The large azure bird flew through the air as an astonishingly rapid streak of azure light, covering a distance of over 100 feet with each and every flap of its wings.
As Han Li hurtled through the air in his Tian Peng form, he activated the Great Development Technique with all his might, using his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly envelop the tracking marks planted in his body by the four demon monarchs.
However, those tracking marks were simply too powerful; even though he had unleashed several secret techniques from the Great Development Treasured Scriptures and also used the Tian Peng power he attained following his transformation, he was still only able to temporarily repress those marks. It would only take around a day and a night by his estimation before those marks would take effect again.
Han Li was naturally doing this to lure the demon monarchs into thinking that he was dead, thereby making it easier for him to do what he had to do next, and that was to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li, then take them to an area with immense Yin Qi so they could remove the tracking marks within his body.
Only then would be truly be freed from the demon monarchs.
Under normal circumstances, Han Li naturally wouldn't be able to achieve this, but with the Infernal Lightning Beast stirring up trouble for the demon monarchs, there was a chance for him.
He hadn't bought the demon monarchs a lot of time, so they had most likely only just entered the divine pond area not too long ago. Even if they knew that this beast was on its way back, there was no way that they'd be willing to let all their prior efforts go to waste and give up on the Divine Infernal River Elixir.
After the Infernal Lightning Beast escaped from the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, it would return to its lair, undoubtedly in a thunderous rage, just in time to encounter the demon monarchs, and all hell would break loose then.
As long as he didn't have to face any of the demon monarchs in direct battle, there was a very good chance that he'd be able to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li.
With those thoughts racing through his mind, Han Li flew rapidly through the air.
Just as he was about to re-enter the grey mountain ranges, a dull thump suddenly rang out from his Tian Peng body.
Azure light flashed, and he reverted back to his human form. He then rustled his sleeve to produce a white jade badge that landed in his palm.
There was an image of a massive nine-palace diagram carved onto the face of the jade badge, but the badge itself had already been shattered into countless pieces.
Han Li's expression changed slightly as he took a reflexive glance behind himself. He then stowed away the jade badge before sweeping a hand over his storage bracelet, and spiritual light flashed as a purple talisman with mysterious silver runes shimmering over its surface appeared in his hand.
It was none other than the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.
Han Li released the talisman without any hesitation, and it exploded in mid-air. Several shimmering silver runes then emerged before dancing in the air above Han Li.
The runes then transformed into clouds of silver mist that instantly enshrouded his entire body.
The silver mist dissipated moments later, and Han Li had completely disappeared.
Having attained an insubstantial body, Han Li slowly drifted downward before hiding at the foot f a massive tree, then looking up at the sky with rapt focus.
After a long while, a rumbling thunderclap finally erupted in the distant sky.
Moments later, lightning flashed overhead, and the Infernal Lightning Beast sped past with arcs of silver lightning revolving around its body, having completely failed to detect Han Li's presence down below.
Following a few flashes, the Infernal Lightning Beast disappeared into the distance.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he remained hidden beneath the tree. After about seven or eight more minutes, he felt that enough time had passed, and only then did he slowly re-emerge within a flash of silver light.
Several silver runes flew out of his body, then combined together to form a purple talisman again.
Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the talisman disappeared up his sleeve as a streak of purple light.
Immediately thereafter, he sped into the distance as a streak of azure light, traveling along the exact same route that the Infernal Lightning Beast had just taken.
Not long after that, Han Li arrived back at the black light barrier from which he'd originally set off.
The azure light around him faded, and he hovered in mid-air to survey the situation down below, upon which his expression changed slightly.
There was an acrid smoky scent in the air, and thousands of sets of ghostly remains littered the ground below, large patches of which had been charred black. It seemed that this place had been ravaged by lightning, and there were Yin winds surging through the air, as well as residual fluctuations from an extremely powerful restriction. It seemed that a restriction had been forcibly destroyed after it had only been set up halfway.
A hint of surprise and bewilderment flashed through his eyes upon seeing this.
He was naturally unaware of the fact that the crimson-armored puppet and its subordinates had arrived at this place following his departure. After the Weeping Soul Beast had devoured the white-robed ghostly woman, these ghostly beings were completely unaware that the Infernal Lightning Beast was already on its way back. As such, they had no time to take evasive measures and were naturally destroyed by the infuriated beast.
If the crimson-armored puppet were to learn of the fact that all of its subordinates outside had been killed, it would definitely fly into a thunderous rage. If the white-robed ghostly woman had used the Myriad Distance Talisman to inform everyone of the Infernal Lightning Beast's return, then all of the ghostly beings could hide until the beast had passed through before continuing to set up their formation. That was why the puppet had asked its subordinates to deploy a high-grade ghostly being to track Han Li and the Infernal Lightning Beast, but never would it have thought that Han Li would completely ruin its plans.
