Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.
Not only was the Five-colored Divine Light that Shopkeeper Yu had released extremely powerful, now that he had fused as one with the peacock projection, his cultivation base had risen by two ranks.
This was simply astounding!
It appeared that this was why he had been able to remain so calm in the face of Han Li. If a normal mid-Body Integration cultivator were to encounter something like this, even self-preservation would become an issue, let alone killing Shopkeeper Yu.
However, despite his astonishment, Han Li wasn't fearful in the slightest.
Seeing as Shopkeeper Yu had displayed his trump card, he was naturally determined to kill Han Li, so even if Han Li were to propose a truce now, it would most definitely be rejected.
"I'm impressed! It seems that I also have to pull some tricks out of my sleeve to match you, Fellow Daoist!"
A cold voice rang out as Han Li's peacock body was suddenly enveloped by a ball of golden light. Immediately thereafter, another enormous creature appeared in the place of the peacock following a flash of dazzling golden light.
This was a giant golden ape with shimmering golden fur, and a pair of massive bright and piercing eyes.
In the face of this fearsome opponent, Han Li had transformed into the Giant Mountain Ape, which was his most powerful form among the 12 Awakening Transformations.
In this giant ape form, he had reached over 1,000 feet in height, and his limbs were like gargantuan pillars. He spread his hands open, and they resembled enormous canopies as they were swung viciously toward the Five-colored Peacock down below.
A pair of explosions rang out in succession, and the two giant palms crashed down with mountainous force.
Shopkeeper Yu was naturally quite stunned by this, and Five-colored Divine Light immediately swirled around him, forming a light barrier that stood in the way of the giant palms.
Five-colored Divine Light was extremely profound, and under normal circumstances, it should've been able to easily nullify a brute force attack such as this one. However, the enormous strength of the Giant Mountain Ape was one of the ape's innate abilities to begin with, and it was far more tremendous than Shopkeeper Yu could imagine.
Following a pair of resounding booms, the five-colored light barrier tremored violently before two sections of it began to cave in in unison. Following a few violent flashes of light, the barrier began to crumble.
Shopkeeper Yu was quite startled by this, but he naturally wasn't going to just remain on the spot like a sitting duck, so he immediately flapped his wings without any hesitation.
Five-colored runes instantly flashed around his giant peacock body, following which he instantly vanished on the spot.
Blue light flashed through the giant golden ape's eyes upon seeing this, and it abruptly stomped down with both of its massive feet before also disappearing into thin air.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted several thousand feet away, and the peacock re-emerged.
However, almost at the exact same moment, golden light flashed above it, and the giant ape also strode out of thin air before immediately sending both of its massive fists crashing downward in a vicious manner.
Countless fist projections immediately appeared before raining down upon the Five-colored Peacock in a torrential downpour. The golden shockwaves released by the fist projections colored the surrounding space a golden color, and at the same time, the space between the two giant beasts began to warp and tremor violently, as if it were on the brink of being torn apart.
The Five-colored Peacock was extremely huge in stature, but it was able to react extraordinarily quickly. After letting loose a clear cry, five-colored spiritual light revolved around its body before forming countless vibrant light shields, each of which was only around a foot in size. These shields stacked on top of one another to protect the giant peacock, and the seemingly unstoppable golden fist projections were only able to shatter less than half of the shields before they fizzled out of existence.
Immediately thereafter, the Five-colored Peacock let loose another sharp cry, and the remaining light shields transformed into countless five-colored flying swords, all of which appeared to be extremely sharp.
As soon as these flying swords took shape, they immediately shot forth as streaks of sword Qi toward the giant ape, and it seemed that the ape was in severe peril.
A hint of fury appeared on the massive ape's face at the sight of its fist projections being thwarted, and its rage was only fueled even further by the sight of the oncoming wave of five-colored sword Qi. It thumped its chest violently as it let loose a thunderous roar of fury, and with each thump of its chest, a metallic sound would ring out, while the golden light around its body became brighter and more pronounced.
After three consecutive thumps, the giant ape's fur had all stood up on end like the spikes of a porcupine, and three layers of golden light had also been released from its body.
Not only were these three layers of light extremely dense, there were countless golden runes distributed throughout their surfaces, creating quite a mystifying sight to behold.
This was a powerful protective ability that Han Li had learned after reaching the mid-body Integration Stage. It could only be unleashed when he was in his Giant Mountain Ape form, and it was no less powerful than legendary Buddhist secret technique, Vajra Circle.
