Threads of red and azure lights began to emerge from all over the hall and followed after the silver soundwaves, engulfing the icy woman at their center.
In the face of these oncoming attacks, the woman simply pointed to her two swords. Black and white light flashed from the swords as they easily spun once in the air, instantly releasing a wave of glacial and scorching Qi. With the white icy Qi on the outside, and the black scorching Qi on the inside, they conformed into a strange barrier of light around the woman.
When the sound waves struck the barrier, they were entirely absorbed without a trace. But soon after, the red and azure lights from the hall’s restrictions managed to envelop the barrier.
Nangong Wan took action at that moment. In a burst of flame, the Vermillion Bird Band turned into a huge fireball and suddenly exuded a vast pressure. Then with a casual wave of hand, a dim scarlet light flashed from her hand and she vanished from sight. Were it not for Han Li’s vast spiritual sense, he wouldn’t have been seen through Nangong Wan’s sneak attack.
Following a muffled hum, the dim light suddenly revealed it in a colorful burst.
“To think that you would use a Devilslaying Thorn to injure me!” she cried, her face contorted with a mixture of fury and alarm. “Well done. I had always thought that Junior Martial Sister had used all of them. I hadn’t expected that you managed to preserve one.”
The woman appeared to have somehow suffered a heavy blow but her vitality still held strong. Han Li knew that she had merely suffered a minor injury and that Nangong Wan simply intended to interrupt the icy woman’s use of the restriction medallion.
After Han Li activated the restrictions in the hall, he flipped his hand and the pitch-black Thousand Layer Mountain in his hand. He tossed it into the air and quickly struck the mountain with quickly formed spell seals.
Appearing momentarily trapped by the restrictions, the Vermillion Bird Band shot towards the icy woman as a ball of flames. But in that instant, eight ferocious arm-thick flame pythons became entangled with it. A roaring sea of flames soon appeared in the hall.
At that point, the mountain had expanded to twenty meters in height. Just as Han Li was about to command the treasure, he saw a bowl-thick beam of rainbow light shoot out from the sea of flames. Be it flame or light, anything that was struck by the beam of light was unable to resist it.
A series of clanks suddenly rang out, and the beam of light abruptly stopped on the spiralling Vermilion Band Ring, completely locking it down.
‘The Light Stasis Mirror!’ Han Li narrowed his eyes with a solemn expression.
Before the woman arrived, Nangong Wan gave Han Li a general explanation of her Senior Martial Sister’s techniques and treasures to Han Li, allowing more opportunities for Han Li to strike her. The Light Stasis Mirror was the ancient treasure that Nangong Wan had mentioned the most amongst her Senior Martial Sister’s treasures. It was also among the most fantastical of them.
The Azure Stasis Mirror that Han Li saw during the Trial by Blood and Fire was most likely a replica of this ancient treasure. Although it only possessed a hundredth of its power, the magic tool was still renowned amongst low-grade cultivators as a magic tool that was amongst the best.
The azure restrictions and the flames had been thrown into chaos by the light beam’s overwhelming power, rendering them completely ineffective. As a result, the icy woman re-appeared once more. Within her black-white barriers, she held a mirror in one hand and formed an incantation gesture with the other.
Han Li’s gaze flickered and fell onto the famous mirror that was in her hand.
The mirror wasn’t large and appeared the same as the Azure Statis Mirror. However, its body shone with a pitch-black light that left a deeply eerie impression on those who saw it. As for the rainbow beam of light that it emitted, it created such a harsh contrast it made for a bizarre sight.
The hand that formed an incantation gesture was bloodstained, and the restriction medallion that it originally held had disappeared without a trace. It was truly unfathomable how she was injured through the barrier.
‘This Devilslaying Thorn is quite effective!’
With Nangong Wan’s bonded magic treasure restrained by the mirror, Han Li wasn’t about idly stand by. He silently pointed to the black mountain, and had it disappear with a faint tremble. A short moment later, it re-appeared above the icy woman and began to fall with tremendous momentum.
