Chapter 810: Secretly Crossing to Chuyu

Han Li's figure halted in midair, and as the surrounding void began to squeeze and distort, his face showed signs of pain.

Haha!

Zhaogu Zhenren let out a wild laugh, and with his other hand, he spread his five fingers and slammed downward.

Above Han Li, a bone claw wreathed in white light materialized and struck fiercely at his head.

Han Li's face showed terror as he clenched his fists and hurled them upward, transforming into two azure cyclones that smashed into the bone claw.

The collision did not produce a deafening roar; instead, with a soft 'puff,' the two azure cyclones were crushed and dissipated on the spot under the bone claw's grip.

Then, the white light on the bone claw surged, pressing down with overwhelming force, a tremendous power that seemed to tear through space bearing directly down on Han Li's head.

Han Li's body remained completely immobile, and then the surrounding void trembled violently. His protective spiritual light scattered, and his body shattered with a bang.

Zhaogu Zhenren was initially overjoyed, but then his expression stiffened as a bizarre scene unfolded before his eyes.

Han Li's shattered body suddenly shrank, transforming into a split red bean, on which a drop of pale golden essence blood evaporated, rising as a wisp of white smoke.

Additionally, a rabbit-head mask from the Wuchang Alliance slowly fell out, drifting lightly downward.

Almost at the same time, in another direction hundreds of thousands of miles away, Shi Chuankong's body was also shattered by a white bone claw descending from the sky, the situation identical to this one...

After recalling his clone, Zhaogu Zhenren's face turned extremely gloomy. He shifted his gaze to Xue Di Hou, who was surrounded by the Jingguan Tower.

The latter was now within his own dark red spiritual domain, making no attempt to escape, his expression quite calm.

'To create such a high-level false clone, even fooling me, is quite a feat. I'm in a bad mood now. If you want to live, tell me now: where did their true bodies go? Xiejiacheng, Yuliangcheng, or Guyangcheng?' Zhaogu Zhenren let out a long breath, suppressing his anger, and said slowly.

The cities he mentioned were all not far from Liusencheng, other cities with teleportation arrays to Chuyucheng. Since Han Li and the other had sent false bodies here, their true bodies were likely in one of those three cities.

'Senior, don't jest. I went to great lengths to create an essence blood false body with secret arts, even using myself as bait to lure you here. Why would I tell you their true destination?' Xue Di Hou said with a hint of a smile.

'Since you're tired of living, let your soul tell me!'

Zhaogu Zhenren bellowed, waving his hands. His withered bone domain immediately contracted rapidly, pressing against Xue Di Hou's domain. The flames on the seven or eight white bone Jingguan towers leaped, and the green fire in all the skulls' eyes blazed. They all flew up, like a plague of locusts, howling as they charged at Xue Di Hou.

But at that moment, a bizarre scene appeared!

Xue Di Hou, still enveloped by the domain, smiled even more broadly. He flipped his hand, revealing a jade talisman in his palm, which he crushed with a 'crack.'

As the jade talisman broke, a powerful spatial force surged out, condensing into a deep black light door behind him. He stepped back and vanished into it, disappearing.

Zhaogu Zhenren's pupils contracted, veins bulging on his forehead. Even he could not stop it in time, and could only punch the void, producing thunderous explosions.

After a long while, the sounds in the sky gradually faded, and Zhaogu Zhenren's expression slowly calmed.

He looked at the distant Liusencheng and muttered to himself, 'Since I don't know which city you went to, I'll wait for you in Chuyucheng. Don't think you can leave the Southern Wasteland alive...'

Almost at the same time, outside the southernmost city of Xiongju in the Southern Wasteland, two figures were slowly descending from the sky.

Both were of modest stature, with ordinary features but very similar appearances, like twin brothers. Their cultivation levels were only at the late True Immortal stage, which seemed unremarkable within ten thousand miles of Xiongjucheng.

However, these two were none other than Han Li and Shi Chuankong, who had returned.

Initially, Xue Di Hou had proposed that he take two false bodies disguised as his blood-refined puppets as bait to Liusencheng, while Han Li and the other went to Xiejiacheng on their own to take the teleportation array to Chuyucheng.

But Han Li thought this plan carried risks, because the other cities, including Xiejiacheng, were not far from Liusencheng. Once Xue Di Hou and the others were caught up to and exposed by Zhaogu Zhenren, he would still have the strength to pursue them to the other cities. So they decided to take the risk and return to Xiongjucheng.

Originally, given the distance between Xiongjucheng and Renshancheng, they should have arrived earlier. However, to conceal their forms, both had severely suppressed their cultivation realms, not daring to fly at full speed, and thus only now reached Xiongjucheng.

