Under Han Li's breathless gaze, the giant mantis flew around within a radius of several li before suddenly shooting straight toward Han Li's hiding place.
Han Li's face instantly turned iron-gray!
He gripped the "Blood Spirit Drill" tightly with a cold expression and began channeling spiritual power into it. Immediately, the object grew slightly warm.
Watching the demon beast about to descend, Han Li remained expressionless but had already decided to release his magical treasure only when the creature was closer. Only by doing this would he have a greater chance of injuring or killing it.
Of course, the consequences of doing this would multiply the danger considerably, but Han Li had no choice now.
Fifty zhang, forty zhang, thirty zhang...
Han Li's heart pounded violently. He couldn't help but take a deep breath, preparing to flick his wrist and release the Blood Spirit Drill.
But then a scene left Han Li dumbfounded appeared.
The mantis demon beast, when it was twenty zhang above Han Li's head, suddenly circled and changed direction, diving obliquely toward another spot not far from Han Li. After one or two miserable beast howls, the giant mantis flew up again from the forest, clutching a huge wild boar with its forelimbs, and flew away without hesitation along the path it had come.
Only when the demon beast's figure gradually disappeared from sight did Han Li let out a long sigh of relief, slumping to the ground without caring about a cultivator's dignity anymore.
The situation just now...
If he hadn't planned to attack at close range, he probably would have become the demon beast's meal just like that wild boar.
Surviving unscathed this time was truly an incredible stroke of luck!
Han Li secretly rejoiced, feeling for the first time that his luck wasn't so bad after all.
After composing himself, Han Li thought of the culprit behind all this—the Spirit Beast Control Sect cultivator who had seized Qu Hun's body—and couldn't help but feel rage burning within him!
Obviously, the message slip in the cave had been a trap set by that person.
Despite all his carefulness, he still couldn't match the opponent's cunning and was thoroughly set up, nearly losing his life.
"Good, very good! Now that I'm still alive, you'll see what's coming!" Han Li, angry like never before, muttered hatefully while resting.
In his mind, that "Qu Hun" had already received three "Mind-Stabilizing Talismans" from him. It was absolutely impossible for the opponent to break free with his current cultivation. As soon as he returned, he would easily take the opponent's life.
As soon as he felt his physical strength and magical power had recovered, Han Li immediately mounted his flying treasure. He flew back toward the original location as well.
However, this time he didn't dare fly high in the open sky. Instead, he flew cautiously at a low altitude of just a dozen zhang above the ground, afraid of attracting that demon beast's attention again.
On the way back, Han Li was blown by the chilly night wind. This actually extinguished most of his raging anger. His mind suddenly became much clearer as he began to reexamine the entire process of his contact with "Qu Hun."
After some thought about the Spirit Beast Control Sect cultivator's words and actions, and the terrifying mantis demon beast, Han Li began to doubt the opponent's original identity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Such a powerful insect-type demon beast appearing in a place barely over a hundred li from Jiayuan City couldn't possibly be wild.
And considering the opponent's identity as a Spirit Beast Control Sect cultivator, the giant mantis was most likely a spirit beast he had tamed.
Such a terrifying spirit beast—Han Li truly couldn't imagine it could be tamed by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In his opinion, this mantis spirit beast could absolutely handle three or four late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators by itself. It was simply outrageously powerful.
"Could it be that this 'Qu Hun' wasn't originally just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but a Core Formation..." He couldn't help but speculate.
Han Li was startled by his own guess!
Seeing that he was approaching the original small hill, he couldn't help but halt his advance, hovering in the low sky lost in thought.
How could a Core Formation cultivator end up with his body destroyed and his primordial spirit ejected? Even if he encountered another Core Formation cultivator and couldn't win, he should still be able to escape, right? Unless he ran into those Nascent Soul old monsters from the Kingdom of Yue?
But the Seven Sects' Nascent Soul cultivators had long since stopped meddling in worldly affairs. It seemed two or three of them weren't even in the Kingdom of Yue. Even during the several clashes between the Demonic Path and the Seven Sects, Han Li hadn't heard that cultivators at the Nascent Soul level had intervened.
This made it hard for him to imagine what kind of world-shattering, earth-rending battle these people would create when they fought.
However, Han Li had privately complained several times about these high-level cultivators watching low-level cultivators fight while merely observing coldly. He had no idea what both sides' cultivators at this level were actually up to.
