The great roc transformed into a streak of azure light in midair. With a single sweep of its wings, it shot forward more than ten zhang, its speed as swift as a flash of lightning.
But within Han Li, who had taken the form of the great roc, the Great Development Technique was operating at full capacity, using his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly envelop the imprints left by the four demon kings.
However, these demon king imprints were far too powerful. Even after he had employed several secret arts from the Great Development Scripture and simultaneously harnessed the celestial roc's power following his transformation, the best he could manage was a temporary seal. He estimated it would last at most a day and a night before the imprints broke free and manifested once more.
Han Li's reason for doing this was naturally to make Liu Zu and the other demon kings believe he had fallen, so as to facilitate his subsequent actions.
What he needed to do now was rescue Yuan Yao and the other woman from Ghost Granny as quickly as possible, then find a place of extreme yin where the two women could help him expel the imprints. Only then could he fully eliminate the threat weighing on his mind.
Under normal circumstances, Han Li would never have been able to accomplish this. But with the Nether Thunder Beast providing cover, things were entirely different.
Calculating the time he had bought for those demon kings, it was not particularly long — they should have only recently entered what was called the "Divine Pool Land." Even if they learned that the beast had returned, given how highly they valued the Divine Nether River Milk, they would never abandon everything and hastily withdraw.
And when the Nether Thunder Beast, furious after breaking free from the Nine Palaces Heaven-Mighty Talisman, returned to its lair, it should arrive just in time to run into those demon kings.
At that point, with the disaster redirected eastward, as long as Han Li avoided a direct confrontation with Liu Zu, Mu Qing, and the others, his chances of rescuing Yuan Yao and the other woman were quite good.
These thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind as the celestial roc he had become streaked back along the path it had come, flying at tremendous speed.
Just as he re-entered the gray mountain range, a faint muffled sound suddenly emanated from the celestial roc's body.
The azure light flickered, and the great roc transformed back into human form.
Han Li brushed his sleeve, and a white jade token shot out, circling once before landing in his palm.
Engraved upon the token was an enormous Nine Palaces diagram, but it had now shattered from its center into countless fragments.
Han Li's expression shifted. He glanced instinctively behind him, then immediately stored the jade token away. His other hand swept across the storage bracelet on his wrist, and amid a flash of spiritual light, a purple talisman inscribed with mysterious runes materialized in his hand.
It was the Taiyi Transformation Clear Talisman!
Without further hesitation, Han Li waved a single hand gently before him, then released his fingers.
The purple talisman burst apart, and several silvery runes appeared, circling around Han Li in a flurry of movement.
With a few soft "pfft" sounds, the runes dissolved into clouds of silver mist, engulfing him in the blink of an eye.
Moments later, the silver mist dissipated, and where he had stood, not a soul remained.
Han Li had rendered his body intangible and descended slowly downward, finally hiding beneath a large tree. He raised his head and gazed fixedly into the sky, saying nothing.
A full quarter of an hour later, a faint rumble of thunder drifted from the horizon.
Before long, a flash of lightning appeared in the sky, and the Nether Thunder Beast, wreathed in arcs of electricity, swept past nearby without the slightest awareness of Han Li concealed in the mountain range below.
After a few flickers, the silver arcs vanished without a trace over the distant horizon.
Han Li's eyes flickered, but he remained in his concealed state beneath the tree, unmoving.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Han Li apparently judged that enough time had passed. He twitched his shoulder, a flash of silver light swept over him, and his figure slowly materialized.
Silver runes flew out of his body one after another, converging in midair to reconstitute a purple talisman that drifted gently downward.
Han Li beckoned with one hand, and the purple talisman transformed into a streak of purple light that vanished into his sleeve.
Then, azure light rose about him once more, and he transformed into an azure rainbow, flying off toward the distant horizon — along the very same route the Nether Thunder Beast had taken moments before.
Before long, Han Li returned to the original location of the black barrier of light.
When his light of flight faded and he hovered in the nearby sky, sweeping his gaze downward, his expression shifted subtly.
Below, the stench of charring filled the air. Thousands of ghost creature corpses blanketed the surrounding ground, most of them scorched black, as though swept by a frenzy of thunderbolts. Yin wind rolled about on all sides, and residual fluctuations of extraordinarily powerful restrictions lingered in the area — as though the formation had been half-deployed before being forcibly broken through.
A flash of surprise crossed Han Li's face, followed by a measure of unease.
He naturally had no idea about the blood-armored puppet and its group lurking behind like the proverbial mantis stalking the cicada. After Ti Hun devoured the white-robed ghost woman, these ghost creatures had been completely unaware that the Nether Thunder Beast would return so quickly. Unable to evade or conceal themselves in time, they had been reduced to ash by the furious beast's countless bolts of thunder.
Had the blood-armored puppet known that his advance force waiting outside had been completely wiped out, he would have been stamping his feet and cursing. If the white-robed ghost woman were still alive, she could have used a Thousand-Mile Talisman to give advance warning, and those ghost creatures could have calmly evaded the Nether Thunder Beast before returning to continue setting up the yin formation. His intention in having a high-level ghost creature secretly track Han Li and the Nether Thunder Beast had been precisely for this purpose.
But he had never anticipated that Han Li would ruin it all.
Han Li circled low through the air but found no surviving ghost creatures. He could not tell whether they had all been annihilated by the Nether Thunder Beast, or whether the remaining ones had long since fled.
Han Li did not dwell on the matter. After his brow twitched and he came to a halt once more, his gaze settled on the passage that shimmered with blue light.
He stroked his chin and fell into thought.
But after a flash in his eyes, he flicked his sleeve, and a stack of silver talismans flew out from within him. As their runes flickered and danced, they revealed themselves to be yet another set of Nine Palaces Heaven-Mighty Talismans.