The wood spirits were startled. Some of them shimmered with green light, manifesting wooden armor shields, while others opened their mouths and spewed forth clouds of green mist, attempting to block the blood threads.
Yet, these blood threads, forged from some unknown substance, pierced through their defenses like phantoms and instantly embedded themselves into the wood spirits’ bodies.
A crimson glow enveloped the wood spirits, and in an instant, they were trapped beneath a web of blood-red threads, unable to break free.
At the same time, the two halves of the ancient tree that Han Li had severed with his sword energy suddenly twisted and transformed into two faint golden shadows, lunging toward Mu Rui.
Mu Rui snorted coldly and casually flicked his fingers toward them.
Two streaks of silver light shot out, striking the golden shadows squarely.
With two muffled booms, the golden shadows exploded, scattering countless golden sparks that rained down upon the silver-ranked wood spirit.
A loud roar echoed as a golden array of runes materialized around Mu Rui, encircling the high-ranking wood spirit in a dazzling display of spiritual light.
Mu Rui’s eyes narrowed with purple radiance as he clasped his hands together, summoning a blinding silver light in his palms. Countless silver rays erupted in all directions.
A thunderous roar followed as silver light and golden runes clashed. The golden runes, imbued with some mysterious power, withstood the silver-ranked wood spirit’s attack, though a few were shattered by the force.
This sight filled the towering wood spirit, Mu Rui, with shock and fury.
Without hesitation, silver light gathered between his hands once more, forming a radiant sphere far brighter than before.
Meanwhile, seeing the silver-ranked wood spirit and other high-ranking wood spirits trapped, Han Li and Long Dong, though puzzled, wasted no time. Overjoyed, they immediately activated their life-saving techniques and fled in all directions.
The young woman formed a hand seal, rolled on the ground, and transformed into a resplendent black phoenix wreathed in dark flames. She charged through the horde of wooden apes, reducing everything in her path—weapons and bodies alike—to ashes.
In the blink of an eye, she had traversed over a hundred feet.
Long Dong, his expression grave, swallowed a multicolored pill and began chanting. His winged battle armor reappeared on his body.
With a flap of his wings, the phantom of a five-clawed golden dragon emerged from the armor. The dragon let out a long cry, soared into the sky, then spiraled back into Long Dong’s body.
A golden radiance burst from the youth’s body as he transformed into a golden rainbow over thirty feet long, streaking through the air. Within the golden light, the five-clawed dragon thrashed its tail, turning everything in its path into bloody mist.
Compared to the earth-shaking escapes of the other two, Han Li’s movements were silent. A thunderous crack sounded behind him as a pair of cyan-white wings unfurled.
He spat out several globes of crimson essence blood, which swirled around him before dissolving into a thick mist that concealed his form.
The blood mist churned, then shrank, and a blood-red shadow shot forth. In a few flashes, it passed through the dense horde of wooden apes like an intangible specter, appearing at the horizon’s edge.
With another flicker, the blood shadow vanished entirely.
Han Li’s Blood Shadow Evasion, executed at the Nascent Soul level, was more than twice as fast as the black phoenix and Long Dong’s golden light, leaving the two gaping in astonishment.
The white-robed maiden, however, had a different approach. She merely waved her hand, summoning a gleaming scarlet blade. Without any incantation, she lightly swung it toward the densest concentration of wooden apes.
The surrounding spiritual energy trembled as a hundred-foot-long crimson blade light, towering like a pillar of heaven, materialized from the void and descended slowly.
Where the blade light fell, the wooden apes panicked, scrambling to flee.
Yet, the moment they moved, their bodies ignited spontaneously. In an instant, hundreds of wooden apes turned to ash in crimson flames, clearing a straight, empty path.
The colossal blade light vanished before even touching the ground.
At that moment, from the roots of the shattered ancient tree concealing the jade slip, a fist-sized green firebird shot out, transforming into a streak of emerald light that merged into the maiden’s body.
Delighted, the maiden took a deep breath and vanished, reappearing midway down the path before flickering again and emerging at its end.
