The woman nodded in response before sweeping her sleeves through the air, releasing two bursts of white light that vanished into the bodies of the two giants.
A string of cracks and pops rang out from the giants' bodies, and they quickly shrank down to a pair of first-sized grey stone balls, both of which then instantly disappeared up the woman's sleeve.
After that, a black cloud emerged beneath the woman's feet, then encompassed her body as she flew away toward a certain direction.
…
Han Li's eyelids fluttered slightly as he sat beside the giant crater. He slowly opened his eyes, and a peculiar look appeared on his face. He had just withdrawn his spiritual sense clone from within the Devil Sealing Lock, and he murmured to himself, "From the looks of it, that Chaotic Yin Yang Qi must be extremely important to both of the devils. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten into such a heated altercation. Will the two of them be able to escape from the Devil Sealing Lock right away after obtaining the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi? No, surely not. The Devil Sealing Lock is an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure; no matter how incredible that Chaotic Yin Yang Qi is, there's no way it could have such a miraculous effect. Those two are most likely plotting something else."
After contemplating the issue for a while, Han Li seemed to have suddenly arrived at a decision. "Hehe, there's no need for me to overthink this. After I split the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi with those two devils, I'll find a way to toss the Devil Sealing Lock back into the Elder Devil Realm. I have to make a trip there anyway; I'll just drop off the Devil Sealing Lock then. Those two are nothing more than spiritual sense entities without physical bodies anyway; who cares what'll become of them once they escape from the Devil Sealing Lock in the Elder Devil Realm?"
With that in mind, Han Li pointed a finger toward the Devil Sealing Lock before him, and it shot forth directly toward the giant crater before hovering right over its center.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li took a deep breath before making a hand seal while chanting something, and a projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him.
The projection made hand seals with all six of its arms, and a vast expanse of golden light swept forth from its body before vanishing into the Devil Sealing Lock.
As a result, the surface of the white wooden box instantly took on a shimmering golden color, as if a coat of molten gold had been applied to it.
Right at this moment, a layer of azure light appeared on Han Li's face, and he let loose a low cry before pointing a finger at the wooden box again. A burst of silver flames emerged from his fingertip before enveloping the wooden box, and at the same time, the golden projection behind Han Li opened all six of its eyes in unison.
It then strode directly toward the burning wooden box, covering a distance of over 100 feet in just a few flashes before reaching out to grab onto the box.
After that, the projection carried the box and descended slowly toward the bottom of the giant crater.
Even though it wasn't descending very quickly, it still disappeared into the yellow mist down below after the span of just a few breaths.
Han Li continued to chant his incantation while making different hand seals, and a burst of indescribable glacial Qi soon began to emanate from his body.
A layer of faint yellow frost spread over the ground around him, and moments later, the azure light on Han Li's face faded while his entire body was enveloped by a layer of yellow light.
At the same time, a layer of yellow frost also began to appear over his body, and at this point, the yellow mist within the crater was already churning violently.
An occasional rumbling boom would ring out from underground, as if there were something constantly exploding within the depths of the crater.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he seemed to be paying no heed to the changes taking place on his body; he merely continued to do what he was doing without pause.
Time slowly passed by, and seven days and seven nights had flown past. Han Li was still seated beside the giant crater. If a normal cultivator with inferior magic power, spiritual sense, and physical constitution had been in his place, they would've most likely already collapsed. Even for Han Li, this was quite a taxing endeavor, and he was beginning to feel rather weary.
At this point, the rumbling booms echoing deep within the giant crater had already receded. The churning of the yellow mist had also become a lot less violent, and it was clear that the secret technique that he was unleashing was in its closing stages.
All of a sudden, a loud boom that was akin to a rumbling thunderclap erupted from the bottom of the crater, and countless rays of golden light erupted upward, piercing through the layers of mist and completely illuminating the entire giant crater.
"Success!" Han Li couldn't help but exclaim in an excited manner as his eyes lit up.
If he could obtain this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, then he would definitely be able to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage in a short time.
