Chapter 160: Gan Jiuzhen
Han Li closed his eyes and made a hand seal as he began to meditate, but a short while later, his eyes abruptly sprang open, and a wary look flashed across his face.
He reached forward to grab the small vial before tucking it back into the front of his robe, then rose to his feet and withdrew his spiritual sense.
After that, he quickly concealed his aura as well before hiding behind one of the nearby hardy willow trees.
Moments later, a figure flew past overhead, traveling into the distance in an extremely stealthy manner. In fact, the figure wasn't even giving off any spiritual power fluctuations, and it was as if a mortal had just passed through.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he took a glance at the passing figure, and a perplexed look appeared on his face.
The figure was none other than the woman in the red dress who was accompanying him on this journey.
The woman clearly hadn't come for him, so he initially decided not to pry into this matter. However, she was flying rather slowly and intentionally concealing her aura, making her appear rather suspicious, and Han Li couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.
What is that woman doing going out alone this late at night?
After a brief moment of contemplation, he flipped a hand over to produce a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.
Immediately thereafter, a burst of purple light lit up from his fingertip, and his body gradually faded into invisibility.
Even though the talisman had an aura concealment effect, Han Li didn't follow along too closely, making sure to trail along several thousand feet behind the woman.
The woman was naturally completely oblivious to this, and she continued to fly onward, flying straight out of the oasis after around 15 minutes.
Han Li followed her all the way to the edge of the oasis, and after confirming that she didn't seem to be harboring any ill intent, he decided that this was as far as he would go.
Hence, he drew to a halt before preparing to return to the lake.
However, right at this moment, a burst of dazzling light suddenly appeared in the night over 10,000 feet up ahead, and three massive shadows emerged to stop the woman in her tracks.
Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and as it turned out, the three giant shadows were a trio of mountainous white snow toads.
The snow toads were all of a pristine white color, and there were thick layers of frost covering their limbs and faces. Each of them also had a glowing ice crystal on their lower abdomen, presenting a particularly eye-catching sight in the night.
Han Li was rather surprised to see this. These toads were extremely massive, yet they had somehow been able to conceal themselves in such a way that even Han Li hadn't been able to detect them in advance with his spiritual sense.
A burst of deep croaking rang out as the three snow toads opened their giant mouths to reveal their dark purple tongues, which were emanating wisps of glacial qi.
Aside from the snow toads, there were also two figures standing atop the head of the middle toad.
One of them had an effeminate appearance and skin that was as fair as snow. They were wearing a tight-fitting long robe, but their chest was completely flat, and it was rather difficult to say whether they were male or female. As for the other figure, it was a hideous man with a portly frame and an unsightly face.
"Do you remember us two brothers, Gan Jiuzhen?"
The figure with the effeminate appearance was pointing at the woman in the red dress from afar as he spoke, and there was an indescribable note of femininity in his high-pitched voice.
"I don't have a habit of remembering nameless scoundrels suffering from gender identity crises," the woman in the red dress harrumphed coldly in response, and her voice was filled with undisguised disgust.
The effeminate man's face immediately became brightly flushed, seemingly so enraged that he was unable to even speak.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know our names. All you have to know is that this day next year will be your death anniversary!" the hideous man declared in a cold voice.
Gan Jiuzhen seemed to have lost patience with this war of words, and a derisive look appeared on her face beneath her veil as she took the initiative to lash out at her assailants.
With a flick of her wrist, crimson light began to surge over the crimson bracelet that she was wearing, as if it had suddenly sprung to life.
A draconic roar rang out as a ball of fire erupted out of the bracelet, transforming into a fiery dragon that was over 1,000 feet in length before pouncing over the night sky toward the two men standing atop the snow toad.
The effeminate man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he bent down to gently pat the snow toad beneath his feet.
A string of deep croaking rang out as the three giant snow toads opened their mouths in unison, releasing a vast expanse of translucent ice that hurtled toward the fiery dragon, stacking layer upon layer on top of itself to form a massive mountain of ice as it did so.
A resounding boom rang out as the fiery dragon crashed into the mountain of ice, and flames erupted in all directions alongside countless ice crystals, which exploded into glittering ice powder that spread through the air.
As a result of the collision, the fiery dragon was unable to maintain its draconic form any longer, and it erupted into a sea of flames that crashed into the mountain of ice.
Fire and ice were erupting in all directions, creating a huge cloud of white water vapor that obscured a large section of the sky.
Han Li watched the unfolding battle from afar for a moment, then turned to depart, not wanting to get swept up in this mess.
However, right as he turned around, he suddenly felt a burst of violent spiritual power fluctuations hurtling toward him, and he reflexively crossed his arms to form a barrier in front of himself.
Immediately thereafter, he was struck by a tremendous burst of invisible form, which sent him flying toward Gan Jiuzhen while also forcibly stripping away the concealment effect of the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.
