Chapter 798: One's Own Turf

Upon hearing Qing Ling's words, Zi He's expression on the other half of her face tightened.

Before she could react, two silver beams of light suddenly shot up from the ground beneath her, enveloping her figure and instantly freezing her motionless, even her facial expression凝固.

Dense silver runes poured out from the silver beams, swirling and fluttering up and down, quickly coalescing into a simple magic formation embedded with two ancient silver mirrors of archaic design.

On the surfaces of the ancient mirrors, intense spatial ripples undulated, and the silver light reflected from them contained a powerful fluctuation of laws, casting the twin sisters Zi and Qing in their glow and firmly imprisoning them in midair.

At that moment, the corpse of Shi Chuankong lying on the ground flipped over, and a figure crawled out from within—it was also Shi Chuankong.

His face was pale, his gaze somewhat unfocused, and his steps unsteady, as if he could barely stand.

Earlier, he had indeed suffered severe soul damage and fallen to the ground, but he possessed a rare treasure that could protect his soul, so he soon regained consciousness after hitting the ground.

He did not act rashly but, after a quick thought, played along and used a ruse to escape like a cicada shedding its shell, silently separating a wisp of his soul and leaving it in the false body to remain unconscious, while his true form used spatial secret arts to sneak underground and secretly set up this magic formation.

Shi Chuankong shook his head vigorously, and the feeling of dizziness and grogginess only slightly eased.

He did not look toward Han Li, but instead formed a strange hand seal with one hand and pointed at a spot in the void. Instantly, a silver light shot out, flashed, and struck the glazed lamp hanging high in the air.

With a "puff" sound!

The lamp's owner was imprisoned by the silver ancient mirror, and relying solely on the artifact's own power, it could not withstand this attack. It trembled violently, spun rapidly, and fell toward the ground.

At the same time, the phantom of the glazed lamp reflected in Han Li's sea of consciousness also trembled and vanished.

Han Li felt his divine sense loosen, and then his whole body involuntarily fell toward the ground.

With a loud bang,

his body heavily crashed into the ground, sinking into a large pit.

But immediately after, he climbed out of the pit with a pale face, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, looking utterly exhausted.

Shi Chuankong looked over at him. The two exchanged a distant glance, looked at each other in bewilderment, and simultaneously let out a wry smile.

"Brother Shi, why didn't you take out this treasure earlier? You've made us suffer so much," Han Li said with a long sigh.

"Brother Li, you're mistaken. This Silver Sky Twin Mirrors is my third brother's personal treasure. To help me, he only sent it to the Traveler's Lodge a few days ago via a transmission array. I can't refine it, so I have to rely on the array's power to drive it. It's truly unavoidable," Shi Chuankong protested loudly.

"Let's set that aside for now. Let's deal with these Purple and Green Sisters first. If they escape again, we'll really be done for," Han Li said, waving his hand.

"Shi Chuankong, if you dare kill us, our master will surely extract your soul, refine your spirit, and crush your bones to suck out the marrow," the purple-clad woman raged through divine sense fluctuations, her body bound by silver light, unable even to move her lips.

"You're just a plaything our eldest brother finds convenient. Do you really think you're a celestial maiden? Besides, even if I don't kill you, would Shi Zhanfeng spare me?" Shi Chuankong sneered in retort.

Having said that, without waiting for her to reply, he crossed his hands before his chest, formed a hand seal, and pointed sharply at the ground array.

A flash of silver light appeared on the array, and the two round mirrors immediately shifted, exchanging positions.

The two silver beams projected from them twisted violently in the void. The trapped Purple and Green Sisters let out a simultaneous scream as their bodies were instantly shredded by the distorted space, turning into a pile of minced flesh.

The nascent souls hidden within were also crushed by the spatial force, dissolving into nothingness.

When the silver beams withdrew, their bloody, mangled bodies fell to the ground, splattering everywhere.

At the same time, scattered specks of purple and green light escaped and drifted away.

"It's rare to see such powerful souls. Even though they're shattered, they still manage to keep their remnants from dissipating completely," Han Li remarked admiringly. He casually swept his sleeve, gathering all the remnant souls into his palm.

Then, with a wave of his hand, he collected all the flying swords and turned to walk into the distant bamboo grove, where he picked up the strange琉璃 lamp.

He rubbed the lamp's body, examined the extinguished琉璃 lamp, pondered briefly, and poured the remnant soul embers into the lamp.

Immediately, the runes on the green lamp lit up, emitting a flickering light that enveloped the scattered remnant souls.

