A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248
Page 994
At this moment, the young man had already brandished the silver ruler and was inspecting the azure lotus flowers around him with a disdainful expression.
He flicked his wrist and the silver ruler released a loud ringing sound before manifesting a series of ruler projections that appeared to be quite profound.
Han Li's eyelids twitched, and he immediately activated the sword formation. All of the azure lotus flowers revolved on the spot before swelling to several times their original size, then combining as one to form an azure light barrier.
The young man could only sense his surroundings blur, following which he found himself on a vibrant green grassland after a flash of azure light.
Delicate blades of grass that were no more than several inches tall laid all around him, interspersed with wild flowers of all different colors. There were birds chirping in the surrounding area, and this was an extremely relaxing setting that instantly struck him with a sense of drowsiness.
"This is an illusionary technique!"
The sleepy look in the young man's eyes faded in a flash, and he immediately came to his senses as a dark expression appeared on his face.
He abruptly swept his silver ruler through the air, and countless ruler projections flew forth in a flash, then abruptly converged to form a massive ruler that was several tens of feet in length. The ruler let loose a dragon's roar, and the sound of howling winds and rumbling thunderclaps also abruptly rang out.
The space in the wake of the silver ruler warped and twisted violently as if it were about to be torn apart, and the surrounding area shattered into countless fragments like an azure mirror.
However, the surroundings then blurred, and the young man found himself in a dense forest next.
All of the surrounding trees were extremely tall and lush, and their canopies virtually obscured the entire sky.
Earth-shattering tremors suddenly ran through the ground, and all of the surrounding trees were suddenly felled, crashing down toward the young man as countless thick azure logs.
"Hmph, you're trying to use this illusionary technique on me a second time? How insolent!" A sinister look appeared on the young man's face as he swept his silver ruler through the air, releasing countless ruler projections once again. All of the azure logs that came into contact with the silver ruler instantly vanished as specks of spiritual light, and it seemed that this silver ruler's abilities were a direct counter to illusionary techniques.
Silver light flashed, and the countless ruler projections converged once again to form a giant silver ruler before crashing directly toward one face of the azure light barrier.
The scenes that unfolded next made Han Li's pupils contract drastically.
In the instant before the silver ruler struck the azure light barrier, scintillating light erupted from it, making it almost impossible to look directly at it. Using this sharp light as a smokescreen, the silver ruler suddenly split into two. A silver ruler projection that was identical to the original treasure was left in its place while the ruler itself blurred before vanishing into thin air.
Thankfully, Han Li had been quite wary of this Jiao Chi being and constantly had his spirit eye ability activated. Otherwise, he would've most likely been fooled by that switcheroo.
The silver ruler projection struck the azure light barrier amid what appeared to be an extremely violent clash, but at the same time, a burst of virtually undetectable spatial fluctuations erupted several tens of feet above Han Li's head. Immediately thereafter, the silver ruler appeared out of thin air before instantly sweeping downward in a completely silent and stealthy manner.
In the blink of an eye, the ruler was no more than several inches above Han Li, and after one final flash, enormous spiritual pressure erupted from it as it came crashing down without making any further attempt to disguise itself.
Brilliant silver light erupted from the ruler, and right at that moment, golden light suddenly radiated from the top of Han Li's head, following which a golden palm that was riddled with purple runes emerged out of thin air.
The golden hand then reached out like lightning and caught the silver ruler in a flash. The ruler shuddered and began to emit a shrill shrieking sound.
Silver and purplish-golden light intertwined to result in an earth-shattering explosion, and shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye erupted from the epicenter of the explosion before surging toward all directions.
The silver ruler was enveloped within a dense layer of silver light, extending and retracting in an unpredictable manner in an attempt to free itself. However, the fingers of the golden hand were like inescapable hooks, and even though they were being kept at bay by the spiritual light being released by the silver ruler, they were slowly closing in inch by inch.
The young man in the sword formation was somehow able to see Han Li through the illusionary technique of the sword formation, and a stunned and furious expression appeared on his face.
He immediately let loose a low cry before making a hand seal, then pointed a finger directly toward the silver ruler.
A loud thunderclap rang out, and arcs of lightning erupted from the silver ruler to strike the golden hand.
However, the hand was like an impregnable fortress, and it only shuddered slightly in the face of the ferocious lightning strikes.
A disdainful smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air.
Bright golden light erupted forth, and a purplish-golden figure that was around 20 feet tall appeared. The figure had three heads, all of which were completely expressionless, as well as six arms.
This was none other than Han Li's golden body projection, and not only was it riddled with purple runes in its current form, even the spiritual light that it was releasing had turned into a purplish-golden color.
