Chapter 1132: Another Type of Compensation
Near the Eon Pagoda.
After taking a brief rest, Lekima and Qu Lin's complexions were looking much better than before.
"Fellow Daoist Han, I've followed through on my promise to you, so it's time for you to give me my bonded soul tablet, is it not?" Qu Lin asked as he rose to his feet.
"Of course," Han Li replied as he tossed over Qu Lin's bonded soul tablet.
A disgruntled look appeared on Lekima's face upon seeing this, and he protested, "Hey, don't forget about me! Isn't it about time that you returned my bonded soul tablet as well?"
"Have you forgotten that you promised me compensation in exchange for your bonded soul tablet, Fellow Daoist Lekima?" Han Li asked as he pulled out Lekima's bonded soul tablet, but didn't return it to him.
"I really did forget about that, but of course you didn't!" Lekima chuckled. "I suppose it's for the best. This way, I won't have to owe you any favors."
A streak of white light then came flying out of his mouth, containing a large, white flag that was riddled with designs of wind and clouds and giving off extremely formidable wind law power fluctuations.
Even without any injection of immortal spiritual power, the sheer presence of the flag alone was enough to stir up violent air currents within a radius of several hundred feet, forming an enormous, swirling vortex.
There was a reluctant look in Lekima's eyes as he gazed upon the flag, but he still offered it to Han Li as he said, "This Windbringer Flag is a prized fifth tier immortal treasure of mine that can be used to greatly enhance one's speed. I'm now gifting it to you as compensation for retrieving my bonded soul tablet."
"This is indeed a fine immortal treasure, but in order to fully tap into its power, one has to have mastery over the laws of wind, and that does not apply to me, so I'm afraid that I must refuse it. Instead, may I ask for something else as compensation?" Han Li asked as he swept a sleeve through the air, sending the flag drifting back to Lekima.
"What else would you like from me, Fellow Daoist Han?" Lekima asked with a surprised expression.
"I don't want any of your treasures. Instead, I want you to agree to a condition of mine," Han Li said with a faint smile.
"What is it?" Lekima asked.
"I can see that you are a true spirit, so I'm sure you've heard of the true spirits, the Baxia and the Zhuyan, right?" Han Li asked as he switched to voice transmission.
"I am indeed aware of them. They are extremely rare and powerful true spirits. What does that have to do with our discussion here?" Lekima asked with a perplexed expression.
"As compensation, I would like to secure you a batch of blood essence from each of those two true spirits," Han Li replied.
At the moment, he already possessed ten true spirit bloodlines, and he was only missing two bloodlines from his Twelve Awakening Transformation were those of the Baxia and the Zhuyan.
Given that the Heavenly Court was currently hot on his tail, he wasn't going to have much spare time to search for these two types of blood essence, so it was much better to assign the task to Lekima, who was a true spirit himself.
"You make it sound so simple, Fellow Daoist Han! How am I supposed to find these types of true spirits when they're virtually extinct in the True Immortal Realm? On top of that, both of these true spirits are extremely formidable, so even if I do manage to find them, extracting their blood essence is going to be an exceedingly difficult task," Lekima said in a solemn manner.
"I am aware that this is a very difficult task, so all that I ask is that you do your best. If you encounter any difficulties, you can contact me for help at any time," Han Li said as he flipped a hand over to produce a communication array plate, then handed it over to Lekima along with his bonded soul tablet.
Lekima accepted the two items from him, then raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You're giving me my bonded soul tablet just like that? Are you not worried that I'll take it without fulfilling my end of the agreement?"
"I think I'm a decent judge of character. I may not have known you for all that long, but I can tell that you're not one to go back on your promises," Han Li said with a faint smile.
Finding the last two types of true spirit bloodlines wasn't exactly a high-ranking priority anyway, so even if Lekima didn't follow through on his promise, it wouldn't have mattered much to Han Li. If worse came to worst, he would just have to offer a reward for the bloodlines in the Reincarnation Palace.
"I assure you that your trust in me is not misplaced, Fellow Daoist Han," Lekima promised with a serious expression, then stowed the communication array plate and his bonded soul tablet away, along with the Windbringer Flag.
Right at this moment, the nearby space tore open once again amid another resounding boom, and Liu Zizai and Fox 3 flew out from within.
The two of them were also carrying some injuries, but none of them were very severe, and they immediately flew over to Han Li's group upon catching sight of them.
Right at this moment, a burst of loud rumbling rang out from up ahead, and the sixth level of the Eon Pagoda collapsed violently, releasing a spatial storm that erupted in all directions to send Han Li and the others flying back through the air.
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On top of that, the spatial storm was interspersed with spatial rifts that were capable of slicing through everything in their path.