If he could reach that level, then both his magic power and abilities would be enhanced significantly, and he would be far better equipped to protect himself during the devilish tribulation, as well as the trip into the Elder Devil Realm.
With that in mind, he immediately sprang into action. A layer of five-colored flames appeared over his body, and all of the yellow frost was melted away.
He then raised a hand and made a grabbing motion toward the bottom of the crater, upon which the mist within surged violently, and the golden projection slowly re-emerged.
It was still holding the wooden box, but there was now an azure ball of light contained within its body. The ball of light was around the size of an egg and completely mundane in appearance, but it contained two pea-sized specks of light, one of which was black while the other was white.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but in the next instant, his smile abruptly stiffened, and he cast his gaze upward with an alarmed look in his eyes.
Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom erupted up above, following which a burst of devastating force struck the restrictions in the air.
In the face of this ferocious attack, the restriction was instantly shattered, and the mist enshrouding the mountain summit was completely swept away by a gust of fierce wind.
A slender female figure then appeared up above before casting her gaze toward Han Li in a cold manner. Her gaze was as frosty as ice, and Han Li's face was struck by a pang of sharp pain under her cold gaze.
"Looks like the information I obtained from searching that human cultivator's soul was accurate," the woman mused in a cold voice, and Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this.
He didn't know who this woman was, but judging from her aura, she was clearly a high-grade devilish being.
Han Li was naturally very perplexed and alarmed, but there was no time for him to ponder the situation. He abruptly reached out with one hand before making a grabbing motion, and the golden projection transformed into a ball of golden light that hurtled directly toward Han Li with the wooden box and that ball of azure light contained within it.
The woman faltered slightly upon seeing this, but after she caught sight of the wooden box and the ball of azure light, her expression instantly changed drastically.
"That's the Devil Sealing Lock and Chaotic Yin Yang Qi! I see, so you were extracting Chaotic Yin Yang Qi using the Earthly Hellish Flames here!"
The woman immediately swept a sleeve through the air as she spoke, and a white piece of fabric instantly shot forth. After just a single flash, it covered a distance of several thousand feet, appearing directly above the golden projection before descending like lightning.
This was a massive white silk handkerchief that was around 10 feet in size. Its surface was riddled with shimmering silver runes, and it was clearly a powerful treasure!
The woman was attempting to use this treasure to intercept the Devil Sealing Lock and Chaotic Yin Yang Qi.
Almost at the exact same moment, violent tremors ran through the ground on either side of the giant crater, and countless rocks and stones were sent flying in all directions as two massive grey stone hands erupted out of the ground. The two huge hands clamped viciously toward Han Li, and before they had even struck him, two bursts of immense invisible force had crashed down upon him.
Han Li was naturally quite alarmed and enraged by this, but he didn't panic in the slightest.
He harrumphed coldly while making a hand seal, then uttered the word "explode"!
The golden light that enveloped the wooden box and the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi flashed violently before exploding into a golden halo. The space in the wake of this golden halo warped and twisted, and the white silk handkerchief was forced to a momentary standstill.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, a huge green hand suddenly appeared out of thin air before instantly catching the wooden box and azure ball of light.
Immediately thereafter, the massive hand transformed into a green humanoid figure; it was none other than Han Li's spirit body.
As soon as the spirit body appeared, it made a hand seal and vanished on the spot as a ball of green light.
At the same time, golden light flashed from Han Li's body, and he began to swell drastically in size while sprouting thick golden fur. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 100 feet tall, and the tremendous force weighing down upon him was instantly completely nullified.
As soon as Han Li completed his transformation, he let loose a thunderous roar and launched his fists viciously toward the oncoming giant stone palms.
Two earth-shattering booms erupted, and Han Li gave a muffled groan as he was forced back several steps, while large sections of the two massive stone hands were reduced to rubble and shrapnel.
Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted behind Han Li, and the spirit body emerged while holding the wooden box and the ball of azure light before vanishing into Han Li's body.