Chapter 2342: Eight Buddha Devouring Ghosts
"I am indeed a member of the trade guild, and I was instructed to come here by the manager of the trade guild on the Blood Sky Continent, Master Bi Ying; he would like to see you, Senior Han," the woman replied in a respectful manner.
"Bi Ying? This is the first time I"m hearing this name, but seeing as he"s the manager of your guild on this continent, he must be quite a renowned figure. What would he like to see me for?" Han Li asked.
At this point, it was already apparent to him that Ming Zun had to have told this Bi Ying about him. Otherwise, why would this woman be here specifically for him.
"I"m afraid I don"t know the answer to that; I was merely instructed to invite you to meet with Master Bi Ying. If you have any questions, you can ask Master Bi Ying in person," the woman replied.
"Did Fellow Daoist Bi not tell you anything when he instructed you to come and see me? How is he so sure that I"ll agree to meet him?" Han Li chuckled coldly in response.
"Master Bi gave something to me prior to coming here, and he asked me to deliver it to you in person," the woman replied.
"Oh? Go ahead and show it to me," Han Li prompted as his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yes, please take a look, Senior." The woman immediately summoned a crimson scroll, which she offered up to Han Li with both hands.
Han Li swept a hand through the air to draw the scroll into his own grasp, then swept his spiritual sense toward it, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.
He opened the scroll to discover that there was an inky black image of eight ghosts devouring a buddha etched on the scroll.
The eight ghosts were extremely vicious in appearance, and they were wielding different types of bone weapons as they surrounded a monk with a blurry set of facial features.
The image was extremely life-like, and it seemed that the monk was on the verge of being dismembered and devoured.
Han Li"s expression remained unchanged as he appraised the image, but he was feeling rather perplexed internally about why he was being shown this image.
Right at this moment, a burst of crimson light suddenly flew out of the scroll before hurtling directly toward Han Li.
Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before instantly sweeping his spiritual sense toward the crimson light.
Upon determining what the crimson light was, he made no effort to evade and allowed himself to be swept up by the light, upon which he was drawn into the image in a flash.
The blood soul and the others were naturally very alarmed by this, and several bursts of black Qi immediately erupted out of Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+"s back.
The burst of black Qi then transformed into giant black pythons that were over 100 feet in length while Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+ appraised the woman with animosity in his eyes, preparing to strike as soon as she made any suspicious movements.
"Rest a.s.sured, fellow daoists, Senior Han is fine; he was merely drawn into the image by a wisp of Master Bi Ying"s soul for a private meeting, and he"ll return soon," the woman said in a calm manner.
"Is that true? If something happens to Master Han in there, don"t blame me for turning on you," Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+ threatened.
"If Senior Han doesn"t come out soon, then you can hold me accountable," the woman replied with a smile.
"She seems to be telling the truth, Brother s.h.i.+. Let"s wait here and see what happens. With Senior Han"s powers, I"m sure he won"t be in any danger," the blood soul said.
Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+ felt this to be reasonable, and he withdrew his giant pythons before standing off to the side with a dark expression.
Meanwhile, Zhu Guo"er was appraising the image with a hint of concern in her eyes.
The image was currently hovering in mid-air and enshrouded within crimson light that was able to keep out everyone"s spiritual sense.
There was even a b.l.o.o.d.y odor wafting out of the strange image.
The group of foreign beings nearby hurriedly concluded their discussion upon seeing this, then quickly flew away in fear of being swept up in whatever was happening.
Meanwhile, Fang Jin remained present with a faint smile on his face.
At the same time, Han Li was situated in a mysterious s.p.a.ce within the image, appraising a meditating grey-robed monk in front of him with slightly furrowed brows.
Judging from his attire, this monk was the same as the one that had been surrounded by the eight ghosts in the image.
However, the monk was currently as still as a statue, and the malicious ghosts were nowhere to be seen.
Han Li inspected his surroundings to find thick crimson mist that was as viscous as treacle all around him only just over 100 feet away.
There were wisps of baleful Qi surging within the blood mist, and as soon as his spiritual sense came into contact with this baleful Qi, the former would immediately become extremely sluggish as if it had come into contact with some glacial object.
