Chapter 781: Encircling and Intercepting

Han Li flipped his hand and took out a medicinal pill, swallowing it. At the same time, he released a strand of divine sense that sank into the green storage bracelet.

After half a quarter of an hour, a look of joy suddenly appeared on his face. He raised his hand and grabbed.

A gray light flashed in Han Li's hand, and a piece of gray beast bone appeared.

The beast bone was something similar to a jade slip, inscribed with lines and patterns, which turned out to be a map of the Ten Wastes Mountains.

At that moment, a purple-black streak of light flew back from afar and transformed into Shi Chuankong's figure in a flash.

"All taken care of, no survivors left. I captured one and extracted memories through soul search. These people were all subordinates of the Golden Rhinoceros King, one of the Ten Wastes. That fellow you just killed, Li Daoist, was called Iron Feather, and he was an important confidant of the Golden Rhinoceros King." A strange glint flickered deep in his pupils as he spoke indifferently.

"I've also gained something here. From Iron Feather's storage artifact, I found a map of the Ten Wastes Mountains. Take a look." Han Li let out an "oh" without paying much attention, handing over the gray beast bone.

"Excellent! At least we won't have to keep blundering around blindly." Shi Chuankong was also delighted at this, taking the beast bone jade slip. He was about to examine it when he suddenly stopped.

"The Golden Rhinoceros King is said to be violent and vengeful. We've killed his men, and pursuers will likely arrive soon. We should leave first." Shi Chuankong said with a grave expression.

"That makes sense." Han Li nodded.

Their figures flickered, transforming into two streaks of light that shot into the distance, disappearing at the horizon in a flash.

…

The Golden Rhinoceros King's Cave Mansion.

In a resplendent golden hall, a fat man like a meatball kicked away a seductive maidservant kneeling beside him massaging his legs, and stood up in one step. The fat piled on his huge belly trembled up and down. He waved his hand violently, smashing the golden wine goblet in his hand heavily to the ground.

The goblet shattered upon hitting the floor, spilling the dark red wine inside all over the ground.

Several maidservants around fell to their knees, pressing their entire bodies against the ground, trembling all over, not daring to lift their heads, afraid that their king, in his rage, might give them a kick as well.

"That useless Iron Feather couldn't even handle such a trivial matter! Someone, go find out if his head has been eaten by wild beasts. If not, bring it back to me, coat it with gold lacquer, and place it under the steps in front of my hall for me to trample every day." The Golden Rhinoceros King bellowed, his somewhat comically shrill voice echoing through the hall, yet no one dared to show even a hint of a smile.

Immediately, over a dozen ferocious-looking subordinates below the hall shouted, "As you command!" and withdrew together.

After cursing for a while, the Golden Rhinoceros King seemed still unsatisfied. He turned around, grabbed a gold-inlaid琉璃 wine pot, and smashed it heavily to the ground.

"Great King, do not be angry. Your subordinate is willing to share your worries and will go at once to bring back Shi Chuankong's head." From the side of the hall, a burly man clad in golden crow-linked armor stepped forward, bowed, and spoke.

This man had a leopard head and round eyes, with broad shoulders and a thick waist. His build was somewhat similar to the Golden Rhinoceros King's, but his muscles bulged, making him look very robust. His face was ninety percent human-like, except for a nose like a black coal ball and a mouth with protruding sharp teeth.

Seeing his fierce general volunteer, the Golden Rhinoceros King's expression slightly eased, and he appeared thoughtful. However, his eyes glanced toward the other side, where a man in a snow-white robe with a slender build and a sword on his back stood.

His form was identical to a human's, but his entire head had no nasal bone protrusion, only two small holes, almost retaining the appearance of a snow-white snake head. His eyes were icy cold, and just standing there gave one the illusion of an ice sculpture.

"Since Iron Feather could lose his head to him, it seems the Saint Lord's youngest son is no pushover either. Enough, enough... Since Shi Zhanfeng promised such benefits, Copper Feather, Silver Feather, the two of you will go together and try to capture him alive." The Golden Rhinoceros King pondered silently for a moment before speaking.

"Great King, why such trouble? I alone am sufficient." The burly Copper Feather glanced at the snake-headed man and said.

"Since when do you need to question my orders?" The Golden Rhinoceros King narrowed his eyes and said coldly.

"I dare not." Copper Feather tensed up, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes, and quickly replied.

"Great King, why capture him alive?" Silver Feather stepped forward expressionlessly and asked.

"With a living hostage, it's easier to negotiate with the Saint Lord's eldest son. This time, even Iron Feather was lost, so the price can't be the same as before." The Golden Rhinoceros King grabbed a snake-tailed woman, pulled her into his arms, and said while fondling her.

"Understood. Your subordinate will be careful." Silver Feather nodded.

"Alright, you may go." The Golden Rhinoceros King ordered.

