When Han Li watched from a distance, a group of cultivators and spell warriors flew out from their respective factions towards the center point between each army. They divided into groups of ten and began to lay out spell formations.
These men were all spell warriors and cultivators that were spell formation masters. Although they needed to place some powerful restrictions, there weren’t any tricks that could be placed. As these people possessed vast obtainments in the Dao of spell formations, nothing could be hidden from one another.
Ordinarily, placing down restrictions of this rank would consume a large amount of time. But with so many spell formation masters simultaneously working together, making liberal use of precious materials and prepared formation flags and plates, it took only a quarter hour of time to complete ten small spell formations that shined with white light. As soon as the formations were activated, they created ten barriers of white light that each spanned over two hundred and fifty meters.
After these spell formation masters re-examined the restrictions, they saw no problems and each departed. They were then exchanged for ten Core Formation-stage spell warrior and cultivators. They flew over to the barriers, each one guarded by both a single cultivator and spell warrior to prevent any tampering.
One of the Heavenly South cultivators happened to be Cultivator Song from the Drifting Cloud Sect. She appeared to be assigned to watch over the second spell formation barrier. Han Li didn’t appear surprised by her appearance in the least.
Since Han Li was going to participate in the wagered battles, it was only suitable that a disciple from his own sect was to guard him. If he were being guarded by the disciple of a hostile sect, they may hesitate to act or even choose to remain still as danger approached.
As a result, Han Li took the initiative to raise this matter with Cultivator Song. She was most familiar Drifting Cloud Sect cultivator to him.
With the spell formations finished, it was time for the fighters to appear. At that moment, ten black-robed cultivators flew out from the Moulan warriors, reach of them brimming with a pervasive devilish aura.
‘Devil cultivators!’ Han Li’s pupils shrank back and he shot into the air towards the spell formations at the center along with nine other Nascent Soul eccentrics; Daoist Shattered Soul, Devil Cloudpart, and the woman surnamed Bai were amongst them, but there were three among them that he didn’t recognize. When they arrived in front of the spell formations, they came to a stop.
When Han Li arrived above the spell formations, he nodded to Cultivator Song down below and calmly faced the black-robed man across from him.
‘How strange! Why is the devilish Qi from their body so frantic? Could it be that they’ve taken an overbearing pill like the Death Return Pill?’ Han Li retained an indifferent appearance as he pondered.
The black-robed man appeared ordinary, but his eyes flickered with cold green light as he stared at Han Li. Although Han Li couldn’t make out his face, it was undoubtedly a cultivator at the peak of early Nascent Soul stage, just a step away from entering mid Nascent Soul stage.
Han Li then turned his attention to the other black-robed devil cultivators. They appeared to be nearly the same as his own opponent and had very few differences between them.
Han Li’s heart stirred with vigilance. There was definitely something wrong with the wagered battle. There wasn’t a single mid Nascent Soul cultivator among their opponents. But this would prove no matter to him. So long as his opponent used Devil Dao techniques, he will be able to use the Divine Devilbane Lightning to instantly exterminate them. None of their tricks would be of any use against him. In the blink of an eye, Han Li resolved himself, and killing intent surged through his heart.
At that moment, the black-robed cultivator took out a storage pouch from his waist and emotionlessly glanced at Han Li. Han Li smiled and took out a storage pouch filled with materials, the wager for the match.
The materials in the storage pouch were something that the four powers of the Heavenly South had gathered together. They were extremely valuable and caused even Han Li to feel covetous.
With a wave of his arm, the black-robed man tossed the storage pouch over to him. Han Li narrowed his eyes and did the same, exchanging their storage pouches.
The black-robed man’s storage pouch didn’t possess a large variety of materials, but its value was easily greater than his own. From what he learned from ancient records, none of the materials appeared amiss.
Han Li nodded and simply placed the storage pouch at his waist; the black-robed man mirrored him.
When Cultivator Song and the spell warrior saw this, they both began to mutter an incantation and form hand seals. Various spell seals struck the formation and began to activate it.
Han Li and the black-robed cultivator both acted quickly and their bodies blurred, simultaneously appearing in front of the spell formation below. This caused the both of them to glance at each other with slight surprise.
At that moment, a milky-white barrier appeared around them and isolated them from the outside. The other cultivators and the black-robed men had also entered in the light barriers. For a time, there was complete silence amongst both armies. They held their breaths with anxiousness as they stared at the twenty vague silhouettes through the barrier of light.
Having entered the barrier, Han Li didn’t pay further attention to any of the others. He simply watched the black-robed cultivator across from him and remained still. However, blue light began to swirl around him, and flying swords began to tremble as if they were about to launch themselves.
Of course, the most vicious weapon he had against devil cultivators was the fist-sized mass of golden light that was condensed in his Dantian. Han Li saluted his opponent with a chuckle before launching an earth-shattering strike.
Chapter 769: Battle at the Border (3)
When the black-robed man saw the light barrier appear around them, he put his hands together in an incantation gesture and began to utter an ancient and obscure incantation. A sinister Devilish Qi erupted from his body and transformed into an inky black tentacle that continuously waved itself around.
