The barrier of light was shattered by Han Li's single strike, and the two cultivators seated below naturally opened their eyes. Four gazes shot directly toward Han Li, each pair filled with astonishment.
Even as this happened, a layer of yellowish-green light flickered into being above the pair — faintly visible, as if it had always been there. Though far smaller than the five-colored barrier that had preceded it, it was more than sufficient to envelop them both. At its center, a semi-transparent brocade handkerchief rotated slowly, ceaselessly turning.
It was precisely this brocade handkerchief that projected the barrier's power.
"It's you!" The old woman's wrinkled face trembled, and she could scarcely believe what she was seeing.
The gray-robed monk's expression shifted between dark and light, unsettled.
Han Li glanced down at the handkerchief and the new barrier that had appeared, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward ever so slightly.
"It seems the two of you really did put some thought into this — concealing your presence with a treasure, no less. Tsk, tsk. No wonder I was puzzling over why even my Spirit Eyes couldn't see through what should have been nothing more than a simple illusion formation. Turns out you two Daoist friends had been planning to play the fisherman all along. I'm truly impressed!" Han Li's words dripped with admiration, but his face was utterly expressionless — if anything, a faint killing intent surfaced between his brows.
The gray-robed monk finally steadied his composure. After intoning a Buddhist prayer, he spoke:
"Daoist Han truly possesses extraordinary abilities — even Senior Hanli and the other two were unable to capture you. But I wonder, where might Brother Hanli and the others be now? Could they have left the cavern of their own accord?"
As he spoke, the monk swept his gaze across the entire underground cavern. Failing to find any trace of Cold Li Sovereign and his companions, a spark of alarm lit within him. It seemed he simply could not believe that Han Li had truly been able to slaughter all three of them single-handedly.
Han Li narrowed his eyes, first shaking his head, then nodding, and finally letting out a long sigh — without uttering a single word.
The two below exchanged baffled glances.
"Hmph, why must you play these mind games? If Cold Li Sovereign has already left the cavern, then we three must also break out of here — otherwise, if he rallies other cultivators from the Extreme Ice Palace, we'll be trapped like turtles in a jar!" The old woman's patience snapped, and her eyes blazed with irritation.
"You needn't worry about them. I've already disposed of the three of them — seven or eight parts out of ten, at any rate. Cold Li Sovereign still has a Nascent Soul intact. Would you two care to bid him farewell one last time before I send you on your way as well?" Han Li said bluntly.
"Cold Li Sovereign was defeated by you? Impossible! What did you mean by that last remark!" The old woman's face drained of color at Han Li's words, and by the time she heard his final sentence, fury and shock erupted across her features.
"Not much. I don't know what relationship the two of you have, or what schemes you've been cooking up, and frankly I can't be bothered to think about it. But I know that you intended to pit me against the Extreme Ice Palace cultivators while harboring ill will toward me — and that is enough. What I hate most in this world is being used by others. Besides, the fact that I possess a Heaven-Hauling Treasure is something I have no intention of letting anyone else learn. The two of you had best disappear from the mortal realm." Han Li spoke flatly, then shut his eyes and paid them no further heed. His fingers formed seals, and a string of incantations drifted from his lips in a low, measured cadence.
The gray-robed monk and the old woman both started, sensing the sudden fluctuation of spiritual energy nearby. They cast alarmed glances in every direction.
Dozens of zhang away, countless motes of golden light flickered into being — and from them emerged fine golden threads, thin as strands of hair, appearing one after another in eerie silence. They flashed and shifted with no discernible pattern, yet all of them drifted slowly inward, converging toward the center. The entire process was utterly silent, not a single sound accompanying it, which made it all the more unsettling.
"A sword formation!" The moment Han Li dropped all pretense and struck, the old woman swept her gaze outward and blurted out the words.
The gray-robed monk's heart clenched. Suppressing the shock and suspicion stirred by Han Li's ability to have killed Cold Li Sovereign, he raised his voice and called out to the air:
"Brother Han, please don't misunderstand! We harbor no ill intentions toward you whatsoever. Right now, who knows how many Extreme Ice Palace cultivators are outside the Void Spirit Palace — if Cold Li Sovereign doesn't emerge, you absolutely won't be able to leave easily. The sensible course is for us to join forces and face our common enemy together. As for the Heaven-Hauling Treasure, the two of us can swear a Blood Oath never to reveal a single word."
"No need. I only trust the dead to keep secrets," Han Li replied with a cold laugh after hearing the monk's words.
"Brother Mojiu, there's no point saying anything more. Look at what's behind him — with those at his disposal, why would he even bother with the likes of us?" The old woman flipped her palm, and the yellow walking staff materialized in her hand. She fixed the monk with a frigid smile.
The monk froze at her words. Focusing his gaze, he finally saw the humanoid puppet that Han Li's body had been blocking — and beyond it, more than ten zhang away, the five humanoid skeletons standing in a row. His expression shifted involuntarily.