Without hesitation, she transformed into a white rainbow and soared away, her figure flickering in and out of sight until she vanished beyond the horizon.
Her bizarre movement technique seemed no less formidable than Han Li’s Blood Shadow Evasion.
Meanwhile, Mu Rui, still trapped within the golden rune array, unleashed another burst of silver light.
This time, the silver radiance was far more potent, shattering most of the golden runes, leaving only a few spinning around him.
Expressionless, his eyes flashed with purple light as he suddenly threw back his head and emitted a piercing cry.
The wooden apes in the vicinity stirred, splitting into several groups and giving chase to Han Li and the others.
Simultaneously, from distant corners of the dark forest, answering cries echoed…
Han Li did not maintain the Blood Shadow Evasion for long. Once he had lost sight of his pursuers, he retracted the blood light and continued fleeing as a cyan rainbow.
Even so, his face was noticeably paler.
It seemed that using the Blood Shadow Evasion twice in quick succession had drained his vitality.
Yet, with the possibility of a silver-ranked wood spirit in pursuit, he dared not relax. Such a being was equivalent to a human cultivator at the Body Integration stage. No matter how confident he was in his abilities, the vast difference in cultivation meant he stood no chance in a direct confrontation—even if the wood spirit was only of the lower silver rank.
Had it not been for the secret intervention of another, who trapped the silver-ranked wood spirit with a mysterious technique, none of them would have escaped alive.
But clearly, the golden rune array could not hold such a being for long. With the group scattered, any one of them could become the wood spirit’s target. Han Li dared not linger.
Though he no longer used the Blood Shadow Evasion, his Wind Lightning Wings flapped ceaselessly, each beat accelerating his speed. After a dozen flaps, he was moving as fast as an ordinary Void Refinement cultivator.
Still, he did not dare look back, focusing solely on fleeing.
“Whoosh!” Several projectiles shot up from below, accompanied by sharp gusts of wind.
Han Li’s expression darkened as his rainbow halted mid-air.
Three streaks of cyan light flashed past, missing him by mere feet. Had he not stopped, they would have pierced his body.
The cyan light swirled, transforming into three wooden spirits, each wielding a green wooden spear, blocking his path.
Han Li’s gaze swept over their waists, noting their pale yellow belts. He relaxed—these were only equivalent to human Core Formation cultivators, hardly a threat.
Without summoning any treasures, his Wind Lightning Wings twitched, propelling him forward as a cyan-white lightning arc.
Lightning-fast, he appeared before the central wood spirit in an instant.
The wood spirit, though expressionless, reacted swiftly, thrusting its spear toward Han Li’s abdomen.
Before the spear could strike, countless green spikes erupted, aiming to impale Han Li a thousand times over.
Han Li’s eyes turned cold as golden light flared across his hands and face. Transparent golden scales materialized, deflecting the green spikes with metallic screeches.
Simultaneously, his arm shot out, seizing the spearhead. Despite the wood spirit’s desperate tug, the spear remained immovable.
The wood spirit’s face darkened as it released the spear and shot backward like a meteor.
Yet Han Li’s other arm elongated unnaturally, his fingers piercing the wood spirit’s chest like blades.
A crisp sound followed as the wood spirit’s body tore like paper. Han Li’s fingers emerged from its back, clutching a pale yellow gem-like crystal.
From the moment Han Li engaged the central wood spirit to tearing through its chest, only an instant had passed.
The remaining two wood spirits shrieked strangely. One spat forth a yellow mist, while the other brandished its spear, conjuring countless illusions to envelop Han Li.
Han Li smirked, attempting to retract his arms to counter.
But to his surprise, the wood spirit’s body and the spear he held suddenly glowed green, generating an immense suction force.
His arms remained locked in place.
In that brief delay, the yellow mist reached his face, and the spear illusions unleashed a storm of green spikes.
A strange glint flashed in Han Li’s eyes as his lips moved, uttering something inaudible.
Golden light erupted from his body as four indistinct golden arms materialized at his sides.
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