Chapter 572: Bitter Battle
Countless Gold Devouring Beetles rushed out from Han Li’s storage pouch before instantly forming into a huge tri-colored cloud. The beetle swarm was about a hundred meters wide and emitted an astonishing pressure.
“Yi!” A distant yell of fright was heard in response.
Han Li’s eyes coldly glinted as his gaze fell onto the gorgeous, young woman.
The woman was covering her small, delicate mouth while her eyes revealed astonishment. Han Li was surprised when he noticed that her expression seemed to hold an inexplicable hint of joy.
Han Li was momentarily distracted by her inexplicable display when two massive rumbles erupted and tore his attention back to the battle at hand. He hastily turned his gaze back to the purple clouds in alarm. An ancient copper shield that glowed with white light had left the azure clouds and easily blocked the strikes of his two huge swords.
Han Li inwardly sighed at this, as he still hadn’t taken much time to temper the flying swords. He had relied on the extraordinary quality of materials of the swords to overwhelm the magic treasures of common cultivators. But now that he had reached late Core Formation stage, the might of his magic treasures had clearly fallen behind those of his peers. Even when merging them together, his flying swords didn’t pose much of a threat to cultivators of a similar grade.
As these thoughts surged through his mind, he had his two flying swords continue to strike the violet cloud regardless of their efficacy, but the ancient shield was able to block every strike with ease.
At that moment, Han Li released a series of low-pitched whistles, causing his Gold Devouring Beetles to hum for a moment before swarming towards the purple cloud en masse. Although he didn’t know what the purple cloud was made of, it would still be consumed by the Gold Devouring Beetles all the same.
Seeing that huge cloud of insects suddenly appear, Wen Tianren couldn’t help but coldly snort in disdain, “Humph! Insect techniques? You’re courting death!”
When Han Li heard this he immediately felt a surge of joy. If Wen Tianren treated his Gold Devouring Beetles as common insects, then when the swarm of beetles arrived at the purple cloud his death was practically assured.
Han Li inwardly sneered, but just as the insect swarm arrived at the purple clouds, Wen Tianren suddenly shouted, “Go!”
An astonishing scene then occurred!
A golden light suddenly burst forth from the purple cloud and countless gold threads shot out. The gold threads shot into the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles. Then in the wake of of several loud cracks, dead beetles began to fall from the sky like a heavy rain.
The gold threads had actually overwhelmed the Gold Devouring Beetles. The beetles were greatly resistant against the strikes of magic treasures, but against these golden threads, they were completely defenseless.
When Han Li saw this, he was overwhelmed by furious alarm. He hastily released a sharp whistle to have his insect swarm immediately return and revolve around him. However, the golden threads weren’t about to let the beetles slip away. They shot after the beetles as they escaped, filling the sky with their bodies.
Han Li grimaced and without any further thought, he hastily slapped his storage pouch and took out the ancient flower basket, before tossing it out without hesitation. The flower basket turned into a cloud of white Qi in a flash of light and directly approached the gold threads.
When the white Qi had incorporeally passed through the insect swarm and arrived among the golden threads, he wore a strange expression and quickly formed an incantation gesture with his hands. The white Qi immediately began to spin and glow with white radiance.
The golden threads were enveloped by the white light and were immediately restrained, slowing them down immensely.
The beetle swarm took advantage of that opening to fly back into Han Li’s spirit beast pouches.
However, Han Li’s expression was extremely unsightly at that moment. In that short exchange, he had lost nearly ten thousand of his black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. If he hadn’t used the ancient flower basket to respond, he would have suffered devastating losses.
Just what kind of magic treasures were these threads for them to contain such fearsome power? He was in complete disbelief as to what had just happened. His Gold Devouring Beetles were repelled before they could even display their tremendous power.
Han Li had momentarily became despondent before he observed the gold threads undergo a transformation while within the white Qi. After seeing them gently flicker, they dimmed and revealed their true form. They were thin golden needles and were only about an inch long and had a golden luster.
