Chapter 174: Mastermind?
At this moment, Han Li's entire body was on the verge of falling apart, and he couldn't muster up even an ounce of energy or magic power.
He wanted to control his own body, but he discovered that he couldn't even lift a single finger, and he could only watch helplessly as he drifted toward the inky-black spatial rift.
This is an illusion, it's not real...
Han Li was telling himself this over and over again while doing everything in his power to snap out of the illusion.
Right at this moment, a disturbance suddenly appeared in the space in front of the massive rift in the sky, and ripples that were visible even to the naked eye swept through the air, immediately following which three faint black shadows flew out from within before drifting toward him.
They appeared to be moving quite slowly, but in reality, they were approaching Han Li at an incredible speed.
Even though Han Li was unable to move, he could see just fine, and as he examined the three approaching figures, he discovered that they were completely insubstantial and ethereal, resembling a trio of spiritual bodies. Only their heads seemed to hold any substance, and their faces were completely identical to his own.
Are these inner demons? No, they're Extrarealm Heavenly Devils!
In the next instant, one of the heavenly devils appeared directly in front of him, then crashed straight into him without any warning.
A dull thump rang out, and all of the gashes all over Han Li's entire body began to glow with bright crimson light. The gashes then began to expand, and before he knew it, he had already been torn into countless pieces like a piece of porcelain that had been dashed against the ground.
To his surprise, he discovered that even though his body had been destroyed, his soul had managed to emerge as a faint azure shadow, yet it was also completely unable to move.
The three heavenly devils immediately pounced from all directions like a pack of wolves that had been starving for days, opening their mouths up wide before sinking their fangs into his soul.
A faint tearing sound rang out as a large chunk of Han Li's soul was stripped off before being devoured, resulting in a burst of indescribable agony.
Throughout his cultivation journey, Han Li had never shied away from bodily refinement, so he had a far superior pain threshold to the average person, yet this pain went far beyond anything he had ever experienced.
There was no way to pinpoint exactly where the pain was coming from, all he could sense was that his own soul was being torn apart bit by bit, and his consciousness was also gradually fading.
He could see the three heavenly devils constantly tearing away at his body, and with each bite that they took, their bodies would become a little more substantial, while the greedy smiles on their faces became more pronounced.
Is this still an illusion?
Han Li was completely powerless to resist, and his resolve was beginning to sway.
Could it be that I never even successfully transcended my tribulation? Could it be that the Spirit Domain Realm, Liu Le'er, the Black Wind Sea, Gan Jiuzhen... All of those were just a dream conjured up by these Extrarealm Heavenly Devils? I was once the most powerful Grand Ascension cultivator in the entire Spirit Realm, but it seems I was ultimately unable to overcome these Extrarealm Heavenly Devils...
Han Li's consciousness was quickly fading, and his body had become so transparent that it was barely even visible anymore.
"Don't allow yourself to fall prey to the illusion, Fellow Daoist Han. Us Extrarealm Heavenly Devils are not like this."
All of a sudden, a cold voice rang out in the surrounding space, snapping Han Li back to his senses like a bucket of cold water to the head.
Han Li's vision had already begun to blur, but it quickly refocused again, and at the same time, a cold harrumph rang out within his consciousness. Immediately thereafter, he felt as if several sharp spikes were being driven into his head at once, sending a burst of excruciating pain tearing through his soul.
At the same time, the heavenly devils that were tearing away at his body screeched in anguish as they hurriedly flew back in retreat, then vanished into nothingness.
Han Li immediately snapped back to reality, returning to the shaved mountain summit with the array plate held in one of his hands.
Directly in front of him, Fang Pan was rooted to the spot, still locked in a forward-charging posture, and the tip of the saber in his hand was no more than a foot away from Han Li's glabella.
The surrounding stone pillars were flashing incessantly with disorienting light, but those lights no longer had any effect on Han Li.
"You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Mo Guang," Han Li said internally with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.
"This is indeed an extremely formidable array. Thankfully, Extrarealm Heavenly Devils like myself are extremely adept at conjuring up and seeing through illusions. Otherwise, things could've gone catastrophically wrong," Mo Guang sighed.
Han Li was silent for a moment, then pressed his palm down onto the array plate while chanting an incantation.
A burst of five-colored light flashed through the array, and Han Li's surroundings blurred momentarily, following which he found himself in a dimly lit hall.
He could see Fang Pan kneeling on the ground with a horrified look on his face, kowtowing over and over again as he repeatedly implored, "Please spare me, Master..."
It seemed that he was completely oblivious to Han Li's presence.
There was a zombie-like middle-aged man with chains draped all over his body, and he was sitting on a large black chair in front of Fang Pan.
"Why have you used the Origin Separation Law Chains without my permission?" the zombie-like man interrogated.
