King Glorious Blaze chuckled and said, “If Fellow Daoist Han believes those three, then you are truly bringing about your own death. After these three kill me, they will certainly deal with you too in order to keep this ugly affair quiet. If you are wise, you will join together with me in order to break the barrier. My cave residence is near here and so long as you help me break this spell formation, you will have nothing to fear from them once we arrive there. If it is to your liking, I can even make a devilheart oath and will compensate you heavily when we leave.”
Han Li raised his brow when he heard this as the yellow-robed man’s words had left his heart particularly sullen.
“It would be best for Fellow Daoist to clearly understand what there is to gain before he takes action. If you help him, don’t blame us if we act ruthlessly afterwards. You should understand the might of both parties, not to mention that it will be extremely difficult to escape from our sand formation. Surely, you don’t want to die here with him? My conditions are quite simple. You only need to wait here for a little while and when the time comes, we will release you. I’m also willing to swear a devilheart oath on this!”
Chapter 917: Waging Battle
King Glorious Blaze looked at Han Li and addressed the yellow-robed man’s threats by saying, “Fellow Daoist, do not be coerced by them. Soon, my reinforcements will arrive. So long as you protect me for a short while, you will have nothing to worry about.”
Han Li’s appearance was the surprise factor that could tip the scales in the favor of either side.
At the moment, Han Li had his arms crossed with a pensive expression.
When Master Wild Sand heard King Glorious Blaze, an ominous glint appeared in his eyes, but he forced himself to remain still. Although this youth hadn’t fully displayed his abilities, Master Wild Sand didn’t dare to underestimate after the golden lightning he displayed earlier.
Under these circumstances, he could no longer continue to hide his plan and spoke bluntly, “Brother Glorious Blaze, could it be you haven’t discovered the Seven Devilwind Seeds and three Yellow Earthfiends? In the instant you left your tomb, Fellow Daoist Heavenwind and I placed a spell formation outside of it. Your reinforcements should still be trapped in the tomb.
Although it’s possible they’ll be able to break through it, they’re going to be stalled for at least half a day. Besides... hehe!” With that said, he began to let out a cold laugh.
“Besides what?” King Glorious Blaze’s heart grew sullen and he glared at the large man while clenching his fists.
Master Wild Sand looked up at the sky and sneered, “Besides, it’s currently almost noon and the eruption of Yin Qi in the earth veins will soon arrive. Brother Glorious Blaze, your Heavenly Corpse Arts will suffer a great loss in power as a result.”
King Glorious Blaze’s expression froze and a faint layer of black Qi appeared around him. With a fierce smile on his face, he furiously said, “Good, very good! I didn’t think that you knew about both my Heavenly Corpse Arts and the earth vein’s Yin Qi. However, these are mere superficial details. I’ll have you personally witness the might of my Heavenly Corpse Arts.”
With no hope of reinforcements, he flew into a fury and began to unleash his strength, unresigned to just sit there and wait for death. Of course, unless he did this much he wouldn’t be able to win over Han Li.
King Glorious Blaze promptly spat out a ball of black blood that formed a fist-sized black talisman character before shooting onto his forehead and leaving a distinct mark behind. The talisman character released a black demonic light, causing the old man’s body to release roiling grey corpse Qi while he began to savagely roar.
Although Master Wild Sand didn’t know what ability he was trying to use, he wouldn’t allow him to easily finish. He immediately shouted, “Attack! We don’t need to hold this off any longer.”
After shouting, he stomped on the giant gourd beneath him. The gourd faintly trembled and spouted yellow sand, condensing into a ten-meter-tall flood dragon in the blink of an eye that fiercely pounced towards King Glorious Blaze.
When the other two saw this, they took action as well. A white gale suddenly roared and released over a hundred foot-long wind blades. Each blade shone with dazzling white light and let out astonishing shrieks.
As for the cloud of devilish Qi, it released over ten flying sabers. Each of them glowed profusely with jet-black light, and quickly grew from only an inch in size to three meters as they streaked through the air. Under the concealment of the wind blades, the sabers were nearly undetectable.
Just as these attacks were about to strike King Glorious Blaze, he finished casting his technique.
He howled in rage and his crown flew into the air, hair wildly blowing in the wind as it instantly grew several times longer and turned black-purple. In addition, he crossed his arms as he grew a meter taller, as a thick three-inch-long layer of green fur appeared on his body and viciously sharp, purple-black claws extended from his fingertips. His face quickly turned shriveled and he revealed inch-long fangs, completing his frightful transformation.
King Glorious Blaze had fully revealed his appearance as a ten-thousand-year-old corpse monarch.
At the same time he finished his transformation, the sand flood dragon, wind blades, and black streaks had arrived. King Glorious Blaze’s face warped into a fierce expression upon seeing them appear before him and he spat out a fist-sized golden pearl. The pearl spun in the air before turning into a large golden hand that grabbed the sand flood dragon.
He then held out his claws in violent opposition to the other attacks.
The wind blades and black streaks directly struck the claws and King Glorious Blaze was enveloped in overflowing black and white light from the impact.