"Yes." The two acknowledged and turned to leave.

…

A few days later.

Deep within the dense forest shrouded in purple mist of the Ten Calamities Mountain Range, a faint silver light cluster shone, barely a hundred zhang in radius, from which faint spatial fluctuations emanated.

Inside the silver light cluster, Han Li and Shi Chuankong stood facing each other, with a tens-of-zhang-long black charred corpse lying between them. It resembled an octopus, with hundreds of root-like tentacles beneath its body, half of which had been broken off.

"Just a mere True Immortal realm Hundred-Whisker Beast, yet it was quite troublesome, making us waste so much time," Shi Chuankong said, kicking the charred corpse's tentacle.

"This creature's innate divine ability is too peculiar. Once its tentacles touch the ground, its main body can shift anywhere. If not for your spatial domain, we'd probably still be running in circles with it," Han Li shook his head and said.

"Alright, since we've taken the demon core, let's continue on our way. We've killed one of his capable subordinates; that Golden Rhinoceros King won't let this go easily," Shi Chuankong let out a long breath and said.

"This time, let's take my flying chariot. We'll fly higher to avoid interference from the beasts below," Han Li nodded.

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist, and a jade-green flying chariot materialized.

Shi Chuankong nodded, withdrew his domain, and jumped onto the chariot. Together with Han Li, they transformed into a streak of light, shooting into the sky and speeding away.

However, after traveling just over a hundred li, the flying chariot suddenly halted, its light stopping.

In the void ahead stood a burly man in golden armor and a cold-faced man in a white robe.

"Trouble's here! It seems these two didn't even bring any underlings to catch up with us," Shi Chuankong glanced at the two ahead, frowned, and said.

Han Li looked them over and found that the golden-armored man was a late Taiyi stage cultivator, while the white-robed man was a peak Taiyi stage cultivator. Their auras were noticeably stronger than the Tie Yu they had encountered earlier.

"Who killed Tie Yu?" the golden-armored man named Tong Yu spoke first.

"What, want to avenge him?" Han Li curled his lip and asked.

"I just want to know which useless fool died at whose hands," Tong Yu sneered.

"Want to know who killed him? That's simple. After you die, go to the underworld and catch up with him to ask," Shi Chuankong chuckled.

"This kid can't be killed, only captured. Yin Yu, I have a heavy hand and can't control the intensity, so he's yours. As for the other one, I'll handle him—kill and not bury," Tong Yu's gaze swept over Shi Chuankong before finally landing on Han Li, and he said with a smile.

Silver Feather, clad in white robes, slowly drew his long sword from behind his back, neither nodding in agreement nor shaking his head in refusal.

Copper Feather, long accustomed to this, lifted a foot and stamped heavily on the void. A loud explosion rang out in the high sky, and a ripple of invisible waves spread out as his figure vanished.

"Such speed."

Han Li muttered inwardly, instantly retracting the jade flying carriage and shooting forward.

Thirty zhang away, a cyan light and a black light suddenly collided, producing a thunderous roar.

Han Li felt a mountain-like pressure slamming into him. The layers of ripples caused by the collision did not spread outward but instead pressed down on him one after another.

At first, he could withstand it with his own strength, but after several layers of force accumulated, the balance shifted, and Han Li's arms grew sore, making it hard to hold on.

As the seventh layer of ripples contracted, Han Li finally could not endure and was sent flying backward from the impact.

Shi Chuankong was about to move when he heard a clear ring. A snow-white sword light suddenly flashed and slashed down toward his head.

He sidestepped to dodge, but as the sword light descended, the sword aura churned violently, like an avalanche tearing at the surrounding world's energy, growing larger and larger, pulling in more and more, distorting the space around it.

Shi Chuankong felt an immensely powerful attraction coming from it. He quickly formed a hand seal, conjuring a spatial barrier beside him to block the connection, then leaped away to escape.

The spatial barrier was swept into the sword aura and instantly shattered into countless fragments.

After steadying himself, Shi Chuankong twisted his wrist, and a silver spear appeared in his palm, his gaze fixed on Silver Feather.

The latter's vertical pupils also locked onto him, like a predator eyeing its prey, unblinking.

On the other side, explosions rang out continuously in the void as Copper Feather and Han Li clashed repeatedly in midair. Each impact was stronger than the last, and the situation was exactly the same as the first time: the longer they confronted each other, the greater Copper Feather's force accumulated.

Although Han Li could sense the waves of law fluctuations emanating from him, he could not figure out what kind of law this was.

However, he also found a way to deal with it: not to engage in prolonged fistfights with Copper Feather, but to separate after the first collision and then seek opportunities for the next attack.

Yet Copper Feather, seemingly reckless, was actually highly skilled in close combat, leaving no openings. Moreover, his speed was so fast that Han Li found it hard to keep up.