Han Li’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the black-robed man. However, faint sounds of thunder rang from the cuff of his sleeve along with a flicker of golden light. Han Li had once before killed a devil cultivator of a similar cultivation in an instant. So long as he took advantage of the opening when the devil cultivator attacks, he would be able to deal with him with ease.
But in that next moment, the black-robed man’s eyes glowed scarlet, and a beastly, savage roar left his mouth. Soon after, the devilish Qi surrounding his body disappeared. Instead, it expanded, doubling in size in the blink of an eye.
“Yi!” Han Li yelped in surprise. His astonishment wasn’t due to his opponent’s sudden transformation, but the complete disappearance of his devilish Qi. A strange, unstable aura had replaced it.
The black-robed man’s crimson eyes revealed a trace of madness. His inflated body then shrank into the size of a three-foot-tall dwarf before shooting back towards the wall of the barrier in a blur.
In his alarm, Han Li’s mind began to churn. He felt a faint sense of dread.
He raised his hand and shot two dense bolts of lightning from his hands, forming a huge net of lightning in the air to capture the black-robed man. Soon after, he shook his sleeve, summoning a small blue shield in front of him. It quickly enlarged and blocked his front. He then slapped his storage pouch with his other hand, summoning the Restriction Breaking Bead into his grasp.
If matters turned for the worse, he would immediately make use of the bead and break the restriction. Since he knew his opponent was up to no good, he wasn’t about to stay still and subject himself to harm.
Just as Han Li’s thoughts fluttered about, the black-robed man let out a miserable scream when the net of golden lightning enveloped him. Then with a huge explosion, every inch of his body scattering through the air as a bloody pulp.
Han
Li found himself in complete amazement. He originally believed his opponent had performed some ferocious self-detonation technique. However, the entirety of his flesh was scattered all over the light barrier. The explosion itself didn’t contain an iota of power.
During Han Li’s bewilderment, he discovered something odd. His opponent’s flesh remains stuck onto the light barrier, rather than dropping to the ground. As Han Li stared at the flesh, he saw that they began to squirm.
He was dumbstruck by the sight.
With several pops, the flesh remains sputtered into crimson mist and began to spread around the light barrier. In the blink of an eye, it had painted a majority of the light barrier crimson, and a bloody, pungent scent filled the air.
Han Li was aghast, and he hastily threw the Restriction Breaking Bead behind him. With a bang, a black light ruptured as soon as the Restriction Breaking Bead struck the barrier. Soon after, the affected portion of the barrier flashed with light, causing the entire barrier to tremble.
Han Li was overjoyed by the sight and he hastily flicked his fingers, launching successive attacks of azure light at the affected area in an attempt to break it. But during that moment, a crimson light flashed before him, enveloping the weakened portion of the barrier in mist.
Han Li felt his heart sank and he glanced around, discovering that the entire light barrier had turned crimson and roiled with crimson mist on its surface. Drops of blood seemed to be forming out of nowhere, further condensing the putrid scent of blood in the air.
Without another thought, he opened his mouth and shot a bowl-thick, dense bolt of lightning at the crimson wall in front of him. In a burst of golden light, the crimson mist scattered, but it soon restored itself to its original form, as if it hadn’t suffered any damage in the first place.
In his shock, he ceased his plan of releasing his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and wore a grave expression.
At that same moment, the other nine wagered battles had experienced the same scene. With self-detonation, the barriers turned crimson with blood. The ten Heavenly South cultivators in the wagered battles were all trapped by the light barriers, seized by a technique they couldn’t defend against.
The ten Heavenly South Core Formation cultivators that were controlling the spell formation from the outside knew things were far from good. They vigilantly glanced at the spell warriors across from them as they hurriedly formed the hand incantations to halt the spell formation. To their surprise, the spell warriors immediately flew back to their armies without a word once they saw the barriers turn crimson.
The ten Core Formation cultivators weren’t relieved in the slightest. Rather, they all knew that matters were grim. It seemed the change in the light barrier was certainly the Moulan’s doing.
They managed to dissolve the spell formation barrier as they expected, but strangely enough, a crimson mist had appeared in its place. The mist began to spin and condensed into a thick crimson layer, forming a complete barrier around it. It appeared as if were made of the blood of several hundred people.
When Master Sunreach and the others saw the blood barrier appear and that the ten cultivators down below were unable to stop it, they managed to keep calm as they suddenly flew down in streaks of dazzling light.
Once Master Sunreach arrived down below, he examined the barrier with astonishment and gloomily said, “Go back! This isn’t something that you’re capable of dealing with.”
When the cultivators heard this, they were greatly relieved and hastily withdrew. Before Cultivator Song left, she glanced at Han Li’s blood barrier with a trace of worry.
On the other side, the shriveled old man and the other spell warriors grew excited upon seeing the Heavenly South Nascent Soul cultivators trapped. They also appeared calm as they watched the three late-Nascent Soul cultivators fly down to the spell formations as if they weren’t afraid of the barrier being broken.
