Chapter 774: The Purest Jade Body

At the other side of the valley mouth, countless strange beasts of varying sizes and bizarre forms—some covered in scales, some with bony horns on their heads, some shrouded in black mist—charged into the valley, heading straight for Shi Chuankong and the Crab Immortal.

Any weak beasts trying to flee along the way were trampled or torn to death, their screams and howls filling the air with a thick stench of blood.

"Fortunately, their auras aren't too strong. It seems we haven't attracted those troublesome ones yet. Holding them off for a while is no problem, but I'm afraid if this drags on too long..." Shi Chuankong muttered, watching the surging tide of ferocious beasts.

With that, he spread his form and swooped down, waving his hands repeatedly.

Beams of light shot out, each containing array plates and flags, flying toward the path of the charging beasts and setting up formations.

"Rise!"

As the giant beasts approached, Shi Chuankong formed a hand seal and shouted.

The moment his words fell, a silver-white light burst forth from the ground, forming a massive spatial barrier hundreds of feet wide, stretching from one end of the valley to the other, creating a silver wall of light.

"Boom!"

A thunderous crash rang out as the black giant ape charged first, slamming violently into the silver light wall.

The entire wall trembled violently, silver light scattering, but the wall remained unmoved, without a single crack.

The black giant ape, whose aura was only at the early True Immortal level, flashed with rage in its eyes, swinging its massive arms and pounding the silver wall furiously.

Then the cyan giant python and the purple spider also charged, ramming the wall, but no matter how they struggled, the silver wall stood firm like Mount Tai, showing no signs of breaking.

Shi Chuankong let out a light breath, glanced at the silver wall, and sat down cross-legged.

"Finally back, no longer having to live off immortal essence stones," he said, forming a hand seal and closing his eyes to meditate.

On the other side, the Crab Immortal glanced at Shi Chuankong's situation, felt a bit relieved, turned back, sheathed his "Slash Thunder" warblade, and took a gourd from his waist.

He tilted the gourd's mouth, chanted softly, and slapped the bottom of the gourd.

A spiritual light vortex appeared at the gourd's mouth, yellow light flared, and countless dark yellow beans shot out like rain, falling to the ground.

A series of popping sounds like rain hitting plantain leaves came from below. All the beans shone brightly, and upon landing, they flashed with lightning and transformed into ten-foot-tall armored soldiers.

Each wore ancient armor engraved with lightning runes. Hundreds stood in neat squares, forming over a dozen phalanxes, each holding weapons, marching orderly toward the valley mouth like the most powerful army of a mortal dynasty.

Though the soldiers were silent, the sound of their unified steps was as thunderous and awe-inspiring. They crashed into the beast tide, cutting it into over a dozen battle groups and surrounding them.

The lightning-armored soldiers were slightly weaker than the beasts in individual combat, but their seamless cooperation quickly gave them the upper hand, slaughtering the beasts that had charged into the valley, their bodies shattered.

The Crab Immortal hovered high in the sky, gazing at the distant forest beyond the valley, his brow furrowed.

There, dust and smoke billowed, as if more beasts were gathering.

He frowned, looked up at the sky for a moment, a trace of reminiscence flashing across his face, then quickly returned to normal, turning his gaze to Han Li.

Han Li's eyes were tightly shut, seemingly oblivious to the outside world. His body radiated light, and around him, the world's spiritual energy had condensed into a massive white vortex. The immense spiritual power connected to the sky, merging with the dark clouds above like a towering pillar standing in the valley.

At the center of the vortex, Han Li's body was lifted by spiritual power, floating into the air. His acupoints sparkled like stars, his skin was as smooth as jade and nearly transparent, revealing his bones and meridians faintly glowing with a golden luster.

At that moment, his eyes suddenly opened, and he exhaled a long breath of murky black air. The surging white clouds around him seemed to ignite like oil splashed with sparks, bursting into flames.

The white clouds churned violently, as if countless white flames were born within, burning fiercely, roasting Han Li's body, making it purer and more translucent.

Above the white flames, the leaden black clouds also began to glow, with five-colored light shining through, creating a scene of misty clouds and immortal aura.

