Chapter 56: Rise of the Heavenly Ghost
"What do you want?" Duan Renli asked in an indifferent voice.
"I want 50 kilograms of refined Yin Dawn Stone," Han Li replied without any hesitation.
A peculiar silence instantly descended upon the entire valley with this declaration.
"You want 50 kilograms of Yin Dawn Stone?"
"You destroyed several major restrictions of our sect and completely ruined the Devilish Flame Valley! How dare you state such a brazen demand?"
"You must be delusional!"
After a brief stunned silence, the four Body Integration cultivators all erupted into furious tirades before Duan Renli had a chance to say anything.
Duan Renli's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of anger had crept into his voice as he said, "You're asking for far too much, Fellow Daoist! An entire Yin Dawn Stone mine is only able to produce around half a kilogram of Yin Dawn Stone per year, and you're asking for 50 kilograms at once! Don't you think you're going too far?"
"I don't think that at all. Surely you can't tell me the Heavenly Ghost Sect is unable to offer up at least that much Yin Dawn Stone," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.
"It looks like you came here with the intention of starting trouble. If you're unwilling to leave, then you can remain here forever!" A furious look appeared on Duan Renli's face as he spoke, and it was clear that he had been completely enraged by Han Li's attitude.
As soon as his voice trailed off, a vast expanse of crimson light erupted out of his body, illuminating the entire surrounding area. At the same time, he released a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure that almost made the nearby space congeal, and he opened his mouth to release a miniature crimson flag that was several inches tall.
The flag circled around in the air before swelling to around 10 feet in height with baleful qi surging all over its surface. An image of a sinister ghostly head with a pair of horns could be clearly seen on the flag, and at the moment, the ghostly head's eyes were tightly shut.
Crimson light began to surge over the giant flag as Duan Renli chanted an incantation, sweeping up gusts of wind that reeked of blood and gore. The ghostly head then opened its cavernous mouth, releasing a thick pillar of crimson light that hurtled directly toward Han Li with unstoppable might.
Even before the pillar of light reached Han Li, a nauseating stench permeated throughout the entire valley, and the nearby air temperature plummeted drastically.
Han Li abruptly vanished on the spot upon seeing this, and as a result, the pillar of crimson light struck nothing but empty air.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted behind Duan Renli, following which Han Li appeared out of thin air before throwing a punch. His fist was covered in golden scales, and a ferocious barrage of hundreds of fist projections was unleashed in an instant.
A burst of astonishing force passed through the barrage of fist projections, threatening to shatter the space in its wake.
In the face of such an astonishing attack, all Duan Renli did was extend a finger before pointing it at the giant crimson flag before him in an unhurried manner.
A vast expanse of crimson mist instantly swept out of the flag like lightning before quickly spreading through the air, transforming into a crimson cloud with a radius of several hundred feet. The cloud completely encompassed Duan Renli within it, giving him a rather murky and indistinct appearance.
The golden fist projections fell upon the crimson cloud like rain, but it was as if they had struck an enormous wall of cotton. In a strange turn of events, the incredible power imbued within the first projections instantly vanished upon making contact with the crimson cloud, and with each fist projection that landed, the crimson cloud would expand slightly.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew his fists before flying back in retreat without any hesitation.
The crimson cloud instantly swept down like a turbulent wave, then rapidly spread apart to either side, while a series of crimson vortexes appeared, releasing bursts of powerful force that swept through the surrounding air, causing the nearby space to warp and twist violently.
A string of loud rumbling rang out, and Han Li felt the air construct around him, following which bursts of tremendous force surged toward him from all directions, causing him to slow down in his retreat.
Right at this moment, the eyes of the sinister ghostly head on the surface of the crimson flag sprang open, and two balls of red light that were as radiant as the sun was revealed, forcing all beholders to shield their eyes and avert their gaze.
Han Li felt his surroundings blur for a moment, and in the next instant, he suddenly found himself situated within a crimson space.
Above his head was a murky crimson sky, while down below was a boundless sea of blood. A faint layer of blood mist was hovering above the surface of the sea of blood, and there was a slightly sweet aroma permeating through the air.
"This is a domain treasure!" Han Li exclaimed as a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
Duan Renli was standing in mid-air not far away with his hands clasped behind his back, and his black robe was flapping audibly while crimson mist surged around him. "You sure are knowledgeable. Indeed, this Heavenly Ghost Blood Flag is a domain treasure, and it's the most revered treasure of our Heavenly Ghost Sect. You're extremely fortunate to be able to make this domain your final resting place."
"Is that right?" Han Li harrumphed coldly.
As soon as his voice trailed off, a flurry of ghostly howls suddenly rang out in all directions.
The ghostly howls were undulating incessantly, and it was as if there were countless ghostly creatures screaming and screeching incessantly with all their might.
All of a sudden, Han Li's consciousness began to waver, and his eyelids became as heavy as lead. At the same time, a sense of bloodlust and frustration welled up in his heart, and it seemed that the bloodlust could be satisfied by engaging those ghostly creatures in a battle to the death.
In response to these intrusive sensations, Han Li made a hand seal without any hesitation, and a burst of cool and refreshing energy surged out of his glabella, instantly flowing through all of his meridians.
The deranged thoughts in his mind instantly ceased to exist, and the ghostly howling also faded into silence.
Duan Renli was astonished that Han Li was able to remain completely unaffected by the mind-altering properties of the domain.
The layer of mist hovering over the sea of blood was manifested from the resentment of countless ghosts, and it could completely cloud one's mind and tap into the innermost desires and bloodlust in one's heart. Even if Duan Renli himself were to be beset by its effects in a completely defenseless state, he certainly wouldn't have been able to regain full sanity and rationality so easily.
