Han Li's pupils contracted drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately made a different hand seal.

All of a sudden, the Provenance True Devil Projection hurled its giant sword away, then instantly adopted its golden body form as countless golden runes began to revolve around it.

The golden body then opened its three mouths in unison, releasing a burst of white shockwaves that swept straight into the dust storm.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the white shockwaves exploded, impacting the entire dust storm.

In the wake of the explosion, all of the grey warriors within the dust storm were instantly reduced to dust.

However, in the next instant, hundreds of thousands of warriors took shape once again before lashing out with their weapons, sending countless streaks of yellow light raining down from above.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger at the Provenance Golden Body.

The white shockwaves being released by the golden body immediately ceased, and it took a large stride forward before waving its six arms through the air.

A string of resounding booms rang out as six thick pillars of light erupted forth, instantly combining as one to form a golden tornado beneath the dust storm.

The tornado was several thousand feet tall with countless golden runes surging out of it in a frenzy alongside a burst of incredible suction force.

The descending streaks of yellow light were all drawn by this suction force into the tornado, where they vanished amid a string of dull thumps.

As for the countless guards within the boundless dust storm, they were also forcibly drawn toward the tornado like moths to a flame.

After the span of just a few breaths, the entire dust storm was cleared, leaving only the dark clouds and golden tornado behind.

The tornado was still revolving rapidly with rumbling ringing out incessantly within it, and Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this as an elated look appeared on his face.

He swept a sleeve toward the tornado, releasing a series of incantation seals of different colors, all of which disappeared into the tornado in rapid succession.

In the next instant, a dull thump rang out, and the rumbling within the tornado abruptly ceased while it began to quickly shrink.

Moments later, the tornado completely vanished, and a head-sized crystal ball of an earthy yellow color plummeted out of the sky.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the crystal ball into his grasp, and as soon as the object landed in his hand, his arm was involuntarily brought down slightly.

Han Li immediately made an adjustment to steady himself, but a look of surprise still appeared in his eyes.

The crystal ball wasn't special in appearance in any way, but it weighed hundreds of tons, and even with Han Li's extraordinary strength, it had almost slipped out of his grasp.

He didn't know what type of material had been created from his forced compression of the dust storm, but it would definitely be an exceptional tool refinement material.

Just as Han Li was considering this, the world's origin Qi in the air surged, and a rumbling thunderclap rang out in the heavens.

Immediately thereafter, a dark cloud above the basin began to tumble violently, then parted to create a massive hole.

The hole was dozens of acres in size, and bolts of silver lightning were flashing incessantly within them alongside balls of dazzling lightning; it was as if a world of lightning were crossing over into this realm.

"This is the true lighting tribulation!" Han Li murmured to himself with a solemn expression before stowing away the object in his hand, then releasing a series of azure incantations seals throughout the surrounding area, all of which disappeared into the remaining formations in a flash.

A loud buzzing sound rang out as the remaining formations were activated to the maximal extent, producing extremely thick and dense light barriers.

At the same time, the three extreme mountains that had remained still on the spot up to this point also finally rose up into the air.

They arranged themselves into a triangular formation above the light barriers, shielding Han Li from above.

After that, Han Li made a hand seal, and his 72 azure swords appeared beneath the extreme mountains, then transformed into a massive azure lotus flower that hovered directly above his head.

The true lightning tribulation that followed the five-elemental tribulation was the reason for the majority of failures in Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough attempts. Only after transcending this tribulation would one have the right to undergo the subsequent inner tribulations.

Even though it was even more difficult to transcend the inner tribulations than the true lightning tribulation, failure to transcend the true lightning tribulation would spell certain death, whereas one had a certain chance of survival even if they were to fail their inner tribulations.

Han Li quickly activated all of his restrictions and treasures while thinking back to the true lightning tribulation transcendence experiences bestowed upon him by Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli.

Meanwhile, Silvermoon, Zhu Guo'er, and Daoist Xie continued to appraise him from afar.

Silvermoon's eyes were still completely indifferent, but a hint of concern had appeared on her face, while Zhu Guo'er was completely flabbergasted after witnessing Han Li's transcendence of the five-elemental tribulation.

As for Daoist Xie, he had his hands clasped behind his back, and was appraising the unfolding situation in a calm manner.

All of a sudden, he turned and cast his gaze toward a mountain far in the distance.

A short while later, Silvermoon seemed to have also detected something, and she turned her attention toward that direction as well.

"I didn't think there would be other cultivators in such a secluded place; looks like I'll have to chase them away," Silvermoon murmured to herself before abruptly vanishing on the spot.

Zhu Guo'er faltered slightly upon seeing this, and after a brief hesitation, she decided to remain on the spot rather than follow Silvermoon.

......

Tens of thousands of kilometers away, a cluster of streaks of light was being pursued by another cluster, and both were heading directly toward the basin that Han Li was situated in.

There were around a dozen fleeing streaks of light, and judging from their auras, they appeared to all be human cultivators, most of whom were at the Nascent Soul Stage, while the female cultivator leading from the front was at the late-Deity Transformation Stage.

The woman was quite beautiful and appeared to be in her twenties. She wore a blue palatial dress, and was occasionally looking back with an anxious expression.

The group was being pursued by another group of beings enshrouded in devilish Qi and devilish winds, and they were all comprised of elite devilish beings.

These devilish beings were all at the Deity Transformation Stage or above, and they were being led by a burly snake-headed devilish man who was at the Spatial Tempering Stage.

Due to the disparity between the cultivation bases of the two groups, the devilish pursuers were rapidly catching up to the group of human cultivators.

Soon, the pursuers were only several kilometers away from the human cultivators, and the woman in the palatial dress gritted her teeth as she slowed down slightly, then flipped a hand over to produce a translucent white cauldron.

She quickly laid a hand onto the cauldron, and its lid immediately flew off, upon which countless translucent threads erupted forth from within, then scattered before hurtling directly toward the devilish beings.

These translucent white threads were extremely thin and flew through the air like lightning.

The pursuing devilish beings were caught off guard and immediately thrown into disarray, unleashing all types of devilish abilities to defend themselves. Even so, there were still two Nascent Soul Stage devilish beings who were struck by the white threads and plummeted out of the sky as a pair of ice statues.

The leader of the devilish beings was furious to see this, and he suddenly opened his mouth to expel bursts of dark green mist.

As soon as the white threads came into contact with the green mist, they were eroded to a green color and debilitated significantly.

The snake-headed devilish being then raised his hands to release around a dozen black flying tridents, which flew toward the oncoming white threads as streaks of black light. The white threads were no match for the tridents, and were immediately knocked back on contact.

A grim look appeared on the face of the woman in the palatial dress upon seeing this, and she quickly stowed away her white cauldron before attempting to flee, but it was already too late.

Two of the late-Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings behind her suddenly transformed into long streaks of light, circling around to cut off the human cultivators from the front in just a few flashes.

The woman's expression darkened even further upon seeing this, and she had no choice but to adopt a defensive formation with her subordinates.

In the face of this dire situation, the horror and despair in the eyes of the other human cultivators were plain to see.

After all, there was simply far too much of a disparity in power; even if they were to fight with all their might, there was still next to no chance of survival.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the devilish beings behind them swooped forward and released an impenetrable barrier of devilish Qi around the human cultivators.

A hint of killing intent then flashed through the snake-headed devilish being's eyes, and he immediately ordered his subordinates to kill their targets before pouncing forward with his dozen or so flying tridents, followed closely by the other devilish beings.