Chapter 1948: Parting Ways
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them up into the air.
A loud thunderclap rang out, and countless arcs of golden lightning sprang forth before forming a giant lightning net. The net descended over the stone spirit before abruptly contracting, and by the time the stone spirit recovered from the effects of Han Li's Spiritstun Thorn, it had already been trapped tightly within a net of golden lightning.
It was naturally unwilling to be captured, and yellow demonic flames erupted out of its body again as it let loose a sharp cry.
The Divine Devilbane Lightning began to melt away in the face of the yellow flames, and it seemed that the stone spirit was about to escape!
However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow it to get away. A cold smile appeared on his face, yet just as he was about to unleash another attack, Master Black Rain's urgent voice suddenly sounded beside his ears.
"Please wait, Fellow Daoist Han; my spirit insect will be enough to subdue the stone spirit."
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Master Black Rain suddenly let loose a long cry.
Almost at the exact same moment, the flying scorpion blurred before conjuring up a dozen or so identical projections of itself. These flying scorpions flapped their wings and vanished on the spot as balls of blue light.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted, and the flying scorpions appeared above the stone spirit before blasting forth streaks of blue light out of their stingers.
On this occasion, the stone spirit was completely bound by the golden lightning net, so the blue streaks of light were able to vanish into its body in a flash.
A layer of blue mist instantly emerged around the stone spirit's body, and its yellow demonic flames instantly became completely dull and lusterless as if it had encountered the bane of its existence. Within the span of just a few breaths, all the yellow flames were completely snuffed out, and the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit became even more infuriated. It gritted its teeth before inhaling violently, and it quickly expanded like a balloon while an extremely fearsome aura erupted from its body.
As soon as Han Li sensed this aura, a thought immediately occurred to him, and his expression changed slightly as he instantly shot back to over 1,000 feet away.
At this point, the stone spirit resembled an overinflated ball and was straining against the crackling golden lightning net around it.
Master Black Rain harrumphed coldly upon seeing this. "You think I'd let you self-detonate?"
He then abruptly made a grabbing motion, and a thin net of silver lightning appeared in the air above the mountain summit before immediately descending toward the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit.
A rumbling boom rang out as the silver net wound itself tightly around the stone spirit's body, following which Master Black Rain immediately made a hand seal.
The lightning net became extremely bright and piercing, and it began to release countless silver runes that transformed the stone spirit into a dazzling ball of silver light.
An incredible turn of events then unfolded!
Within the silver net, the stone spirit's bulging body quickly began to shrink, and after just the span of a few breaths, it had reverted back to its original size. After that, it was unable to unleash any abilities no matter how hard it tried.
The stone spirit was naturally extremely enraged, but was powerless to do anything.
Master Black Rain was elated to see this, and he slowly descended from above with a smile on his face. "Hehe, no matter how much you struggle, your efforts will prove to be futile in this Silver Celestial Lightning Net, so just settle down and come to the holy island with me. Rest assured, we're only borrowing your body; we won't be taking your life."
In the instant that the stone spirit had been captured, the illusionary technique it had unleashed was dispelled, and only then did Buddhist Master Tian Chan manage to return to his senses.
"Hehe, looks like you managed to complete the mission, Brother Black Rain. I am truly embarrassed by my own lack of contribution. If Brother Han hadn't been present, that thing really would've gotten away," Buddhist Master Tian Chan said in a slightly apologetic manner.
"You're being far too modest, Buddhist Master Tian Chan. Without the pressure you were exerting on the stone spirit, it wouldn't have unleashed its illusionary technique so quickly, and Fellow Daoist Han wouldn't have been able to stop it so easily. However, it's indeed true that Fellow Daoist Han played a vital role in the completion of our mission," Master Black Rain chuckled.
"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Black Rain; I was only doing what was to be expected of me," Han Li said with a smile, then made a grabbing motion toward the stone spirit.
A dull thunderclap rang out, and countless arcs of golden lightning emerged from the silver net before returning to his body.
"That's Divine Devilbane Lightning, right? I've heard that it's an extremely potent weapon against devilish beings." Master Black Rain clicked his tongue with wonder upon seeing this. He then pointed a finger toward the silver net as well, and the net began to flash with lightning while tightening even further at his behest.
