Chapter 841: The Savior

Han Li's expression shifted. He flung his hands outward, and five Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords shot forth, erupting with dazzling golden light in the void as they transformed into five colossal golden thunder swords, meeting the snow-white bone scythe.

He himself stepped on empty air, his figure rapidly retreating backward.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.

Five sharp sword cries rang out. After blocking the giant bone demon's strike, the five Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were sent flying, their lightning scattering and golden light trembling violently as they plummeted toward the sea below.

Han Li had no time to attend to the flying swords. He had barely flown a few hundred zhang when a sudden whistling wind sounded behind him.

The massive skulls atop the eight bone ossuaries all opened their mouths wide, spewing thick, crystalline white bone chains that shot straight toward him like eight white bone spears.

Han Li's mind stirred, and he was about to reverse the True Wheel to dodge, when he suddenly felt his arms stiffen, as if frozen, unable to be drawn back to form hand seals.

When he looked, he saw that a layer of white bone armor had somehow grown on his arms, wrapping around his elbows, and spreading like frost from the joints toward his hands and shoulders.

Wherever it passed, a layer of white bone armor silently formed.

"When... could it be that drop of white liquid?" Han Li's heart filled with shock and suspicion, but he instantly understood.

Frowning deeply, he stamped heavily on the void, shooting upward. Golden light surged around him, and countless golden lightning bolts erupted from within, enveloping him entirely and striking the white bone armor repeatedly.

Yet when the golden light faded, not only had the bone armor not been shattered, but it had spread even further.

Before he could try again, the eight white bone chains caught up, winding around his legs and arms, binding him in midair.

Bound by the bones, Han Li immediately felt an immense force pressing down, causing his bones to creak and groan. Had he not possessed a Mystic Immortal physique and achieved the Jade Immortal body, he would have been crushed to dust.

At the same time, two streams of green flame spurted from the eye sockets of the eight skulls atop the bone ossuaries, rolling along the chains and instantly engulfing Han Li.

The eerie green flames carried no heat, only a slight coolness upon contact, nor did they have the chilling cold of ghost fire. But the moment they touched him, Han Li's expression changed drastically, and he couldn't help but show fear.

He realized that while these green flames did not burn flesh or harm the soul, they directly calcined bones.

In just a few breaths, Han Li felt a tingling numbness spreading through his bones, as if countless tiny insects were gnawing at them, causing them to decay.

Though he had a Jade Immortal body, with bones tempered like magical treasures, even this could not withstand the withered bone laws of Bone-Reflecting True Monarch.

Without Han Li's call, a silver light flashed on his skin, and a layer of blazing silver flame surged out, wrapping around him like a fiery coat, driving back the eerie green flames.

The silver flame of the Essence Fire Bird was extraordinary. After fully refining the three Seven-Colored Fire Cinnabar Pills, its power had increased further. While protecting Han Li, it also sent a portion to counter the green flames.

The two flames intertwined, both rising fiercely. Amid rolling smoke, the green flames retreated step by step.

But the Essence Fire Bird refused to let go, chasing back along the bone chains, as if determined to devour the green flames completely.

The giant bone demon formed by Bone-Reflecting True Monarch stepped forward, glanced at the Essence Fire Bird, then fixed his gaze on Han Li.

This human's Taiyi Jade Immortal had too many tricks up his sleeve; if not eliminated quickly, complications might arise.

He raised his hand, fingers like blades gleaming coldly, and stabbed straight down at Han Li.

At this moment, Han Li's arms and entire chest and abdomen were covered in white bone armor. Not only could he not cast spells, but even moving was extremely difficult, let alone being bound by bone chains—he had no way to dodge.

When Bone-Reflecting True Monarch's gaze fell on Han Li's face, he felt a slight daze. He noticed that although Han Li's expression was somewhat panicked, deep in his eyes it was as calm as an ancient well, without a ripple.

"No, something's wrong..."

Bone-Reflecting True Monarch suddenly sensed something amiss and was about to withdraw his hand when a sudden change occurred.

Just as his blade-like finger bones were about to pierce Han Li's body, a cold gleam suddenly rose in the latter's eyes.

How similar was this to before?

"How could the divine sense power of a mere Taiyi..." Bone-Reflecting True Monarch exclaimed in shock.

A translucent crystalline sword, no more than an inch long, with flickering runes, suddenly shot out from Han Li's brow, piercing through Bone-Reflecting True Monarch's blade-like giant hand in an instant, heading straight for his brow.

Pfft.

In a daze, Bone-Reflecting True Monarch seemed to hear that faint, barely audible sound again.

