Chapter 1978: Taking Action

Han Li tilted his head to glance at the little girl perched on his shoulder, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips.

This child was none other than the recently awakened Leopard Qilin Beast.

The beast had roused from its slumber just as Han Li was nearing human territory, and its awakening had come with an unexpected shock.

The moment it awoke, the Leopard Qilin Beast had immediately begun its tribulation for the Body Integration Stage.

Given its true Qilin bloodline, the heavenly tribulation that descended was naturally earth-shattering and extraordinarily fierce.

Since heavenly tribulations cannot be easily interfered with by outsiders, even though Han Li was right beside it, he could only watch helplessly as the beast nearly perished in the ordeal.

Fortunately, having devoured the demon core of the Shadow Beast King, the beast had spontaneously grasped several new supernatural abilities, allowing it to endure to the end and barely survive the tribulation, gaining the ability to assume human form.

By then, the Leopard Qilin Beast was naturally covered in wounds.

Had it not been for Han Li’s relentless efforts, sparing no expense in spiritual medicines to save it, the beast would likely have perished.

However, what left Han Li somewhat speechless was that the human form the Leopard Qilin Beast took after its tribulation was that of a girl even younger in appearance than “Qu’er.”

If this were an ordinary human child of such an age, they would likely still be babbling incoherently.

Fortunately, though the girl appeared extremely young, she naturally did not babble like a toddler and could communicate directly through telepathy.

Due to the beast’s unexpected tribulation, Han Li’s return to Tianyuan City was inevitably delayed.

It took several additional months before he could bring the fully recovered Leopard Qilin Beast back to human territory and head straight for Tianyuan City.

His current destination was one of the few hidden teleportation arrays reserved exclusively for the city’s elders.

Since this was a small-scale teleportation array, capable of transporting only one or two people at a time, Tianyuan City had little fear of the demon race discovering it and using it to infiltrate the city directly.

After all, even a Body Integration Stage Demon Venerable, if teleported alone into a heavily fortified and guarded location, would only meet a swift and inevitable demise.

Han Li’s only concern was whether this teleportation array might have been turned into a trap by the demon race, luring human cultivators like moths to a flame.

Of course, even if there were an ambush, given his newly advanced cultivation, he would hardly need to take it seriously.

Now, aside from the avatars of the Demon Saints, he was confident he could defeat any ordinary late-Body Integration cultivator.

The days of being hunted down and forced to flee by Demon Saints, as had happened twice before, were now a negligible possibility.

Those Demon Saint avatars had descended into this realm to command the demon armies—they would hardly waste time lying in ambush for random targets.

Even the likelihood of encountering a Demon Venerable was slim.

With the demon armies besieging Tianyuan City, the demon race’s high-ranking members would not squander their top-tier forces on such trivial matters.

Lost in thought, Han Li accelerated his flight.

The azure streak of light flickered faintly as it soon approached the mountain range ahead.

Just as Han Li was about to plunge directly into it, his expression suddenly shifted, and he let out a soft “Huh.” The glow around him dimmed as he materialized at the edge of the range, narrowing his eyes to peer deep into the mountains.

A piercing blue light flashed in his pupils, and after a momentary blur, everything within a thousand miles was pulled into clear view.

What he saw were dozens of streaks of light in various colors darting frantically toward him from the horizon.

Chasing closely behind them was a rolling mass of dark demonic clouds.

Within the black demonic energy, glimpses of ferocious demonic beasts and armored demon soldiers brandishing weapons could be seen.

At the rear of the fleeing lights, a white-bearded elder was desperately wielding a pair of flying swords—one azure, one yellow—slashing wildly at the demonic clouds.

Each sword strike transformed into a colossal blade dozens of feet long, each time forcing the demonic clouds to a momentary halt.

The power of these two swords far exceeded what the elder’s late-Spirit Transformation cultivation should have been capable of controlling.

However, with each strike, the elder’s face grew paler. When his complexion turned utterly bloodless, he suddenly spat two mouthfuls of vital essence onto the swords.

The sword light flared even brighter than before, and wherever it passed, some of the demonic beasts and soldiers in the clouds were instantly obliterated before they could react.

After several consecutive strikes, hundreds of demon soldiers were reduced to ashes.

But this act had clearly enraged the high-ranking demon hiding deep within the clouds.

With a furious roar, a pitch-black trident shot out from the demonic clouds, expanding to over a hundred feet in length. Amidst a cacophony of clanging, it clashed violently with one of the massive sword beams.

