Han Li felt his Magical Power within his body as if it had solidified — not a trace could he draw out. Clearly, his True Essence had been sealed by these inexplicable Yin Soul Threads.
A wave of alarm swept through his mind, and he quickly focused his gaze on these black threads.
The black threads were densely wound around every part of his body, glistening with an oily dark sheen and emanating a faint Yin aura — one glance told him these were extraordinarily bizarre and evil artifacts.
Han Li's face twitched involuntarily.
When he had first obtained the golden net, he hadn't been without suspicion that the other party had tampered with it in some way. But after carefully examining it several times, he had found nothing unusual.
He didn't carry any other pure-gold magical tools on him, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and use it.
But once he had actually used the golden net to capture the spirit ginseng's avatar, he had temporarily set his suspicions aside.
Never did he expect that the very moment he turned against the other party, he would be ambushed with this very object — leaving even his Magical Power and True Essence temporarily unusable.
But the pallor on Han Li's face froze for only a moment before returning to normal.
Because he immediately realized that with the protective formation shielding him outside, the other party wouldn't be able to do much to him for the time being. That would be enough for him to employ his methods to break free of this restraint.
At this thought, Han Li let out a cold laugh. Just as he was about to summon the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles above his head, a soft "putt" sounded from behind him.
The sound was exceedingly faint — had Han Li not already expanded his spiritual sense to encompass the entire formation, he likely would not have detected this anomaly.
Han Li's hair stood on end. Without a second thought, he spun around sharply. At the same time, he let out a piercing cry, and the aerial swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles surged behind him like an overwhelming tide.
A thunderous boom erupted from behind, and Han Li's expression darkened.
He saw that the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles was blocking a bizarre, jade-green figure, frantically lashing out at it.
Though the figure's features were blurred and its entire body was shrouded in ghostly qi, its two hands had transformed into a pair of massive jade-green serpents that thrashed wildly, lashing all the approaching Gold Devouring Beetles aside, not allowing the insects to draw even half a step closer. For the moment, the beetle swarm could make no headway.
What Han Li found even more inconceivable was that the formation barrier behind him was still completely intact. How had this ghostly figure bypassed the restrictions and infiltrated his rear without triggering them?
Before Han Li could recover from his shock, cursing erupted from the green figure.
"What the devil are these insects?! They can actually devour my intangible dharma body! This is too bizarre!" The voice was unmistakably that of the same unfamiliar man from before, now sounding rather flustered and exasperated.
Only then did Han Li notice — although the green figure's two serpents had knocked the Gold Devouring Beetles away, at the moment of contact the insects had still managed to bite off one or two mouthfuls each, swallowing specks of green light into their bellies. No wonder the other party was so furious.
But this fellow had been speaking from within the clouds just moments ago. When had he snuck behind him to launch a sneak attack?
Han Li was thoroughly baffled.
However, the question flashed through his mind and was gone — now was not the time to ponder it.
He had no intention whatsoever of engaging the other in conversation. The piercing shriek from his mouth sounded once more.
Immediately, a small portion of the Gold Devouring Beetles broke away from the battle and shot toward his body, swarming over him in an instant and tearing voraciously at those black threads.
Having lost access to his Magical Power, Han Li could only command the Gold Devouring Beetles by sound.
He had to break free before the other party found a way to deal with the Gold Devouring Beetles. After all, he still vividly remembered how the beetles had been severely weakened by a burst of ghostly roaring within the ghost mist.
He feared the other might pull a similar trick — that would be catastrophic.
At that very moment, the surrounding barrier seemed to be struck by some heavy object. The yellow light flickered several times, and the wall of light began to waver.
Seeing this, Han Li glanced back with an icy expression.
It was none other than Xuan Gu, hovering in midair, launching an attack in coordination with the green phantom's assault.
Massive spheres of black qi, each roughly a zhang in diameter, shot forth from the dark clouds and hammered against the light barrier. It looked as though the restrictions wouldn't hold for much longer.
A strange glint flashed through Han Li's eyes, yet he turned back around, ignoring it entirely.
He stared at the wildly thrashing green figure, held at bay more than ten zhang away by the Gold Devouring Beetles, his lips pressed tight, his face expressionless.
The Yin Soul Threads on his body had already been chewed through by more than a small portion in that brief span. Han Li could feel his True Essence and Magical Power stirring restlessly within, and he couldn't help but reveal a hint of secret delight.
As long as his Magical Power could be restored, he would have a multitude of methods at his disposal.
But at this moment, the green phantom let out a low growl. Its body suddenly spun around like a top, transforming into a massive, rapidly rotating gyroscope that dove headlong into the beetle swarm ahead, pushing forward several zhang and drawing closer to Han Li by a few more feet.