Chapter 818: A Relentless Spirit

"Eh! It's actually a Luminous Jellyfish. These creatures are usually found in the deep waters of the Ink Sea. Why has it surfaced today?" Shi Chuankong exclaimed, his gaze sharpening with surprise.

Han Li's expression changed instantly, and he shouted, "Let's go."

With that, a golden light radiated from his body as he took a single stride forward. The True Word Wheel within him reversed rapidly, and he grabbed the still-puzzled Shi Chuankong, vanishing in a flash.

The two figures soared high into the air just as the jellyfish collided with the black whale.

Immediately after, a thunderous roar erupted!

The white jellyfish blazed with brilliant light and exploded directly.

At the same time, a muffled thunderclap sounded from within the enormous black whale, which then burst apart violently. All its bones, large and small, tore away from the flesh and shot out like projectiles, chasing after Han Li and the other.

After flying high into the sky, Han Li and his companion immediately turned around and each punched downward into the void below.

Another thunderous boom!

Two colossal fist shadows, one cyan and one silver, crashed down and collided with the white bones still clinging to pink flesh.

Both fist shadows exploded simultaneously, shattering the black whale's bones along with them, reducing everything to white powder.

Before Han Li could get a clear view, a white figure shot out from the powder. The figure waved its hand through the air, and a layer of white light expanded, enveloping Han Li and Shi Chuankong.

Then, white mist filled the light barrier, and waves of eerie ghostly aura rose up.

In the hazy distance, tall tower-like structures rose and stood guard in all directions.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong, trapped within, were greatly alarmed.

"Two little brats, not much cultivation but plenty of tricks. You made me search high and low. If I don't grind your bones to dust, I won't be satisfied!" A voice came, sometimes near, sometimes far, wavering unpredictably.

"Damn it, it's that old ghost Zhao Gu chasing us. He really is a relentless spirit," Shi Chuankong lamented inwardly.

Hearing this, a purple light flashed in Han Li's eyes as he activated his Nine Nether Demon Pupils and scanned the surroundings.

What he saw made his scalp tingle.

In each of the eight directions stood a bone pyramid, each hundreds of feet tall. Countless white skulls were piled densely, their eye sockets glowing with ghostly green flames.

The skulls atop each pyramid were unique—some were crystal clear like jade, others radiant like gold, clearly belonging to high-level cultivators who had attained the Dao in life.

There was an obvious secret connection between them, forming a bizarre and sinister Yin Bone Grand Formation that emitted waves of chilling yin energy, affecting even the flow of immortal spiritual power within Han Li and Shi Chuankong.

Facing a furious Great Luo cultivator, Han Li naturally did not dare to be careless.

He waved his hand, and a layer of golden light expanded, covering an area of several hundred feet in an attempt to slow the erosion of the yin aura.

However, within his Time Domain, the flow of white mist slowed noticeably, but the temperature continued to drop and the light grew dimmer.

"Today, let's see where you can run," a roar accompanied the sound of surging waves.

Han Li looked down and saw streaks of blood-red light shining through the thick mist below. On the pitch-black sea surface, a hundred-foot-wide pit of hellfire had appeared out of nowhere.

The pit billowed with black smoke, and magma seemed to churn within, yet no heat could be felt.

In the magma, headless white skeletons struggled futilely, piling on top of each other in a miserable scene as they sank back into the molten rock.

But then, atop the eight bone pyramids, the eight unique skulls each lit up with a symbol resembling a Buddhist mantra. All the skulls on the pyramids seemed to come alive, trembling violently.

Their loose jaws chattered, producing a strange, dense clattering sound.

The hellfire pit below shook violently in response. The magma, which had only been bubbling calmly, now rose rapidly, threatening to erupt.

Countless skeletons hidden within naturally rose with the rising tide, ascending toward the midair.

The countless skeletons hidden within naturally rose with the rising tide, ascending toward the midair.

Han Li frowned deeply, his expression grave. At this moment, he had no mind to ponder why the Bone-Reflecting True Man had been able to find the two of them and conceal himself within the Luminous Heart Jellyfish; he only thought about how to deal with the situation and escape.

"Brother Li, the Bone-Reflecting Old Ghost's Withered Bone Spirit Domain is extremely formidable—a spirit domain that truly reaches the level of Creation Realm. This is quite troublesome. Let's find an opportunity to flee separately later," Shi Chuankong said.

"This old fellow seems to have planned this long in advance. Escaping this time won't be easy," Han Li said with a bitter laugh.

He had witnessed Creation Realm spirit domains before, but this was the first time he felt such an intense sense of oppression as he did from the Bone-Reflecting True Man today.

Shi Chuankong had clearly noticed this as well, and his expression turned extremely grim.

"Here they come," Han Li's pupils suddenly contracted, and he shouted.

With this shout, the Infernal Fire Pit below finally erupted completely. Blood-red magma burst forth, and countless headless white bones shot up from within, charging straight at the two of them.