Ultimately, the Taiyi Jade Immortal seeks a pure, flawless, spotless immortal body, like perfect jade.

In terms of physical strength, it naturally far surpasses the Golden Immortal. Every move carries the might of thunder, and spiritual perception reaches a higher level. But the essence lies in the body's spirituality returning to simplicity, harmonizing with heaven and earth, the Great Dao, and the laws, making it easier to comprehend and accommodate the power of laws.

It can be said that the purity of the Taiyi Jade Immortal's body directly affects how far they can go in comprehending laws and cultivating the Great Dao.

That Han Li could trigger such a grand phenomenon of world spiritual energy was undoubtedly related to his previous experience of passing through four lightning pools to cleanse his impurities.

Shi Chuankong, awakened by the commotion caused by Han Li, opened his eyes from meditation and looked at him.

"To trigger such a magnificent sight—truly worthy of Fellow Daoist Li, always doing things that amaze," he sighed after a long moment.

With that, he shifted his gaze to the silver light wall, his brow furrowing.

The purple spiders, large and small, were all spraying colorful webs onto the wall, covering it like moss and weeds, while the cyan snakes and spiders climbed up along the webs.

"Roar..."

A furious roar sounded. The black giant ape climbed up the giant web sprayed by the largest purple spider, flipped over the silver light wall, and lunged straight at Han Li, drooling, its eyes bloodshot with killing intent.

But before it could land, a silver light flashed, and its head exploded with a "bang," splattering blood everywhere.

The ape's death did nothing to warn or deter the other beasts; they continued charging at the silver wall without regard for their lives.

In the thick fog deep within the valley, some enormous figures began to grow clearer.

"Daoist, should I call you Fellow Daoist Crab?" Shi Chuankong flew up and said loudly to the Crab Immortal.

The Crab Immortal did not reply, only turned to look at him, expressionless.

"It seems Brother Li won't be able to leave seclusion anytime soon. More and more beasts will be attracted to this mountain range by the disturbance of world energy, and they'll only grow stronger. We must cooperate to protect him. So you needn't be so wary of me; I have no intention of harming Brother Li," Shi Chuankong said with a smile.

The Crab Immortal nodded silently, saying nothing and making no other move.

"I hope this isn't a losing deal..." Shi Chuankong sighed helplessly.

With that, he flew off and landed on the silver light wall. With a flick of his wrist, a human-head-sized silver mirror appeared in his palm. Forming a hand seal, beams of silver light shot from the mirror, striking the densely climbing cyan snakes and spiders, causing their bodies to explode, mixing foul fluids and blood.

The Crab Immortal withdrew his gaze, gripped his two warblades, which crackled with lightning.

He swooped down, plunged into the ground at the valley mouth, and disappeared underground.

Moments later, rumbling sounds came from underground. Hundreds of lightning pillars shot up like geysers, blasting the valley mouth into dust and rubble.

Countless beasts that had just charged to the valley mouth were caught in the lightning geysers and annihilated.

With a thunderous "boom," a huge crack split the earth.

A snow-white centipede over a hundred feet long burst from underground, flew a hundred feet into the air, then crashed heavily to the ground, its segments shattered, oozing foul green blood.

On its head, the Crab Immortal stood silently, slowly pulling his Slash Thunder warblade from the centipede's skull.

Inside the valley, the lightning-armored soldiers had finished clearing all the beasts, suffering minimal losses. Most phalanxes retained their combat strength. Under the Crab Immortal's command, they began to gather at the valley mouth, forming a dense defensive line.

...

Time passed, and over three months went by.

Above the dark green valley, thunder roared. In the clouds, a giant winged serpent, half-hidden in the mist, glowed red and spat beams of black light in all directions.

Behind the clouds, a figure wrapped in golden lightning flickered frequently, wielding two ancient warblades crackling with electricity, constantly striking at the serpent.

The figure moved extremely fast, each appearance leaving a huge wound on the winged serpent's body.

The serpent's dark green eyes were filled with venom, but its massive size and the figure's speed made it impossible to catch up.

Just then, a flash of lightning, and the figure suddenly appeared on the winged serpent's back. Both long blades swung simultaneously, and two lightning-formed blades slashed at the base of the serpent's wings, cutting cleanly through.