"Yes, Lord Weng; I'll be taking my leave now," Tie Long replied before casting an incantation seal onto the ancient mirror, and azure light flashed from the mirror's surface, upon which the image of the elderly man vanished.
After contemplating the situation in silence for a short while, Tie Long strode out of the secret chamber, then flew out of the giant ark and re-emerged on the battlefield as a cloud of black Qi.
Meanwhile, in a certain wooden cabin within another realm, the elderly man had placed his book down onto his knees and was contemplating something with narrowed eyes. There was an identical antiquated mirror placed on the table next to him.
"You sure are a bold man, Xue Guang. I don't know how you managed to transfer so much of your magic power into the Spirit Realm, but are you not afraid that something will happen to your true body in the sacred realm? If your enemies were to hear about this, I'm sure a lot of turmoil will ensue," the elderly man murmured to himself as a cold look flashed through his eyes.
At the same time, tens of thousands of kilometers away from Heavenlean City, Fairy Yu was flying rapidly through the air while holding a crimson bead in one hand. After reporting the situation to an elderly woman in the Elder Devil Realm, she opened her mouth and swallowed the bead again.
After that, she immediately accelerated even further in her flight.
Several hundred kilometers ahead of her was Fairy Silver Light, who was also flying through the air as a streak of silver light.
The same scenes were unfolding with Fei Ya elsewhere, who was carefully stowing away a translucent jade talisman that he had just used.
Meanwhile, Han Li was flying through the air in his giant bird Kun Peng form, traveling at an incredible speed. Less than 100 kilometers behind him was a small crimson canoe, which was chasing him in hot pursuit.
Chapter 1930: Obstructing the Enemy
Han Li had naturally already discovered that he was being pursued by Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, and he was flying as quickly as he could as he flapped all four of his wings vigorously.
However, the canoe that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was standing on was the fastest flying treasure he had ever seen, and despite his best efforts, he wasn't able to get any further away from the canoe.
Was he really going to have to battle this clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang?
Setting aside whether Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had any powerful abilities up his sleeve, just those treasures that he was wielding were already quite a handful for Han Li to deal with.
At this point, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had already locked onto him with his spiritual sense, so unless Han Li was able to open up tens of thousands of kilometers between them, there was no way he would be able to truly shake off his pursuer.
As he flew through the air, Han Li was rapidly pondering countermeasures that he could take.
Just as he was flying over a certain mountain range, Han Li suddenly released over 1,000 silver feathers from his giant bird body, each of which transformed into a formation flag.
Lights of different colors flashed, and the formation flags vanished into the mountain range down below.
Even while he was doing this, Han Li didn't slow down in the slightest, and after just a few flashes, he had emerged from the mountain range before vanishing into the distance again.
A short while later, a crimson thread emerged in the distant sky, following which a small crimson canoe suddenly appeared in the air above the mountain range.
The three identical clones of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang were standing atop the canoe, and the one at the forefront had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.
Meanwhile, the other two both had their eyes closed and were making a series of hand seals. The small crimson canoe blurred, yet just as it was about to vanish into space again, over 1,000 pillars of light suddenly erupted from the mountain range down below before forming an extremely vibrant formation in the air above.
The surrounding air instantly became extremely viscous, and the small canoe was inundated by the power of the formation.
"Hmph, does he think a temporary formation like this one is enough to trap me?" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang chuckled coldly.
Immediately thereafter, one of the clones behind him withdrew his hand seal, then opened his eyes before expelling a ball of black light out of his mouth.
There was a small cauldron hovering within the black light; it was none other than that Purple Word Cauldron.
The clone that had summoned the purple cauldron gently laid a hand onto it, then uttered the word "break"!
Bright light immediately erupted from the cauldron, and it swelled drastically to over 100 feet in size. A huge black rune that was around 10 feet in size then emerged from within the cauldron before transforming into a black hurricane.
The black winds were imbued with incredible power, and the entire heavens tremored in their wake. The giant formation only managed to withstand the ferocious assault for several seconds before being torn apart and dissipating into countless specks of spiritual light.
The giant purple cauldron then instantly shrank down and flew back into the clone's body as a ball of black light. After that, the clone closed his eyes and began to make hand seals again.
Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang chortled with glee upon seeing this, and the small canoe shot forth as a crimson thread again, having only been stopped for the span of just a few breaths.
At the same time, Han Li could sense that connection had been abruptly cut off, and a hint of astonishment flashed through his eyes.
He was stunned that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had managed to break his formation so quickly, and his heart immediately sank.
Moments later, he abruptly flapped his wings, and over 100 more feathers shot forth. As soon as these feathers detached themselves from his body, they transformed into talismans of different colors that vanished into the surrounding air with only two silver talismans remaining on the spot.
