The moment Han Li saw this, he was overjoyed. But the green-robed woman's face went deathly pale in an instant, then twisted into an expression of extreme fury and alarm. She flung both hands upward, sending vast swathes of white luminescence sweeping outward, while the white lotus beneath her spun violently, and in the blink of an eye, lotus shadows surged upward like a mountain.
But a flash of purple radiance from overhead slipped past the white light, revealing a massive purple-hazed net descending upon her.
In an instant, the purple light, the white radiance, and the oncoming lotus shadows crashed violently into one another. And from the air came Silver Moon's tinkling laughter.
Behind the purple net, the light dimmed and Silver Moon's tall, graceful figure materialized.
She stood there smiling, cradling the basket treasure in her hands. Within it, white light flickered, and the bronze ancient lamp was trapped inside, unable to move the slightest bit. Once they returned and wiped away the wisp of spiritual sense the green-robed woman had left on the lamp, anyone could command this ancient treasure.
Han Li was naturally overjoyed as well, but before the look of excitement even had time to appear on his face, the person who had just stumbled into the area — staggering and disheveled — caught sight of Han Li and the green-robed woman locked in their magical battle. He immediately twisted his head toward Han Li and shouted in panic:
"Fellow Daoist Han, run! The Mulan's Divine Master is here! Fellow Daoist Lu has already been killed. If you don't leave now, it'll be too late!"
It was none other than the elderly man surnamed Ma — though at the moment his hair hung loose and wild, one arm was missing entirely, and his face was a mask of terror.
"The Mulan's Divine Master?" Han Li's heart lurched at these words. He was about to press for details when white light flared around the old man's body and he prepared to flee, not daring to linger even for a heartbeat.
But at that very moment, a calm male voice followed close behind.
"Too late. This Divine Master has already found this place. You sacrificed an arm just now to escape — this time, let me see what secret techniques you still have to use. Surely you didn't refine your other arm into a substitute puppet as well, did you? If that's truly the case, I'd actually have a measure of respect for you! Hm? Isn't this our Mulan's 'Yuanming Lamp'? Little fox, you've got quite some nerve. Daring to lay hands on our Mulan people's heritage treasure. Is this something a mere monster like you should be touching?" The man's speed was extraordinary — his opening words seemed to come from far away, yet in the blink of an eye he sounded as if he were right beside them. And that final remark, tinged with surprise, had instantly identified Silver Moon's true form as a white fox demon.
Then a silver streak shot out from the sea of fog. It appeared unhurried, but in the next instant it had already arrived before Silver Moon.
Silver Moon's face went chalk-white. She hurriedly waved her hand and a large purple net materialized before her out of thin air, while her body shot backward without a moment's hesitation.
But the silver streak merely paused briefly before transforming into a massive silver hand that seized the Purple Ensnaring Net with brute force. At the same time, from over a dozen zhang away, the silver hand clenched its five fingers into a fist and struck lightly through the void in the direction of Silver Moon's escape.
The yellow escape light Silver Moon had turned into was struck head-on by a silver sphere of light that materialized from nowhere, arriving faster than she could flee. She let out a sharp cry, her escape light shattered, and she plummeted downward.
Yet she was remarkably quick-witted. Gritting her teeth against the searing pain, she forced herself to hurl the ancient treasure in her hand as a streak of white qi toward Han Li in the distance.
"Looking to die!" The man within the silver hand seemed to grow angry.
Light flickered, and the silver hand split in two, manifesting a second one. One hand swept toward the basket treasure and snatched it up in an instant. The other clawed viciously toward Silver Moon as she fell from the sky, with every intention of crushing the woman to bits.
Both movements happened in the span of a lightning flash.
Silver Moon's face drained of all color. She desperately tried to draw upon her spiritual power to activate an escape technique and flee.
But a flash of silver light ran across her body, and she found she couldn't muster the slightest bit of magical power. That strike through the void had not only dealt her a devastating blow — it had also placed a simple but effective restriction on her body.
Though breaking it would have been easy, she simply had no time to do so.
As the colossal silver hand descended upon her like a falling mountain, Silver Moon's heart went cold. She closed her beautiful eyes and awaited death.
But just then, thunder rumbled behind her, and an arm appeared from behind, wrapping firmly around her waist.
"Let's go!" Han Li's calm, cool voice rang out abruptly, then the thunder roared once more, and both Silver Moon and Han Li vanished together.
The massive silver hand grasped at empty air, missing them by mere inches.
The next instant, Han Li materialized — one arm around Silver Moon's slender waist, the other gripping the massive two-toned sword of blue and purple — appearing at the edge of the thick fog some dozens of zhang away. His expression was dark and grave.
"Oh? Lightning Escape Technique!"
Surprise colored the voice emanating from the silver hand. Then the other silver hand shot back, the basket treasure clutched in its grip. The two massive hands collided with each other, erupting in a blinding silver radiance.
When the light faded, a middle-aged man in the attire of a scholar-caster appeared within the silver glow. In one hand he held the Purple Ensnaring Net, in the other the basket treasure, and he studied Han Li in the distance with an expression of detached calm.