Fang Pan shuddered violently upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "I had no choice, Master! I ran into an extremely formidable foe, and at the time, I was with two other fellow daoists, but one of them was killed, while the other remaining fellow daoist and I were both severely injured. If I hadn't used those chains, there was no way I would've been able to kill that man."
Han Li was rather intrigued by what he was hearing, and he took a deep breath, then slowly made his way over to the zombie-like man before turning around and taking a seat on the large black chair.
His body gradually overlapped with that of the zombie-like man before the two completely fused as one, and Han Li did his best to imitate the zombie-like man's disposition as he asked, "Oh? Who exactly is this man, and why did you have to fight him?"
"His name is Han Li, and he's an immortal who ascended from a lower realm. He has a type of special crystal that contains the power of time laws, and that's why the three of us went after him," Fang Pan hurriedly explained.
With that, Han Li finally figured out why he had been in conflict with Fang Pan in the first place.
"Is that right? Do you know how he was able to obtain these crystals?" Han Li asked.
"I'm afraid I do not. At the time, I wasn't able to capture him, so I couldn't search his soul," Fang Pan replied.
"Are you telling the truth?" Han Li asked in a cold voice as he raised an eyebrow.
"I am, I swear! I would never dare to lie to you, Master! My other companion and I were both handed down severe punishments for failing to complete this mission," Fang Pan replied in a trembling voice.
Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, and he asked, "Who handed down your punishment? Are you telling me someone instructed the three of you to go after this Han Li?"
"Please forgive me, Master, but the one you ask of is someone of an extremely lofty status, so I cannot reveal their identity to you..."
Before Fang Pan had a chance to finish, he was struck by a heavy blow to the chest, sending him flying back through the air before crashing into one of the stone pillars in the hall with a dull thump.
The zombie-like man swept a sleeve through the air, and a black chain instantly shot forth like a spirit snake before plunging straight through Fang Pan's chest, sending blood splattering in all directions.
Fang Pan's face was deathly pale, and he was half-knelt on the ground as he violently threw up a mouthful of blood.
"Please spare me, Master..." he implored, but he still didn't dare to reveal that person's name.
"Even now, you're still choosing to withhold information from me! It looks like you're intent on testing my patience. I have no need for a disobedient disciple," the zombie-like man said in a cold voice, and a chorus of metallic rattling rang out across the entire hall.
Countless black chains drifted up into the air, and Fang Pan could feel mountainous pressure surging toward him from all directions, striking him with a crushing sense of asphyxiation.
"Please spare me, Master! I'll tell you everything!" he hurriedly yelled.
Han Li swept a sleeve through the air upon hearing this, and all of the chains in the hall settled down again.
He then cast a cold gaze toward Fang Pan, silently waiting for him to continue.
"The name of the person who ordered us to go after Han Li is..."
Right as he was about to reveal the name, his face suddenly became twisted with pain , and he threw his hands onto his head as he howled in agony.
A peculiar spiritual aura that clearly didn't belong to Fang Pan began to emanate from his head, causing the surrounding illusion to ripple and warp, looking as if it could fall apart at any moment.
Han Li's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, and he instantly rushed forward to escape from the illusion.
In the real world, Fang Pan was still locked in the same posture as before, but his eyelids were rapidly fluttering, and it was clear that he was about to regain consciousness soon.
Han Li immediately made a decision, stepping forward to force Fang Pan's mouth open before summoning his final remaining Heavy Water Lightning Bead and tossing it inside.
He then turned and flew away into the distance as quickly as he could.
At this point, Fang Pan finally awakened from the illusion, but it was already too late.
As soon as his eyes sprang open, a bolt of purple and azure lightning blasted its way out of his mouth, following which an earth-shattering explosion rang out.
A massive black sun appeared out of thin air, and heaven and earth trembled and quaked violently.
Hovering at an altitude in excess of 100,000 feet, Han Li was watching the widespread destruction taking place below with a grim expression.
Even though he had finally managed to kill Fang Pan, he knew that this wasn't the end of his troubles.
Judging from what Fang Pan had revealed, it was clear that there had been someone instructing Fang Pan and the brocade-robed elderly man to come after him.
Furthermore, that person had left a mark on Fang Pan's soul, and it was that very same mark that had almost helped Fang Pan awaken from the illusion. Han Li didn't know whether that person would be able to detect that Fang Pan had met his demise, so he would have to be even more cautious from this point onward.
Once the shockwaves down below had subsided, Han Li flew down from his vantage point up above.
At this point, the array on the mountain had already been completely destroyed, as was the case with Fang Pan's physical body, and not even the slightest hint of his aura could be detected.
Han Li found Fang Pan's storage bracelet amid some rubble, then discovered that black saber under a giant rock, and after collecting those two things, he flew away into the distance as a streak of azure light.
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