Chapter 658: A Band of Four

The giant ape creature let loose a low roar, and the black flag above its head swooped down while giving off radiant black light, catching the oncoming azure flying sword like a giant black hand.

A cold sneer appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the azure flying sword shuddered violently while releasing incredibly bright azure light alongside thick arcs of golden lightning.

The black flag was instantly torn to shreds, while the azure flying sword continued onward without pause.

A stunned and fearful look appeared on the giant ape creature's face, and all of the crimson patterns on its body lit up.

Immediately thereafter, a pair of crimson wings of light appeared on its back, and it flapped those wings vigorously, darting to the side while leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

A dull tearing sound rang out, and the giant ape creature reappeared several hundred feet away with a long and deep sword gash on its left shoulder. Its entire left arm had almost been severed, but no blood was flowing out of the wound, and the creature didn't seem to possess a body of flesh and blood.

Han Li wasn't surprised to see this, and he casually raised a hand, upon which the azure flying sword instantly flew back to him, then split up into three smaller azure swords before flying back up his sleeve.

At this moment, there was a furious look on the giant ape creature's face, but instead of pouncing at Han Li again, it opened its mouth up wide to release a relentless torrent of black flames toward him.

The black flames encompassed an enormous area, making them seem impossible to evade.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and countless arcs of golden lightning erupted out of his body, then surged forth to form a wave of golden lightning that clashed against the wave of black fire.

A string of earth-shattering booms rang out, and an impasse ensued, with neither side able to get the better of the other.

The nearby stone pillars immediately began to shatter, sending loose rocks flying in all directions, while the entire palace trembled violently.

However, the palace didn't collapse, perhaps because it possessed the innate structural integrity required to hold itself intact, or perhaps because there were fortifying restrictions set up within it.

Right at this moment, Han Li made a hand seal, and he abruptly vanished from the spot amid a flash of golden lightning.

The giant ape creature was quite alert, and it immediately spread its crimson wings to flee the scene upon seeing this.

However, a cold harrumph suddenly rang out in its mind, and a burst of extremely sharp spiritual sense speared into its consciousness, causing it to let loose an agonized roar while also rendering it temporarily immobile.

Almost at the exact same moment, a large golden lock appeared beside it out of thin air, then locked onto its right arm.

Boundless golden radiance erupted out of the golden lock, forming a giant golden rune that imprinted itself onto the ape creature's body, instantly rooting it to the spot.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared behind the ape creature amid a flash of golden lightning, then reached out and gently tapped two of his fingers against the back of the creature's head.

A burst of piercing light that contained a silver flower design instantly vanished into the creature's head, splitting it into several pieces, but instead of falling apart, the pieces remained completely still.

Han Li withdrew his fingers, then made a hand seal, and the giant golden rune on the ape creature's body instantly faded, while the golden lock also reverted back to roughly the size of the palm of his hand before falling into his grasp.

Over the past years, he had already completely refined the lock, and it was just as powerful as he had hoped.

As soon as the golden lock was removed, the ape creature's head instantly exploded into a vast expanse of baleful qi, and its headless body shuddered momentarily before also disintegrating into baleful qi, following which a black crystal came falling out.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that swept the black crystal into his grasp, upon which he discovered that it seemed to be the ape creature's core, and it was giving off incredibly formidable baleful qi.

So that thing was an earth soul demon...

Despite the "demon" in its name, earth soul demons were actually a type of ghostly creature that only had a chance of emerging in places with a high abundance of corpse-derived baleful qi. They were very adept at concealing themselves and were also quite intelligent, making them very dangerous to unsuspecting targets.

Right at this moment, Mo Guang's voice rang out in Han Li's mind.

"Give that crystal to me, Fellow Daoist Han. It'll be very useful for my cultivation."

Han Li took a glance at the black crystal, then flipped a hand over to stow it away into the Flower Branch domain.

The other black ape creatures screeched in horror at the sight of their leader's demise, and they immediately turned and fled into the distance, quickly vanishing out of sight, while Feng Qingyuan's trio made no effort to stop them.

