With a whoosh, a flash of golden light blazed before the man's eyes. Without the slightest warning, the Golden Flame Stone shot up into the air and streaked away at an angle.
Startled, the man's reaction was naturally a beat too slow. By the time he frantically reached back to grab it, he was clearly a moment too late. The stone instantly transformed into a streak of golden light, flickered once, and vanished into another person's hand nearby.
At this, both the Great Jin cultivators and the somewhat bewildered nomads nearby were stunned. And this person was none other than Han Li.
Now Han Li stood holding the stone in one hand, examining it carefully, paying absolutely no attention to anyone else.
The Core Formation man's expression instantly turned ashen.
"Hand that thing over, then cut off one of your arms. I'll spare your life." He fixed Han Li with a deadly stare, each word dripping with sinister menace.
After confirming once more from the Daoyan Sovereign that this was indeed the Golden Flame Stone, Han Li flipped his hand and stored the stone in his storage pouch. He raised his head, let out a soft chuckle, and spoke unhurriedly:
"I've taken a fancy to this item myself. I don't intend to hand it over to you, nor do I plan to cut off my own arm. Why don't we all just pretend nothing happened here and go our separate ways?"
The man flew into a rage at these words. His face darkened as he clenched both fists, and white spiritual light about a foot long erupted from his body — he looked ready to strike at any moment.
"Commander Gu, what's going on? What exactly is that strange thing? If it's not something important, don't go looking for trouble." The Core Formation woman beside them had faintly sensed that Han Li was not as simple as he appeared and suddenly spoke up.
Commander Gu hesitated at her words, then moved his lips slightly and transmitted his voice to her.
A moment later, the white-robed woman's face showed a look of shock, and she fell into contemplation.
"Is it really that item? You're not mistaken?" the white-robed woman asked solemnly in the Great Jin tongue, her expression grave.
"Absolutely certain. You know I originally came from the Artifact Refining Department. I've read that 'Compendium of Extraordinary Heavenly Stones' God knows how many times. It's definitely this thing, no mistake. If we obtain this rare treasure and bring it back to present to the Palace Master — capturing a fugitive and recovering the Snow Crystal Bead would be nothing in comparison." The man's voice carried a trace of excitement.
The woman heard this, and her gaze swept briefly over Han Li. After confirming once more that he was indeed only at the Foundation Establishment stage, a cold light flashed in her eyes and killing intent gradually crept across her brow.
"Attack! Not just this person — leave none of the nomads alive. Without witnesses, even the Tianlan Sacred Hall won't truly start a conflict with our Celestial Palace over a few low-level cultivators and several hundred mortals. At worst, we simply drop the price of this trade by another ten percent." The white-robed woman's brows knitted together sharply as she spoke. At the same time, she opened her lips and a streak of silver light shot forth. After a flash, it arrived before a nomad Foundation Establishment cultivator.
That nomad had a blue protective barrier around him, but how could it withstand the full-powered strike of a Core Formation cultivator? With a miserable scream, the barrier shattered and the man was cut cleanly in two at the waist. The silver arc then circled once, revealing its true form — a gleaming flying blade about a foot long.
The remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators from Great Jin immediately summoned their spiritual treasures and rushed toward the three surviving nomad cultivators. Those mortals further away were in no hurry to eliminate — they couldn't escape far anyway.
Seeing the Great Jin cultivators make their move, the three remaining nomad cultivators were naturally furious and alarmed.
But one was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and two were at the Qi Refinement stage. How could they possibly withstand the combined assault of six Foundation Establishment cultivators? Despite fighting back desperately, they were all cut down in the blink of an eye. Two of the cultivators then charged toward Feng Yue's carriage, intending to finish off this hidden person as well.
The white-robed woman standing atop the giant bat watched this with neither alarm nor joy — this outcome had been anticipated all along. But when her gaze shifted to Commander Gu's side, her expression changed dramatically.
It turned out that the moment Commander Gu heard the woman's order, he had immediately spat out his own lifebound flying sword. It transformed into a white arc of light and slashed directly toward Han Li.
But Han Li sighed, flipped his palm, and a small, pitch-black banner suddenly appeared in his hand. With a gentle shake, the banner billowed in the wind and expanded, transforming into a sphere of dark light that shielded his entire body. The white arc struck the barrier and was directly repelled, unable to inflict the slightest damage.
The man was naturally shaken. In his urgency, he hastily activated his sword art. The white arc circled back and transformed into an enormous serpent several zhang long, coiling tightly around the dark barrier and opening its massive jaws to desperately constrict and bite.
Yet that unremarkable dark barrier seemed forged from solid diamond — the giant serpent's crushing coils and savage bites proved utterly useless.
When the white-robed woman glanced over and witnessed this scene, her heart sank.
The opponent had dared to seize something from a Core Formation cultivator — he clearly had something to rely on. Thinking this, the woman pointed without hesitation at her distant flying blade. The treasure hummed softly, then transformed into a silver arc that shot forward with deadly force. In the next instant, it too struck hard against the dark barrier.
The result was the same — after the silver arc slashed repeatedly against the barrier, it remained perfectly intact without so much as a tremor.
The white-robed woman and the man exchanged a glance, and simultaneously saw the look of horror in each other's eyes.