According to their thoughts, the Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn’t be able to pick them all off one by one, fast though they may be. As such, the many cultivators fled as quickly as they could.
Having arrived fifty kilometers away, Han Li was amazed to discover that yet another wave of Devil Dao cultivators had appeared. But when he saw them scatter, he couldn’t help but frown. He felt the matter had become far more troublesome.
A harsh expression appeared on his face and he took a deep breath. Silver lightning arced from his back followed by roars of thunder as two silver wings emerged from his back. After infusing a sliver of Divine Devilbane Lightning into the Thunderstorm Wings, Han Li instantly disappeared in an arc of lightning. A moment later, he reappeared several kilometers away.
Travelling great distances in a mere flicker of lightning, Han Li shortly appeared at the area where the cultivators had recently scattered.
Han Li expressionlessly used his spiritual sense to immediately find the Devil Dao cultivators that fled. At that moment, he discovered that the farthest to flee was already over twenty kilometers away. The closest was only five kilometers away.
Han Li sneered and immediately set his target on the farthest Core Formation cultivator and disappeared in a flash of light.
The cultivator farthest away wasn’t the one who fled first, the black-robed man surnamed Xun. Rather, it was the middle-aged woman instead.
Her body pulsed with red light as she tore through the sky as a huge fireball, much like one would imagine of a demon spirit. This strange technique allowed her to travel the fastest amongst her peers despite being only an early Core Formation cultivator.
There were several varied-length ribbons of light directly extending from her body. With each twinkle of azure light from a ribbon, the woman was propelled a hundred meters forward, resulting in an astonishing speed.
The woman was basking in the pride of her rarely seen wind-fire movement technique that she reckoned to be on par with others’ top grade techniques. Combined with the wind attribute treasure she cultivated, the Floating Spirit Ribbon, her speed was increased even further. She believed her current speed to match even early Nascent Soul cultivators.
If one were to speak of the cultivator that was most likely to make it out safely, it would be her.
As the woman thought to herself, she suddenly heard rumbling nearby. Although the sound wasn’t loud, she couldn’t help but turn her head around in alarm.
Chapter 666: Sweeping Wind
When the woman turned her head around, she couldn’t spot even the slightest trace of a person, but the deep rumbles only became louder as if something was on the verge of approaching her.
Her face instantly paled and she wildly look around in terror. In that moment, something suddenly came to mind and she flew off with even greater speed than before.
Just a second later, silver light flashed from the empty space, only to soon fade away. When the silver light flashed once more, it reappeared over three hundred meters away. Han Li’s winged silhouette could be faintly made out from within the light.
Han Li glanced at the woman within the red light flying and felt a trace of surprise at her amazing speed. The woman’s fearsome movement technique was actually comparable to his own Thunderstorm Wing’s lightning movement. It seemed that there were truly an unfathomable number of techniques within the world.
Han Li felt a trace of sorrow from his heart before spreading out the wings behind him. With a single fan, Han Li turned into a bolt of lightning and appeared at the woman’s front. He then calmly raised his hand and spread out his fingers, shooting a streak of azure swordlight from each of his fingertips.
With an expression pale from fright, the woman loudly yelled, “Senior, please spare me!” Soon after, the red light surrounding her body shined brilliantly, combining with her several azure light ribbons to form a dense light barrier around her.
Han LI slightly frowned and glanced at the woman in silence. The five streaks of swordlight then condensed into a thread and began to strike the light barrier.
Several muffled bangs sounded out. This fire-wind attribute barrier was truly powerful to be able to repeatedly block the attacks of the first three strands of sword Qi. But when the fourth strand of sword Qi struck, the barrier was shattered to the woman’s despair. Two streaks of sword Qi then struck her vitals before she could react.
Han Li glanced at the woman’s falling body and shook his head. With a flick of his finger, a fireball shot out, turning the woman’s corpse into ash, and he summoned the woman’s light ribbons and storage pouch into his hand.