The woman scoffed and slightly adjusted the direction of her Light Stasis Mirror while striking it with a spell seal from her free hand. Suddenly, the existing beam of light faintly trembled and a slimmer branching beam shot out form the mirror towards the black mountain. Surpassing the speed of sound, the beam pierced through the air in an attempt to restrain the falling black mountain.
Already prepared that he wouldn’t be able to easily succeed, he clutched his hands together in a incantation gesture without further thought. The falling black mountain suddenly stopped in the air and revolved once before expelling a large cloud of black light from underneath it, just in time to interrupt the beam of light before it struck.
The black cloud of light engulfed the beam of rainbow light as soon as it had appeared, flowed down to strike the icy woman’s barrier. The black layer of the barrier trembled and began to throw her body’s spiritual Qi into disarray, nearly causing the beams of light from the mirror to scatter.
The woman’s silhouette grew dim from behind the barrier of light and her expression faintly changed. She opened her mouth and spat out a mist of azure Qi onto the mirror without further thought. With the reinforced power, the rainbow light dissipated into a mist and stopped the black mountain and its aura from descending further.
The confrontation between the two forces eventually resulted in a series of muffled explosions.
Nangong Wan’s spirits were roused by the sight of the deadlock, and she suddenly willed the restricted Vermillion Bird Ring to vastly fluctuate in size. It screamed with phoenix cries as it attempted its utmost to break free.
For a time, the two joined hands to withstand Nangong Wan’s Senior Martial Sister.
Of course, the three weren’t simply maintaining this deadlock; they were also observing each other’s actions.
Han Li was the first to move, slapping at his waist and summoning a spirit beast pouch. With a loud buzz, countless sparkling golden beetles surged through the air and formed a malevolent golden cloud.
Nangong Wan followed by uttering an incantation in the cadence of an otherworldly song. A huge scarlet barrier suddenly appeared a meter above her head. The barrier glowed with fluid light that gradually grew intensively bright.
The icy woman suddenly tossed the mirror in her hand above her and slapped her hands together, summoning a small triangular flag into her grasp. Despite her preparations, she still gloomily said, “Divine Incarnation Light! Junior Martial Nangong, you truly aren’t holding back! You dare to use this!”
Although she found the golden insect swarm to be somewhat strange, she paid them little heed. She was clearly unfamiliar with the Gold Devouring Beetles.
Wearing a faint smile on her face, Nangong Wan said, “If Senior Martial Sister doesn’t wish to fight with her life on the line, then hand over the Contraining Heart Restriction Medallion and leave us be.”
The icy woman snorted and malicious intent appeared on her face. She then opened her mouth and spat out a small blood-red sword.
The sword was only several inches long but its body glistened with blinding red light and a thread of black Qi faintly wandered around the sword’s body. As soon as the sword appeared, the sword began to tremble of its own volition, filling the air in the hall with the scent of blood.
The smile disappeared from Nangong Wan’s face with the appearance of the small crimson sword and she icily stared at her senior martial sister, “Blood Devil Sword! Since when did you acquire that evil treasure? Are you not scared of the devilish Qi backlash?”
“Backlash? Have no wor
ry. With this artifact, I will defeat you so quickly there won’t be any opportunity for any devilish Qi backlash. But now, I will ask you one last time. Are you truly unwilling to marry Wei Lichen for the prosperity of the sect?
If you are still unwilling, I will have the Blood Devil Sword go mad. I am not entirely confident of my ability to restrain its power. Do not blame me for not warning you.” The icy woman’s voice was brimming with certainty.
Han Li glanced at the Blood Devil Saber without much care and calmly said, “There is no need for you to ask any questions. Even if Wan’er was willing to sacrifice herself for the Masked Moon Sect, I would not allow it. You will cease this foolishness!”
“And who are you? It seems your cultivation and abilities aren't weak, but I don’t recall a Nascent Soul that compares with your description. Could it be you are a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator? But to call her in such a sappy manner as Wan’er? You must’ve be the reason she had been unwilling to marry Wei Lichen all along.” With a cold glint shining for her eyes, Nangong Wan’s Senior Martial Sister stared at Han Li with murderous intent.
