Chapter 742: Uniting Against the Enemy |
"Gui Mu already knows that we've escaped, and now that I've lost contact with Fellow Daoist Mo Guang, I'm sure Gui Mu will catch up to us soon. We have to get to the Baleful Cleansing Pond as soon as possible," Han Li said.
"In that case, we don't have to worry about being exposed, so the best way to proceed would be to search the souls of those two Infernal children. I'll go right now," Shi Chuankong said, then abruptly vanished from the spot.
Han Li and the others hurriedly made their way to the entrance of the cave before turning their attention to the bank of the karmic fire lake.
The two children were still cultivating with their eyes closed, completely oblivious to the looming threat behind them.
In the next instant, Shi Chuankong appeared behind them without any warning, then reached out for the backs of their necks.
Han Li was looking on from afar when Weeping Soul suddenly sprang out of the cave, instantly arriving behind Shi Chuankong before raising a hand, and a burst of bright red light emerged over the palm of her hand as she chopped down toward the back of his neck.
Everyone was very alarmed to see this, but before they had a chance to do anything, Shi Chuankong was sent flying forward before tumbling heavily onto the ground, then crashed into a mountain face in the distance.
Only then did Han LI and the others notice that there was a gray shadow clinging to his back, and that had been the target of Weeping Soul's attack.
Shi Chuankong reacted very quickly, and a burst of tremendous spatial force surged out of his body before erupting in all directions, and the gray shadow that was clinging to his back was sent flying like a kite, but quickly drifted back down onto his back to cling to him again.
The gray shadow seemed to be quite wary of the red chain, and it voluntarily detached itself from Shi Chuankong before drifting away to the side.
The two Infernal children were rather taken aback by this turn of events, but they remained calm and collected as they rushed to hide behind the gray shadow.
The gray shadow gradually transformed into an Infernal being with a hook nose and a deathly pale complexion, and he screeched in a high-pitched voice, "You Luo! What is the meaning of this?"
"I owe no explanation to you, Yin Xiao," Weeping Soul replied in a cold voice.
At the same time, she was also communicating to Han Li and the others through voice transmission.
"This man has mastered the laws of shadow illusion, and he's at the pinnacle of the High Zenith Stage. His law powers grant him exceptional concealment abilities, so make sure to be on your guard."
"We can't afford to be delayed here. Everyone, attack at once and aim to end this battle as quickly as possible," Han Li said with slightly furrowed brows.
A cold look appeared on Weeping Soul's face as she released around dozen bright red chains out of her sleeves, all of which intertwined in mid-air as they converged toward Yin Xiao.
A cold sneer appeared on Yin Xiao's face, and instead of retreating, he advanced directly toward the chains.
In the instant that all of the chains pierced into his body, he began to ripple like the surface of a disturbed lake, and the chains passed through him without any impediment before piercing into the ground amid a chorus of loud clangs.
After passing through the chains, Yin Xiao sped forward at an astonishing speed while slamming a hand down toward Weeping Soul's head, and a tiny vortex of gray light that was giving off tremendous suction force emerged on the palm of his hand.
A hint of panic flashed through Weeping Soul's eyes upon seeing this, and she attempted to withdraw her chains, only to discover that they refused to budge, as if they had been nailed firmly to the ground.
Right as the gray palm was about to smash her head open, a sly grin suddenly flashed across her face, and she slid a finger over her own glabella, upon which a dark red gash emerged.
The skin and flesh of the gash then parted down either side to reveal a dark red demonic eye.
Yin Xiao's expression changed drastically at the sight of this demonic eye, and he immediately began to spring back in retreat, only for a burst of dark red light to surge out of Weeping Soul's demonic eye before shining down upon his face.
In that instant, it was as if his soul had been struck by a bolt of lightning, and he began to sway unsteadily from side to side, seemingly unable to maintain his balance.
At the same time, Han Li abruptly appeared behind him, and arcs of golden lightning flashed violently over his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword as it was pierced directly at the back of Yin Xiao's head.
However, right at this moment, Yin Xiao suddenly seemed to have regained control over his own body, and he ducked to the side, just barely evading the blade of Han Li's sword, following which a second identical face appeared on the back of his head.
"I knew there were more than two of you," he chuckled, and his body abruptly split up into two, with one half darting directly at Han Li, holding a black dagger that was aimed straight at Han Li's throat.
Han Li seemed to have already anticipated this, and his Mantra Treasured Axis flew out of his body amid a flash of golden light, then began to revolve rapidly while releasing a series of golden ripples.
As soon as Yin Xiao's arm reached into the golden ripples, it was instantly slowed down significantly, and Han Li didn't even need to take evasive measures as he grabbed onto Yin Xiao's throat with one hand, then drove his sword straight into Yin Xiao's head with the other.
