Published: August 25, 2025
Chapter 298: Captured Alive
“Where do you all intend to go? Shall I escort you for a while?”
Before the few of them could take out their flying magical artifacts and leave, a cold voice suddenly rang out from the sky.
The voice was icy and piercing, instantly startling the four masked figures. Almost simultaneously, they cast protective spells, then scattered cautiously before daring to look upward.
In the sky, several dozen zhang above, Han Li stood on the Divine Wind Boat, his robes fluttering, expressionless as he stared down at them with a chilling gaze.
The hearts of the four sank together, silently thinking, When did this man get here? How did we not notice at all?
“Scatter!” The leader shouted decisively.
He immediately shot back while tossing a disc-shaped magical artifact from his chest. Stepping on it, he soared into the sky.
The other three each chose a different direction and dispersed.
They all clearly understood that with their limited skills, they couldn’t possibly stand against a foundation establishment stage cultivator. Their best chance was to flee immediately to increase their odds of survival.
The young woman among them was the weakest in magical power. Even while riding her artifact, she couldn’t help but glance back at Han Li in the sky.
To her surprise, Han Li stood still on the little boat, not moving an inch, showing no sign of pursuing them. This startled the woman, but also filled her with secret joy—she thought there was a good chance to escape unscathed.
But at that moment, a piercing, agonizing shriek suddenly came from right in front of her.
Startled, she quickly turned her head to see a dazzling, arrow-shaped red light breaking through the air, fiercely hurtling toward her.
The masked woman raised her hand in shock and hastily threw out an ice spear talisman she was clutching.
The translucent ice spear collided with the red light, erupting into a burst of white mist, but it failed to stop the red beam in the slightest. The arrow-like light struck the Water Attribute Shield protecting her.
Red and blue light scattered before her eyes.
Her body shuddered, forcibly pushed backward several zhang, but at least the shield remained intact. The woman breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, she looked ahead with a mixture of anger and fear, wondering if the foundation establishment stage cultivator had accomplices lying in ambush around them.
When she clearly saw the attackers, the masked woman’s eyes went blank with disbelief beneath her black cloth.
Two puppets dressed as soldiers floated in midair in front of her, clad in iron armor. One held a large bow, already drawing an arrow-shaped red light. The other wielded a thick, long back sword emanating a yellow glow, slowly approaching her.
Though shocked that these lifeless puppets were attacking like real people, she knew that if she didn’t destroy them immediately, she wouldn’t escape.
Determined, she bit her jade teeth and withdrew a blue-glowing throwing knife from her storage pouch.
This was a high-grade magical artifact she had exchanged all her savings for, something she usually hesitated to use. But now, escaping was more urgent than anything.
“Go,” she whispered.
The throwing knife transformed into a blue streak of light, flying toward the puppet coming at her.
In an instant, the blue throwing knife reached the puppet’s face and fiercely slashed toward its head.
To her dismay, a light “clang” sounded as the puppet swiftly raised its long sword, deflecting the blue knife, then methodically continued floating toward her.
Her expression darkened. Pointing forward, she sent out another magical artifact several zhang away, causing the throwing knife to circle back and stab the puppet from behind.
But to her shock, the puppet, as if it had eyes on its back, again blocked her weapon with a sword strike.
Now the woman truly panicked!
Just as she was about to try something else, the shrill whistle sounded again, and the bow-wielding puppet shot another arrow.