Chapter 719: Blood Devil Sword
Han Li responded to Nangong Wan’s Senior Martial Sister with an unhurried tone, “It doesn’t matter who I am, but it does matter why you are being so obstinate. Just give the Contraining Heart Restriction Medallion to us and we’ll immediately release you. As for the Blood Devil Sword, I have nothing to fear from it despite not knowing of it. It would be best if you didn’t rely on it.”
The icy woman sinisterly stared at Han Li and curled her lips, “You are overestimating yourself! If you knew about Blood Devil Sword, you wouldn’t dare to speak so boldly. I’ll kill you first and see if Junior Martial Sister Nangong changes her mind.”
Immediately after, she bit the tip of her tongue and puffed a large mist of blood essence onto the small crimson sword and clutched her hands in an incantation seal. In a bright flash of crimson light, the small sword grew to a meter in length, flourishing its wicked, bloody appearance. The scent of blood it emitted became all the more repugnant and pervasive as well.
The icy woman then grabbed onto the sword’s handle without much care, and she began to glare with brilliantly light as she began to pour the entirety of her spiritual power into the crimson sword.
“Quickly act! We cannot allow her to attack first!” Unable to retain her calm, Nangong Wan shouted fearfully to Han Li. She knew much about the fearsomeness of the Blood Devil Sword and couldn’t hold much confidence in Han Li’s words.
Before she could finish condensing her Divine Incarnation Light, she pointed to the huge barrier of light above her head. The dome of light trembled and began to quickly revolve. A short moment later, a gorgeous emerald-green light flew out towards the icy woman in an instant.
When the icy woman saw this, she casually waved her hand and tossed out the triangular flag. When the flag left her hand, it turned into a large cloud of eerie green fog as it intercepted the attack.
As soon as the ray of emerald light struck the green fog, a flood dragon suddenly appeared from the emerald light. The flood dragon suddenly gained the upper hand in the struggle and surged through the fog in an attempt to disperse it. But like a tenacious disease, a layer of the fog stuck onto the flood dragon and prevented it from breaking free.
Nangong Wan grimaced at the sight, and the icy woman revealed a trace of joy.
The icy woman then swept the air with the crimson sword and slashed the sword over Han Li’s head. A spacial fluctuation soon followed, carrying a three-meter-wide wave of sword Qi towards him.
The sword Qi was scarlet red and flaunted an ominous, evil aura as it cut forward without restraint.
After the icy woman consumed a majority of her power in her attack, her complexion increasingly reddened several times in the following instant. Then in a flash of light, the crimson sword returned to its original small size.
As the sword Qi traveled through the air, the nearby spiritual Qi flowed forward with the force of a thousand streams, dragging the blood sword Qi forward and concealing it. Han Li could only feel his body tense and suddenly felt his body shackled. Let alone cast any techniques, he couldn’t even bring himself to move a single finger. He could only stare at the sword Qi as it slowly made his way towards him.
Nangong Wan’s complexion turned deathly pale at the sight of this, and her Senior Martial Sister simply smirked.
Both of them believing that Han Li was about to meet great catastrophe, Han Li simply took a deep breath as he stared at the blood sword Qi. With ringing thunder and wildly flickering golden light, a net of faint gold lightning appeared around Han Li.
The icy woman was stunned at the sight. Before she could even react, the blood sword Qi struck the net of lightning.
A huge explosion sounded out as the divine lightning and the blood Qi collided.
Despite overbearing sword Qi savage attempts to break through the golden net, it was incapable of severing the thin strands of lightning. Instead, the golden net gradually wrapped around it as if it were a fish.
Then, the net of Divine Devilbane Lightning around Han Li disappeared as it quickly moved to wrap around the sword Qi.
Han Li glanced at the lightning-restrained sword Qi in the air with a trace of astonishment. The Divine Devilbane Lightning appeared to be quickly consumed in its struggle to contain the sword Qi despite its evil warding properties. Had he not released a third of his lightning reserves, it was quite possible he wouldn’t have been able to restrain this wicked sword Qi.
