Chapter 290: Observation
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon seeing this, but at the same time, he was gasping for air.
It seemed that he had just made short work of his opponent, but in reality, the situation had been far more perilous than it had appeared. The layer of crystalline material that had trapped him was extremely resolute, and even with his tremendously powerful physical body and immense immortal spiritual power, it would've taken him at least five seconds to break free, which would've been more than enough to spell his demise.
If the old man had gone through with his attack, then Han Li would've been a sitting duck. While it was true that his physical body was immensely powerful, there was no way that his glabella would've been able to withstand a direct blow, and if his physical body had survived that attack, he would've most definitely suffered extremely severe injuries.
Hence, as a last gasp Hail Mary, he had unleashed his Mantra Domain ability to sow doubt into the heart of his opponent. After that, he had brought down that illusory streak of heavenly fire to act as a smokescreen for the Essence Fire Raven, which emerged to free him from the layer of crystalline substance while also convincing the old man that he truly did have the power to control everything in this space.
At that point, the old man had already completely lost his bearings, and Han Li pounced on the opportunity, using his Reversal True Axis ability to deal the killing blow.
It seemed that all of these True Immortal cultivators had some trump cards up their sleeves, so he would have to be more careful when facing them in battle from now on.
With that in mind, Han Li raised a hand, and a burst of azure light swept out of his sleeve before enveloping the old man's body so that it wouldn't fall into the sea. After that, he consumed a restorative pill, then sat down to meditate.
At this point, only fewer than 40 of the Time Dao Runes on his Mantra Treasured Axis had been recovered, and using the Reversal True Axis in succession had severely taxed both his body and his immortal spiritual power.
A short while later, he reopened his eyes and cast his gaze toward the body of the thin old man, and after some brief searching, he found a long green jade box and an azure tiger mask tucked under the collar of the old man's robes.
There were several golden and purple talismans adhered to the jade box for the purpose of concealing the aura of the spirit plant inside, and Han Li tore the talismans away before opening the box to reveal a purple spirit flower with its roots still completely intact.
The entire flower was brimming with spiritual qi, and just its aroma alone was enough to instill within him a soothing sense of relaxation.
It's not quite old enough to be used, but it certainly is a Thistle Spirit Flower that's over 30,000 years old.
The Thistle Spirit Flower was an extremely rare spirit plant that contained a hint of law powers, and even its seed wasn't something that could be found in the Transient Guild, so it was certainly a pleasant surprise for Han Li to have secured one on this mission.
If it weren't for the sake of this flower, he wouldn't have bothered to come after the thin old man at all. His mission was solely to protect the Holy Puppet Sect, and he certainly didn't care if any of the invaders were to escape.
After closing the jade box, he placed the removed talismans back onto it as well, then added a couple of golden talismans of his own before carefully tucking it away under the collar of his robe.
After that, he took a closer look at the azure tiger mask to find that it bore the number "11", which was the same as the number on Bai Suyuan's mask, indicating that he wasn't a cultivator from anywhere near the Ancient Cloud Continent.
Han Li was just about to destroy the mask when a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he decided to preserve the mask and stow it away instead.
After that, he also took the old man's storage bracelet, as well as that yellow flag and his other treasures, then flew back toward the island.
It hadn't been very long since he left the island, and the battle nearby was still raging.
However, Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators had somehow added around a dozen more Grand Ascension cultivators to their ranks, and due to the absence of Han Li and Qilin 9, they were able to completely dominate the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators, who were on the verge of being wiped out.
Han Li was able to assess the situation from afar with his spiritual sense, so as soon as he arrived on the scene, he immediately charged into the fray, killing all of the Ubiquitous Pavilion Grand Ascension cultivators in a matter of moments, and all of the other Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators immediately fled the scene in a blind panic.
All of the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators had thought that this was where their lives were going to come to an end, and they were ecstatic to see Han Li reversing their fortunes with ease. Their morale was instantly elevated to unprecedented heights, and they lashed out at the remaining Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators to completely drive them off the island.
Meanwhile, Han Li flew over to the giant puppet, then looked around to find Qilin 9 flying back to the island from afar. Along the way, he slew several dozen Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators, then quickly arrived beside Han Li.
He was carrying multiple injuries, and his clothes had become quite tattered, clearly indicating that he had just endured a rough battle as well.
"That woman had quite a few tricks up her sleeve. In the end, I was able to destroy her physical body, but her nascent soul managed to get away," Qilin 9 said in a slightly disappointed voice.