The three of them stowed their immortal treasures away, then turned collectively to Han Li.

"Thank you for slaying that Earth Soul Ghost Monarch and scaring away its minions, Fellow Daoist. Otherwise, I don't know how much longer we would've been trapped here for," the brawny man said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li, and his two companions also expressed their gratitude.

"You're far too kind, fellow daoists. Given your powers, you could've easily defeated those ghostly creatures even without my help," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Even though all three of them had used secret techniques to conceal their cultivation bases, Han Li was able to tell that they were all at least at the late-Golden Immortal Stage.

None of them had displayed their full power when dealing with those earth soul demons, and it seemed that they were more wary of each other than they had been of those creatures.

"In any case, I should still thank you for your help," the brawny man said with a smile.

Han Li gave a slight nod in response, and he appeared calm and collected on the surface, but internally, his mind was racing.

He couldn't tell what the brawny man's affiliations were, but he knew that Feng Qingyuan most likely had ties to the Heavenly Court, while the purple-robed woman was clearly a devilish being, so why were the three of them seemingly traveling together in the True Mantra Sect ruins?

"Now that we've all run into each other, why don't we get to know one another and explore these ruins together? After all, no one knows what could be waiting for us up ahead, so it would surely be a good idea to band together and combine our powers," the brawny man proposed.

"That's true. This is a very mysterious place, so it would indeed be a good idea for all of us to travel together," Han Li replied.

The presence of these people in the True Mantra Sect ruins made Han Li feel as if there were some mysterious circumstances at play here.

Even though the three of them were all quite formidable, Han Li was confident in his ability to handle them, and perhaps he could uncover some secrets by traveling with them.

Feng Qingyuan and the purple-robed woman considered this offer briefly before also nodding in agreement.

"Great! Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Ren Hao," the brawny man said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li's trio.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"My name is Feng Jiangliu," Han Li declared, providing the name on the Heavenly Sand Sect token that Fox 3 had arranged for him.

"I'm Yuan Feng," Feng Qingyuan said.

"My name is Feng Lin," the purple-robed woman said with a smile.

None of them knew if the names provided by the others were real or not, but with the self-introductions out of the way, the atmosphere had warmed up a little.

Despite Ren Hao's imposing stature, he was surprisingly sociable and outgoing, and with him initiating some lighthearted conversation, the atmosphere lightened up even further.

"How long have the three of you been in here? I only just got here, and it's been a real pain trying to navigate this place as my spiritual sense is severely restricted," Ren Hao said with a wry smile.

"I only just got here as well, probably even later than the three of you, so I'm also still just trying to get my bearings," Han Li said.

Feng Qingyuan and Feng Lin also offered similar responses, and it seemed none of them had any more information than the others.

"In that case, let's keep going. This place is still relatively intact, so perhaps there are some treasures in here. Just make sure to be careful and not trigger any restrictions," Ren Hao cautioned, and Han Li's trio raised no objections.

With that, the four of them continued onward, occasionally chatting with each other as they walked along, but still made sure to keep some distance between one another.

Han Li was walking at the very rear of the group, inspecting his surroundings with a contemplative look on his face.

He didn't know if Fox 3 and the others were aware of the Devil Race and Heavenly Court presence in these ruins.

If they didn't, then that would be fine, but if they already knew but were intentionally keeping him in the dark, then he would have to tread with caution.

With that in mind, Han Li was beginning to regret taking on this mission, but at this point, he could only forge ahead.

After passing through a few more palaces, the group finally emerged from the cluster of palaces, upon which they arrived in an open area at the foot of a hill.

There was a wide and straight white jade path that led all the way up the hill, and at this point, Han Li could sense that the burst of time law power fluctuations had become quite potent, and that it was coming straight from ahead of the jade path.

Given how pronounced the time law power fluctuations were, Ren Hao's trio had to have already sensed it as well, so he would have to think about how he was going to claim whatever it aws that was at the end of the path.

With that in mind, he took a subtle glance at the trio, and he was surprised to discover all three of them looking onward with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension in their eyes, but no sense of elation, whatsoever.