A huge explosion sounded out and green light surged around King Glorious Blaze, repelling the wind blades and black streaks with great force.
King Glorious Blaze brandished claws that had strength far beyond steel, displaying a hardness superior to magic treasures. In a single blow, he was able to blow away the combined attacks of the wind blades and flying sabers.
Meanwhile, the large golden hand was grabbing onto the neck of the struggling flood dragon, restraining it for the time being.
As Han Li calmly watched all of this, his expression stirred in surprise. He hadn’t expected that King Glorious Blaze would still be able to muster this much strength despite being so heavily injured.
But when Master Wild Sand saw that the sand flood dragon was being restrained, he smiled and pointed at it. The sand flood dragon began to glow with yellow light and suddenly grew still before escaping from the golden hand as scattered sand. The scattered sand then condensed into a ball, trapping the large golden hand at its center.
He didn’t stop there and coldly glanced at King Glorious Blaze and Han Li before silently forming two incantation gestures. The yellow sand in the distance began to stir and rushed towards both of them in waves of sand that were over thirty meters tall. The waves of sand would occasionally release echoing ghostly wails as they surged onward.
He had activated the grand formation around them, drawing assistance from its restrictions to kill King Glorious Blaze and Han Li.
In the instant Han Li saw Master Wild Sand looking at him, he immediately came to the conclusion that Master Wildsand planned on dealing with them both in the same move. If he continued to hesitate, he would be killed alongside King Glorious Blaze once the spell formation closed in.
Cursing in furious alarm, Han Li no longer remained idle and took action as well.
With a wave of his sleeve, several tens of golden flying swords flew out and circled around him before transforming into a huge mass of sword streaks and striking at the nearest wave of sand. Then with his other hand, he summoned an ancient purple mirror and began to pour magic power into it, releasing a beam of purple light to strike the sand.
Then a strange scene occurred. The purple light was particularly effective against mis
t-type creations, but it completely went through the sand without a trace.
Han Li frowned and wore a vigilant expression. The giant swordstreak condensed from his flying swords chopped through the huge wave of sand, leaving a giant hole in it.
As King Glorious Blaze was being attacked by several magic treasures, he saw Han Li move to break the formation and rejoiced. But then he hurriedly shouted a warning, “Be careful, Soulfall Sand is specialized in corrupting magic treasures.”
“Corrupting magic treasures?” Han Li was stunned when he heard this.
Just as the sword streak cut open a hole through the sand, a Yin wind blew out from it, carrying specks of black sand all around the huge swordstreak. Then, strands of black Qi shot out from each of the grains of sand, wrapping around each and every one of his flying swords.
As soon as the black strands touched the swords, Han Li felt his connection to the flying swords grow dim as his spiritual sense strands were being forcefully pushed out from them, causing him to gradually lose control.
Han Li’s complexion turned cold and he pointed at his flying swords, uttering, “Burst.”
Pangs of thunder repeatedly rang out and countless arcs of lightning shot out from the swords. They ripped the black threads apart and even opened a large empty space in the cloud of sand.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and stared deeply into the cloud before wearing an unsightly expression.
At the center of the cloud, there was a dense mass of sand floating in the air. It appeared to be unremarkable, but it was immensely large and wasn’t something that could be destroyed in a short amount of time.
During his hesitation, his expression grew sullen and a pair of silver wings appeared on his back. As thunder rang out around him, he suddenly disappeared and blurred over thirty meters away. A scarlet halberd then swept past where he originally stood.
Although he was now a safe distance away, Han Li still sensed its scorching heat and was enraged by the attack. After missing its attack the halberd began return to the devilish cloud in spin.
Han Li raised his head to coldly look at the devilish cloud, and his eyes flickered with blue light. Although the devilish cloud was extremely dense, his Brightsight Spirit Eyes were able to clearly see through it.
The azure-robed old man inside of the cloud returned Han Li’s gaze with an alarmed expression. He was greatly surprised by Han Li’s use of lightning movement.
Without another word, Han Li flapped his wings and disappeared in a ring of thunder.
The old azure-robed old man was yet again stunned by the sight of this, but as someone who had experienced many battles, he slapped his storage pouch out of reflex and released an azure shield from it.
In the instant the shield moved to protect him, silver light flashed from the side of the devilish cloud, followed by Han Li’s appearance. His hands were held in a fist and golden lightning flickered all around him. In a series of thunderous explosions, a layer of golden lightning condensed on his body.
Then with a blur, Han Li once again disappeared from view.
This time, the old man felt his heart drop and instantly opened his mouth, spitting out a sparkling green sword. As soon as it appeared, it flew circles around him in a green streak to protect him.
Still feeling ill at ease, the old man thought to release several more magic treasures, but he suddenly heard thunder ring from his side.
Chapter 918: Shock the Wicked
Arcs of golden lightning violently leaped about ten meters around Han Li, brilliantly setting him ablaze with golden light as if he were a lightning god that had descended upon the world. The cloud of devilish Qi nearby was cleanly wiped away to leave an empty area over thirty meters wide, revealing the azure-robed old man that was previously hidden within it.