When Han Li saw this, he was truly shocked. Wen Tianren actually used flying needles, the most difficult magic treasure to refine, and in a number of at least several hundred of them no less. This caused Han Li’s blood to run cold.
However, Han Li’s thoughts stirred as something soon came to mind.
At that moment, the lightless golden needles had simultaneously released a dazzling gleam and hurriedly gathered into one spot before condensing into a golden sword in an instant.
The golden sword gently trembled before suddenly breaking through the restrictions of the flower basket and shooting in Han Li’s direction.
Han Li’s expression sank and he took out a sparkling azure talisman from his storage pouch. This was the treasure talisman that Layman Qingyi had given to him at Heavenvoid Hall. As the treasures it had been refined from were also flying needles, they should be an equal match.
Just as the golden sword rushed towards Han Li, it split into countless golden threads with a bang as they continued forward.
Without any further hesitation, Han Li spat a cloud of azure Qi onto the talisman. With a flicker of azure light, the talisman instantly transformed into a streak of azure light.
As soon as the azure light left Han Li’s light barrier, it instantly transformed into an overbearing number of azure threads of light. At first glance, they appeared no different from the golden threads apart from their color.
“What are those?” Wen Tianren was stunned and spoke with a surprised tone.
The golden threads had already arrived at Han Li’s side and began to interweave themselves amongst the azure threads, resulting in pulsing balls of light.
Wen Tianren shouted in alarm and coldly asked, “The Nightazure Needles! What relationship do you have with Layman Qingyi? That’s a treasure talisman of his Nightazure Needles. That old ghost has always been annoyingly stingy and treats those needles as if they were as valuable as his own life. Could it be that you are his disciple?”
When Han Li heard Wen Tianren shout out the name of the Nightazure Needles, his heart trembled but he soon regained his calm.
It appeared that although the matter of the Heavenvoid Cauldron had been leaked, the specific details of what had occurred weren’t widely known. Otherwise, he surely would’ve known his identity upon seeing the needles.
With that thought, Han Li had no intention of further speaking and only scoffed. He then circulated all the magic power in his body and took advantage of Wen Tianren’s moment of hesitation, pushing back the golden light threads and turning the tide of battle into Han Li’s favor.
Wen Tianren’s furious voice yelled from within the violet cloud, “You’re courting death! Since you’re unwilling to explain, I won’t bother to show that old ghost Qing Yi any face. I will have you personally witness the most formidable Devilish cultivation art in the Scattered Star Seas – The Devils of Six Apexes. Don’t blame me for being ruthless!” After that was said, he recalled the golden threads from their confrontation with the Nightazure Needles, having the needles fly back into the purple cloud in an instant.
Han Li scowled as the atmosphere suddenly became silent. Without any reservations, he had the azure streaks of light surround the purple cloud and madly pierce into it. However, it ended up with the same result as before. All of the streaks of light pierced through the purple cloud with little effect.
A cold air of resolve then emitted from Han Li’s face. He immediately recalled the needles and had them return into a talisman before placing them back into his storage pouch.
As the Nightazure Needles were extremely powerful, he wasn’t going to allow the talisman’s power go to waste.
Han Li’s expression wavered as he continued to look at the tranquil purple cloud. A trace of hesitation could faintly be seen from his face as if he wished to act, but he managed to refrain from acting all the same.
In the following instant, the purple cloud suddenly began to roil and summon a gale, agitating the spiritual Qi in the nearby several tens of kilometers which began to pour into the violet cloud like rivers pouring into an ocean. The cloud then began to wildly expand and its color began to turn light grey. Additionally, odd sounds began to blast out from the cloud. They were initially soft before growing deafening in an instant, disturbing the hearts of those who heard it.
After witnessing the strange scene, Han Li’s hesitation had completely disappeared.
He suddenly grabbed his right arm with his left hand and raised it towards the light grey cloud, as his arm began gathering a freezing, malicious Qi.
As the nearby environmental spiritual Qi continued to wildly pour into the light grey cloud, its sounds came to resemble immense thunder, shaking the hearts of all lower-grade cultivators nearby.
