The iridescent light appeared ordinary enough, but in a single flash, it somehow materialized behind the pillar of black qi.
Beneath a cascade of ten thousand radiant beams, an angry roar of shock erupted from within the black qi. The demonic energy melted and dissipated in rapid succession, revealing a blood-red Nascent Soul and the Ghost Net Banner.
At this moment, both were tightly bound by countless strands of azure light-threads. No matter how frantically the green glow flickered or the blood flames surged, they could not break free. They had been captured by sheer force.
A silver arc flashed, and Han Li used his Lightning Escape Technique to appear before the Old Demon's Nascent Soul. With a faint smile, he gestured toward the distance.
Spatial fluctuations rippled above his head. The small azure cauldron tore through the void and appeared there, circling once before settling into his palm.
Gently raising the cauldron, Han Li regarded the captured Nascent Soul of Old Demon Qian with a calm, detached look.
The Nascent Soul's face was already a mask of panic. Seeing Han Li's hostile gaze, its heart sank—then its savage nature erupted. It bit down hard, crushing the tip of its tongue, and opened its mouth to spray it outward.
Han Li's gaze turned cold.
Two soft sounds—*put, put*—as a gold and a silver talisman slapped onto the Nascent Soul, freezing the magical power within so it could not circulate a fraction more. The sinister secret technique it had been about to unleash dissolved into nothing.
At that moment, silver light flashed, and a middle-aged cultivator in yellow robes stepped out from behind the Old Demon's Nascent Soul—the other middle-aged cultivator who had allied with Han Li.
He had appeared there at some point without making the slightest sound.
Only then did Han Li's expression relax, an ambiguous half-smile crossing his face.
This pale-faced, expressionless cultivator was none other than the humanoid puppet Han Li had expended tremendous effort to refine.
From the very beginning of the ambush, Han Li had positioned the puppet to lurk near the hall entrance. If Old Demon Qian proved cunning enough to flee without fighting, he would certainly take this route. The puppet was no living being, so when it concealed its aura, the result was virtually flawless. Unless one saw it with one's own eyes, its presence was completely undetectable.
As a result, when Old Demon Qian had tried to flee midway, the puppet lurking nearby had struck without warning, firing a Thunder-Fire Bow with a Golden Thunder Wood arrow to catch him off guard and force him back.
But since capturing the Nascent Soul alive had been the objective, once the Demon Marrow Flying Knife—forged from the Demon Marrow Drill and other rare materials—had shattered the Blood Demon Bead, Han Li immediately used the Evil-Averting Sacred Lightning to drive the demonic Nascent Soul back. In its panicked flight, it failed to notice the puppet silently closing in. Then the puppet deployed the Demon Eye forged from Dazzle Light Crystal to cast an illusion technique.
Having experienced the terrifying power of Dazzle Light Crystal himself, Han Li was confident that even with the Old Demon's formidable spiritual sense, it would be enough to make him lose focus for a critical moment.
Sure enough, just as he had predicted—seizing the moment when the Old Demon was dazed—he calmly activated the Void Heaven Cauldron and easily sealed the Nascent Soul.
At this thought, Han Li glanced again at the small cauldron in his hand. Since he had only mastered the first layer of the Treasure Communication Technique, all he could currently control was the spiritual light the cauldron emitted. To actually open its lid, it seemed he would need to reach the late Nascent Soul stage.
"Fellow Daoist Han, how should we deal with these demons?"
Just as Han Li was pondering with quiet satisfaction, footsteps sounded behind him. Gui Ling walked over, one hand projecting a mass of black-and-white qi that restrained five shrunken white skeletons, each about a foot tall, and guided them along.
The instant the Old Demon's Nascent Soul had been sealed, the five demon sub-avatars had immediately lost control, dropping motionless to the ground, where the ugly woman had bound them with her technique.
"These five demons..."
Han Li swept a glance over the vacant, mindless sub-demons and was about to speak when the five pitch-black skulls clamped onto the Old Demon's Nascent Soul unexpectedly released their grip all at once. They whirled to face the five humanoid skeletons that had drawn near and let out piercing shrieks.
The shrill cries were not only gratingly loud but made one's blood surge and one's mind waver uncontrollably.
The five skeletons, which had been docile inside the black-and-white mist, suddenly responded. Their eyes blazed with wild crimson light, brimming with bloodlust and frenzy.
Opening their mouths, five jets of deep emerald demonic flame struck the same point on the black-and-white qi.
With a thunderous boom, the ugly woman—caught off guard—had her black-and-white qi barrier shattered instantly.
Five streams of white qi shot out, racing toward the black skulls as if trying to merge with them.
But Han Li, witnessing this, would never let the sub-demons succeed so easily. A cold snort escaped his nose as he subtly shook the small cauldron in his hand.
The azure radiance surged outward, forming a barrier that blocked the five streams of white qi.
At the same time, with another pulse of his spiritual sense, a portion of the radiance suddenly rolled over and trapped the five streams of white qi elsewhere, once again revealing five foot-tall skeletons.
These demons seemed to have descended into complete frenzy.
Though tightly bound by the dense azure threads, their limbs struggled ceaselessly, and they continuously spat emerald ghost fire at the threads binding them, trying to burn through and escape.
"No! ... You—you have to let them go!"
The Old Demon's Nascent Soul, seeing this, showed a flash of terror and suddenly screamed in a shrill, hoarse voice, seemingly terrified beyond measure.
Han Li swept it with a cold gaze, finding it somewhat puzzling. But why would he act on an enemy's words?
In the very next instant, his expression changed as well.
The five black skulls abruptly ceased their shrieking, whirled around simultaneously, and lunged—clamping down on the Old Demon's Nascent Soul once more.
But this time, the skulls did not merely bite down. With the sounds of crunching and grinding, they began to truly devour the Old Demon's Nascent Soul.