Chapter 775: Advancing to Taiyi

"Pfft"

A dazzling spray of blood shot out. The double wings of the long serpent were directly severed by two blade lights. It let out a mournful cry, its body plummeting straight down, crashing into the valley.

At this moment, within the green-black valley, as far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with shattered remains of strange beasts. Black blood flowed everywhere, and beside many massive corpses, pools of blood had accumulated, in which floated the carcasses of smaller beasts—a veritable scene of a slaughterhouse.

The double-winged long serpent crashed heavily into a blood pool a hundred zhang in radius, its body thrashing violently, splashing countless stinking black blood blossoms. A golden bolt of lightning followed closely, falling from the high sky and striking its head. Only then did its body go limp and gradually collapse.

Where the golden light landed, the figure of a man in a Daoist robe appeared—it was Crab Immortal.

He grabbed the long blade and pulled it from the serpent's body. After casting an indifferent glance around, he looked up at the high sky.

At the valley entrance and within the valley, two enormous mountains of corpses had piled up, stretching almost beyond sight. Blocked by these, the onslaught of ground-based beasts had diminished somewhat, with only a few powerful ones still able to scale the corpse mountains and attack with ferocity.

Inside the valley, the ground was covered with accumulated foul blood, forming a lake of blood nearly a hundred li in radius, covered with countless floating corpses, reeking of stench.

But at the center of the lake floated a white lotus bud condensed from pure immortal spiritual power, its petals closed as if about to bloom. Han Li's body was wrapped within these petals.

Strangest of all, the blood around this lotus bud, seemingly tainted by the immortal spiritual power, remained bright red, with no floating corpses nearby and no stench.

In the void ten thousand zhang directly above the lotus bud, Shi Chuankong, covered in blood and his robe stained, wielded a silver spear, battling three massive and ferocious great demons simultaneously.

Crab Immortal did not know how many attacks these ferocious beasts had launched over the past few months. He only knew that the Thunder Armor Dao soldiers Han Li had cultivated were all expended half a month ago, Shi Chuankong's talismans and formation disks were exhausted, and even several of his treasures had been ruined.

The most troublesome thing was that outside the valley, several great demons even stronger than the double-winged long serpent were lying in ambush, waiting for the two to be sufficiently worn down before launching a final attack.

Crab Immortal watched Shi Chuankong's figure, lost in thought.

At first, he had no trust in him, but after several battles fought side by side, his view had slightly changed. He was unsure if this person would continue to hold fast if this situation persisted.

Just then, a thunderous roar sounded!

A white snow toad, a hundred zhang in size, suddenly leaped from the other side of the corpse mountain, springing into the high-altitude battle array. Opening its mouth, it spewed a spiral of extreme cold storm toward Shi Chuankong.

Shi Chuankong had just repelled the attack of the three-headed demon vulture and had no time to defend himself; he was swept into the storm.

His body was almost instantly encased in a layer of white ice crystals, crashing toward the ground.

"Damn it..." Crab Immortal muttered, quickly flashing toward where he was falling.

These beasts had launched their surprise attack earlier than he had estimated.

On both sides of the corpse mountains, one after another, enormous beasts began to appear, each with a cultivation above the early Golden Immortal stage, and the strongest, a hundred-eyed centipede, had reached the late Golden Immortal stage.

In ordinary times, facing such a horde of beasts, Shi Chuankong and Crab Immortal together would not be afraid. But they had been fighting continuously for over three months against an endless stream of beasts, and their exhaustion was unimaginable.

Now, escaping would not be difficult, but if they continued to hold out, the outcome would indeed be grim.

At that moment, a long, slow breath came from the blood lake—or more precisely, from the white lotus petals. Then, as if someone had just woken up, a yawn sounded.

The sound, which should have been as faint as a mosquito's buzz, was transmitted through the waves of spiritual power emanating from the petals, becoming as clear as if it were ringing in Crab Immortal's heart.

On the other side, Shi Chuankong, still frozen in a block of white ice, let out a relieved sigh and murmured:

"Brother Li, you're finally awake."

The next moment, as if dark clouds suddenly parted and sunlight burst forth, a dazzling white light shot up from the blood lake.

From the suddenly blooming white lotus bud, a figure soared into the sky, like a white rainbow piercing the heavens, flying up to ten thousand zhang before halting.

His body radiated a blinding white light, impossible to look at directly.

Seeing this figure, Crab Immortal, sensing a connection, stopped in his tracks.

Those ferocious beasts, also intimidated by this sudden powerful aura, paused simultaneously, looking up.

In the high sky, the dazzling white light gradually faded, revealing Han Li's figure.

He had now changed into a white robe, his face covered by the Reincarnation Palace mask. His skin was lustrous like jade, and he appeared quite elegant, with the bearing of an immortal.

