It was clear that the figures were a result of Han Li’s abilities.
Following that, black light flashed from the top of the giant’s head. Another azure figure flickered into space and silently swept down.
However, the giant already anticipated this and he raised his head, releasing an emerald green beam of light from his head.
The beam of light was as thick as a barrel and incredibly fast. As a result, the azure figure was unable to dodge and took the blow directly.
A miserable scream sounded, followed by the fall of the azure figure.
The giant sneered.
But then, purple light shined from behind the figure, radiating brightly. Another silhouette inconceivable appeared. It waved its sleeve and released hundreds of golden specks of light.
The newly-appeared silhouette was Han Li.
At such a close distance, even the giant immediately sensed the azure figure, but he was too late to stop it.
He only heard the sharp patter of rain as the golden specks all struck the back of the giant.
Enraged, the giant roared and a large green hand warped, arriving above Han Li’s head. It overbearingly swept down.
Han Li didn’t panic. He unfolded his wings, wanting to flicker into a void.
But then, the giant flicked two of his fingers with a cold snort. Their fingernails shot off in a tremble and disappeared in a blur.
A moment later, two green streaks pierced through Han Li’s wings at inconceivable speed. The sounds of thunder suddenly stopped.
In great alarm, Han Li thought of another way to dodge, but it was too late.
The giant’s hand radiated with green light and Han Li felt his surroundings grow tense as if it had turned to steel. Even with the immense power of his body, Han Li’s movements slowed and he found it difficult to escape.
In that delay, the giant green hand firmly grabbed him.
The green giant’s strength was absolutely no weaker than Han Li’s.
The giant sinisterly smiled at seeing his strike land true and revealed a violent expression.
Green light surged through his hand as he exerted strength in his hand, intending on crushing Han Li alive.
Han Li’s face largely changed and he suddenly muttered an incantation. Azure light continued to surge through his body, glaring from the giant’s hand. Then, his body seemed to become crushed as it turned into specks of light.
The spirit light condensed in a nearby space, creating an azure talisman. Suddenly, it swept off into the distance.
The giant looked at the display with surprise.
A hundred meters away, space fluctuated, followed by the flicker of Han Li’s appearance. Although he was somewhat pale, he quickly collected himself and summoned the azure talisman into his hand.
As he found himself in a moment of peril, he used the Spiritform Talisman’s ability to substitute himself, thus allowing him to escape calamity and displace himself a distance away.
After tempering the talisman for so many years, the Spiritform Talisman’s abilities were far greater than before.
At that moment, the giant spat out a beam of light at the silhouette, suddenly blurring as he approached the haggard Han Li.
However, despite Han Li’s ruined clothing and pale complexion, he turned to look at the giant with a sinister smile.
Astonishingly, this was a different “Han Li.”
The giant blinked and couldn't help but show his bewilderment.
The “Han Li” before him immediately lit up with black light and suddenly shrunk into a black-haired monkey that was only a half-foot tall.
It was the Weeping Soul Beast!
When Han Li launched his previous attack, he secretly released the Weeping Soul Beast and had it take his form.
The Silver Tier Wood Spirit had been too distracted to notice. With the protection of his illusions and the Weeping Soul Beast, he activated the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and was able to quietly escape.
Otherwise, with the Wood Spirit’s immense spiritual sense, Han Li truly wouldn’t have been able to fool the giant at such a close distance.
The green giant faintly sensed that something was amiss and recalled the golden specks that Han Li released from his sleeve. Then, his expression sank as he swiped at his back.
As one that was both person and tree, the wood spirit’s body was extremely hardy, but his body’s senses was dull. Originally, he didn’t believe that Han Li had a true method of harming him.
But after he swiped his hand behind him, his eyes lit up as he discovered several inch-large golden beetles laying in his palm.
“What is this?”
The huge giant was startled and soon he clenched his hand, but he unfolded it to discover the beetles were safe.
His face drastically changed.
When Han Li saw this from a distance, a fierce expression appeared on his face and he gave the beetles a command with his spiritual sense.
Suddenly, the giant’s back flared with golden light as half-foot-long golden beetles began to strangely appear. They crawled over half of the giant’s body and began wildly devouring it.
Han Li watched with an emotionless expression, but his heart stirred.
Although the Gold Devouring Beetles were said to have nothing they couldn't eat, that was only a record in the mortal realm. It was also recorded that wood and jade treasures could restrain them. The wood spirit tribe’s half-human half-tree fusion was truly bizarre. Although their bodies resembled huge trees, he wasn’t able to determine if they could be considered wood-type treasures.
