The Might of the Gold Brick

The bearded man noticed Han Li drawing out another talisman, but he was not worried. The wooden barrier he had conjured possessed formidable defensive power, and ordinary attacks were nothing in his eyes.

Besides, facing a novice at the eleventh layer, he did not believe the boy would possess any talismans of great power. At best, they would be low-grade elementary ones.

Thus, he continued walking forward without concern, opening the mouth of his pouch as if to release something.

But when he was unexpectedly trapped within a yellow light barrier and recognized the "Earth Imprisonment Technique," the bearded man’s expression finally changed. He sensed that something was wrong.

At that moment, a strange green snake with a pair of purple fleshy wings shot out from his pouch. The moment it appeared, it let out a series of harsh "croaks" and began battering the yellow light barrier in a frenzy, shaking it continuously. The creature possessed considerable strength.

Seeing this, the bearded man felt a flicker of hope. He took down another pouch, intending to release a second spirit beast to help break the Earth Imprisonment together. He was confident that it would take little time before he could break free!

When that happened, he would personally pull out each of the boy’s ribs, one by one, to vent the hatred in his heart.

Han Li paid no attention to the trapped enemy. Instead, his figure flickered as he charged straight toward the Heaven’s Fortress man. His movement was so swift that he seemed to flicker in and out of visibility along the way, even leaving a chain of afterimages in his wake—a truly ghostly display.

At the same time, he lightly tapped his storage pouch with his hand. The "Gold Cicada Mother-Child Blades" were suddenly replaced by a different, smaller magical tool, which he gripped firmly.

It was at this moment that the Heaven’s Fortress disciple finally awoke from his pleasant daydream. His eyes took in the bizarre scene before him, and his face changed dramatically. He hurriedly retreated, flipping his palm to reveal a talisman paper.

By now, Han Li was still at least eight or nine zhang away from him, which eased the man’s heart. There was ample time to activate the talisman.

But before he could infuse it with spiritual power, he watched in astonishment as Han Li, still charging forward, smiled at him mysteriously. Then, Han Li casually flicked his hand in his direction, a gesture as relaxed as greeting an old friend. At that very moment, the man felt a faint itch on his neck, as if a mosquito had bitten him.

The Heaven’s Fortress disciple was startled, but before he could grasp the meaning of the action, the world spun in a dizzying whirl. Then, his vision darkened, and he knew no more.

"Brother Yan!"

The Spirit Beast Mountain man with the bristly beard, standing off to the side, had witnessed everything with wide eyes. He cried out in shock.

He had clearly seen that when Han Li was a mere few zhang away from his friend, he had simply flicked his hand—and then his old friend’s head had tilted, his skull rolling to the ground with a dull thud, completely severed. The headless body continued to stagger backward a few steps before crumpling to the ground, a fountain of blood spraying several feet high from the severed neck.

The bearded man felt his hands and feet go cold, a chill running down his spine.

The method by which this man had killed his friend was too eerie! To kill someone at a distance with no visible means—he had watched closely, and the boy hadn’t used a single spell.

"Boy, when I get out, I’ll slice you into a thousand pieces!" he growled, forcing a vicious expression to bolster his own courage, even as cold sweat beaded on his forehead, a sense of mutual doom weighing on him.

But deep down, he had already made up his mind: the moment he broke free from the Earth Imprisonment, he would immediately flee far away. "A nobleman's revenge is never too late," after all!

This kid was too strange. Not only did he have a high-grade Earth Imprisonment Technique talisman, but he had also killed a man without a trace. This was not an easy fight! Revenge for his friend was important, but his own life mattered even more!

This seemingly fierce bearded man, it turned out, was a coward at heart, a bully who cowered before the strong. It was a truly unexpected revelation!

Han Li, of course, had no idea what the other man was thinking. He only saw that the man had summoned another beast—one resembling a pangolin—which, together with the strange snake, was violently assaulting the yellow barrier. The man himself had also summoned a pair of rod-shaped magical tools, joining the two spirit beasts in battering the light barrier, causing it to flicker alarmingly.