The golden hand that had latched onto the silver ruler was none other than one of the projection's six hands.
Two of its three heads lowered in unison before opening their mouths to blast forth two bursts of golden light, which swept away the silver arcs of lightning being released by the ruler.
The hand quickly took advantage of this opportunity to clamp its fingers around the ruler, and the silver light barrier surrounding the treasure was instantly shattered, thereby allowing the hand to truly close itself around the silver ruler.
One of the golden body's other hands then also shot forth like lightning, and it rubbed its two hands together with the silver ruler between its palms. The ruler immediately let loose an anguished wail, and the silver light it was releasing instantly dimmed significantly.
One of the golden body's heads then opened its mouth to expel a burst of golden light, which drew the silver ruler into its stomach. Everything had taken place in the blink of an eye, and by the time the golden-horned young man had processed what had just happened, he had already lost his spiritual connection with his precious treasure.
He was naturally greatly alarmed and infuriated by this development.
Chapter 1731: Inverting the Heavens
Unbeknownst to the Jiao Chi being, Han Li himself was also quite surprised, but his surprise was intermingled with elation rather than fury.
He had known that the Provenance Golden Body would definitely be far more powerful than before after being refined by that mysterious energy, but he didn't think that it would be this powerful. To think that it was now able to steal enemy treasures as if they were nothing more than mere toys!
Albeit, he had taken advantage of the element of surprise, and the treasure that was taken wasn't his enemy's bonded treasure, but this was still near unheard of.
Han Li forcibly repressed his elation as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, upon which a ball of black light emerged and vanished into the golden body in a flash.
Black light flashed from the eyes of one of the golden body's faces, its body swayed before it disappeared into the azure light barrier.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li opened his
mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which also vanished into the barrier in a flash.
The golden-horned young man within the sword formation was still rapidly making hand seals with a furious look on his face in an attempt to recover his silver ruler, but upon witnessing what Han Li was doing, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately calmed himself down.
He then exhaled as he ceased making hand seals, then let loose a loud cry, upon which a massive shimmering blue projection appeared behind him.
This projection was around 50 to 60 feet tall with scales all over its body and a pair of eyes as red as blood. There were countless bull-horn-like bone spikes on the top of its head and its four limbs, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.
What was even more alarming was that the projection was holding an extremely peculiar treasure in each hand.
One of them was a long-handle hammer with a head that consisted of three monster heads fused as one, and the other was a triangular shield that was as smooth as a mirror and had crimson flames burning on its surface.
The young man narrowed his eyes slightly as he made a strange hand seal, then began to chant something in a solemn manner.
It was quite clear that Han Li was far more powerful than he had anticipated, thereby leading him to cast aside his initial disdain and take Han Li seriously as an opponent.
However, he was still trapped within the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, so Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow him to unleash his abilities so easily.
Thus, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he activated the sword formation again. Light flashed erratically from the azure light barrier as one azure lotus flower after another surged forth in a frenzy.
These lotus flowers then transformed into countless lotus projections that surged into the sword formation, and all of a sudden, there were countless lotus flowers of different sizes and at different stages of their growth flying throughout the entire formation.
What was even more entrancing was that in the instant that the azure lotus flowers appeared, bursts of a rich floral fragrance also filled the entire sword formation. This added an additional sense of realism to the scenes unfolding within the formation, and if one weren't careful, they could easily fall captivated by the beautiful scenery.
However, the azure lotus flowers failed to entrance the young man. Instead, he was immediately able to identify the killing intent hidden within the flowers, and his expression darkened as the blue projection behind him swung its hammer toward the flowers.
The three monstrous heads on the hammer opened their eyes in unison before also opening their mouths to release fierce white winds, scorching crimson flames, and powerful silver lightning.
The flames were fanned by the winds, and the lightning was fueled by the flames as three surged forth as massive waves of devastating power.
Almost at the exact same moment, azure light flashed from the surfaces of the azure lotus flowers, and they transformed into countless azure sword projections that rained down from above, following which the sword projections struck the three powerful waves in a flash.
The hammer was an extremely rare treasure, but with Han Li's recent cultivation base advancements, his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had also become far more powerful, especially when enhanced by the power of his sword formation.
Even though these were only sword projections that had been released by the flying swords, they were no less powerful than actual flying swords. Thus, the torrential downpour of sword projections managed to steadily force back the three massive waves.
The young man's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, but he then immediately gave a cold harrumph, upon which his blue projection hurled its triangular shield through the air as well.
This was clearly a fire-attribute treasure, and after circling around in the air, it transformed into a fiery cloud that was around an acre in size before rising upward.
The fiery cloud churned violently, and countless fist-sized fireballs swept forth along with streaks of crimson light.
