Chapter 712: Twin-headed Fox Saber

Half a year flew by in a flash.

One night, Han Li emerged from his Flower Branch domain in his room on the louchuan.

Daoist Xie was seated on the ground with its legs crossed, and it immediately rose to its feet at the sight of Han Li.

"Please continue to keep a lookout, Brother Xie, and inform me right away if someone comes to visit," Han Li said to Daoist Xie, then made a hand seal before flying out of his room as a blurry shadow.

The restrictions in the room opened up a sliver on their own to allow him to fly through them, and Han Li emerged into the darkness outside.

There were several fluorescent white stones embedded onto the body of the louchuan outside, but the white light that they were giving off was very faint, and it failed to illuminate the darkness.

There was not a single person on the deck of the louchuan with the exception of the gray-robed man, who was piloting the ship.

There was a black restriction around the louchuan that was flashing with misty black light, and Han Li took a glance at the gray-robed man, then cast his gaze toward the black restriction before flying toward it.

In the instant that he came into contact with the restriction, his body transformed into a cloud of faint mist that quickly passed through the black restriction without causing any disturbance.

The mist then converged to reform Han Li's body, and he descended rapidly, quickly reaching the ground below.

Down below was a vast grassland that was still part of the Six Moon Grassland, and the ground was undulating slightly in a wavy fashion.

Han Li flipped a hand over to summon his map of the Six Moon Grassland while releasing his spiritual sense throughout the surrounding area, and an elated look quickly appeared on his face as he flew away in a certain direction.

Close to an hour later, a swamp that was filled with bubbling black mud appeared up ahead, and gusts of freezing wind were occasionally rising up from the swamp's depths.

There was a cloud of gray mist hanging in the air, and it was giving off an acrid, sulfurous odor.

"This is the place," Han Li murmured to himself as he flew deeper into the swamp without any hesitation.

This was the boundless swamp in the Six Moon Grassland, the place where Bitter Ornament Herbs could be found.

The boundless swamp just so happened to be on the way from Serene Millet City to Black Teeth City, presenting Han Li with the opportunity to pick some Bitter Ornament Herbs.

Once he began refining Baleful Quelling Pills, it would take two to three years to complete the process, so he had held off this entire time.

After taking a deep breath, he sped up a little more, quickly flying deeper into the boundless swamp.

The glacial qi here was abnormally abundant, and the air temperature was plummeting rapidly.

Han Li slowly scoured the surrounding area with his spiritual sense, and his eyes soon lit up as he flew in a certain direction, then descended in front of a small mound of soil.

Next to the mound of soil were three Bitter Ornament Herbs, each of which was around a foot tall.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, yet right as the burst of azure light was about to uproot the three Bitter Ornament Herbs, a black shadow suddenly darted out from the side, pouncing at Han Li's left foot at an incredible speed.

A dull thump rang out as an azure light barrier emerged over Han Li's foot, keeping the black shadow at bay and sending it flying back.

At the same time, a streak of azure swordlight shot out of Han Li's sleeve to slice the black shadow into two.

As it turned out, the shadow was a small black snake with a triangular fleshy growth on its head. Its mouth was filled with hooked teeth, and even though it had been sliced into two, it continued to struggle and writhe on the ground instead of perishing right away.

Han Li paid no further heed to the snake as he uprooted the three Bitter Ornament Herbs before stowing them away, then continued onward.

A few minutes later, his eyes lit up as he flew over to a pond, within which were two more Bitter Ornament Herbs.

He stowed those two Bitter Ornament Herbs away as well, then continued his search.

Close to a day flew by in a flash, and the sky was beginning to brighten.

Han Li flew out of a giant crater that was several thousand feet in size deep within the swamp, and he was looking rather weary, but there was an excited look in his eyes.

His search had yielded close to a hundred Bitter Ornament Herbs, which was a massive haul.

With so many Bitter Ornament Herbs, he wouldn't have to worry about running out again, and once he returned to the True Immortal Realm, these Bitter Ornament Herbs would net him an enormous profit.

There were still many more Bitter Ornament Herbs in the swamp, but he had already spent an entire night here, so he couldn't keep searching.

Han Li took a deep breath, and the weariness on his face faded a little. He took a moment to ascertain the louchuan's location, then began to set off in that direction.

