Chapter 1956: Decoy
The Han Lis then all fled toward different directions at once.
"Hmph, does he think that such a pitiful little trick will work on me?" one of the clones harrumphed coldly before making a hand seal, and a giant devilish projection appeared behind him amid a flash of grey light.
The devilish projection had a pair of horns on its head and several massive tentacles on its back. It let loose a menacing snarl before a giant vertical eye suddenly appeared on its chest amid a flash of crimson light.
The eye took up close to half of the entire area of its chest, and it was glowing with green light, presenting a harrowing sight to behold.
The clone let loose a loud cry, and a burst of green light erupted from the giant eye before vanishing into the crystalline wall in a flash.
In the next instant, the clone closed his eyes, and azure light began to flash incessantly over his face.
After a short while, he said in a confident voice, "There are two actual bodies and six projections. One of them must be a clone, and it's traveling in a different direction from his true body."
"Looks like he's realized our intentions and is trying to shake us off again. Speed up! Don't let him get away!" another clone said in a cold voice.
"Of course. However..."
Just as the other clone was about to say something further, spiritual light suddenly flashed from the crystalline screen, and the image changed into one of Yuan Cha sitting on her stone chair.
"There are two actual bodies; we'll take one each. If either of us find his true body, then notify the other right away," Yuan Cha instructed as soon as her image appeared.
"Alright, we'll do as you say," one of the Xue Guang clones immediately agreed.
Yuan Cha nodded before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and the image on the crystalline wall instantly faded.
Almost at the exact same moment, countless runes surged out of the stone hall in a frenzy before forming a giant teleportation formation down below.
The stone hall rotated at the center of the formation before disappearing in a flash.
"Let's go," one of the Xue Guang clones said.
The three clones then made hand seals in unison, and bright crimson light radiated from their bodies.
In the next instant, the giant jade plate released a burst of dazzling white light, and its speed increased by more than twofold.
Meanwhile, the Han Lis all fled in different directions, vanishing into the distance in a flash.
Several hundred thousand kilometers away, there was an army of over 1,000 elite devilish beings hiding in preparation for an ambush. Moments later, the army received an order, and they immediately split up into the two before rushing away in two different directions.
As for the place that Han Li was situated at mere moments ago, none of the devilish beings took any further interest in it.
Around 10 minutes later, a ball of purple light suddenly flashed from behind a mundane-looking azure rock on the ground below, and a silver humanoid figure abruptly emerged.
It was another Han Li!
This Han Li was giving off no aura whatsoever, and as soon as he appeared, he closed his eyes before releasing his spiritual sense. After verifying that there weren't any devilish lords in a radius of several thousand kilometers, a hint of elation appeared on his face.
He immediately flipped a hand over to produce a thin skin-like object, which he tossed onto his own body. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a nondescript giant grey wolf, and he shot forth directly toward Deep Heaven City again as a streak of faint grey light.
Meanwhile, another Han Li was flying through the air over a lush forest as a streak of azure light.
A stone hall was hot on his heels in pursuit only around several kilometers away.
A massive mountain that was over 100,000 feet tall suddenly appeared in Han Li's field of view. The mountain was extremely lush and scenic, and Han Li's eyes immediately lit up as he flew directly toward the mountain.
After just a few flashes, he abruptly vanished at a certain point halfway up the mountain.
Not long thereafter, the stone hall appeared above the mountain summit, then released countless runes of different colors to instantly manifest a giant five-colored light formation.
The formation expelled a faint buzzing sound as soon as it appeared, and a giant ball of five-colored light with a diameter of several hundred feet appeared at its center.
A cold harrumph rang out from within the stone palace, and the giant ball of light immediately detached itself from the light formation before descending toward the highest point on the mountain peak.
Five-colored spiritual light flashed violently, and in the instant the ball of light came into contact with the mountain summit, it disappeared into the mountain without a sound, leaving only a gigantic black hole on the ground.
Not only was the hole extremely massive with a radius of over 1,000 feet, its edge was completely black and remarkably smooth, and a scorching aura was emanating from within it.