"Could it really be such a coincidence that this possible Core Formation fellow encountered one of those old monsters?" Han Li speculated.
If the person who had seized Qu Hun's body was truly a Core Formation cultivator, then his ability to know so many secrets about the Demonic Path invasion and his possession of such a powerful spirit beast as the mantis demon beast made perfect sense.
After deliberation, Han Li had to admit that the possibility of "Qu Hun" being a Core Formation cultivator was actually as high as sixty or seventy percent. This made him break into a cold sweat, showing a peculiar expression.
Partly fearful, and partly excited...
"Could the opponent be playing the pig to eat the tiger? Deliberately pretending to have such low cultivation and all along making a fool of him?" Han Li desperately wondered how likely this worst-case scenario actually was.
"No, the opponent is definitely not deliberately showing weakness!" After pondering for a while longer, Han Li finally reached a certain judgment.
Setting aside everything else, the opponent had indeed seized Qu Hun's body only a few years ago—this was beyond doubt. As a result, his unfathomable cultivation had naturally been wasted, just as he had previously stated.
Even though, with his primordial spirit still intact, there were no bottlenecks in re-cultivating, his current level of cultivation was indeed what should be expected.
Moreover, Han Li could tell at a glance that the opponent could no longer control that mantis spirit beast. Otherwise, why wouldn't such a powerful bodyguard follow him closely?
After all, right now he was at his most vulnerable, in desperate need of strong protection. That was why he had no choice but to trick Han Li into going to that cave, hoping the out-of-control giant mantis would kill him.
Han Li was extremely quick-witted. After just a brief consideration of the whole sequence of events, he understood about seventy or eighty percent of the truth. His courage immediately surged once more.
This wasn't because Han Li wanted to take advantage of someone's difficulties for personal gain, but because he knew he had already made a great enemy of this Spirit Beast Control Sect cultivator.
If the opponent escaped his grasp, then once he recovered his Core Formation strength, he would definitely tear Han Li to pieces.
Therefore, he absolutely couldn't let this person leave alive.
Having clearly understood the stakes involved, Han Li no longer hesitated. He urged the flying treasure under his feet and flew straight toward that small hill.
In the blink of an eye, he reached the mountaintop. At a glance, Han Li spotted "Qu Hun" staying obediently in place, with the talismans on his body still intact.
Han Li was overjoyed. He landed confidently about a dozen zhang away from the opponent, while gripping a magical treasure in each hand.
Seeing Han Li descend from the sky, "Qu Hun's" face showed a look of shock, as if he had never expected Han Li to return alive.
He forced a bitter smile and was about to say something when his lips moved.
But Han Li took only a few steps forward and raised his hand unceremoniously. Two streaks of dark light shot out with strange shrieks, directly attacking the opponent.
Since he had decided to eliminate every last trace, Han Li had no interest in exchanging words with someone who was about to die.
Seeing the Black Dragon Seizure hurtling toward him with terrifying force, "Qu Hun's" face changed drastically.
Just when Han Li thought the opponent would be torn to shreds, "Qu Hun" swayed his body and leaped several zhang to the side, dodging the attack trajectory.
"What are you doing? Have you forgotten the oath you swore?" The Spirit Beast Control Sect cultivator said in exasperation.
Clearly, he hadn't expected to be subjected to such a fierce attack the moment he saw Han Li.
Han Li ignored "Qu Hun's" words as if he hadn't heard them, staring only at the three Mind-Stabilizing Talismans on the opponent's body, almost unable to believe his own eyes.
"The talismans haven't been removed—how can the opponent move?" Han Li was filled with suspicion.
But now was not the time for questions or hesitation. So Han Li snorted coldly, without another word, and pointed a finger at the Black Dragon Seizure. Immediately, the magical treasure grew several times larger, transforming into two thick streaks of dark light that flashed and lunged toward the opponent.
He had made up his mind. Even if it meant sacrificing Qu Hun's walking corpse, he would utterly destroy every last wisp of this Core Formation cultivator's primordial spirit.
"Qu Hun" seemed to have perceived Han Li's determination to fight to the death. As the Black Dragon Seizure bore down on him with crushing force, in his desperation he suddenly opened his mouth wide. A streak of green light shot out, forcibly blocking the full-force strike of the Black Dragon Seizure.