Everyone hurriedly took evasive measures, but there was a huge number of these spatial rifts, and Fox 3 was unable to evade them all as his right arm was severed by a spatial rift before exploding into a misty cloud of blood.
Everyone hurriedly retreated even faster upon seeing this, and Lan Yan was also awoken from her meditation by the commotion.
She hurriedly rose to her feet, then flew out of the canyon to join everyone as they fled into the distance.
No one displayed any surprise at the sudden emergence of Lan Yan, and thankfully, the spatial storm didn't spread very far, so no one sustained any injuries aside from Fox 3.
However, before they even had a chance to catch their breaths, another resounding boom rang out as the fifth level of the Eon Pagoda exploded violently as well.
This was followed by the fourth level, then the third level, then the second, and finally, the first level.
Before long, the entire Eon Pagoda had vanished, replaced by an explosive spatial storm that was tearing everything around it to shreds.
The spatial storm contained devastating bursts of spatial power that were far more formidable than the spatial turbulence that Han Li had to contend with earlier, and he had a feeling that even if his time law powers and immortal spiritual power were both in peak condition, he would still be doomed if he were to be swept up in the spatial storm.
The entire space was trembling and swaying violently in the face of the terrifying spatial storm, and there was a look of lingering fear in Qu Lin's eyes as he remarked, "Thank heavens we managed to make it out in time. Otherwise, we would've surely died in there."
Even with his incredibly formidable physical constitution, he was certain that power of the spatial storm would be too much for him to bear.
"Each of the Eon Pagoda's levels is an independent space, so it can be said that the entire pagoda is a spatial treasure of an extremely high caliber. Hence, its self-detonation is naturally sure to unleash unfathomable power," Liu Zizai said.
"Fellow Daoist Shi is still inside. He was forced to withstand the detonation of Tai Sui's Oneness Tier spirit domain, and now, he's been swept up in such a terrifying spatial storm. I'm afraid the chances of him surviving all of this are extremely slim," Lekima sighed.
"The detonation of a time-attribute Oneness Tier spirit domain is already powerful enough to threaten any Great Encompassment cultivator, and Fellow Daoist Shi has only recently been freed, so he most likely hasn't recovered all of his power. I'm afraid you may be right..." Liu Zizai sighed.
Wyrm 3's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and a hint of concern surfaced in her eyes.
"Good riddance, I say! I'm glad that old madman is dead!" Qu Lin harrumphed coldly.
Right at this moment, the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity's voice suddenly rang out nearby.
"Oh? Is that right?"
Qu Lin shuddered as he frantically looked around in a panicked manner, and his complexion instantly turned deathly pale.
Right at this moment, a burst of black light flew out of everyone's bodies before converging to a single spot.
Everyone hurriedly examined their own internal conditions upon seeing this, but didn't discover anything amiss.
The same bursts of black light had also emerged from the bodies of all of the distant bystanders, and they fused together to form none other than the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity.
Qu Lin's complexion paled even further upon seeing this, and he was rooted to the spot in fear.
"I've heard that when inner demon law powers are cultivated to a certain degree, one would be able to resurrect themselves in the inner demons of others at any time even if their physical body and soul were to both be slain. I always thought that was nothing more than hyperbole, but you've proven me wrong, Fellow Daoist Shi," Liu Zizai mused with an incredulous expression.
"I may have been sealed in this place by Tai Sui for all these years, but during this time, I was able to make some advancements in my inner demon law powers," the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity said in a smug manner.
"We cannot even begin to fathom your boundless powers, Senior Shi," Wyrm 3 said, and everyone else also quickly chimed in with words of praise.
The Dark Heavens Devilish Deity was extremely pleased by this, and he burst into hearty laughter.
However, as Han Li observed the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity, he suddenly noticed that even though the latter had managed to successfully resurrect himself, his aura was far inferior to before, indicating that a price had to be paid for this form of resurrection.
Qu Lin was very relieved to see that the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity's attention had been diverted away by everyone else, and he silently ducked behind everyone, hoping to stay out of the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity's line of sight.
All of a sudden, the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity turned a cold gaze toward Qu Lin as he harrumphed coldly, "Where do you think you're going?"
Immediately thereafter, he abruptly vanished from the spot, and Qu Lin's expression changed drastically upon seeing this as he instantly adopted his Gold Devouring Beetle form.
He had only just completed his transformation when the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity appeared right in front of him before sending him flying with an almighty punch, and that was only the beginning of a ferocious barrage that had Qu Lin howling for mercy.
However, the Dark Heavens Devilish Deity's powers had diminished significantly following his resurrection, so the beating wasn't anywhere near as difficult to endure as last time for Qu Lin.
On top of that, Qu Lin fully deserved what was coming to him for his big mouth, so no one stepped in to plead for mercy for him.