The golden puppet vanished in a blur the moment it appeared, only to reappear above Han Li's head like a phantom.

Accompanied by a flash of golden light, a golden-armored puppet over thirty feet tall, clad in radiant armor and wielding a Demon Subduing Pestle, strode forth and brought the pestle crashing down on Han Li's head.

Han Li tossed a black orb towards the Heavy Water True Wheel, then raised an arm to meet the descending Demon Subduing Pestle.

Golden scales rose on his arm, which swelled in size, colliding heavily with the Demon Subduing Pestle.

A deafening "Boom" echoed.

A radiant golden fist slammed into the Demon Subduing Pestle, instantly unleashing an even more violent shockwave.

Before the sound could dissipate, an earth-shattering roar erupted from the Heavy Water True Wheel.

The Heavy Water Rune Thunder that Han Li had just thrown exploded violently.

A circle of incredibly fierce silver arcs of lightning immediately spread in all directions, engulfing an area of over a hundred feet.

The white light formed by the lean old man's flying sword was the first to be struck, scattering apart. The Heavy Water True Wheel, however, was largely unaffected and continued to spin forward.

Immediately following were several popping sounds as five of the seven flying swords shattered under the overwhelming force of the Heavy Water True Wheel, turning into dust.

His natal flying swords destroyed, the old man felt his mind reel and his blood surge. He vomited a mouthful of blood.

Ignoring the blood at the corner of his mouth, he looked towards Han Li, a look of disbelief flashing across his face. The golden-armored puppet he had nurtured within his body for years was slowly cracking, like shattered porcelain.

Only then did he realize what was happening. He didn't even bother with the remaining two flying swords. With a flash of light, he decisively fled into the distance with astonishing speed.

Almost at the same time, the golden-armored puppet shattered with a "crack".

"Elder Li, that guy ran away!" Bai Suyu shouted from afar.

Han Li glanced in the direction the old man had fled, but didn't rush to pursue.

With a wave of his hand, he first retrieved the Heavy Water True Wheel, then collected the remaining two flying swords and the pellets that could turn into golden nets into his storage bracelet.

Immediately after, countless silver arcs of lightning appeared around him, instantly transforming into a circular lightning formation over ten feet in diameter, with countless silver runes flickering within.

With a deafening thunderclap, the silver formation vanished without a trace, leaving only a few lingering silver arcs of lightning flashing across the snow-capped mountains before dissipating, leaving Bai Suyu and the others standing there, looking at each other in dismay.

After all, True Immortal cultivators were too distant for them. The brief exchange between Han Li and the old man had been like a flash of lightning, leaving their minds shaken beyond words.

Tens of thousands of miles away, above a snowy plain, the lean old man, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, was urging his powers to the limit, rapidly flying forward.

His face was solemn, and a deep fear was hidden in his eyes.

From what he knew, this Elder Li was just a newly joined Loose Immortal in the early stages of the Candle Dragon Sect, but after exchanging blows, he realized that this person possessed a True Wheel magic weapon and had strange powers. Although he hadn't used all of his means, he knew in his heart that he would surely die if they continued to fight. He had fled in a panic, but fortunately, that person hadn't pursued him.

But just then, an earth-shattering thunderclap suddenly sounded in the sky.

The old man looked up and saw a silver arc of lightning as thick as a water tank plunging straight down from the sky. Amidst the flashing lightning, there was even a figure, his clothes fluttering and his black hair dancing, descending from the sky like a celestial being.

He held a black spear surrounded by lightning and stabbed it down towards him.

The suddenness of the attack left the lean old man with no way to avoid it. He hurriedly raised both hands, summoning a round shield covered in scales to block above his head.

A deafening "Boom" echoed!

The lightning-缠绕 Heavy Water Spear pierced straight through the round shield and pierced down from the top of the old man's head, impaling him.

But just then, a small person about three inches tall, completely covered in a golden armor, suddenly flashed out from the top of the old man's head.

Before Han Li could use any means, a layer of bloody light suddenly appeared on the little person's skin. Then, his figure suddenly turned into a cloud of blood mist and dissipated, disappearing without a trace.

Han Li immediately released his divine sense, instantly covering tens of thousands of miles, but found nothing and had to give up.

He slowly pulled the Heavy Water Spear from the old man's body. With a grab in the air, the storage bracelet on the old man's wrist automatically came loose and flew towards him.

The whole movement was as smooth as flowing water.

After grabbing the storage bracelet, he scanned it with his divine sense and found that there were quite a few things inside. Besides several good-quality magic treasures, there were also more than a dozen Immortal Essence Stones, making his pursuit worthwhile.

After putting away the storage bracelet, Han Li flew back in the direction he had come.

However, when he returned, he found that Bai Suyu and the others had been brought by Su Tongxiao to a valley near Pinecone Ridge, where they were joined by Fang Yu and the other ten or so disciples from the other two teams.

Except for the four members of Qi Huanyu's group whose physical bodies were destroyed, the other disciples had suffered no casualties, but many still had lingering fear on their faces.

Su Tongxiao was currently sitting cross-legged on a boulder in the valley, his aura somewhat unstable, as if he had suffered some injuries.

