Chapter 58: You Have My Thanks
A series of azure streaks appeared around the Blood Heavenly Ghost before rapidly forming an enormous azure cocoon that was slicing into its body from all directions, drawing blood with every single strike.
The Blood Heavenly Ghost was waving its arms frantically, but in complete futility. More and more chunks of flesh were torn out of its body, and whenever it tried to draw upon the sea of blood down below to recover from its injuries, it was always interrupted.
Only two or three seconds had passed since the emergence of the Azure Luan Bird, but the Blood Heavenly Ghost had already been reduced to nothing more than a giant crimson skeleton, just like when it had first appeared. Its entire body had been completely stripped of flesh with the exception of its head.
The ghostly creatures that were rushing in from the distance also disintegrated before they could reach the Azure Luan Bird due to insufficient magic power support.
The Blood Heavenly Ghost let loose a roar of fury and frustration as it began to spin around in mid-air, planning to find an opportunity to swoop down regardless of the consequences.
However, the Azure Luan Bird was only continuing to pick up in speed, and more and more azure streaks appeared in the air. Not only was the Blood Heavenly Ghost unable to descend toward the sea of blood, it was carried higher and higher up into the air by the gusts of fierce wind swept up by the countless azure streaks.
One azure streak after another struck the crimson skeleton in a relentless assault, and the crimson light radiating from the skeleton was slowly beginning to dim.
All of a sudden, yet another azure streak flashed past, and a faint crack rang out as a tiny crack finally appeared on the forearm of the giant skeleton.
The Blood Heavenly Ghost's pupils contracted drastically upon seeing this, and it hurriedly yelled, "Stop! I surrender!"
The azure shadow that was rapidly revolving around its body finally drew to a halt upon hearing this, reverting back into a giant azure bird over 100 feet away. It folded its wings against its sides, then stared intently at the Blood Heavenly Ghost with bright blue light flashing in its eyes.
The countless azure streaks in the air instantly faded, as did the ferocious storm of wind.
The Blood Heavenly Ghost heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this, then immediately flew toward the sea of blood before plunging into its depths.
Moments later, a black-robed figure emerged from the sea of blood, and it was none other than Duan Renli.
His face was looking rather pale and weary, and it was clear that he had expended a great deal of energy during the battle.
The Azure Luan Bird rapidly shrank down upon seeing this, quickly reverting back into Han Li's human form.
The two of them exchanged a glance, and Han Li wore a faint smile, while Duan Renli was looking less than thrilled.
……
Inside the Devilish Flame Valley.
The four Body Integration cultivators were gathered in one corner of the valley, while Liu Le'er was standing at the other end of the valley with the silver net of flames around her.
All of them were looking up at the sky, where an enormous crimson cloud was overlooking virtually the entire valley.
A giant crimson flag was just barely visible within the cloud, occasionally releasing bursts of harrowing crimson light.
Liu Le'er was looking on with an anxious expression, while the four Body Integration cultivators were quite relaxed, and they were occasionally casting sinister glances her way, further exacerbating her unease.
As high-grade cultivators of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, they were well aware of just how powerful this Blood Heavenly Ghost Flag was.
The flag had been inherited from one of the ascended patriarchs of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, Patriarch Bone Flame, and there was a heavenly ghost sealed within it. It was said that this heavenly ghost was a ghostly monarch formed by a deceased immortal, and that it had been captured from the Nether Realm.
The flag was passed down between generations of supreme elders, and it was nurtured by the blood essence of those supreme elders. Throughout its history, it had also been refined using special blood essence on countless occasions, thereby further elevating its powers.
Out of all of the Grand Ascension cultivators of the Spirit Domain Realm, Duan Renli could only be considered to be in the middle of the pack. However, everything was different in the space within the flag.
It was true that Han Li was incredibly powerful, particularly when it came to his physical body, but his fate was already sealed from the moment he was drawn into the space within the flag.
"It's already been close to an hour. I'm sure that Han Li must've already been reduced to food for the heavenly ghost at this point. That little demon fox is really annoying to look at, how about we kill her now?" the purple-bearded man suggested as he cast his gaze toward Liu Le'er.
Not only had Han Li taken one of his most powerful treasures, he had also embarrassed him in front of Duan Renli. He was unable to exact his revenge on Han Li, so he was naturally eager to take out his anger on Liu Le'er.
The woman in red hesitated momentarily, then said, "There's no hurry, Elder Lu. In my opinion, we should still wait for Martial Uncle Duan to come out before making a decision."
"I agree. The silver flame around that little demon fox is no ordinary flame. It's capable of even devouring the Ninth Heaven Devilish Flame, and it seems to be some type of mutated true flame. I also think we should wait, just to be safe," the hunch-backed elderly man said with a contemplative expression.
The one-eyed man was staring intently up at the giant crimson cloud in the sky with his arms crossed, seemingly unable to even hear the conversation taking place around him.
The purple-bearded man's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he still nodded reluctantly in agreement.
The four Body Integration cultivators made no effort to conceal their conversation, so Liu Le'er was naturally able to hear everything. She couldn't help but shudder in fear as she pressed her back tightly against the rock face behind her, and her face instantly became completely devoid of color.
All of a sudden, the one-eyed man broke his silence. "Looks like it's finally over."
Everyone immediately turned to look up at the sky in unison upon hearing this.
The massive crimson cloud churned violently before splitting apart down the center to completely reveal the huge crimson flag.
The four Body Integration cultivators were all a little perplexed by what they saw.
The giant crimson flag was still radiating dazzling crimson light, but the massive ghostly head on the surface of the flag seemed to have dimmed slightly compared with before.
