Chapter 950: Eliminating Potential Threats

Chapter 950: Eliminating Potential Threats

A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face in response to E Kuai's proposal, and he was hesitating about whether to go or not when Shi Chuankong's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Given that our teleportation tokens are fake, there's currently no way for us to return to the Holy Realm. If there's any place in the Scalptia Spatial Domain that can take us back, then it can most likely only be somewhere deep in these Great Ruins."

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

"Do you have some qualms, Fellow Daoist Li?" E Kuai asked in an amicable fashion.

"Truth be told, I currently have a Black Tribulation Centipede in my body, and that's always been a major threat looming over my head. If something goes wrong, I could lose my life at any moment, and my life may not matter much, but my demise could hamper our Profound City's plans, and that would be catastrophic," Han Li explained.

"A Black Tribulation Centipede? Isn't that something that you can get rid of, Fellow Daoist Liu Hua?" E Kuai asked as he turned to Mistress Liu Hua.

"It's... a long story. So be it, I'll get rid of his Black Tribulation Centipede," Mistress Liu Hua said with slightly furrowed brows, then led Han Li out of the palace.

All of a sudden, Mistress Liu Hua turned around with a dark expression as he said, "Did you plan to force my hand here and extort me into removing your Black Tribulation Centipede?"

"Please don't misunderstand, Senior Liu Hua. I only dared to bring up this matter because I heard from Fellow Daoist Gu that you were planning to remove my Black Tribulation Centipede after we leave the Great Ruins anyway," Han Li hurriedly explained.

"She told you everything already, did she? I should've known," Mistress Liu Hua grumbled.

"Speaking of Fellow Daoist Gu, have you seen her after entering the Great Ruins?" Han Li asked.

"I'm afraid not. At the time, the situation was very chaotic, and I wanted her to stick close to me, but we were separated anyway. It sounds like you haven't encountered her either, right?" Mistress Liu Hua replied with a concerned expression.

"Rest assured, Senior, I'm sure Fellow Daoist Gu is fine," Han Li replied, not directly answering the question.

"The fact that you're concerned for her safety tells me that you're not some heartless bastard. Otherwise, even if I'm acting under City Lord E's orders, I wouldn't have fully removed the Black Tribulation Centipede from your body. Alright, let's begin now," Mistress Liu Hua sighed.

Han Li could only nod in response with a wry smile.

Shortly thereafter, the two of them returned to the hall together, and the threat of the Black Tribulation Centipede was finally lifted.

"Can we set off now, Fellow Daoist Li?" E Kuai asked with a smile.

"Of course. Thank you for your patience, City Lord E," Han Li replied as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Alright, let's go!" E Kuai ordered, and everyone began to make their way out of the hall.

However, they hadn't gone very far when the entire hall suddenly began to tremble, and countless rapidly widening cracks appeared on its walls, while loose rocks came tumbling down from above.

"This place is about to collapse! We have to get out of here!" Sun Tu exclaimed, and a slight panic began to set in.

However, Han Li already knew what to expect, so he remained calm and composed.

This was naturally quite an alarming turn of events, but everyone remained calm and collected as they drew their weapons to clash against the puppets.

It didn't take long for Han Li to cut down two of the puppets with his white scimitar, and to his dismay, these crimson puppets also had full sets of internal organs and silver fluid flowing in their bodies.

The superior craftsmanship granted them far more power and speed than the snake, wolf, and tiger-headed puppets from the previous altar, and with so many of them pouring out of the ground, it was going to be extremely difficult to escape from this place.

With that in mind, he took a glance at E Kuai and Mistress Liu Hua, and he was surprised to see that the two of them were looking quite calm and confident.

"Not to worry, everyone, these puppets can be easily dealt with. Fellow Daoist Liu Hua, I'll get you to do the honors," E Kuai said, and Mistress Liu Hua nodded in response before swiping a hand over his own waist, upon which a gray incense burner appeared in his grasp.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this.

This incense burner seemed to also be a star artifact, and as Mistress Liu Hua chanted an incantation, a large plume of gray smoke surged out of the burner before rapidly spreading to encompass a huge area in the span of just a few seconds.

As soon as the nearby puppets were caught within the gray smoke, their movements were instantly slowed down significantly, while their attacks also became feeble and powerless, but the smoke had no effect on Han Li and the others.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the puppets within the gray smoke, and he discovered that the silver fluid in their bodies had become far more viscous than before, thereby significantly slowing down its circulation.

An enlightened look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

Everyone was ecstatic to see this, and they hurriedly pounced on this opportunity to eradicate all of the nearby puppets, quickly clearing out a large area.

The remaining puppets seemed to be very apprehensive of this gray smoke, and all of them lingered outside the area encompassed within the gray smoke while roaring like wild beasts.

Sun Tu exchanged a glance with Chen Yang, then smiled as he said, "Impressive as always, Fellow Daoist Liu Hua. May I ask what this gray smoke is? It seems like these puppets are very fearful of it."

"It's just a little trick used to subdue these puppets, it can hardly be termed as impressive," Mistress Liu Hua replied in an indifferent manner.

Under E Kuai's instructions, everyone set off once again, and the gray smoke followed them wherever they went, maintaining a safe zone that was close to ten thousand feet in radius around them.

With the cloud of gray smoke hanging over them, the surrounding puppets posed no threat at all, and it didn't take long before everyone left the city, then emerged from the entire oasis.

Much to everyone's relief, the puppets in this place seemed to be bound to the oasis, so they didn't pursue everyone any further.

Even with the protection of the cloud of gray smoke, being surrounded by tens of thousands of hostile puppets was still not a good feeling.

E Kuai seemed to be aware of the location of the restricted area, and after leaving the oasis, he led everyone straight to that crimson river before continuing in the downstream direction.

Two months flew by in a flash, and everyone finally emerged from the crimson desert.

The ground up ahead gradually turned from red to black, and the air suddenly became very humid. The starpower in the air was even more abundant in this place, and the earth was dotted with vegetation, forming a lush rainforest.

Given the diverse environments that the Great Ruins had displayed thus far, no one was surprised to see a rainforest here, but there was a cloud of faint black mist permeating throughout the forest, shrouding the entire area in an air of mystery.