<h4>Chapter 1099: Sneak Attack</h4>


    <i>There''s no telling what could happen if I stay here for too long, so perhaps I should take a risk... </i>


    With that in mind, Han Li decided to immediately secure the white bead without waiting any longer.


    He swept a sleeve through the air to release the Essence Fire Raven, and thanks to their spiritual connection, it knew exactly what he wanted without even requiring any verbalmunication.


    The Essence Fire Raven transformed into a cloak of silver mes that enveloped Han Li''s entire, and Han Li noticed that his right arm was currently also enshrouded in ayer of mes, but as opposed to the silver mes all over the rest of his body, these were rainbow mes that had condensed the power of all of the Rainbow Fire Pill Sand that the Essence Fire Raven had devoured up to this point.


    With the preparationspletely, Han Li immediately sprang into the altar without any hesitation.


    As soon as he entered the altar, the severely weakened crimson mes instantly reared up violently, bing even more powerful than before.


    Han Li felt a grueling, scorching sensation spread all over his entire body, and not only did it feel as if his skin, flesh, and blood had been set alight, even his bones, meridians, and tendons felt as if they were being roasted over an open me.


    At the same time, a vast sea of fire seemed to have appeared in his consciousness, subjecting his soul to immense torment.


    As his consciousness wavered, he felt as if he could smell the acrid odor of burning meat in the air.


    He immediately channeled his Spirit Refinement Technique and Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts to bolster his own spiritual sense and physical constitution, and only then was the excruciating state that he was in somewhat alleviated.


    In a rare disy of focus and restraint, the Essence Fire Raven fought back the urge to devour the crimson mes as it focused solely on keeping the lethal mes away from Han Li, but even so, he was still in a far from pleasant situation.


    The white bead and the golden me were both situated at the very center of the altar, which was also where the crimson mes were at their hottest. Standing on the edge of the altar was already almost unbearable for Han Li, yet he had to force his way deeper if he wanted to secure the treasures ahead.


    He gritted his teeth tightly with an agonized look on his face, and plumes of white mist were rising up from his body as his perspiration instantly evaporated upon flowing out of his pores.


    He trudged arduously through the mes while reaching a hand out as far as it would go, grabbing toward the white bead at the very center of the altar.


    Right at this moment, a figure suddenly rushed into the pce, and to Han Li''s dismay, he discovered that it was none other than Xiong Shan.


    Upon catching sight of Han Li on the fiery altar, Xiong Shan hurriedly assured, "Don''t mind me, Fellow Daoist Han, I just wanted to see what''s in here. I won''t do anything stupid."


    "You can stay here and watch if you want, but make sure you don''t do anything out of line," Han Li warned, then returned his attention to the task at hand.


    If Xiong Shan dared to make any false moves, then he was confident that he would be able to kill him in a span of mere seconds.


    Xiong Shan remained silent as he stood at the entrance of the pce, progressing no further beyond that point.


    The crimson mes in the altar were excruciatingly hot, and even though Han Li''s right arm was protected by theyer of rainbow mes, he was still in a state of intense agony.


    As his hand gradually approached the white bead, a white shadow suddenly shed over its surface, following a burst of white mes erupted out of the bead to form a white light barrier to oppose Han Li''s outstretched hand.


    Han Li''s hand was kept at bay by the light barrier, unable to advance any further, but at the same time, the light barrier was also clinging to the rainbow me over his right hand, preventing him from withdrawing his hand.


    Right as he was nning to channel his true spirit bloodlines to force his way through the light barrier, Xiong Shan''s expression suddenly changed drastically as he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air.


    A silver badge flew out of his sleeve before racing over to the altar in the blink of an eye. The runes on its surface were glowing radiantly, and countless silver threads that gave off formidable spatial fluctuations erupted out of it.


    Han Li could sense what was happening behind him, but his hand was still stuck to the white light barrier ahead, so he could only instruct the Essence Fire Raven to peel itself away from his body, thereby allowing him to struggle free from the white light barrier.


    The surrounding crimson mes swarmed toward him from all directions, and he was only just barely able to leap out of the altar before he was burned alive.


    However, he had only just made it out of the altar when he spotted a fiery red figure emerging from the flurry of silver threads, and the figure was plunging a hand directly toward Han Li''s heart like a sharp de.