The shriveled old man turned around and smiled at the black-robed man standing behind him. “Sect Master Fang, it is a success! I hope this Bloodcatching Barrier is as formidable as you say and is capable of trapping these ten cultivators for half a day. With ten fewer Nascent Soul cultivators, their strength will be greatly decreased. We’ll be able to strike a decisive blow against the Heavenly South during this time.”
The black-robed man glanced at the shriveled old man and coldly smiled. “Don’t worry. This Bloodcatching Barrier is one of my sect’s six grand techniques. Not only was each blood corpse nurtured for a hundred years, but we particularly had the blood corpses consume a Devilspirit Pill. I also personally controlled the blood corpses with a thread of my spiritual sense in order to conceal their true identity. With such care taken, I was completely confident of its success. Even if those late Nascent Soul cultivators wished to eliminate the barrier, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish it in a short amount of time without consuming a large amount of magic power. Will you be giving them the opportunity to do so?”
As if proving the black-robed man’s words, Master Sunreach had arrived before the blood barrier and swiped at it with a blinding cut of sword Qi. With a series of fierce echoes, the blood barrier merely shook for a second before turning to normal.
Master Sunreach wore a gloomy expression upon seeing this. When Wei Wuya and Devil Concord saw this, they didn’t bother to attack the barrier. With their experience, they were able to immediately see just how powerful the blood barrier was.
This blood barrier was extremely durable and there were other peculiarities about it. But from that single strike, the three were able to tell that this barrier solely meant to trap and isolate rather than to harm enemies.
The three glanced at each other and wryly smiled. They originally believed that the wagered battles were an opportunity to heavily injure the strength of the Moulan. They hadn’t expected that the enemy planned to trap ten of their most powerful from the very beginning. This miscalculation had caught the three eccentrics off guard, causing most of their preparations to be in vain.
Wei Wuya sighed and slowly asked, “Brother Yi, what kind of Devil Dao technique is this? Does your Six Devil Dao Sects have techniques of this nature? Those people self-detonated to employ them. It’s unfathomable.”
Devil Concord replied with a frown, “We have no such techniques. This is the first time I’ve seen such a strange secret technique. It seems the cultivators of the Jin Empire cannot be underestimated.”
In their annoyance, they didn’t have the mind to question their enemies. Drumbeats were already pounding from the spell warrior armies and divisions of spell warriors began to take to the air. As for the spell warriors that remained on the ground, they began to chant a series of incantations and assumed a position to attack.
The three great cultivators were unshaken by the sight of this. The formations of their own army began to move in response, varied color lights began to shine from it.
Master Sunreach thoughtfully said, “We’ve suffered quite the loss, but it is fortunate that they are only temporarily trapped rather than dead. So long as they can stall, they will have the opportunity to emerge. We originally had more high-grade cultivators to start with. Even if we have ten fewer, we won’t be that much weaker.”
Devil Concord and Wei Wuya knew that these were only self-comforting words. With matters having come to this point, there was nothing they could do despite the fury in their hearts.
“We aren’t needed to direct the battle as it unfolds. We only need to deal with the three Moulan Divine Sages!” An ominous glint flickered from Devil Concord’s eyes as he spoke. He then paid no further notice to the two at his side and raised his head to shout at the spell warrior army, “I’ve long heard of the three Moulan Divine Sages possessing unfathomably profound spirit techniques. Might I ask to experience them and invite you to battle?”
With the use of a secret technique, Devil Concord’s yell caused the air within several kilometers to tremble and leave echoes in its wake. For a time, the incantation being uttered from
both armies were interrupted. Even a few of the spell warriors in the air swayed; those with weaker cultivation had also momentarily fallen from the sky.
Chapter 770: Battle at the Border (4)
With Devil Concord’s challenge ringing through the air, the shriveled old man frowned, but he soon spoke with a tranquil tone, “We will have the fight with the three great Heavenly South cultivators sooner or later. However, I must remain behind to direct the battle and cannot fight. I’ll have to trouble Sect Master Fang to occupy one of them. It should prove an easy task given that you’ve cultivated the Heavenflash Devil Arts to its peak stage and can take in the Heavenfiend Devil’s true Qi into your body.”
“Since I’ve already come to an agreement with you, I will be taking action. I also wish to test the abilities to the top Devil Dao cultivator in the Heavenly South.” The black-robed man spoke with a cold tone. With green light glowing from his eyes, black Qi began to slowly ascend from his body before he took off in the direction of Devil Concord. As for the scholarly man surnamed Zhong and the short man surnamed Bu, they wordlessly flew after him in streaks of silver and red light.
When the three great Heavenly South cultivators saw this, they hastily pursued them. The six of them then disappeared into the clouds without further trace of them.
Not long after, the color of the nearby sky began to chance in color. It turned from fire-red one moment to pitch-black, another with thunderous explosions echoing across the skies. Flashes of light would occasionally flash and illuminate the clouds.
As six late-Nascent Soul cultivators began to fight, the battle between the cultivator and spell warrior armies on the ground and lower sky unfolded.
However, it was vastly different from a battle between a small number of cultivators, when they would approach and strike one another when they were in range. Instead, both armies chanted various incantations and first activate various defensive formations around themselves, slowly raising a huge light barrier at the center of two armies, shrouding their main forces.
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