Wind Rising Overseas: The Eerie Black Armor

Han Li’s gaze lingered longest on the cloak.

For one thing, its design was utterly unique, composed of two layers. The inner layer was woven from silver threads, while the outer layer was covered in strange, unidentifiable feathers that seemed to cling to the surface. Under the light barrier, these feathers flickered with a dark red, blood-like glow, giving it an exceedingly sinister appearance.

For another, this was the first time Han Li had ever seen a cloak-type magic treasure. He was naturally extremely curious about its function.

Based on his speculation, this ancient treasure likely possessed the remarkable effects of defense or aura concealment. Both abilities were precisely what he desperately needed to survive within the inner hall, which was filled with powerful enemies.

Staring at the three ancient treasures, Han Li’s face showed a flicker of hesitation.

He could only take one of them before the tower’s restriction would teleport him out. He had to make a choice.

Logically, taking the golden mirror was the safest bet.

Han Li was almost certain that its power would be considerable; claiming it would immediately boost his strength.

Taking the strange five-colored copper ring might bring him an unexpected surprise. Its set-piece nature and five-colored radiance made it appear exceedingly mysterious.

As for the cloak, taking it offered the greatest hope of immediate use. It might even save his life in a moment of crisis.

Han Li’s gaze darted back and forth among the three items.

Even for someone who usually disliked showing emotion, facing these treasures so readily available left him momentarily torn and anxious.

After a long while, Han Li took a deep breath and his expression calmed.

This time, he only pondered for a moment. Then a glint of light flashed in his eyes. A wildly imaginative idea had appeared in his mind.

The unexpected emergence of this thought made Han Li’s heart pound.

Based on his understanding of formations and restrictions, for a high-grade restriction that forcibly teleports a person out of one space into another, unless one found the central hub of the restriction or directly broke through the entire space covered by it with raw force, there was almost no clever way to counteract it. The moment a person touched the preset restriction, they would be involuntarily teleported away.

To Han Li, both methods were naturally impossible.

Finding the central hub of this space’s restriction was unthinkable without a formation master of grandmaster level spending several years studying and searching here.

Using raw force to break it was something only someone with a cracked skull would attempt.

None of the many Nascent Soul old monsters had succeeded. He, a mere Core Formation cultivator, was even more delusional to think of it.

However, in the formation-breaking insights he had obtained, Xin Ruyin, that genius of formations, had proposed a theoretical conjecture in a classic text specifically targeting spatial restrictions. It suggested a method to temporarily prevent a spatial restriction from taking effect for a brief moment.

Although it was only a single instant, that bit of time was enough for him to grab one more ancient treasure.

But to accomplish this step, a cultivator had to have a way to completely sever their own spiritual power from all connection with the spatial energy for a short time, without the slightest link.

After writing this hypothesis in the classic, Xin Ruyin herself added a self-deprecating note, saying that even Nascent Soul cultivators probably didn’t have such divine ability; this was just a momentary, wild fantasy. If a cultivator truly had such great divine powers, they could rely on their own strength to forcibly break the restriction, so why go through all this trouble?

After all, cultivators of this realm could, at best, have aura-concealing techniques skilled enough to avoid detection. How could they truly cut off their connection with the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth?

But when Han Li had read this passage in his cave dwelling, he immediately thought of the Gold Devourer Beetles’ freakish ability to devour spiritual energy. He had done a small test on a whim. As a result, by using the Gold Devourer Beetles, he had actually succeeded for that brief moment. Han Li had treated this as a passing joke at the time and didn’t pay it much attention afterwards.

But now, recalling this incident, Han Li’s heart burned with excitement.

Han Li pondered for a moment and then felt that this plan truly had a great chance of success. Even if it failed, he would at most just take one ancient treasure, with no real loss.

Having decided this, Han Li no longer hesitated. He waved his hands, releasing all his spirit beast pouches. Tens of thousands of Gold Devourer Beetles flew out with a loud hum, transforming into a massive insect cloud that circled Han Li.

Han Li ignored the beetles and instead looked back at the distances and positions of the three ancient treasures. After making a mental calculation, he gently drifted toward the dark red cloak. The insect cloud followed closely, never leaving his side.

