One of them let loose a long howl, and countless black skeletons appeared from within the nearby dark clouds.
...
Han Li waved a hand through the air, and seven or eight bolts of golden lightning erupted behind him, heading straight for a ball of silver lightning situated over 1,000 feet behind him. It was none other than the Infernal Lightning Beast that had been pursuing him for an immeasurable distance already.
At the sight of the oncoming arcs of golden lightning, the beast wasn't intimidated nor fearful in the slightest. Instead, it immediately opened its mouth to expel a burst of silver light.
As soon as the Divine Devilbane Lightning came into contact with this silver light, it was swept up in a soundless manner before being devoured by the beast.
The Infernal Lightning Beast licked its lips as bursts of dull rumbling erupted from within its stomach, and its eyes lit up as if it had just enjoyed a rare delicacy.
Han Li was able to take advantage of this delay to open up some distance between himself and the Infernal Lightning Beast.
However, the beast wasn't flustered in the slightest upon seeing this. It merely snarled as silver arcs of lightning revolved around its four limbs before setting off in pursuit again.
Han Li didn't even have to turn around to know what the beast was doing as it had done the same thing countless times along this chase.
This beast was a sliver faster than him even when he was flying as quickly as he was capable of, so even though he was able to open up some distance, it didn't take long before the beast narrowed the gap again.
After that, it would begin to attack him from afar.
In the beginning, it would blast bolts of astonishingly powerful silver lightning out of its mouth. However, Han Li possessed his Divine Devilbane Lightning and lightning robe to protect himself, so he was able to handle those attacks with ease.
The Infernal Lightning Beast immediately stopped blasting lightning out of its mouth upon seeing this, and instead switched to unleashing azure claw projections.
The projections started off at around the size of human hands, but not long after leaving the beast's claws, they would swell to around 10 feet in size. Several of those claw projections hurtling through an area at once could even suck away all the air in that area, giving one a sense that escape was impossible.
If it weren't for Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings allowing him to combine wind and lightning movement techniques for short periods of time, he would've most likely been severely wounded by those claw projections already.
Even so, the situation was still extremely perilous for him, and he was even dealt a glancing blow by a claw projection not long ago, which had almost resulted in catastrophic circumstances.
Thankfully, the All-encompassing Flag the white-haired beauty had given him took effect on that occasion, manifesting a gigantic Yin-yang projection that nullified most of the power from the attack.
Even so, his suit of resentful armor was completely destroyed, and he had suffered some minor injuries.
As such, Han Li naturally didn't dare to let the beast draw any closer. Every time the beast drew too close for comfort, Han Li would unleash his Divine Devilbane Lightning to stall its pursuit.
The Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have realized that Han Li was a consistent source of Divine Devilbane Lightning, so it wasn't in a hurry to kill him, and merely stalked him as if it were toying with its prey.
Close to an hour had passed, and Han Li had already taken this beast out of the grey mountain ranges.
He had only been able to last this long as he possessed far more magic power than other beings of the same cultivation base, he was proficient in movement techniques, and he had a large amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning at his disposal. If another Deity Transformation Stage or even Spatial Tempering Stage being were in his position, they would've most likely fallen prey to this beast already.
It was no wonder that Liu Zu and the others weren't optimistic about his chances of survival.
In order to break the restriction on the infernal river, Han Li had already used up a lot of his Divine Devilbane Lightning, and without a large supply of that lightning left, Liu Zu and the others would naturally be led into thinking that he wouldn't last very long at all.
Han Li was keeping a constant eye on the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him while thinking of a way to escape, seeing as the demon monarchs had most likely already broken through the restriction on their end and no longer had any spare capacity to try and track him down.
There was definitely no way that he'd be able to escape from this fearsome demon beast through normal methods. The only things he could rely on were his lightning beads, the two new types of talismans he'd refined, and his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.
The first two of those three trump cards were disposable items, so he was planning to use them against the demon monarchs, but unleashing the Gold Devouring Beetles was extremely taxing on his spiritual sense. As such, he would refrain from using them unless he was in a truly dire situation.
Countless thoughts raced through Han Li's mind as he tried to find a solution.
He couldn't unleash too many Gold Devouring Beetles as the after-effects would essentially cripple him. However, he could try releasing just a few to impede the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him.
The beetles didn't have to harm the beast; all they had to do was slow it down slightly, and he'd be able to escape.
As a safety precaution, he could use his new talismans to assist him in that process, thereby even further elevating his chances of success.
After much painstaking thought, Han Li finally managed to devise a course of action that was just barely feasible.
He immediately took a deep breath and injected his spiritual sense into the spirit beast bracelet hidden on his body.
Chapter 1497: Battling the Infernal Lightning Beast
Following a string of resounding booms, Han Li unleashed his Divine Devilbane Lightning, and just as the Infernal Lightning Beast paused to devour the lightning, he rustled his sleeve to send three specks of golden light hurtling through the air.
