Chapter 734: Doomed?

"I suppose it can't hurt to tell you about Infernal Soul Bugs. It's a type of ability that's unique to the Infernal Tribe, allowing Infernal beings to suck out the power of other people's souls before using their abilities to convert such power into bugs," the elderly man explained.

"And those Infernal Soul Bugs are then planted into the body?" Han Li asked.

"That's right. These bugs can infiltrate one's soul and take over the host, controlling their actions and even thoughts. Puppets refined using Infernal Soul Bugs are ones of the highest caliber as these puppets retain their consciousness and all of their abilities, including even their law powers," the elderly man replied with a nod.

The expressions of Han Li and the others darkened significantly upon hearing this, and Shi Chuankong spat through gritted teeth, "If that's the case, then I'd rather detonate my own nascent soul and die than be reduced to a living puppet!"

"Detonate your own nascent soul? The situation still isn't completely hopeless yet, would you really be willing to put an end to your own life?" Mo Guang asked in a cold voice.

"I wouldn't do that unless there was absolutely no hope left," Fox 3 sighed with a wry smile.

Baili Yan also heaved a heavy sigh and remarked, "No wonder the Infernal Tribe was able to rule over this region for so many years. They do have some tricks up their sleeve."

Meanwhile, Han Li remained silent with a contemplative look in his eyes.

The elderly man seemed to have gleaned Han Li's thoughts, and he warned, "I can sense that your soul is extremely powerful, but even for you, it would be impossible to resist an Infernal Soul Bug."

"Have Infernal Soul Bugs been planted into all of your bodies?" Han Li asked.

"That's right. Everyone on this ninth level has already had Infernal Soul Bugs planted into their bodies with the exception of the five of you," the elderly man sighed as a resentful look flashed through his eyes.

"Does that mean we have no choice but to be reduced to puppets?" Han Li asked.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"There's no longer any hope for any of us, but if the five of you don't want to follow in our footsteps, then I advise you to put an end to your own lives now. Otherwise, once the Infernal Soul Bugs are planted, suicide won't even be an option anymore," the elderly man replied.

"Thank you for your words of advice," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute toward the elderly man, then fell silent again, as did Shi Chuankong and the others.

A short while later, Han Li shook his head to rid himself of his current train of thought, then sat down with his legs crossed, steeling himself against the pain of the baleful qi infiltrating his body while also inspecting his own internal condition.

He discovered that there were currently a series of black ripples in his mind, giving off immense restrictive force that sealed away both his soul and spiritual sense.

Furthermore, his dantian was completely filled by arcs of black lightning, with no space left unoccupied.

His nascent soul was trapped within the countless arcs of black lightning in a completely immobilized state, and its connection to Han Li had also been completely severed.

Not only had these arcs of black lightning sealed away his nascent soul, they were also constantly releasing wisps of black mist that slowly spread toward his nascent soul and his internal organs.

Thankfully, his internal organs had become extremely resilient due to the body refinement arts that he had cultivated, so they were able to ward off the black mist without too much trouble.

However, the situation was completely different for his nascent soul, which was already displaying signs of contamination, much to Han Li's dismay and agitation.

With his connection to his nascent soul severed, he couldn't examine how much damage this process was causing to it, but one could imagine that the damage would only become more and more untenable over time.

Han Li took a deep breath to suppress his agitation, then took a glance at his own fingers.

The only silver lining here was that You Luo had only taken his storage tools, but hadn't detected the existence of the Flower Branch domain.

At the moment, close to half of all of his wealth was in the Flower Branch domain, including the Heaven Controlling Vial, and if the vial were to be discovered, he didn't even dare to imagine what that would entail for him.

Unfortunately, the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber was also in his storage tools, so it was currently in You Luo's possession. Otherwise, with Shi Qinghou on his side, perhaps there could be a twist in the tale.

Han Li took a subtle glance at his surroundings, and after verifying that there were no surveillance restrictions nearby, he leaned back against the wall of his cell, then pressed a hand against his own forehead, seemingly struggling to withstand the pain of the baleful qi infiltrating his body.

At the same time, he was drawing upon all of the spiritual sense in his mind to attack the black ripples there.

The black ripples were only able to restrict his spiritual sense within his mind, but weren't able to completely seal away his spiritual sense.

At the moment, he was unable to advance any further beyond the pinnacle of the Golden Immortal Stage, so during his time in the Gray Realm, he had prioritized the cultivation of the Spirit Refinement Technique, thereby significantly enhancing his own spiritual sense.

