Ripples Beyond the Seas—The Dry Blue Pearl

Chapter 502: Ripples Beyond the Seas—The Dry Blue Pearl

Han Li’s face shifted through several shades of alarm as he took in the horrific power of the Asura Holy Flame. He sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

But as soon as the gray-white flames had completely incinerated Profound Bone, they re-condensed into a small, delicate fire that hovered silently in place.

Then, whether as a side effect of Profound Bone’s death, an anomalous change occurred. All of the falling gray-white flames simultaneously spewed forth a puff of black-green Qi. The next moment, fine, hair-thin arcs of black lightning flashed across the surface, and the flames instantly shifted to a blue hue, reverting to their Dry Blue Ice Flame form.

Han Li immediately felt a constriction all around him. The entire space became saturated with a pale blue frigid aura. An icy sensation washed over him, and a layer of transparent, thin ice began to form across his body; it looked as though his entire light shield was about to be completely sealed in ice.

Han Li was aghast!

He urgently pumped a torrent of spiritual power into his Spirit Rhinoceros Pendant. A blazing white radiance pushed back the frigid aura all around him, preventing it from coming within half a foot.

But now that the Dry Blue Ice Flame was no longer under Profound Bone’s control, it seemed to be unleashing its true power for the first time. In that brief span of moments, the entire high platform was frozen into a colossal mountain of ice, with only Han Li stubbornly resisting by means of the white light around his body.

However, the frantic drain on his magic power began to cause him increasing distress.

Only now did Han Li realize that the Dry Blue Ice Flame, when controlled by Profound Bone, had only been exerting a fraction of its true might during the earlier assault, likely because Profound Bone’s cultivation was insufficient or because the flame had never been truly refined.

If the Dry Blue Ice Flame had unleashed this terrifying power from the very beginning, Profound Bone would have had no need to fuse with the Asura Holy Flame. He could have killed Han Li several times over.

By this logic, the even more formidable Asura Holy Flame must not have displayed its full power either—likely not even ten or twenty percent of its true capability!

Han Li was appalled as he hastily ran these thoughts through his mind. He had already grasped about seventy or eighty percent of the truth.

But he certainly had no intention of being so unjustly killed by an ownerless Dry Blue Ice Flame after having just barely eliminated Profound Bone.

Gritting his teeth, Han Li pressed one hand against a spirit beast pouch at his waist.

This pouch contained tens of thousands of Gold Devourer Beetles.

At this point, he could only rely on the beetles’ devouring ability to see if he could risk breaking free.

But regardless of whether the escape succeeded, it was certain that these incompletely evolved beetles could not withstand such a horrifying degree of extreme cold. If he acted carelessly, he might lose the entire swarm!

Yet now, to preserve his own life, Han Li could no longer afford to care about such losses.

His hand moved, about to open the mouth of the spirit beast pouch.

But then another change occurred!

The Dry Blue Ice Flames floating all around him flickered several times simultaneously, then emitted a clear, ringing hum, as if receiving a command. Together, they shot high into the air, where they all converged and fused into a single mass.

Moments later, a hazy blue ball of light appeared in midair. Within that ball of light, a fist-sized blue pearl could be seen.

The frigid aura that had filled the high platform instantly dissipated without a trace, as if it had never existed.

Han Li, who had already opened the spirit beast pouch halfway, was stunned. Then a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

He didn’t care why the Dry Blue Ice Flame had undergone such a bizarre transformation—what mattered was that he had escaped disaster!

Now, the blue pearl slowly descended from the sky, falling directly past Han Li’s eyes.

Han Li stared at the pearl, a peculiar glint flashing in his gaze as a contemplative expression settled on his face.

Suddenly, he raised a hand. A thin arc of residual electricity shot out from his palm, winding around the pearl and halting its descent.

The pearl showed no sign of any anomalous reaction; it docilely allowed itself to be bound by the electrical arc.

Seeing this, Han Li’s expression grew solemn. He still did not dare to show the slightest carelessness.

He carefully twisted his wrist, and the golden electrical arc guided the pearl slowly toward him.

The orb stopped about a foot in front of him. Han Li’s face showed a hint of hesitation.

He reached out solemnly, completely enveloping his entire hand in a layer of cyan light before cautiously grasping forward.

Even through the thick layer of true essence, Han Li could clearly feel a slight coolness, but it was by no means frigid. It seemed that once the Dry Blue Ice Flame had condensed into this pearl, it had gathered all its extreme cold inside, not leaking a single trace.

Only then did Han Li truly feel at ease.

He dispelled the true essence and picked up the pearl with three fingers, bringing it before his eyes for a careful inspection.

The outer layer of this blue pearl was a faint, hard blue, but the inside flickered with unsteady light and flame, as though it were not entirely stable.

