Less than an hour later, a burst of buzzing rang out, and a green formation plate emerged in Han Li's grasp amid a flash of azure light.
Han Li cast an incantation seal into the formation plate, and he was immediately greeted by the sound of Cao Ji's elated voice.
"How are things going on your end, Brother Han? I've already prepared the restriction; you can lure the Sacred Ancestor clones into the mountain range, and I'll trap them using the restriction."
"There's no need for that; save the restriction for the next group of enemies. Everything has already been taken care of on my end," Han Li replied in a calm voice as he inspected a black ax with an intrigued expression.
The ax was none other than the weapon used by the golden-armored devilish being.
At this point, aside from Daoist Xie and the severely wounded spirit body, there was no one else in the area aside from Han Li.
However, the ground down below had been severely ravaged, and it was clear that an extremely fierce battle had just taken place.
"What? You don't mean…" Cao Ji's voice was filled with disbelief and bewilderment as he came to realize what Han Li's words entailed.
"Brother Xie and I have already taken care of the Sacred Ancestor clones, so save your restriction for later," Han Li replied with a smile as he stowed the black ax away.
Indeed, he and Daoist Xie had defeated the three remaining devils with ease, but the trio was determined to get away, so had taken some time to hunt them down and kill them.
"You and Brother Xie are truly unfathomable to the likes of myself. With your presence, our second formation core will be safe for sure," Cao Ji said as a hint of elation and veneration crept into his voice.
It was clear that he had been overawed by Han Li's display of power and no longer dared to regard him as an equal.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he was just about to respond when a string of dull thunderclaps suddenly rang out up above. White light then began to flash erratically in the air, following which bursts of energy fluctuations swept through the area.
Almost at the exact same moment, a cry of alarm rang out from the formation plate.
Han Li's smile stiffened upon seeing this, and he asked, "Fellow Daoist Cao, has the first formation core just been destroyed as well?"
"Indeed, that's what the backup holy tree is telling me, Brother Han. As expected, those Sacred Ancestor clones have gone after all three formation cores at once," Cao Ji replied with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"I see. In that case, we'll most likely be welcoming a second group of 'guests' soon," Han Li chuckled coldly in response.
"Brother Han, come back with Fellow Daoist Xie to rest and recuperate. If more Sacred Ancestor clones arrive at our formation core, you'll be the only ones who can oppose them, so it would be best to take this time to recover some magic power," Cao Ji suggested.
"That's a good idea; Fellow Daoist Xie and I will be returning right away," Han Li agreed with a nod.
After that, he stowed his formation plate away and departed from the scene with Daoist Xie, heading directly toward the center of the mountain range.
At the site of their battle that had just taken place, lush greenery suddenly began to grow all over the severely ravaged earth.
Countless trees grew rapidly at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, forming a massive forest that erased all signs of the battle that had just been.
……
Less than half a day later, a burst of rumbling suddenly rang out tens of thousands of kilometers away, following which a burst of black Qi emerged in the distance before heading directly toward the mountain range.
Within this cloud of black Qi was a mountainous inky-black hall, atop which was a platform where seven devilish beings in different attire were standing and communicating with one another.
All seven of them were giving off extremely powerful auras, clearly indicating that they weren't ordinary devilish lords, either.
"Old Man She and the others really are useless; both of our groups have already succeeded, yet there's been no news from them at all. Now we have to take care of business in their stead," a burly devilish man with blue light emanating from all over his body grumbled in a displeased voice.
"In terms of power, Fellow Daoist She's group isn't much less powerful than the seven of us. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been tasked with destroying a formation core on their own. It's most likely the case that they've been trapped by some type of powerful restriction, and that's why they still haven't succeeded," a beauty in a palatial dress replied with a smile.
"Hmph, both of our groups have already succeeded with ease; it's still a sign of incompetence that they've still yet to complete their objective," the burly devilish man countered with a roll of his eyes.
"It would be a good thing if they've actually simply been trapped; I'm just concerned that they may have fallen by the hands of powerful enemies. If that were the case, then we'll have to be careful as well," a yellow-haired elderly man said in a cold voice.
"Surely that's not possible. With their powers, they should at least be able to ensure self-preservation as long as they don't encounter any Grand Ascension Stage beings. As for why we've been unable to get into contact with them, that's most likely due to the effects of this formation," the woman in the palatial dress said with a nonchalant smile.
"In any case, the people guarding this restriction were able to obstruct Old Man She and the others, so it couldn't hurt to proceed with caution," the elderly man continued in an expressionless manner.
"Alright, then let's keep our guards up," another devilish being chimed in, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
The yellow-haired elderly man was just about to say something else when his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he immediately cast his gaze upward.
"What is it, Fellow Daoist Ji?" the burly devilish man couldn't help but ask.
However, before the elderly man had a chance to reply, an incredibly fearsome burst of energy fluctuations erupted in the air, and an azure light barrier appeared before descending from above like a gigantic net.
"Everyone, look out!" the elderly man yelled as he transformed into a huge yellow falcon, which flapped its wings vigorously and flew away from the hall as a ball of yellow light.
The other six devilish beings were also very alarmed and scattered in different directions as well.
The azure light barrier descending from above was over 100 acres in size and was falling at an astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, it had swept up four of the devilish beings who hadn't managed to escape out of its scope.
The three devilish beings who had escaped in time immediately began to unleash attacks to save their companions, but in the instant that the light barrier enveloped the four devilish beings, it transformed into a gargantuan ball of light before flying away and vanishing into the distance in a flash.
The three devilish beings outside faltered slightly upon seeing this before flaring up with rage and setting off in pursuit, but spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from up above once again, and two figures, one golden and one azure, appeared directly in the path of the three devilish beings.
Thus, the three devils were forced to stop in their tracks as they appraised the pair of humanoid figures with wary expressions.
The two people who had just arrived were naturally none other than Han Li and Daoist Xie, and the former said in a cold voice, "Seeing as you three managed to escape the restriction, I'll send you on your way myself. Rest assured, we'll take care of your companions as well after we put you three to rest, so you won't be lonely."
As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a shimmering golden Nascent Soul emerged. Immediately thereafter, five golden balls of light flew out of his body before transforming into five projections, consisting of a giant ape, a colorful phoenix, a silver bird, a peacock, and a golden dragon.
The Nascent Soul swept a hand through the air without any hesitation, and the five true spirit projections vanished into its body in a flash.
A resounding boom rang out, and Han Li and the Nascent Soul vanished in unison amid a flash of golden light, only to be replaced by a huge humanoid figure.
The humanoid figure's entire body was of a shimmering golden color, and the entirety of its skin was covered in a layer of golden scales. There was a single azure horn on its head, and an inky-black demonic eye on its glabella.
Han Li had unleashed his Holy Nirvana Physique from the get-go, while Daoist Xie also adopted his original giant crab form amid flashes of silver lightning.
The three devilish beings' expressions immediately darkened significantly upon seeing this.
……
Several hours later, the first formation core had already been completely inundated by devilish Qi, and there were countless armored devilish warriors assembled beneath it.
In the air above these devilish warriors, a group of high-grade devilish beings were hovering in mid-air with grim expressions.
"We've lost contact with Fellow Daoist Ji's group as well; it looks like there really is something fishy about the second formation core. Otherwise, there's no way that we would lose contact with both groups," a young man in a suit of intricate black armor said.