While in mid-air, he turned to find that three more giant shadows had appeared right at the spot where he had been situated just a moment ago. It was another set of three snow toads that were virtually identical to the ones standing before Gan Jiuzhen.
A hint of foreboding welled up in his heart upon seeing this, and azure light flashed from his body as he steadied himself not far away from Gan Jiuzhen.
"I see that you recruited an ally. If it isn't for the fact that one of these babies of mine has undergone a golden eye mutation, I wouldn't have been able to discover him," the effeminate man said with a seductive smile.
Only upon hearing this did Han Li notice that the snow toad beneath the two men was indeed a little different from the other ones in that its pupils carried a faint golden hue.
Han Li took a glance at the two men, then said, "I'm only passing by, and I have no intention of getting involved in this battle."
Meanwhile, Gan Jiuzhen raised a hand, and the sea of fire that was clashing with the mountain of ice reverted back into the form of a fiery dragon before flying back to her at her behest, circling around her in a wary fashion.
She took a glance at Han Li, and a hint of bewilderment flashed through her eyes, but she didn't say anything to him as she directed her gaze back to the two men, focusing her attention on the battle at hand.
"I don't care if you're just passing by or an ally of hers. Now that you've entered our Six Toad Fire Melting Array, you'll have to die here with her! The path to the afterlife is a very lonely one, so you two can keep each other company on the way there!" the hideous man cackled in a sinister manner.
As soon as his voice trailed off, the six snow toads surrounding Han Li and Gan Jiuzhen began to glow with white radiance in unison, and a burst of violent fluctuations surged through the surrounding area.
In the next instant, a massive crystalline silver wall appeared out of thin air, trapping Han Li and Gan Jiuzhen within it.
As soon as the crystalline wall appeared, Han Li immediately felt the surrounding air temperature plummet.
At the same time, a string of crackling rang out from the surrounding space, and a series of hexagonal snowflakes began to appear. As it turned out, even the air was beginning to freeze solid.
A grim look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and a layer of azure light appeared over his body as his immortal spiritual power flowed out of his dantian, forming a burst of warm energy that spread over him to keep the biting chill at bay like a layer of warm clothes.
However, he quickly discovered that his efforts were completely futile.
The glacial energy in the air was interspersed with wisps of law powers that could easily bypass this layer of immortal spiritual power, and his True Extreme Membrane also wasn't very effective at keeping out the cold.
Han Li noticed that the glacial energy was seeping through his skin before making its way toward his dantian, and he was just about to summon his Essence Fire Raven to ward off the biting chill when a layer of crimson flames suddenly appeared over his body to instantly expel the glacial energy.
He turned to discover that Gan Jiuzhen's entire body was basked in flames, and a trail of fire was extending from her wrist, connecting her flames to his.
Furthermore, she wasn't concealing her aura any longer, and as a result, Han Li discovered that she was a mid-True Immortal cultivator.
Right at this moment, Gan Jiuzhen's voice suddenly rang out beside Han Li's ears. "Fellow Daoist Liu Shi, I don't care if you really are just passing through by chance, or if you intentionally followed me here. I only have one question for you right now: are you willing to join forces with me?"
"If you're asking for my help, then this Six Toad Fire Melting Array must be quite difficult to deal with," Han Li replied via voice transmission with slightly furrowed brows.
"This is an ice-attribute array that's capable of melting even true flames. Hopefully that gives you an idea of what we're dealing with here," Gan Jiuzhen replied in a cold voice.
Right as Han Li was hesitating about how to proceed, he noticed that the layer of crimson flames around him was slowly being whittled away, and the heat that was being released was also receding.
"These two set up this array specifically to target me, so I won't be able to resist its effects for very long. Once the glacial qi freezes our meridian and dantians, we'll be completely at their mercy."
As Gan Jiuzhen was speaking, she continued to draw upon more of her immortal spiritual power in order to bolster the flames around herself and Han Li. Despite the dire situation that they were in, her voice was as calm and collected as ever, as if she were talking about something extremely mundane.
"Alright, I'll help you," Han Li replied.
As soon as their alliance was forged, the effeminate man began to chant an incantation.
The six snow toads opened their mouths in unison and began to emit an extremely high-pitched screeching sound.
Their long tongues were fluttering incessantly in their mouths as bursts of silver glacial were released, forming two walls of mist that converged from both sides before fusing into the crystalline wall that Han Li and Gan Jiuzhen were trapped in.
A string of loud crackling rang out as the crystalline wall became thicker and thicker while constantly closing in around Han Li's duo, causing the surrounding air temperature to plummet even further.
Han Li was even able to see wisps of glacial qi that were visible to the naked eye closing in around him, constantly whittling away at the layer of crimson flames that he was enveloped within.
"Fellow Daoist Liu, if I focus solely on helping you keep out the glacial qi, do you have a way to break through this array?" Gan Jiuzhen asked via voice transmissions while making a series of hand seals to strengthen her flames.
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