Li Feiyu was just toying with Old Freak Tianhen.
Because Old Freak Tianhen had been disrespectful to him in the main hall, Li Feiyu decided to play with what he cared about most to stir his emotions.
The Creation Pill, an ancient miraculous pill, even if a few more were refined, how could he possibly give it to him?
Due to the unique characteristics of the Spirit candle fruit, it couldn't be stored. Half a day after being picked, its efficacy would greatly diminish, and it had to be immediately put into a cauldron for refining.
Once three days passed, it would completely lose its effectiveness.
Not only that, because the Spirit candle fruit was the main ingredient, the successfully refined Creation Pill also inherited this characteristic: it had to be consumed within a short period, otherwise, it would lose its magical effect of allowing one to experience the next Realm prematurely.
Because of his own unique nature, no one dared to assign tasks to Li Feiyu, fearing to displease him.
However, he was quite interested in Mulan Divine Master, so a few days later, he went alone to Huanglong Mountain, the support location where Han Li was.
The Nascent Soul Cultivators gathered at Huanglong Mountain included not only the Nine Nations Union Cultivators already there but also three others who had come as reinforcements.
On the Mulan side, there were two Mulan Divine Masters and a Black Robed Cultivator openly, with an unknown number secretly.
Below them, the number of Core Formation Cultivators and Mulan Dharma Idols at the Core Formation Realm was considerable, and the further down, the more numerous they became, forming a pyramid shape.
A major battle was about to erupt.
Those previously injured had gone to recuperate, and fresh forces had taken their place.
Originally, the Huanglong Valley side was weaker, holding their ground with a large formation, but now that some reinforcements had arrived, the top-tier combat power had shifted back to their side.
After discussion, they decided to meet the enemy head-on.
When Crimson Crow saw one of the Mulan Divine Masters, whose body was enveloped in red light and around whom a thick, bowl-sized strange snake was coiled, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he sent a sound transmission to Li Feiyu.
"Master, that snake is formed from condensed Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire. It's extremely nourishing for me. I think if I devour it, I might quickly reach Level 9 Demon Beast."
Li Feiyu raised an eyebrow, revealing a look of joy. "That fast? I thought your speed would slow down considerably once you reached the Incarnation Stage."
Crimson Crow said, "I'm already more than twenty years slower than you, Master. Isn't that slow?!"
Li Feiyu was speechless, then chuckled and said, "Since it's beneficial to you, then you absolutely cannot let it go. Find an Opportunity to strike later, I'll take care of everything."
"Thank you, Master!"
Crimson Crow entered the Incarnation Stage and reached the critical point of the Middle Stage of Incarnation in just over fifty years. Although he had Li Feiyu's resources, it must be said that he was exceptionally gifted.
The Mulan people were at the outer edge of the grand formation, and Han Li, along with three other Nascent Soul Cultivators and several Core Formation Cultivators, exited the formation to confront them.
The Divine Master with the rare fire spirit stepped forward a few paces, and as he spoke, his voice boomed like thunder, causing the surrounding space to hum.
"I am Kuyao, the Great Divine Master of the Fire Worshiping Tribe. Since you have come out, you intend to compete with your Divine Abilities first, I presume."
Great Divine Master Kuyao looked arrogant, his nostrils flared as he said, "How shall we compete? One-on-one, or a free-for-all? Whatever it is, we'll accept."
The bald-browed big man, seeing their arrogance, didn't think much and said directly, "One-on-one, life and death decided by fate!"
"Good, that suits me perfectly. Then this Divine Master will be your opponent for the first round. Who will come?"
Great Divine Master Kuyao laughed wildly, openly taunting them.
The bald-browed elder and others looked furious. Han Li rubbed his chin, quietly observing Kuyao in the firelight.
With this rare fire spirit, the strength of this Mulan Divine Master was probably not something an ordinary Early Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator could overcome.
Han Li controlled the Celestial Ice Flame, which perfectly countered the masculine fire of that fire spirit. If he were to fight, he could naturally win easily, but the spear targets the bird that sticks its head out. He had no interest in showing off for such a small matter and attracting attention.
After all, he didn't feel he had the strength to look down on Nascent Soul Cultivators like Li Feiyu did.
