<h4>Chapter 600: Internal Battle</h4>


    Inside the cave.


    Han Li was seated on the ground with his legs crossed, channeling his Mantra Axis Scripture with all his might.


    His Mantra Treasured Axis had emerged, and bursts of pure timew powers were permeating throughout the rippling golden light around him, enveloping his entire body.


    Han Li was well aware that the fifth decay, baleful decay, was upon him.


    Due to the extreme measures that he had taken in the ravine, his cultivation base had progressed by leaps and bounds, so he most likely wasn''t going to have to face the fourth decay that other Golden Immortal cultivators had to ovee. However, now that he was only one step away from the High Zenith Stage, the fifth decay was entirely unavoidable.


    The main contributing factors leading to the premature onset of the baleful decay seemed to be his cultivation of the Profound Baleful Spirit Arts and his mastery of the fourth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique.


    Even though he was already mentally prepared for such an eventuality, he was still caught off guard by this sudden crisis.


    However, seeing as it was already happening, he had no choice but to face it head-on.


    In contrast with the acupoint decay that he had previously endured, the onset of baleful decay was extremely violent. He could sense the baleful qi that had previouslyid dormant in his body gradually being stirred up into a frenzy, constantly attacking his consciousness. At the same time, some of the baleful qi had also triggered the dozens of immortal acupoints in his body that contained baleful qi, causing the baleful qi inside to seep outward.


    At this moment, Han Li could feel an unbridled sense of aggression constantly building in his body, and if it weren''t for his exceptional willpower, he would''ve already been driven insane.


    A series of dark clouds had appeared in the sky above the cave that Han Li was in, and indistinct red shadows could be seen shing through the clouds amid the sound of ghostly wailing.


    All of the nts within a radius of several hundred kilometers quickly wilted away, while the ground and the rocks slowly turned a lifeless gray color.


    This was a ce that had been teeming with spiritual qi just a moment ago, yet it had been transformed into an infernal hell in the blink of an eye.


    Shortly thereafter, several ck spots emerged over Han Li''s body, and they were slowly expanding, while the pure spiritual sense in his consciousness was also gradually being contaminated by wisps of ck light.


    The crimson light in his eyes glowed even brighter, and waves of intense bloodlust were rising up in his mind.


    All of a sudden, he let loose a low roar as he made a hand seal, and thick arcs of Divine Devilbane Lightning emerged over his body amid a dull thunderp.


    At the same time, several bursts of spiritual light released by immortal treasures had also shot out of his body.


    Normally, Divine Devilbane Lightning was extremely effective at suppressing baleful qi, but in this instance, it waspletely ineffective against the baleful qi surging out of Han Li''s body.


    On the contrary, in the face of the corrosion from the tremendous baleful qi, the arcs of Divine Devilbane Lightning were quickly snuffed out like frail candle mes.


    As for the immortal treasure spiritual light that Han Li had conjured up, they quickly faded away as well, and only the innatew powers that they contained were still posing some resistance against the baleful qi.


    However, the baleful qi was simply too formidable to be suppressed, and thew powers were quickly ovee as well. In the end, all that remained standing against the baleful qi was Han Li''s timew powers.


    Han Li wasn''t surprised to see this, and he continued to make a string of hand seals, while his Mantra Treasured Axis revolved rapidly behind him, releasing bursts of timew powers to keep the baleful qi at bay.


    Despite the ferocity at which the baleful qi was raging, Han Li''s timew powers remained firm and resolute, much to his relief.


    While it was true that he hadn''t made any preparations for this baleful decay, he had studied it quite extensively, so he was aware of just how violent and ferocious it was,pletely unlike the slow and subtle onset of the other four decays.


    The majority of cultivators were unable to withstand the fierce eruption of baleful qi, causing them to fall insane not long after themencement of their baleful decay, ultimately resulting in the detonation of their bodies and nascent souls.


    Thankfully, he had one of the three paramountws to protect him. Otherwise, there was a chance that he could''ve already fallen at the first hurdle as well.


    The problem was that even though his timew powers were very formidable, the baleful qi that it was contending against wasn''t from an extraneous source. Instead, it came directly from his own body and immortal acupoints, so despite the best efforts of his timew powers, some of the baleful qi was still slowly seeping into his body and mind.


    The ck spots on his body were rapidly expanding, and at this point, they covered close to half of his entire body. At the same time, his eyes were glowing ever more crimson with bloodlust.


    Han Li was channeling his Spirit Refinement Technique to suppress the violent thoughts that were arising in his heart while sweeping a sleeve through the air to summon a white jade box, upon which was stered a glowing silver talisman that was giving off hints ofw power fluctuations.


    Han Li then quickly chanted an incantation, and the silver talisman abruptly erupted into mes before burning away into nothingness.