Actually, this was the first time he had even encountered an evil Devil Dao treasure that he hadn’t been able to easily subdue with the Devilbane Lightning. But if this continued, both the blood sword Qi and the Devilbane Lightning would likely both scatter. This wasn't something that he was going to allow.
With that thought, Han Li raised his hands with a sullen expression, violently releasing two extremely dense bolts of lightning onto the net of lightning that was already restraining the crimson sword Qi.
With the reinforced vigor, the golden lightning was able to defeated the sword Qi, leaving only a small cloud of crimson mist in the air.
Without any further thought, Han Li pointed to the golden lightning in the air, and had it completely encase and condense the golden mist into a golden fist-sized ball. After it fell into his grasp, he expressionlessly glanced at the woman across from him.
The scene had left the icy woman completely dumbstruck with completely disbelief on her face. Nangong Wan was also shocked to the point where her mouth was slightly hanging open.
Seeing the full force of the Blood Devil Sword rendered ineffective was beyond belief for the two women.
Ever since this sword made its appearance in the Heavenly South, it was unknown whether or not it was an ancient or a magic treasure. This sword was similar to an ordinary magic treasure by which it can be kept within one’s body, but it was incapable of refined by an owner like an ancient treasure. Despite this, it was still capable of displaying astonishing strength.
Unless one avoided the sword’s spacial slash ahead of time, there was no method of blocking it. Any techniques or magic treasures used to block the attack would most likely be cleaved into two. As for the sword’s user, unless they used a large amount of blood essence and vitality to activate it, they would have to be wary of devilish Qi backlash.
This was because the body’s true essence became increasingly tainted by devilish essence the longer the sword was used. If too much devilish essence was accumulated, one would experience devilish Qi backlash; they would lose any rationality and transform into a raging devil until their death.
There are only a few of these “devilish artifacts” in the entirety of the Heavenly South. It could be said to be a name that was both feared and admired!
Just after Han Li dispersed of the blood sword Qi, he took action without waiting for the two women to recover from their shock. With a fierce whistle, he had the Gold
Devouring Beetles swarming above him roar and flood the room as they charged towards the icy woman.
Han Li’s had awakened the icy woman from her stupor. In furious alarm, she opened her mouth and spat out a small silver sword from her mouth and quickly formed an incantation gesture with her hands. The silver sword brilliantly shined and created a barrier of blinding silver light.
With a sudden pop, the silver sword trembled and shot out over a thousand strands of silver light towards in the incoming swarm of golden beetles from within the barrier.
“Sword condensed threads!” Han Li muttered to himself with a frown. So it turned out that Nangong Wan’s Senior Martial Sister was originally a sword cultivator. It was no wonder why she had so many sword type magic treasures.
In the following moment, the silver threads struck the golden insect cloud. With a loud burst of crackles, countless golden shells fell from the sky, thinning out much of the swarm. Holes were left in the cloud of beetles from where the silver sword threads had struck.
Han Li’s heart sank at the sight. Were his current Gold Devouring Beetles still incapable of contending against Nascent Soul cultivators? He had spent such meticulous time and effort to develop them.
The icy woman felt relief at the result of the strike. With several more waves of attacks, the entire swarm of these odd insects should be fully exterminated. It appeared there was nothing to fear from them.
However, Han Li’s disappointment was soon replaced with joy. The beetles that had fallen from the strike had begun to move once more. With a shriek, they began to fly once more and followed the rest of the beetles towards the icy woman.
At that moment, a phoenix cry suddenly sounded out from the green fog and a radiance of a thousand suns suddenly shined and cleanly scattered it away to reveal a vermillion moon from within it. The moon shimmered with light before rushing towards the icy woman’s barrier.
The icy woman’s expression vastly changed. Suddenly, the light barrier began to spin around her and her body transformed into a streak of black-white light as she attempted to escape from the hall.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 385