The result of the clash was much the same as Han Li had expected; as soon as the two Spatial Tempering Stage puppets sprang into action, the armored warriors and giant falcons were completely no match. They were either sliced into several segments or plummeted from the sky amid howls of anguish with raging flames incinerating their bodies.
However, the Jiao Chi beings seemed to have anticipated that this would happen in advance, so they weren't all that unsettled. Instead, many of the armored warriors suddenly patted something on their waists, and swathes of five-colored light were sent surging toward the long-haired foreign being.
Before they had even gotten close to the foreign being, the five-colored light transformed into a series of large nets that hurtled toward him.
It appeared that the Jiao Chi beings were trying to capture the foreign being alive.
Han Li was quite surprised to see this.
Right at this moment, the foreign being let loose a cold harrumph before suddenly stomping down on the flying ark underfoot. The ark immediately flashed with yellow light, following which a dense yellow light barrier appeared. The foreign being then made a hand seal, and a layer of white lightning arcs instantly surfaced over the light barrier.
As soon as those large nets descended, they were blasted into balls of spiritual light by the flashing arcs of lightning.
Before the armored warriors had a chance to employ any other tactics, the long-haired foreign being flipped both of his hands over to summon a pair of shimmering golden treasures that resembled round shields, then tossed them up into the air.
The two treasures shot forth amid a loud whistling sound, and all of the surrounding armored beings appraised the pair of treasures with alarm and wariness in their eyes.
However, the two golden treasures merely circled around in the air before whizzing back to the foreign being, much to the bemusement of all of the surrounding Jiao Chi beings.
Following a dull thump, the two shields crashed into the foreign being's body, upon which both of them began to emit a ball of piercing golden light.
Immediately thereafter, the foreign being completely disappeared, but a large golden ball with a diameter of around 10 feet had appeared in his place.
The ball was shimmering with golden light, looking as if it had been constructed from pure gold. Furthermore, there were all types of runes carved all over its surface, striking the onlooker with a sense of mystery and intrigue.
A string of peculiar screeching sounds rang out from the golden ball, following which countless sharp blades that were each around a foot in length appeared all over its surface. The ball then hurtled into ht crowd, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.
The sharp blades on the surface of the golden ball didn't look to be anything special, but all of the armored warriors that came into contact with them were sliced into several pieces without being able to offer up any resistance.
All of the attacks that were launched toward the golden ball were also repelled by its high rotational speed.
In the blink of an eye, the golden ball had joined the horse puppet as they flew toward the same direction together.
As for the seven-headed lion puppet, it was following close behind them with fireballs continuing to surge relentlessly out of its mouths. Most of the fireballs were aimed up at the giant falcons that were flying at higher altitudes, thereby preventing them from attempting to swoop down from above.
The three combined to form a lethal trio.
Close to 100 armored warriors and giant falcons were slain in an instant, and the trio was just about to escape.
All of a sudden, one of the Deity Transformation Stage Jiao Chi beings let loose a loud cry, and the armored warriors around the foreign being and his puppets suddenly backed away, retreating in all directions.
The twin-headed giant falcons up above also dispersed, thereby creating a large area of empty space around the golden ball and the two puppets, with a radius of close to 1,000 feet.
The foreign being within the golden ball faltered upon seeing this.
Right at this moment, the two battle arks in the sky finally sprang into action.
The hundreds of crystalline pillars on the undersides of the battle arks lit up in unison, following which white pillars of light came raining down from above.
The white light completely encompassed the area of open space that had just appeared, and a string of deafening explosions rang out in rapid succession.
The golden ball and both of the puppets were instantly inundated by this white light.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the armored warriors and giant falcons surrounded their target once again, reorganizing their formation during this period of respite.
The attacks from the two battle arks quickly subsided, and the white light gradually faded.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze up above to discover that a shimmering blue giant umbrella with a radius of over 100 feet had appeared.
Beneath the giant umbrella, the upper half of the foreign being's body was protruding out of the massive golden ball, and his brows were tightly furrowed in a concerned expression as he quickly assessed his surroundings.
Meanwhile, his two puppets had also remained completely unscathed.
On this occasion, the foreign being didn't seem to want to delay any further.
He let loose a low cry before raising a hand and waving it up into the air.
The giant umbrella above him immediately shrank at a rapid rate amid a flash of spiritual light, dwindling down to several inches in size before landing in his grasp. He then twisted around, and his upper body disappeared back into the golden ball.
At the same time, the two puppets flew through the air again, and another fierce battle ensued.