One of them flashed with silver light and transformed into a golden-armored warrior that was wielding a giant golden blade. As for the other silver talisman, it produced a faint golden shadow that abruptly vanished into the back of the armored warrior.
As for Han Li himself, he showed no signs of stopping and vanished into the distance again after just a few flashes.
Not long after that, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distance, and the small crimson canoe reappeared. Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was initially rather taken aback by the sight of the golden-armored warrior before a cold smile reappeared on his face.
"This human brat sure has a lot of tricks up his sleeve; it's quite remarkable that he was able to refine a shadow puppet of such a high caliber. However, this thing isn't anywhere near enough to stop me!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, the final clone standing on the canoe slowly opened his eyes, then raised a hand to release the small rainbow pagoda.
The pagoda then rapidly swelled to tens of thousands of feet tall before abruptly appearing in the air above the golden-armored warrior.
The armored warrior remained completely expressionless, but it slashed its blade viciously toward the pagoda up above. A resounding boom rang out as a sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length struck the underside of the pagoda, only to vanish like a sandcastle in the rising tide.
The giant pagoda continued to descend, and countless streaks of rainbow light surged forth from it to completely inundate the golden-armored warrior.
When the light faded, the pagoda had reverted back to its original miniature size, but the armored warrior was nowhere to be seen.
The clone that had released the pagoda waved a hand through the air to recover it, following which the crimson canoe continued to fly through the air as a crimson thread.
However, in the next instant, silver light suddenly flashed from the spot where the armored warrior had just been taken, and another golden-armored warrior emerged amid a flash of silver light. As soon as it appeared, it made a hand sea
l, and an indistinct projection with three heads and six arms emerged. The projection waved its six arms through the air, and six massive balls of golden light came crashing down toward the canoe.
Even before they had struck the canoe, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was struck by a burst of formidable might that was both rather familiar and also completely unfamiliar at the same time.
"That's a true devil projection!" he exclaimed in a stunned manner.
Meanwhile, the clone standing behind him flipped his hand over to produce a small purple cauldron, which released a purple light barrier that instantly enshrouded the entire canoe. The six balls crashed into the purple light barrier amid a string of dull thumps, only to be instantly absorbed by the light barrier. However, the canoe was still stopped for an instant as a result.
Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang quickly recovered from his astonishment, and his expression darkened as he raised a hand before drawing a peculiar-looking circle in the air.
A large white hole instantly appeared in front of the small canoe, and crimson light flashed as a massive python shot forth out of the hole. The python pierced through the golden-armored warrior's body before winding itself around the puppet.
The armored warrior didn't even get a chance to react before it was crushed into specks of silver light by the python, and the golden projection behind it also crumbled away as a result.
Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang harrumphed coldly, and he was just about to continue onward when he abruptly looked up with a slightly bewildered expression.
In the air above the canoe, the projection of a series of palaces and pavilions had appeared. This was none other than the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman that Han Li had set up earlier.
In the instant that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang discovered this, a vast expanse of light had already descended from above to ensnare the crimson canoe.
In response, the final clone on the canoe hurled his rainbow pagoda through the air again.
A giant pagoda projection instantly appeared overhead, keeping the palaces and pavilions at bay, and preventing them from being able to descend any further.
Immediately thereafter, the clone began to chant something before expelling a mouthful of blood essence, then yelled the word "capture"!
Rainbow light instantly swept upward from the tip of the pagoda, sweeping up all of the palaces and pavilions.
The light faded, and the giant pagoda projection vanished as the small rainbow pagoda returned to the clone's hand.
Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's heart immediately eased upon seeing this, and he spurred on the crimson canoe to continue traveling forward.
...
Over at Heavenlean City, all of the restrictions outside the city wall had finally been destroyed by the devilish army, and countless devilish cavaliers and devilish beasts were flooding into the city.
However, the 108 golden-armored warriors continued to hover in mid-air in a stationary manner. It turned out that they were mere projections that had been conjured up by a series of intricate formations.
The human army had discovered this not long ago, and morale naturally plummeted once again as everyone fled for their lives.
At this moment, on a nameless mountain hundreds of kilometers away from Heavenlean City, there were close to 1,000 people in identical attire casting their eyes toward Heavenlean City, which had been inundated by devilish Qi.
Some of them wore grief-stricken expressions, while others were happy to just be alive. None of them uttered a single word, and it seemed that this was quite an organized and well-trained group.
Standing in front of them was an azure-robed middle-aged man, and he was also appraising Heavenlean City with a complex expression.
He was none other than one of the grand elders of Heavenlean City, Master Azure Dragon.
"Let's go, there's no saving Heavenlean City at this point. You are the seeds of our four sects; as long as Deep Heaven City can withstand the devilish tribulation, our four sects will rise again someday," Master Azure Dragon said in a solemn voice as he turned to the group of cultivators before him.
