Just as an overwhelming sight bloomed in front of Han Li, the vajra barrier within his body suddenly began to pulse in size.

In his alarm, he hastily concentrated his magic power to the barrier and suppressed it. He then took a deep glance at the lotuses in the distance before beating his wings and disappearing from sight.

In the next moment, he reappeared at the edge of the Greatnorth Essence Light and flew in as an azure streak.

In his eyes, stealthily running away was the wiser action with the sudden appearance of this immensely powerful jade ruler, whose might was no lesser than the Triflame Fan, even if its abilities were inclined to illusions and restriction. It was most likely a Divine Spirit Treasure replica of some kind and since he already managed to acquire two treasures, why should he put himself at greater risk?

Although he felt vengeful towards the ruler’s master for her initial ambush, now was not the time to settle debts. After all, Old Devil Qian and the Nightfiend wouldn’t prove easy opponents. No matter his confidence in his powers, his life would be at risk if he were attacked by them all at once.

The beautiful woman stowed inside the huge gold-silver shuttle clasped her hands in an incantation gesture and controlled the white jade ruler with a strained expression. Although she saw that Han Li had withdrawn, she was too busy to pay him any heed. After all, he hadn’t taken away the vital Dragon Call Crest.

Lady Mu saw her junior martial sister trap Old Devil Qian and the others in the huge rainbow lotus. After hatefully glancing in the direction Han Li had escaped, she entered the illusion.

Due to her junior’s control, she was free from any influence of its power, and easily grabbed ahold of the Dragon Call Crest.

But when she reached out for the small purple sword next to it, the Buddhist light flashed and a portion of the lotus above her began to collapse. Old Devil Qian and the two demons were able to escape the restriction and reappeared to glare at Lady Mu with an ominous gaze.

The magic power of her junior martial sister had been exhausted and the Four Skies Ruler lost effect.

The woman paled.

...

Not long after Han Li charged back through the Greatnorth Essence Light, he ran into the horned woman - the human form of the Vast Cliff Tortoise.

She was clad in a strange green armor that seemed to completely repel the silver strings. But strangely enough, the horned woman walked slowly as if she were incapable of any movement techniques.

It was no wonder the other two had left her behind and arrived in the hall first.

When Han Li appeared before the demon, the horned woman glanced at him and paused in surprise. Then with a wary expression, she held a pitch-black rod in front of her and began to prudently observe him.

Maintaining a calm expression, Han Li promptly flew to the side and walked around her.

There was no grudge between them to the best of his knowledge. And while they were restricted in such a dangerous area, there was no reason for them to take action.

But he had been mistaken. As soon as he swept past her, her expression stirred and she rigidly turned to watch Han Li with terror.

This had greatly alarmed him and he unconsciously came to a stop, bafflingly staring back in turn.

“Hand over the items you took from the hall!” The woman shrieked. Then, she pointed the black rod at Han Li and had it extend ten meters long. It blurred, producing countless copies itself to form a small mountain above him.

The mountain’s sudden appearance caused Han Li’s heart to tremble, and the woman’s crazed expression and words had left him baffled, but he didn’t reveal any fear in the slightest. He simply raised his hand and released a black ring to the rods above him.

When the woman saw this, she rejoiced.

The rod in her hand was something she had refined from the materials around her while she was trapped. Along with continuous tempering for tens of thousands of years, she created a grand treasure. Although the mound of rods appeared unremarkable, each one weighed nearly a ton. She was completely confident this would be enough to crush Han Li.

With that thought, killing intent flashed through her mind and she roused all the might in her body to pour copious amounts of spiritual power into the rods, causing them to swell. 

It wasn’t difficult for him to immediately guessed what she was doing. Although he didn’t know why she was trying to kill him, this inspired him to do the same.

He then expressionlessly pointed to the black rods above him.

As soon as the ring touched the mass of rods, it released a hum, causing all the nearby silver strings to hum in chorus. They immediately trembled and densely weaved together around the rods with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, they had completely disappeared from sight.

“You can control the Greatnorth Essence Lights!” The horned woman shrieked with complete disbelief.

The Heaven-Earth rings were a set of two: one Yin to protect against the essence lights and one Yang to control them.

Han Li snorted in contempt. If they were outside the lights, he would be greatly fearful of a late-Nascent Soul stage demon as he would hardly be capable of killing her. Their current circumstances, however, was a different story.

Since she took the initiative to court death, he decided to spare no effort in fulfilling her wish. Although he couldn't make out what creature she was, her body and soul should prove to be incredibly rare top grade materials.

With that in mind, Han Li tossed aside any intentions of a peaceful resolution and struck the ring above him with a spell seal.

It circled in the air and lit up with a hum. It radiated a mysterious dark light and took control of the silver strings a hundred meter around it. Then with a mere mental command, they immediately lined up together to form a huge silver wave and rippled in the horned woman’s direction.

The woman screamed out in alarm and didn’t dare to further tangle with Han Li. She hastily spat out a ball of black-red blood essence and held her hands in an incantation gesture, commanding it to form a mist around her armor and turning to blood-red.

At that moment, the silver wave collapsed on top of her and completely engulfed her like driftwood before the tide.

Green and red light flared from her armor, followed by the deafening clangs of metal.

Although she had used a secret technique, the armor could barely resist the Greatnorth Essence Light to begin with. Now that there was a great quantity that attacked in full force, her armor was littered with holes in the blink of an eye.

The woman screamed with twisted pain on her face and she pressed her hands on the armor, producing multiple layers of grey light to condense into a stone-like material as an additional layer of defense, and slowing the erosion of her armor from the assault of silver strings.

The stone just as quickly turned to rubble underneath the assault, forcing the woman to use her true essence to continuously replenish it. At a glance, it was only a matter of time before it was completely destroyed.

However, Han Li was fully intent on killing the demon and promptly struck the Yang Ring in his hand with several spell seals. The ring revolved once in the air and pulled in the Greatnorth Essence Light from a distance to form another wave with overwhelming momentum.

Her face turned as pale as the grey light shining around her armor upon seeing the incoming attack; there was no time for her to react. It struck and her armor was completely shattered. It would only take a moment before it collapsed in its entirety.

With complete fright, her eyes frantically darted around her and she shouted, “Stop, Fellow Daoist! Please spare my life! I am willing to recognize you as my master and become your spirit beast!”

The light had penetrated a portion of her armor and mashed her arm to a pulp.

Given the many years she’s lived, how could she be willing to die in a place like this?

“Become my spirit beast?” Han Li’s expression stirred and he temporarily paused his attack. Staring at the woman trapped underneath the silver tide, he calmly said, “Do you believe me to be a child? Soul restraint techniques have no effect on demons of your caliber. How could you possibly become my spirit beast?”

If the woman didn’t quickly reply, he would immediately kill her without any hesitation. He wasn’t about to let her buy time for anything to save her.

Seeing that his killing intent had yet to fade away, she fearfully said, “There is no need for me to explain in detail. You acquired a wooden tile from Kunwu Hall: my Soul Binding Tile. Until I finish cultivating the Great Dao, I will be restricted by it.”