Before they had a chance to ponder this any further, two streaks of light flew out of the flag before landing on the ground down below.
The streaks of light then faded to reveal Han Li and Duan Renli, who were standing across from one another.
Duan Renli stood with his hands clasped behind his back, watching Han Li with a cold gaze.
Han Li was looking right back at him with a calm smile on his face.
"Brother Rock!"
Tears instantly welled up in Liu Le'er's eyes as she rushed toward Han Li as quickly as she could.
However, she was already injured and suffering from magic power overexertion, so she was a little unsteady on her feet. Before she could reach Han Li, she tripped over her own feet and flew through the air.
Right at this moment, she felt herself being carried up by a burst of gentle, invisible force, following which her surroundings blurred, and before she knew it, she was already by Han Li's side.
With a sweep of his sleeve, the silver net of fire around Liu Le'er reverted back into a silver fire raven before vanishing into his body.
Liu Le'er opened her mouth to say something, but she suddenly sensed that the atmosphere was a little strange, so she immediately decided against saying anything as she stood off to the side in an obedient manner.
The four Body Integration cultivators had thought that there would be nothing left of Han Li at this point, yet not only was he alive and well, he appeared to be as calm and collected as ever, and all four of them were completely rooted to the spot, unsure of what to make of the situation.
Only after a long while did the four of them return to their senses, and they exchanged a few uncertain glances, wanting to ask about the outcome of the battle, but not daring to do so.
Right at this moment, Duan Renli suddenly broke the silence. "Fetch me 50 kilograms of Yin Dawn Stone."
His voice was quite calm, and it wasn't very loud, but it was no different from a rumbling thunderclap in the ears of the four Body Integration cultivators.
Even though they had already guessed the outcome, they were still left in complete disbelief.
It was clear from what Duan Renli was saying that he had lost.
He was one of the two supreme elders of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, a Grand Ascension cultivator who stood at the pinnacle of the Spirit Domain Realm, yet he had been defeated by this completely unremarkable-looking young man.
Furthermore, the defeat had been suffered in the space within the Blood Heavenly Ghost Flag.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Duan Renli, and his voice was still as calm as ever, but there was clearly something brewing beneath the calm facade.
The four Body Integration cultivators shuddered upon hearing this, and the purple-bearded man and the woman in red hurriedly turned before flying out of the valley.
"You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Duan," Han Li said with a faint smile.
Duan Renli took a cold glance at Han Li, then stowed the giant crimson flag away with a wave of his hand before flying away as a streak of black light, quickly vanishing out of sight.
……
A short while later, in the main hall on the Cloudrise Peak of the Cold Flame Sect.
"I had a feeling that he was no ordinary person, but never did I think that he would be so powerful that even Duan Renli of the Heavenly Ghost Sect is no match for him," Nangong Changshan said with a wry smile as he sat on the main seat in the hall.
"Thankfully, he's not an enemy of our Cold Flame Sect," Luo Jun sighed with a complex expression.
"Both the Heavenly Talisman Hall and scripture library incidents took place after Elder Han came to our Cloudrise Peak. If you ask me, he was most likely responsible for both, but there's no way we could've possibly suspected him before this," Nangong Changshan mused.
Luo Jun nodded in response. He had clearly already arrived at the same conclusion, but he didn't dwell on this matter any further. Instead, he quickly changed the subject.
"The Heavenly Ghost Sect has been extremely tight-lipped about what happened, but there's no way they could've kept it a secret given the magnitude of the incident. Apparently, many of the sects that were originally more inclined toward the Heavenly Ghost Sect and the Origin Realm Temple have displayed intentions of defecting to us."
"Indeed. Valley Master Yu of the Serene Prosperity Valley and Mountain Master Zhao of the Idle Mountain have both sent letters to our sect master requesting a private audience. In reality, these people just want to see Elder Han and verify his powers for themselves. Only then can they make a decision whether to join our Cold Flame Sect or not.
“Unfortunately for them, Elder Han went into seclusion not long after his return, and the supreme elder released an order, prohibiting anyone from disturbing Elder Han for any reason," Nangong Changshan said.
Luo Jun nodded in response with a contemplative expression and didn't say anything further.
The hall was silent for a moment before Nangong Changshan suddenly asked, "Elder Luo, what do you think of Elder Han?"
Luo Jun's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. In the past, he would've felt comfortable freely sharing his opinion, but now, he was rather hesitant.
Only after some extensive contemplation did he reply with a cautious expression, "I haven't had much interaction with Elder Han. Back when Martial Niece Gu first brought him into the sect, I didn't notice anything particularly remarkable about him aside from the fact that he's a powerful body cultivator. The more I think back now, the more I realize just how careful and calculated he is. Having said that, he doesn't seem to be a cold and uncaring person."
"Oh? What makes you think that?" Nangong Changshan asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"The sect master once asked Elder Han to move into the cave abode on the Holy Fire Peak neighboring the supreme elder's cave abode, but he refused, saying that he was satisfied with his current cave abode and didn't want to go through the hassle of moving.
“I feel like it goes deeper than that, almost as if he's trying to do our Cloudrise Peak a favor. After all, with someone so powerful staying at our Cloudrise Peak, the status of our peak will be greatly elevated in the sect," Luo Jun explained.
Nangong Changshan nodded in agreement upon hearing this. "That is indeed true. Come to think of it, Martial Niece Gu made a significant contribution in introducing Elder Han into our sect. From now on, double the amount of cultivation resources annually allocated to her."
"Yes, Peak Master," Luo Jun hurriedly replied.
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