“If I didn’t kill you, those Devil Dao Nascent Soul cultivators would pursue me.” Han Li sighed and his body flickered with lightning once more while his spiritual sense locked onto another fleeing figure.
The next target was the black-robed cultivator who held the deepest cultivation. He was at the peak of the mid Core Formation stage and was just a step away from entering late Core Formation stage.
As Han Li flew in that direction, he patted his spirit beast pouch and released large quantities of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. Under the orders of his spiritual sense, the beetles immediately condensed into over ten tri-colored blades before chasing down each of the fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivators. This lot had meager cultivation and speed, so Han Li was disinclined to personally slay each of them and merely used his beetles to take care of them in one fell sweep. He would only personally deal with the Core Formation cultivators.
After all, these Core Formation cultivators were extremely fast. The beetles would have no chance of pursuing them. Gold Devouring Beetles were adept at closing short distance, but stood little chance in a long distance chase.
The black-clothed cultivator was standing underneath on a shining dagger, while hurrying on his way with a sullen expression. He didn’t expect to come across a Nascent Soul cultivator when he went looking for the murderer of his Sixth Junior Martial Brother. While he didn’t know whether or not this cultivator had anything to do with the death of his Sixth Junior Martial Brother, he did know that the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators had something to do with him. It appeared that this Nascent Soul cultivator was chasing after the Controlling Spirit Sect disciples. It was likely that they had provoked him in some way, drawing their Ghost Spirit Sect into the crossfire.
Even if the Nascent Soul cultivator didn’t hold any ill intent toward them, it was likely that they would be killed in order to be silenced. Regardless, there was now a Nascent Soul cultivator involved in the investigation of his Sixth Junior Martial Brother’s death, meaning it was no longer something he could deal with. After he returned, he would make a report to his master and have him deal with the matter.
Since this cultivator dared to pursue Devil Dao Core Formation cultivators such as themselves, this Nascent Soul eccentric shouldn’t be affiliated with any faction. He must’ve been a vagrant cultivator, else he would’ve shown consideration to the vast powers of the Devil Dao.
As the black-clothed cultivator worriedly pondered, he suddenly heard a series of strange rumbles from his side. They were intermittent, and faded away as quickly as they appeared. Alarmed, the black-clothed cultivator hastily turned his head around, only to see a flash of azure light before all went dark.
Han Li expressionlessly waved his hand and retrieved the giant azure sword from the corpse.
Although this person had cautiously flew with a light barrier surrounding him, it was as powerless as thin paper against the strike of his combined Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Both man and light barrier were cut through in a single blow. Han Li’s gaze now turned to yet another distant location.
While being pulled forward by two dark green skulls, a scholarly cultivator wearing embroidered robes was nervously glancing at his surroundings. Despite having fled so far away, he clearly understood that so long as the Nascent Soul cultivator’s spiritual sense enveloped him, it was only a matter of time before they
would pursue him.
As a result, he simultaneously spread out his spiritual sense to its greatest extent while he flew forward as fast as he could. He could feel his thumping heart rise into his throat.
When a sudden sense of unease gripped him, he turned his head around and felt his heart drop into a deep abyss. Not far away, a youth in his twenties had appeared at an unknown time. He wore azure scholar robes and smiled towards him, revealing glints of his perfect teeth.
But before the embroidered-robed cultivator could turn his head back and run, the youth said with a friendly tone, “It must’ve been quite taxing for Fellow Daoist to have run so far. It’s only proper for me to send you on your way!”
When Han Li said this, he flung his sleeve and scattered countless gold specks across the sky. These specks instantly formed a huge golden cloud and enveloped the sky with a fearsome presence.
The embroidered-robed cultivator released a wretched scream and was engulfed by the golden cloud alongside his magic treasure. A moment later, the golden cloud scattered, leaving no trace of the cultivator behind.
