Chapter 971: Extraordinary Aptitude
Even though the eight spider legs were extremely fast, the white figure was even faster, and in the blink of an eye, he was able to grab onto all eight spider legs with his hands before snapping them with ease.
The white figure then hurled the eight snapped spider legs back at Zhuo Fa, sending them piercing into his chest.
As a result, Zhuo Fa was sent flying back through the air, and he twisted around in mid-air before a long, white chain shot out of his sleeve, then pierced into the ceiling with a loud crack.
He tugged forcefully onto the chain with one hand, launching himself into one of the holes on the ceiling, and this entire sequence of movements was performed in a very agile fashion, as if he hadn't sustained any injuries at all.
The white figure seemed to be rather taken aback by this, but instead of chasing after Zhuo Fa, then began to descend rapidly out of the sky.
The crimson shockwaves down below had only just subsided, and Hei Da immediately began fleeing toward the hole in the wall atop his silver panther puppet with a horrified look on his face.
However, right at this moment, the white figure abruptly appeared on the silver panther puppet's head in a wraith-like manner.
"Why are you in such a hurry, Fellow Daoist Hei Da?" the figure asked, and a burst of tremendous power erupted out of their body, instantly shattering the silver panther puppet's head.
Hei Da's first instinct was to flee, but it then occurred to him that there was no way he would be fast enough to escape from the white figure, so he stopped in his tracks again.
"You're a smart man, Fellow Daoist Hei Da. If you had dared to attempt an escape just now, you would've ended up just like this puppet," the white figure said as they stomped onto what little remained of the silver panther puppet's head, and its enormous body was instantly sent crashing into the ground.
Hei Da shuddered as a fearful look flashed through his eyes, and he remained completely still on the spot, not daring to make any false moves.
All of a sudden, a hole was blasted into the wall in the distance, and Wu Yun and Hei Er rushed out of the hole as quickly as they could.
The white figure had come from within the Weeping Blood Array, so he was clearly one of the two Profound City cultivators inside. With that in mind, the two of them immediately abandoned Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing to flee for their lives.
Zhu Ziqing was just about to turn and flee as well, only to be stopped by Zhu Ziyuan, and the two of them spoke briefly through voice transmission before making their way toward the white figure together.
Zhu Ziyuan's body was riddled with wounds, but he was still standing as straight as ever, and he cupped his fist in a grateful salute toward the white figure as he said, "Thank you for saving us, Fellow Daoist Li."
Zhu Ziqing also quickly followed suit.
The white light around the figure quickly faded to reveal none other than Han Li.
"Those two left on their own, so you have nothing to thank me for," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.
He harbored no animosity toward the Zhu siblings. However, now that he had become sworn enemies with E Kuai, he naturally didn't consider the two of them to be his allies, either.
"In any case, you saved our lives, and for that, I owe you a favor, Fellow Daoist Li. I'll be sure to repay you in the future, but for now, we'll be taking our leave," Zhu Ziyuan said, then began making his way toward the nearest hole in the wall.
Zhu Ziqing took a glance at Han Li, and it seemed like she wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent as she followed along after Zhu Ziyuan.
The two of them quickly leaped out of the hole in the wall and vanished out of sight.
"Fellow Daoist Li, may I ask why you've instructed me to stay behind?" Hei Da asked with an uneasy expression.
With that, Hei Da gave Han Li a detailed explanation of how the secret technique worked.
It was a rather complex secret technique, but now that Han Li had already achieved elementary mastery over puppet manipulation, he was able to quickly master this secret technique as well, and before long, the Gold-Winged Falcon had shrunk down into a ball that was sitting on the palm of his hand.
Han Li gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, and Hei Da was very relieved to see that Han Li was in a good mood.
"Do you have any other questions for me, Fellow Daoist Li? I'll be sure to tell you everything I know," Hei Da said in a sycophantic manner.
"What are Puppet City's objectives for entering the Great Ruins?" Han Li asked.
"According to City Lord Sha, we have two objectives, one of which is to kill E Kuai, while the other is to obtain the holy remains. As for whether there are any other hidden objectives, that's beyond me," Hei Da replied.
Han Li was silent for a moment, then said in a serious manner, "I have one final question for you. If you can answer it well, then I'll let you leave."
"Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist Li," Hei Da hurriedly prompted.
"That woman in the purple robe that's been accompanying City Lord Sha this entire time, her name is Xiao Zi, right? What do you know about her? When did she first come to Puppet City?" Han Li asked.
"Xiao Zi has always been by City Lord Sha's side, and she never seems to communicate with anyone outside of City Lord Sha, so I'm afraid I don't know much about her at all. All I know is that she possesses exceptional talent in the art of puppet manipulation, so City Lord Sha holds her in very high regard.
“As for when did she first come to Puppet City, I only recently came out of a period of seclusion that lasted several centuries, and by the time I came out, she was already in our Puppet City. Apparently, she first arrived in our city over a century ago," Hei Da replied.
Han Li was silent for a long while upon hearing this, following which he raised his head and said, "Alright, you can go now."
Hei Da was ecstatic to hear this, and he cupped his fist in a parting salute before rushing out of the hall.
Han Li remained standing on the spot for a moment, then heaved a faint sigh before stowing away Zhuo Fa's white wolf puppet as well.
After that, he strode over to the pentagonal pond.
Even though the Weeping Blood Array had been completely destroyed, the pond remained largely unscathed.
At this point, the door of crimson light at the bottom of the pond had already vanished, but Fu Jian was laying on the bottom of the pond in a completely still manner.
Han Li jumped down into the pond before examining Fu Jian's condition with his spiritual sense.
At this point, it would be an understatement to describe Fu Jian's condition as dire. His bones, muscles, and organs were all on the verge of failure, and even his nascent soul was close to dissipating.
What little remained of his aura was rapidly fading, and it wasn't going to take long before it vanished altogether.
Han Li naturally harbored no positive feelings toward Fu Jian, but even so, he couldn't help but feel a hint of sorrow at the terrible fate that had befallen Fu Jian.
After taking a moment to compose himself, Han Li cast his gaze toward the spot where the door of crimson light had been just a moment ago, only to find that there wasn't even the slightest trace of it left behind.