He still had to be cautious.
Among the four, the Nascent Soul Cultivator surnamed Ma was the most impatient, flying with a murderous aura to the boundary between the two sides.
The others did not stop him, tacitly agreeing.
The elder surnamed Ma formed hand seals, and a layer of soft white light appeared, enveloping him. At the same time, he opened his mouth and a walnut-sized silver light shot out, expanding with the wind into a silver-white ruler.
Just as he was about to activate the silver-white ruler to attack, a voice suddenly reached his ear.
At this moment, a crimson-gold fire bird, burning with flames all over its body, flew from afar and stopped beside the elder surnamed Ma.
The elder surnamed Ma was expressionless, while the others were all surprised.
Han Li's pupils suddenly contracted, and his Divine Sense spread out, searching for something.
"Senior Brother Li should be here, but my Divine Sense strength is still far inferior to his, so I can't detect his presence."
He sighed slightly in his heart, thinking that after this matter was resolved, he might have to make a trip to the Far West.
He absolutely had to find the subsequent Cultivation Technique for the Great Development Art.
Although Han Li didn't know why Li Feiyu had sent out Crimson Crow, he was certain it wasn't for this great battle, nor was it to help the Cultivator surnamed Ma.
Facing Crimson Crow, the fire python opened its mouth and roared repeatedly, extremely cautious.
The Cultivator surnamed Ma said, "Didn't you say your fire spirit was far superior to Spirit Beasts? Let's see who is stronger and who is weaker."
Kuyao was no longer as arrogant as before. With his strength, he could naturally tell that the fire bird descending from the sky was powerful, no less than their Early Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators.
He even felt that human Cultivators might not be as dangerous as that fire bird.
The elder surnamed Ma also stopped talking nonsense. The silver ruler in front of him began to tremble, and suddenly, the silver light surged, illuminating everything, its soft hum like the cry of a Phoenix in the Nine Heavens.
Crimson Crow charged towards Kuyao without hesitation. To outsiders, it looked like he was buying time for the elder surnamed Ma to cast his spell, but only he, Han Li, and Li Feiyu knew the truth.
Crimson Crow had a dense True Spirit Bloodline and was extremely arrogant, looking down on everyone except Li Feiyu.
He was different from Jin Yuan; he embarked on a path of devouring all fires, refining his body in reverse, and returning to his ancestral Bloodline.
This path was incredibly difficult, but if he had enough Opportunity, his advancement speed would be very fast, and his Divine Ability would be strong enough to fight beyond his Realm.
The fire python's body trembled, and its red light flared, flying across the sky. Its roars gradually changed, emitting the sound of a Flood Dragon, shaking the soul.
In the red light, the fire python grew a single horn on its head and four sharp claws from its belly. In a moment, it transformed into a majestic and powerful fire Flood Dragon.
Crimson Crow glided, then flew towards the fire Flood Dragon, his eyes filled with excitement.
As for the elder surnamed Ma, he focused on dealing with Divine Master Kuyao.
High in the sky, the fire Flood Dragon opened its mouth and spewed endless crimson flames. The sky seemed to turn into a sea of fire, and Crimson Crow plunged directly into it without hesitation.
If it were cold flames, he would still consider it, but this fire spirit's fire also belonged to the Yang attribute.
And among all things under Heaven, the most rigid and most Yang was none other than Sun True Fire!
Li Feiyu's Sun True Fire, after all, was merely a human imitation. Although it possessed some power, it was still far inferior to the three-legged Fire Crow, which naturally took Sun True Fire as its innate True Fire.
Even if they only cultivated this one fire Divine Ability, as they themselves grew, the power of the Sun True Fire would continuously increase.
He burst forth with his three legs, his body instantly swelling, unleashing terrifying power. His incredibly sharp claws directly clawed at the seven-inch mark of the fire Flood Dragon!
The fire Flood Dragon quickly dodged!
But no matter where it dodged, Crimson Crow could always appear in front of it one step faster.
After toying with it for a while, Crimson Crow's body suddenly vanished, reappearing directly above the fire Flood Dragon. Its sharp claws struck down, and with terrifying force, it instantly burst the fire Flood Dragon's head.
