In one hand, the old man was wielding a shimmering azure net. When the net was spread open, it transformed into an azure cloud that was over 100 feet wide with lightning flashing within, creating a formidable side to behold. In his other hand, he was wielding a pitch-black treasure that appeared to be a metal pestle. With every swing of the treasure, several tens of projections would be summoned to attack his opponents. Some of those projections were substantial while others were merely illusions, and they were very difficult to deal with.
This old man was able to force Bai Yaoyi and Elder Ye firmly onto the back foot while he himself appeared to be very relaxed.
However, the jade vial that Elder Ye was wielding appeared to be an extremely powerful treasure. The black-white Qi pouring forth from within was able to take on most of the bolts of azure lightning as well as the projections summoned by the black pestle. Meanwhile, Bai Yaoyi's silver flying swords were also quite powerful in their own right and the two of them were managing to stave off defeat together.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as his gaze scanned toward the old man, upon which his pupils contracted as his expression changed slightly.
This old man was a tenth grade metamorphosis stage demon beast! Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was unable to identify what kind of demon beast the old man's true form was.
Han Li's heart jolted slightly as the streak of azure light that he had transformed into reached the edges of their battlefield in the blink of an eye. However, he showed no intention of stopping whatsoever as he abruptly accelerated. A flash of blinding azure light erupted as Han Li attempted to rush past the three of them en route to the main hall.
"You're not getting away!" As a tenth grade demon beast, the old man certainly wasn't going to let a human get away right under his nose. He could sense that Han Li was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, but he didn't pay that much heed. He raised his hand casually to point toward the azure net, upon which the azure cloud that the net had transformed into shuddered amid a loud rumbling sound. Several tens of balls of azure lightning shot forth from within, heading straight for Han Li.
All of those fist-sized balls of lightning swelled to the size of human heads as they shot forth through the air, sealing off an area with a radius of over 200 feet and affording Han Li no avenue for escape.
Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, but he didn't stop to address the threats at hand. Instead, the humanoid puppet behind him suddenly revealed itself. It raised an arm into the air to summon a small bow that was enveloped in crimson flames, before gently drawing the bowstring with his other hand.
A resounding boom erupted as countless balls of fire hurtled toward the azure balls of lightning. The balls of red and green clashed in mid-air before exploding into azure and crimson balls of fire, creating a marvelous spectacle to behold.
The power of the fireballs was clearly inferior to that of the azure lightning, but they were still able to slow down the azure balls, buying Han Li enough time to flash past the three that were engaged in battle, allowing him to escape into the hall through the gate.
"Huh?" A cry of surprise escaped from the old man's mouth.
With this tenth grade demon beast's astonishing cultivation base, he was able to immediately catch sight of the humanoid puppet that had appeared behind Han Li, which was why he was so surprised. He looked on as Han Li rushed into the hall and his brows furrowed slightly, but he didn't give chase. Instead, he focused his attention back on the two opponents he was facing and began to inject more power into his attacks.
Bai Yaoyi was also extremely shocked.
The azure streak of light had flown past too quickly for her to identify that it was Han Li, but the azure light was extremely familiar to her. After a split second of contemplation, she realized that it was definitely Han Li who had just sped past them.
Could it be that the grand elder and the others have already exited the Profound Jade Cave?
The thought had only just occurred to Bai Yaoyi when the old man began to increase the intensity of his attacks. As such, she was unable to contemplate the issue any further and could only inject spiritual power into her flying swords in a frenzy. The two flying swords were like flood dragons emerging from the sea, assisting Elder Ye to just barely hold off the devastating attacks being thrown at them.
Elder Ye was also very surprised that the streak of azure light had been able to withstand the old demon beast's lightning attack before rushing into the hall. He didn't recognize that streak of azure light, but he sensed no demonic Qi coming from it and that, coupled with the fact that the old demon beast had unleashed an attack against it, indicated that this was a friend rather than a foe. As such, he didn't think too much about this matter as he injected more power into his jade vial.
He and Bai Yaoyi were only mid-Nascent Soul cultivators so even with this "Dual Qi Vial" spirit treasure replica, it was still too tall an order to expect them to take down a tenth grade demon beast.
At this moment, Han Li rushed through the gate and traveled for over 100 feet before revealing himself again.
He quickly surveyed his surroundings, trying to assess the situation within the main hall before deciding on a course of action.
However, before he had the chance to identify what was going on, the raucous laughter of an elderly man suddenly erupted.
"So there's another one that wants to die! Goo! One more or one less doesn't matter anyway. Get in here."
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this and before he had a chance to react, black light flashed around him and the surrounding scenery began to warp. In the blink of an eye, he had been transferred into a space where black demonic Qi was tumbling in all directions.
He had been trapped by some sort of treasure!
Han Li was naturally shocked upon making this realization.
The demonic Qi around him surged before sweeping toward him as if it were attempting to crush him to death.
Han Li took a deep breath as his hands balled up into tight fists in his sleeves.
Rumbling thunderclaps erupted from his body as a layer of golden lightning arcs emerged, instantly encapsulating his body within.
