The black wind reached the crimson bats in a flash, and close to half of them suddenly turned toward Han Li before blasting green flames toward him out of their mouths.
Before the green flames had even reached Han Li, a nauseating odor of rot and decay had already swept toward him.
Han Li immediately swept both sleeves through the air, unleashing two gusts of fierce azure winds, which kept the green flames at bay.
At the same time, he strode forward and abruptly vanished on the spot.
In the next instant, he reappeared out of thin air beside a crimson bat several hundred feet away and swept both arms through the air, unleashing over 100 claw projections that completely shredded the bat's body before it even had a chance to cry out.
The other bats were naturally very alarmed by this, and they hurriedly turned to attack Han Li, but it was already too late.
Han Li had vanished on the spot again, leaving a trail of black afterimages in his wake as he arrived beside another devilish bat that was over 100 feet away.
The same claw projections erupted forth, and that devilish bat was also sliced into countless pieces.
After that, Han Li traversed through the flock of bats in a wraith-like manner, felling a bat with each and every attack he unleashed.
In the face of his incredible movement techniques, the green flames released by the crimson bats mostly struck nothing by empty air, and the few burst of flames that did manage to strike Han Li were rendered completely ineffective by a suit of black armor that he was wearing.
Within the span of just a few breaths, over 10 devilish bats had been slain by him, and the group of devilish beings nearby were staring at him in a flabbergasted manner.
The Spatial Tempering Stage young woman was also gawking at Han Li with astonishment in her eyes.
They had been battling these devilish bats for over half a day, and they were well aware of just how hard these bats' bodies were. Even normal devilish treasures couldn't inflict much damage to them, and only top-grade devilish tools were able to harm them to a certain extent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been trapped here for such a long time.
As such, it was naturally astonishing that Han Li was able to tear through the hapless bats with ease with his bare hands.
What kind of devilish art could this man be cultivating to have attained such a powerful physical body? Could it be one of the legendary ancient devilish arts? the woman thought to herself in a stunned manner.
Despite their ferocity, the devilish bats had become quite fearful in the face of Han Li's powerful display.
However, right at this moment, a sharp cry rang out from among them, and they all parted to reveal a giant devilish bat that was far larger than all of the other ones.
Not only did this devilish bat possess a powerful aura, it had a pair of purple horns on its head, around which wisps of electricity were revolving incessantly. It immediately opened its mouth to blast forth a vast expanse of green flames, which encompassed an area of over 1,000 feet as it surged toward Han Li.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as a series of black runes erupted out of his suit of devilish armor to form a light barrier in front of him.
As soon as the sea of flames came into contact with the black light barrier, it was forcibly parted and completely unable to approach Han Li.
A hint of fury appeared in the giant bat's eyes upon seeing this, and it let loose a sharp screech as two thick bolts of silver lightning erupted out of its horns, crashing directly toward Han Li.
Han Li's expression changed slightly as he raised a hand and pointed two fingers forward.
A loud thunderclap rang out, and two bolts of azure and white lightning erupted out of his fingertips to counter the oncoming bolts of silver lightning.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li took a step forward and vanished into space before instantly reappearing above the giant bat, then swept a devilish claw downward.
Five black claws projections descended from above, and the giant bat immediately flapped its wings in alarm, propelling itself to the side like a speeding arrow.
Despite its huge frame, it was surprisingly agile.
Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this and abruptly brought his fingers together, upon which the five claw projections instantly sped up by severalfold, tearing one of the giant bat's wings into pieces in a flash.
The giant bat let loose a howl of agony, and a hint of horror appeared in its enraged eyes. It frantically flapped its remaining wing a few times before releasing countless thin crimson threads out of its body.
The threads were as red as blood, and as soon as they appeared, they instantly exploded into clouds of blood mist that concealed the bat's entire body.
Han Li made a grabbing motion downward with his other arm as well, conjuring up countless claw projections amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and the cloud of blood mist was instantly destroyed.