The fact that Han Li was completely unaffected by this indicated that his spiritual sense was far more powerful than even Duan Renli's!
Thus, one of the trump cards that Duan Renli had prepared was rendered useless from the get-go.
Right at this moment, Han Li's body suddenly blurred as he shot forth through the air, flying directly toward Duan Renli.
Duan Renli gave a cold harrumph upon seeing this, and he quickly made a hand seal.
The sea of blood down below suddenly began to churn violently, and an enormous wave of blood abruptly raised to devour Duan Renli,
Han Li instantly stopped cold in his tracks upon seeing this, and he closed his eyes to release his immense spiritual sense, but his brows then immediately furrowed slightly.
This space seemed to be infinitely vast, and the sea of blood down below was also extremely strange. Even Han Li's spiritual sense was only able to reach a depth of less than 200 feet in the sea of blood, making it impossible for him to find out where Duan Renli was hiding.
After a moment of contemplation, blue light flashed through his eyes as he unleashed his Brightsight Spirit Eyes ability. [1]
Everything within several hundred feet beneath the surface of the sea of blood instantly became as clear as day, but beyond that was still just a vast expanse of murkiness that was impossible to see through.
Han Li flipped a hand over to produce Cloud Crane Herb that he quickly devoured, then injected most of his spiritual power into his eyes, yet right as he was about to activate his spirit eyes ability to its fullest extent, an unexpected turn of events abruptly unfolded.
The surface of the sea of blood several thousand feet ahead of Han Li suddenly began to churn violently, and the viscous blood surged toward a certain direction, forming an enormous vortex that was rumbling incessantly.
Han Li immediately flew up to an altitude of over 1,000 feet upon seeing this, and only then did he lower his head to inspect the scene that was unfolding down below.
The center of the vortex was splashing loudly, and waves were churning and rolling as an enormous skeleton rose up from the depths.
The skeleton was over 1,000 feet tall, and all of its bones were of a translucent red color, as if it were entirely constructed from blood jade. Every single bone was riddled with countless profound runes, and at the top of the skeleton's enormous head, nestled right between a pair of curved horns, sat Duan Renli's nascent soul with its eyes closed and its legs crossed.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.
All of a sudden, the nascent soul's eyes sprang open, and it opened its mouth to release seven balls of blood essence in rapid succession. At the same time, it was making a series of hand seals while chanting an incantation.
The balls of blood essence exploded into seven clouds of blood mist, which wrapped themselves around the nascent soul's body, neck, and limbs like a nest of spirit snakes. Immediately thereafter, the blood mist began to radiate crimson radiance, encompassing the nascent soul within a ball of crimson light.
All of a sudden, the crimson ball of light vanished into the skull of the skeleton.
Two balls of crimson light instantly appeared within the giant skeleton's empty eye sockets, and all of the runes all over its body also lit up in unison.
Enormous waves were churning within the blood vortex down below, releasing bursts of viscous crimson light that rose up while revolving and intertwining, forming a corkscrew-shaped pillar of blood that engulfed the entire skeleton.
Through the pillar of blood, Han Li could see that the giant skeleton was gradually expanding even further in stature.
Shortly thereafter, the pillar of blood receded like the tide, and the giant skeleton had completely vanished, replaced by a terrifying ghostly creature that was over 1,000 feet tall. The creature had a pair of eyes that were as red as blood, and a pair of curved horns on its head, as well as a pair of dark purple bat wings on its back. Its entire body was covered in crimson fur, and even compared with its enormous body, its limbs were disproportionately long.
As soon as it appeared, it immediately began to release an astonishing aura that was causing even the space around it to tremble and quiver violently.
"So this is the legendary Blood Heavenly Ghost that's rumored to be from the Nether Realm? Interesting..." Han Li murmured to himself as he looked directly at the giant ghostly creature before him.
Right at this moment, the Blood Heavenly Ghost raised one of its arms, and a vast expanse of crimson flames erupted on its palm as it grabbed at Han Li from afar.
The sky above Han Li instantly dimmed as an enormous crimson ghostly claw that was around an acre in size appeared overhead, then came swooping down with scorching crimson flames burning all over its surface.
Even before the giant claw reached Han Li, a gust of ferocious wind had already come sweeping down, causing the sea of blood down below to ripple and churn violently.
In response, Han Li threw a punch directly upward, releasing a burst of tremendous force.
A resounding boom rang out, and the crimson ghostly claw was instantly destroyed, exploding into specks of crimson light and scattered flames that scattered in all directions.
However, Han Li was also forced to stumble back a few steps before steadying himself, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
The power imbued within the giant crimson claw had exceeded his expectations.
The specks of crimson light that scattered through the air didn't fade away. Instead, after scattering in all directions for a short distance, they suddenly stopped cold in their tracks, then converged and intertwined to form a ring of blood with a radius of several dozen feet. The ring then abruptly contracted, constricting tightly around Han Li.
Before Han Li had a chance to do anything, the Blood Heavenly Ghost beckoned to him, and the crimson ring around Han Li instantly flew toward it at an incredible speed. As a result, he was quickly drawn into the Blood Heavenly Ghost's grasp, leaving only his head exposed.
"Let's see how you're going to get away now!" the Blood Heavenly Ghost cackled as it closed its other claw around the one that was gripping Han Li, then tightened its grip with both claws.
Han Li immediately felt tremendous force constricting around him from all directions, and his bones were creaking incessantly. Even with his incredibly resolute physical body, he was struggling to withstand the pressure.
1. Can't find where the Brightsight Spirit Eyes ability was first mentioned in RMJI, but essentially, it's an ocular ability that significantly enhances one's eyesight and allows the user to see hidden cultivators and restrictions. ☜
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