After a few flashes, the silver net shrank down to a fist-sized ball of silver threads with the stone spirit trapped within it before being drawn up Master Black Rain's sleeve.
"There are also some other cultivation arts aside from Divine Devilbane Lightning that are very effective against devilish beings. However, these cultivation arts are either very difficult to use or have been lost in history, so there aren't many people in our human race who possess such cultivation arts. Otherwise, it wouldn't be such a struggle for us to ward off the devilish tribulation," Buddhist Master Tian Chan mused as he descended from above while appraising Han Li with a meaningful expression.
"There's no point in speaking about something that's out of reach. We can only say that Fellow Daoist Han was very fortunate to have obtained this Divine Devilbane Lightning. I heard that when used with a true Lightningwield Technique, this lightning can pose a threat even to Body Integration Stage devilish lords; it's a pity that our holy island only has the second half of the Lightningwield Technique. If you ever get the opportunity to do so, I suggest you go and search for it in the primordial world, Brother Han; perhaps the complete Lightningwield Technique can be found in one of the foreign races," Master Black Rain suggested with a smile.
"The Lightningwield Technique is split up into halves?" Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.
He had obtained a type of Lightningwield Technique from the four demon monarchs of the earth abyss, and it was quite a powerful technique, but required too much time to set up. Thus, it was impractical for real battles, so he hadn't used it much.
"Indeed. The first half of the Lightningwield Technique teaches one how to maximize the lightning's power, while the second half teaches one how to control the divine lightning; both halves are indispensable," Master Black Rain explained.
"I see. In that case, I really will have to venture into the primordial world to search for the technique if the opportunity arises." Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but internally, he was cursing the four demon monarchs.
No wonder the Lightningwield Technique was so impractical; the four demon monarchs had only bestowed upon him half of the technique! They had definitely done this on purpose, but then again, that was only to be expected. If Han Li had been in their shoes, he would've most likely done the same thing.
After chatting for a while longer, Buddhist Master Tian Chan decided to depart. "The situation in the Holy Sovereign City isn't all that optimistic, and I've spent a lot of time here already; I have to go back to help the holy sovereign guard the city, so I'll be taking my leave now, fellow daoists."
Master Black Rain cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Hehe, the holy island is in urgent need of this stone spirit, so I'll be heading back as well. Fellow Daoist Han, Buddhist Master Tian Chan, I hope we'll have a chance to meet again following the devilish tribulation. You'll be staying here for a few more days, right, Fellow Daoist Han?"
"Indeed, I'll be staying here for a while longer to use the Earthly Hellish Flames. I wish both of you a safe and swift journey," Han Li said with a smile as he extended a farewell salute.
Moments later, a ball of black light and a streak of white light rose up into the air from the mountain summit, then flew away in different directions.
Han Li looked on as the two departed, and after they had disappeared into the distance, his smile gradually faded as he murmured to himself. "The second half of the Lightningwield Technique, eh? Looks like I really will have to pay the holy island a visit. That'll have to wait until a later date; for now, I have to secure the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi."
As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li's body blurred, and he appeared beside the giant crater before casting his gaze toward the bottom.
The crater hadn't been affected much by the battle that had just taken place, and the yellow mist at the bottom was still making it impossible to see what lay in the depths of the crater.
Han Li peered into the mist through narrowed eyes for a long while before casting his gaze through the surrounding area, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.
All of a sudden, he flipped a hand over to produce a thick stack of formation flags, then flicked his wrist to send the flags scattering in all directions as streaks of light.
The formation flags vanished into thin air amid flashes of spiritual light, and in the next instant, a layer of white mist permeated over the mountain, completely concealing Han Li along with the giant crater.
Han Li stood still on the spot and swept both sleeves through the air to release 13 balls of buzzing purple light, all of which quickly disappeared into the mist.
Immediately thereafter, green light flashed from his body, and a green figure detached itself from him before vanishing into the ground.
After doing all that, Han Li sat down with his legs crossed beside the crater. He wore a solemn expression as he made a hand seal, then abruptly laid a hand onto his own head.
A ball of golden light flashed, and a Nascent Soul that was around half a foot tall emerged above his head.