A deafening explosion erupted!

Black light and sword energy intertwined before detonating like thunder.

The massive sword beam dispersed, revealing a severely dimmed flying sword that flew back toward the elder.

The trident let out a mournful cry as it too retreated into the demonic clouds, evidently also heavily damaged.

“You dare damage my treasure?! Once I capture you, I’ll extract your soul and refine it!” the high-ranking demon bellowed furiously from within the clouds.

The demonic clouds surged, doubling in size as they rolled toward the elder.

Seeing this, the elder’s face twisted in horror. Abandoning his grief over the damaged sword, he swiftly retracted both blades and merged with his sword light, transforming into a dazzling streak of azure and yellow as he fled backward.

Thanks to the elder’s desperate efforts, his disciples had already escaped over a hundred miles away.

The demons in the pursuing clouds, however, had no intention of letting them go. With a gust of demonic wind, they resumed their relentless chase.

As the elder fled, he frantically pulled out several pills from his robes and swallowed them without a second glance. A quick look behind confirmed the demonic clouds were still hot on his trail, and his heart sank.

Earlier, he had led two junior brothers into the valley to search for the teleportation array. Despite their utmost caution, they had fallen into a demon ambush, surrounded by seven or eight demons of the same rank.

Had it not been for his two junior brothers sacrificing themselves by detonating their Nascent Souls, severely injuring several high-ranking demons, he too would have perished on the spot.

Even so, he had been forced into a desperate flight, and now the situation was dire.

Though he had appeared formidable moments ago, effortlessly holding off the demon pursuers, the truth was that wielding the sect’s treasures—the “Heavenly Stem Twin Swords”—had drained nearly all his spiritual power.

That was why he hadn’t stayed to continue blocking the demonic clouds.

Now, though most of his disciples had escaped, given their cultivation levels, it was only a matter of time before the demons caught up.

Worse, this was demon-occupied territory. Unless a miracle occurred, true escape was nearly impossible—almost a pipe dream.

The more the elder thought about it, the heavier his heart grew. Knowing the odds were stacked against him, he had no choice but to press on stubbornly.

Thus, the chase continued, and within moments, the two groups had traversed a thousand miles, nearing the edge of the mountain range.

By then, a dozen or so disciples with weaker cultivation had fallen behind, on the verge of being overtaken by the demonic clouds.

The demonic beasts within the clouds growled menacingly, while the armored soldiers bared their fangs in anticipation.

The disciples’ faces turned ashen with terror.

Seeing this, the elder let out a silent sigh and murmured, “So be it.”

His sword light swirled in midair as he turned back, unleashing a dazzling radiance as he charged toward the demonic clouds once more.

A raucous laugh erupted from the clouds, and as the black energy churned, four towering high-ranking demons at the Spirit Transformation Stage emerged simultaneously.

One of them wielded the black trident—the same demon who had repelled the elder’s sword earlier.

The other three were equally formidable.

As the elder’s sword light approached the clouds, the four demons hurled their treasures upward.

A black trident, two pale bone swords, a massive blue sword, and a yellow brick the size of a small mountain materialized in the air. In a flash, they encircled the elder’s sword light, forcing him to reveal his true form.

The four demons channeled their demonic energy, and the five treasures rained down upon the elder with overwhelming force.

The elder could only offer a bitter smile as he mustered the last of his spiritual power, pouring it all into the twin swords.

The azure and yellow blades hummed as they transformed into two colossal beams of light, weaving a dense sword curtain above the elder’s head to shield him.

Though these swords were extraordinary artifacts, the combined assault of the four demons was beyond imagination.

With a single devastating strike, the sword curtain shattered with a piercing screech, and the treasures continued their relentless descent.

The elder’s face was deathly pale as he spat out a stream of azure mist in a final, desperate attempt to deflect the attack.

At this critical moment, a calm male voice suddenly echoed through the air:

“Hmph. A few Spirit Transformation Stage demons dare kill in my presence? Since you’re here, you might as well leave your lives behind.”

As the voice faded, a thunderclap boomed across the sky, and a figure materialized mere feet away from the elder. With a casual upward gesture, the man seemed to grasp at the air.

Something astonishing happened.

The five descending demon treasures shuddered violently as an immense force slammed into them, sending them hurtling back into the sky with eerie wails.

In that instant, the four high-ranking demons lost all control over their treasures.

Their faces twisted in shock and horror.