In the next instant, black light flashed several tens of feet in front of Han Li, and the black spear abruptly reappeared before hurtling toward him as a streak of black light.
However, Han Li reacted extremely quickly, and almost in the exact same instant that he black spear appeared, he opened his mouth to blast forth a golden arc of lightning that struck the spear with unerring accuracy.
He didn't know what kind of abilities the spear possessed, but from the faint odor of blood and gore emanating from it, he could deduce that this was most likely an evil weapon, so his Divine Devilbane Lightning would provide the perfect counter.
However, the scenes that unfolded next had Han Li feeling quite astonished. Spiritual light suddenly flashed from the black spear, and it passed through the arc of lighting in a flash as a faint shadow. The golden arc of lightning struck empty space and wasn't able to slow down the spear in the slightest.
The spear was already extremely close to Han Li, and he had just been caught off guard by this sudden development, so even though he was far more powerful than the average cultivator of his caliber, there was no way for him to evade in time.
Thus, the black spear struck his body amid a dull thump before exploding into a ball of black light.
Han Li was forced back a single step by the enormous impact, but his body remained completely unscathed.
The black light released in the wake of the spear's explosion resembled sinister infernal light straight from the depths of hell, but it was kept at bay by a suit of black armor that emerged from Han Li's body in a flash.
This was an attack that would've definitely killed a normal cultivator of his caliber, but it was kept at bay with relative ease by the suit of devilish armor.
Han Li and the young man's expressions both changed in unison.
Han Li was naturally quite stunned that his opponent's attack had been able to disregard even his Divine Devilbane Lightning. If it weren't for the Heavenly Devilish Armor's reflexive reaction to protect its wearer, that attack could've spelled a lot of trouble for him.
Meanwhile, the young man was stunned that the Yin Spirit Spear that had earned him quick victories on so many occasions in the past had failed in this instance. He had already slain countless opponents with this weapon, and close to half of them were beings of the same cultivation base as him.
A peculiar light flashed through his eyes, and he began to appraise Han Li's suit of black armor with an intense gaze.
Even though this was the first time he had seen this suit of devilish armor, it was quite clear from its sinister design and the black runes emanating from it that this was no ordinary suit of armor. As such, he was becoming quite excited.
"Good! You've got a nice suit of armor there; I'll be taking it for myself," the young man proclaimed in a cold voice.
Han Li was naturally quite enraged to hear this, but his expression remained calm as he said, "Is that so? Come and take it if you have what it takes!"
The golden-horned young man flipped a hand over, and a silver ruler suddenly appeared in his grasp. As soon as the ruler appeared, it released an enormous burst of spiritual pressure, and Han Li's heart jolted slightly at the sight of it.
Through the inspection of his spirit eye ability, he could see that the ruler was filled with dense runes, all of which were beveled silver runes.
He immediately let loose a low cry and made a hand seal, upon which countless specks of azure light appeared out of the nearby space. The specks of light then expanded in a frenzy to form palm-sized azure lotus flowers.
Han Li had activated his Spring Dawn Sword Formation in an instant, and immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a white figure, which circled around in the air before revealing itself to be a translucent giant python that was over 100 feet in length.
The giant python pounced forward and wrapped its own body around the severely ravaged six-pawed lizard, which had just emerged from the golden light. The giant python then opened its mouth before attempting to sink its fangs into the lizard beast's body, and the six-pawed lizard immediately retaliated in an alarmed and enraged manner.
Han Li wasn't worried about his sentient puppet in the slightest. He had already examined that lizard beast and ascertained that it was only at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage. Even though Doll was only at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, it possessed a pair of ice-attribute treasures that greatly enhanced its powers, so it certainly wouldn't be much weaker than the opponent.
Furthermore, it possessed the body of a puppet, which gave it a distinct advantage in battle as its combat prowess wouldn't be hampered at all unless it sustained fatal damage.
With his puppet taking care of the lizard beast in his stead, he was able to focus his attention entirely on the young man within his sword formation.
At this moment, the young man had already brandished the silver ruler and was inspecting the azure lotus flowers around him with a disdainful expression.
He flicked his wrist and the silver ruler released a loud ringing sound before manifesting a series of ruler projections that appeared to be quite profound.
Han Li's eyelids twitched, and he immediately activated the sword formation. All of the azure lotus flowers revolved on the spot before swelling to several times their original size, then combining as one to form an azure light barrier.
The young man could only sense his surroundings blur, following which he found himself on a vibrant green grassland after a flash of azure light.
Delicate blades of grass that were no more than several inches tall laid all around him, interspersed with wild flowers of all different colors. There were birds chirping in the surrounding area, and this was an extremely relaxing setting that instantly struck him with a sense of drowsiness.
"This is an illusionary technique!"