Han Li’s expression changed upon seeing this and he muttered, “The evolved Gold Devouring Beetles are far more fearsome. In a mere instant, they were able to even clearly devour magic treasures. Their repute of being able to devour anything is well deserved.”
Soon after he flung a spirit beast pouch from his sleeve, and the Gold Devouring Beetles reluctantly flew into the bag after spiralling through the air several times. Han Li frowned at the sight and inwardly sighed.
With their vast increase in strength, the beetles could no longer be as smoothly controlled as before, resulting in a trace of helplessness dampening his previously high spirits.
Leaving another wave of thunder in his wake, Han Li disappeared yet again in a flash of silver light.
Han Yunzhi was mounted atop a pure-white spirit bird, that was hurriedly rushing through the sky as a fifteen meter long streak of white light. At that moment, both bird and rider were enveloped in a soft light. When combined with the woman’s flawless appearance, she appeared all the more otherworldly.
However, her brow was currently furrowed and she held a palm-sized jade disk in her hand. She was carefully examining it with a fluctuating expression.
The polished jade disk pulsed with an astonishing emerald Qi and was deeply engraved with many decorative designs. It also glowed with lines of ancient, silver-gold talisman characters. One could tell that it was an unordinary treasure from a single glance.
The center of the jade disk was as sleek as a mirror, and there were six specks of red light that were intermittently flickering from within it as if they were fireflies. At that moment, a speck of light brightened and suddenly disappeared from sight.
When Han Yunzhi saw this, she pursed her lips in concern and attentively stared at the disk in her hand. However, after a short moment, two more lights brightly flashed and disappeared from sight.
Han Yunzhi’s calm demeanor suddenly changed.
When yet another red speck of light disappeared, there were now only two specks that still remained on the jade disk.
Han Yunzhi gently brushed away a strand of her hair from her face and bitterly smiled, muttering in an inaudible voice, “Apart from Junior Marital Sister Liu and I, there are no other survivors. The four Foundation Establishment disciples have already died. Could it be that this person is capable of doppelganger techniques or possesses some other inconceivable technique? It seems we’ve underestimated what a Nascent Soul cultivator is capable of. I reckon those Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators aren’t any better off. Had I known of this earlier, it would’ve been better for us to travel together and stake it all together.”
Chapter 667: Six-Winged Frost Centipede
Although Han Yunzhi felt slight regret at her previous decision, she knew there was nothing she could do about it now. She could only put away the jade disk with a sigh. She then spat out a translucent, glowing pearl. The pearl revolved once around her and then fell onto the large bird’s head, rigidly staying in position without any movement.
The woman clutched her hands in an incantation gesture and pointed to the pearl with a solemn expression. As the pearl released a blinding radiance, the bird raised its head and cawed. With a shake of its wings, the giant white bird left a trail of white light in its wake, shooting forward with even greater speed.
Han Yunzhi didn’t cease using the technique, and her complexion paled as a result. It was obvious this secret technique sapped much of her vitality, but given how dire the current circumstances were, she had no choice but to make use of it.
Not long after she made use of this secret technique she suddenly heard rumbles of thunder. Alarm appeared on her face, knowing that the Nascent Soul cultivator had finally caught up to her. She had already reached the greatest speed she could muster. There was nothing else she could do apart from hastily covering herself in a barrier; in order to easily enter Core Formation, she had previously cultivated a cultivation technique lacking any powerful abilities.
With two further claps of thunder, an arc of silver lightning flashed at the woman’s side. A winged silhouette appeared about forty meters ahead of her, while an azure light obscured the man’s face. The man wordlessly raised his arm, summoning several streaks of blinding azure light.
Han Yunzhi revealed an expression of despair and closed her eyes in the face of certain death.
“Yi! It’s you.” When the silhouette clearly saw Han Yunzhi’s appearance, he shouted out in surprise. The light from his arm dimmed in an instant.
