However, the Jiao Chi beings seemed to have anticipated that this would happen in advance, so they weren't all that unsettled. Instead, many of the armored warriors suddenly patted something on their waists, and swathes of five-colored light were sent surging toward the long-haired foreign being.
Before they had even gotten close to the foreign being, the five-colored light transformed into a series of large nets that hurtled toward him.
It appeared that the Jiao Chi beings were trying to capture the foreign being alive.
Han Li was quite surprised to see this.
Right at this moment, the foreign being let loose a cold harrumph before suddenly stomping down on the flying ark underfoot. The ark immediately flashed with yellow light, following which a dense yellow light barrier appeared. The foreign being then made a hand seal, and a layer of white lightning arcs instantly surfaced over the light barrier.
As soon as those large nets descended, they were blasted into balls of spiritual light by the flashing arcs of lightning.
Before the armored warriors had a chance to employ any other tactics, the long-haired foreign being flipped both of his hands over to summon a pair of shimmering golden treasures that resembled round shields, then tossed them up into the air.
The two treasures shot forth amid a loud whistling sound, and all of the surrounding armored beings appraised the pair of treasures with alarm and wariness in their eyes.
However, the two golden treasures merely circled around in the air before whizzing back to the foreign being, much to the bemusement of all of the surrounding Jiao Chi beings.
Following a dull thump, the two shields crashed into the foreign being's body, upon which both of them began to emit a ball of piercing golden light.
Immediately thereafter, the foreign being completely disappeared, but a large golden ball with a diameter of around 10 feet had appeared in his place.
The ball was shimmering with golden light, looking as if it had been constructed from pure gold. Furthermore, there were all types of runes carved all over its surface, striking the onlooker with a sense of mystery and intrigue.
A string of peculiar screeching sounds rang out from the golden ball, following which countless sharp blades that were each around a foot in length appeared all over its surface. The ball then hurtled into the crowd, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.
The sharp blades on the surface of the golden ball didn't look to be anything special, but all of the armored warriors that came into contact with them were sliced into several pieces without being able to offer up any resistance.
All of the attacks that were launched toward the golden ball were also repelled by its high rotational speed.
In the blink of an eye, the golden ball had joined the horse puppet as they flew toward the same direction together.
As for the seven-headed lion puppet, it was following close behind them with fireballs continuing to surge relentlessly out of its mouths. Most of the fireballs were aimed up at the giant falcons that were flying at higher altitudes, thereby preventing them from attempting to swoop down from above.
The three combined to form a lethal trio.
Close to 100 armored warriors and giant falcons were slain in an instant, and the trio was just about to escape.
All of a sudden, one of the Deity Transformation Stage Jiao Chi beings let loose a loud cry, and the armored warriors around the foreign being and his puppets suddenly backed away, retreating in all directions.
The twin-headed giant falcons up above also dispersed, thereby creating a large area of empty space around the golden ball and the two puppets, with a radius of close to 1,000 feet.
The foreign being within the golden ball faltered upon seeing this.
Right at this moment, the two battle arks in the sky finally sprang into action.
The hundreds of crystalline pillars on the undersides of the battle arks lit up in unison, following which white pillars of light came raining down from above.
The white light completely encompassed the area of open space that had just appeared, and a string of deafening explosions rang out in rapid succession.
The golden ball and both of the puppets were instantly inundated by this white light.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the armored warriors and giant falcons surrounded their target once again, reorganizing their formation during this period of respite.
The attacks from the two battle arks quickly subsided, and the white light gradually faded.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze up above to discover that a shimmering blue giant umbrella with a radius of over 100 feet had appeared.
Beneath the giant umbrella, the upper half of the foreign being's body was protruding out of the massive golden ball, and his brows were tightly furrowed in a concerned expression as he quickly assessed his surroundings.
Meanwhile, his two puppets had also remained completely unscathed.
On this occasion, the foreign being didn't seem to want to delay any further.
He let loose a low cry before raising a hand and waving it up into the air.
The giant umbrella above him immediately shrank at a rapid rate amid a flash of spiritual light, dwindling down to several inches in size before landing in his grasp. He then twisted around, and his upper body disappeared back into the golden ball.
At the same time, the two puppets flew through the air again, and another fierce battle ensued.
This battle was quite similar to the last one; the armored warriors and giant falcons were still no match for their opponents, and within moments, almost half of them had perished.
Just as the foreign being was about to escape again, the lion puppet suddenly ceased its fireball output. Red light flashed from its body several times in quick succession, following which all seven of its heads drooped, and it fell completely stationary on the spot.
The armored warriors nearby initially faltered upon seeing this before being greatly spurred on by this development.