When he was about a zhang away from the cloak, Han Li felt a change in the surrounding spiritual energy. He quickly stopped, a look of concentration on his face.

Suddenly, Han Li formed a hand seal and let out a clear, ringing cry from his mouth.

The Gold Devourer Beetles swarming around him stirred restlessly, but then shot toward Han Li like arrows. In the blink of an eye, they covered his entire body, layer upon layer of densely packed insects, completely dyeing him a silvery-gold color.

But Han Li, buried beneath the insect pile, did not stop his cries. Instead, they grew even sharper.

Before long, the beetles on his body also began to emit the same low hum, gradually harmonizing with Han Li’s voice.

The hum grew louder and louder. The Gold Devourer Beetles all opened their mouths, breathing in and out in a steady, synchronized rhythm that was both orderly and strange.

At this point, Han Li stopped his own cries and fell silent.

Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded.

On Han Li’s body, completely covered in beetles, black spots began to appear along with the rising and falling of the insect hum.

These spots flickered, growing and shrinking, larger and larger.

Then, as soon as a few spots touched, they automatically merged into larger black patches. When some of these larger patches came into contact, they in turn formed even larger black light clusters.

The black clusters on Han Li’s body bloomed like ink chrysanthemums. In a short time, they had spread across every inch of his body, slowly opening and blossoming.

Finally, after continuous fusion and expansion, these black clusters formed a pitch-black, deep, and lustrous armor that wrapped around Han Li, along with all the Gold Devourer Beetles, completely sealing him within without a single gap.

The moment the armor appeared, the hum of the insects vanished without a trace.

Aside from its jet-black color, the armor showed no other hue. It was utterly impenetrable to sight.

And in that instant, Han Li moved.

A strange, pitch-black, glowing hand shot out like lightning, firmly grabbing the nearby cloak. At the same time, he clumsily turned around and slowly drifted toward the set of five-colored copper rings.

The moment Han Li seized the cloak, a brilliant blue light erupted around him. Countless azure rays surged toward him. But the moment they touched the strange black armor, they were absorbed into the black light without a trace.

But the blue light did not retreat. Instead, it gathered more and more fiercely, pressing down on the black armor with overwhelming force.

The strange black armor began to tremble and sway, on the verge of collapse.

Han Li’s heart was burning with anxiety, but his movements remained deliberately slow and gentle, as if afraid of triggering something.

A mere five or six zhang felt like an hour-long march. Finally, he slowly reached the side of the copper ring ancient treasure.

Han Li barely suppressed the wild joy in his heart. His same pitch-black, glowing hand shot out again, his five fingers firmly gripping the item.

Almost the moment the copper ring was in his hand, the black armor around him seemed unable to withstand the fierce pressure of the blue light. With a piercing cracking sound, the armor first shattered into pieces, then dissolved into specks of light, scattering completely.

Before Han Li could react, the blue light unceremoniously swept him into itself.

After a dizzying, disorienting sensation, he vanished from within the spherical light barrier.

With a flash of dazzling blue light, Han Li appeared in a small stone chamber.

He swayed slightly a few times before barely steadying himself. He stood up straight and immediately swept his gaze around with extreme vigilance.

Then his heart relaxed.

Fortunately, there was no one else around. The image of himself completely covered in insects was far too strange.

Thinking this, Han Li let out a whistle.

All the Gold Devourer Beetles lifted off from his body, hovering above his head in a cloud of golden-silver light without descending.

Han Li couldn’t be bothered with them for now. He hurriedly looked down at the two items in his hands.

Although he had already examined them several times, now that he held them, the thrill of excitement in his heart was still impossible to suppress.

He then gently stroked the two ancient treasures with his fingers.

The cloak was light and airy, slightly warm to the touch, while the five copper rings were ice-cold, like frozen metal.

After admiring and fiddling with them for a while, Han Li turned his attention to the stone chamber.

It was empty. Besides the teleportation array that had brought him here, there was only a square passage straight ahead. There was nothing else unusual. It felt desolate and cold.