Moments later, an earth-shattering boom rang out from a certain location over 1,000 feet away, following which a black ball of light emerged amid violent spatial fluctuations.
A dull thump rang out as Wu Qi's burly figure stumbled out of thin air, and an expression of shock and fury appeared on his face.
Almost at the exact same moment, a loud thunderclap rang out above it, following which an azure and white arc of lightning appeared with a humanoid figure visible within it.
Wu Qi didn't even get a chance to regain his bearing before his heart sank, and he looked up as he reflexively swung his arms upward, sending his two war hammers hurtling directly toward the humanoid figure overhead.
At the same time, spiritual light flashed from his chest, and a blue flag flew forth, then swayed before forming a blue light barrier that shielded his body within.
Meanwhile, black light flashed from Wu Qi's body as he rushed back like an arrow, trying to open up some distance between Han Li and himself.
However, Han Li certainly wasn't going to allow him to get his way. Azure and white lightning exploded in the air above, and the lightning suddenly took on a silver hue.
Immediately thereafter, his body swelled drastically in size as he transformed into a massive azure bird that was several tens of feet long. The huge bird spread open its wings before swooping down with thick arcs of silver lightning surging all over its body.
It was traveling at an extraordinarily fast speed, and it caught the oncoming pair of black war hammers with its talons in a flash.
A rumbling thunderclap erupted, and the two war hammers were crushed amid a wail of anguish as if they were mere papier-mâché structures.
In the next instant, the giant talons continued onward without pause, crashing into the blue light barrier around Wu Qi's body.
Surprisingly enough, the seemingly ordinary light barrier suddenly flashed with blue light before turning into a barrier that seemed to be crystalline in nature.
The arcs of silver lightning and the immense power of the giant bird's talons were all completely nullified without being able to damage the barrier in the slightest.
Wu Qi heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
However, before he had a chance to do anything else, a sharp cry suddenly rang out from outside the light barrier, following which the azure bird's beak transformed into streaks of azure light that came crashing down in a flash.
Three resounding booms rang out from the same spot on the light barrier, followed by a crisp crack, and the crystalline light barrier was shattered into specks of blue light from the point where the bird had pecked it.
"Argh!"
Wu Qi was stunned to see this, and he hurriedly waved both of his arms upward in unison.
Countless black claw projections were sent hurtling through the air, creating a net of claw projections that shielded it from above.
However, the massive azure bird merely pecked down with its beak again, and another streak of azure light disappeared into the claw projections in a flash.
All of a sudden, silver lighting erupted in a frenzy, and the net of claw projections was torn apart with ease, following which the streak of azure light abruptly vanished like an illusion.
Wu Qi shuddered as his flailing arms fell still, and he looked down to discover that a gaping hole had been punctured into his chest, within which silver light was flashing incessantly.
An expression of incredulity and horror appeared on his face, yet before he even had a chance to cry out, arcs of silver lightning erupted from the puncture wound on his chest, completely inundating his body in a flash.
Loud thunderclaps rang out for a long while before finally ceasing, and at this point, Wu Qi's body and soul had both been completely destroyed.
The only thing that remained was that strange triangular copper mirror.
The massive azure bird's body abruptly shrank as it reverted back to its human form amid a flash of spiritual light.
After casting his gaze toward the copper mirror, Han Li raised a hand, and a burst of suction force erupted as he drew the treasure into his grasp.
He took a cursory glance at the treasure, but was unable to glean much from such a rushed inspection.
However, he was quite interested in this mirror. It was able to combine the magic powers of multiple beings and escape into space of its own accord, so it was clearly no ordinary treasure.
Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the mirror abruptly disappeared amid a flash of yellow light.
It appeared it had been worth expending some magic power to slay these devilish beasts.
With that in mind, Han Li didn't remain here for any longer as he flew deeper into the sea of mist as a streak of azure light.
Around an hour later, a gust of black devilish winds surged forth from afar.
The devilish winds then vanished right before the sea of mist to reveal a group of five devilish beasts.
The five-colored little beast cast its gaze toward the sea of mist, and said, "This is where the three of them disappeared."
Wary expressions also flashed through the eyes of the other four beasts upon hearing this.
"How could the three of them have disappeared one after another in such a short span of time? Could it be that they encountered some other difficulties along the way?" the snake-headed wolf beast speculated.
"I'm not too sure about that, but in any case, we have to focus and be more cautious from here onward," the small beast replied in an implacable voice with a shake of its head.
"Yes!"
The other four devilish beasts all lowered their heads in a respectful manner.
Immediately thereafter, the gust of devilish winds was swept up once again as all five beasts traveled into the sea of mist.
A few minutes, later, all five devilish beasts reappeared at the location where Han Li had slain Wu Qi, and they were inspecting their surroundings with bewilderment in their eyes.
