Almost at the exact same moment, an azure arc of lightning flashed in the air above the jade carriage, upon which Han Li appeared out of thin air before immediately sweeping a sleeve through the air. Several tens of small golden swords shot forth from within, transforming into streaks of golden light that rained down from above.
"Break!" the middle-aged Daoist priest yelled as his expression changed drastically. As he did so, he pointed a finger toward the Yin Yang mirror overhead.
A pillar of black and white immediately shot forth from the surface of the mirror before transforming into clumps of thin threads that attempted to ensnare the golden streaks of light.
A string of resounding booms erupted as threads and the golden light clashed, and the black and white threads were severed with ease as if they were delicate strands of silk.
The Daoist priest's heart jolted with shock, and before he had a chance to react, the flying sword had already struck the azure ball of light around the carriage.
The same thing happened again; the azure light was only able to withstand these streaks of golden light for a brief moment before being completely punctured, and the golden light continued onward, having barely been slowed down at all by the obstacles thrown at them.
The elderly man and the Daoits priest were truly petrified now.
The two of them rose into the air at the same time, abandoning the jade carriage beneath their feet as they fled through the air in different directions, one was an azure streak of light and the other as a white streak of light. In the blink of an eye, they were already over 100 feet away and had just barely managed to evade the small golden swords.
As the middle-aged Daoist priest hurtled into the distance, he patted one of the spirit beast pouches hanging from his waist, and a clear cry erupted from within as a snowy white bird around a foot in size emerged.
The bird had a pair of green eyes, a sharp crimson beak, and a pair of black talons.
The Daoist priest was feeling greatly reassured after summoning this bird, and he reached into his sleeve before producing a crimson badge. There was red light shimmering over the badge, and a dense bunch of runes could also be seen on its surface.
Before he had a chance to activate this badge, spatial fluctuations proliferated forth from the air above him, following which Han Li emerged from an arc of azure lightning.
He turned his gaze toward the Daoist priest down below and harrumphed coldly as brilliant blue eyes radiated from his eyes.
The Daoist priest was naturally greatly alarmed and immediately tried to activate the treasure in his hand. However, he suddenly felt as if his spiritual sense had been viciously pricked by a sharp object, and he was suddenly afflicted by a splitting headache. A cry of pain immediately escaped his mouth as blood began to trickle out from his ears and nostrils, and he almost dropped the badge in his hand in his agony.
Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to flick his five fingers in quick succession, sending five red threads flashing through the air. Meanwhile, green light flashed in his other hand and a green wooden ruler emerged, which he gently waved it toward the snowy white bird.
Crimson flames hurtled through the air, and threads punctured the middle-aged Daoist priest's body. The threads then wound themselves around him, transforming into five thick fiery ropes that rendered him completely immobile.
Only then did the Daoist priest return to his senses in the aftermath of his excruciating headache, and his face immediately turned deathly pale as he realized the desperate situation that he was in. He was completely unable to move, and he hurriedly summoned his spirit bird to come and rescue him using his spiritual sense, but it completely ignored his orders.
The Daoist priest was feeling extremely alarmed as he turned his attention toward the spirit bird, only to find that a silver lotus flower had appeared above its head.
Seven-colored Buddhist light was emanating from the lotus flower, enshrouding the spirit bird’s entire body and completely immobilizing it as well.
A wave of shock and fury surged through the Daoist priest's heart, and before he had a chance to think out of this dire situation, a gentle breeze swept over his head, and a streak of golden light came crashing down like lightning from above.
The Daoist priest could only cry out in despair before he was decapitated by the golden light.
Han Li's body reappeared amid the gust of wind, and he immediately raised both hands into the air at the same time. Loud thunderclaps rang out as a vast expanse of golden lightning arcs shot forth, interweaving with one another to form a golden net. The entire net was shimmering with golden light and creating a raucous commotion as it ensnared the Daoist priest's headless body.
Han Li then began to chant something, and scorching flames suddenly erupted from the ropes binding the Daoist priest's body. Bursts of crimson flames shot forth immediately thereafter, instantly reducing the body to a pile of ashes.
However, almost at the exact same moment, the Daoist priest's Nascent Soul emerged from the flames within a ball of white light. It was holding a white scepter in its hands, and was desperately attempting to flee into the distance.
However, it crashed headfirst into the golden lightning net, upon which it was rebounded amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps. Brilliant golden light then radiated forth as the golden net exploded violently, and the Nascent Soul was instantly reduced to nothingness amid the devastating explosion.
Only then did Han Li exhale gently as he turned toward another direction with a cold light in his eyes.
At this moment, the elderly man had already fled to over 400 feet away, and he had pulled out a pair of azure bowls from a storage pouch hanging from his waist. He hadn't even made up his mind about whether he wanted to attack Han Li yet, and the Daoist priest was already dead.
The elderly man's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, and he felt as if his entire body had been plunged into a glacial pit.
As Han Li swept his gaze toward the elderly man, the latter suddenly raised an arm, and a burst of azure light flashed as he used the sharp edge of one of his bowls to dismember one of his own arms.
The amputated arm exploded amid a loud thump, and the resulting blood mist enshrouded the elderly man's entire body as a bloodcurdling shriek rang out!
The blood around the elderly man's body transformed him into a faint crimson shadow, which hurtled rapidly into the distance. Following just a few flashes, the crimson shadow had already covered a distance of over 1,000 feet, and the speed of its movement was rather astonishing, even to Han Li.