Han Li waited for a moment. Seeing that the琉璃 lamp did not relight and the earlier glow faded, only the remnant soul embers remained trapped inside the lamp.

Not understanding what had happened, he casually put it away.

When he returned, Shi Chuankong was picking up a purple storage bracelet from the pool of blood and flesh.

After removing the filth from it, he refined the storage bracelet and opened it.

There were not many magical treasures stored in the bracelet, most of which required demonic qi to activate, but there were quite a few pills and spiritual materials beneficial to the soul.

Brother Li, these treasures are of little use to you, but the pills and spiritual materials are just right for you." Shi Chuankong said to Han Li after a brief inspection.

Your soul has been damaged quite a bit this time. Let's split the pills and spiritual materials evenly. I don't want any of those treasures, but could you part with that booklet?" Han Li pointed to a thin, cyan ancient book.

Shi Chuankong glanced at the cover of the ancient book, saw the four characters "Soul Devouring Essence Refining," hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said:

I'm afraid it's some heretical cultivation method obtained from who knows where. Since Brother Li likes such strange things, I'll give it to you.

Thank you." Han Li took the cyan ancient book and smiled.

Afterward, the two divided the pills, each took some, and sat in place to recuperate for a while.

With such a commotion, not a single guest elder from this Cloud Surrounding Inn came to investigate. The entire inn is eerily quiet. It seems they were already warned." Han Li suddenly thought of something and said.

Big Brother's influence and strength have always been the greatest among our siblings. It's not surprising he could pull off such a feat. If it had just been some underhanded dealings, Tian Yue Hou could have pretended not to know. But now that it's stirred up like this, he'll have to pick a side." Shi Chuankong frowned and said.

You mean we can't stay in this Xiongju City anymore?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

That's right. Recover quickly; we'll have to leave immediately." Shi Chuankong nodded.

But what about your third brother..." Han Li hesitated.

Alas, circumstances force our hand. We'll just leave a message." Shi Chuankong sighed and said.

...

About half an incense stick later, in a remote alley north of Xiongju City, two figures flashed in.

Both were dressed as scholars, walking hurriedly into the alley. One was a pedantic old Confucian, the other a young man in blue. They were none other than Han Li and Shi Chuankong.

At the end of the alley was a low, narrow shop with a half-open door. There was little light inside, making it somewhat dim and indistinct.

Han Li, disguised as an old Confucian scholar, and Shi Chuankong, who looked like a youth, exchanged a glance and slowly shook their heads.

The two figures flickered and simultaneously shot into the shop.

Inside the already cramped and narrow store, shelves were toppled over, and various items were scattered all over the floor.

Shi Chuankong paid no heed to this, walking straight to the inner wall of the shop, where he raised his hand and slapped down on a seemingly ordinary blue brick.

With a soft "crack," followed by a rumbling sound, a brick wall slowly slid back, revealing a hidden secret door.

Shi Chuankong stepped through the door first, with Han Li following closely behind.

The secret chamber behind the door was equally chaotic; a delicate small-scale magic array had been completely destroyed, and beside a broken stone pillar lay a young man dressed as a shop assistant.

He had few external injuries, not even much blood, but his wide-open eyes had turned a dull gray, devoid of any spark.

"The sea of consciousness is dry, the soul completely gone. It should be the work of the Purple and Green Twin Beauties," Han Li said after a brief examination and a long pause.

"It seems... there's no need to leave a letter either," Shi Chuankong said slowly, his expression growing solemn.

"Next, after leaving Xiongju City, where should we go?" Han Li asked again.

"Renshan City. I've operated there longer than in Xiongju City; it's my own turf, relatively safer. Also, there's a teleportation array there," Shi Chuankong said, taking a deep breath.

"If it's your own turf... why didn't we go there directly before? Wouldn't that have been safer?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Everyone knows I've operated in Renshan City for years. So everyone would think I'd go there. I didn't go before because I was worried about ambushes on the way. Now... it's both a last resort and the proper choice," Shi Chuankong said with a bitter smile.

"Since your elder brother got word and sent people to Xiongju City, Renshan City should be relatively safer," Han Li nodded and said.

"Let's hope so. There's no time to lose; let's go," Shi Chuankong said, then headed for the door.

Moments later, the two exited through the north gate of Xiongju City and arrived outside the city.

Shi Chuankong raised his hand and waved, summoning the Black God Flying Shuttle.

The two figures moved and stood on the shuttle. Shi Chuankong formed a single-handed incantation gesture, and the shuttle transformed into a streak of black light, shooting a thousand miles away, vanishing in the distant sky with a flicker.