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li"s eyes upon seeing this.
Right at this moment, a thunderous roar rang out within the blood mist, following which it parted to reveal eight sinister ghosts, each of which was over 100 feet tall. These ghosts were wearing beasthide garments on their lower bodies, while their upper bodies were completely bared.
They had pairs of strange horns on their heads, as well as ghostly patterns all over their skin, and they immediately surrounded Han Li as soon as they emerged from the mist.
"What"s the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Bi Ying?" Han Li suddenly asked in a cold voice as he turned to the monk with a dark expression.
The monk stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he opened a pair of bleary eyes, as if he hadn"t woken fully woken up yet. "Oh? How did you know I was here, Fellow Daoist Han?"
"I may not have been a Grand Ascension Stage being for long, but I"ve witnessed this type of spiritual sense technique in the past. I had thought that you had summoned this treasure to discuss something with me in private, so I allowed you to pull me in here, but it seems like you have some different intentions," Han Li said.
"Please don"t misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han; I did draw you in here as I had something to tell you, but this is a very important matter, and I must verify if you have what it takes to hear about this first. These eight Infernal Ghost Monarchs aren"t very powerful, but they"re wielding true Infernal Netherworld Winds. If a normal cultivator were to come into contact with even the slightest amount of this wind, they would immediately be eroded into nothingness, so even the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn"t dare to face this wind head-on.
"If you can traverse freely through this wind without using any treasures for 15 minutes, then you"ll have pa.s.sed my test, and I"ll be sure to offer you an apology, as well as disclose what I wish to discuss with you today. If you can"t do this, then I"ll have to eject you out of this image and pretend as if nothing ever happened," the monk replied in an expressionless manner.
Almost at the exact same moment, the eight ghosts let loose low roars before opening their mouths to release inky black gusts of Yin winds, forming ma.s.sive walls of wind that sealed away all avenues of escape before converging toward Han Li.
A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes at the sight of the oncoming Yin winds, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he said, "Opposing these Infernal Netherworld Winds without any treasures is an interesting challenge, but aren"t you underestimating me a little too much here?"
All of a sudden, a layer of golden light appeared over his body, and the black winds were kept at bay around 10 feet away from him, unable to advance any further.
The monk"s pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but he remained expressionless as he said, "Your powers are indeed incredible, Fellow Daoist, but don"t grow complacent; this isn"t the extent of the Infernal Netherworld Wind"s power; its capable of adjusting its own power depending on the power of its foe."
"Is that so? I"m very interested to see this Infernal Netherworld Wind in action then," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.
As soon as his voice trailed off, a burst of incredible power erupted out of the Yin winds, and the golden light released by Han Li was instantly compressed inward upon coming into contact with this tremendous force.
Even though the golden light was only forced back by about half a foot before it was bolstered by Han Li again, he was still rather intrigued to see this.
"This Infernal Netherworld Wind really is quite interesting; you wouldn"t mind if I took some for my own research, will you, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked.
The monk was rather taken aback by this request, but he replied with a faint smile, "If you"re capable of doing that, then go right ahead; I have plenty of this Yin wind in my possession."
"Alright, then pardon my intrusion," Han Li said as he made a hand seal, upon which the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.
The projection was over 100 feet tall with countless golden runes all over its body, and it was radiating scintillating golden light.
As soon as it appeared, it raised its six arms while chanting an incantation, and six golden b.a.l.l.s of light appeared over its palms, then sprang forth before combining to form a ma.s.sive golden vortex in front of Han Li.
Han Li pointed a finger at the vortex, and uttered the word "gather".
A loud rumbling immediately rang out, and countless golden runes surged out of the vortex alongside several bursts of enormous suction force.
As soon as the fearsome Yin wind came into contact with this suction force, it was drawn into the vortex as pillars of wind as if it had encountered the bane of its existence.
The pillars of wind plunged into the golden vortex, and it was as if they were erased out of existence.
The ma.s.sive black walls of wind were reduced to tatters in the blink of an eye.
Even the eight ghosts that were releasing black wind with all their might were beginning to involuntarily approach the golden vortex, unable to resist its suction force.