This battle was quite similar to the last one; the armored warriors and giant falcons were still no match for their opponents, and within moments, almost half of them had perished.
Just as the foreign being was about to escape again, the lion puppet suddenly ceased its fireball output. Red light flashed from its body several times in quick succession, following which all seven of its heads drooped, and it fell completely stationary on the spot.
The armored warriors nearby initially faltered upon seeing this before being greatly spurred on by this development.
A few of them instantly raised their hands, and five-colored light surged through the air, forming several large nets that completely ensnared the lion puppet.
The armored warriors dragged the nets toward them, and the lion puppet was forcibly captured.
Without the fireball output from the lion puppet, the giant falcons up above no longer had any qualms as they flapped their wings violently and swooped down at an alarming rate.
Large blades of wind came hurtling down from above, and as they struck the golden ball, the golden light emanating from its surface tremored, and its rotational speed was hampered drastically.
Thus, the foreign being was surrounded again, and he was in a far worse situation than before.
To further compound his woes, the horse puppet also ceased to function for some reason a short while later, and it was also captured by the Jiao Chi beings.
Thus, the golden ball was the only target left, and despite its astonishing defensive prowess, it was struggling to hold on in the face of all of the attacks being thrown at it.
Han Li heaved a faint sight upon seeing this.
The foreign being was able to manipulate these puppets that were far more powerful than himself and last so long against such a vast number of opponents, clearly indicating that he was no ordinary being.
However, under the current circumstances, it appeared that it would only be a matter of time before he was captured.
He didn't know why the Jiao Chi beings seemed to be intent on capturing the foreign being alive, but there was no need to expose himself and draw potential trouble. Thus, he turned away and prepared to leave.
However, right at this moment, the foreign being's voice suddenly rang out from within the golden ball.
"Senior, I am Jia Tianmu of the Myriad Ancient Race! If you can help me escape, I'm willing to reward you with a sentient puppet once we return to the Myriad Ancient Race!"
The foreign being hadn't employed any voice transmission techniques. Instead, he'd injected some of his spiritual power into his voice, making it clearly audible to everyone within a radius of several kilometers!
Han Li initially faltered upon hearing this before being struck by the urge to cuss out loud.
He didn't know how the foreign being had been able to detect his presence, but he definitely didn't have any good intentions by exposing him like this.
As expected, one of the leaders of the Jiao Chi beings instantly waved a hand upon hearing this, and a few armored warriors as well as a dozen or so giant falcons were instantly deployed toward the small mountain where Han Li was hiding.
These beings were somehow able to ascertain his rough location, but they were clearly unable to pinpoint exactly where he was, as evidenced by the fact that they were flying around the small mountain in a rather confused manner.
Han Li's lips twitched, but he wasn't fearful of this development in the slightest.
These Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons were far too weak to pose any threat to him, so the only potentially troublesome opponents would be those two battle arks.
Even so, he was naturally enraged by the fact that the foreign being had forcibly exposed him like this.
Thus, a cold look appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of inch-long flying swords shot froth from within.
These flying swords then transformed into azure threads before disappearing into space in a flash.
In the next instant, several azure threads appeared close to the Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons up above. Following a flash of azure light, all of those beings were sliced into several segments, and their dismembered remains came crashing down amid a rain of blood.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared beneath the large tree that he'd been hiding under, and a loud thunderclap rang out behind him as a pair of wings emerged on his back.
He flapped those wings and disappeared on the spot amid a gentle breeze.
In the next instant, a thunderclap rang out right at the center of the Jiao Chi beings, and Han Li reappeared amid a flash of azure and white lightning.
He made a hand seal, and 72 azure threads erupted from all parts of his body. These azure threads then blurred before multiplying at a rapid rate.
In the blink of an eye, azure light was flashing throughout the entire sky, and howls of anguish rang out in quick succession as all of the armored warriors and giant falcons in the area were felled in just the span of a few breaths.
No one was able to withstand Han Li's sword threads.
Within mere moments, all of the enemies around Han Li had been slain.
Only then did the surrounding Jiao Chi beings return to their senses, and all of them reflexively retreated even further with alarmed expressions on their faces.
However, Han Li had no intention of stopping here. He swept a sleeve through the air, and two black shadows instantly shot forth from within.
Golden and black lights flashed, following which a small leopard-like beast and a small black monkey that was around a foot tall appeared.
"Kill them all; don't let anyone leave alive!" Han Li commanded with a cold expression on his face.
