When all of the fiery clouds in the surrounding area finally disappeared, Ju Chu had transformed into what appeared to be a massive chunk of crimson searing iron. Its entire body was semi-transparent and emanating piercing fiery light while it hung in mid-air like a scorching crimson sun.
The sweltering temperatures emanating from its body made the entire area in a radius of several kilometers feel like a scorching furnace, and at such close proximity, the temperatures around Han Li were even more staggering.
Even the air was beginning to sizzle as his surroundings blurred and warped.
Most low-grade and mid-grade cultivators would most likely have been incinerated into nothingness by these scorching temperatures already, and even their souls would've been burned to ashes. However, Han Li merely furrowed his brows in response to his current environment before laying a hand onto the top of his own head.
A layer of silver flames instantly erupted from the top of his head, surging toward his feet and enveloping his entire body.
The scorching temperatures in the surrounding area surged into the silver flames as if it were a magnet for heat, and the area in a radius of over 100 feet around Han Li became cool and refreshing again.
Han Li stood on the spot with his arms crossed, appraising the giant crimson toad up ahead in an unblinking manner with an extremely calm look on his face.
However, in reality, he wasn't feeling as tranquil and confident as he looked.
Fire-attribute spiritual power possessed some properties that made it quite potent against devilish powers, so it was extremely rare to see a devilish beast with a pure fire-attribute ability, let alone a high-grade devilish beast that had honed its mastery of fire-attribute spiritual power to such an astonishing degree.
Even so, such an ability alone wasn't anywhere near enough to threaten him.
With that in mind, Han Li gave a cold chuckle internally, then suddenly rubbed his hands together before bringing them apart again.
A loud rumbling boom rang out as a layer of arcs of golden lightning appeared around his body. These arcs of lightning gradually became thicker, and they proliferated around him in all directions in a frenzy.
Thus, a massive spherical net of lighting was formed with Han Li at its very center.
At the same time, Han Li flipped both of his hands so that his palms were facing upward, and a series of runes that were shimmering with golden light erupted from his palms, then disappeared into the net of lightning in the surrounding area.
An astonishing scene then ensued. In the instant that the runes vanished into the arc of lighting, the latter suddenly shattered amid explosions of golden light, then fused together again in a flash.
Thus, a golden halo with a diameter of several tens of feet was constructed in an instant, and Han Li's body was rather blurry and indistinct as he stood at the center of the halo. He then began to chant some kind of incantation, and the halo revolved around him as the runes in the surrounding area began to emit a ringing sound that quickly became quite piercing and unpleasant to the ears.
A loud thunderclap rang out as Han Li's body was revealed, and he made a hand seal with one hand while a shimmering golden ball hovered around a foot above the palm of his other hand.
The ball was completely dull and lusterless as if it were some kind of ordinary treasure.
However, Ju Chu immediately identified what it was as it exclaimed, "That's the Divine Devilbane Lightning's Lightningwield Technique!"
Han Li chuckled coldly as he moved the five fingers of the hand that was situated beneath the golden ball, and the ball immediately began ot rotate as if Han Li were about to unleash at any moment.
Ju Chu was planning to gather more energy in order to prepare an extremely powerful secret technique, but its expression changed drastically upon seeing. It could only abandon its original plants as it rushed through the air, sweeping downward as a pillar of scorching flames.
Han Li's lips twitched upon seeing this, and the golden ball in his hand disappeared in a flash. He then suddenly rushed back in retreat, and brilliant azure light erupted as azure lotus flowers suddenly appeared out of thin air.
Han Li stepped back onto one of the lotus flowers in a seemingly casual manner and abruptly vanished.
The pillar of flames struck the azure lotus flower with a resounding boom, only for the latter to be completely destroyed without offering any resistance, yet the crimson flames continued onward, disappearing into the azure like a sandcastle in the rising tide.
The pillar of flames exploded to form a sea of fire that was around an acre in area, and the massive toad reappeared amid a flash of red light. Its eyes were still tightly shut, but the grey bead on its glabella was appraising the specks of azure light up ahead, seemingly in an astonished manner. All of a sudden, Han Li's voice rang out from the surrounding space.
"Seeing as you're here, you won't be leaving anytime soon. Have a good taste of my Spring Dawn Sword Projection!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, spiritual light flashed in the surrounding air in a radius of over 1,000 feet, and an azure light barrier appeared, encompassing the entire sea of flames within.
Ju Chu had already sensed that something was amiss, and it immediately let loose a thunderous roar upon seeing this, blasting a red pillar of light out of its mouth.
The pillar of light struck the azure light barrier and easily punctured through the barrier, but it then disappeared without a trace.
Grey light swirled within the bead on Ju Chu's glabella upon seeing this, and it raised one of its front limbs before swiping it through the air from afar.
A resounding boom rang out as vast expanse of red light swept forth from its front limb. The light then formed a massive crimson webbed foot that crashed into the light barrier with ferocious might.
The projection was immensely powerful, leaving several streaks of red light in its wake before tearing through a large section of the azure light barrier.
