A cold gleam flashed through Han Li's eyes. His hands, which had been controlling the golden lightning arcs, gave a violent tremor. Golden light flared, and the net of electricity burst apart.
Countless lightning arcs jumped and bounced, and a web of electric light—three times denser than before—instantly materialized. Then it contracted sharply.
When the black threads shot outward, they naturally collided with the golden arcs one after another.
A sizzling crackle erupted. Under the fierce bombardment of the golden arcs, the black threads dissolved into countless wisps of black smoke that rose within the net, accompanied by intermittent screams and wails of misery—utterly ghastly to hear.
The black threads then retreated fearfully to the center of the golden net, converging into a pitch-black, oily, sinister infant whose face was filled with terror and dread. It opened its mouth, and stream after stream of ink-black yin energy poured forth, wrapping itself layer upon layer in a desperate bid to resist the Exorcism Divine Lightning that had already closed in.
Han Li's expression was cold and detached. A trace of mockery flickered at the corner of his mouth as the golden arcs projecting from his hands suddenly swelled to three times their thickness, blazing with a blinding radiance that was almost impossible to look at directly.
The screams from within the electric light rose once more, then gradually faded amid tremendous thunderclaps, until moments later they fell completely silent.
Seeing this, Han Li felt a measure of relief. With a sweeping, retracting motion of the golden arcs, a pitch-black storage bag was drawn into his hand.
He raised his head to glance upward, and with his expression unchanged, his figure swayed faintly. A flash of green spiritual light surged once more as he transformed into a streak of green radiance and shot back.
From the moment Han Li and the black-robed cultivator had exchanged only a few terse words, to the instant Han Li unleashed the Exorcism Divine Lightning and obliterated his opponent, the entire sequence of events had taken no more than the blink of an eye.
Not only were the scar-browed big man, the old man surnamed Ma, and the others below struck dumb with astonishment—even the tall, thin magic practitioner and Ku Yao, the two great Mulan Grand Masters overhead, stood with their eyes glazed, still unable to believe what had just transpired.
After all, while the Tiannan cultivators knew nothing of the black-robed man's background, they knew it all too well. These mysterious cultivators hailed from a vast empire on the far side of the Mulan Grasslands. Although no one knew why they had suddenly appeared on the Mulan Grasslands and struck some arrangement with the Spirit Masters of the three great Mulan tribes to lend their aid, there was no doubt that these people, in both their techniques and supernatural abilities, far surpassed cultivators of the same rank in the Tiannan cultivation world.
Before the battle had even truly begun, two Tiannan Nascent Soul cultivators had already been killed by their hands, earning the two Mulan Grand Masters' deep trust in the black-robed cultivators.
The reason the black-robed cultivators had been sent out for this second duel was precisely because the great restrictive formation seemed to be defended by an unusually large number of Nascent Soul cultivators—it would be best to take one out by surprise, killing or gravely wounding them first.
But who could have imagined that a seemingly ordinary young man would emerge from their ranks, and that within the span of a few moves he would dispatch the black-robed cultivator without even allowing his Nascent Soul to escape? How could this not shock the two Grand Masters to the core?
The tall, thin magic practitioner and Ku Yao finally came to their senses. They exchanged a look of horror, their faces showing indecision—unsure whether to continue sending challengers or to simply order the entire host of magic practitioners behind them to charge.
Just then, a few faint, almost inaudible words drifted into their ears.
"Today our momentum has been broken. Withdraw for now—we shall return tomorrow. By then, this formation may well have... heh heh! As for the matter of Tianku's death, there may be some complications, but I shall explain things to the Spirit Masters myself." The voice was neither clearly male nor female, yet it carried an unmistakable undertone of authority.
The tall, thin magic practitioner and Ku Yao were momentarily stunned upon hearing this, but without a second word they immediately complied. They turned and barked orders to the host of magic practitioners behind them.
The magic practitioners stirred and shuffled in unease, but no one voiced an objection. The vanguard became the rear guard, and the army slowly withdrew.
The two Grand Masters naturally brought up the rear. Before flying off, they cast dark glances at the crowd of cultivators, and the tall, thin magic practitioner fixed Han Li with a particularly venomous glare before finally turning away.
"Should we pursue them?" Gu Shangpu watched the retreating host of magic practitioners and asked, somewhat uncertain.
"Forget it. The Mulan people have pulled back, but they haven't been defeated. If the few of us charge out, we might easily get surrounded. Better to rely on the great formation and wait for them at our leisure. Our Yellow Dragon Mountain's 'Thousand Sound Illusion Formation' is no trivial thing to break. Even if the Mulan people manage to take it, they'll have to lose more than half their magic practitioners in the process—count on that." The scar-browed big man pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
As he said this, however, he couldn't help but turn to glance at Han Li beside him.
Han Li's obliteration of the black-robed cultivator had been far too unexpected for all the cultivators present. When Han Li flew back, the group had fallen into an awkward silence, no one quite knowing what to say.
Now that the big man looked his way, Han Li's expression remained as calm as ever. He simply tucked away the black storage bag he had been turning over in his hand and offered a faint smile to those gathered.
If Han Li had smiled like this before, no one would have thought anything of it. But now, having witnessed him kill a Nascent Soul cultivator with their own eyes, seeing that same smile filled them all with an inexplicable sense of unfathomable depth. Every trace of contempt they had harbored in their hearts vanished without a trace.