Chapter 1534: Departing Intentions

The bone bird was startled but not panicked. Its massive claws, each the size of a house, suddenly lashed out fiercely toward the blue mist.

A sharp “shhh” sound erupted as dozens of pitch-black claw streaks materialized in the air, slashing forward like sword beams.

In a flash, they struck the blue mist.

A thunderous boom echoed!

The moment the blue mist and black streaks collided, they split apart as if torn cloth, leaving dozens of gashes.

Yet, with a flicker of spiritual light, the blue mist seamlessly mended itself, trapping the black claw streaks within. Under the shimmering blue light, the streaks were frozen into blocks of blue ice.

The mist then surged upward, looming menacingly over the giant bone bird before descending with overwhelming force.

The central head of the bone bird let out a furious screech, and its two massive bone wings suddenly flapped toward the sky.

Two streams of gray qi erupted from the wings, crashing directly into the descending blue mist.

Upon impact, the blue light and gray qi intertwined, producing a muffled roar like thunder. The blue light flared brilliantly, rolling violently before swallowing the gray qi whole, transforming it into floating chunks of ice of varying sizes.

However, the blue mist could no longer descend, held aloft by the ceaseless surge of gray qi.

But an unexpected turn of events soon unfolded!

With a sinister shriek from the nine-headed bone bird, all the ice blocks shimmered strangely, their smooth surfaces suddenly riddled with countless tiny pores. Gray qi gushed out from these pores, devouring the ice in an instant and reducing them to nothingness.

This gray qi possessed an extraordinarily corrosive nature, erasing all traces of the ice and blue mist in mere breaths.

“So, it still retains the ferocious aura of its former life as a nine-headed bird. Let’s see how much of its original power remains,” came the cold voice of the fish-eyed man from within the distant blue light.

The blue light then trembled violently, bursting forth with a dazzling radiance as countless blue orbs shot out.

Each orb was the size of a fist, crystalline and solid, emitting eerie wails as they streaked toward the bone bird.

Having witnessed the potency of the blue mist, the giant bone bird no longer underestimated its foe. Its central head opened wide, spewing forth an identical stream of gray qi.

With a flap of its wings, three streams of gray qi merged into a rolling tide, colliding with the incoming blue orbs. The orbs vanished into the gray qi before exploding in rapid succession.

Within the gray qi, the orbs transformed into clusters of icy lotus-like radiance, only to be swallowed without a trace, their power seemingly nullified.

Yet, the blue orbs continued to pour forth endlessly. The sheer volume of explosions forced the gray qi to stall, halting its advance.

“It does retain a considerable amount of its former ferocity. Let me test it further!” The voice of the horned youth echoed from the blue light. A figure slowly emerged—the handsome, horned youth himself.

He formed a hand seal, and the white horn on his head instantly doubled in length. Behind him, the shadow of a monstrous form flickered into existence.

A crack of thunder! A green lightning arc erupted from his horn.

With a slight tilt of his head, the arc shot forth, expanding to the thickness of a bowl and stretching over ten zhang long.

With another flick of his head, the massive lightning arc blurred, splitting into two, then four, then eight.

In an instant, half the sky was filled with green lightning arcs, roaring deafeningly as they surged toward the bone bird.

The giant bone bird reacted swiftly, redirecting the gray qi from its central head to intercept the terrifying arcs.

Upon collision, most of the arcs transformed into green lightning nets.

Thunder boomed as green light and gray qi clashed midair—one side shrouded in murky gray qi and eerie winds, the other crackling with lightning and thunder.

The two forces remained locked in a stalemate.

Moments later, the horned youth’s expression shifted. With another hand seal, a second lightning arc shot from his horn.

Hundreds more green arcs joined the assault, shattering the fragile balance.

The green lightning surged, forcing the gray qi into retreat. The arcs morphed into electric serpents and thunder pythons, writhing and striking within the gray qi.

The nine-headed bone bird shrieked in unison, its nine mouths spewing black beams of light.

Five beams targeted the green arcs, while four shot toward the blue light below.

Wherever the beams passed, the air scorched, and both lightning and blue light dissipated instantly, as if utterly powerless.

In a flash, the nine beams pierced through the horned youth and the fish-eyed man hidden in the blue light—only for their bodies to burst like bubbles, revealing them as mere illusions.

A hundred zhang away, space rippled as their true forms reappeared.

“Well? How much of its former ferocity do you think it retains?” the horned youth exhaled, addressing his companion.

“Less than half—perhaps only a third,” the fish-eyed man replied without hesitation.

“Agreed. If it still had ample ferocity, it wouldn’t have resorted to its soul-extinguishing beams so soon,” the youth mused grimly.

“So, Brother Min isn’t giving up on the Yin Qi of the True Spirit and plans to fight in earnest?” the fish-eyed man chuckled darkly.

“Since this nine-headed corpse lacks sufficient ferocity, I won’t abandon the Yin Qi. But it’s odd—this corpse shouldn’t have the power to produce such vast and pure Yin Qi,” the youth frowned, eyeing the endless black mist.

“True. Unless there’s a second corpse hidden within, what does it matter? If there’s too little, we’d struggle to divide it fairly,” the fish-eyed man smirked.

“Fair point. I’ll go all out and finish this quickly,” the youth nodded.

“Likewise,” the fish-eyed man’s expression turned cold.

Enraged by its failed attack, the nine-headed bone bird plunged into the mist below. With a piercing cry, a colossal shadow erupted from the fog, dragging miles of mist with it. The mist coalesced into black plumage as the bird charged the duo.

Though confident of victory, the two couldn’t help but tense.

The horned youth transformed into a hundred-zhang-tall bronze-armored monster, wreathed in green lightning, and charged fearlessly.

Meanwhile, the fish-eyed man summoned a golden trident. With a wave, its three tips glowed blue, white, and yellow. His body swelled into a giant fish-headed humanoid, wielding an equally massive trident.

Swinging it, he conjured waves, gales, and lightning, joining the fray.

Deafening clashes erupted, shaking the earth and air, the battle’s roar echoing for miles.

Such a commotion was impossible for Han Li to miss.

Without hesitation, he activated the Wanlong Pearl’s restrictions, observing the distant battle from his cave.

At the sight of the nine-headed bone bird’s colossal form lurking in the black mist, Han Li gasped.

“To think such a horror lurked within the Black Nether Mist… I walked through it last time without awakening it. Pure luck,” he muttered.

Had the bird attacked him then, with its power rivaling two Body Integration-level beings, he’d have stood no chance.

Watching the massive spiritual vortex and churning mist caused by the battle, Han Li’s eyes narrowed.

The two aliens seemed to hold the upper hand, and the fight was drifting toward his cave.

“No, I can’t stay. Whether they reach me or not, now’s the time to leave. Once they finish, it’ll be too late,” Han Li resolved.

In a flash, he vanished as a green streak, reappearing moments later in his herb garden.

Before him stood rows of ten-thousand-year-old Golden Lightning Bamboo, lush and vibrant.

Taking a deep breath, Han Li swept his sleeves toward the bamboo…