Several tens of small golden swords then flew out of his sleeves, circling around Han Li before transforming into fragments of golden light. Those light fragments settled outside the arcs of lightning to provide a second layer of defense.
At this moment, the black demonic Qi had reached Han Li and crashed into the golden light from all directions.
Chapter 1118: The Myriad Demon Flag and Old Devil Che
The golden light manifested from his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords danced like wagon wheels, keeping all of the surrounding demonic Qi at bay.
Seeing as the demonic beast didn't appear to be as difficult to deal with as he had imagined, Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief. However, his expression was still quite grave as he looked around incessantly.
Unfortunately, there was nothing around him aside from murky darkness.
"Your flying swords aren't bad at all. I'll take them and play with them for a while." A surprised elderly voice sounded from somewhere within the darkness. It was quite clear that the being who had held Han Li captive in this treasure had developed an interest in his swords.
Han Li faltered initially upon hearing this before a cold smile appeared on his face. He raised his hands and a ball of three-colored lightly abruptly slid out of his sleeve. The spiritual light receded and the Triflame Fan was revealed in his hand.
His opponent was clearly quite powerful, so Han Li had no choice but to take this battle seriously.
Right after the Triflame Fan appeared in his hand, the demonic Qi overhead suddenly began to tremor violently amid a loud howling sound. Demonic Qi tumbled like turbulent waves, creating a massive vortex in mid-air.
The vortex was completely pitch-black in color with a radius of over 100 feet. As soon as it emerged, it immediately began to rotate rapidly while emitting a
sharp screeching noise.
A vast expanse of black light then shot forth from the center of the vortex, sweeping directly toward Han Li.
Han Li's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this and he knew that he had been plunged into a perilous situation. As such, he immediately made a hand seal to activate his sword arts.
A crisp ringing sound erupted from the golden light around him and the golden swords suddenly converged, forming a golden lotus flower that was constantly swirling with light as it slowly began to rotate.
Right at this moment, the black light came tumbling down and inundated the entire golden lotus flower.
As soon as the two made contact with one another, the sound of countless swords and blades clashing erupted, creating a very disturbing chorus of chaotic sounds that disrupted one's cognitive functions.
Han Li was abruptly struck by a sense of dizziness and at the same time, an immense force began to draw the golden lotus formed by his flying swords upward, trying to wrest it away from Han Li's control.
Han Li's expression changed slightly as he began to circulate all of the magic power within his body.
If he were an average mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, he really wouldn't be able to prevent his magic treasure from being wrenched away by this enormous suction force. However, after cultivating the Azure Essence Sword Art, his cultivation base was a lot more powerful than that of cultivators of the same stage. Furthermore, his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword had been refined on several occasions with rare materials added each time, thereby making it a treasure that normal magic treasures simply couldn't hold a candle to.
As Han Li activated his magic power and sword art with all his might, the golden lotus was finally able to withstand this burst of suction force. Even so, it was tremoring violently as it rotated incessantly, keeping the black light erupting from the vortex at bay.
At this moment, Han Li brandished his feather fan without any hesitation before waving it toward the vortex up above with a grave expression.
Three pillars of fire erupted from the fan amid a spluttering sound, crashing directly into the black light descending from above.
A quick succession of explosions rang out as the three-colored flames struck the black light, creating an effect that was akin to cold water being poured into hot oil.
It was clear that the three-colored flames were far more powerful than the black light and the pillars of fire were only stalled for a split second before easily vanquishing the black light. The flames then shot forth into the vortex up above, upon which they abruptly disappeared.
Han Li's brows furrowed as he looked up at the vortex overhead with rapt focus.
Moments later, a ringing sound began to emit from the center of the vortex and the black light around it began to swell and contract. An earthshattering boom erupted from its center.
All of the demonic Qi in a radius of several hundred feet surged toward it as if in a maddened frenzy, and the vortex disappeared amid a burst of brilliant black light.
Han Li's expression was quite grim as he stowed away is Triflame Fan. Even though he had vanquished the black vortex, there was no hint of joy or triumph on his face.
After all, that attack alone had expended close to 20% of his magic power and it didn't appear to have hurt his opponent at all.
"That's a spirit treasure replica? So it's you! Is your surname Han?" The elderly voice sounded again, this time tinged with a hint of surprise.
"How do you know about me?" Han Li's expression stirred slightly. He felt like he already knew the answer to that question, but he still decided to ask it anyway.
"Hehe! Your feather fan spirit treasure is far too easily recognizable. I heard you foiled one of my plans back on the Kunwu Mountain; what are you doing here in the North Night Palace now?" the elder voice asked.
"Kunwu Mountain? You're Fellow Daoist Che from the Myriad Demon Valley?" Han Li's heart jolted and his expression changed upon making that realization. He didn't know much about the Myriad Demon Valley, but it was naturally impossible for him not have heard about this valley master of the Myriad Demon Valley. Most people were oblivious to his true cultivation base, but even that Myriad Year Corpse Xiong was at the late-Nascent Soul Stage so according to Han Li's estimation, this old demon was most likely one of the few Deity Transformation cultivators in the human world.
