Chapter 579: Succumbing to Depravity

A burst of fierce killing intent instantly flooded into Han Li's mind.

His eyes quickly turned bloodshot, while his vision blurred, and he was once again thrust into another illusion.

All around him was a sea of blood with countless demon beast skeletons and carcasses submerged within, and the entire surrounding area was filled with the nauseating stench of blood and gore.

Han Li immediately bit down onto the tip of his own tongue, using the pain to help him recover some of his lucidity. At the same time, he was channeling his Spirit Refinement Technique to protect his own mind as much as possible, but as he swept his gaze over his surroundings, his pupils instantly contracted slightly.

The previous illusions had been able to affect his mind, but they were still tolerable, and he was able to free himself from them by channeling the Spirit Refinement Technique.

However, this illusion was different. He seemed to have fallen completely into it, and it wasn't going to be so easy to break free.

Even though he was doing everything in his power to cling to his sanity, he could feel all of the blood in his entire body churning violently, and a wave of irrepressible fury rose up in his heart with such ferocity that it felt as if it were about to tear his chest apart.

He had experienced something like this before, back when he had been struck by that abrupt onset of Spirit Refinement Technique backlash in the Black Wind Sea. However, that problem should've already been ironed out through his cultivation of the fourth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique, at least on a temporary basis.

Could it be that this illusion was forcibly triggering premature backlash from his Spirit Refinement Technique?

With that in mind, Han Li hurriedly channeled the Spirit Refinement Technique with all his might, and a cool and refreshing sensation coursed through his mind to slowly snuff out the fury in his heart.

After that, he began to ponder how he could break free from this illusion.

Right at this moment, a burst of splashing rang out nearby, and Han Li turned to discover that a demonic wolf carcass that was over 100 feet in length had slowly stood up within the sea of blood not far away.

Two specks of eerie red light appeared in its eye sockets, and it let loose a ferocious roar before pouncing at Han Li, who flicked a finger through the air, releasing a streak of azure light to slice the demonic wolf carcass in half.

Immediately thereafter, two more demon beast carcasses rose to their haunches before launching themselves at Han Li, and they were also promptly slain.

However, before Han Li had a chance to do anything else, more and more carcasses came pouncing at him from all directions, and he was forced to retaliate, striking them down one after another.

Initially, these carcasses weren't all that powerful, but as more and more of them sprang to life, they also became progressively more formidable, and before long, there were even some True Immortal and Golden Immortal Stage demon beast carcasses among their ranks.

At this point, Han Li had already adopted his Giant Mountain Ape form, and he was swinging his enormous golden fists through the sea of blood around him, eradicating all of the surrounding carcasses.

However, there seemed to be no end to these carcasses, and it didn't take long before he was completely surrounded.

Right at this moment, a green tail that was over 1,000 feet in length abruptly emerged from the sea of blood down below, then swept toward him with tremendous force.

Han Li was busy warding off other attacks, so he could only launch a hurried punch at the sweeping tail to release a golden fist projection, and a resounding boom rang out as the fist projection clashed against the giant tail, upon which the former was instantly shattered like an egg.

As for the massive tail, it wasn't even slowed down in the slightest as it crashed straight into Han Li's side, sending him flying like a ragdoll into the throngs of demon beast carcasses in that direction.

The nearby carcasses immediately began roaring with excitement as they piled onto all at once, completely inundating him before tearing at his flesh in a frenzy.

The Giant Mountain Ape was normally renowned for its incredible physical constitution, yet in this moment, its defenses had become extremely frail, and almost in the blink of an eye, most of its flesh had been torn away, revealing the bone underneath.

Han Li was furious, and his arms glowed with radiant golden light as he lashed out in all directions.

A burst of tremendous power erupted out of the golden light, causing the surrounding space to warp and rumble violently.

All of the nearby carcasses were sent flying, while the giant golden ape sprang up to a higher elevation, allowing it temporarily free itself from the encirclement.

Han Li looked down at his own severely ravaged body, and the fury in his eyes gradually faded.

Even though half of his body had gone missing, he didn't feel as if he had suffered any severe injuries, and his body instantly reverted back to normal amid a flash of golden light.

He immediately realized that he had been swept up in the heat of the moment, and as a result, he had forgotten that he was in an illusion.

Of course, the main reason why he had almost fallen prey to the illusion was the mental disturbance that had been caused by the premature onset of Spirit Refinement Technique backlash.

