Chapter 1485: White Shadow
Han Li repressed the excitement in his heart as he said, "It wouldn't be wise to delay any longer, so let's leave right away. Otherwise, we're only going to be attacked by more of those ghostly beings."
The two women had no objections to this, and they immediately departed with what remained of their ghostly soldiers. Along the way, Yuan Yao and Yan Li gathered together, holding hands mid-flight as they began to chant something in unison.
Black and white spiritual light then flashed from their bodies, following which they opened their mouths to expel a bead each, one of which was black while the other was white.
The two beads then combined as one to form a fist-sized black and white eyeball.
Meanwhile, Yan Li and Yuan Yao both closed their eyes, but the black and white eyeball glanced around at their surroundings before immediately leading the trio toward a certain direction.
Han Li was a little skeptical of this strange secret technique, but he could only follow the two women.
"Brother Han, using our Ghost Dao secret technique, we'll be able to escape this ghostly mist, but we can't change directions along the way. Otherwise, all of our prior efforts would go to waste," Yan Li suddenly cautioned.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he asked, "Does that mean that if we encounter any other ghostly beings along the way, we'll have to force our way through them?"
"That's right. Now you should know why we were still unable to escape from this mist even with this secret technique," Yan Li replied with a wry smile.
"Hmph, as long as we don't encounter any beings of the same caliber as the demon monarchs, we'll just have to crash right through them. All of the truly powerful ghostly beings should be engaged in battle with the demon monarchs anyway, so we shouldn't encounter any substantial obstacles," Han Li chuckled coldly.
Even though Yan Li had seen Han Li in action not long ago, she was still surprised by how confident he was, and a peculiar look appeared on her face.
Han Li immediately identified the skepticism in her eyes, and asked, "Do you think I'm being overconfident, Fellow Daoist Yan?"
"That's not the case! I'm not overly familiar with you, but I've heard on countless occasions from my junior martial sister about your ability to easily slay beings of the same cultivation base in the human world," Yan Li chuckled with pursed lips.
Han Li was rather surprised to hear this, and he cast a glance at Yuan Yao just in time to see a faint blush appear on her cheeks.
Han Li fell silent thereafter.
"Fellow Daoist Han, for you to be so confident surely indicates that your powers are comparable to that of a Spatial Tempering Stage being, right?" Yan Li asked.
"As long as we don't encounter any late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings, I can put up a fight," Han Li replied calmly. This was not the time for excessive modesty, so he merely told the truth.
"Tsk tsk, I really don't understand how you were able to cultivate your abilities. Back when Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I first met you, you were still a Qi Condensation cultivator, yet you're now as powerful as Spatial Tempering Stage beings. When I think about it, it feels like I'm in a dream," Yan Li clicked her tongue with wonder.
"Why do you sound so sad, Fellow Daoist Yan?" Han Li asked.
"Not really, it's just that both my junior martial sister and I cultivated the Yin Yan Reincarnation Arts, and I'm not sure whether this is a blessing or a curse, nor how we're supposed to progress in our future cultivation. Will we be forced to convert ourselves completely into ghostly beings and forego our humanity just to further our cultivation path?" Yan Li heaved a forlorn sigh.
Yuan Yao's expression also became rather downcast upon hearing this.
Han Li's brows furrowed, and he was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I don't know much about Ghost Dao cultivation arts, but what I do know is that the Spirit Realm is a land of miracles. Even those without spiritual roots can attain them here, and as long as you two haven't completely become ghostly beings, there should be a way to recover your former bodies given the countless incredible secret techniques in the Spirit Realm."
"Is that true? Is there really a way for us to return to our former bodies in this Spirit Realm?" Both Yuan Yao and Yan Li were ecstatic to hear this.
"Your Yin Yang Reincarnation Arts are indeed quite unique, but I don't think it's an irreversible cultivation art. If I’m not mistaken, you two should be able to recover your former human bodies as long as you dissipate the Yin Qi within your bodies. However, the process will most likely be quite painful and arduous, and your cultivation bases will most likely be damaged as well. As for the specific method to accomplish this, it's best to do some thorough research on the matter after we return to human race territory," Han Li said in a meaningful voice.
"If we can recover our former human bodies, having to endure some pain and sacrifice some of our cultivation bases is nothing!" Yuan Yao replied in a resolute manner.
Yan Li also nodded in agreement.
Han Li smiled in response, yet just as he was about to say something else, his expression abruptly darkened as he disappeared into the mist up ahead as a streak of azure light.
The two women faltered momentarily before glancing at one another.
Moments later, ghostly howls erupted from the mist up ahead, following which a dozen or so streaks of grey Yin Qi burst into the air. However, the commotion abruptly subsided after a few streaks of golden sword Qi vanquished these streaks of Yin Qi.
Han Li then returned to the two women as a streak of azure light.
"Let's keep going. Those were just a few ordinary ghostly beings," Han Li said in a calm manner.