"Brother Shi, it seems your third brother does treat you differently. The Blood Drop Marquis he sent to escort you is utterly loyal, willing to risk dealing with a Great Luo cultivator to buy you a chance to live." Han Li said as he walked.

"This Blood Drop Marquis may not be the most powerful among my third brother's subordinates, but he has always been the most loyal. I've heard my third brother mention him often, though I'd never met him before. If we can meet in Bright Sun City in the future, I will surely repay him generously." Shi Chuankong nodded and said.

As they spoke, the two had already passed inspection with their permits and entered Xiongju City.

After renting a carriage at the beast stable, they headed straight for the city lord's mansion without stopping.

"I'm not familiar with Sky Battle Marquis's temperament. From your and Blood Drop Marquis's descriptions, he seems to be a domineering figure. Such people's minds are hardest to fathom, so returning to Xiongju City this time is truly a gamble." Han Li transmitted his voice.

"Last time, during the 'Cloud Mountain Surrounded' killing game, he chose to stand by. I only hope this time he'll turn a blind eye as well. As long as I can leave here safely, I, Shi Chuankong, will owe him this favor." Shi Chuankong frowned slightly and replied.

With that said, neither spoke again, the clip-clop of beast hooves echoing in their ears, each lost in their own thoughts.

The city lord's mansion covered a vast area. The front half consisted of imposing buildings that served as the city lord's official residence, while the rear half's extensive gardens were Sky Battle Marquis's private estate.

At the junction of the official residence and the gardens stood a round tower-like structure, about six or seven stories high, adorned with exquisite sculptural decorations—this was the teleportation hall of Xiongju City.

Xiongju City was different from other places; using the teleportation array here required strict inspection.

When Han Li and the other arrived at a side gate of the city lord's mansion, they were stopped by the guarding cultivators.

"Here are our permits. Please inspect them." Shi Chuankong put on a smile and handed over two new permits.

Their identities had been transformed into outer clan disciples of the Yu family, the foremost family in Chenqiu Domain in the central demon domain, one named Yu Zhongyan and the other Yu Zhongmiao.

"Since you are Yu clan disciples from Chenqiu, do you have clan emblem credentials?" The leading elder cultivator, after examining the permits, relaxed his expression slightly and looked at them, asking.

Shi Chuankong was prepared. He flipped his palm and produced two palm-sized round iron plates, engraved with a fierce beast with horn-like spikes on its head and two feathered wings behind it, with the character 'Yu' inscribed below.

The elder cultivator took the round plates and examined them carefully for a moment, then said: "The Yuya beast pattern is correct, and the double wings behind indeed signify outer clan members. You two may enter."

"Thank you, senior."

Shi Chuankong quickly thanked him, retrieved the permits and clan emblems, and hurried into the side gate with Han Li.

As they passed through the doorway, the detection array above flickered faintly. Its warning red light suddenly flashed, about to illuminate, when Shi Chuankong took out a small round bronze mirror from his bosom and quietly shone it upward.

The light on the array flickered once and then vanished.

One of the guarding cultivators glanced sharply, looked carefully at the array above, and seeing everything normal, shook his head and looked away, thinking he had just imagined it.

Han Li and the other breathed a sigh of relief and began walking inward along the mansion's corridors.

The city lord's mansion was heavily guarded, with cultivators stationed at almost every interval and teams patrolling along the way. The two said little, keeping their heads down and hurrying, soon arriving at the base of the seven-story tower.

At the tower's entrance, a line of people was waiting to enter.

Han Li and the other stepped forward and joined the end of the line.

As time passed, those ahead entered the tower one by one, and soon it was their turn.

The two entered the tower and saw before them a teleportation array composed of eighteen coiled-dragon pillars, inside which three demon men stood, waiting for the array to activate.

Outside the array, aside from a middle-aged cultivator holding an array plate to activate it, there were only three other groups.

"Where do you two wish to teleport?" To the right inside the tower gate, behind a redwood desk sat an old cultivator in a black robe with a long beard, sizing up Han Li and the other, asking.

"Reporting to senior, we wish to go to Chuyu City." Shi Chuankong quickly bowed and said.

"You're in luck. There are still three slots for Chuyu City today. You only need to wait for one more person to join, and you can teleport there." The black-robed elder, whose skin was covered in fine scales, spoke in a soft, feminine voice, his gaze deep.

"How long do we need to wait?" Han Li frowned slightly and asked.

"Who can say? It depends on your luck. Someone might come to join you soon, or you might not gather enough people even by tomorrow." The black-robed elder said without looking up.