Otherwise, the Myriad Demon Valley would've been wiped off the face of the Great Jin countless times already.
"That's right! I heard from Master Xiong that you have some sort of connection with Fairy Ling Long, who is an acquaintance of mine, and that you went to the ninth level of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda with her. Now that the perfect devilish Qi on the ninth level has been sealed again you've appeared here safe and sound, Fairy Ling Long must have returned to the Spirit Realm already." At the mention of the Spirit Realm, the elderly voice trembled slightly as if with excitement as well as a hint of fear.
"Ling Long has indeed returned to the Spirit Realm using the Star Defying Plate. You know her?" Han Li asked with an uncertain expression on his face. At the same time, spiritual light flashed in his hand as he surreptitiously summoned the green wooden ruler. In his other hand, the fire cauldron that had been shrunk to only several inches in size also appeared.
The elderly voice suddenly cooled as it said, "I was just a nobody in the Spirit Realm who saw her occasionally from afar. Fairy Ling Long must have left something with you, right? I presume that you also have the Eight Spirit Ruler spirit treasure, right? Don't try to tell me the ruler was taken to the Spirit Realm by Fairy Ling Long. Unless it's been refined by the Artifact Imprint Technique, there's no way it could be taken to another realm through the boundary between realms."
Han Li's eyelids twitched but he didn't say anything. However, he unconsciously tightened his grip around the green wooden ruler in his sleeve.
"So what is it? Is my question difficult to answer or are you simply unwilling to answer?" The elderly voice became even more forbidding. At the same time, a burst of powerful spiritual Qi erupted from the surrounding demonic Qi, pressing down upon Han Li with immense force.
This fearsome cultivation base was something that could only belong to a true tenth grade demon beast, but Han Li's spiritual sense wasn't inferior to that of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. As such, his body only swayed slightly before he was able to right himself and withstand the pressure crashing down from above.
"Hmm? You..." The elderly voice was slightly surprised this time.
Upon sensing this burst of vast spiritual pressure, Han Li narrowed his eye as a streak of light erupted from his pupils.
Han Li exhaled as a peculiar look appeared on his face, and he said, "I heard that you've been in seclusion for countless years in the Myriad Demon Valley and wouldn't leave unless if it were to take care of matters of the utmost importance. As such, the being here is not your actual body, am I correct? After all, how could the mightly Old Devil Che possess only so little spiritual power?"
"So what?" The elderly voice was completely cold and expressionless.
"I have no interest in your conflict with the North Night Palace and I have no intention of interfering with this matter. I only want to leave this place using the teleportation formation here. If you don't want me to join forces with the North Night Palace cultivators, then I suggest you let me go!" Han Li had also discarded all pretense of politeness as he threatened in a cold voice.
As long as there weren't any Deity Transformation cultivators around, he had nothing to fear.
Old Devil Che burst into raucous laughter before threatening in a sinister voice, "Haha, I haven't been threatened like this for many, many years. I heard from Master Xiong that our Divine Devilbane Lightning is quite powerful, but Divine Devilbane Lightning is only effective against devilish Qi. Do you really think you're a match for me now that you're trapped in my Myriad Demon Flag? If you don't want your body and soul to be destroyed, hand over the Eight Spirit Ruler and everything else that
Fairy Ling Long left to you. If I'm in a good mood, I might consider letting you live."
Han Li heaved an internal sigh. It appeared that this Old Devil Che didn't see him as a threat at all and wouldn't let him leave without a fight.
The Myriad Demon Flag was something that he had heard about on many occasions. It was an extremely renowned replica that was closest to a true Divine Spirit Treasure. As such, it was no wonder that this old devil would be so confident in his ability to crush Han Li.
Seeing as negotiations were clearly going to get him nowhere, Han Li didn't waste any more time with words. He immediately raised his hand a ball of red light shot forth. It spun in the air before hovering several tens of feet above his head, where it remained, completely stationary.
That ball of red light was none other than the nameless fire cauldron.
Han Li made a hand seal and began to chant something.
Brilliant light erupted from the cauldron as it swelled drastically in size, reaching several tens of feet in diameter in the blink of an eye. At Han Li's behest, the lid of the cauldron came flying off. A ringing sound erupted from within the cauldron, following which fist-sized Fire Ravens rushed into the air. There were over 1,000 Fire Ravens summoned at once and they surrounded Han Li to create a vast expanse of red light.
Han Li didn't dare to underestimate the Myriad Demon Flag's power, so he unleashed all of the fire cauldron's power at once.
Not only that, but the Greatyin Fire Raven on his shoulder had also disappeared as it mingled with its brethren. Its appearance was completely identical to all of the other Fire Ravens, so no one else would be able to tell the difference.
Right at this moment, Han Li's chanting came to a halt. He let loose a low cry and all of the Fire Ravens began to blast crimson flame out of their beaks.
In the blink of an eye, waves of fire that were several tens of feet tall swept up around Han Li before crashing toward the nearby demonic Qi.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 605