Han Li hesitated for a moment. The Dry Blue Ice Flame was an excellent thing, hard to find in this world; it was very likely a secret treasure even more valuable than the Void Heaven Cauldron.

Although he had absolutely no idea how to utilize or refine this ice flame at present, abandoning it was completely out of the question.

You see, after having witnessed the sharpness of several demonic secret flames—such as the “Green Sun Demon Flame” and the “Corpse Fire of All Heavens”—Han Li had long harbored a faint hope of obtaining a powerful demonic flame of his own.

He had personally witnessed the power of the Dry Blue Ice Flame. It was definitely far superior to those two demonic flames.

Having such a beneficial thing delivered right to his doorstep, one that could fulfill this long-cherished desire, there was no way Han Li would refuse it. Even if it meant taking some risks, he would willingly accept the gamble.

With this thought, Han Li once again unleashed a burst of pale-gold electrical arcs from his hand. One strand after another of fine, threadlike electric filaments wrapped around the pearl, layer upon layer.

After a short while, a ball resembling a golden silk thread sphere rested in Han Li’s hand. However, tiny bolts of electricity occasionally danced across its surface.

Seeing this sight, Han Li finally felt truly secure.

From his earlier contest with this ice flame, he knew that the Bane Evil Divine Lightning could barely restrain this fire.

If this ice ball were to explode again, this web of Bane Evil Divine Lightning could still temporarily bind it for a short while, buying him some time. There was no need to fear a sudden backlash from this Dry Blue Pearl.

However, at this moment, the Bane Evil Divine Lightning within his body was truly entirely depleted. He could not shoot out even a single spark.

But Han Li did not care about this at all. With an excited expression on his face, he took a square jade box out of his storage pouch, carefully placed the ball inside, and properly stored it away.

Only then did Han Li find the time to fly a full circuit around the altar and return the Blood Jade Spiders—which had suffered severe damage to their vitality—into his spirit beast pouch.

The other spider, the corpse-refined one, had long since reverted to a dead body and lay motionless.

But as Han Li flew over the spot where Profound Bone had been destroyed, his figure involuntarily paused. With a surprised expression, he reached out with his hand, and a faintly glowing white object on the ground shot into his palm.

The object was as white as jade and only a few inches long. Han Li took a brief look and recognized it as a small section of a rib bone.

But the fact that this rib had not been burned to ashes by the Asura Holy Flame and had remained behind in one piece astonished Han Li greatly.

He immediately recalled the incident in the underground cavern when Profound Bone had taken out the “Void Heaven Fragment Map” from a section of a rib bone.

“Could this rib also be a container for storing something?” After this thought turned in his mind, Han Li no longer hesitated. He tossed it into his storage pouch. Now was not the time to study this thing carefully; he had to get far away from this place as soon as possible.

Han Li was about to fly toward the stone steps when he happened to glance sideways and catch sight of the emerald green small arrow lying motionless just a few dozen feet away, as if it had completely lost its spirit.

Han Li furrowed his brow. He raised his hand, and a beam of cyan light shot out from his palm, sweeping up this treasure into his hand.

After casually glancing at it a few times, he was about to stow it away in his pouch when a strange “hissing” sound suddenly came from one of the spirit beast pouches at his waist.

Han Li’s heart stirred. A peculiar expression involuntarily appeared on his face.

He frowned in thought for a moment, then abruptly slapped that spirit beast pouch. A yellow light shot out from the pouch, circled once, and revealed the form of a small monkey—precisely the soul-devouring, ghost-eating Crying Soul Beast.

Then Han Li opened his mouth again and spat out a gray-black pearl, which fell into his other hand—Sound Soul Pearl, the item used to control the Crying Soul Beast.

Back then, Han Li had felt that the circumstances under which Yuan Yao had handed him this pearl were a bit strange, so he had never truly begun to refine it.

However, erasing the other party’s divine sense from the pearl and using it directly to briefly control the Crying Soul Beast was still something he could easily manage.

With the Sound Soul Pearl in one hand and his eyes fixed on the emerald green small arrow, Han Li suddenly opened his mouth. A mass of cyan Nascent Flame enveloped the arrow and began to slowly burn it.

But after a short while, the small arrow showed no reaction at all, as if it were a dead object.

A cold glint flashed in Han Li’s eyes. He licked his lips, tossed the arrow into the air, and silently gave an order to the Crying Soul Beast.

The Crying Soul Beast immediately snorted. A patch of yellow mist shot out, hurtling straight toward the arrow in midair.

The arrow, which had been lying motionless, suddenly flickered with intense green light several times as it saw the yellow mist approaching. Then, with a sharp whistling sound, it transformed into a beam of emerald light and shot straight toward the stone steps.

It seemed to be utterly terrified of the yellow mist!

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