As soon as the three layers of golden light took shape, they were assaulted by the streaks of five-colored sword Qi.
The golden light barriers immediately glowed even brighter, releasing scintillating light while also emitting bursts of buzzing sounds.
The flying swords formed by the Five-colored Divine Light were truly extraordinary; they were leaving long white trails in the space left in their wake, and upon reaching the golden light barriers, they were destroying the golden runes within the barriers at a rapid rate.
Even though most of the sword Qi was nullified by the light barriers, there were still over 100 streaks of five-colored sword Qi that crashed through and slashed viciously into the giant ape's body.
However, the scenes that unfolded next had the Five-colored Peacock completely flabbergasted.
Another layer of golden light appeared over the giant golden ape's body, and it seemed to be an indestructible fortress, repelling or destroying all of the streaks of sword Qi that struck it.
As a result, the giant ape remained completely unscathed, and it harrumphed coldly before swinging its furry arms through the air. All of a sudden, a small section of its arms vanished, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on either side of the Five-colored Peacock.
Immediately thereafter, two huge golden hands reached out of thin air before grabbing toward the peacock's wings like lightning.
The giant peacock's heart jolted upon seeing this, but it wasn't panicked in the slightest as it also let loose a cold harrumph. It flapped its gigantic wings, which then transformed into a pair of five-colored giant blades amid a flash of spiritual light. The surfaces of the two blades were extremely bright, and they resembled peerlessly sharp divine weapons as they viciously lashed out toward the two giant golden hands in retaliation.
The two hands seemed to be completely unfazed by the massive blades, and they balled up into tight fists before striking the giant blades in a flash.
Two resounding booms instantly rang out, and two balls of piercing light erupted as the giant blades clashed with the enormous fists. It was as if a pair of scintillating suns had appeared out of thin air.
The Five-colored Peacock's body shuddered violently, and it shot back without any warning. Only after flying back for over 1,000 feet did it just barely manage to arrest its own momentum by spreading its wings. Even though it appeared to have remained largely unscathed, its eyes were filled with astonishment.
In contrast, the giant golden ape up above merely swayed slightly before stabilizing itself. It was quite clear that the ape had gained a decisive upper hand during that clash.
However, that wasn't much of a surprise. Among all of the true spirits, the Giant Mountain Ape was renowned for its powerful physical body and extraordinary strength. The Five-colored Peacock was no less renowned than the Giant Mountain Ape, but it was more so known for its Five-colored Divine Light. In a contest of pure strength, there was no way that it could match the Giant Mountain Ape.
Taking advantage of the peacock's unstable base, the giant ape let loose a low roar before hurtling toward it like lightning. However, the ape's body suddenly blurred along the way, and it abruptly vanished into thin air.
The Five-colored Peacock had only just managed to find its footing, and a look of shock and fury immediately appeared in its eyes as countless five-colored runes erupted from its body once again. It seemed that the peacock was about to unleash some kind of powerful ability, but it was too late.
Golden light flashed, and the giant golden ape appeared right in front of the Five-colored Peacock in a wraith-like manner. It swung one of its giant golden fists through the air, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake, and the fist struck the peacock's body at an astonishing unavoidable speed.
A dull thump immediately rang out, and the five-colored light around the giant peacock's body managed to somewhat nullify the force of the punch, but an enormous burst of force still acted upon its body.
It immediately let loose a pained cry, and it plummeted toward the ground like a shooting star. At the same time, the tremendous force had completely immobilized it by forcibly binding its limbs.
The giant golden ape had no intention of affording the peacock any respite. It made a grabbing motion with both hands, and golden light flashed erratically as 36 small golden swords appeared in each of its hands. These small swords then instantly combined in each hand to form two giant golden swords that were both over 100 feet in length.
A vicious look flashed through the giant ape's eyes, and it shot forth like lightning, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake. Upon catching up to the plummeting Five-colored Peacock, it slashed the giant swords through the air, and countless huge sword projections surged forth to sweep up the Five-colored Peacock like a tornado.
A resounding boom rang out, and the giant ape stopped in mid-air, while the Five-colored Peacock was slammed viciously into the ground by the devastating sword Qi, creating a gargantuan crater.
"I didn't want to have to do this, but you've forced my hand!"
Before Han Li even had a chance to see whether his attacks had been effective, Shopkeeper Yu let loose a thunderous roar of fury.