Amid the blood light, all the withered bones seemed to come to life, stretching their limbs one by one, emitting cracking sounds, and clutching bone-forged weapons as they silently rushed toward the two.

"Domain spirit? Could it be that this old ghost has already refined his spirit domain to the Spirit Transformation Realm?" Shi Chuankong exclaimed, quickly flipping his palm to produce a black war blade, which he gripped tightly.

Purple light flickered unsteadily in Han Li's eyes. With a casual wave of his hand, a silver light gate lit up beside him, and the Crab Immortal stepped out from within with an indifferent expression, arriving above the sea.

"So you even have a cave-heaven treasure. It seems I can recoup some losses this time," the Bone-Reflecting True Man's voice drifted over from somewhere.

"Judging by their aura, these things seem to be merely Dao soldiers, not domain spirits... or rather, Dao soldiers akin to domain spirits..." Han Li said to Shi Chuankong, ignoring the voice.

With that, he looked at the Crab Immortal and nodded at him.

The latter then flipped his palm, revealing a green gourd in his hand. He tilted it downward and slapped its bottom hard.

With a flash of green light, a beam of light shot from the gourd's mouth, and countless golden beans flew out, scattering downward like rain.

In the void, bursts of purple-gold light rang out continuously. All the golden beans were entwined with lightning, and with a flash of light, they transformed into purple-striped golden-armored Dao soldiers, each about ten feet tall.

Their faces were all identical, with somewhat stiff and awkward lines, but their eyes held a hidden divine light, giving them a semblance of spirituality.

Outside their bodies, they wore golden armor with purple patterns, protecting all their vital points. The armor was simple in style but intricate in pattern, exuding a sense of majestic righteousness.

All the Dao soldiers needed no command; in each of their palms, strands of purple-gold lightning flickered to life, first spreading out like feathered wings into a net, then quickly condensing into various forms of thunder weapons, from which waves of intense thunderous aura emanated.

As soon as the several thousand Dao soldiers materialized, the headless white bones below surged upward, and the two armies, one above and one below, collided head-on.

"Boom, rumble."

Amid a dazzling flash of thunder and lightning, thousands of purple-gold lightning bolts rose from the soldiers' hands and exploded simultaneously, like a display of fireworks illuminating the night sky, magnificent to the extreme.

Han Li swept his gaze over and saw that wherever the lightning struck, all the white bones shattered and collapsed, falling into the purgatory fire pit below, swallowed by the rolling magma.

Deep within the white mist of the void, a faint white shadow paused slightly, let out a surprised soft "eh," then drifted away and vanished into the white mist.

Han Li sensed it and turned his gaze toward that expanse of void, but saw only flowing mist, empty of anything.

"That old fox Zhao Gu, though a Great Luo cultivator, is unwilling to approach us rashly. It seems he has already figured out our background," Han Li transmitted his voice.

"After so many years, news of us has probably spread all over the Sacred Domain. It's not surprising that he knows. During this time, Brother Li has been diligently cultivating, and I haven't been idle either. It's just that I'm limited by my realm and unable to make major breakthroughs. As long as we can break out of this Skeletal Spirit Domain, I can activate a spatial secret technique to instantly take us away from here," Shi Chuankong replied via voice transmission.

"As far as I know, the spirit domain of the Creation Realm differs from ordinary spirit domains in that it can amplify the law attributes attached to the spirit domain space. Breaking through will likely be very difficult, and with Zhao Gu lurking in the shadows, it becomes even harder." Han Li transmitted his voice.

"Brother Li, if you have a way to destroy one of the Bone Pyres, I can expend some essence blood and attempt to forcibly activate a secret technique to escape through that gap." Shi Kongkong hesitated briefly before saying.

"It seems we have no choice but to do so." Han Li nodded and said.

Just then, another commotion arose among the Dao soldiers below. When Han Li looked down, he saw that the broken bones that had fallen back into the Infernal Pit had all reassembled, each one fully restored, and were once again charging up to engage the Dao soldiers in battle.

At the same time, a huge white bone hand suddenly reached out from the fire pit, grabbed the edge, and with a vigorous pull, leaped out of the pit.

As its full form emerged from the magma, it turned out to be a colossal skeleton over a hundred zhang tall, with four arms. It also had no head, but swirling around its bones were clusters of blood-red flames. In its hands, it held four bone swords engraved with dense, illegible dark inscriptions.

The four-armed giant skeleton kicked off with its legs, rapidly ascending and charging straight into the ranks of the Dao soldiers.

In an instant, hundreds of Dao soldiers surrounded it, slashing at it with their weapons. Purple-gold lightning bolts burst forth from the weapons, striking the four-armed giant skeleton.

A blood-red light flashed around the skeleton, and all the blood-red flames expanded, forming a blood-colored armor. This armor possessed some strange power that blocked all the lightning.