Countless flames shot out, falling like meteors below.
However, even without its head, the fire Flood Dragon's body continued to move and dodge.
It was a fire spirit incarnated, inherently without a physical body; to truly kill it, one had to destroy its nascent spiritual soul.
Once the spiritual soul was annihilated, it would revert to a ball of flame.
Seeing that his fire spirit was no match for that Spirit Beast and was severely wounded, Kuyao couldn't help but become anxious, so he suddenly erupted.
A crystal-clear crimson flying knife flew from his palm, heading directly towards the elder surnamed Ma's silver ruler.
Crimson light and silver light intertwined and entangled, inextricably linked.
Then he took out two small red banners, each about an inch long. The banners expanded rapidly with the wind, becoming about a foot in size.
"It seems your fire spirit is no match for the Spirit Beast on my side. You want to help? Dream on!"
The elder surnamed Ma suddenly erupted with five-colored light around him—it was a formation diagram.
Under his activation, the formation diagram shot into the sky, and then five-colored Aura burst forth. A huge Bagua diagram suddenly appeared in the Aura, covering dozens of feet, and crashed down.
The red banners collided with the Bagua diagram, their path forcibly cut off.
Kuyao's expression changed. He no longer cared about his fire spirit and fully activated the red banners to resist the descent of the grand formation.
Without his fire spirit by his side, once trapped, he would have no way to escape.
On Crimson Crow's side, several consecutive attacks had already torn the fire Flood Dragon into several pieces.
Although not dead, its incarnated body had exploded, severely wounding it.
He opened his mouth, and a terrifying suction force erupted. The fire Flood Dragon resisted with all its might, but was ultimately swallowed into Crimson Crow's belly.
Crimson Crow let out a joyful, sharp cry that shattered the Fire Cloud at the edge of the sky. He flew directly into the distance without looking back.
With the death of his fire spirit, Kuyao, whose mind was connected to it, immediately suffered a severe backlash, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, his aura plummeting.
The Mulan Dharma Idols, seeing this, then understood that the Spirit Beast was not the elder surnamed Ma's Spirit Beast, and immediately became enraged.
Seeing Kuyao on the verge of despair, they immediately attacked the Bagua diagram, and a ray of Aura swept him away.
The elder surnamed Ma smiled and said, "I never said it was my Spirit Beast, did I? It flew over on its own, wanting to devour your fire spirit. What does that have to do with me?"
"Despicable!" the tall, thin Yuanying Stage Dharma Idol cursed.
The elder surnamed Ma didn't mind. Kuyao's fire spirit was destroyed, and he was severely wounded. He would likely find it difficult to participate in the subsequent battles. If he did, he would probably only have strength slightly stronger than a late stage Core Formation Cultivator, which was negligible.
"We're not petty either. Since you think it's unfair, let's call this round a draw."
Han Li and the others smiled slightly. Although they hadn't killed him, they had severely wounded the opponent, which was enough of an achievement. As for not killing him, there would be plenty of Opportunities in the future.
After Crimson Crow flew back to Li Feiyu's side, Li Feiyu helped him conceal his aura. They were fifty li away, quietly observing.
"Return to the Void Garden Pearl and refine it well. Strive to Break through early."
Crimson Crow nodded and entered the Void Garden Pearl, flying to his old nest, the huge Fusang Tree. His aura connected with it, and he fully refined the fire spirit within his body.
In the battlefield, the Black Robed Cultivator suddenly let out a sinister, low laugh and said, "That Spirit Beast is extraordinary. I wonder which one of you here it belongs to?"
Han Li smiled and said, "Didn't you see it fly away? Why would you think it belongs to one of us?"
The Black Robed Cultivator's eyes flickered, "Then I must have been overthinking."
He flew into mid-air, his gaze fixed on the people opposite, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
"Your next opponent is me. It's still a fight to the death."
The Black Robed Cultivator's voice was calm, yet it exuded arrogance. Although the bald-browed elder and the others were annoyed, they truly didn't dare to rashly go up and fight.
Just as everyone hesitated, Han Li volunteered.
He leaped up, transforming into a streak of green light, and rushed over.