However, a vast expanse of inky darkness lay beyond the light barrier, and it seemed to stretch for an unfathomable distance.
Ju Chu immediately unleashed a few more projections toward the same spot without any hesitation, and brilliant azure light suddenly erupted as countless azure lotus flowers suddenly appeared up ahead.
In just a few flashes, these lotus flowers had taken up the entire space, and the red projections instantly sank into them as if they'd vanished into quicksand.
A shocked expression on Ju Chu's face upon seeing this, and its crimson front limb instantly swelled to several times its original size, then abruptly split open amid a burst of buzzing.
A shimmering red halo then appeared before proliferating outward in a frenzy, instantly expanding to over 100 feet in size as resounding booms akin to rumbling thunderclaps rang out.
All of the azure lotus flowers that came into contact with this halo were instantly reduced to nothingness.
Thus, the red halo continued onward, looking as if it were going to destroy all of the azure lotus flowers in the area.
However, right at this moment, silver flames suddenly flashed in the air above the red halo, following which a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size appeared. The Fire Raven spread its wings before diving headfirst into the red halo, and the entire halo tremored as a strange crackling noise rang out from its very center.
Immediately thereafter, the red halo began to shrink at an alarming rate, reverting back to just several feet in size in mere moments. In the end, all of the red light faded, upon which the silver Fire Raven reappeared.
After devouring the final wisp of residual red light in the air, the Fire Raven raised its head and let loose a triumphant cry, then immediately disintegrated into specks of silver flames amid a dull thump.
Ju Chu was furious upon seeing this, and it let loose a low roar before abruptly flapping its inky-black wings.
All of a sudden, gusts of black devilish winds were swept up in the nearby area, and the fierce winds began to revolve around the giant toad. Within the span of just a few breaths, the gusts of wind had become extremely fierce and violent.
At the same time, Ju Chu began to chant something, and flames erupted all over its massive body.
The flames were fanned by the gale-force winds, combining as one to form an incredible pillar of black winds and red flames that erupted into the heavens.
That wasn't the end, either. After the giant toad ceased its chanting, it abruptly opened its mouth to blast forth a purple flying sword.
The flying sword swayed before transforming into countless thin palm-sized blades that disappeared into the pillar of fire and wind in a flash.
Immediately thereafter, a sharp ringing sound rang out from within the black and red pillar, and countless streaks of purple light suddenly appeared on its surface. These streaks of light then rapidly expanded, and it seemed as if the pillar of wind and fire was growing thicker by the second!
Meanwhile, Han Li was standing outside the Spring Dawn Sword Formation while making a hand seal with one hand, and countless specks of five-colored light were converging from all directions. These specks of light then surged into the azure light barrier in a frenzy, and five-colored light formed by the world's origin Qi seemed to stretch for as far as the eyes could see in all directions.
Han Li had drawn all of the world's origin Qi in the nearby area to the best of his abilities toward this location, and at this moment, a cold light flashed through his eyes as he made another hand seal.
A peculiar scene immediately ensued within the sword formation.
The light barrier in the air above blurred slightly before a vine-like plant suddenly sprouted from it in an upside-down manner.
When it first appeared, the plant was only several inches in size, but it swelled drastically to around 10 feet in length in just a few moments. Furthermore, it was quickly growing flowers and bearing fruit, materializing a vibrant green gourd in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
Right at this moment, countless azure lotus flowers were manifested from the surrounding light barrier, and all of these flowers blossomed in unison before blasting forth sword projections that were each around an inch in length into the gourd.
As the sword projections vanished into the gourd in an abundant stream, an extremely faint azure sword insignia suddenly appeared on the surface of the gourd. However, as the vast influx of five-colored light continued to inject itself into the light barrier, then into the gourd along the vine that it was hanging from, the sword insignia became clearer and clearer while flashing with five-colored light.
This was none other than the trump card ability that Han Li was able to unleash using the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, the Origin Qi Sword.
Only after gathering a vast amount of the world's origin Qi could he just barely unleash this powerful ability, and that was why he hadn't used any of the sword formation's illusionary techniques in the sword formation, choosing instead to focus wholeheartedly on gathering the world's origin Qi.
He was already prepared for the possibility that his opponent would take some of the world's origin Qi gathered to be used in its attacks, but much to his surprise, the giant toad merely focused on preparing its own abilities without paying any heed to the world's origin Qi that he was gathering.
As such, the Origin Qi Sword was manifested in an extremely smooth fashion, and the uninterrupted influx of the world's origin Qi ensured that it would grow at a rapid rate.
At this moment, Ju Chu had also sensed the abundance of the world's origin Qi outside the sword formation, and it was stunned by the scenes unfolding before its eyes.
However, it had also taken advantage of this opportunity to finish preparing its own secret technique. As such, it suddenly let loose a low cry before pointing up into the air.
However, right at this moment, Han Li's voice suddenly rang out within the sword formation, and he only uttered a single word.
"Slash!"
The gourd tipped itself over, and light swirled from its opening as a sword of light erupted from within in a flash.
The sword was around a foot in length, and it was shimmering with five-colored spiritual light.