“Ah!” The old man couldn’t help but shout as he realized that things had taken a turn for the worse. His body promptly flashed with light as he hurriedly streaked away.
But since Han Li had taken the risk of approaching the old man with lightning movement, he wasn’t about to allow him to easily leave. Han Li turned into a blur as he left a string of afterimages in his wake and raised his hands into the air, releasing a ball of purple flame and a streak of golden light.
When the old man saw Han Li move so quickly, he was greatly frightened. Unable to do anything else, he hastily erected a wall of azure light from his shield and the purple fireball burst as it struck the wall of light.
With a crackle, the purple flames rapidly spread across the wall of light, quickly covering the wall in a layer of thick ice and sealing the old man’s azure shield within it.
The old man couldn’t help but shout in terror, “What is this tyrannical technique?”
Then, the golden streak of light arrived.
With a crack, the golden streak disappeared the instant it struck the wall, only for it to suddenly arrive in front of the old man.
The old man quivered and unconsciously attempted to lean to the side with all his might. Suddenly, he felt a shock run through his shoulder, followed by unbearable pain.
He quickly glanced at his side in terror and found that his arm had been torn off by the golden streak. If he hadn’t reacted as he did, he feared it would’ve been his head instead.
After slicing off the old man’s arm, the golden streak circled in the air before shooting into the sky, revealing its true form as an inch-long golden sword.
The old man then turned around and saw a tiny hole in the wall of ice. He found it hard to believe that the golden sword was sharp enough to pierce through both the wall of light and the ice covering it without the slightest resistance.
The old man let out a gasp of surprise from what had happened and his heart was filled with furious alarm.
He quickly slapped a talisman onto his body and sealed the wound from his missing arm. Then he gritted his teeth as he glared at Han Li, wanting to repay him a thousand fold for cutting off his limb. But just as the old man looked at him, Han Li suddenly disappeared without a trace.
“Not good!” When the old man saw this, he felt his heart drop into an icy abyss. He looked around, only to catch no trace of Han Li, and quickly reached for his storage pouch to release a protective treasure.
However, he was too late.
The old man heard a nearly indiscernible sound from behind him and the light protecting his body was completely broken, followed by a palm covered in purple flames bursting out of his chest. Purple ice condensed around his body and completely sealed him within.
The old man felt sharp pain stab through his body, but he wasn’t able to move in the slightest, filling him with complete terror.
Afterwards, Han Li withdrew his hand from the old man’s body and enveloped the frozen body in a net of lightning with a casual flick of his sleeve. The lightning ruptured and inch-large chunks of purple ice rained from the sky. Then, a Nascent Soul wrapped in black light suddenly flew out from the scattered ice, attempting to flusteredly escape with instant movement.
However, Han Li was already prepared for this and spat out a bolt of lightning. In an instant, the Nascent Soul was trapped by a net of lightning before it could activate its instant movement.
Han Li smirked with icy intent and formed an incantation gesture with both his hands, ordering the golden net to contract and rupture. Then in the resulting flashes of golden light, the old man’s Nascent Soul had turned into nothing.
The old man had launched a sneak attack on Han Li with the scorching halberd, but Han Li responded ruthlessly and exterminated him in only a moment, leaving no opportunity for the other two to rescue him.
When the others saw how Han Li easily deal with a fellow mid-Nascent Soul grade cultivator, they blanched with shock.
Master Wild Sand sent out a few voice transmissions after seeing this. Then, he and Lord Heavenwind withdrew their magic treasures and completely abandoned the battle. After entering the cloud of sand behind them, they disappeared without a trace.
&nbs
p; King Glorious Blaze was at a large disadvantage due to his heavy injuries, but with the tenacity of his Heavenly Corpse Body, he was able to receive the attack of the magic treasures without the slightest injury. But when he looked in Han Li’s direction, he wore an odd expression and felt ill at ease as a result.
He couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he would be able to deal with a similar grade cultivator with such ease even if he were in his peak condition inside his tomb or if he would be able to cleanly deal with their Nascent Soul as well.
Be it Han Li’s abilities or his use of them, they both caused King Glorious Blaze to view them with trepidation.
King Glorious Blaze thought to ask if Han Li was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but after taking another look at him, he reaffirmed that Han Li was only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. This youth possessed grand abilities that exceeded what his cultivation would suggest.
When King Glorious Blaze thought this, he felt his blood run cold. Fortunately, he had only sent his incarnations to find this person; otherwise, he might’ve found himself slain in the exact same manner as that azure-robed old man.
Since he wasn’t able to sense his two incarnations after returning to the mountain range, he came to the conclusion that Han Li had killed them and grew even more unconsciously wary of him.
In a moment of hesitation, he thought to have a few words with Han Li when he felt an astonishing change in the sand spell formation surrounding them.
The faint waves of yellow sand had completely disappeared in the distance. Instead, nearly indiscernible grains of black sand had replaced them, similar to the ones that had earlier attacked Han Li’s flying swords. The black sand wasn’t as densely gathered together as the yellow sand, but they shined with an icy black light and were arranged in the sand cloud with a strange appearance.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 497