Several hours later, Master Azure Dragon and his two disciples arrived at the teleportation hall of Deep Heaven City, and the guards immediately rushed out to greet him.
"We pay our respects to Elder Azure Dragon! May I ask why you've come here, Elder?" the Spatial Tempering Stage leader of the guards asked in a respectful manner.
He was clearly aware of the fact that Master Azure Dragon had already become an elder of Deep Heaven City.
"Activate the teleportation formation right away; I have to leave the city to do something," Master Azure Dragon instructed in an implacable voice.
"What? You're planning to use the teleportation formation? May I ask if you have a permit from the panel of elders?" the Spatial Tempering cultivator asked in a hesitant manner.
"Hmph, I'm an elder of the city, and I demand to use the teleportation formation!" Master Azure Dragon repeated in a cold voice.
"Forgive me, Elder Azure Dragon, but the panel of elders passed down a strict order two days ago, stating that all cultivators who wish to use the teleportation formations had to receive permission from the panel of elders first. If I were to go against this order, then all of us would be punished severely; please don't make our job more difficult than it has to be," the Spatial Tempering cultivator said with furrowed brows.
Master Azure Dragon's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "I see. In that case, I'll go and request a permit from the panel of elders."
"Thank you for your consideration, Elder Azure Dragon, we are truly grate… Ah, Senior Azure Dragon, what are you doing?!" The Spatial Tempering cultivator had just heaved a sigh of relief when the air suddenly tightened around him, and he was completely immobilized.
All of the other guards had also been bound by the same burst of invisible restrictive power, and expressions of shock and horror appeared on all of their faces.
"No need to be alarmed; I have something that I need to do, and I can't afford to be delayed here," Master Azure Dragon said with a cold expression.
He then raised a hand, and a white jade badge suddenly appeared in his grasp. He waved the badge toward the restrictions behind the gate of the hall, and a pillar of white light shot forth to nullify the restrictions.
A hint of elation appeared in Master Azure Dragon's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately led his disciples onto one of the smaller teleportation formations in the hall.
A buzzing sound rang out as the formation was activated, and Master Azure Dragon's trio vanished amid a flash of white light.
Only then did the guards regain their mobility, and the Spatial Tempering cultivator immediately yelled in a panicked manner, "Inform the panel of elders of what happened here and repair the restrictions right away!"
Some of the guards hurriedly pulled out communication formation plates, while the rest summoned a series of formation treasures to repair the damaged restrictions.
Thus, the entire teleportation hall was plunged into a state of complete chaos.
Right at this moment, a faint buzzing sound rang out from the teleportation formation that Master Azure Dragon had just used, and it was activated once again.
Immediately thereafter, an extremely diminutive figure was also teleported away amid a flash of white light, and none of the guards were able to identify what it was.
"Did someone else teleport away just now?" one of the guards asked in an uncertain manner, wondering if his eyes had played tricks on him.
Meanwhile, Master Azure Dragon and his two disciples were flying through a bluestone passageway erected in the belly of a mountain. After just a few flashes, they emerged out of a cave that had been concealed by a restriction, then flew toward a certain direction.
Not long after they had left, another streak of golden light flew out of the same cave and set off in hot pursuit.
Half a day later, Master Azure Dragon's trio was flying over a barren plain countless kilometers away from Deep Heaven City.
Among the trio, Master Azure Dragon was flying at the forefront, and his expression suggested that he was contemplating something important.
Up ahead in the distance, a boundless desert could be seen.
Right at this moment, two resounding booms rang out just over 100 feet behind Master Azure Dragon's trio, and two faint golden projections shot forth out of thin air.
Sharp claws projections swept through the air, hurtling directly toward Master Azure Dragon's trio.
The claw projections left golden cracks in the space in their wake, and they wove into a giant net that was impossible to evade.
Master Azure Dragon was greatly alarmed by this, and a horrified look appeared on his face.
"Han Li, you bastard!" He roared in an extremely resentful voice, then flipped his hands over to summon a pair of giant brushes, one golden and one silver. He swept the brushes through the air, and countless golden and silver runes surged forth in a frenzy, transforming into a light barrier that shielded him on all sides.
