......
In a small wooden cabin in the village, a five-colored light barrier had been set up, and there were two humanoid figures seated across from each other in the room; these were none other than Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family, who had scouted the village for the past two days.
Han Li asked in a solemn manner, "So you've already confirmed that there are core Azure Wing beings residing in that palace?"
"That's right, my detection treasure is displaying a very strong reaction, so it seems that there are many core Azure Wing beings living there, which is both good news and bad news," the woman from the Ye Family sighed.
"Do you think this will make things more difficult for us, Fairy Ye?" Han Li asked.
"With so many core Azure Wing beings gathered in one place, that palace must be very heavily guarded; perhaps there will even be more than one devilish lord on guard duty there, so our original plan isn't going to be very feasible. On top of that, we don't have much time left," the woman from the Ye Family replied in a concerned manner.
"In that case, we'll just have to do things by force. I'll hold off the devilish lords there while you take care of the core disciples; will that be alright?" Han Li asked.
"Without any intervention from devilish lords, it naturally won't be an issue for me to capture a core disciple. However, once we strike, we'll have to make sure to get away in a short time. Otherwise, other high-grade devilish beings will arrive on the scene. Judging from the scale of this village, there are probably at least seven or eight devilish lords here, and that isn't even taking all those Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings into account. On top of that, breaking through the restrictions set up around the village will also take some time," the woman from the Ye Family cautioned.
"Leave the restrictions to me. I know a thing or two about formations, and during the past two days, I've discovered a few weak points in the restrictions here," Han Li said in a confident manner.
The woman from the Ye Family was ecstatic to hear this, and she said, "In that case, we should be all set. As long as we can make a quick getaway, those devilish lords shouldn't be able to chase us down. The only thing we have to be wary of is that we still don't know where that Sacred Ancestor clone is residing."
"It would naturally be best if we don't encounter the clone. Otherwise, we'll have to use that treasure to temporarily trap him," Han Li said.
"That would be the worst-case scenario. Let's set this matter aside for now and get some rest; we'll strike tonight so no other volatile factors arise," the woman from the Ye Family proposed.
"Alright, we'll do as you say." Han Li had no objections to this, and he immediately closed his eyes to meditate.
The woman from the Ye Family carefully reviewed the plan again, and after confirming that it was indeed sound, she also slowly closed her eyes.
Around half a day later, there was a devilish man seated on a bed of ice in a large palace in the Incense Village. The man had a head of exuberant black hair, which belied his wrinkly facial features, and he was currently cultivating a certain secret technique.
It was impossible to ascertain his age from his appearance, but the spiritual pressure emanating from his body clearly indicated that he was a powerful devilish lord.
Around 10 feet away from the bed of ice was a small stone platform that resembled an altar. It was only several feet tall, but there were countless runes inscribed on its surface, indicating that it was no ordinary structure.
All of a sudden, a ball of black light erupted out of the altar alongside a low buzzing sound.
The devilish man immediately opened his eyes in a startled manner and cast his gaze toward the altar.
"What's going on? Did those little rascals trigger the restriction again?" the devilish man murmured to himself with furrowed brows, then immediately made a hand seal and vanished from the room amid a fierce gust of wind.
In the next instant, a gust of wind was swept up in the main hall of the palace, and the man re-emerged.
He cast his gaze around the hall, and his pupils immediately contracted slightly.
In a corner of the hall was an azure-robed humanoid figure, who was currently inspecting a giant black blade hanging on the wall.
The black blade was only a decorative item crafted from ordinary materials, but the azure-robed figure seemed to be very intrigued by it.
The devilish man was quite alarmed, but he remained completely expressionless as he asked in a cold voice, "Who are you, and why have you broken into our palace this late in the night?"
"I was just bored and wanted to find someone to have a chat with," the azure-robed figure replied as he continued to appraise the huge black blade.
"You wanted someone to chat with? Are you..." All of a sudden, the devilish man's voice was cut off as a dull thump rang out from the neighboring room, causing the entire hall to tremor violently.
The devilish man's expression changed drastically, and he immediately darted toward a certain exit of the palace, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.
However, right at this moment, the azure-robed man chuckled as countless arcs of azure and white lightning appeared over his body, upon which he abruptly disappeared.
In the next instant, lightning flashed in front of the devilish man, and the azure-robed figure appeared before flicking his fingers through the air, sending countless azure threads hurtling forth from his fingertips, forming a powerful azure sword net.
Chapter 2084: Battle
The azure-robed man was naturally none other than Han Li, but his face was currently concealed by a layer of azure light, and his height and figure had also been manipulated slightly. In order to stop the devilish man, he unleashed sword threads formed by several tens of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.
Each sword thread was very thin, but they were too fearsome even for the average treasure to withstand.
