Although Han Li didn’t believe they would be able to kill Old Devil Qian so easily, he hadn’t expected how elusive his devilish arts would be. His very body had turned nearly incorporeal, and it wasn’t the effect of any ghostly properties but a Devil Dao technique that turned his body into that of an undying devil.
He had read of such techniques before. In the ancient past, there were many Elder Devils that took on this form, much to the great suffering of the cultivators at the time.
It was truly a marvel to witness it with his own eyes.
Han Li was amazed, but he had no intention of ceasing his assault. He opened his mouth to spit out a purple fireball. It surged to the size of a chariot before closely chasing after the crimson silhouette.
With one hand controlling the huge net of Greatnorth Essence Light pursuing the old devil, he waved his other, releasing a dense bolt of golden lightning with thunderous booms.
The horned woman assisting Han Li, Gui Ling, swiped the black rod in her hand several times at crimson mass and countless copies of the rod swept all around it in a raging storm.
As they were in the Greatnorth Essence Light, tangible treasures weren’t easily used by either side. One mistake and the light could easily destroy it.
Old Devil Qian now found himself trapped and saw that several attacks would soon strike him. The tide of the battle was quickly turning against him.
Violent fury stirred in his heart, inspiring him to grit his teeth and bite the tip of his tongue. He spit out a ball of grey light wrapped in crimson threads to block the bolt of lightning.
The two struck and a muffled bang sounded out, resulting in green trails of smoke lingering in the air — the attacks completely vanished.
In that delay, Old Devil Qian had already begun to spin in the air and summoned five clouds of white Qi around him.
They quickly grew to six meters, followed by a slender human skeleton emerging from each of them. They all had flawless bones and threads of icy Qi pervading them.
The old devil had called upon the true bodies of the Unbreakable Cinque Devils.
As soon as the five skeletons appeared, they breathed out a stream of green flame.
The blaze appeared unremarkable as if it were only a common ghostly flame, but two of the streams had aimed at the Purple Apex Flames fireball and were able to hold it in a deadlock.
The flame streams from the other three skeletons formed a green wall, blocking the huge net of Greatnorth Essence Light.
Like before, the mass of rods closing in on him had tied his body down with an immense and invisible pressure.
But this time, he didn’t combust his body. After all, the method would consume a great among of his magic power; he could only use it as a last resort.
And since he had called upon the true bodies of the cinque devil incarnations, he had a plan.
With a mental command, the five bodies appeared around him in a blur and raised their hands, creating a grey barrier that enveloped both him and themselves.
An instant later when the rods struck, violent explosions shook the air around them as black and grey light shined in the air. Each thunderous strike was heart-shaking.
When Han Li witnessed the might of the rods, he was amazed.
This Vast Cliff Tortoise was truly capable. It appeared that in their earlier battle, she hadn’t been able to employ even half of her abilities due to fatigue, or she would’ve been able to put up a far greater fight.
However, the barrier was far more durable that he had anticipated.
Once the explosions stopped and the rod copies all disappeared, the barrier was revealed to have stood firm, even against the astonishing assault.
Gui Ling’s expression sank. She gloomily looked at the barrier and snorted before opening her mouth and spitting out a black-white cloud of essence onto the rod in her hand.
With a clear ring, light brightly glowed from it and its shape shifted into the form of a hatchet.
With a tremble of his wrist, Gui Ling raised the axe into the air and muttered an incantation as she stared at it.
A layer of dazzling silver light radiated from its surface and abruptly took over its color as the hatchet underwent another transformation.
In the blink of an eye, it expanded to the size of a huge silver axe over thirty meters long.
The edge was just as bright as light shining in the darkness, and its handle was as thick as an ordinary person.
With the grand transformation, it released an astonishing amount of baleful Qi as if it had been released from a seal.
Even from far away, Han Li could sense the unruly bloodthirst of the axe's edge.