One of the devilish beasts, which bore a strong resemblance to a duck with a single white horn on its head, abruptly flew downward as a streak of white light, vanishing from view in the blink of an eye.
This naturally drew the attention of the other devilish beasts, and all of them exchanged glances with one another.
Moments later, the devilish Qi down below surged, and the duck-like creature reappeared.
It had returned holding fist-sized fragments of bull horns in both of its webbed feet.
"These are fragments of the spirit horns on Master Wu Qi's head! How could they have been shattered? Could it be that they really have perished?" a tiger-like devilish beast murmured with a stunned expression on its face.
"It looks like the three of them really have been killed. Are we really chasing after such a powerful target?" the small five-colored beast mused as its eyes narrowed.
"What do we do next? That outsider's completely disappeared, and there's no way we'll be able to track him down," the snake-headed wolf said with a dark expression.
"Hmph, there's no way we'd continue this chase even if we could track him down. If he could kill Master Wu Qi and the others, then we'll be no match for him, either. Let's go back the way we came," the five-colored beast immediately decided.
"But that's not going to end well for us, either; Master will definitely be very displeased," another devilish beast countered in a wary voice.
Chapter 1652: Coincidental Acquisition
"Not to worry, it's not like we've actually just given up. We're going to gather everyone else, then set up an ambush at the exit. If that man wants to leave the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, then we'll definitely encounter him again sooner or later," the five-colored beast replied after a brief hesitation.
The four other devilish beasts offered no objections, and all of them seemed to be quite obedient toward the small five-colored beast.
Thus devilish winds were swept up again, and the five devilish beasts returned the
same way they'd come.
At this point, Han Li was already countless kilometers away, flying through the air while appraising his surroundings in a cautious manner.
Even though he'd successfully escaped from his pursuers, his brows were still slightly furrowed with concern.
After fleeing for over half a day, he'd completely diverged away from his original route, so he'd have to take another path if he wanted to return to the exit of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges.
However, doing so would take him over unfamiliar territory, and it'd also incur the risk of encountering new devilish beasts.
However, compared with facing hundreds of mid-grade and high-grade devilish beasts at once, this risk was a much more preferable one for him to take.
Of course, the possibility that devilish beasts could blockade the exit did flash through his mind, but he quickly disregarded that train of thought. As long as no holy-grade devilish beasts appeared in his path, he'd be able to escape from them regardless of whether he was to use his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman or simply rely on his superior speed.
The most important thing now was whether Xian Xian had also managed to shake off her pursuers. If she were to perish in these mountain ranges, then the Heavenly Devilish Armor would have to remain in disrepair for the foreseeable future.
However, this wasn't something that he could control, either. Furthermore, from the methods that Xian Xian had employed to escape from those devilish beasts earlier, it seemed that she still had many more trump cards up her sleeve, so she'd most likely be fine.
As for that silver-armored man, Han Li would like nothing better than for him to die in these mountain ranges.
With that in mind, Han Li refocused his attention on his own journey.
Thus, the streak of azure light increased in brightness and also sped up significantly, disappearing into the distance after just a few flashes.
Han Li continued alone on his journey for a day and a night, encountering a few low-grade devilish beasts, all of which were slain by him with ease.
At present, Han Li was currently flying over a stretch of small hills, and most of the hills down below had been obscured within black devilish Qi, with only a series of summits visible from above.
All of a sudden, an earth-shattering boom erupted in the distance, causing the entire nearby area to vibrate audibly.
Han Li was naturally quite startled by this massive commotion, and he came to an abrupt halt before turning toward the direction where the sound had come from.
There, he discovered a vast expanse of crimson fiery clouds. Within those fiery clouds, balls of scorching white flames emerged before exploding to form waves of crimson flames.
Dull explosions rang out one after another, and it seemed that there was no end to them.
Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he didn't know what was happening over there, but it was quite clear that no ordinary Spatial Tempering Stage being would've been able to create such an astonishing spectacle.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes a few times, and after a brief hesitation, he continued to fly in the same direction, even speeding up slightly on this occasion.
He had reaped many rewards from this trip to the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges already, and all he wanted to do now was to get out of this place as quickly as possible. As such, he wasn't interested in engaging in any activities that could incur unnecessary risks.
However, much to Han Li's surprise, despite his efforts to avoid trouble, trouble simply insisted on knocking on his door.
After flying through the air for several thousand feet, spiritual light suddenly flashed from within the fiery cloud, following which four streaks of light suddenly shot forth.
The four streaks of light were led by a dazzling purple ball of light that was flying directly toward Han Li at an alarming speed, and the three streaks of light behind it were respectively green, silver, and crimson in color.
Even though they were slightly slower than the purple streak of light, they were still traveling extremely quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they were only just over 1,000 feet away from Han Li.