Right at this moment, a streak of crimson light shot forth just as the blood mist was dispersed, and it instantly appeared over 10,000 feet away, then vanished into the distance in a blur.
"Bloodshadow Evasion!"
A peculiar look appeared on his face as he identified the movement technique that the giant bat was using, but his expression then immediately returned to normal as he cast his gaze toward the remaining crimson bats.
Without the leadership of the giant bat and having had many of them already slain by Han Li, the remaining devilish bats were no longer able to pose a sufficient threat to the group of devilish beings with their green flames.
Instead, the devilish beings took advantage of this opportunity to retaliate, unleashing powerful abilities to force back the sea of flames little by little.
Meanwhile, Han Li merely crossed his arms and looked from afar, displaying no intention to take any further part in this battle.
The remaining devilish bats naturally gave Han Li a wide berth as well in fear of incurring his wrath.
Around 15 minutes later, the devilish beings finally broke out of the sea of flames and slew close to half of the remaining devilish bats.
The bats that survived quickly fled for their lives, not daring to linger around the giant tree any longer.
The young devilish woman was clearly the leader of this group, and after taking care of the devilish bats, she immediately flew over to Han Li before extending a curtsey. "Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist. My name is Bai Yunxin; these are my brothers, Bai Yin and Bai Ying. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"
The woman was speaking to Han Li in a very polite manner.
As for the other two Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings, Bai Yin was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, while Bai Ying was a middle-aged scholar. The two of them also hurriedly expressed their gratitude toward Han Li.
"My surname is Han; I'm only a vagrant cultivator, but I've heard much about your Bai Family. I've heard that the incense produced by your Bai Family is capable of calming the mind and warding off sinister beings; I'd love to see it in action," Han Li said in a calm manner as he cupped his fist in a salute.
"A vagrant cultivator? I can see that you possess incredible powers, Brother Han; you must be an unfathomable cultivator who rarely shows himself in public. Otherwise, there's no way I wouldn't have heard of you," Bai Yunxin said with a smile.
"I'm no unfathomable cultivator, but it is indeed true that I don't show myself in public much. This place is quite far away from Illusion Night City; could it be that you came here for these Purple Spirit Fruits?" Han Li asked.
Bai Yunxin's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she calmly negotiated, "Indeed, our Bai Family is planning to refine a type of spirit pill that requires these Purple Spirit Fruits as one of the main ingredients. We've been scouring through these plains for many years and only just discovered this Purple Light Tree. If it weren't for your help, there's no way we would've been able to secure these spirit fruits, so we should be splitting half of them with you. However, these fruits are extremely important to our Bai Family, so would you be willing to accept devil stones in compensation instead?"
"Hehe, rest assured, Fairy Bai; I have no need for these Purple Spirit Fruits, so we'll do as you say," Han Li chuckled in response.
Bai Yunxin was very relieved to hear this, and she smiled as she said, "Thank you for your generosity, Brother Han; I'll get them to prepare the devil stones for you right away."
After that, she instructed the others to begin picking the Purple Spirit Fruits on the giant tree. After the spirit fruits were picked and placed into a special box, Bai Yunxin handed a storage bracelet full of devil stones to Han Li.
Han Li accepted the storage bracelet, then injected his spiritual sense into it before stowing it away in a calm manner.
Bai Yunxin's smile became even more pronounced upon seeing this, and she said, "Where are you traveling to next, Brother Han? If you don't mind, how about returning to Illusion Night City with us? There are some specialty local products in the city that I'm sure will be of great help to you, and on top of that, I've already sworn a vow on my inner demons to thank you for saving us. If you return to our Bai Family with us, our seniors will be sure to reward you handsomely for your efforts, so please don't refuse."
This Bai Yunxin was clearly inclined to befriend Han Li upon witnessing his astonishing powers.
"There's a senior in our Bai Family who's also very adept in body refinement techniques; I'm sure you'll benefit immensely through receiving guidance from him, Brother Han. You've just saved our lives, so I'm sure that senior wouldn't turn you down," Bai Ying also chimed in.