    The red figure was none other than Qi Mozi, and Han Li''s expression changed drastically upon seeing this.


    He hurriedly channeled his Reversal True Axis ability in an attempt to get away, but he was rooted to the spot by Qi Mozi''s Time Severing Torch.


    Qi Mozi plunged his hand forward, piercing it straight through Han Li''s heart without any hesitation, following which he gave his own arm a vicious twist topletely pulverize Han Li''s entire chest cavity.


    After that, he grabbed onto Han Li''s throat with his other hand as he cackled, "Not getting away this time, are you, you little bastard?"


    Having been thwarted by Han Li multiple times in their previous battles, Qi Mozi had developed intense resentment toward him, so it was a very cathartic experience for him to have finallye out on top.


    With his chest cavitypletely destroyed, Han Li immediately fell limp, as if all of the strength had been sapped from his body, and the light in his eyes also quickly faded away.


    A perplexed look appeared in Qi Mozi''s eyes upon seeing this, and he was just about to smash open Han Li''s head to capture the nascent soul inside when ayer of white light suddenly appeared over Han Li''s body, and he abruptly transformed into a white puppet.


    The puppet had been crafted out of some type of white beast bone, and there were many profound talismans adhered to its body. It was the substitution puppet that Han Li had obtained from Dongfang Bai.


    A sh of recognition appeared in Qi Mozi''s eyes at the sight of the puppet, but before he had a chance to do anything, Han Li suddenly appeared nearby, as did his fivew treasures, all of which were working in tandem to contend against Qi Mozi''s Time Severing Torch.


    Immediately thereafter, a tiny, translucent sword shot out of Han Li''s be before vanishing in a sh, only to reappear an instantter directly in front of Qi Mozi.


    Before Qi Mozi had a chance to react, the Spiritual Sense Sword had already pierced into his be, and his consciousness was instantly riled up like a turbulent sea.


    Han Li pounced on this opportunity as he channeled his Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts before throwing an almighty punch into Qi Mozi''s chest, sending him flying into the altar as blood came spewing out of his mouth.


    All of this had taken ce in the blink of an eye, and before Xiong Shan had a chance to intervene, Qi Mozi had already fallen into the altar before being sted high up into the air by the crimson mes inside.


    At the same time, Han Li sprang into the altar once again, while the Essence Fire Raven descended upon him to drape him in a new cloak of silver mes.


    Han Li channeled his Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts and true spirit bloodlines in unison, instantly transforming into a devilish deity with three heads and six arms, and this time, he was able to force his hand through the white light barrier to grab onto the white bead within.


    With the white bead taken from the altar, the array was unable to function any longer, and the crimson mes surging out of it rapidly abated.


    A furious roar rang out from above as Qi Mozi swooped down upon Han Li with an enraged look on his face, but as soon as Han Li sprang back out of the altar, a silver lightning array instantly took shape around, and he was gone in the blink of an eye.


    Qi Mozi mmed heavily down onto the ground, causing the entire altar to shudder violently as a series of huge cracks appeared over its surface.


    He then slowly rose to his feet with his hands balled up into tight, enraged fists.


    After a long hesitation, Xiong Shan approached him before cupping his fist in a respectful salute as he said in a careful manner, "Please forgive me for my inability to distinguish Han Li from that puppet of his."


    Qi Mozi was silent for a long while, then heaved a forlorn sigh.


    "You''re not to me. This type of substitution puppet is produced in the inner sect of the Hundred Creations Mountain, and it''s difficult even for me to identify them. What a cunning bastard that Han Li is. He most likely already adopted these precautionary measures as soon as you began following him."


    "I was toocent. I''ve already lost my life to him once, yet it seems I haven''t learned my lesson at all," Xiong Shan sighed.


    "I don''t know if it''s just my imagination, but it feels like he''s be a lot more powerful once again since ourst encounter..." Qi Mozi mused, and it was unclear whether he was making this remark to himself, or if it was directed toward Xiong Shan.


    He massaged his own throbbing be as he spoke, then turned his gaze to the golden me that was still hovering above the altar, and only then did his expression ease slightly as he said, "At the very least, we''ll have something to show for our efforts...”