Chapter 1931: Asking for Advice
Just as Master Azure Dragon was departing from Heavenlean City with the best disciples of the four major sects using a secret formation, Han Li had fallen into a very perilous situation.
He was astonished to sense that his Armor Origin Talismans and Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman had all been quickly destroyed by his pursuer, and his heart sank even further.
Han Li hadn't expected to completely trap Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang with those talismans, but never did he think that they would fail to stall him for even a short time.
Furthermore, both of these talismans had been destroyed virtually in the instant that they had been activated; even Han Li wouldn't be capable of something like this.
This meant that this clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang that he was being pursued by was more powerful than him, and even if he were to use his most powerful trump cards, his chances of securing victory still definitely wouldn't exceed 50%.
As such, Han Li was naturally unwilling to engage his pursuer in direct battle. After all, defeat would result in death for him, and even if he were to win, he would only be ridding Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang of a clone. This was naturally not a trade that he was willing to take.
Thus, after realizing that his pursuer was far more powerful than he had imagined, he immediately began to ponder strategies that would allow him to escape.
He didn't know what Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's sensory range was, but with the fearsome spiritual sense that Grand Ascension cultivators possessed, there was definitely no chance for him to escape Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's tracking unless he could somehow open up a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers between them.
However, with how comparable their speeds were, there was no feasible way for Han Li to open up that much distance between them.
Unbeknownst to Han Li, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was also extremely stunned by this situation. The crimson canoe he was using was a vastly renowned flying treasure in the Elder Devil Realm, and at its top speed, it could even keep up with a Grand Ascension Stage being.
Due to the fact that this was a clone as opposed to his true body, he was unable to push the canoe to its top speed, but it was definitely still traveling far faster than a normal Body Integration cultivator. However, even after pursuing Han Li for such a long time, he still hadn't managed to close down the distance between them by much.
Thankfully, there were three of them, and they could take turns to drive the canoe on a rotating basis, so they didn't have to worry about exhausting their magic power. As such, even though the three of them were quite frustrated by this lengthy chase, they were still quite calm and confident.
In contrast, Han Li was naturally unable to keep this up for too long. Maintaining his Tian Peng Transformation and Thunderstorm Wings while flying at top speed was depleting his magic power at a rapid rate, and at his cultivation base, his magic power regeneration pills were no longer all that effective.
At this rate, even if he were to constantly take pills and absorb spiritual power from top-grade spirit stones, his magic power would still be completely exhausted in five to six days at most. As such, this was quite a concerning situation for Han Li.
All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and his eyes immediately lit up. "Now that I think about it, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang is pursuing me for that Devil Sealing Lock, so if I'm willing to discard this treasure, I may be able to shake him off my tail!"
However, his brows then furrowed slightly in hesitation. This was an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure, and if Che Qigong hadn't been lying to him, then the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi that he could secure using this treasure would be immensely beneficial to him. As such, he was naturally very reluctant to relinquish it.
Of course, his life was more important than this treasure, but he still wasn't in a completely dire situation yet, so he naturally didn't want to gi
ve up on such a precious treasure prematurely.
A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he pondered his current situation, and another thought suddenly occurred to him.
Two identical Nascent Souls one golden and one black, suddenly emerged from Han Li's body amid a flash of light. The golden Nascent Soul was shimmering with golden light that was tinged with faint hints of azure, and upon closer inspection, one would discover that the protective spiritual light around it was constantly transitioning between gold and azure in color.
As for the black Nascent Soul, it had a cloud of extremely dense devilish Qi around it. The golden Nascent Soul opened its mouth to expel a dozen or so five-colored beads, which began to revolve around its body.
Meanwhile, the black Nascent Soul lowered its head and made a hand seal while chanting an incantation.
The five-colored beads around it instantly transformed into five-colored eyes, which released thin beams of light that vanished into the black Nascent Soul's body in a flash.
The golden Nascent Soul's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and it instantly made a grabbing motion with one of its chubby little hands.
All of a sudden, a shimmering golden "brick" emerged, and the golden Nascent Soul pointed a finger toward the brick, upon which countless arcs of lightning were stripped away from the surface of the golden brick amid a string of loud crackling.
In the blink of an eye, a white wooden box that was inscribed with golden and silver runes had emerged. This was none other than the Devil Sealing Lock.
As soon as the Devil Sealing Lock appeared, the black Nascent Soul shot forth into the wooden box as a streak of black light.
In the next instant, Han Li appeared in the air above a grassland that resembled a green ocean.
"It's still the same place as last time," Han Li murmured to himself as he looked around with blue light flashing in his eyes.
As soon as his voice trailed off, a green-robed elderly man appeared in mid-air, and he smiled as he said, "Of course, did you think I was lying to you, Fellow Daoist? If you're able to break these final few restrictions, I would be more than happy to receive your assistance."
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