After that, a few more subjects were discussed before Han Li finally departed.

Moments later, a giant black ark flew away into the distance above the stone hall, and Han Li was standing at the front of the ark, looking into the distance with a contemplative expression.

The sound of footsteps rang out behind him, and Nangong Wan made his way over to him before asking in a gentle voice, "Did Fellow Daoist Ming have something important to discuss with you?"

"That's a long story; let's go back to the cabin, and I'll tell you about it there," Han Li replied as he turned around with a wry smile.

......

Several months later, in a certain mysterious space, there were three giant beasts, each of which was biting tightly onto a purplish-golden chain with uneasy looks on their faces.

The other ends of the three chains were bound around a black-robed young man, and even though he seemed to have been immobilized by the chains, there was no fear in his eyes at all. Instead, he was appraising the three beasts around him with a mocking expression.

After a long while, the black-robed young man said in a completely emotionless voice, "If the three of you subject to me now, my offer still stands; I'll spare your lives and take you as my spirit servants, then bring you to the True Immortal Realm with me once I finish what I came here to do. Otherwise, once the chains of laws unleash their backlash, the three of you will all perish."

"That's impossible! The backlash from these chains of laws should only target a true immortal like you; why would we be impacted as well? Even if we're going to be affected, you'll still be the one who suffers the brunt of the backlash, and the three of us will be able to survive without any issues," a deer-bear hybrid beast roared in an enraged voice.

"Hehe, which idiot gave you this method to activate the chains of laws? You clearly don't know what you're doing, yet you dare to use this on me. If I hadn't reacted quickly enough and dragged you with me into this spatial treasure, we would've been sitting ducks. Now, we can only wait for the backlash from the power of laws. Mere true spirits like you can't even begin to comprehend how fearsome this power is; even a small portion of it will be enough to instantly reduce the three of you to nothingness. You're already beginning to sense your true essence being slowly devoured by the chains of laws, right? My immortal body is far more powerful than yours, and I have several immortal treasures to protect me, so I'll be able to easily survive and recover from this," Ma Liang said with a derisive smile.

"Nonsense! This method was bestowed upon us by the Golden Dragon King; how could it be incorrect? Don't think that you can sow dissension among us so easily. If what you're saying really is the truth, then you would just wait in silence; why would you tell us all of this?" the deer-bear hybrid beast retorted.

"If it weren't for the fact that I have something that I need to do, I wouldn't be wasting any time with the three of you. So be it, I'll up the stakes; if you're willing to subject to me, not only will I take you to the True Immortal Realm, I'll grant you a True Soul Pill so you can attain the soul of a true immortal. However, this offer only stands for half a day; you won't be getting anything out of me once that time limit expires," Ma Liang said as a hint of impatience appeared in his eyes.

"A True Soul Pill?" The other two beasts' hearts jolted upon hearing this, and a hint of greed surfaced in their eyes.

It was clear that this pill was extremely tempting to them.

"You'll either perish here or be granted a True Soul Pill and be taken to the True Immortal Realm; the choice is yours. As for your contract with the Jiao Chi Race and all of your other ties with this realm, I can help you sever them. I'm not going to say anything else from now on," Ma Liang said with a cold smile before closing his eyes, seemingly to meditate.

The three giant beasts exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and none of them said anything.

As time passed, the rate at which their true essence was being devoured by the chains of laws was steadily accelerating.

They had already unleashed countless types of abilities and secret techniques to try and stop this process, but that only made the situation worse, and they were truly beginning to panic now.

Once the backlash from the chains of laws truly arrived, their powers would've been whittled down significantly, and there was no chance that they could survive.

The expressions of the giant sparrow and the cow-headed beast were gradually becoming more and more hesitant.

The deer-headed beast could see the changes in the expressions of its companions, and it tugged violently on the chain in its mouth as it snarled, "You two aren't actually tempted by his offer, are you?"

"Of course not! True Soul Pills are indeed extremely precious, but there's no way I'd become anyone's servant! Having said that, the backlash from these chains of laws really isn't something to be ignored. After all, our lives are on the line here," the cow-headed beast said in a hesitant manner.

"That's right. We forged an ancient contract with the Jiao Chi Race using the power of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, but we have no obligation to give our lives here, so we have to think carefully about this," the giant sparrow chimed in.

"I understand, this is indeed something that we need to discuss carefully. However, before that, I have a suggestion that will be greatly beneficial to all of us," the deer-headed beast sighed in a resigned manner, then suddenly began to transmit its voice toward its two companions while slowly drifting toward the giant sparrow.

"Stop! You can tell us what you want to say from over there; there's no need to come closer," the giant sparrow yelled as a cautious look appeared in its eyes.

The deer-headed beast's expression immediately darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Do you not trust me, Fellow Daoist?"

"Hehe, of course I do, but at a time like this, I think it's best for us to maintain some distance; what do you think, Brother Hoof Dragon?" the sparrow chuckled as it turned toward the cow-headed beast.

"Well... We've known one another for a very long time; there's no need to..." The cow-headed beast was making an attempt to mediate the situation, but its voice was abruptly cut off as a burst of enormous power surged out of the chain in its mouth, severely injuring its mouth in the process.

The cow-headed beast let loose an agonized howl, thereby releasing the purplish-golden chain, and when it hurriedly tried to bite onto the chain again, a mountainous crimson seal suddenly appeared above its head without any warning, then descended from above with countless golden and silver runes surging around it.

The cow-headed beast was extremely alarmed by this, and it was too late for it to evade, so it could only let loose a thunderous roar as its body swelled to several times its original size, following which it thrust its inky-black front hooves toward the giant crimson seal.

In the instant its hooves came into contact with the massive seal, they immediately exploded amid an earth-shattering boom, and its body and soul were all destroyed amid a flash of bright crimson light.

Right at this moment, Ma Liang appeared above the giant seal with a cold smile on his face amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

At the same time, the black-robed young man that was being bound by the purplish-golden chains abruptly vanished.

"Impossible! How did you break free from the chains of laws?!" the giant sparrow screeched in a horrified manner upon seeing this, then hurriedly released the chain caught between its beak before flying back in retreat as a streak of grey light, only to be struck by the giant black-furred palm amid a dull thump.

The giant sparrow was caught completely off guard and was sent somersaulting through the air over 10 times before finally just barely managing to steady itself.

Meanwhile, the deer-headed beast was slowly withdrawing its palm with a sinister look on its face.

The giant sparrow shook its own head vigorously to shake off the dizziness from the unexpected blow before yelling, "Yang Deer, have you gone insane? Wait, I get it now; you already surrendered to him and tampered with the chains of laws!"

"It's too late for you to make this realization now," the deer-headed beast said with a cold smile.

The giant sparrow's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, and it slowly retreated in a panicked manner as it said in a frantic voice, "I'm willing to subject to you and become your spirit servant as long as you spare my life!"

"It's too late; I only have one True Soul Pill, and I can only take one person back to the True Immortal Realm with me. Yang Deer, seeing as you've subjected yourself to me, your first order will be to kill this companion of yours. If you fail to do so and are killed instead, then I'll have to give the True Immortal Pill to the victor. Don't worry about me changing my mind; I just so happen to be in need of a servant to run my errands for me, and only the most powerful one among the three of you deserves to become my servant," Ma Liang chuckled coldly.