A few of them instantly raised their hands, and five-colored light surged through the air, forming several large nets that completely ensnared the lion puppet.
The armored warriors dragged the nets toward them, and the lion puppet was forcibly captured.
Without the fireball output from the lion puppet, the giant falcons up above no longer had any qualms as they flapped their wings violently and swooped down at an alarming rate.
Large blades of wind came hurtling down from above, and as they struck the golden ball, the golden light emanating from its surface tremored, and its rotational speed was hampered drastically.
Thus, the foreign being was surrounded again, and he was in a far worse situation than before.
To further compound his woes, the horse puppet also ceased to function for some reason a short while later, and it was also captured by the Jiao Chi beings.
Thus, the golden ball was the only target left, and despite its astonishing defensive prowess, it was struggling to hold on in the face of all of the attacks being thrown at it.
Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this.
The foreign being was able to manipulate these puppets that were far more powerful than himself and last so long against such a vast number of opponents, clearly indicating that he was no ordinary being.
However, under the current circumstances, it appeared that it would only be a matter of time before he was captured.
He didn't know why the Jiao Chi beings seemed to be intent on capturing the foreign being alive, but there was no need to expose himself and draw potential trouble. Thus, he turned away and prepared to leave.
However, right at this moment, the foreign being's voice suddenly rang out from within the golden ball.
"Senior, I am Jia Tianmu of the Myriad Ancient Race! If you can help me escape, I'm willing to reward you with a sentient puppet once we return to the Myriad Ancient Race!"
The foreign being hadn't employed any voice transmission techniqu
es. Instead, he'd injected some of his spiritual power into his voice, making it clearly audible to everyone within a radius of several kilometers!
Han Li initially faltered upon hearing this before being struck by the urge to cuss out loud.
He didn't know how the foreign being had been able to detect his presence, but he definitely didn't have any good intentions by exposing him like this.
As expected, one of the leaders of the Jiao Chi beings instantly waved a hand upon hearing this, and a few armored warriors as well as a dozen or so giant falcons were instantly deployed toward the small mountain where Han Li was hiding.
These beings were somehow able to ascertain his rough location, but they were clearly unable to pinpoint exactly where he was, as evidenced by the fact that they were flying around the small mountain in a rather confused manner.
Han Li's lips twitched, but he wasn't fearful of this development in the slightest.
These Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons were far too weak to pose any threat to him, so the only potentially troublesome opponents would be those two battle arks.
Even so, he was naturally enraged by the fact that the foreign being had forcibly exposed him like this.
Thus, a cold look appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of inch-long flying swords shot froth from within.
These flying swords then transformed into azure threads before disappearing into space in a flash.
In the next instant, several azure threads appeared close to the Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons up above. Following a flash of azure light, all of those beings were sliced into several segments, and their dismembered remains came crashing down amid a rain of blood.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared beneath the large tree that he'd been hiding under, and a loud thunderclap rang out behind him as a pair of wings emerged on his back.
He flapped those wings and disappeared on the spot amid a gentle breeze.
In the next instant, a thunderclap rang out right at the center of the Jiao Chi beings, and Han Li reappeared amid a flash of azure and white lightning.
He made a hand seal, and 72 azure threads erupted from all parts of his body. These azure threads then blurred before multiplying at a rapid rate.
In the blink of an eye, azure light was flashing throughout the entire sky, and howls of anguish rang out in quick succession as all of the armored warriors and giant falcons in the area were felled in just the span of a few breaths.
No one was able to withstand Han Li's sword threads.
Within mere moments, all of the enemies around Han Li had been slain.
Only then did the surrounding Jiao Chi beings return to their senses, and all of them reflexively retreated even further with alarmed expressions on their faces.
However, Han Li had no intention of stopping here. He swept a sleeve through the air, and two black shadows instantly shot forth from within.
Golden and black lights flashed, following which a small leopard-like beast and a small black monkey that was around a foot tall appeared.
"Kill them all; don't let anyone leave alive!" Han Li commanded with a cold expression on his face.
Chapter 1578: Emergence of More Enemies
As soon as Han Li finished issuing that command, the leopard-like beast swayed to conjure up a dozen or so identical projections, all of which instantly rushed into the crowd.
Meanwhile, black light flashed from the small monkey's body, and it swelled to several tens of times its original size, transforming into a massive black ape that was over 200 feet tall.
The ape thumped its chest while letting loose a cold harrumph, upon which a swath of yellow light swept forth from within its large nostrils.
All of the twin-headed falcons that were struck by this yellow light plummeted from the sky as if they were inebriated.
The giant ape then swung its fists violently up above, smashing the giant falcons into mincemeat as if they were nothing more than pesky insects.