Han Li's eyes narrowed and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face. During that split-second delay, the crimson shadow completely disappeared into the distance.
Han Li stroked his chin and shook his head as a slightly forlorn look appeared on his face.
It appeared that this man had mastered a movement technique similar to the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique. In that case, Han Li was reluctant to expend the time and effort required to chase him down. His top priority was to get to Heavenly Star City as quickly as possible, after all.
With that in mind, he turned his attention to the spirit bird, which was still trapped under the silver lotus flower conjured up by the Eight Spirit Ruler. He flicked a finger through the air, and a golden sword shot forth, instantly slicing the bird in half and putting an end to its life.
This was a spirit beast that had been nurtured by the Daoist priest's blood from birth, so there was no way for it to be tamed by anyone else. As such, Han Li naturally wasn't going to let it live.
After that, he transformed into a streak of azure light again as he flew directly toward Heavenly Star City.
On this occasion, he was flying at full speed, and it only took him around 10 minutes to pass through the Heavenly Windfire Formation's restriction.
Han Li's body faltered slightly as he broke through the formation, and he paused in his flight as he looked on at Heavenly Star City from afar.
There in the distance, the city's gargantuan walls had been enshrouded under a dense barrier of faint blue light. In the air above the light barrier, there were large swaths of red and azure light striking down upon it relentlessly. As the lights of different colors intertwined with one another, earthshattering thunderclaps rang out incessantly. Upon seeing this, Han Li no longer hesitated any longer as he resumed his journey toward the Heavenly Star City.
After just a few flashes, the azure streak of light had reached one of the city gates, but his progress was stalled by that blue light barrier.
The Star Palace cultivator behind the light barrier had naturally also caught sight of Han Li, and a loud whistle rang out as a dozen or so Star Palace cultivators of different heights appeared above the city wall, all of whom were appraising Han Li with grave and bewildered expressions.
The Starfall Coalition had set up the Heavenly Windfire Formation to prevent people from being able to escape from Heavenly Star City, yet Han Li had gone to all this trouble to break through the restriction and enter from the outside; that was simply inexplicable to them.
Even though Han Li was still extremely far away from the city, he could clearly see the expressions on the faces of the Star Palace cultivators through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.
As such, he wasted no time with words, flipping over his palm, instead, to produce the Star Palace guest elder badge he had received from Wen Qing over a century ago. He raised his hand, and the badge slowly flew toward the light barrier, where it remained hovering in mid-air.
The sight of this badge created quite a stir among the cultivators above the city gates. Several of the more powerful cultivators were appraising the badge with their brows furrowed tightly in confusion when one of them suddenly seemed to have come to an abrupt realization. An enlightened expression abruptly appeared on his face as he turned to his companions and said something.
Expressions of surprise immediately appeared on the faces of the other cultivators, and one of them hurriedly pulled out a flag before waving it several times toward the blue light barrier.
The light barrier swayed, and the badge flew into the barrier as a streak of yellow light. Following a few flashes, it emerged on the other side of the barrier as if it had passed through nothing but empty air.
Han Li looked on with an aloof expression as he hovered before the light barrier.
At this point, all of the cultivators above the city gates had seen the guest elder badge, and expressions of surprise and elation had appeared on all of their faces. One of them pointed at Han Li and said something before pulling a voice transmission talisman out from his storage pouch. He swept a hand through the air, and the talisman transformed into a streak of light as it flew into the city.
He then produced a treasure that resembled a formation plate, and point his finger at it a few times before asking, "Is that you, Senior Han? Please forgive us for our insolence; as you can see, we're in a time of crisis here, and none of us have ever met you in person before, so we can't allow you into the city. However, I've already sent a voice transmission talisman to our palace master, and she'll arrive here shortly."
The man's words completely disregarded the blue light barrier and traveled directly into Han Li's ears.
Han Li raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, but he merely nodded in response and waited with his hands clasped behind his back.
Not long after that, three streaks of light flew out rapidly from within the city before stopping atop the city gates.
The trio was comprised of two men and a woman, and the woman was standing at the center, indicating that she was the leader of the group. The woman was extremely gorgeous, and her facial features struck Han Li with a sense of familiarity.
It was none other than Ling Yuling after reverting back to her female appearance.
Accompanying her were a yellow-robed man who appeared to be in his thirties, as well as an elderly man with a head of white hair and a white beard. The three of them all had their eyes trained firmly on Han Li. The cultivators guarding the city gates all stood off to the side with respectful expressions, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
An elated expression illuminated Ling Yuling's beautiful features as she commanded, "It really is Fellow Daoist Han! I thought that he wouldn't be able to get here! Hurry up and let Brother Han into the city!"
"Palace Master, is that a good idea? Is that man really reliable? We'd be in big trouble if he turned out to be a Starfall Coalition cultivator in disguise," the yellow-robed cultivator dissuaded with a hesitant look on his face.
Ling Yuling shook her head firmly, and replied, "Don't worry, this guest elder badge is completely unique in this world, so there's no mistaking it. Furthermore, with his extraordinary powers, there's no one in the Scattered Star Seas who would be able to take the badge from him."
Upon hearing this, the yellow-robed cultivator could only nod in silence.
Thus, the cultivators guarding the city gates immediately sprang into action. All of them summoned either a formation flag or a formation plate before tossing them into the air in unison. Lights of various different colors appeared before the formation tools disappearing into the light barrier in front of the city gates.
