Chapter 2256: Giant Puppet

Within the silver flames was a thin grey line that was writhing incessantly, but no matter how much it struggled, it was unable to fly out of Han Li's grasp.

Silvermoon was quite stunned to see this, and Han Li explained, "This is Contaminant Yin Qi, which appears to be a living creature, but actually possesses no shape or form. It can seep into one's physical body without being detected, and under normal circumstances, even Body Integration Stage beings wouldn't be able to detect it; only after it accumulates to a certain extent and spontaneously erupts will its presence be made known."

"What? Doesn't that mean I've already..." Silvermoon was given quite a fright upon hearing this, and hurriedly inspected her own internal condition.

"Rest assured, I'm aware of this thing's presence, so I naturally wasn't going to allow it to approach us; I've already kept it out with my spiritual sense," Han Li chuckled.

"You gave me a huge fright there. You withheld this information from me on purpose, didn't you?" Silvermoon said as she rolled her eyes in an unintentionally seductive display.

Even with Han Li's resolute and steadfast mental state, he couldn't but be momentarily entranced by her stunning beauty, and he immediately averted his gaze.

"It's not that I didn't want to tell you about this in advance; it's just that this type of Qi is only dangerous due to its undetectable nature. Once detected, even a Spatial Tempering Stage being would be able to easily keep it at bay with their spiritual sense."

"So it's that easy to ward off; that's quite a relief." Silvermoon was elated to hear this, and she hurriedly released her spiritual sense as well.

"We should reach Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's treasure once we get out of this maze, right? We already passed by two so-called treasure pavilions, but the treasures in there will only be able to fool the average devilish being; they're nowhere near valuable enough to catch our eyes," Silvermoon said with a smile.

"An ordinary Sacred Ancestor most likely wouldn't be capable of setting up any other measures, but back in Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's heyday, his reputation was virtually comparable to that of the three devilish patriarchs, so there should be more stern obstacles ahead," Han Li replied.

"What else could he have set up? I'm guessing it's most likely going to be some type of powerful restriction or formation," Silvermoon speculated.

"Perhaps," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

While the two of them were conversing with one another, another cluster of beastly projections emerged, only to be promptly eradicated.

At this moment, they finally emerged from the maze, and a giant red gate that was several hundred feet tall appeared up ahead. The gate's surface was riddled with inky-black devilish patterns, and it seemed to be extremely heavy.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the gate while appraising it with blue light flashing within his eyes, and he said in a rather surprised manner, "This gate is constructed from Fire Origin Crystal; looks like this Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling was wealthier than I imagined."

Han Li pointed a finger toward the giant gate as he spoke, and a ball of silver flames shot forth from his fingertip before vanishing into the gate in a flash.

Countless bursts of crimson flames immediately erupted out of the gate in a frenzy, transforming it into a giant flaming gate, but at the same time, the gate slowly began to open amid a burst of rumbling.

A scorching aura instantly swept forth from behind the gate, and as soon as it came into contact with Silvermoon, her expression changed drastically as she stumbled back a few steps while the protective spiritual light around her body flashed erratically.

Behind the giant gate was a sea of crimson flames that were far hotter than normal flames, and even the Body Integration Stage Silvermoon didn't dare to let it come into direct contact with her body.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he remained still on the spot.

With his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, there was no way that these flames would be able to harm him in the slightest.

However, he could sense some restriction fluctuations emanating from within the sea of flames, so it clearly wasn't as simple as it appeared.

With that in mind, he immediately made a hand seal before opening his mouth to expel a silver fireball, which instantly transformed into a massive Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in size.

The Fire Raven spread its wings and let loose a clear cry, then plunged headfirst into the sea of flames.

All of the crimson flames in the path of the Fire Raven immediately parted, creating a path that was around 10 feet wide.

"Let's go, Silvermoon!" Han Li said as he took a step forward, then abruptly appeared right at the center of the path.

Silvermoon smiled and immediately followed along behind him.

