Netherworld Monarch Menace's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he brandished his mace in front of himself in a casual manner before taking a deep breath and letting loose a deafening roar.
In the face of this thunderous roar, the space before him twisted and warped, forming a semi-transparent light barrier.
The azure thread struck the light barrier like a torrential storm, only to instantly vanish into it without a trace.
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and the azure longsword in his hand elongated to around 10 feet in length at his behest before being slashed through the air again.
All of a sudden, a sword projection that was over 100 feet in length appeared above Netherworld Monarch Menace before crashing down from above.
Netherworld Monarch Menace gave a cold harrumph as he lashed out upward with his mace without any hesitation.
Countless bursts of black Qi surged out of the mace in a frenzy amid a burst of ghostly howls, transforming into a black dragon that rose up into the heavens.
Even before the azure sword projection had a chance to descend, it was destroyed by the black dragon, which then let loose a rumbling roar as it pounced directly toward Han Li.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged at the sight of the black dragon, and all of a sudden, a series of azure flying swords erupted out of all parts of his body before forming an azure sword lotus that was around an acre in size.
The petals of the sword lotus slowly blossomed at Han Li's behest, and it then surged toward the black dragon before tearing the dragon into countless shreds with its peerlessly sharp sword Qi.
As opposed to being enraged by the destruction of the black dragon, Netherworld Monarch Menace chortled with glee. "Haha, even though I was only testing you just now, I can see that you're quite a formidable opponent; I'll be able to have some fun in this battle."
As soon as his voice trailed off, he brandished his mace again before beginning to chant an incantation.
All of a sudden, bright crimson light erupted from his mace, and it transformed into a crimson flag.
The flag was comprised of crimson mist, while the flagpole was constructed from a length of white bone.
Just the mere sight of the flag struck one with a bone-chilling sensation, and as soon as it took shape, the flag was tossed up into the air by Netherworld Monarch Menace.
Countless arcs of black lightning sprang out of the surface of the flag, and five shimmering golden skulls suddenly emerged from it.
Initially, the skulls were only around the size of average bowls, but they quickly swelled to the size of wagon wheels with crimson flames flashing in their eyes and faint green light being released out of their mouths.
Han Li couldn't help but falter slightly upon seeing this.
"Hehe, these are True Yin Devils that I refined from the martial souls of the powerful enemies I've slain; perhaps you'll have the honor of becoming my sixth Yin Devil," Netherworld Monarch Menace chortled as he pointed a finger at the skulls up above.
The crimson flames in the eyes of the skulls immediately swelled up, and the five skulls transformed into five ghostly devils, each of which had long purple hair, sharp claws, and menacing facial features.
On top of that, there were crimson flames burning all over their bodies, and their auras weren't inferior to that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being.
"Go!" Netherworld Monarch Menace ordered as he pointed a finger at Han Li, and the five golden ghostly devils immediately shot forth toward Han Li as five balls of golden light.
"How interesting! It's quite remarkable that you were able to convert Nascent Souls into these devilish creatures. However, if you think you're the only one with allies there, then you couldn't be more wrong," Han Li said with a smile.
Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of golden light, which transformed into purplish-golden Jin Tong.
"Go on, give them the release they deserve," Han Li said.
Jin Tong turned toward the five oncoming devils with a cold expression, then stomped a foot into mid-air, and countless streaks of invisible sword Qi erupted out of his body in a frenzy. After that, it transformed into a vast expanse of golden light that fused as one with the sword Qi before sweeping toward the five devils.
The most powerful-looking one of the five ghostly devils raised its arms and plunged its ghostly claws directly into the storm of sword Qi, upon which its fingers and close to half of its arms were instantly shredded by the golden sword Qi.
These ghostly devils were able to oppose top-grade treasures with their bodies alone, but they were no match for the peerlessly sharp golden sword Qi.
The ghostly devil was naturally quite stunned by this, and it immediately twisted around before vanishing into thin air in a flash.
Meanwhile, the other four devils opened their mouths to expel balls of black lightning in a frenzy, quickly combining as one to form a sea of black lightning that clashed with the golden light.
Thus, black Qi and golden light intertwined, and it was as if there were two giant beasts battling with all their might.
