Han Li initially faltered slightly upon hearing this before a smile appeared on his face. "Three attacks? Alright, I have no objections to that."
A stir immediately ran through all of the surrounding cultivators upon hearing this.
Han Li had just displayed powers that weren't inferior to those of mid-Body Integration cultivators, and that had already drawn astonishment from many of the onlookers. Now that the Long Family patriarch was proposing this three-attack clause, everyone was getting very excited.
To the cultivators of the true spirit families below the Body Integration Stage, this was going to be an extremely eye-opening experience that would surely benefit them immensely.
After all, the true spirit families who were pitted against the Long Family during the past editions of the true spirit ceremony had all forfeited their matches, so it had been a very long time since everyone had seen the Long Family patriarch in action.
"First attack."
The Long Family patriarch clearly had no intention of wasting time with words, and after letting loose a low cry, he suddenly reached out with one of his hands.
The entire sky immediately dimmed while the nearby world's origin Qi surged violently, and a huge golden claw that was several tens of feet in size appeared above Han Li's head. Five-colored runes surged over the surface of the massive claw, and it grabbed directly toward Han Li.
Before the claw had even reached Han Li, the air around him tightened, and he felt as if he had been trapped in a cage of iron and steel.
All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted above him, and a small black mountain appeared without any warning.
Grey light swept forth from the mountain, and Han Li was immediately freed. He then thrust his pristine white palm upward, and five-colored flames instantly surged forth from his fingers, forming a massive five-colored hand that rose up to clash with the giant golden claw amid a resounding boom.
The two seemed to be evenly matched for a brief moment before the giant golden claw destroyed the five-colored hand amid a flash of golden light. Despite this, Han Li remained completely unflustered as he pointed a finger up into the air.
The destroyed remnants of the massive five-colored hand transformed into five-colored glacial flames in a flash, and these flames immediately swept up the huge golden claw.
As a result, the golden claw faltered in mid-air before being sealed within a huge chunk of five-colored glacial ice, reduced to a levitating ice statue.
The Long Family patriarch's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, but he then immediately yelled, "Second attack!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, he laid a hand onto his own head, and a thunderous dragon's roar rang out.
Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and a golden wyrm projection flew up from the top of his head. The projection circled around in mid-air before abruptly plunging back down onto his body.
In the next instant, bright golden light was released from his body, and golden scales appeared all over his face and limbs, while a pair of golden horns that were several inches in length emerged on his head.
He had adopted a half-dragon form, and a thunderclap rang out from beneath his feet, following which he vanished on the spot in a flash.
Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li heard a thunderclap erupt overhead, and the Long Family patriarch appeared, then raised an arm before reaching down with his scaled golden hand.
A dull thump rang out, and an enormous burst of power descended from the heavens.
Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and in his eyes, the oncoming hand seemed to have encompassed the entire Myriad Spirit Platform, affording him no avenues for escape or evasion.
If he were to be struck by this devastating force, he definitely wouldn't be able to withstand the attack, despite his powerful physical body.
With that in mind, Han Li immediately directed the black mountain above his head toward the oncoming golden hand, sending it hurtling through the air with devastating might. At the same time, golden light flashed, and a golden figure emerged behind him before transforming into a golden projection with three heads and six arms.
Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out, and the black mountain was repelled by the golden hand, while the latter continued to descend toward Han Li, seemingly having not been slowed down in the slightest.
Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and the Provenance True Devil Projection behind him raised all six of its arms before unleashing a torrential barrage of punches up into the air.
Meanwhile, Han Li waved his silver ruler, and a silver ruler projection that was several tens of feet in length also erupted into the heavens amid a flash of silver light.
In the next instant, an incessant string of explosions rang out as the golden fist projections and silver ruler projection clashed with the descending golden hand.
Immediately thereafter, more ruler projections were unleashed by the silver ruler, numbering in the tens, hundreds, thousands...
In the blink of an eye, countless projections had been conjured up by the silver ruler in Han Li's hand, and all of these projections were surging upward in a frenzy as a silver stream.
The people outside the light barrier were stunned by the fearsome powers Han Li was unleashing, but the Long Family patriarch seemed to be unimpressed as he let loose a cold harrumph, which was immediately followed by an earth-shattering boom.
In the next instant, the countless golden fist projections and silver ruler projections were all destroyed by a burst of extremely terrifying power.
The golden hand flashed before appearing in the air no more than 10 feet above Han Li, then grabbed downward without any hesitation.
Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby, and a green fist reached out before striking the golden hand like lightning.
The seemingly completely unstoppable golden hand was diverted away upon being struck by the green fist, and taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li vanished on the spot, then appeared just over 100 feet away from the Long Family patriarch. As soon as he reappeared, he raised his head to appraise his opponent with a calm and collected look on his face.
Chapter 1838: The Lao Family's Challenge.
The Long Family patriarch withdrew his hand, and a surprised look appeared on his face at the sight of the green arm that had appeared out of thin air.