It seemed the Earth Imprisonment would not hold much longer!

Realizing this, Han Li immediately took out the Talisman Treasure, the "Gold Brick." He held it before his eyes, staring at it intently, focusing his mind to activate it. He simply couldn't trust any other ordinary magical tool for this task. His opponent was a thirteenth-layer expert. If one strike couldn't finish him, he would be in serious trouble once the man broke free! He still vividly remembered the grueling battle with "Senior Brother Lu," and Lu had only been at the twelfth layer!

And while he had just killed a twelfth-layer foe with the nearly invisible thread, that was by surprise. The now-wary bearded man would not fall for such a trick so easily!

The bearded man, still trapped beneath the Earth Imprisonment, grew nervous as he watched Han Li holding the Talisman Treasure. He urged his pair of black iron rods to strike even more furiously! But the yellow barrier of the Earth Imprisonment Technique was truly formidable! Even though it had already warped and dimmed, nearly to the breaking point, it stubbornly held its integrity! The bearded man was almost spitting blood with frustration.

Just then, he suddenly felt an astonishing wave of spiritual energy surge from Han Li’s position. His movements slowed involuntarily as he looked up.

A blinding golden light radiated from Han Li’s hand. A rectangular object, gleaming with gold, slowly rose and floated in midair. The surging spiritual energy was emanating from this object!

"A Talisman Treasure!"

The bearded man’s face twisted in terror as he screamed, recognizing the Gold Brick for what it was.

But what he didn’t know was that Han Li’s face was also pale, a look of alarm on his own features. Because the floating object was frantically draining the magical power from his body, an unceasing, unending torrent that he simply could not stop. It seemed intent on sucking him dry.

Cursing his luck, Han Li grimaced inwardly, mentally damning the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion that had sold him this item. This isn’t a Talisman Treasure; it’s a life-sucking vampire!

However, when a full third of his magical power had been drained, the Talisman Treasure finally ceased its maddening consumption and grew still, control returning to Han Li.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Han Li pointed a finger. The Gold Brick Talisman Treasure shot forward, streaking directly toward the bearded man still trapped in the Earth Imprisonment. The sight filled the man with such terror that his face turned the color of ash, his soul fleeing from his body.

The gold brick grew larger as it flew, in the blink of an eye expanding to the size of a small house. Spiritual energy swirled around it, golden light radiating in all directions, its momentum truly awe-inspiring. When it reached the top of the bearded man’s head, the gold brick, now like a small mountain, came crashing straight down without any courtesy.

BOOM

AHHH

A thunderous roar and the bearded man’s single, agonized scream followed. The entire ground shook violently.

Han Li was both shocked and delighted, a strange expression on his face.

Could it be that this single blow had killed a thirteenth-layer cultivator? Han Li found it hard to believe.

He recalled the Talisman Treasure. The Gold Brick immediately reverted to its original form and flew back into his hand. Where it had struck, a colossal pit over ten zhang wide and more than one zhang deep had appeared! The bearded man and his spirit beasts had already been reduced to a bloody pulp, their remains indistinguishable from one another.

He’s really dead. Han Li was a bit dazed. It felt like throwing a punch and meeting no resistance.

Was it that the bearded man was too weak, or was the "Gold Brick" simply too powerful? For a moment, Han Li couldn’t judge. But one thing was certain: he had made too much noise. This was not a place to linger.

His daze lasted only a moment before he snapped out of it. He destroyed the two corpses, and with the five or six storage pouches he had unexpectedly looted, he left the area and walked out of the One-Sky Pass section of the path.

Ahead of him lay a large forest—another perfect place for ambushes and murder. He would likely face more fierce battles once he entered. Before stepping in, he needed to find a spot to rest and recover some of his expended magical power, to be able to defend himself.