In the next instant, the golden rune on his brow shattered with a bang, turning into golden powder that scattered. In his sea of consciousness, a thunderous roar erupted, and a colossal crystalline sword blade emerged, slashing down through the air toward his sea of consciousness.

The runes on the sword blade flashed wildly, and the powerful divine sense fluctuations emanating from it extended outward, bringing with them waves of immense impact that pressed down, splitting Bone-Reflecting True Monarch's sea of consciousness in two.

At that moment, within Bone-Reflecting True Monarch's sea of consciousness, wind and clouds changed violently, turbulent waves surged, and his divine sense power melted away like snow under the scorching sun.

His already severely damaged soul trembled violently, as if about to be torn apart by this force.

"No... how can this be..."

Bone-Reflecting True Monarch let out an unwilling roar. His divine sense power rapidly depleted, and his vision grew increasingly blurred.

Light flickered violently around him, and his giant form began to shrink rapidly, soon returning to its original size.

The eight bone ossuaries also seemed unable to hold on; the eerie green flames on them gradually dimmed, and the white bone chains spewing from the skulls' mouths retracted with a clatter.

Seeing no more flames to devour, the Essence Fire Bird transformed back into a silver firebird, spread its wings, and flew toward Han Li.

As it approached, it saw Han Li's arms and chest bound by bone armor. It immediately swooped down, crashing into his chest like a silver fireball, then spread out, wrapping around the white bone armor and burning it with all its might.

Roar...

Just then, a roar like a wild beast's howl rang out.

Bone-Reflecting True Monarch's eyes were bloodshot, his expression nearly frenzied. He suddenly raised a hand and struck his own brow heavily, stirring up a violent surge of air.

In his sea of consciousness, a palm print descended from the sky, striking the giant divine sense sword heavily.

The sword trembled violently, its crystalline light rapidly dimming, and it vanished from Bone-Reflecting True Monarch's sea of consciousness.

In the next instant, a crystalline sword flew out from behind his head, traced an arc in the air, and shot back toward Han Li, quickly disappearing into his brow.

Though Bone-Reflecting True Monarch's self-inflicted blow had interrupted the divine sense sword's cutting of his soul, the damage he suffered was even greater. His body involuntarily flew backward.

His hair was disheveled, and there was hardly any light left in his eyes. Like a panicked old man who had lost his soul, he stumbled away, transforming into a rainbow streak in the void and fleeing into the distance.

After Bone-Reflecting True Monarch fled, his Withered Bone Domain also dissipated, and the eight bone ossuaries vanished into the void.

As for Han Li, the moment the crystalline sword flew into his sea of consciousness, he was struck as if by lightning, his head jerking backward. His divine sense power was also greatly depleted. He barely managed to retrieve his various treasures before his body could no longer hold up and began to fall toward the sea below.

It was the Essence Fire Bird that noticed he had fallen unconscious, carried him through the air to the previous reef, and landed.

After landing, Han Li's body did not move, but the silver flames wrapped around him continued to surge.

As time passed drop by drop, the bone armor covering him finally began to emit cracking sounds under the fire bird's burning, with spiderweb-like cracks appearing on its surface.

It was not until dawn of the next day that the cracks finally expanded fully and shattered.

At the same time, the time patterns on the golden wheel suspended above Han Li's head were extinguishing one after another.

...

Several days passed in a flash. It was another early morning.

As the sun rose above the horizon, the first rays of sunlight fell on Han Li's cheek. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and his eyes slowly opened.

After burning the white bone armor to ashes, the Essence Fire Bird had transformed into a silver flame figure, sitting cross-legged on Han Li's chest with arms folded, acting as a guard.

Seeing Han Li wake up, it immediately jumped up, looking at him with joy.

Han Li's mind was groggy; the aftereffects of the severe depletion of his divine sense power left his vision slow to recover. He tried to prop himself up, but found his whole body aching unbearably, as if carrying a mountain, incredibly heavy.

His heart stirred, and he understood. It seemed that because he had traversed here with his physical body, every move he made was suppressed by the invisible laws of this realm, hence this condition.

Han Li silently circulated the Great Cycle Star Elemental Art. A hazy white light lit up on his body, and he exerted force with his arms to sit up a little. Only then did he clearly see the Essence Fire Bird before him, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Seeing this, the silver flame figure immediately hopped onto his shoulder, gesticulating wildly.

"Alright, alright, I know. You helped me remove the bone armor, you brought me here, and you've been guarding me. Thank you for your trouble..." Han Li said with a smile.

With that, he looked around and saw that the surroundings were still the same black sea, with the rotting whale carcass still floating on the surface. He was still in the spacetime he had traversed to.