Chapter 973: Pursuit

Chapter 973: Pursuit

Gu Qianxun watched as Han Li drew closer and closer, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

"You can let go of the thing that's in your hand. Surely there's no need to use that on me," Han Li said.

Gu Qianxun relaxed a little upon hearing this, and he stowed away the white jade pendant that she was holding, then sat down before pulling her own legs out of the ground.

"Why did you help me when I already turned on you earlier?" Gu Qianxun asked after devouring a beast core.

"I met Mistress Liu Hua earlier, and he removed the Black Tribulation Centipede in my body, so I'm helping you as a form of repayment to him," Han Li explained.

"You met him? How is he?" Gu Qianxun hurriedly asked.

"He's doing well. He should currently be with E Kuai right now, traveling to where the holy remains are," Han Li replied, and a look of relief appeared on Gu Qianxun's face upon hearing this.

"Who exactly are you?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"I'm sure you've already figured it out at this point, haven't you? I'm a pawn left in the Scalptia Spatial Domain by His Highness, Shi Pokong. If it wasn't for his protection, I would've already perished by Du Qingyang's hands alongside my mother, and it's all thanks to him that I was able to survive and exact my revenge. Hence, I was obligated to follow his orders to eliminate Shi Zhanfeng and Shi Chuankong," Gu Qianxun replied.

Gu Qianxun's reply confirmed the suspicions that Han Li had harbored ever since their previous encounter, and he nodded calmly in response.

A wry smile appeared on Gu Qianxun's face as she sighed, "If possible, I really don't want to be your enemy."

"You can go after Shi Zhanfeng as you please. In fact, I can even help you kill him if you need, but if you go after Shi Chuankong again, then I'll have no choice but to strike you down," Han Li warned.

Mixed emotions flashed through Gu Qianxun's eyes upon hearing this, and she offered no response.

"Shi Zhanfeng should be far away by now, so you shouldn't be in any more danger. This is where we part ways," Han Li said, then turned and departed without any hesitation.

Gu Qianxun remained seated in silence for a long while before rising to her feet.

She was still looking a little unsteady on her feet as she strode over to her bone spear before picking it up, then took a deep breath before setting off in the same direction that Han Li had just departed in.

At this moment, Han Li was racing along with slightly furrowed brows, and there were many thoughts running through his mind.

He had thought that this trip into the Scalptia Spatial Domain would only be a brief one, and that he would be able to quickly return after finding Violet Spirit, but he had inadvertently become caught up in the conflict between Profound City and Puppet City.

That was already quite a pain in the backside, and now that it had become clear that Shi Zhanfeng and Shi Pokong also had some involvement in this place, the circumstances had only become more complicated.

Compared with Shi Zhanfeng, Han Li was more wary of Shi Pokong. The fact that Gu Qianxun was a pawn of his clearly indicated that he had already been exerting his influence upon the Scalptia Spatial Domain for a very long time.

The only reason that they could be interested in a place as barren and desolate as the Scalptia Spatial Domain had to be the holy remains in the Great Ruins.

With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but wonder if that was also why Shi Chuankong had willingly accompanied him into the Scalptia Spatial Domain.

Right at this moment, he suddenly spotted a black stone chair, which was standing upright and completely unscathed amid all of the wreckage.

He strode over to the chair, and after conducting a brief examination, a faint smile appeared on his face.

He grabbed onto the back of the chair with both hands, then twisted it to the side, and a grating noise rang out as a pitch-black passageway that led underground appeared beside the chair.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li jumped down into the passageway, then followed the stone staircase inside downward.

After walking several thousand feet through the darkness, he reached the bottom of the staircase, arriving at an opening.

Han Li slowed down to ensure that he was walking as quietly as possible, but as he drew close to the opening, he abruptly channeled his Wingform Ascension Arts and flew inside in a flash.

From there, he immediately swung around to inspect his surroundings, and he was relieved to see that there was no ambush waiting for him.

He quickly ducked behind a large rock, then carefully cast his gaze forward.

Up ahead was a giant lake of blood that was tens of thousands of feet in size, and the blood inside was constantly rippling slightly.

The surface of the lake was enshrouded under a layer of crimson light, and Han Li could see a crystal coffin floating on the surface of the lake at its very center.

The coffin was tapered from top to bottom, and it was over a hundred feet in size. It was transparent and flawless, and there was an extremely complex array engraved upon it.

Upon close examination, Han Li discovered that the core of the array was a pentagram design, but there were at least five other arrays branching out from it, all of which were interconnected in an extremely profound fashion.

Inside the coffin was a skeleton that was over a hundred feet tall, and all of its bones were as translucent as jade.

There were some sharp horns on the skeleton's skull, and there were also long tusks protruding out of its mouth. Furthermore, the entire skeleton was covered in a layer of scale-like patterns.

Right at this moment, Han Li detected Daoist Xie's aura, but it was extremely faint, and he was unable to ascertain Daoist Xie's exact location.

He closed his eyes to carefully examine the aura with his spiritual sense, but just a few seconds later, his eyes sprang open again as a bewildered look appeared on his face.

To his surprise, he discovered that his spiritual connection with Daoist Xie was gradually becoming weaker and weaker.

Right at this moment, an angry voice rang out from the other side of the lake of blood.

"Are you still not ready to repent, you traitor?"

Han Li hurriedly turned his gaze in that direction to discover Sha Xin and the Puppet City cultivators locked in a confrontation against E Kuai.

Mistress Liu Hua was standing behind E Kuai, while Shi Chuankong was laying at E Kuai's feet, and it was unclear whether he was unconscious or bound by some type of restriction.