However, he wasn't able to get very far before a resounding boom suddenly rang out in his mind, and his entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

A sense of nausea began to rise up from all of his internal organs, and all of the blood in his body began to gush toward his heart.

He hurriedly channeled his cultivation arts to suppress the unrest in his body, and he was just about to examine his surroundings when all of the discomfort that he was experiencing suddenly disappeared, as if it had been nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

He was left feeling a little dazed as he stopped in his tracks, then began to examine his surroundings with his spiritual sense, but didn't discover anything amiss.

A contemplative look appeared on his face as he slowly flew back in the same direction that he had come from, and it didn't take long before the sense of nausea appeared again.

Han Li's brows were furrowed tightly as he suppressed the sense of discomfort and scoured the landscape down below with both his eyes and his spiritual sense, and his gaze quickly fell upon a pond.

That was the source of his discomfort.

Han Li flew through the area around the pond for a while, and he discovered that the sense of nausea only arose whenever he entered an area within a radius of around two hundred to three hundred feet of the pond.

The surface of the pond was very placid, and after some hesitation, Han Li was unable to suppress his curiosity as he dove into the pond.

The pond wasn't very deep, and he was quickly able to reach the bottom, which was quite flat, with a pile of loose rocks on the ground.

These rocks all differed in shape and size, but they were all black in color, and there were some strange patterns on their surfaces, indicating that they were no ordinary rocks.

At the bottom of the pond, the nausea that Han Li was experiencing had intensified even further, and that pile of black rocks was the root cause.

All of a sudden, he swept a leg through the water, releasing a crescent-shaped burst of azure light that struck the pile of black rocks, scattering them to reveal what was underneath.

As it turned out, there was a black saber plunged diagonally into the ground beneath the rocks.

The saber was entirely black in color and resembled a piece of charred wood. It was impossible to tell what type of material it had been forged from, and there was a fearsome-looking twin-headed fox engraved onto the saber's guard.

The blade of the saber was quite large and slightly curved, and there was a dark red line running all the way down the length of the saber from its hilt to its tip.

A tremendous, nauseating aura was emanating from the saber, and it was several times stronger than when the saber had been buried under the pile of rocks.

Han Li's complexion paled significantly as he took a step backward, and only after conjuring up a golden light barrier around himself did the sense of nausea abate somewhat.

His brows furrowed slightly at the sight of the black saber.

Ever since he had come to the Gray Realm, everything here had been either black, white, or gray, and the dark red line on the saber was the first time that he had seen any other color in this realm.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he released his spiritual sense toward the saber, and in the instant that the two came into contact with each other, his spiritual sense was instantly devoured by a burst of cold power.

Han Li's complexion paled even further as a burst of excruciating pain shot through his mind, and it felt as if a chunk of flesh had been torn off his body.

At the same time, a burst of black light emerged over the saber, and a series of twisted human faces appeared within the black light before letting loose deranged roars.

A burst of extremely evil power was surging out of the saber, running along that wisp of spiritual sense to directly infiltrate Han Li's mind.

His clear and pure consciousness instantly turned dark and gray, and threads of black light emerged before piercing directly toward his soul.

A sense of extreme nausea welled up in his body, making him feel as if all of his organs were revolting against him, and his senses also became very muddled.

Han Li dry wretched as his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly darted back in retreat while releasing his time law powers with all his might, allowing him to keep this burst of evil power at bay.

Before long, his spiritual sense had returned to normal, and he was panting heavily as he continued to dart back in retreat, only stopping once he was as far away from the saber as possible.

An indignant roar rang out from within the burst of evil power, and it slowly retreated back into the black saber.

What the hell is this thing? Not only is it able to devour spiritual sense, it can directly attack one's soul as well!

Even with Han Li's immense powers, he had almost fallen prey to that burst of evil power.

Right at this moment, a burst of white light emerged from the twin-headed fox on the saber's guard, and it instantly spread over the entire saber, following which an intrigued voice rang out.

"I didn't think that anyone in the Gray Realm would be able to master the laws of time!"

The black light emanating from the saber struggled briefly in an indignant fashion, but was ultimately suppressed by the white light and completely faded.

Immediately thereafter, an indistinct white humanoid figure emerged from the twin-headed fox. The humanoid figure resembled a middle-aged man, and he was observing Han Li with an intrigued expression.

The man was wearing a white robe, and he was looking a little disheveled, but he was clearly quite handsome.