Spatial fluctuations erupted once again, and a humanoid figure with green skin emerged.
The humanoid figure was around 20 feet tall with purple light flashing all over its body. It bore a strong resemblance to Han Li, and it had green light flashing within its eyes.
Han Li waved a hand toward the green figure, and it arrived by his side in a flash.
"Is that a clone of yours? I must say, you have truly lived up to my expectations, Fellow Daoist Han. Now then, this will be my third attack!" the Long Family patriarch chuckled coldly before raising an arm and making a grabbing motion toward Han Li.
His actions appeared to be identical to what he had just done earlier, but on this occasion, the effect was far different.
Even before his arm had been fully outstretched, a string of rumbling booms had begun to erupt in the surrounding area, alongside which countless five-colored specks of light appeared over the Myriad Spirit Platform.
In the next instant, these specks of light formed by the world's origin Qi surged toward the Long Family patriarch and vanished into his arm in a frenzy.
The golden dragon scales all over his arms instantly became bright and translucent and shimmered with a layer of five-colored spiritual light. On top of that, the light was gradually becoming brighter and brighter, until many of the bystanders were forced to look away.
At the same time, an extremely powerful burst of foreign spiritual pressure also erupted from that very same arm. It was as if the arm had become a completely independent entity, and its aura was even more powerful than that of the Long Family patri
arch himself.
In the face of this devastatingly powerful attack, Han Li's expression finally changed slightly. As the Long Family patriarch was approaching the point where it was going to be fully outstretched, he suddenly cupped his fist in a salute, and chuckled, "Your powers are truly extraordinary, Fellow Daoist Long. There's no need for you to unleash your third attack; I concede."
Before anyone had a chance to process what he had just said, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he flew out of the light barrier, tearing through it as if it were nothing more than a papier-mâché structure.
After that, he returned to his chair at the front of the Gu Family entourage, and the green figure followed closely behind him like a shadow in the process.
All of the nearby Gu Family cultivators reflexively took a few steps backward as they appraised the green figure with curious eyes, yet Han Li merely cast an indifferent glance toward it before making a hand seal, upon which it rapidly shrank down amid a flash of purple light.
In the end, it transformed into a ball of purple light that vanished up his sleeve.
Meanwhile, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao were appraising Han Li with complex expressions. It was no wonder that this was their reaction; as a cultivator who had only recently reached the Body Integration Stage, he had displayed powers that were not inferior to those of mid-Body Integration cultivators, but right when they had thought that he would create a miracle, he jumped off the platform and forfeited the match.
No matter how they looked at it, something didn't seem right. However, in the wake of Han Li's astonishing display of power, they naturally didn't dare to ask any questions, and could only exchange a glance with wry smiles on their faces.
They were rather exasperated by Han Li's erratic actions, but at the same time, all of their concerns had disappeared.
In their eyes, Han Li was not inferior in power to their grand elder, Fairy Tian Li. In fact, his combat prowess seemed to be even superior. As such, it definitely wouldn't be an issue for the Gu Family to secure a rank among the top five.
The Long Family patriarch finally returned to his senses, and he cast his gaze toward Han Li as he chuckled, "Hehe, interesting!"
After that, five-colored light swirled around his arm, and the surrounding world's origin Qi vanished into thin air. At the same time, the golden dragon scales all over his body also receded as he reverted out of his half-dragon form.
The man wearing the copper mask in the Feng Family suddenly declared, "We're giving up on our plan!"
"What do you mean, Brother? Even if that man is more powerful than an ordinary early-Body Integration cultivator, at the very most, he's only comparable to that Tian Li hag; surely we can take him down together," the man in the lavish robes countered with furrowed brows.
"Hmph, you think he's only comparable with Tian Li at most? Have you gone senile? Setting aside everything else, just that clone of his is extremely powerful. It was powerful enough to knock back Old Man Long's attack with just a single punch; that's already something that's beyond our capabilities. On top of that, he displayed no fear or concern throughout that entire battle, so he definitely has more tricks up his sleeve. Even the two of us combined will most likely find it very difficult to defeat him. I don't want our Feng Family to make such an unfathomably powerful being our enemy, particularly at a time like this," the masked man replied in a cold voice.
"But what about our agreement with the Lao Family? We already accepted benefits from them." The man in the lavish robes was still quite hesitant.
"All we agreed to was to weaken Fairy Tian Li as much as we could for them. Seeing as she's not here, it's very normal that we would change our plans. If they try to pin the blame on us, we'll just have to return what they gave us; what are they going to do? During our loser's bracket match against the Gu Family, just fight using normal methods," the masked man said in an implacable manner.
"In that case, we'll do as you say. It's rather regrettable that we won't be able to kick the Gu Family out of the top five families, but I guess we'll just have to wait until next time," the man in the lavish robes sighed in a reluctant manner.