However, in the instant that the tip of his sword pierced into Yin Xiao's head, Han Li was struck by the sense that something was amiss, and he hurriedly retracted his hand while simultaneously ducking down.
However, immediately thereafter, he felt a sharp pain spear through his lower abdomen, and he discovered that another Yin Xiao had emerged from this Yin Xiao's lower abdomen, and it was holding a black dagger that had pierced into Han Li's body just above his dantian.
A sinister grin appeared on Yin Xiao's face as he abruptly dragged his dagger upward, and a blade formed by a burst of powerful baleful qi erupted forth to slice Han Li into two, sending his internal organs and blood gushing down onto the ground.
Yin Xiao withdrew his dagger before running his tongue over its blade with a gleeful look on his face, but in the next instant, Han Li's voice suddenly rang out nearby.
"Are you ready, Fellow Daoist Shi?"
"I am," Shi Chuankong replied.
Han Li instantly scattered his Mantra Domain upon hearing this, and Yin Xiao felt his vision blur momentarily, following which he discovered that Han Li was nowhere to be seen, while the two Infernal children were also in the clutches of Fox 3, having already fallen unconscious.
An alarmed look appeared on Yin Xiao's face upon seeing this, and he was just about to throw himself at Fox 3 when he suddenly discovered that the space around his body was warping slightly, as if it were being compressed by some kind of spatial force, rendering him unable to move or disintegrate his own body into an insubstantial form.
Not far away behind him, Shi Chuankong was maintaining a strange hand seal while pressing down tightly onto the strings of a silver lute, and his face had turned very pale, while blood was flowing from his fingertips, but he continued to hold on with all his might.
"Hurry, Fellow Daoist Li! I can't keep this up for long," Shi Chuankong yelled.
As soon as his voice trailed off, a streak of sword light shot forth, and it pierced through Yin Xiao's chest in the exact same instant that he was freed from Shi Chuankong's spatial restriction.
Simultaneously, a black dragon claw swooped down from above before closing itself around Yin Xiao's head, preparing to crush both his head and soul at once.
"Hold on a second!" Han Li hurriedly called out, and at the same time, he summoned a series of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, all of which were flashing with Divine Devilbane Lightning and plunged into various important acupoints on Yin Xiao's body.
Ravaged by the Divine Devilbane Lightning, Yin Xiao howled in agony, while Shi Chuankong heaved a long sigh of relief.
Earlier, Weeping Soul had jolted Yin Xiao's soul with her powers, and Han Li had pounced on the opportunity to unleash his Mantra Domain, buying Shi Chuankong enough time to use his silver lute, and that was how they had managed to subdue Yin Xiao so quickly.
However, Shi Chuankong was still yet to recover from his injuries, so he had suffered a great deal of backlash from forcibly unleashing the power of his silver lute.
Even after Yin Xiao was subdued, Baili Yan was still on high alert, keeping his claws firmly locked around Yin Xiao's head.
Han Li was just about to approach Yin Xiao when Weeping Soul said, "Master, you already overexerted yourself back in the karmic fire passageway, so take a rest for now and leave the soul searching to me."
"Alright," Han Li replied with a nod, and Weeping Soul stepped forward before tapping a finger against her own glabella, upon which the dark red demonic eye re-emerged.
A burst of dark red light erupted out of the demonic eye before sweeping across Yin Xiao and the two Infernal children, and Han Li was quite surprised to see this.
Even with his immense spiritual sense, he definitely wouldn't be able to search the souls of three people at once.
All of a sudden, the two Infernal children opened their eyes, then got up into seated postures in an unsteady fashion, and their eyes were completely dim and devoid of life, making them resemble a pair of puppets.
As for Yin Xiao, he reflexively resisted momentarily, following which the light in his eyes also began to fade.
Moments later, the red light emanating from Weeping Soul's demonic eye faded, and the two children immediately fell unconscious again.
"Did you find out anything?" Han Li asked.
"The Baleful Cleansing Pond is a sacred area of the Infernal Tribe, and these two children are yet to undergo their baptism by karmic fire, so they're not true Infernal beings yet. Hence, they haven't actually ever been to the Baleful Cleansing Pond. As for Yin Xiao, his spiritual sense is quite powerful, and even in his current state, he's still able to resist my soul search technique, but I've managed to get a rough idea of the Soul Cleansing Area's layout," Weeping Soul replied.
"That should be enough," Han Li said with a nod.
"In that case, we no longer have any use for him, right?" Baili Yan asked, and before anyone had a chance to reply, he closed his dragon claws in one forceful motion, crushing Yin Xiao's head.
"No!" Weeping Soul exclaimed, but it was already too late.
Baili Yan turned to her with a perplexed expression, as did Han Li, and he realized that even though Weeping Soul was willing to help him, that didn't mean that she was willing to truly betray the Infernal Regional Monarch.
After all, she had benefited immensely from his care, and she didn't want to repay his kindness with ingratitude.