Although Han Li harbored some suspicions about the connection between the "Fengli Ice Flame" and this ice phoenix, he did not dwell on the matter. Instead, he found it rather puzzling: if Old Monster Che's avatar possessed the Myriad Demon Banner, why hadn't it moved forward to assist the ice phoenix in its attack? Instead, it had inexplicably sucked him inside.
That beautiful woman was clearly the Palace Master of the Minor Extreme Palace — another late-stage cultivator within its ranks.
It appeared that her magical abilities were notably inferior to those of Cold Frost Elder Hanli. At the very least, she had not cultivated any form of extreme cold flame; otherwise, against a tenth-grade ice phoenix, she and the two mid-stage cultivators aiding her would not have been reduced to barely holding their own.
After all, the white cold flame of that ice phoenix was simply far too powerful. Once the three of them were swept into it, the might of their various techniques dropped considerably.
This spectacle left Han Li staring wide-eyed. It was the first time he had ever seen extreme cold flame wielded with such devastating power — it was practically a great divine ability that could reverse the very laws of heaven and earth.
Under these circumstances, a single strike from Old Monster Che's avatar would have been enough to utterly defeat the three of them.
Could it be that the ice phoenix and Old Monster Che were on bad terms, and it dared not place itself under the banner of the Myriad Demon Banner so rashly?
Han Li's mind raced, and in the blink of an eye he arrived at a reason that was at least passably plausible.
But just at that moment, something unexpected occurred.
The demonic aura on the great banner in midair churned violently, and abruptly a mangled corpse along with several damaged treasures and artifacts tumbled from a point on the banner's surface, plummeting directly into the great hall below.
Han Li was startled by the sudden occurrence, but upon a closer look, he realized with surprise that the incomplete remains were clad in the robes of a Minor Extreme Palace cultivator. Judging by the attire, this person had clearly held a position of considerable status — most likely some Nascent Soul-stage elder of the Minor Extreme Palace.
A flash of astonishment crossed his face, and only then did he understand that he was far from the only one trapped inside the Myriad Demon Banner. Several other Minor Extreme Palace cultivators had been caught within as well — which explained why the banner had merely been suspended in midair to guard the entrance rather than being actively wielded.
The question was, how long had these Minor Extreme Palace cultivators been trapped?
The fact that they had managed to survive inside the Myriad Demon Banner until now without being completely annihilated suggested they must have been employing some secret technique to temporarily resist its power. Otherwise, with Old Monster Che's avatar commanding the banner and these cultivators trapped within its domain, there was simply no way they could have held out for so long.
But as long as the cultivators inside the banner had not yet been fully eliminated, Old Monster Che would be unable to immediately turn the full force of the banner against him in pursuit.
With this lightning-fast reasoning complete, Han Li felt a wave of relief wash over him. He began to sweep his gaze carefully across every corner of the great hall.
His eyes soon locked onto a tall jade platform not far away.
It was over a hundred zhang wide and six or seven zhang high, and from this distance he could make out one large and two small teleportation arrays arranged side by side on its surface.
Han Li was delighted. He was just about to form a series of hand seals and spring into action when his expression suddenly shifted, a peculiar look crossing his face.
Standing behind him, the humanoid puppet reached out with a single hand toward a certain point in empty space.
About ten zhang to Han Li's side, the air warped and twisted. A short black blade flashed into existence and vanished in an instant — it was the Demonic Marrow Flying Blade that had mysteriously vanished within the demonic aura space. Somehow, the treasure had freed itself from its restrictions and returned of its own accord.
The puppet swept its sleeve, and the Demonic Marrow Flying Blade disappeared, stowed away.
Han Li's brow twitched slightly, though he betrayed no further emotion. The spiritual light around his body flickered, and he transformed into a streak of azure radiance, carrying with him over a thousand fire crows and flying swords along with his other treasures, shooting straight toward the high platform.
As long as he could break free from the Void Spirit Hall, he couldn't care less who won between the Minor Extreme Palace and these monster beasts — who survived and who perished was no concern of his!
Moments later, the azure light reached the center of the great hall. However, the streak did not fly straight through that area in brazen fashion. Instead, it traced a wide arc, skirting along the outer edge of the hall.
But because much of the hall had been engulfed by the ice phoenix's extreme cold, Han Li could not avoid having the purple flame around his body flash as he passed through. In an instant, Purple Extreme Fire coated his entire body.
The wisps of white frost immediately found themselves repelled by the purple flame, unable to penetrate and affect Han Li in the slightest.
"Qianlan Ice Flame! You're a cultivator of the Minor Extreme Palace too! Don't think you can deceive me just by modifying the flame!"
At the center of the hall, where the ice phoenix was steadily driving the Palace Master and the other two cultivators backward, it had witnessed the entire sequence — Han Li rushing into the hall, being sucked into the Myriad Demon Banner, and then breaking free from the banner's restrictions. It had been thoroughly astonished and had been watching Han Li's every move with divided attention.
When Han Li's streak of light came flying toward the center, the ice phoenix's wariness surged. But seeing that the streak was bypassing the central area and taking a path along the side, it decided to pay Han Li no further mind. After all, anyone capable of escaping the Myriad Demon Banner was certainly no ordinary cultivator. Since this person had no intention of meddling, the ice phoenix was not about to provoke another powerful foe unnecessarily.
But the moment the purple flame appeared on Han Li's body, the ice phoenix's pair of luminous eyes flared crimson in an instant. A shrill cry erupted from its beak — the Purple Extreme Fire had struck some raw nerve, and the phoenix now regarded the Qianlan Ice Flame with the same hatred it reserved for a mortal enemy.
Han Li, still within his streak of light, was taken aback. Before he could even begin to understand what was happening, the ice phoenix let out an utterly venomous, piercing shriek and swept one icy wing directly toward him.
The ice feathers on that wing instantly shot out like countless arrows whistling through the air. The moment they left the wing, they transformed into five or six hundred crystalline flying swords, each half a chi in length. A dense, overwhelming hail of blades blanketed the sky and came roaring toward Han Li.
In mid-flight, Han Li saw this spectacle and nearly jumped out of his skin.