This strange change was not due to any alteration of his appearance but stemmed from the aura emanating from within. He seemed completely renewed, exuding an indescribable otherworldly quality.

However, Han Li himself did not particularly like this aura. A flash of green light passed over him, and he returned to his original appearance. But because he had just broken through, the immortal spiritual power fluctuation of a Taiyi Jade Immortal could not be suppressed for now.

He swept his gaze over the surroundings, and with a slight movement of his mind, three Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords appeared around him, floating and rotating slowly.

The sword bodies trembled faintly, with tiny golden electric sparks jumping at the tips, igniting tiny golden sparks. The lightning-attribute law power contained within could barely be restrained, eager to be released.

Han Li raised two fingers, waved them lightly, and softly uttered, "Go."

"Crackle"

Three golden bolts of lightning flashed, leaving a scorched scent in the air, and vanished.

In the next instant, the three beasts flying high in the sky let out simultaneous miserable cries. Their heads were enveloped in a mass of golden lightning, exploding into countless fragments, their charred bodies falling downward.

The snow toad on the corpse mountain below was the first to sense danger. It turned and leaped, fleeing toward the valley exit. The other beasts followed suit, scattering in panic.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, clenched his fists, and punched in two directions.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two massive green fist shadows shot through the air, crashing down with a roar!

"Boom!" A thunderous explosion!

Both corpse mountains were struck with immense pressure, the void trembling violently. The snow toad that had fled first was firmly sucked in by the wave of the fist shadow, gradually pressed beneath it, its body exploding with a bang, flesh and blood mangled.

The other beasts could not escape either; their bodies exploded one after another. Even the strongest among them could only spit out a few blazing fireballs with its innate divine ability, which harmlessly struck the fist shadow before being crushed as well.

Shi Chuankong and Crab Immortal had already received Han Li's telepathic message and flown to a distance in the high sky, witnessing this scene.

With just two simple punches, the two corpse mountains that had taken three months to pile up in the entire valley were instantly leveled. Even the valley floor collapsed, completely turning into a huge blood lake.

The remaining beasts that had been blocked outside the corpse mountains, seeing that all the powerful beasts had been killed and the celestial phenomena had disappeared, fled in disarray.

Han Li flew down and joined Shi Chuankong.

"Congratulations, Brother Li. Your cultivation has advanced further, achieving the Taiyi Jade Immortal realm." Shi Chuankong clasped his hands and smiled in congratulations.

"I have long suffered from the calamity of decay, and only today have I found release. The hardship is beyond words. I recall, Brother Shi, you also washed away the decay energy in the Cleansing Decay Pool. Now that we have returned to the Immortal Realm, why have you not experienced a breakthrough like me due to the influx of spiritual energy?" Han Li said with a faint smile.

"Brother Li, you may not know that breakthroughs in cultivation for my clan differ from your situation. Hence, I lack such an opportunity. It's not strange." Shi Chuankong spoke vaguely, his words ambiguous.

"I see." Han Li did not know if he meant the entire魔族 race or their specific lineage, so he did not probe further.

"Brother Li, how did you know this is the Immortal Realm?" Shi Chuankong suddenly asked with a strange look, smiling.

"What do you mean by that, Brother Shi? Is this not the Immortal Realm?" Han Li asked in surprise.

"To be honest, although this place is in the Immortal Realm, it is not the Immortal Realm." Shi Chuankong said mysteriously.

"Could it be that we have arrived in the Demon Domain?" Han Li probed.

"That's what you Immortal Realm people call it, but we prefer to call it the Holy Domain." Shi Chuankong nodded and said.

"I have long heard that although the Demon Domain is within the Immortal Realm, it is an independent place. I never thought I would end up here so haphazardly today." Han Li composed himself and said with a light laugh.

"Actually, I am not sure why we suddenly appeared here. I only have a rough guess." Shi Chuankong frowned slightly and said.

"Was it not you, Brother Shi, who activated that silver pipa to tear through the void and bring us here?" Han Li asked with some confusion.

"How could I have such ability? I think the only one who could use cross-realm power to activate the Luozha Pipa and rescue us from the Grey Realm is my father, whom you call the Demon Lord." Shi Chuankong smiled bitterly and said slowly.

Han Li heard this, feeling as if a thunderbolt had struck his heart.

The Demon Lord? Wasn't that the one from whom Mirage Old Ancestor personally went to the Demon Domain to borrow treasures? The one who, as a Great Luo cultivator, overpowered many Dao Ancestors and controlled the demon territory? The one said to be comparable to the Time Dao Ancestor of the Heavenly Court?

And the Shi Chuankong before him was actually the son of that legendary Demon Lord?