Han Li's expression faltered upon seeing this, and he wasn't sure whether he should evade or travel toward these streaks of light.
However, he only hesitated for a split second before rustling a sleeve, and a layer of grey light immediately surfaced before him.
Immediately thereafter, a clear ringing sound rang out as countless small azure swords appeared in the air around him, all of which then instantly transformed into azure lotus flowers.
At the same time, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, thereby allowing him to identify what it was that was flying within the purple light, and the sight that he was greeted by immediately brought a peculiar expression to his face.
Within the purple light was a strange creature with a green face, and four limbs that consisted of purple roots. The creature was over 20 feet tall with a set of mundane and completely expressionless facial features. On top of that, it was wearing a suit of yellow armor that was constructed from what appeared to be dead wood. There were purple runes flashing all over the suit of armor, and a faint medicinal aroma was emanating from its body.
"That's the immortal zoysia!" Han Li had seen the image of the zoysia in the jade slip, and he almost instantly identified the creature as shock and elation welled up in his heart.
He originally had no intention of capturing this creature, but it was an entirely different story if the immortal zoysia were to turn up right on his doorstep.
Furthermore, it appeared that the immortal zoysia hadn't been able to successfully manifest its four limbs, which indicated that it hadn't yet recovered from its injuries. It had to have been discovered while it was trying to rest and recuperate, thereby forcing it to flee once again.
These thoughts raced rapidly through Han Li's mind, and he instantly made sense of the situation. He didn't even bother to inspect the three streaks of light that were further in the distance before making a grabbing motion with one hand.
A massive grey hand of light immediately appeared right before the purple streak of light, and the immortal zoysia remained completely expressionless, but a look of despair had appeared in its eyes.
It had clearly seen the massive grey hand up ahead, but it seemed to be unable to change directions as it continued to fly directly toward Han Li.
In the end, the immortal zoysia crashed into the grey hand with a dull thump, and the purple light around its body instantly faded as it was captured before being swept back toward Han Li by a burst of grey light.
Thus, Han Li had managed to capture the immortal zoysia as easily as taking candy from a baby.
The immortal zoysia was brought to Han Li by the burst of grey light that had captured it, and even Han Li himself was startled by how easy the process had been.
An elated look then immediately appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve through the air. A dozen or so talismans of different colors immediately shot forth from within before disappearing into the immortal zoysia's body.
After that, runes of different colors appeared, completely encompassing the spirit medicine within.
"Stop!"
Three enraged cries erupted from within the three streaks of light, and it was quite clear that all of them were extremely furious for their prey to have fallen into Han Li's hands.
However, Han Li completely ignored them as he flipped his hand over to produce an azure jade vial, and the vial tremored before blasting forth a burst of azure light at his behest, which immediately swept the restricted immortal zoysia into the vial.
The immortal zoysia had been significantly taller than even Han Li himself, but it was shrunk down drastically to only around half a foot in size before disappearing into the opening of the vial.
Han Li then flipped a hand over, and the vial disappeared amid a flash of spiritual light.
At this moment, all three streaks of light arrived befor
e him almost in unison, and the streaks of light faded to reveal three beings that surrounded him from around 300 feet away.
Only then did Han Li raise his head to inspect his surroundings, and his face remained completely calm and expressionless.
He didn't get a chance to identify who these people were earlier, but had ascertained from the spiritual pressure emanating from their bodies that none of them were Body Integration Stage beings, which was why he'd remained so calm and collected.
"Oh? It's Fellow Daoist Han."
"It's you!"
Everything had taken place far too quickly just then, and Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light had obscured his body, so only then did these three beings catch a glimpse of his true appearance, upon which two cries of surprise instantly rang out.
One of the voices was quite taken aback, while the other was filled with bewilderment and wariness.
As for the final being that had crimson light flashing around its body, it raised its hands toward Han Li without uttering a single word, sending two streaks of crimson light hurtling toward him.
The streaks of crimson light transformed into a pair of flying swords in a flash, and Han Li's expression darkened as the grey light before him swelled to several tens of feet in height, then swept directly up ahead.
The two streaks of crimson light sliced through most of the grey light and were about to puncture through to the other side.
However, in the next instant, a black shadow suddenly flashed within the grey light, and a small black mountain projection appeared out of nowhere.
The two crimson flying swords struck the projection, only to be repelled as if they'd crashed into an impenetrable fortress.
Initially, the pair of flying swords were still flying through the grey light in a fierce manner, attempting to skirt around the mountain projection, but as more and more grey light converged around them, they began to decelerate significantly.
At the same time, the crimson light around them dimmed, revealing a pair of longswords that were each several inches in length, and they seemed to possess a high level of spiritual nature.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 943