The disappearance of the Mulan Sacred Beast was discovered almost simultaneously by the cultivators and Dharma Masters on the battlefield.
The Dharma Masters' expressions changed drastically, while the cultivators were invigorated, their morale surging.
The gaunt old man and Tian Zhong, who were locked in combat with their respective opponents, also wore looks of disbelief upon seeing this.
The Sacred Beast vanishing now could not possibly be due to its spirit oil running out. The only explanation was that the cultivators of Tiannan had managed to extinguish the Yuanming Ancient Lantern.
These two Divine Masters had no idea that the Mulan tribe's inherited treasure had once again fallen into Han Li's hands.
In their view, all of the cultivators' late Nascent Soul stage experts had already been tied down. The remaining cultivators, with the Sacred Beast able to provide support, stood no chance of breaking through the defense of the woman surnamed Le.
Now that this had happened, it was entirely beyond their expectations.
Meanwhile, Han Li had already flown stealthily near the Crying Soul Beast and revealed himself once more.
The giant ape that the Crying Soul Beast had transformed into had already reduced most of the corpse refinings to ash. The small remainder had been hurriedly collected by the black-robed cultivators of the Yin Luo Sect.
Otherwise, the complete annihilation of those bronze-armored corpse refinings would have been merely a matter of time.
Having absorbed such a vast amount of corpse qi, the giant ape form of the Crying Soul Beast had grown even larger, its fur now a glossy jet-black, looking as though it had just feasted.
During this period, naturally several waves of black-robed cultivators and Dharma Masters had tried to destroy the giant ape first.
But Long Han understood perfectly well that this bizarre giant ape was the key to dealing with the bronze-armored corpse refinings. How could he allow the enemy to succeed so easily? He immediately dispatched some men to intercept them.
A few stragglers slipped through, but before they could get close to the giant ape, Silver Moon—who had been hiding nearby—unleashed illusion and confusion techniques in succession, and they lost their lives in a daze.
By the time Han Li returned here and saw from a distance that Crying Soul had destroyed the last of the remaining bronze-armored corpses outside, he waved the beast over without hesitation.
A flash of dark light rippled across the Crying Soul Beast's body. It instantly shrank down, transforming into a streak of dark rainbow that shot into the spirit beast pouch at Han Li's waist.
Silver Moon, seeing this, obediently flew to hover behind Han Li.
Having put away the Crying Soul Beast, Han Li was about to turn and say something to Silver Moon.
But suddenly, a deafening rumble erupted from the sky. A mass of dark clouds descended from high above, spanning several hundred zhang in width, with countless green thunderbolts rolling ceaselessly within them. The sky instantly changed color.
Han Li's expression grew solemn as he looked upward.
"Who is it? Who killed this sect's madam? I will extract his soul and refine it to sate this hatred!" A thunderous roar boomed out from within the dark clouds—it was unmistakably the Yin Luo Sect Master's voice.
Hearing these words, Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and his gaze turned cold.
"The battle is far from decided, friend. Why the rush? I, Yi, was rather hoping to learn more about your demonic arts!" Hot on the heels of the black-robed man's voice, Old Monster Hehuan's ethereal tones drifted over leisurely.
Immediately after, another mass of grayish-white mist shot down from the sky as well, positioning itself squarely in front of the dark clouds.
"Out of my way. I'm in no mood to trade blows with you right now. If you don't clear off, don't blame me for being discourteous!" The Yin Luo Sect Master in the dark clouds spoke with icy coldness.
"Discourteous? In all my years, I've rarely been treated discourteously. Whatever tricks you have, bring them on!" Old Monster Hehuan let out a cold laugh, showing not the slightest intention of backing down.
The black-robed man in the dark clouds fell silent. After a long pause, he spoke in a sinister tone: "Very well. Since you insist on pushing your luck, I have no patience left to waste. Then witness the power of this sect's supreme treasure—the Ghost Soul Banner!"
The Yin Luo Sect Master seemed so furious that he laughed.
"Ghost Soul Banner?" Old Monster Hehuan's voice carried a hint of surprise, along with a touch of excitement.
But this brief exchange between the two had stunned every cultivator engaged in the battle below.
Some cultivators had only just learned that the Yin Luo Sect Master's companion had already fallen at the hands of the Tiannan cultivators, and they were greatly shocked, privately wondering who had killed her.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged on the surface, betraying neither alarm nor joy, but seeing that Old Monster Hehuan had blocked the Yin Luo Sect Master, he felt a wave of relief.
He had no desire to be chased across the entire battlefield by a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Just as everyone—including Han Li—assumed that Old Monster Hehuan and this demonic cultivator from the Jin Kingdom were about to clash in a major battle in the low sky, something else happened.
From the sky behind the Dharma Masters' lines, a sharp whistle suddenly carried from afar. Then, with flashes of light, over a dozen streaks of various colors shot toward the battlefield at tremendous speed.
Before they had even drawn close, someone was already shouting at the top of their lungs: "Divine Masters, cease fighting immediately! Something has happened on the grasslands—the situation has changed!"
This person seemed to want everyone to hear, and had clearly used some sort of secret technique to amplify the voice.
Then the streaks of light accelerated even further, plunging into the midst of the battle.
Both cultivators and Dharma Masters heard it clearly. Most of them involuntarily halted, pausing in surprise and glancing over.
The gaunt old man's heart sank upon hearing this. Across the field, Long Han and the others were also caught off guard, their offensive slowing.
The old man made a decisive move, withdrawing sharply and shooting back several dozen zhang. He cast a cold glance at the cultivators opposite him, then transformed into a brilliant streak of rainbow light and flew toward the approaching Dharma Masters.
Long Han hesitated a moment and did not give chase alongside the other cultivators.
The old man had shown not the slightest sign of defeat a moment ago and had even held a slight advantage. Pursuing him now would accomplish nothing.
And those messengers had clearly intended for everyone to hear their words. There was certainly something suspicious going on. Better to find out what had happened first.