In contrast, the masked man could clearly see the bigger picture, and he chuckled, "The devilish tribulation is about to strike soon; who knows how many of these true spirit families will even be left on the other side? There's no need to think so far ahead."
The man in the lavish robes could only offer a wry smile in response.
Meanwhile, several of the Lao Family elders were standing around the only early-Body Integration cultivator in their family, and they were currently discussing something in hushed tones.
The restriction around their entourage made it impossible to hear what they were saying, but their strained expressions clearly indicated that they were far from happy about this situation.
The Lao Family's Body Integration cultivator was a white-robed middle-aged scholar, and his brows were also tightly furrowed. It was quite clear that Han Li's display of power had come as quite a nasty surprise to them.
"The next match will be the loser's bracket match to decide the fourth and fifth ranks, and it'll take place between the Feng Family and the Gu Family," the Long Family patriarch announced.
Both of the Feng Family's Body Integration cultivators turned toward the Gu Family entourage in unison upon hearing this, while Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao both turned toward Han Li.
"I forfeit this match!" Much to everyone's surprise, Han Li forfeited the match without any hesitation, and this naturally created quite a stir.
"Senior Han..." Fairy Xiao Feng began as an urgent look appeared on her face.
Han Li merely turned to her in an indifferent manner, and said, "The Feng Family also has two Body Integration cultivators, and they're adept in combination techniques, so there's not much chance for me to defeat them. As such, it would naturally be a better idea to conserve my powers. Besides, according to our agreement, I only have to ensure that the Gu Family can maintain its current rank, so I'm not breaking our agreement, am I?"
Fairy Xiao Feng's expression changed a few times, but in the end, she conceded, "Of course, it's just that the fourth-ranked family will receive far more benefits than the fifth-ranked one. Forgive me for being greedy, Senior."
Thus, the Long Family patriarch announced the result of this forfeited match, following which the other three families drew lots.
On this occasion, the Long Family received a bye, so the next match was naturally between the woman in the five-colored dress from the Ye Family and the man from the Lin Family.
The two of them seemed to have a long-running feud, so as soon as their match began, both of them unleashed their most powerful attacks, and the battle quickly reached an astonishing climax.
Both of them were at the mid-Body Integration Stage, but it was quite clear that the woman from the Ye Family was slightly superior in power. Even after the Lin Family representative unleashed several new abilities in succession, he was still forced out of the light barrier by his opponent in the end, and he could only return to his seat in a furious manner.
Thus, the next match was naturally to be held between the Ye Family and the Long Family, but the woman in the five-colored dress knew that she was no match for the Long Family patriarch, so she conceded in a very straightforward manner. As for the Feng Family, they also made the wise decision not to challenge any of the top three families.
As a result, the ranking of the top five families remained the same as before, with the Gu Family bringing up the rear once again.
It was now time for the lower-ranked families to issue challenges, but the Gu Family wasn't overly concerned about this segment, considering Han Li had just displayed his powers to them.
Despite this, the sixth-ranked family, which was the Lao Family, still decided to issue a challenge. The white-robed scholar rose to his feet with a solemn look on his face, and said, "I would like to challenge the Gu Family. Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Han
."
White light then flashed from the scholar's body, and in the next instant he appeared on the platform to wait for Han Li.
Han Li smiled upon seeing this, and azure light also flashed from his body as he appeared before the scholar.
Lao Ai wore a serious expression as he gave Han Li a curt nod, then flipped both of his hands over to summon a black ferule[1] in one hand, while golden light flashed from his other hand, and a giant shimmering golden brush appeared. The brush was several feet in length, and its tip was shimmering with extremely vibrant five-colored spiritual light.
The ferule twirled through the air, conjuring up several tens of black spirit flowers that created a barrier around him. At the same time, he waved the giant golden brush in his other hand through the air, and a series of massive exuberant five-colored butterflies appeared.
[1] [A ferule is a wooden ruler-like object normally used for physical punishment.]
Chapter 1839: Might of the Golden Body
The scholar let loose a low cry, and all of the demonic butterflies spread their wings, releasing bursts of five-colored powder that quickly expanded into a five-colored toxic cloud around an acre in size. The toxic cloud surged directly toward Han Li at the scholar's behest, and at the same time, he began to chant something before opening his mouth to expel a red bamboo tube.
The bamboo tube was opened amid a flash of bright red light, and countless shimmering red runes flew out from within it. These runes all seemed to be very profound, but in the instant that they emerged from the bamboo tube, they all twisted and transformed into Fire Ravens that flew toward Han Li, right behind the toxic cloud.
This Lao Ai was only an early-Body Integration cultivator, but his attacks were quite powerful indeed, so it was no wonder that he still dared to challenge Han Li despite witnessing his earlier display of power.
However, these attacks were naturally nothing in the eyes of Han Li. As opposed to being alarmed by these ferocious oncoming attacks, Han Li chuckled instead. Without summoning any treasures, he made a hand seal, and golden light flashed, following which that golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him again.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1061