"How is it, Brother Li? Did you catch that person?" He immediately greeted Han Li and asked.

Clearly, he already knew what had happened here.

"That person's physical body was destroyed, but his Nascent Soul used an unknown blood escape secret technique and escaped," Han Li shook his head and said.

"Fortunately, Brother Li arrived in time, and these disciples are all right. I was a little careless, alas... But destroying that fellow's physical body is at least some explanation to the sect," Su Tongxiao said with a sigh.

"Brother Su, do you think this trial should continue?" Han Li asked.

"A True Immortal cultivator interfering in the trial means that the other side may have other tricks up their sleeve. For the sake of safety, the trial must be terminated. We should go back and report to the sect first," Su Tongxiao shook his head and said.

"That's fine too," Han Li nodded and said.

"By the way, thanks to Brother Li's help this time, you deserve a share of the offerings from those elders," Su Tongxiao suddenly leaned in a little closer, took out a storage bag from his chest, and handed it to Han Li, transmitting his voice.

"Brother Su, you're too kind," Han Li said, accepting the storage bag without saying much.

After all, if he hadn't acted in time, Su Tongxiao would probably be even more overwhelmed.

To prevent any more accidents, the group didn't choose to fly, but walked back along the original path.

After this incident, these disciples of the sect, who considered themselves to be the pride of heaven, had also calmed down a bit. Even Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan had lost their previous spirit and become much more silent.

Su Tongxiao led the way in front, with the disciples in the middle, and Han Li brought up the rear.

Bai Suyu, perhaps because she had learned from that person that the Bai family's ancestor was still alive, thanked Han Li and then walked alone in the middle of the group, looking somewhat preoccupied.

Sun Ke stopped and started, hesitating for a long time, but finally deliberately fell to the back of the group and quietly came to Han Li's side.

Just as he was thinking about how to speak, he suddenly heard a familiar voice: "Fellow Daoist Sun, long time no see."

"Ah... It's really Brother Li... No, no, it's Elder Li..." Sun Ke was slightly stunned, then quickly replied respectfully.

"I hid a lot of things on the Inter-Sea Thunder Ark before. I hope you don't mind," Han Li said with a smile.

"How could I, how could I... I just didn't expect that Elder Li was actually an inner sect elder of the Candle Dragon Sect. If I had known, I wouldn't have bothered to find connections to offer treasures to others to get this opportunity to enter the inner sect. I would have directly offered the treasure to Elder Li," Sun Ke said with some regret.

"I didn't expect it either. If I had known that you were coming here too, we could have come together. Speaking of which, I still miss Fellow Daoist Sun's fine wine. Seeing you take out that Fire Saliva Wine these days has made me even more envious," Han Li laughed.

"Since Elder Li likes it, I still have some here, so I'll give it to you," Sun Ke said without hesitation.

"Fellow Daoist Sun, Li has a request, I wonder if you can agree to it?" Han Li didn't answer, but changed the subject and asked.

"Elder Li, please speak," Sun Ke was slightly stunned.

"I want to use a spirit treasure to exchange for the Fire Saliva Wine recipe from Fellow Daoist Sun, I wonder if you're willing?" Han Li said directly.

"To be honest, Elder Li, this wine is different from other spirit wines. Its recipe is a family secret passed down from generation to generation, and it's probably already lost to the outside world. Although I secretly brought it out this time, the family has always strictly prohibited it from being passed on... However, Elder Li has saved my life twice, and although I, Sun Ke, have low cultivation, I'm not an ungrateful person. I'll give this recipe to Elder Li," Sun Ke said with a troubled expression, but then gritted his teeth and said so.

"Since you give me the recipe, I'll give you a spirit treasure as well, to avoid being criticized for bullying the weak. This sword is of no low rank, so it's not easy to control. After you refine it, you must practice more, and don't disgrace this treasure," Han Li said, turning his hand over and taking out a storage bag.

Inside the bag was the golden longsword he had snatched from the Mirage Yuan Beast.

A look of panic flashed across Sun Ke's face, but he didn't refuse and took the storage bag. At the same time, he handed over an ancient paper page of unknown material and a delicate fiery red wine bottle.

Han Li first put away the wine bottle, then examined the wine recipe recorded on the ancient paper page for a while. After taking out a jade slip and imprinting a copy, he returned the original to Sun Ke.

This scene was noticed by the other disciples walking in front. After discovering that Sun Ke had a good relationship with an inner sect elder, they all felt envious and looked at Sun Ke with different eyes.

Even if their respective families also had True Immortals, they didn't have the courage to treat a True Immortal as an equal.

Especially in their opinion, this "Elder Li" of Han Li's seemed to be more powerful than that Elder Su, and should have a higher status in the sect. After all, Tang Chuan and his group had not suffered any major casualties under his protection, while Qi Huanyu's group under Elder Su's protection had had four people forcibly destroyed their physical bodies.

Several female cultivators also looked at Sun Ke with a hint of inexplicable meaning in their eyes.

And the reason why Han Li generously conducted this transaction with Sun Ke in front of everyone was naturally to make everyone treat Sun Ke differently. The latter was also well aware of this.