    The jade box sprang open on its own, and inside was a longan-sized silver pill that was giving off an incredible medicinal aroma. This was a High Zenith Pill.


    Han Li was feeling extremely thankful that he had obtained three High Zenith Pills from the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor. Otherwise, he would truly be at aplete loss for what to do.


    He swallowed the pill right away, then enveloped it with his immortal spiritual power to refine it within his own body.


    The silver light emanating from the pill instantly grew brighter, and it was also giving off bursts of scorching energy that struck Han Li''s lower abdomen with a sense of burning pain, as if there were a silver fireball burning inside.


    Han Li took a deep breath to suppress the pain while continuing to refine the High Zenith Pill using his immortal spiritual power.


    The silver light emanating from the pill lit up even further, releasing streams of warmth that quickly flowed through Han Li''s body, melting away all of the baleful qi that they encountered.


    However, at the same time, those streams of warmth were also constantly being whittled down.


    The crimson light glowing in Han Li''s eyes instantly stopped bing brighter, then slowly began to dim, while the ck spots on his body also began to recede, much to his tion.


    He continued to make a string of hand seals, using the power of the High Zenith Pill to counteract the baleful qi within his body, and ayer of silver light quickly appeared around him, intertwining with the existingyer of golden light.


    A peculiar medicinal aroma wafted out of the silver light, and it could be clearly smelled by Mo Guang and the others, even though they were situated very far away.


    "Master''s beginning to refine the baleful qi! Could it be that he already made preparations for the baleful decay in advance?" Xiao Bai eximed in an ecstatic voice.


    A hint of surprise appeared on Mo Guang''s face, but he didn''t say anything.


    Meanwhile, Daoist Xie began to pilot the flying carriage closer to the cave before having it draw to a halt again.


    With no responseing from either Mo Guang or Daoist Xie, Xiao Baiid down onto the carriage again.


    Close to a year passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Most of the baleful qi in Han Li''s body had been expelled, while only some tiny ck spots remained on his body, and the baleful qi in his consciousness had also been virtuallypletely eradicated.


    However, the High Zenith Pill that he had devoured had also beenpletely refined.


    At this point, the residual baleful qi in Han Li''s body had already been forced into a corner, but as the streams of warmth released by the High Zenith Pill slowly faded, the baleful qi immediately began to stir once again.


    Han Li was quite rmed to see this, and he immediately flipped a hand over to summon another white jade box, which contained a second High Zenith Pill that he swallowed without any hesitation.


    As soon as the pill was devoured, the more streams of warmth instantly began to flow through his body again, surging toward the remaining baleful qi.


    Before long, all of the remaining baleful qi had been eradicated, and the ck spots on Han Li''s body vanished.


    His skin had be as translucent as jade, to the point that his bones could be made out through his skin and flesh.


    However, his expression remained grim. Even though the baleful qi in his body had been eradicated, he knew that the baleful decay hadn''t beenpletely ovee yet.


    Out of his 107 opened immortal acupoints, 71 of them had been forced open using baleful qi.


    While the baleful qi within his body had been eradicated by the High Zenith Pills, the baleful qi in his immortal acupoints still remained, much to his concern and dismay.


    Just as he had anticipated, the baleful qi in his immortal acupoints were posing as a major obstacle to his progression to the High Zenith Stage.


    Having said that, even though the baleful qi in his immortal acupoints hadn''t been cleansed, most of the medicinal power from the second High Zenith Pill was still active in his body, and he also had a third, even more potent High Zenith Pill, and that should be more than enough to eradicate the baleful qi in his immortal acupoints.


    With that in mind, Han Li took a deep breath, then directed the streams of warmth in his body toward his immortal acupoints.


    The baleful qi in his immortal acupoints was instantly stirred up by the streams of warmth, but unlike the baleful qi from before, this baleful qi showed no signs of receding, and it was as if they had taken root in the immortal acupoints.


    Han Li''s heart sank slightly upon seeing this, and he adopted a different approach, enveloping the baleful qi in the medicinal power of the High Zenith Pill before gnashing away at it.


    Another few months flew by in a sh, and at this point, Han Li was no longer looking asposed and unconcerned as before.


    Through these past few months of toil, he had managed to make the baleful qi in his immortal acupoints slightly dimmer than before, but that was all that he had to show for his efforts.


    Not a single one of his 71 immortal acupoints had beenpletely cleansed of baleful qi.


    A cold look shed through Han Li''s eyes as he clenched his fists tightly, and right at this moment, a faint thud rang out from within his body as the second High Zenith Pill was finallypletely refined.


    As a result, the streams of warmth instantly receded out of his immortal acupoints, and the baleful qi inside immediately lit up once again, threatening to make a resurgence after being repressed for so long.