Chapter 714: Pulling Out the Saber

"Why do I feel like I've fallen for a ruse? So be it, I'll tell you what you want to know. It's true that I'm not the artifact spirit of this saber. Instead, I was previously but one of the souls trapped in the saber after I met my demise to it. However, thanks to my lofty cultivation base, my soul wasn't completely assimilated by the boundless resentful energy within the saber.

“Instead, I was able to glean some of the saber's secrets, and that allowed me to survive in this form up to this point," Shi Qinghou revealed.

"Who were you before you were killed, and what was your cultivation base?" Han Li asked as a hint of astonishment flashed through his eyes.

At the moment, his spiritual sense was no weaker than that of late-High Zenith cultivators like Su Liu and Bi She, but even he wasn't able to ward off the boundless resentment within the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber.

However, not only was Shi Qinghou able to do this, he was even able to gain control over the saber, and that was something that Han Li had to be wary of.

"Don't push your luck, you insolent brat! Do you want me to tell you my entire life story and all of the cultivation arts I've used up to this point? I require your help, but that doesn't mean that you can ask for whatever you want from me!" Shi Qinghou said in a cold voice.

Han Li hurriedly cupped his fist in an apologetic salute as he said, "My apologies, Senior. All you have to do is answer the three questions that I raised earlier."

Due to his cautious and inquisitive personality, he reflexively wanted to find out more about Shi Qinghou, but in his haste to do so, he had inadvertently overstepped some boundaries.

Shi Qinghou gave a cold harrumph before replying, "Before I was killed, I was the monarch of a certain region in the Gray Realm, and the person who killed me was Yin Chengquan, the monarch of the Infernal Region."

After revealing all of this, he closed his eyes, unwilling to divulge any more information.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing these three answers, and he was silent for a long while before continuing, "Alright, my first condition has been met. My second condition is that I want to set up some restrictions in your body to use as leverage."

"That's fine," Shi Qinghou agreed without any hesitation, not even bothering to ask what type of restrictions Han Li was going to plant in his body.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he then quickly composed himself as he cupped his fist toward Shi Qinghou in an apologetic salute.

"Please pardon my intrusion."

Shi Qinghou drifted out of the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber over to Han Li, who began to chant an incantation, then bit through the tip of his own tongue before spitting out a ball of blood essence.

The blood essence began to squirm like a living creature at his behest, quickly transforming into countless peculiar crimson runes.

At this moment, Han Li's glabella was flashing with translucent light, and several translucent threads shot out from within before fusing as one with the crimson runes, following which all of them vanished into Shi Qinghou's glabella.

A series of crimson patterns instantly emerged on Shi Qinghou's glabella, and they quickly spread over the rest of his body in the blink of an eye.

However, these crimson runes only flashed a few times before fading away, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

Even though the burst of resentful power hadn't yet infiltrated Han Li's mind, it was so immense that Han Li still felt his consciousness churning violently.

He gritted his teeth against the intense discomfort as he channeled all of his immortal spiritual power while hoisting his arm upward in a forceful motion.

A burst of tremendous force erupted out of his arms, causing the nearby space to ripple incessantly.

The entire stone platform shuddered violently, as did all of the black light radiating from the array, and the connective point between the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber and the stone platform was buzzing and trembling violently, but the saber remained firmly in place.

Han Li immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and a string of true spirit projections flew out of his body in rapid succession, then flew around him momentarily before vanishing back into his body.

A resounding boom rang out as radiant purplish-golden light erupted out of his body, and he instantly transformed into a purplish-golden devilish deity.

His aura instantly swelled drastically, causing the entire pond to tremble violently, and the devilish deity's eyes widened as it let loose a low roar and tugged on the saber with all its might.

An explosive boom rang out as the connective point between the saber and the stone platform shattered, leaving a huge hole in its wake.

The devilish deity flew back with the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber held firmly in its grasp before crashing into the side of the pond.

With the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber drawn, the black light emanating from the restriction on the stone platform quickly faded, following which the stone platform itself also disintegrated into a pile of loose rocks.

A ball of white light flew out of the stone platform before vanishing into the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber, and the black light emanating from the saber was instantly suppressed.

Shi Qinghou emerged from the saber amid a flash of white light, and his eyes were glowing with elation as he roared, "Finally, after being trapped in this godforsaken place for so many years, I'm finally free! Yin Chengquan, you'll get what's coming to you for what you've done to me!"

Meanwhile, the devilish deity rapidly reverted back to Han Li's human form, and it observed Shi Qinghou in silence without disrupting him.

Shi Qinghou threw his head back and let loose a thunderous roar, venting all of the fury and indignation that had been accumulating within him for countless years.

Some time later, the excitement on his face slowly faded, and he turned to Han Li with a smile as he said, "My apologies, I've been trapped here for so long that I was unable to suppress my excitement upon being freed."

"It's fine, I can empathize with how you must be feeling," Han Li replied.

"Now that I'm free, let's get out of here. We caused quite a commotion just now, so someone could be coming," Shi Qinghou said.

Han Li nodded in response, then turned his gaze to the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber in his hand. Even though Shi Qinghou had suppressed the resentful energy within the saber, it was still giving off a tremendous aura, and he was trying to think of a way to suppress its aura as well.

Shi Qinghou could see what Han Li was concerned about, and he said, "Those black crystals are Mythical Black Jade, and they're very effective at concealing baleful qi and resentful energy. Make a scabbard out of the material, and you'll be able to conceal most of the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber's aura."