The sleepy look in the young man's eyes faded in a flash, and he immediately came to his senses as a dark expression appeared on his face.
He abruptly swept his silver ruler through the air, and countless ruler projections flew forth in a flash, then abruptly converged to form a massive ruler that was several tens of feet in length. The ruler let loose a dragon's roar, and the sound of howling winds and rumbling thunderclaps also abruptly rang out.
The space in the wake of the silver ruler warped and twisted violently as if it were about to be torn apart, and the surrounding area shattered into countless fragments like an azure mirror.
However, the surroundings then blurred, and the young man found himself in a dense forest next.
All of the surrounding trees were extremely tall and lush, and their canopies virtually obscured the entire sky.
Earth-shattering tremors suddenly ran through the ground, and all of the surrounding trees were suddenly felled, crashing down toward the young man as countless thick azure logs.
"Hmph, you're trying to use this illusionary technique on me a second time? How insolent!" A sinister look appeared on the young man's face as he swept his silver ruler through the air, releasing countless ruler projections once again. All of the azure logs that came into contact with the silver ruler instantly vanished as specks of spiritual light, and it seemed that this silver ruler's abilities were a direct counter to illusionary techniques.
Silver light flashed, and the countless ruler projections converged once again to form a giant silver ruler before crashing directly toward one face of the azure light barrier.
The scenes that unfolded next made Han Li's pupils contract drastically.
In the instant before the silver ruler struck the azure light barrier, scintillating light erupted from it, making it almost impossible to look directly at it. Using this sharp light as a smokescreen, the silver ruler suddenly split into two. A silver ruler projection that was identical to the original treasure was left in its place while the ruler itself blurred before vanishing into thin air.
Thankfully, Han Li had been quite wary of this Jiao Chi being and constantly had his spirit eye ability activated. Otherwise, he would've most likely been fooled by that switcheroo.
The silver ruler projection struck the azure light barrier amid what appeared to be an extremely violent clash, but at the same time, a burst of virtually undetectable spatial fluctuations erupted several tens of feet above Han Li's head. Immediately thereafter, the silver ruler appeared out of thin air before instantly sweeping downward in a completely silent and stealthy manner.
In the blink of an eye, the ruler was no more than several inches above Han Li, and after one final flash, enormous spiritual pressure erupted from it as it came crashing down without making any further attempt to disguise itself.
Brilliant silver light erupted from the ruler, and right at that moment, golden light suddenly radiated from the top of Han Li's head, following which a golden palm that was riddled with purple runes emerged out of thin air.
The golden hand then reached out like lightning and caught the silver ruler in a flash. The ruler shuddered and began to emit a shrill shrieking sound.
Silver and purplish-golden light intertwined to result in an earth-shattering explosion, and shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye erupted from the epicenter of the explosion before surging toward all directions.
The silver ruler was enveloped within a dense layer of silver light, extending and retracting in an unpredictable manner in an attempt to free itself. However, the fingers of the golden hand were like inescapable hooks, and even though they were being kept at bay by the spiritual light being released by the silver ruler, they were slowly closing in inch by inch.
The young man in the sword formation was somehow able to see Han Li through the illusionary technique of the sword formation, and a stunned and furious expression appeared on his face.
He immediately let loose a low cry before making a hand seal, then pointed a finger directly toward the silver ruler.
A loud thunderclap rang out, and arcs of lightning erupted from the silver ruler to strike the golden hand.
However, the hand was like an impregnable fortress, and it only shuddered slightly in the face of the ferocious lightning strikes.
A disdainful smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air.
Bright golden light erupted forth, and a purplish-golden figure that was around 20 feet tall appeared. The figure had three heads, all of which were completely expressionless, as well as six arms.
This was none other than Han Li's golden body projection, and not only was it riddled with purple runes in its current form, even the spiritual light that it was releasing had turned into a purplish-golden color.
The golden hand that had latched onto the silver ruler was none other than one of the projection's six hands.
Two of its three heads lowered in unison before opening their mouths to blast forth two bursts of golden light, which swept away the silver arcs of lightning being released by the ruler.
The hand quickly took advantage of this opportunity to clamp its fingers around the ruler, and the silver light barrier surrounding the treasure was instantly shattered, thereby allowing the hand to truly close itself around the silver ruler.
One of the golden body's other hands then also shot forth like lightning, and it rubbed its two hands together with the silver ruler between its palms. The ruler immediately let loose an anguished wail, and the silver light it was releasing instantly dimmed significantly.
One of the golden body's heads then opened its mouth to expel a burst of golden light, which drew the silver ruler into its stomach. Everything had taken place in the blink of an eye, and by the time the golden-horned young man had processed what had just happened, he had already lost his spiritual connection with his precious treasure.
He was naturally greatly alarmed and infuriated by this development.