After the span of just a few breaths, an earth-shattering boom erupted from deep within the belly of the mountain, and the earth tremored violently.
Countless thick pillars of light then suddenly erupted from the surface of the mountain, punching countless holes into it in an instant.
The mountain swayed violently for a moment before completely collapsing, crumbling into a massive pile of rubble with countless rocks and stones flying in all directions.
At the center of the wreckage was a gargantuan crater that was several hundred feet deep with an area of over 10 acres.
The center of the crater was completely devoid of all matter, as if everything within it had been vaporized on the spot.
Immediately thereafter, over 100 thick pillars of light erupted from the light formation up above, then pierced into the wreckage down below. A string of resounding booms rang out from underground, but there was nothing amiss.
Only then did the stone hall gradually descend from above, only stopping once it was only several thousand feet above the rubble.
White light flashed in the air above the stone hall, and Yuan Cha emerged with a slightly bewildered expression as she swept her gaze over the wreckage.
"That Han brat just escaped into this mountain, so there's no way he should've been able to escape the scope of my attack. However, it looks like that was only a clone of his, seeing as I was able to kill him so easily, but even if it's just a clone it should've left behind some remains. Could it be that it just so happened to be at the epicenter of the attack, and its body was completely destroyed?" Yuan Cha murmured to herself with furrowed brows.
After a brief pause for contemplation, she closed her eyes while pointing a finger at her own glabella.
A burst of enormous spiritual sense immediately erupted forth before spreading in all directions before scouring meticulously through every single inch of rubble, but all to no avail.
"Looks like I was overthinking things." Yuan Cha's expression eased slightly as she reopened her eyes.
Right at this moment, a peculiar type of fluctuations emanated from her body, and her expression changed slightly as she swept a sleeve through the air to release an antiquated mirror.
The mirror circled around in the air above her head before hovering in front of her, and moments later, the image of Xue Guang appeared on its surface.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha, there's no need for you to continue in your pursuit; you're most likely chasing after a clone. The one that I'm chasing has killed most of the troops I sent to impede him, and he's displaying immense power; I'm confident that this is his true body! I've managed to trap him in a certain place with my All-encompassing Plate, but he's unleashed some type of concealment technique, and I'm unable to find him for now. The three of us need to focus on controlling the All-encompassing Plate to seal off the surrounding area, so you'll have to assist us with tracking him down," the Xue Guang clone said in a serious manner.
The remnants of Yuan Cha's suspicions were erased upon hearing this, and she replied, "I see, that confirms it, then; I've already taken care of the one that I'm chasing after, and it did indeed seem far too weak to be the true body. I'll come to you right away; make sure you don't allow him to escape!"
She then immediately stowed her mirror away before flying upward as a streak of white light.
After just a few flashes, she returned to her stone hall and departed from the scene. Thus, peace and quiet returned to the area.
Four hours later, a layer of green light suddenly flashed over a mundane-looking dead log situated in a certain corner of the rubble. The log suddenly transformed into a green-skinned young man who was identical to Han Li in appearance; it was none other than Han Li's spirit body!
As soon the spirit body emerged, it immediately laid a hand onto the top of its own head, and a ball of green light emerged, within which was an adorable little girl. The little girl's face was slightly pale, and she took a seat with her legs crossed in the air above the spirit body. After a long while, a hint of color had finally returned to her cheeks.
She cast her gaze toward the massive crater nearby with a hint of lingering fear in her eyes, and murmured to herself, "Master was right; the spirit body really is able to conceal itself flawlessly within a natural setting. I've completed my mission; now, it's time to hide somewhere, then find a way to reunite with Master later. I hope Master can survive this ordeal."
After that, she disappeared into the spirit body again as a ball of green light.
In the next instant, the spirit body reopened its eyes, then decided on a certain direction before flying away.
Elsewhere, there were over 100 devilish elites hovering in the air around a giant jade plate. They were situated above a valley, and were looking down below with solemn looks in their eyes.