Han Yunzhi was baffled by this. When she thought to examine the other party’s appearance, his figure flickered with silver light and disappeared. Han Yunzhi was at a loss for a moment, but when she heard thunder roar from behind her, she regained clarity of mind.
Just as the woman thought to hastily turn around, her light barrier was shattered, followed by the strike of a sliver of golden lightning.
Han Yunzhi suddenly felt herself turn numb and her limp body fell off the bird. At that same moment, she felt as if she were being carried in a man’s embrace. With shameful fury stirring inside her, she fell unconscious.
Han Li glanced at the woman in his bosom and wryly smiled with a trace of helplessness.
...
After an unknown amount of time passed, Han Yunzhi slowly opened her eyes to a blue, cloudless sky. She then glanced around in alarm and hurriedly stood up, discovering that she was currently at some small mountain.
Her large white bird was crouching nearby as if it had lost consciousness.
Han Yunzhi hastily walked over to take a look at it. Fortunately, the bird was merely affected by a simple restriction that was easy to dispel. The woman then awakened the bird with a breath of relief and flew it into the air, intending to observe her surroundings.
She didn’t seem to be far from where she had lost consciousness, and it appeared that not much time had passed either.
Han Yunzhi appeared to be at a loss for a long while, before suddenly recalling a dreadful matter. She hastily examined her clothes and body. They appeared ordinary as if nothing strange had occurred. Additionally, the magic treasures within her body and her storage pouch were untouched.
This truly dumbfounded Han Yunzhi. Not only was she not killed, but she wasn’t assaulted either. She was completely lost as to what was going on.
Han Yunzhi recalled that before she fainted, the Nascent Soul cultivator yelled in shock, revealing an expression of bewilderment.
Could it be that Nascent Soul cultivator had recognized her? Were they friends? However, she couldn’t recall ever having met any Nascent Soul cultivators from another sect.
Unfortunately, this person moved far too quickly and she wasn’t able to see his appearance while his stature appeared rather ordinary. However, she wasn’t able to make out anything from his cry of alarm.
Han Yunzhi pondered for a while, but she was unable to come up with any answers. She soon
took out the jade disk from her robes and formed an incantation gesture with a single hand. After muttering a few words, a streak of white light struck the jade disk and a flicker of green light revealed that only single speck of red light remained.
Han Yunzhi tensely frowned at the sight. She began to feel trepidation when she recalled how she had been effortlessly restrained by the Nascent Soul cultivator.
Her Junior Martial Sister Liu was either killed or left the range of her magic treasure. From the Nascent Soul cultivator’s previous killing spree, it seemed likely to be the former.
She faintly sighed and put away her magic treasure before flying away on her bird.
...
At that same moment in a far away place, Han Li was flying through the air as he held a young woman in his arms. He looked down at the intact woman in his arms with an entirely calm expression. Not long after he knocked Han Yunzhi unconscious, he immediately changed direction and chased down the other Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator. When this woman saw Han Li chasing after her, she wore an expression of despair and threw several foot-long winged centipedes into the air.
This centipede was quite unordinary. Its body glowed with a pitch-black light and had two snow-white wings on its back. As soon as they left the spirit beast pouch, they spouted out large breaths of frost, resulting in a fierce appearance.
Han Li was initially stunned upon seeing them, but he soon grew elated. If he wasn't mistaken, these exotic insects were the eighteenth rank Winged Frost Centipedes. These centipedes were the same as his Gold Devouring Beetles; they were also an insect species that existed during times of antiquity.
Due to their partial lineage from frost-attribute dragons, their bodies became snow white upon full maturation, grew six wings, and could spew enough icy Qi to freeze anything within fifty kilometers. However, these centipedes were exactly the same as his original Gold Devouring Beetles; they were still only fledglings. The icy Qi they spouted might prove difficult to common cultivators, but to Han Li, who previously refined a trace of Celestial Ice Flames, it was nothing to fear.
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