This devilish man had been assigned to this place to protect the core disciples, so he was naturally also quite a powerful being. In response to Han Li's attack, he let loose a loud roar and released a gust of fierce azure wind out of his mouth, then made a grabbing motion toward the sword net with both hands.
In the instant that he lashed out, yellow light appeared at the center of his palms, then transformed into two projections, one of which was a wyrm while the other was a tiger. At the same time, an astonishing aura erupted out of his body, and he was planning to tear the sword net open through brute force!
Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger forward in an unhurried manner.
All of the streaks of sword Qi instantly swelled in size before raining down from above in a torrential downpour.
The wyrm and tiger projections only had a chance to let loose an anguished wail before they were completely destroyed and dissipated into nothingness, following which the streaks of sword Qi continued to hurtle directly toward the devilish man.
The devilish man's expression changed drastically, and a fierce gust of wind was immediately conjured up before sweeping up his body.
In the next instant, the streaks of sword Qi pierced through the gust of wind to completely dispel it, but the devilish man was nowhere to be seen.
Han Li immediately turned toward a certain direction, then thrust an inky-black palm into the air.
A burst of invisible force erupted out of his palm in a frenzy, and an earth-shattering boom rang out.
All of a sudden, a ball of grey light emerged in that patch of space, following which a humanoid figure stumbled out of thin air; it was none other than the devilish man, who had just unleashed a concealment secret technique and was planning to unleash a sneak attack on Han Li.
The devilish man was sent flying for over 100 feet, and only then was he able to just barely steady himself as he cast a bewildered gaze toward Han Li. "Impossible! I've already achieved full mastery of the Devilish Wind Evasion; how did you manage to see through it so easily?"
Han
Li merely appraised the man in an indifferent manner and gave no response.
A cold expression appeared on the devilish man's face upon seeing this. "Hmph, it looks like I'll really have to get serious here."
Han Li merely smiled, then suddenly swept a sleeve through the air to release a silver fireball.
Strangely enough, the ball of fire was directed toward another corner of the hall as opposed to the devilish man.
During its flight, the silver fireball transformed into a Fire Raven, and initially, it was only around a foot in size, but it quickly swelled to roughly 10 feet in size before exploding to inundate that corner of the hall in scorching silver flames.
Right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out, and a ball of light erupted out of the silver flames before transforming into a three-headed azure python projection that was several tens of feet in length.
As soon as the python projection emerged, it opened its three mouths to unleash three bursts of glacial Qi, one azure, one yellow, and one blue, toward the oncoming silver flames, thereby temporarily keeping them at bay.
Immediately thereafter, a humanoid figure sprang out of the silver flames amid a flash of azure light, then instantly arrived beside the devilish man.
This was a woman who was in her thirties, wearing a long green dress. The woman had an ordinary appearance with a slightly dark complexion, and there was a three-headed azure snake that was around a foot in length sitting on her shoulder. [1]
"Elder Qing, I'm glad you're here," the devilish man said as his expression eased slightly.
"This man possesses unfathomable powers! I tried to sneak around him just now, but he was able to instantly detect me," the woman said as she appraised Han Li with a dark expression.
"He must have an accomplice; we have to shake him off and get to the core disciples at the spirit pavilion right away! I'll do everything in my power to hold him off; you go and save the disciples," the devilish man urged.
"Your Devilish Wind Evasion is a far superior movement technique compared to mine; you should go and save the disciples while I keep this man occupied," the woman countered, then suddenly raised a hand before opening her mouth.
A streak of silver light shot forth out of her mouth like lightning and instantly chopped off the top half of one of her fingers.
Bone and flesh were visible from the wound, but not a single drop of blood was shed.
The snake sitting on the woman's shoulder immediately became very excited upon seeing this, and it instantly shot forth before gobbling up the dismembered finger with its middle head.
Right at this moment, the woman began to chant something before opening her mouth to expel several clouds of purple Qi, which completely enveloped the azure snake.
The azure snake's body immediately swelled drastically to over 100 feet in length, and a horn appeared on each of its three heads, one of which was azure, one of which was yellow, and the final one was blue.
The devilish man faltered upon seeing this, but he then immediately nodded before flicking a wrist to send a crimson bracelet flying through the air.
The bracelet revolved in mid-air before expelling a burst of white light, revealing itself to be a snowy-white devilish bird that resembled a giant falcon with a green devilish eye on its forehead.
Both the three-headed giant python and white devilish bird possessed auras that were no less powerful than those of the two devilish lords, and they seemed to complement the cultivation arts being used by the two devilish lords. As such, the four of them presented a formidable lineup that was the equivalent of four devilish lords.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a yellow streak of light, which transformed into a small beast that was around a foot in size; it was none other than the Body Integration Stage Leopard Kirin Beast.
At the same time, a suit of inky-black devilish armor appeared over his body, and he made a grabbing motion, upon which a small black mountain also appeared.