Hostility lingered on Gui Ling’s face and her body violently expanded in size.
In only a moment, she grew over twenty meters tall.
Han Li gasped with an odd expression, muttering, “The Giant Augmentation Technique! To think that you were capable of such great power. It seems that your cultivation has already reached the peak of late-Nascent Soul stage.”
Meanwhile, he unconsciously glanced at an area of the Greatnorth Essence Light and his expression blanked once more. With an icy glint from his eye, his sleeve trembled and he summoned the Triflame Fan into his hand.
Gui Ling reached out to the silver axe and grabbed it before looking down at Old Devil Qian in the distance. Then with both hands, she chopped down.
A ten-meter-long silver streak shined from the axe and was released from its edge to whistle through the air. It left a white mark in its wake as if it was tearing through space itself.
Old Devil Qian was shocked to see this.
He was confident in his cinque devils, but he didn’t dare to boldly resist the strike.
Without another thought, he suddenly raised his hand, holding onto a short snow-white blade.
In a cold flash, the blade fell, chopping down towards his hand.
But before it was severed, he spat out a mist of crimson blood onto it. In an instant, the blood essence fused together and caused it to extend into an oddly shaped meter-long crimson saber that was both narrow and sharp.
With the blade in the hand and the huge silver crescent approaching him, he waved it with a grave expression and the strange sword disappeared from sight. A moment later, the cinque devils warped in front of him as if to receive the attack.
Contrary to Han Li’s expectations, crimson and silver radiance soon filled the air as their attacks clashed without producing even the slightest sound. He saw the slim crimson saber strangely bend at several angles, trembling and on the verge of collapse.
But then, the cinque devils suddenly leapt forward and merged together, forming a giant skeleton on par with Gui Ling.
A brittle snap rang out as the long crimson saber snapped into pieces. It was clear to see that the silver crescent had smoothly cut through.
The huge skeleton then let out a wild cackle and lifted its skull to spew out a grey mist.
The mist wasn’t large by any means and seemed to be condensed from essence. When the crescent chopped at it, however, it hadn’t cut through but rather slowed down as if swimming through a dense liquid.
Soon after, the silver streak let out a bright hum as it was instantly stained grey and thoroughly absorbed.
The mist then circled in the air before returning to the skull’s mouth.
Gui Ling’s voice roared, “Corrupting Devil Qi! Since your devils are capable of this, it seems they were once the bodies of Nascent Soul cultivators. Ordinary corpses wouldn’t be able to produce such an ability!”
Old Devil Qian coldly laughed, “What I used to refine these united devils aren’t something of your concern, demon. But since you know how fearsome it is, let’s have you learn of their combined might as well!” Then he raised his hand and struck the giant skeleton with several spell seals.
The huge skeleton let out a piercing drone and its emotionless eyes shined with crimson light. It began to walk towards Gui Ling, each step causing the ground to tremble.
Han Li’s gaze flickered and fixed on the huge skeleton. With the Triflame Fan unfolded, his heart tensed, but soon relaxed.
He quickly flung his other hand and released the Yang ring above his head.
Hums resonated in the air, and the Greatnorth Essence Light above him formed huge silver waves. Specks of light continuously lit up and endless strings of light shot out towards the huge skeleton in a dense barrage.
A sharp whistle sounded out from the skull as a layer of grey light shone from within.
Many of strings struck its surface, but were scattered and had little effect.
Han Li’s expression stiffened as he began to pour more magic power into the ring.
A massive change occurred.
Now the light strings gathered together before striking, condensing into tens of ropes before blurring out of sight.
Repeated pops sounded out.
A dozen thumb-sized holes peppered the skeleton’s body, some even piercing through its skull.
The Corrupting Devil Qi wasn’t able to block the attack.
Willing the Yang ring to condense the Greatnorth Essence Light together had greatly increased their power.
But soon, Han Li’s faint trace of happiness had instantly turned sullen.