They were none other than three mature Gold Devouring Beetles!
The Infernal Lightning Beast had just devoured the arcs of golden lightning with relish when it saw the golden beetles flying toward it. It faltered slightly in response before opening its mouth in a nonchalant manner.
An arc of silver lightning erupted forth before splitting into three to strike the golden beetles.
Thus, the beetles were completely inundated by lightning following three loud thunderclaps.
However, in the next instant, a hint of surprise flashed through the Infernal Lightning Beast's golden eyes.
After the lightning receded, the three spirit insects were revealed, and not only had they not been reduced to dust, they had instead swelled to several times their original size as they continued flying toward the beast.
Even though the Infernal Lightning Beast's intelligence couldn't compare to that of a human, it had cultivated to an extremely high level, so it certainly wasn't some brainless buffoon.
It had identified that these three beetles were rather peculiar, and it didn't dare to treat them with disdain any longer as it swept a set of claws through the air.
Three streaks of azure claw projections immediately hurtled forth, swelling drastically mid-flight before striking the three golden beetles.
The claw projections exploded amid a sharp screech, and azure light inundated the three golden beetles.
Gusts of fierce spiritual winds scattered in all directions as the world's origin Qi in the surrounding area was sucked away by the azure light, and it was as if the entire space there was going to collapse.
The Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to be extremely confident in that attack, and it didn't even bother to check the result before it shot forth toward Han Li again.
However, a faint buzzing sound then rang out from within the azure ligh
t, and an incredulous look appeared on the beast's face.
Golden light flashed within the azure light, and the three golden beetles flew forth, reaching a spot that was only several tens of feet away from the Infernal Lightning Beast in just a few flashes.
Their bodies were shimmering with golden light, and they didn't appear to have been injured in the slightest.
The Infernal Lightning Beast was truly shocked this time, and a hint of ferocious killing intent welled up in its heart.
It immediately opened its mouth to expel a swath of silver light that swept up the three golden beetles.
The Gold Devouring Beetles were capable of devouring all things, but they were unable to immediately eat their way out of this silver light.
Thus, the Infernal Lightning Beast inhaled deeply, and the silver light swept back to send the three Gold Devouring Beetles flying into its mouth.
The beast gnashed at the golden beetles violently with its sharp fangs, then swallowed them into its stomach.
It then crouched down as thunderclaps erupted from its four limbs, and it disappeared on the spot as a bolt of silver lightning again.
Han Li had already taken this opportunity to fly over 10,000 feet away, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes he witnessed the scenes unfolding behind him. He then immediately flapped his wings and also disappeared as a translucent thread.
Thus, it appeared that the Han Li was back to square one.
However, the Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have been completely infuriated by the beetles that Han Li had released earlier, and there was a lot more ferocity in its expression as it raced through the air.
It seemed to be intent on killing Han Li now, and its subsequent actions reflected that desire.
When Han Li unleashed his Divine Devilbane Lightning again, the Infernal Lightning Beast merely passed through the arcs of lightning without any pause or delay.
It no longer had any intention of fooling around with Han Li.
Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he circulated his magic power throughout his body in a frenzy as he traversed through the air as a translucent thread in a wrath-like manner.
Even so, the Infernal Lightning Beast was quickly closing in on him, and there were soon only just over 1,000 feet between them.
Lightning flashed on the back of the Infernal Lightning Beast, and the silver arcs of lightning intertwined to form a pair of wings.
The wings were around 20 feet in length each, and they were completely silver in color with countless runes hovering around them.
The Infernal Lightning Beast flapped those wings, and its body turned into a blur amid a rumbling boom.
In the next instant, the Infernal Lightning Beast emerged just over 100 feet behind Han Li as an arc of silver lightning, and the projection that was situated where it had been just a moment ago also disappeared on the spot.
"Shadow movement technique!" Han Li could sense that something was amiss, and he turned around just in time to witness the aforementioned sequence of events.
His face immediately paled as a sinking feeling appeared in his stomach.
He had not anticipated that this beast would possess such a troublesome movement technique. Shadow movement techniques weren't the fastest movement techniques, but they were definitely the rarest and most mysterious.
There weren't even all that many people in the world who had witnessed such movement techniques.
If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had conducted extensive research on his own lightning movement technique back in Deep Heaven City, reading through many relevant tomes that were sold in the city, he wouldn't have been able to identify that movement technique so quickly.
However, he clearly couldn't afford to stand around and wallow in his astonishment under such dire circumstances. As soon as the Infernal Lightning Beast reappeared, it immediately flapped its wings toward Han Li.
The wings of lightning then abruptly disappeared amid a loud thunderclap.
Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to react, a loud thunderclap erupted overhead, following which a massive net of lightning came plummeting from above, and it was upon him in the blink of an eye.
Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and silver runes immediately surged around his body as he conjured up a new lightning robe, which flew through the air before also transforming into a net of golden and silver lightning to keep the oncoming arcs of silver lightning at bay.
Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed around his body, and he hurtled back in retreat to rush out of the area encompassed by the lightning net descending from above.
A hint of disdain appeared in the Infernal Lightning Beast's eyes upon seeing this, following which its body blurred once again.
Silver light flashed before Han Li, and the Infernal Lightning Beast instantly appeared up ahead. At the same time, it slowly swiped its claws through the air, seemingly in a gentle and completely harmless manner, but Han Li felt as if the claws had been enlarged countless times, affording him no avenues for evasion or escape.
Following a few rumbling booms, the surrounding air suddenly tremored before surging violently toward the spot right beneath the beast's claws, as if an invisible yet all-engulfing black hole had appeared there.
Han Li's body stiffened before he was drawn forward by a burst of immense irresistible power, forcibly dragging him toward the beast's claws.
His face paled even further, but a determined look then immediately flashed through his eyes. He suddenly opened his mouth to expel a small golden sword that was around several inches in length, and it only flashed once before transforming into a streak of golden light that hurtled toward the beast's claws.
However, not only did the Infernal Lightning Beast not withdraw its claws upon seeing this, a disdainful look appeared in its eyes instead.
The streak of golden light crashed into a beast's claws with a loud clang, only to be repelled back as a small golden sword as the golden light around it faded. Meanwhile, the beast's claws remained completely unscathed, and they hadn't even moved so much as a single inch.
Not only that, but the beast's other paw shot forth like lightning to grab the sword in its claws.
A vicious look then appeared in its eyes as its entire paw turned pure silver in color, and it brought its claws together with ferocious might to completely crush the golden sword.
Not only were Infernal Lightning Beasts blessed with extraordinary strength from birth, their bodies were as powerful as top-grade treasures. With those two attributes combined, it had crushed countless treasures with its sharp claws.
As such, it had thought that it would be able to completely pulverize this small sword, just as it had done with countless treasures in the past.
However, the golden sword merely tremored in its immensely powerful grasp, and the spiritual light emanating from the sword dimmed a little, but it remained completely unscathed.
The beast had severely underestimated how robust Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were.
This sword had been refined with several types of rare materials by Han Li, and there were very few treasures as robust as it even in the Spirit Realm. The sword was unable to harm the Infernal Lightning Beast, but the latter wouldn't be able to destroy the sword in a short time, either.
The Infernal Lightning Beast was quite astonished by just how resolute this small sword was, and before it had recovered from its shock, a burst of golden light suddenly radiated from Han Li's body. He let loose a loud cry, and the golden light intensified in brightness as golden scales appeared all over his body. At the same time, golden light erupted from his back before manifesting a humanoid projection with three heads and six arms.
The projection slowly extended its six arms in unison, sending a peculiar fluctuation running through the nearby space like ripples over the surface of a calm lake.
With this split-second of respite, Han Li flapped his wings, and a gentle breeze blew p
ast as he disappeared on the spot.
The Infernal Lightning Beast let loose a low snarl as it clenched its raised paw into a fist, then lashed out at a certain spot in the air around 300 feet away.
A resounding boom erupted as a burst of invisible power exploded, sending an invisible shockwave proliferating through the air in all directions.
A humanoid figure was forcibly revealed from empty space by its attack, and it was none other than Han Li, who wore a stunned expression as he stumbled out of thin air.
This beast had easily nullified his teleportation technique, and its powers were simply unimaginable to him.
Han Li immediately shot back without any delay, and at the same time, he swept a sleeve through the air to hurl a dozen or so azure beads toward the Infernal Lightning Beast.
Those were none other than the lightning beads that he'd painstakingly refined, and he'd used up close to a third of his entire supply in one go, so he certainly wasn't playing around.
A hint of disdain appeared on the Infernal Lightning Beast's face upon seeing this, and its body blurred again as it tried to unleash its shadow movement technique to evade these oncoming lightning beads.
However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly made a hand seal, and the Infernal Lightning Beast was struck by a burst of excruciating pain in its stomach, as if it were being stabbed on the inside. As a result, it was unable to unleash its shadow movement technique, and this split-second delay was all it took for the lightning beads to reach it.
The Infernal Lightning Beast was completely bewildered by the agony in its stomach, so it paid no heed to these seemingly nondescript beads. A loud thunderclap erupted as it halfheartedly conjured up a barrier of silver lightning, then hurriedly inspected its own internal condition.
The carelessness with which the beast was handling the situation was very much a welcome sight for Han Li, and his eyes lit up as he made another hand seal without any hesitation.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 843