The pale silver surface of the pool was visibly receding at a speed the naked eye could track, dropping by a full zhang in the blink of an eye.
This time, the swarm wasn't merely soaking in the Spirit Cleansing Pool — they were gulping down the spirit water by the mouthful.
Seeing that the pool water couldn't be preserved at its current rate, Han Li steeled his resolve and made the bold decision to have the Gold Devouring Beetles drink it directly.
Of course, this was only possible because the mature Gold Devouring Beetles possessed the ability to devour all things, and their bodies were nearly indestructible. That alone gave him the nerve to attempt it.
Had it been the Leopard-Winged Beast or the Spirit Body, Han Li would never have dared take such a risk.
Who could say what devastating consequences might follow from swallowing the pool water outright? Doing so would quite likely result in one's body exploding — a perfectly common end, all things considered.
Han Li stood at the edge of the pool, silently watching the water level drop zhang by zhang.
When it had fallen five or six zhang in one breath, something eerie happened once more.
Despite the ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles still gulping away in the pool, the pale silver water level had frozen at its current depth and refused to budge. Through his spiritual sense, Han Li could clearly perceive that every single beetle was drawing in the spirit water without a moment's pause.
This left Han Li thoroughly bewildered.
He furrowed his brow, raised his head to glance at the sky, then briefly considered how little time he had left. After a flicker of resolve crossed his face, azure light flashed across his body, and he transformed into a streak of azure rainbow that dove into the pool.
With the water level now nearly half of what it had been, the pressure inside the pool had dropped dramatically. Han Li descended to the pool bottom with ease.
His gaze swept across it, and his eyes sharpened immediately.
At the center of the pool floor — which had been covered with a layer of fine white sand — several blurry stone slabs had now become visible.
Countless spirit runes adorned the slabs' surfaces, similar in pattern to those lining the pool walls, though they appeared somewhat irregular, as though they had formed naturally rather than been crafted.
These slabs were arranged in an overlapping pattern, and the runes on them together formed a small, incomplete spell formation.
The formation was barely a zhang across, but at its very center sat a fist-sized opening that was gushing out gurgling streams of silver liquid — identical in appearance to the waters of the Spirit Cleansing Pool.
Han Li's understanding crystallized in an instant, and a wave of both shock and elation surged through him.
Clearly, this hidden mechanism was the true source behind the pool's seemingly inexhaustible supply.
But there had to be some kind of treasure inside that opening to produce such an abundance of spirit liquid.
Without a moment's hesitation, Han Li reached out with one hand into the void. Azure light flashed in his grasp, and a long sword shrouded in azure mist materialized. He flicked his wrist, and the sword transformed into a streak of azure serpent light that slashed straight down toward the opening below.
**Boom!** The formation flared with light, and a dense five-colored barrier shimmered into existence. The azure sword light was repelled and sent flying.
Han Li's expression darkened. He opened his mouth again, and a ball of silver flame shot outward — but once more, the five-colored radiance flickered, and the fireball was deflected just as easily.
His face grew more solemn. After a brief moment of deliberation, he pinched a hand seal, and the hundreds of Gold Devouring Beetles that had been drawing in spirit water around him immediately swarmed over, lunging toward the formation below.
Moments later, the five-colored barrier resurfaced, its surface crawling with densely packed golden beetles.
Every single beetle gnashed its mandibles and began devouring the entire barrier with gaping maws.
With the terrifying prowess of the Gold Devouring Beetles, the restriction should have been consumed in an instant.
A smile began to form at the corner of Han Li's mouth — but it had barely appeared before freezing in place.
Where the beetles' mandibles scraped across, the barrier's surface shimmered with flowing crystal light, leaving not a single mark behind.
The Gold Devouring Beetles couldn't so much as chip away at the five-colored barrier. This realization sent a jolt of alarm through Han Li's heart.
He thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and waved his hand to disperse the mature beetles. With another flick of his sleeve, over a dozen candidate Gold Devouring Beetle Kings buzzed forth and flew out.
The candidate kings swooped down and landed on the barrier as well.
This time, where the spirit insects' mandibles passed, deep gouges appeared on the barrier's surface in an instant.
Han Li let out a long breath, his heart easing considerably.
If even the candidate beetle kings couldn't make a dent in this restriction, he would truly be in a serious bind.
But Han Li's relief came far too soon.
Under his watchful gaze, the multitude of bite marks on the barrier's surface flickered briefly — and in the next instant, the barrier had completely restored itself.
This five-colored barrier was not merely extraordinarily tough — it also possessed a formidable ability to repair itself.
Han Li's expression changed drastically.
If he still had time, he could set up several formations of his own to gradually chip away at the restriction using similar methods. But he simply couldn't afford to linger in this space any longer. Now it was either abandon all thoughts of breaking the restriction, or resort to drastic measures — at the cost of heavily depleting his vital energy — and attempt to use the Mysterious Heaven Sword to cut through it.