Even though the black ripples were extremely formidable, they were still trembling slightly in the face of Han Li's immense spiritual sense.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately redoubled his efforts, sending one wave of spiritual sense after another surging against the black ripples.

Two hours flew by in a flash, and the black ripples were trembling more and more violently, but they still remained intact.

At this point, Han Li's complexion had grown a little pale. With his immortal spiritual power sealed away, channeling his spiritual sense for extended periods of time was extremely taxing on his body.

However, he couldn't afford to stop. He didn't know when Yin Gua would be returning, and once Infernal Soul Bugs were forcibly planted into their bodies, it would be impossible to escape.

Hence, he had to free himself from the restrictions in his body at all costs, then flee the infernal prison before Yin Gua's return.

With that in mind, Han Li took a deep breath and continued to toil away.

Another two hours passed by, and under his tireless efforts, the black ripples were finally beginning to loosen a little.

Han Li was very encouraged to see this, and he redoubled his efforts once again.

The black ripples were trembling violently, particularly at their center, and right at this moment, Han Li channeled his Sword Observation Arts, upon which a streak of translucent light shot out of his soul, then transformed into a blurry sword projection before striking the center of the black ripples.

Finally, a small gash was sliced into the black ripples, and the spiritual sense sword flew out from within before entering the Flower Branch domain.

Immediately thereafter, the black ripples mended themselves once again, but at thi point, Han Li had already completed his objective, and the spiritual sense sword flew deeper into the Flower Branch space at his behest.

At this moment, Daoist Xie was standing in his bamboo pavilion in the Flower Branch domain, looking up at the sky.

Right at this moment, a burst of translucent light descended into the pavilion before transforming into a blurry projection of Han Li.

"What happened, Fellow Daoist Han? Our spiritual connection was suddenly severed," Daoist Xie asked as it approached the projection of Han Li.

"It's a long story. Right now, I've been captured, and my immortal spiritual power has been sealed away..."

The projection of Han Li gave a brief recount of what had transpired up to this point, and Han Li was hoping that Daoist Xie would perhaps have a way to unravel the restriction in his body, given its proficiency in the laws of lightning.

"There is indeed some information in my memories pertaining to the laws of baleful lightning. Essentially, it comes from the same origins as my laws of lightning, so I should be able to help you break the restrictions in your dantian. Having said that, those restrictions were planted by a Great Encompassment Stage being, so I'm not fully confident," Daoist Xie said.

"That's fine. As long as you can break one of the seals in my dantian, I'll be able to channel my time law powers and take care of the rest of the restrictions on my own," the projection of Han Li said with an elated expression.

"In that case, I feel a bit more confident," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.

"Alright, I'll go make some preparations, and we can begin soon," the projection of Han Li said, then flew over to a corner of the spirit medicine garden, where the Myriad Soul Herb had been planted.

Han Li was concerned that storing the spirit plant in a jade box for an extended period of time would impact its medicinal properties, so he planted it in the Flower Branch space.

The projection of Han Li raised a hand to release a streak of light, which wrapped itself around the Myriad Soul Herb before uprooting it, and an elated look appeared on the projection's face.

This was exactly what he needed right now, so it was an immense stroke of fortune that he had decided to plant it in the Flower Branch space.

By his estimates, with the help of this Myriad Soul Herb, he had a roughly 50% chance of unraveling the black ripples in his mind.

If he could do that, then he would have much better chances of breaking the baleful lightning restrictions in his dantian with Daoist Xie's assistance.

With that in mind, the projection of Han Li began to fly out of the Flower Branch domain with the Myriad Soul Herb, only to abruptly stop in its tracks as a grim look appeared on its face.

Right at this moment, Yin Gua drifted onto the ninth floor of the infernal prison.

Han Li could only grit his teeth and lower his head in frustration.

In the next instant, Yin Gua appeared in front of the cell that Han Li was in, observing him with a fervent look in his eyes.

Han Li's heart completely sank upon seeing this, and he slowly rose to his feet.

Before he had a chance to think about anything else, Yin Gua made a hand seal, and the door of the cell sprang open at his behest.

Upon entering the cell, he swept a sleeve through the air, conjuring up two giant hands of black lightning that grabbed onto Han Li, locking him firmly into place.

Han Li felt the air constrict around him, and he was completely immobilized, while Shi Chuankong and the others could only look on in alarm.

Han Li made no effort to resist, merely looking directly at Yin Gua as he asked, "Are you planning to refine me into a puppet?"