As for Han Li, he was unleashing his flying swords on the surrounding enemies once again. With each and every flash of an azure thread, at least one armored warrior or giant falcon was slain without any resistance.
In the blink of an eye, almost all of the armored warriors and giant falcons had been slain by Han Li and his two spirit beasts.
Soon, there were less than 100 armored warriors that remained, and fearful expressions had finally appeared on their faces. One of the Deity Transformation Stage leaders issued a loud command, and all of them dispersed before fleeing for their lives toward the two battle arks up above.
Han Li immediately rose up into the air in hot pursuit without any hesitation, and azure threads continued to harvest more lives as they flashed through the air.
All of a sudden, a resounding boom erupted overhead, and Han Li's heart stirred as he hurriedly looked up.
At this moment, brilliant light began to radiate from the crystalline pillars on the undersides of the two silver battle arks, following which over 100 pillars of light came raining down without any regard for the Jiao Chi beings nearby.
Han Li harrumphed coldly as he flapped his wings, and he disappeared on the spot amid a loud thunderclap.
Thus, all of the pillars of light struck nothing but empty air.
In the next instant, Han Li reappeared above one of the battle arks before making a grabbing motion downward in an expressionless manner.
An inky-black palm extended itself out of his sleeve, then pressed down in a seemingly gentle manner.
Grey light flashed and a miniature black mountain emerged from his palm. The mountain then swelled drastically to over 10,000 feet in size before crashing down toward the battle ark with devastating might.
The Divine Essencefused Mountain had become even more gigantic than the battle ark, and it instantly cast a colossal shadow over the entire battle ark.
The Jiao Chi beings within the battle ark were stunned to see this, and they hurriedly spurred on the battle ark to try and evade the attack, but it was already far too late.
The underside of the giant mountain crashed into the battle ark amid a resounding boom, and despite the fact that the mountain was repelled slightly by the force of the collision, most of the battle ark's surface had caved in significantly. At the same time, it was rammed down above, crashing heavily onto the ground below.
Close to half of the entire ark had sunk into the ground, and it was quite clear that it wouldn't be doing any more flying anytime soon.
However, a hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.
The fact that the battle ark hadn't been completely destroyed by the Divine Essencefused Mountain indicated that the materials used to construct it were most likely not inferior to normal treasures.
Constructing such a massive battle ark would require the expenditure of a vast amount of such materials. Thinking back to the "giant island" that Han Li had seen in Green Light City, which was far more gigantic than even these two battle arks, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
The insane wealth of the Jiao Chi Race finally dawned on him. They really were worthy of being known as one of the most powerful races in the Spirit Realm.
Despite the shock in his heart, Han Li displayed no intention of giving his opponents any respite. He flicked his fingers toward the black mountain from afar in quick succession, and the mountain came crashing down again.
An earthshattering boom rang out as the silver battle ark was flattened into a pancake of scrap metal beneath the colossal mountain.
The Jiao Chi beings operating the battle ark may not have been killed as a result, but they most certainly wouldn't be enjoying themselves in there, either.
However, much to Han Li's surprise, silver light shimmered from the battle ark, and it was slowly repairing itself despite the horrendous condition it was in.
Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this before immediately making a grabbing motion.
Several ten
s of azure threads instantly shot forth out of thin air, all of which converged into Han Li's grasp.
Following a flash of piercing azure light, the azure threads formed a giant sword that was around 10 feet in length. However, its surface was shimmering with azure light, and it didn't appear to actually possess any substance.
Han Li grabbed onto the hilt of the sword without a second thought and prepared to bring it down upon the crippled battle ark down below.
However, right at this moment, an urgent cry from the foreign being suddenly rang out.
"Look out, Senior!"
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before abruptly sensing a burst of immense spiritual power exploding beside him.
Without any time for further thought, Han Li swiveled around and lashed out with his giant sword toward the direction where the spiritual power was erupting from.
A streak of azure sword Qi that was over 100 feet in length instantly swept through the air and struck the burst of spiritual power.
The two clashed and exploded over 300 feet away from Han Li, forming a pillar of azure and black wind that surged up into the sky, creating quite an astonishing sight to behold from afar.
Han Li narrowed his eyes as he focused his gaze on that direction, and he discovered that four beings of different appearances had appeared in the air above the silver battle ark.
One of them was a humanoid being with a set of pale facial features. His feet were bare, and he was holding a strange transparent blade as he appraised Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
It appeared that he was the one who had unleashed that sneak attack just then.
The other three beings consisted of an elderly woman, a midget, and a giant caveman-like individual wearing a beasthide garment.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward them to find that the one who had just attacked him was a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being, while the other three were all at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.
He had already assessed the surrounding area and failed to discover these four, so he was unsure of where they had popped up from.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 895