Immediately thereafter, azure scales appeared over his face and limbs, and he rushed directly toward the net of claw projections with devastating force.
In the instant before his body came into contact with the claw projections, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light, which crashed toward the net ahead of him.
The net of claw projections had seemed to be extremely formidable, but it was torn apart by the ball of azure light with ease.
Master Azure Dragon faltered slightly upon seeing this before rushing out of the net in an elated manner, then appeared over 1,000 away.
Just as he was heaving an internal sigh of relief, two howls of anguish suddenly rang out behind him.
"Crap!"
Master Azure Dragon hurriedly turned around to find that his two disciples had already been dismembered, and their bodies were plummeting down from above in bloody chunks.
Their protective treasures had been instantly destroyed by the claw projections, and even their Nascent Souls hadn't managed to escape.
Master Azure Dragon cast his gaze toward the two golden projections, and he immediately realized that something was amiss. "You're not Han Li! Who dares to attack me?"
"Hehe, there's no need for my master to dirty his hands with the likes of you." The voice of a little girl rang out, following which the two projections combined as one to form a ball of golden light.
Within the golden light was a horned leopard-like beast that was around 10 feet in size; it was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast.
Master Azure Dragon swept his spiritual sense toward the golden beast, and he immediately drew a sharp breath. "You're a Body Integration Stage spirit beast! Are you Han Li's spirit beast?"
"Seeing as you've already figured it out, you can pass on without any regrets now. I was sent by my master to erase you from the face of this realm," the Leopard Kirin Beast said as a vicious light flashed through its eyes.
"Hmph, he thinks a mere early-Body Integration Stage spirit beast can take my life? What a joke!" Master Azure Dragon roared with a furious expression.
"You've been wounded by my master and can't muster up anywhere near your full power, yet you still dare to act so cocky! Let me see if you keep this up when I tear your Nascent Soul out of your body!" the Leopard Kirin Beast snarled.
Immediately thereafter, its body blurred, and specks of golden light appeared all around it before manifesting over 100 identical golden beastly projections.
"Ha, I just so happen to be missing a fur coat; I guess you'll suffice!" Master Azure Dragon swept his sleeve through the air with an enraged look on his face, releasing four or five treasures that began to revolve around him.
At the same time, he thrust his twin brushes forward, and even more runes emerged before him.
The Leopard Kirin Beast let loose a low roar, and all of the beastly projections hurtled directly toward him as streaks of golden light.
Master Azure Dragon immediately sent his treasures flying toward these beastly projections, yet just as he began to draw upon the magic power within his own body, a layer of black Qi suddenly appeared over his face.
……
Five days later, Han Li was meditating in his secret chamber when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Moments later, spiritual light flashed from the door of the secret chamber, and a burst of golden light flew into the chamber through the door, then revealed itself to be a small golden beast that was only around a foot in size.
"You're finally back. You've been away for quite some time; did you encounter some difficulties?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.
"Master, what did you do to that Azure Dragon? Almost as soon as we started battling, he seemed to have fallen prey to some kind of extremely potent poison, and I was almost as if he were going to die even if I hadn't hunted him down," the Leopard Kirin Beast with its eyes wide in amazement.
"Hehe, I merely injected a wisp of the Revolving Evil Spirit Light within the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames into his body. He would've been fine had he not used too much magic power, but as soon as he tries to do so, the Revolving Evil Spirit Light would immediately take effect. With its vicious poison, even a Body Integration cultivator would have to meditate for a long time to refine it or temporarily repress its effects with their magic power. However, he clearly wouldn't have been able to do any of that while battling you, so his only possible fate was death," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.
"Your powers have become truly unfathomable, Master; it's incredible that you were able to tamper with another Body Integration cultivator like this without their detection," the Leopard Kirin Beast said in an amazed voice.
"Hehe, it's not all that remarkable. This is just a little trick that I recently developed, and it wouldn't have worked if Master Azure Dragon had spent some time to carefully examine his own body. I take it that he's no longer around, right?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.