"Ordinary?" Yan Li and Yuan Yao were both completely speechless. They weren't able to witness the battle that had just taken place due to the dense mist in their path, but those streaks of Yin Qi were extremely powerful and clearly not something normal ghostly beings were capable of unleashing.
The fact that Han Li was able to vanquish them so easily further cemented their belief in him.
Thus, they continued to focus on controlling the eyeball they'd conjured up, searching for the correct route to take.
Along the way, all of the ghostly beings they encountered were slain in mere moments by Han Li.
They'd even stumbled upon a few relative large-scaled battles between the earth abyss demon beasts and other ghostly beings, but Han Li was still able to lay waste to those ghostly beings in what seemed like the blink of an eye to carve out a path.
The two women and the remaining ghostly soldiers continued onward.
The earth abyss demon beasts had thought that their saviors had arrived, only for Han Li's trio to quickly disappear into the distance, and after a brief period of dumbstruck inactivity, they could only continue to fight for their lives.
Han Li's trio enjoyed relatively look along their journey, encountering no troublesome ghosts, nor large hordes of ghostly beings, thereby allowing them to progress in a smooth manner.
Several hours later, the mist around them finally began to thin out, and the ghostly beings they encountered also became fewer and far in between.
Han Li and the others were naturally ecstatic to see this. They knew that they'd taken the right route and were close to the edge of the mist.
After slaying a few more ghostly beings, Han Li was just about to lead the two women and the ghostly soldiers on a final charge when his expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly came to a halt as a grim expression appeared on his face.
Yuan Yao's heart jolted upon seeing this, and she asked, "What is it, Brother Han?"
Yan Li also looked on with bewilderment in her eyes.
Unfortunately, their spiritual sense was rather limited, so they weren't able to glean the scenes up ahead.
"Looks like leaving this place won't be so easy, after all," Han Li replied expressionlessly. Right at this moment, a female giggling voice suddenly sounded from within the thin mist up ahead. The giggling grew louder and louder, reaching them in the blink of an eye and ringing out in all directions.
Yan Li and Yuan Yao initially paid no heed to this. After all, with their semi-ghostly bodies, such simple Ghost Dao captivation techniques wouldn't be able to harm them in the slightest.
However, within moments from when the laughter first erupted around them, the two women were suddenly struck by a sense of feebleness, and their eyelids drooped as if they'd suddenly become countless times heavier.
Yuan Yao reacted quite quickly, forcibly retaining a hint of clarity in her mind to try and repress this debilitating sensation.
However, when she tried to summon the Yin power within her body, her heart immediately sank as panic surged through her heart.
She discovered that there wasn't a single trace of Yin power left for her to draw upon! "What's going on?" Yuan Yao knew that her current condition definitely had something to do with what giggling female voice, but the overwhelming wave of sleepiness was too much for her to resist. Her eyes slowly fell shut, and her body swayed as if she were about to collapse at any moment.
Yan Li was in the same boat, and some of the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts had even dropped their weapons before plummeting from the sky.
"Hmph!" A cold harrumph suddenly sounded from beside them.
Even though the voice wasn't very loud, it was particularly clear to the two women, and both of them felt a sharp pain in their spiritual sense in unison. The two of them shivered as their drowsiness completely faded, and at the same time, Yin power began to surge through their bodies.
Yuan Yao was elated to have to escape that ordeal, and she immediately summoned a protective layer of grey spiritual light around her body.
She turned to discover that Yan Li had done the same thing, and even the profound ghosts that were falling out of the sky were rising into the air again.
Yuan Yao heaved a sigh of relief before turning to Han Li, who remained as still and stalwart as a mountain.
It was quite clear that he was the one who had saved them from that crisis.
At this moment, Han Li stood in a completely expressionless manner, completely unaffected by the ghostly giggling around him. All of a sudden, blue light flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, sending a streak of sword Qi hurtling toward a certain spot in the air.
A faint white shadow suddenly appeared in the spot where the golden sword Qi had just passed through.
The white shadow twisted its body slightly, and the sword Qi flashed passed without inflicting any harm to it.
Han Li's expression changed slightly as one of his hands turned black while the other turn white, and he thrust his palms through the air like lightning. A vast expanse of grey light and a burst of five-colored flames immediately appeared out of thin air above the white shadow, then swept downward in unison.
The two powers created an inescapable net that afforded the white shadow no avenue for evasion.
Yuan Yao and Yan Li were elated to see this.
They'd witnessed Han Li unleash these two abilities on multiple occasions, and all of the ghostly beings that had been struck by them had been instantly eradicated.
However, the scenes that unfolded next caused their expressions to stiffen. The white shadow let loose a low chuckle before splitting into four parts, then further dividing into eight parts. In the blink of an eye, faint white shadows had appeared all over that area, and they were still multiplying relentlessly as if there were no end to them, and many of those white shadows had appeared outside the area enshrouded under the grey light and five-colored flames.
Yuan Yao and Yan Li glanced at one another upon seeing this, only to find their own astonishment mirrored in each others' eyes.