"Maybe it's because it's been too long, and there's something wrong with the formation here.
When you came here last time, the formation wasn't fully triggered, and the puppet wasn't fully awakened, so you were lucky to escape with your life. "Han Li said slowly after pondering for a while.
When the Cold Flame Ancestor heard Han Li's words, he couldn't help but feel lucky. At the same time, he felt a chill down his spine. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, he heard Han Li suddenly shout, "It's coming!"
As soon as that voice rang out, Han Li had already disappeared from where he was standing.
In the next moment, his figure appeared above the copper puppet's head. He made a strange sword gesture with both hands and pressed down heavily.
The void under his palm rippled, and a green longsword overflowing with light flashed out from it, slashing down toward the copper puppet's head.
A burst of electric light surged, and the green longsword suddenly lit up with a dazzling golden light. Layers of thick and solid golden electric threads surged out from it, enveloping the entire sword, and heavily slashed on the top of the copper puppet's head.
"Boom!" A loud sound rang out.
A golden lightning vortex of several meters high appeared out of thin air in the hall. As it whistled and rotated, sporadic golden electric threads constantly burst out in all directions, hitting the layer of purple-golden light curtain, causing a series of chain electric sounds.
The Cold Flame Ancestor stared at the vortex, but he couldn't see the copper puppet's figure at all. He could only feel the majestic and violent power contained in the golden lightning.
"Is it dead …" he thought in his heart.
However, after a few seconds, a strange sound came from the golden lightning vortex, making his heart shudder.
He saw a white jade-like thick arm, almost transparent, suddenly poking out from the exit above the vortex. The five fingers clenched into a fist and smashed toward the green longsword surging with electric light above.
"Boom!" There was a loud noise.
A white nebula burst from the fist, and countless blue light spots appeared in it. Under the alternating flickering, it was like a sky full of twinkling stars on a clear night. It was beautiful.
Immediately afterward, an extremely violent force was suddenly released from it. Layers of white light surged in all directions, pushing the Golden Lightning Vortex to expand and grow.
At the same time, the blue stars within the white light were annihilated one by one, and a destructive aura was emitted from within.
With a furious roar, the white light that had already expanded explosively exploded once again.
The golden lightning vortex was finally overwhelmed, and it exploded with a loud boom. Countless golden arcs of lightning shot out in all directions like golden snakes, striking the purple-gold light curtain in succession, causing a series of lightning flashes and thunder rolls.
The Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that were slashing down from the sky were also sent flying by this tremendous force.
The sword struck the purple-gold light screen above the roof, and after sparks were ignited, it was bounced back. Just as it was about to pierce into the ground, Han Li grabbed the hilt of the sword and held it in his hand.
The green long sword trembled incessantly, and even his arm trembled slightly.
Han Li's face was slightly pale, and his breathing was a little rapid. Obviously, he had also suffered a great shock.
He frowned and looked at the center of the hall. He saw that the bronze puppet had completely changed at this moment. Its whole body was extremely transparent, and its color was no different from green jade. There were blue light spots all over its body.
At this moment, there were still faint arcs of lightning jumping on its body, but it did not care at all. It just raised its hand and wiped them off. Then, it lifted its foot, and its figure became blurred. Like a flash of light, it instantly appeared in front of Han Li.
One of its arms was raised, but it did not clench into a fist. Instead, it chopped toward Han Li's neck with the force of a knife.
Because its speed was so incredible, Han Li did not have time to defend himself. He was hit by it, and only heard a "bang" sound. His head was dizzy, and then his whole body flew out and hit the purple-gold light curtain.
The light curtain immediately burst with lightning, bursting with dazzling sparks.
The Cold Flame Ancestor cried out in alarm. He wanted to flash over, but after glancing at the Golden Immortal puppet, he hesitated again and again. In the end, he stopped moving and did not dare to move.
However, after the puppet knocked down Han Li, it did not continue to pursue him. Instead, it turned around and looked at him with a pair of emotionless silver eyes.
The Cold Flame Ancestor felt a chill run down his back. He glanced at the greenish-gray stone slab in his hand, and hurriedly threw it far away like a hot potato.
It was unknown whether it was intentional or not, but the stone slab flew dozens of feet away and landed at Han Li's feet.
Han Li had just fallen from the purple-gold light curtain. His body was still emitting white smoke, and his clothes had many scorch marks. He looked quite miserable.
He bent down to pick up the bluish-gray slate with one hand on the sword. After looking at it for a moment, he grinned slightly and put it away.
After seeing this scene, the Golden Immortal puppet seemed to be completely enraged. Its figure blurred again, turned into a stream of light, and shot toward Han Li.
Its palm was still in the shape of a knife, and the white light condensed on it made a "chi chi" sound, condensing into a sawtooth-shaped white flame, and pierced straight toward Han Li's heart.
This time, Han Li was prepared.
A glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, and the golden light behind him surged violently. A golden treasure wheel emerged, and the remaining dozens of Dao patterns on it that could still be used lit up at the same time, emitting a layer of golden ripples that enveloped him.
When the Golden Immortal puppet's arm pierced through the ripples, it suddenly seemed to fall into the river of time, and became extremely slow.
However, all the blue light spots on its body became brighter at this time, and the fluorescent white light on its body seemed to come to life, crazily rushing toward its arm.
Then, Han Li was surprised to find that the flame on the Golden Immortal puppet's knife turned from white to blue, and its range almost doubled, crazily cutting the golden ripples around it.
The golden ripples released by the Wheel of Truth actually became a little unstable. The arm that was imprisoned in it actually began to advance again. Although its speed wasn't fast, it was obvious that the influence of the Wheel of Truth on it was reduced by a hundred times.
This kind of situation had never happened before.
"Fellow Daoist Xie, are you still not ready?" Han Li asked while struggling to destroy the Wheel of Truth.
"Alright, now's the time." A voice rang out from the void.
Before the voice died away, a golden light suddenly flew out of Han Li's body, suddenly enlarged in mid-air, and turned into a golden lightning waterfall that surged down, filling the entire hall in an instant.
There was no longer any place to stand in the hall, and it was as if the hall had been transformed into a golden pool of lightning.
Ever since he entered the hall, the Icy Flame Patriarch had been shocked too many times, and the muscles on his face were somewhat stiff.
At this moment, his mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were a little unfocused as he activated a set of azure bells with all his might, transforming them into an azure light barrier to protect himself.
Within the pool of lightning in the hall, a huge golden crab emerged. Its massive golden crab shell pressed against the purplish-golden light barrier above the roof, and two streaks of lightning crisscrossed and crackled incessantly.
One of its huge pincers that was enshrouded in golden lightning abruptly reached out and clamped onto the Golden Immortal puppet's waist.
Two intertwining streaks of golden lightning flashed past, and the purplish-golden light barrier enshrouding the hall was instantly torn apart.
The purplish-golden light barrier that enveloped the hall was instantly torn apart, and the light dissipated before disappearing. At the same time, a massive crack appeared on the walls and roof of the hall, splitting it in half.
As the golden lightning gradually dissipated, the pool of lightning in the hall also began to contract before flowing into the body of the golden crab. Light flashed, and it transformed into a man in a yellow robe with thin eyebrows; it was none other than Daoist Xie.
Daoist Xie glanced at the two halves of the Golden Immortal puppet on the ground, and said, "Friend Han, the immortal essence stones you gave me earlier have all been used up."
"That's alright, I'll make up for it later. Thank you very much," Han Li said as he stowed away the Wheel of Truth.
"There's no need for that.
In my opinion, this Golden Immortal puppet is quite extraordinary. Even though its intelligence was intentionally suppressed during the refinement process, its abilities are similar to those of a Profound Immortal, and it's actually quite powerful. If it weren't for the fact that you and I joined forces, we wouldn't have been able to defeat it so easily, "Daoist Xie said.
What he was implying was that he hoped that Han Li wouldn't waste it.
"I'll keep it safe. Do you have a way to repair it and refine it after we leave this place, Fellow Daoist Xie?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
"I didn't hold back in that attack, and I've already damaged its puppet core, so it's hard to say whether I can repair it or not," Daoist Xie replied.
The Golden Immortal puppet had reverted back to its original copper humanoid form, and its upper and lower body had been severed from its right rib all the way to its left hip. There was a dark golden metal ball at the upper part of its abdomen, and there was also a long and narrow crack on it.
Han Li was slightly disappointed to see this, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. After all, this was a battle against a Golden Immortal, so if he were to hold back, then he would be courting death.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave."
Daoist Xie glanced at Icy Flame Patriarch, who was leaning against the door, before flying into Han Li's sleeve as a streak of golden light.
Han Li waved a hand to stash away the two halves of the Golden Immortal puppet before making his way toward the rear palace.
Icy Flame Patriarch looked on at Han Li's departing figure as he slumped behind the door with cold sweat all over his body.
At this moment, he finally realized just how big of a gap there was between them, and he finally realized just how foolish his actions had been.
Han Li walked around the massive screen and saw a secret door that was wide enough for two people to fit inside.
After passing through the door, he arrived at the rear palace.
The rear palace was relatively sealed off with no windows, so there was no light shining in, but it wasn't dark inside.
The surrounding walls seemed to have been coated with a layer of fluorescent stone powder, and there were specks of light flashing on the surface, making them appear like stars in the night sky.
There was a square bronze platform at the center of the rear hall. It was only 30 centimeters in size, and it was inscribed with numerous complicated patterns.
There were a series of complex patterns carved onto its surface, and there were two indentations on its surface.
Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this.