although Yin Chengquan was merely a split soul of his original body, his strength was not to be underestimated. Even with Liu Qi Patriarch and Ti Hun joining forces, they could only barely suppress him.

"If I remember correctly, you cultivate a time-based technique. How can you control the lightning in the baleful cleansing pool?" Yin Gua asked slowly as he rapidly adjusted his breathing to recover.

Han Li did not answer. He gripped two medium-grade immortal spirit stones tightly, rapidly absorbing the immortal spiritual power within them.

Nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords floated around him, green light flowing everywhere, entwined with golden lightning threads. At his lower back hung the emerald green Profound Heaven Gourd.

Yin Gua's eyes swept over the three of them, narrowing slightly, his mood gloomy.

The arm he had lost to Shi Chuankong's spatial immortal artifact still had residual spatial law fluctuations that showed no sign of weakening; it would probably take centuries to regrow. The wound under his left ribs, invaded by the silver lightning from the cleansing pool, was also slow to heal.

He had never imagined that the three he could crush effortlessly before would now, with a single lapse in caution, cause him such great losses.

Of course, this was not unrelated to the fact that he had only recently broken through to the Great Luo realm, his cultivation base not yet fully stabilized, and that he had forcibly condensed five Nether Soul Worms not long ago, severely depleting his vitality.

But after all, he was a Great Luo Gray Immortal—how could he lack other means?

Seeing that Han Li remained silent, Yin Gua said no more. He raised his remaining hand, forming various hand seals before him, then traced a huge arc in front of him.

Within the arc, black mist surged, and strands of black lightning crackled. Hundreds of spears formed from black baleful thunder shot out, continuously flying toward Han Li and the others.

Han Li's mind stirred. All his acupoints blazed with light, a layer of golden scales appeared on his skin, and the Profound Turtle Armor manifested around him. Instead of dodging, he strode forward boldly, actively meeting Yin Gua.

The baleful thunder spears arrived in an instant, converging on Han Li. The nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords at his side moved according to his will, shooting toward the thunder spears.

"Boom boom boom!"

A series of deafening explosions rang out continuously. Black baleful thunder and evil-repelling divine lightning burst together, repeatedly illuminating golden crow-like light.

With each explosion, one Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was blocked, its body trembling violently, its spiritual light greatly diminished.

Han Li had a deep connection with the Cloudswarm Swords. Each time a sword was damaged, his immortal spiritual power churned violently, shaking his internal organs, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Yet even so, he did not stop advancing, still charging forward.

Soon, all nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were knocked to the ground. Before Han Li could retrieve them, more baleful thunder spears stabbed into his Profound Turtle Armor.

"Bang bang bang!"

With each impact, Han Li spat blood profusely. The dark green armor on his body was covered with cracks, on the verge of shattering, but the distance between him and Yin Gua had greatly narrowed.

"Three hundred zhang..."

"Two hundred zhang..."

"One hundred zhang!"

At that moment, the True Word Wheel within Han Li began to spin rapidly in reverse. His figure blurred slightly, slipping through the black spears, and in an instant, he appeared before Yin Gua.

Golden light surged behind him, and the True Word Wheel was about to manifest.

If he released the True Word Wheel at such close range, even a Great Luo cultivator like Yin Gua would be significantly affected, slowing down, and Han Li would have a chance to severely wound him.

But before Han Li could release the True Word Wheel, Yin Gua curled his lips into a smile.

"Perfect timing!"

With his loud shout, thunder and lightning suddenly erupted in the void around Han Li. Thick black baleful thunderbolts materialized out of thin air, wrapping around Han Li's limbs and torso, pulling in all directions and trapping him in midair.

Yin Gua reached out and grabbed the void. A mass of black lightning extended from his palm in both directions, instantly forming a black spear as thick as an arm. Lightning gathered at its tip, crackling incessantly.

Without another word, he gripped the baleful thunder spear tightly and thrust it straight toward Han Li's brow.

Not far away, Hu San and Shi Chuankong were both horrified at the sight.