Han Li circled around in the air at low altitudes, and didn't discover any living ghostly beings in the nearby area. He didn't know whether they'd all been destroyed by the Infernal Lightning Beast or if the survivors had all fled the scene. However, he didn't delve any further into this issue before turning his gaze toward the shimmering blue passageway, and he began to stroke his chin with a contemplative look on his face.
All of a sudden, he rustled a sleeve to hurl forth a stack of silver talismans, and it was another set of Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans.
Due to how difficult these talismans were to refine, Han Li only had two sets in total. He had already used one set, so this was naturally his final set.
Han Li made a hand seal and cast a series of incantation seals onto the stack of talismans.
An incredible scene ensued.
The silver talismans rushed into the passageway at Han Li's behest, then disappeared into thin air.
It seemed that Han Li had unleashed some kind of secret technique to conceal these talismans.
Han Li withdrew his hand seal before blue light flashed through his eyes as he assessed the locations where these talismans had been concealed, and he nodded with a pleased expression in response to what he saw.
A thought then occurred to him, and he flipped a palm over to produce two more silver talismans.
However, these talismans were much different compared to the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans. There weren't any runes flashing on those talismans, but there was a faint humanoid figure inscribed onto each talisman. The facial features of both humanoid figures were quite indistinct, but the suits of golden armor they were wearing were quite clearly depicted.
One of the humanoid figures was wielding a golden spear while the one on the other talisman held twin sabers in its hands.
What was strange was that these two humanoid figures were moving around on the talismans and brandishing their weapons from time to time, as if they were alive.
As soon as Han Li summoned these two talismans, he rubbed his hands together, the talismans exploded amid two dull thumps and a flash of silver light. Two golden projections emerged within the silver light, then hurtled downward and disappeared into the ground, merging with Han Li's shadow.
Han Li wasn't hovering very high up in the sky, but his shadow on the ground was still extremely faint. Even so, the two golden projections were still able to conceal themselves into his shadow without a trace.
These were none other than the Armor Origin Talismans that Han Li had refined according to the method recorded on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome. He had only refined three of these talismans in total, yet he was using up two of them here, thereby providing a sufficient indication of how seriously he was taking this operation.
It was no wonder that this was the case. After all, all of the beings within the black light barrier were fearsome beings at or above the Body Integration Stage. He wouldn't even be able to take on any single one of them, so he had to prepare as thoroughly as he could.
After using up two of his Armor Origin Talismans, Han Li still wasn't satisfied. He opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which then transformed into the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven.
He then raised a hand to produce a dozen or so azure lightning beads, all of which were swallowed by the bird.
Immediately thereafter, the Fire Raven flew up onto a massive tree nearby before concealing itself from view.
After doing all that, Han Li exhaled to compose himself before he raised his hand to summon the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman again. The talisman exploded, and his body took on an insubstantial form as he hovered soundlessly into the blue passageway.
After passing through the black light barrier, Han Li surveyed his surroundings, and he immediately furrowed his brows.
The area around him was extremely dark, and there were only a few azure rocks situated an indeterminate distance away that were glowing with a faint light, making Han Li feel as if he'd returned to the Umbra Realm again.
However, with his spirit eyes, the darkness naturally didn't faze him.
Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, and everything around him became clear as day.
The surrounding area seemed to be extremely bleak and desolate with nothing on the ground aside from a few rocks of different sizes.
There weren't even any tall trees around, and the occasional patches of plant life he could see were all shot bushes and scrubs.
Han Li inhaled a few times to find that the spiritual Qi in the surrounding area was quite abundant and rich, which made the scenes around him rather perplexing.
However, he didn't remain in this place to ponder the situation for too long. Instead, he continued onward, venturing deeper into this unknown land.
Even though he didn't know where this so-called divine pond was, it certainly couldn’t be wrong for him to head toward the center of the restriction.
Even after adopting an insubstantial body, Han Li was still traveling quite quickly, covering a distance of close to 10 kilometers in the blink of an eye.
Han Li's eyes then immediately lit up as he discovered a palace-like building in the distance.
The building was only several hundred feet tall and appeared to have been constructed using ordinary rugged stone blocks, it was the first noteworthy landmark he'd come across, and it indicated that he was heading in the right direction.
Thus, Han Li immediately flew toward the palace.
The entrance of the palace was a tall and rectangular one that was over 100 feet tall, and a black stone gate had been completely opened outward.
Han Li reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward the gate, upon which a peculiar look appeared in his eyes, and he paused on the spot.
There were a couple of bursts of powerful Yin Qi situated on either side of the gate, indicating that there seemed to be a high-grade ghostly being concealed on each side of the entrance.
Han Li was slightly surprised to make this discovery, but he was quickly enlightened as he thought of the thousands of ghostly beings that had been destroyed back at the entrance of the blue passageway.