All of a sudden, around a dozen thick streaks of sword Qi erupted out of the golden light in a line, tearing a giant gash into the black Qi en route toward the five ghostly devils.
However, right at this moment, the devil that had just disappeared re-emerged at the gash that had just been torn open.
At this point, its arms and hands had completely regenerated, and it immediately opened its mouth to expel a crimson bone bead.
Not only was the golden sword Qi that struck the bead instantly repelled, it was tainted a crimson color before crumbling away.
This bead had the incredible effect of corrupting other treasures, and it quickly released countless bursts of black Qi that inundated both itself, as well as the ghostly devil that had just appeared.
The sword Qi was unable to completely sever the black Qi, but the black Qi was also unable to repel the sword Qi.
The two clashed over and over again, but neither side was able to gain the upper hand, and thus, an impasse ensued.
This seemed to have been a complex process, but everything had actually taken place in nothing more than the blink of an eye.
Netherworld Monarch Menace faltered slightly at the sight of Jin Tong, and he was stunned that his five ghostly devils were only just barely able to oppose Jin Tong's sword Qi.
"What kind of spirit beast is this? Its aura seems rather familiar."
"Do you think I'd tell you?" Han Li asked in a nonchalant manner.
"Hmph, looks like I'll just have to beat you until you tell me." An enraged look appeared in Netherworld Monarch Menace's eyes as he made a hand seal, and he immediately began to swell in size while the black Qi behind him intertwined to form a massive ghostly face that was around an acre in size.
The ghostly face opened its mouth to release a long streak of black light, which somehow covered a distance of over 1,000 feet in a flash to reach Han Li.
In response, Han Li remained still on the spot, but a barrier of Divine Essencefused Light appeared before him amid a burst of spatial fluctuation.
Much to Han Li's astonishment, the grey light barrier was instantly shattered as soon as it was struck by the streak of black light, following which the streak of light rapidly wound itself seven or eight times around Han Li's body, forming a giant cocoon around him.
A layer of flames erupted over the surface of the cocoon, and it transformed into a giant fireball.
However, Netherworld Monarch Menace didn't stop there. Instead, he summoned a giant inky-black ax that was several tens of feet in length and releasing a foul odor, and the ax was slashed toward the fireball like lightning.
A sharp screeching sound rang out, and a peerlessly sharp ax projection appeared overhead before striking the center of the black cocoon with unerring accuracy.
A loud metallic clang sounded, and the spear projection was repelled before shattering into countless pieces.
Immediately thereafter, a thunderous roar erupted from within the fireball, and six giant furry hands tore the cocoon apart.
At the same time, a burst of scorching silver flames surged out of the massive hands, then swooped down to sweep up all of the surrounding flames, following which Han Li was revealed.
At this moment, he was in his giant golden ape form with three heads and six arms, and he was appraising Netherworld Monarch Menace with a cold expression while silver flames were burning all over his body.
Netherworld Monarch Menace was also looking back at Han Li with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes, clearly surprised that his last attack hadn't managed to harm Han Li at all.
In the next instant, Han Li's six hands clenched up into tight fists, and he unleashed countless golden fist projections, all of which transformed into balls of golden light.
Netherworld Monarch Menace harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he let loose another deafening roar to create the same warped light barrier.
Thus, the golden balls of light struck the light barrier in a torrential barrage, but on this occasion, all of the fist projections instantly exploded upon clashing with the light barrier, releasing bursts of fearsome power.
In the face of such an unrelenting barrage of fist projections, the light barrier was beginning to crack at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.
Finally, the light barrier was completely shattered, and all of the fist projections hurtled directly toward Netherworld Monarch Menace.
However, Netherworld Monarch Menace made no attempt to evade. Instead, he raised his giant black ax, and it immediately transformed into a massive bone shield amid a flash of black light.
At the same time, the giant ghostly face behind Netherworld Monarch Menace blurred before abruptly appearing on the bone shield, then opened its cavernous mouth to release a burst of fearsome suction force.
All of the oncoming golden fist projections were swept up by this burst of suction force and drawn into the mouth of the ghostly face, upon which they completely vanished amid flashes of golden light and a burst of incessant rumbling.