Thus, the two of them were able to traverse through the sea of flames behind the silver Fire Raven.

Beneath the parted sea of flames were countless fist-sized crimson crystals that littered the entire ground, and each crystal was releasing wisps of crimson fire.

Han Li and Silvermoon were both hovering around 10 feet in the air as they flew along behind the silver Fire Raven, and they reached the center of the sea of flames in the blink of an eye.

All of a sudden, the ground below the silver Fire Raven split open, and a thick arm holding a giant translucent blade lashed out to instantly slice the Fire Raven in half.

If a normal spirit beast were to be dealt such a heavy blow, they would at least suffer severe injuries and perhaps even be killed. However, the Fire Raven possessed no substantial body, so the two halves of its body instantly fused back into one again.

Immediately thereafter, it swooped down while vigorously flapping its wings downward, sending countless streaks of silver light crashing down onto the ground below.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and countless crystals embedded onto the ground were shattered by the streaks of silver light.

The crimson arm that had just emerged was instantly riddled with holes, and it seemed to be on the verge of completely crumbling away.

Right at this moment, another massive crimson fist erupted out of the nearby ground before landing a vicious blow on the silver Fire Raven, releasing a flurry of countless crimson runes that completely scattered the Fire Raven into countless specks of silver flames, rendering it unable to return to its original form in a short time.

Han Li stopped in mid-air upon seeing this, and his eyes narrowed slightly, while a surprised look appeared on Silvermoon's face.

The sea of flames began to surge violently, and the ground down below tremored as a humanoid puppet that was over 100 feet tall emerged.

The puppet wore a suit of crimson armor that covered every single inch of its body, and its body was attached to the crumbling arm that was holding the giant blade.

There were wisps of crimson flames revolving all over the puppet's body, and a crimson crystal was embedded into its glabella.

"This is a Devil Crystal Puppet!" Han Li exclaimed upon getting a clear view of the giant puppet.

This puppet was far larger than the other Devil Crystal Puppets he had seen before, but its aura indicated that it was definitely a Devil Crystal Puppet, and one of quite a high caliber, at that.

"What's a Devil Crystal Puppet?" Silvermoon asked.

"Devil Crystal Puppets are created using a puppet refinement technique unique to the Elder Devil Realm. I've seen some in the past, but none of them can compare with this puppet, which is close to the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage," Han Li quickly explained.

Right at this moment, the giant puppet had already completely emerged from the ground, and it immediately sent its giant blade crashing down toward Han Li.

The puppet was quite massive and bulky, but its saber strike was as fast as lightning, and it instantly reached Han Li, striking him with a bone-chilling sensation that threatened to freeze his blood solid.

"Heavenly Frozen Light? Interesting, no wonder you were able to scatter my Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven." Han Li's eyes lit up as he swept his spiritual sense toward the giant blade, then raised an arm upward, catching the blade in a casual manner.

A dull thump rang out as powerful shockwaves erupted in all directions, causing the entire sea of flames to surge violently once again.

Glacial light was surging toward Han Li from the giant blade, but he seemed to be completely unaffected.

Indeed, with Han Li's current physical body, this glacial light was nowhere near powerful enough to harm him.

However, that wasn't the extent of the giant puppet's abilities.

A cold light flashed through its eyes and it suddenly opened its mouth to release a pillar of white light. At the same time, it swept its other arm through the air, and a giant crimson hand emerged before crashing down viciously toward Han Li with countless runes revolving around it.

A burst of scorching red light came surging down along with the arm, and a charred odor immediately wafted through the air.

The red light seemed to be capable of melting through space, and that was a clear testament to just how fearsome it was.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he swept a sleeve forward to release a burst of grey light.

As soon as the pillar of white light came into contact with the grey light, the former abruptly vanished into thin air.

At the same time, Han Li extended a pristine white hand out of his sleeve before thrusting it toward the oncoming red light and giant crimson hand in an unhurried manner.