If he were to allow himself to get lost in this illusion, then he would never be able to break free from it.

Before he had a chance to ponder the subject any further, all of the demon beast carcasses came springing up at him once again from down below.

Han Li exhaled as he closed his eyes while channeling his Spirit Refinement Technique with all his might, paying no heed to all of the converging carcasses.

A glimmer of translucent light emerged on his glabella, then quickly expanded and grew brighter until it was as radiant and blinding as the sun.

The group of demon beast carcasses that were charging at the forefront were only around 10 feet away from Han Li at this point, and as soon as the translucent light shone upon them, they immediately began screeching with agony before being reduced to dust in the blink of an eye.

The rest of the demon beast carcasses hurriedly shot back in retreat upon seeing this, flying deep into the sea of blood, not daring to show themselves again.

All of a sudden, not a single carcass could be seen, and all that remained was the sea of blood peacefully rippling around him.

Moments later, Han Li's eyes abruptly sprang open, and there was radiant golden light glowing within them. His gaze quickly roamed over the surrounding area, following which a thick beam of translucent light erupted out of his glabella, forming a giant translucent blade that was over 1,000 feet in length before striking the space directly up ahead.

The crimson space in the path of the translucent blade rippled momentarily, but then instantly returned to normal.

Even though Han Li was unable to tear the space open, he was very much encouraged to see this, and his glabella lit up once again, but right at this moment, the sea of blood down below suddenly began to churn and bubble violently.

Immediately thereafter, a mountainous green carcass slowly began to emerge from the depths.

The carcass belonged to an enormous green rat with an almost entirely decomposed body. There were two balls of green and red flames burning within its eye sockets, presenting a very peculiar sight to behold, and there was a massive green tail that was just as long as the rat itself trailing along behind it.

The giant green rat was giving off an enormous aura that caused the nearby space to tremble and groan incessantly, as if the very space itself were unable to bear the enormity of its aura.

The aura of the green rat was far more formidable than that of the High Zenith Stage Gold Devouring Immortal, and among all of the powerful beings that Han Li had seen, perhaps only Immortal Lord Miro could compare with it.

Despite his alarm, Han Li didn't panic.

Regardless of how formidable this giant green rat was, it was nothing but an illusion.

Upon spotting the tail trailing along behind the rat, he immediately realized that this was the very same tail that had sent him flying earlier.

Right at this moment, the giant rat's eyes lit up, and it pounced at Han Li as an enormous green shadow.

Han Li immediately made a hand seal, and a thick pillar of translucent light shot out of his glabella before striking the green rat directly on the head.

However, the giant rat merely opened its mouth to swallow the pillar of light, and it wasn't slowed down in the slightest as it crashed straight into Han Li like an enormous meteorite.

Han Li's glabella lit up once again, and a huge shield of translucent light was conjured up in front of him.

However, as soon as the translucent shield took shape, it was instantly shattered, following which a burst of tremendous force crashed into Han Li's body, sending him flying for close to 10 kilometers before he was finally able to steady himself.

Before he had a chance to retaliate, a long green shadow shot forth like lightning before piercing straight through his body. The green shadow had come out of the giant rat's mouth and, and it appeared to be the rat's tongue, but there was a layer of green flames burning over it.

Han Li instantly felt a burst of scorching pain flare up in his mind, as if his entire soul were being incinerated, and he couldn't help but give a muffled groan. However, he was able to suppress the pain as he reached out with both hands to grab onto the green tongue, but before he could rip the tongue into two, it wrapped itself around his hands like a spirit snake, then rapidly wrapped itself around the rest of his body as well.

Immediately thereafter, the green rat opened its mouth to produce a burst of immense suction force that acted upon Han Li, while its tongue was also rapidly retracted.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li was sucked into the giant rat's mouth.

His vision blurred momentarily, following which he found himself in a dark space, surrounded by decomposing chunks of dark purple flesh, which were constantly exuding putrid and nauseating pus.

Bursts of tremendous force were also compressing toward him from all directions, and he remained firmly tied up by the green tongue.

Han Li fought back his disgust as he struggled with all his might, but to no avail, and his heart immediately sank.

However, he then suddenly ceased all struggles and closed his eyes, seemingly resigning himself to his fate.

All of a sudden, bursts of green flames appeared all around him, and they landed upon his body, setting him alight.

The green flames were giving off incredible heat that directly scorched Han Li's soul, and the pain was so unbearable that he couldn't help but give a muffled groan.