"If she had so many tricks up her sleeve, then surely she would've been quite wealthy as well, so you must've reaped some substantial spoils, right, Fellow Daoist Qilin 9?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"She did have some treasures and materials, but nothing all that valuable," Qilin 9 replied in an ambiguous manner to gloss over the subject.
Right at this moment, a resounding boom suddenly rang out from the sea toward the east, causing the nearby space to tremble violently.
Immediately thereafter, the colorful light barrier above the main island flashed a few times before disintegrating into countless specks of light that then faded into nothingness.
The glowing pagoda beside Han Li and Qilin 9 also flashed a few times before it completely dimmed.
"It looks like the Ubiquitous Pavilion has come extremely well prepared. We've managed to guard our island, but some other islands have fallen," Qilin 9 sighed.
"The situation is looking a little trim," Han Li replied with a nod.
"Do you think we should do something, Fellow Daoist?" Qilin 9 asked.
"I don't recall receiving any instructions other than to protect this island," Han Li replied.
"That's exactly right! We've been tasked with protecting this island, so it would be wise for us not to leave our post and just observe the battle for now," Qilin 9 chuckled.
Han Li gave an ambiguous nod in response, then cast his gaze toward the main island with blue light flashing in his eyes.
All of the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators were ecstatic to see that the light barrier encompassing the main island had disappeared, and they took a moment to reorganize their ranks before converging toward the main island.
That was the foundation of the Holy Puppet Sect, so if they wanted to reap the best spoils, then that was the place that they had to go.
After a brief respite, the battle continued at an even higher degree of ferocity than before.
A string of deafening booms instantly rang out across the sky above the main island, and even the main island itself was trembling incessantly in the wake of the powerful clashes taking place above it, looking as if it could collapse at any moment.
Due to the uneven distribution of forces on the battlefield, some of the parts of the defensive line where the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators had a numbers advantage were quickly overwhelmed, and the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators there immediately swooped down toward the main island.
Some of the bolder individuals among them had gone straight past the outermost level of the island and descended onto the second and even the third levels of the island.
However, all of the restrictions and traps laid out on the island were quickly triggered, and all of the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators that had stormed recklessly onto the main island were instantly met with a ferocious barrage of attacks.
Meanwhile, the black spirit boats in the dark clouds up above were also beginning to rapidly descend toward the island.
As for the mechanical boats that had been attacking them earlier, their defenses were too frail, and their attacks were lacking in variety, so they were only able to destroy two of the black spirit boats before all of them were wiped out.
Two of the black spirit boats were descending toward a wide river on the main island, yet before the pair of spirit boats had even landed on the surface of the water, the river down below had begun churning violently as if the water had been brought to a boil.
Right at this moment, around a dozen incredibly thick black chains shot out of the river, clanging loudly as they hurtled toward the pair of black spirit boats. The massive metal anchors attached to the ends of the chains easily passed through the protective barriers around the boats before plunging straight into the boats themselves.
Immediately thereafter, the sound of grinding gears rang out from the riverbed down below, while the two spirit boats shuddered violently as all of the runes on their surfaces lit up at once as they attempted to rise up with all their might to struggle free from the chains.
All of a sudden, a layer of blue light appeared over the chains, and countless tiny runes emerged from the blue light, releasing a burst of tremendous power that fused the chains and the entire river into one. It was as if the entire river were dragging down the pair of spirit boats rather than just the dozen or so chains.
The sound of mechanical grinding continued to ring out as the pair of spirit boats were slowly brought down further and further before falling into the water, where they exploded into pieces with an almighty boom.
Not far away, around a dozen turtle puppets had assembled themselves into a line, and the spirit patterns on their shells were glowing brightly as they raised their heads up high, releasing pillars of blue light out of their mouths toward the descending spirit boats and Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators up above.
The entire island had been plunged into a state of complete chaos, and all of the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators that were fighting in the air immediately descended to reinforce the main island.
Several dozen Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators had appeared on the plaza on the main island, and they were led by a pair of True Immortal cultivators as they engaged the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators on the island in a fierce battle.
Bai Suyuan's cultivation base wasn't very advanced, and at the moment, she was hanging back in the crowd, holding a silver longsword in one hand and a life-saving talisman given to her Yun Ni in the other as she inspected her surroundings with a wary expression.
As soon as the battle ensued on the main island, even more puppets began to enter the fray, and as a result, the Holy Puppet Sect forces were suddenly vastly outnumbering the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators, making it appear as if the tide were about to turn.
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