Many of the sword projections that struck the fiery cloud were instantly incinerated into nothingness, and the temperature within the entire sword formation was drastically elevated as if it had become a massive furnace.
This fiery cloud assisted the three massive waves that had just been unleashed, forming a watertight protective barricade that allowed none of the torrential downpour of sword projections to reach the young man.
Right at this moment, the azure light barrier behind the young man suddenly parted, and a huge golden hand that was as large as a banana leaf reached out.
Before the hand had even reached the Jiao Chi being, a burst of enormous invisible force crashed down upon him, and he felt as if the surrounding air had become a cage of iron and steel.
His body was completely immobilized, and he was unable to break free from these invisible constraints in a short time.
The golden hand continued downward and reached the top of his head before quickly making a grabbing motion.
At the same time, silver light flashed from another part of the azure light barrier, and a silver Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in length emerged before opening its mouth to expel a burst of scorching silver flames.
In the face of this perilous situation, the Jiao Chi being remained completely unflustered. As opposed to displaying any signs of fear, a cold smile appeared on his face, and he suddenly stopped uttering his incantations as he expelled a burst of seven-colored light out of his mouth.
The rainbow light swirled before revealing itself to be a snowy white and translucent small bell.
"Ding!"
The bell rang in a pleasant manner, following which an incredible turn of events unfolded.
In the instant that Han Li heard this ringing sound, he was suddenly struck by a sense of disorientation. Immediately thereafter, his surroundings suddenly blurred, and he somehow found himself tipped upside down.
Not only that, but peculiar scenes were also unfolding within the sword formation.
The sword projections that were raining down from above suddenly swerved upward to crash into the azure light barrier amid strings of resounding booms.
Meanwhile, the space beneath the giant golden hand warped slightly, and the golden-horned young man abruptly vanished, only to be replaced by the silver Fire Raven.
The golden hand grabbed onto several of the giant bird's thin fiery feathers, and scorching silver flames instantly swept upward to envelop the golden hand.
As for the burst of silver flames that the bird had unleashed earlier, it had already gone off in some random direction.
Han Li was quite alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly adjusted himself into an upright position.
Right at this moment, a clear ringing sound rang out, and the entire sword formation seemed to have been struck by some kind of mysterious force. The azure light barrier twisted and warped before immediately shattering into pieces, and the surrounding space tremored before 72 azure flying swords were revealed.
The Spring Dawn Sword Formation had been broken just like that.
The golden body and silver Fire Raven were rooted to the spot, clearly at a complete loss, and Han Li was also quite stunned.
That little bell seemed to possess the legendary ability to invert the heavens! When the bell had first begun to chime, he could sense that it was imbued with a hint of the power of laws.
Han Li's expression changed several times in succession, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he instantly swept his gaze over an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet around him.
His gaze then suddenly locked onto a patch of empty space, and his pitch-black Law Destruction Eye abruptly appeared on his glabella.
Black light flashed, and a pillar of light that was around as thick as a thumb shot forth in a flash before vanishing into space.
A loud boom rang out, and the golden-horned young man stumbled out of thin air in a rather disheveled manner.
He had already donned a suit of blue armor, and as soon as he steadied himself, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the giant blue projection that was wielding the pair of treasures appeared once again.
The young man then made a grabbing motion with one hand, and rainbow spiritual light flashed, following which the pristine white bell appeared in his hand.
In the instant that the small bell emerged in his grasp, the bewilderment on the Jiao Chi being's face vanished, and he turned to appraise Han Li in an intense manner.
Han Li was completely expressionless as he waved a hand toward the golden body and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven, following which the two of them abruptly appeared beside him.
Almost at the exact same moment, the 72 azure flying swords in the surrounding air suddenly transformed into streaks of azure light without any warning before hurtling directly toward the young man.
The 72 flying swords reached him in the blink of an eye, almost as if they had teleported through the air before crashing down from above.
The speed of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was quite alarming to the golden-horned young man, but he remained completely unfazed as he pointed a finger toward the small bell in his hand.
The bell chimed, and rings of white ripples surged forth from it, sweeping directly toward the streaks of azure light.
As soon as the two clashed, the streaks of azure light flashed before reverting back into flying swords that were around a foot in length each. Immediately thereafter, a few more ripples of light surged through the air, and all of the flying swords were shattered into nothingness.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he witnessed these unfolding scenes, but his pupils had contracted drastically.
He had just ascertained through his spirit eye ability that the white ripples released by the small bells were actually bands of space constructed from countless thin spatial rifts.
These rifts were completely different from normal spatial rifts, and they vanished just as quickly as they had appeared.