As the experiment went on, the giant soon let out a scream of agony. He slapped at his back with all his might, but the beetles continued to fiercely consume him. He near-indestructible crystalline body was now being easily torn apart by the beetles.
With several hundred of these beetles gnawing away at the giant, the giant sensed the agony of being torn apart despite his dulled senses.
Han Li was overjoyed. After he waved his sleeve to collect the Weeping Soul Beast, his body lit up with azure light and he tore through the sky as an azure streak.
Although the Gold Devouring Beetles were enough to deal with the giant, he couldn’t deal with any of the giant’s full-powered attacks. It’d be best if he put distance between them.
“Gold Devouring Beetles! Fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles! You actually possessed such demonic insects!” The giant’s screams sounded as if it was having a most fearsome nightmare.
Soon after, the sounds of repeated explosions sounded and green lights instantly filled most of the sky.
Han Li didn’t turn around and continued his escape with all his speed. In the blink of an eye, he was over the horizon. After several more flickers, he was long gone.
A short moment later, a huge ball of light raised to the sky where the giant originally stood. It flew off past the sky in defeat. The faint silhouette of the badly damage giant could be seen within.
There was a cloud of golden insects closely pursuing it.
With one trailing after another, they flew off a different direction from Han Li.
Not long after, the golden beetle cloud buzzed as they circled and flew back. Not only did they return to their inch-large size, but beetles flew in unorganized disarray.
Fortunately, the Gold Devouring Beetles weren’t slow. They streaked past the air like bolts of lightning.
Five hundred kilometers away in an area with scattered rocks, Han Li sat cross-legged with a pale complexion. He was doing his utmost to command the beetles back to him.
He already consumed a truly significant portion of his spiritual sense.
When the beetles finally returned to him, he eventually lost control of his body as it trembled and fell. At that same time, he put his hands behind his head and let out a painful groan.
A quarter hour later, he was able to collect himself and sit back up.
Using the beetles had been extremely dangerous, resulting in nearly all his spiritual sense being wasted. But even so, his spiritual sense only suffered minor damage.
It seemed he wouldn’t be able to use the beetles for pursuit to prevent excessive drain.
Nevertheless, if he hadn’t pursued the wood spirit with the Gold Devouring Beetles, the wood spirit would have discovered something amiss and wouldn’t have given up so easily.
Now, the Silver Tier Wood Spirit suffered much damage from the Gold Devouring Beetles. Even if he was braver, he wouldn’t dare to continue tangling with Han Li.
Han Li stroked the Spirit Beast Ring underneath his sleeves and let out a long breath.
In a secret forest myriad kilometers away, the Silver Tier Wood Spirit Mu Rui was sitting underneath a huge tree in his giant form. One of his arms and nearly half of his body had disappeared, but countless green specks of light flew out from the forest and wildly rushed into his body.
The giant’s missing body parts regrew at a visible speed.
In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the specks of light ceased and the giant’s body was completely restored. But when he opened his eyes, they now appeared exceptionally dim.
He held his hands in an incantation gesture and the giant’s body spat out a hollow phantom. It then blurred and condensed into a pale green-skinned wood spirit.
The giant then flashed with light and scattered away, turning into a huge tree.
After the wood spirit returned to its original form, he glanced in the direction where he fought with Han Li.
“How very troublesome. This person possesses hundreds of Gold Devouring Beetles. If I were in peak condition, I could take the risk of killing him and have the beetles lose control.
But after receiving two heavy injuries in succession, I suffered too much damage to my spirit tree. If I encounter those beetles again, I might truly die. It appears that I have no choice but to give up pursuit.” After his expression wavered while in thought, he eventually shook his head and came to a decision.
He turned into a ball of silver light and soared back in the direction of Black Leaves Forest.
Not long after, Han Li restored a portion of his spiritual sense in another area. Not daring to stay in the area any longer, he suppressed his migraine and tore through the sky in an azure streak.
He was heading in the direction of the Southern Skyline.
Two months later, Han Li arrived above a barren plateau. Soon after, he sought out a small earthy mountain in a remote place and burrowed into it with a yellow flash.
In the heart of the mountain, he easily dug out a hidden room thirty-meters-wide and put it into order. Then, he drank several medicine pills and sat down cross-legged.
A month later, Han Li opened his eyes, revealing their recovered spirit. His spirit, mind, and body made a full recovery.