Simultaneously, a clear cry rang out from the scorching silver flames that were burning in the corner, and they transformed into a silver Fire Raven again before flying back to Han Li.
"Go!" the devilish woman yelled in an urgent manner as more tremors erupted from the neighboring room.
She then immediately raised a hand to send over 100 streaks of green light hurtling through the air. These were 108 hair-thin green needles, and they were giving off a faint rank odor.
At the same time, the three-headed devilish python raised its three heads in unison before blasting forth streams of glacial Qi again. However, the glacial Qi on this occasion was more than twice as fierce as before, and there were faint three-colored runes that could be seen within the glacial Qi.
As for the devilish man, he and the snowy-white devilish bird shot forth as two gusts of fierce white winds, flying directly toward a side door of the hall.
"Stop him!" Han Li instructed before immediately hurling the small black mountain forward, and it instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall.
The green needles struck the mountain in rapid succession, creating an incessant string of booms much like rain falling upon a banana leaf.
However, the black mountain remained completely unmoved, as if it were an unyielding fortress.
The silver Fire Raven also blasted a burst of silver flames out of its mouth, which steadily forced back the oncoming three-colored glacial Qi.
At the same time, the Leopard Kirin Beast heeded Han Li's instruction and shot forth as a ball of golden light, then split up into two before vanishing into thin air.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the devilish man, and two golden figures appeared in his way, each of which was around 10 feet in size. Immediately thereafter, countless golden claw projections swept toward both him and the white devilish bird falcon beside him.
The devilish man swept his spiritual sense toward the claw projections, and was immediately alarmed by the power that they possessed. As such, he naturally didn't dare to take them head-on and could only stop in his tracks before summoning a pristine white fan, which he swept viciously through the air.
A gust of gale-force winds instantly surged out of the fan, then transformed into a grey wind dragon that pounced forward with devastating force.
Meanwhile, the devilish falcon flapped its wings in unison, sending a series of white wind blades hurtling through the air.
Earsplitting explosions rang out as the golden light clashed with the grey and white wind, and they seemed to be evenly matched.
Whenever the devilish man tried to sneak around the side with the devilish falcon to cover him, the Leopard Kirin Beast always managed to appear right in his tracks.
In terms of overall power, the devilish man and the white falcon were superior to the Leopard Kirin Beast, but the Leopard Kirin Beast was more adept in movement techniques, rendering the two unable to escape from the battle.
As for Han Li, he was battling the woman and the three-headed giant python as if he were taking a stroll in the park. No matter what type of ferocious attacks were thrown at him, he was able to brush them off with ease.
If he weren't wary of the fact that killing the devilish woman could result in unwanted trouble later on, she would already be dead.
Time quickly passed by, and the two devilish beings continued to become more and more frustrated and infuriated, but they were completely trapped in the hall.
Just as Han Li was wondering how things were going on the other end, an extremely elated voice suddenly rang out in his ears. "I've succeeded! We can go now, Brother Han!"
Han Li was ecstatic to hear this!
[1] [That's right, you read that right; this a woman in RMJI who's not a geriatric grandma but also isn't smoking hot, either!]
Chapter 2085: Success
He immediately made a hand seal, and a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him amid a burst of black Qi.
&
nbsp; The devilish projection swung four of its arms through the air, and a giant golden blade appeared in each of its four hands before being slashed through the air like lightning, unleashing four huge blade projections that were around 100 feet in length each.
Despite the best efforts of the devilish beings and devilish beasts to keep the attacks at bay, they were still forced back by the impact, and Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to withdraw his golden projection and silver Fire Raven before flying out of the hall as a streak of azure light.
As for the Leopard Kirin Beast, it also followed him out of the hall as a streak of golden light.
The devilish man and devilish woman's hearts sank upon seeing this, and they quickly conversed with one another through voice transmission before the devilish man and white falcon rushed out in pursuit, while the woman hurriedly flew toward the living quarters of the core disciples.
Moments later, the woman appeared at a side hall, and her expression instantly darkened significantly.
Not only had the door of the side hall been completely destroyed, the restrictions set up nearby had also been entirely eradicated, and there were several green-armored guards lying slumped on the ground.
The woman immediately let loose a shrill cry that erupted straight into the heavens, and the entire Incense Village was instantly stirred up into a frenzy.
The ordinary Azure Wing beings all locked their doors and closed their windows, while the more powerful Azure Wing beings hurriedly emerged from their abodes before flying toward the side hall that the woman was situated at.
Meanwhile, Han Li was flying toward a secluded corner of the village, and the devilish man was giving chase with all his might atop his devilish falcon steed.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he heard the shrill cry released by the woman, and the devilish man's expression changed slightly as he took a deep breath, preparing to let loose a long cry of his own.
However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly tossed several hundred golden and silver talismans up into the air, all of which vanished into thin air in a flash.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1200