Chapter 731: Dire Straits

"It looks like you recognize this puppet of mine," the Great Encompassment Stage Infernal being remarked as he observed the changes in Han Li's expression.

"What did you do to him?" Han Li asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"So you really do know him. He wasn't as fortunate as those two in the cage. By the time he got here, he had already been torn apart by spatial power, so I took the liberty of modifying his body a little. Right now, he's feeling quite lonely, and I just so happen to be looking for a buddy for him. There's no need to feel depressed, you'll become just like him soon! How about it? Isn't that an exciting thought?" the Infernal being chortled with glee.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

As soon as his voice trailed off, a resounding boom suddenly rang out from underground, and all of the black karmic fire in the crater down below began to churn violently before rising up as an enormous wave that swallowed up most of Han Li's body.

THe baleful qi around Han Li instantly became a hundred times more potent, and even though he was forcibly stabilizing his own consciousness with his Spirit Refinement Technique, he was struck by an irrepressible violent urge that instantly set his blood alight.

Even though he was able to just barely cling onto a shred of lucidity by desperately channeling his Spirit Refinement Technique, he was still stunned by this turn of events.

"How interesting! I've never seen a Golden Immortal with spiritual sense as powerful as yours. Let's see how long you can last," the Infernal being mused with an intrigued expression as he clasped his hands behind his back.

Han Li was frantically channeling his Spirit Refinement Technique while simultaneously resisting the giant black seal up above, and his face had turned deathly pale, while cracks nad pops were ringing out incessantly within his body.

Right at this moment, he spotted two more figures rushing at him from another direction in the fiery crater, and one of them was none other than Mo Guang.

However, he was also looking rather worse for wear, and there was a young woman that was less than half his height with a hand locked around his throat.

Despite this, there was a faint smile on his face, and it was unclear whether his calmness was genuine or just a facade.

The young woman was dressed in a bright red cloak that presented a stark contrast compared with the bleak and drab color tones adopted by most other beings of the Gray Realm.

Right at this moment, a burst of black light suddenly flashed over Mo Guang's body, and he began to transform into a cloud of black mist. However, at the same time, a burst of dark red light emerged over the palm of the hand of the young woman that was clasped around his throat, and it was releasing a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations that prevented his body from disintegrating.

After that, the young woman swiveled around in mid-air before flying toward the end of the bridge, still dragging Mo Guang by the throat.

Despite this, Mo Guang still wasn't displaying any fear, and the nonchalant smile on his face remained unchanged. The young woman seemed to be very displeased by this, and she gave him a vicious slap to the face, sending his head swinging to the side, and even his cheekbone seemed to have been broken.

The young woman then tossed him onto the ground before making a hand seal and pressing the palm of her hand against his forehead.

Immediately thereafter, a bright red rune instantly appeared on his glabella.

The bull horn puppets standing behind the Great Encompassment Stage Infernal being immediately stepped forward before releasing their chains, which bound Mo Guang in a flash.

"Thank you for your help, Ms. You Luo," the Infernal being said.

"Aren't you supposed to be overseeing the Rashom Area, Yin Gua? How did you only detect these people after they had gotten so far?" the young woman asked in a cold voice.

Yin Gua could only give a sheepish smile in response.

"Do I need to take care of the rest of them as well?" You Luo asked with a mocking sneer.

Her appearance was very similar to that of a human, with fair skin and beautiful features, but ther was a black scale that resembled a vertical eye on her glabella, as well as several bright red markings on her cheeks.

Han Li noticed that her pupils were black instead of gray, and he immediately began to wonder if perhaps she wasn't a Gray Realm being.

Upon catching sight of Han Li in his Giant Mountain Ape form, a hint of surprise appeared on You Luo's face as she asked, "Why is there a true spirit from the Immortal Realm here?"

"Don't be fooled, Ms. You Luo, he's just a human with a true spirit bloodline, and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of him on my own," Yin Gua replied.

You Luo fell silent upon hearing this, and Yin Gua turned back to Han Li with an eager expression as he said, "These humans are very interesting, I'll have a lot of fun playing with them."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the black seal above Han Li instantly came crashing down with even greater force.

Han Li gave a muffled groan as he withdrew his Mantra Treasured Axis, following which it began revolving in reverse, and he slipped out from under the black seal with great difficulty.

Instead of retreating toward the severed bridge, he rushed toward the karmic fire passageway with all his might.

"You're not getting away!" Yin Gua harrumphed coldly as he swept a sleeve through the air, and a series of black stone pillars erupted out of the karmic fire crater, forming a cage in front of Han Li.

A grim look appeared in his eyes upon seeing this, and he summoned nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords at once before combining them into one, then lashed out with the joint sword as he released the Divine Devilbane Lightning stored inside without any reservation.

Countless arcs of golden lightning came together to form a giant golden lightning net that tore through the karmic flames before striking the black stone pillars, shattering them in rapid succession.

Meanwhile, Han Li continued onward without pause, hurtling directly toward the karmic fire passageway, yet right as he was about to rush into it, Yin Gua appeared in his path in a flash.

He reached out with one hand to grab onto Han Li's shoulder, while his other hand grabbed onto the black seal from earlier before pressing it toward Han Li's forehead.

There was no time for Han Li to summon his Mantra Treasured Axis, and he had already severely overexerted himself up to this point, so he was powerless to resist as the seal was pressed firmly into his forehead.

He felt as if a jolt of electricity were running through his body, followed by a numb sensation, and all of his immortal spiritual power was sealed away, while all of the strength was also drained from his body, leaving him completely immobilized.

At this point, Shi Chuankong had also already been captured, leaving only Baili Yan, who was still battling against Su Liu.

You Luo chose an opportunity to enter the fray, and Baili Yan was quickly overwhelmed and also captured.

Han Li's heart instantly sank upon seeing this.

He was already mentally prepared for a worst case scenario, but the combination of Mo Guang, Fox 3, Baili Yan, Shi Chuankong, and he weren't even able to last fifteen minutes against Yin Gua.

At the same time, he was wondering how Yin Gua had managed to get here so quickly. Even if they had triggered the restriction in the fire crater, he shouldn't have been able to get here so fast, unless he had already detected the intrusion.

Could it be that their disguises had been seen through?

That was quite implausible as well. Setting aside the fact that they had genuine Heavenly Jade Fox Tails at their disposal, Mo Guang possessed a gray immortal body, and due to the ravages of his karmic fire, Baili Yan was essentially half a gray immortal as well, and just their auras alone would've been enough to fool anyone. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been assigned the task of posing as Infernal beings.

With his entire body numbed, Han Li's tongue wasn't working that well, so he could only ask in a slurred manner, "How did you... discover us?"

"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll tell you. One of the Infernal Servants on duty here is actually a puppet of mine," Yin Gua explained.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, Yin Gua raised his left hand before thrusting it toward Han Li's group, and a bolt of black lightning shot out of the palm of his hand, then exploded into countless black runes that instantly burrowed their way into the bodies of Han Li and the others.

Han Li felt a burst of sharp pain in his dantian, and he hurriedly inspected his own internal condition in an alarmed manner.

In doing so, he discovered that arcs of black lightning had appeared in his dantian, enveloping his nascent soul.

These arcs of black lightning were giving off a type of unknown law power fluctuations, after his nascent soul was ensnared within them, all of the immortal spiritual power in his body instantly became completely frozen and stagnant.

On top of that, these law powers were continuing to rapidly spread through the rest of his body, and he was completely powerless to resist.

Judging from the expressions on the faces of Mo Guang and the others, they were clearly experiencing the same thing.