With the Divine Devilbane Lightning in hand, he had a great restraint over Cultivators of the demonic and ghostly paths, fearing even the peak of the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.
Innumerable black Qi emerged from around the Black Robed Cultivator's body, and gusts of Yin Qi blew within the black Qi.
He laughed wildly and formed hand seals, his body suddenly swelling by about a factor of one and a half, becoming a giant over two zhang tall.
With the Yin Qi obscuring his face, Han Li couldn't see his features, but the next moment, a blue light flashed in his eyes as he activated his Bright Clarity Spirit Eye Divine Ability.
The giant's green face and fangs clearly appeared in his vision.
Han Li's brows immediately furrowed, because the opponent's appearance was almost identical to one of the phantoms displayed by Wen Tianren when he used the Six Extremes Demonic Technique.
This was truly incredible!
Could it be that Archsaint Six Paths had also come to Heavenly South?
His expression sank, and he asked, "What is Your Excellency's relationship with Archsaint Six Paths?"
"What Archsaint Six Paths? Stop talking nonsense and stalling for time. Just obediently accept death."
The Black Robed big man suddenly waved his hand, and a huge ghostly claw, accompanied by black Qi, rapidly grabbed at Han Li.
Han Li's body shifted, moving extremely fast, and the opponent's ghostly claw naturally missed.
The Black Robed big man's expression tightened.
Han Li chuckled, "So Your Excellency cultivates Demonic Path Cultivation Technique, but this appearance indeed makes one easily suspect that you cultivate the ghostly Dao. However, if that were truly the case, that person would probably suffer a great loss."
The Black Robed big man looked displeased and attacked continuously, but Han Li dodged all of them.
"It seems you have truly seen a ghostly Dao Cultivator!"
"Naturally."
"But so what? Under my Heavenly Fiend True Demonic Technique, you are absolutely no match!"
The Black Robed big man suddenly let out a fierce roar, his voice piercing through metal and cracking stone.
Then, the black Qi around him spun rapidly like a whirlwind, an astonishing Devilish Qi erupted, and a black shadow shot out from the black Qi tornado, reaching Han Li in the blink of an eye.
Han Li, with a solemn expression, was well-prepared. He raised his hand and conjured a pale golden lightning net.
The Black Robed big man initially didn't care, but the moment his palm touched the lightning net, a piercing pain shot through him, making him almost unbearable.
The pale golden lightning net, under Han Li's control, tried to reverse and envelop the Black Robed big man. The big man recognized the origin of these pale golden lightning arcs, his mind was greatly shaken, and without time to think, he immediately contracted his body, turning into a three-foot-tall dwarf, and then quickly retreated.
He narrowly escaped the encirclement of the lightning net.
Afterward, his body returned to normal size, his face pale.
"How is this possible?! How can it still exist in this world! Shouldn't it have been exterminated long ago?!"
Han Li sneered, spreading his five fingers, his body rapidly shifting. The pale golden lightning net reappeared, finally trapping him inside.
He was not at ease, so he added several more layers.
Immediately after, the lightning net erupted with a massive amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning, each bolt as thick as a baby's arm, possessing astonishing power.
Within the lightning, the Black Robed big man's screams continuously echoed, and in just a moment, he fell silent.
Not only the elder surnamed Ma and the bald-browed big man, but even the two Divine Masters on the opposite side looked horrified, their eyes wide and fixed, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Divine Master Kuyao and the tall, thin Divine Master originally intended to have the other Dharma Idols swarm forward, but for some reason, they announced a retreat.
On the Huanglong Mountain side, they had always focused on defense. Although they had one severely wounded and one killed this time, they did not dare to launch a large-scale attack easily.
If they were trapped, then Huanglong Mountain would truly be in danger.
That night, the Mulan spy, the Nascent Soul Cultivator surnamed Gu, tried to kill the bald-browed big man to destroy the grand formation, but he fell into Han Li and the others' trap.
Han Li had detected his sound transmission with a mysterious Mulan Divine Master during the day, learned its content, and informed the other two.
They turned the tables, luring the snake out of its hole.
Ultimately, the Cultivator surnamed Gu was killed by Han Li in one fell swoop.