“Good, very good. You got lucky this time, but for this venerable one, conjuring another heart demon is but a trivial matter. The same trick of yours will never vanquish your second heart demon.” The androgynous voice of the demonic entity rang out, tinged with fury and humiliation.
A black light flashed ahead as a mass of dark mist coalesced out of thin air, writhing and faintly taking the shape of a human figure.
“Next time? There won’t be a next time! To think you’d dare cast spells right before my eyes and still hope to conceal yourself—utterly delusional.” The three-headed, six-armed giant ape that was Han Li let out a deep, resonant growl before suddenly opening its mouth and spewing forth a ball of azure light.
The azure glow was condensed from a wisp of Han Li’s pure spiritual energy, yet within it floated a faintly yellow remnant of incense, exuding a subtle sandalwood fragrance.
The central head of the giant ape flashed with blue light as its massive hands swiftly seized the incense and crushed it between its palms.
*Pfft!*
A silver flame burst forth between its hands, and a wisp of pale yellow smoke instantly dispersed from its grasp.
At the same time, another head of the ape opened its mouth wide, cheeks puffing as it blew forcefully.
With a sharp *crack*, the yellow smoke condensed into a crossbow bolt that shot through the air, vanishing mid-flight.
The next instant, a flash of yellow light appeared not far from Han Li as the bolt materialized and struck the empty void with lightning speed.
A muffled grunt sounded!
The seemingly empty space twisted, revealing a distorted mass of black light with the yellow bolt embedded at its center.
“Hmph, human brat, do you truly believe such a trifling weapon can harm this venerable one? This is nothing more than a triviality to me.” From within the black light emerged a tiny figure no more than a few inches tall, standing defiantly despite the bolt piercing its body. It let out a mocking laugh.
The figure’s features were indistinct, shrouded in an eerie demonic aura that sent chills down one’s spine, as if plunging into an icy abyss.
“Who said this was an ordinary weapon? Whether your true form is indeed a Celestial Demon Monarch or not, this is more than enough to banish a mere wisp of your demonic will.” The giant ape relaxed slightly upon seeing the bolt hit its mark, speaking coldly.
“What? This is—” The tiny figure stiffened, its voice suddenly sharp with recognition as it recalled something from its vast memory.
But it was too late. The yellow bolt exploded with a muffled *boom*.
Thick sandalwood fragrance spread with the yellow smoke, enveloping an area of several acres.
“Impossible! This is Black Nether Sandalwood—a demon-repelling incense! It should have long vanished from this realm! How could you possess it? But don’t celebrate too soon. The next time you attempt to ascend to the Mahayana stage, I will descend in person. You won’t escape so easily!” The tiny black figure, unable to maintain its form under the yellow smoke, let out a furious shriek before its body crumbled into countless holes and dissipated into nothingness.
Clearly, this wisp of the Celestial Demon’s will had been forcibly expelled from Han Li’s consciousness.
The three-headed, six-armed ape swiftly formed hand seals, its body shrinking rapidly until it reverted to Han Li’s human form.
Now, Han Li’s face was slightly pale, his chest rising and falling faintly. The mental and spiritual exertion from his earlier technique had been immense—precisely why he hadn’t used it from the start.
With a glance at where the heart demon had vanished, Han Li showed no relief. Instead, he immediately formed a seal with one hand, his body dissolving into specks of azure light.
Earlier, to prevent the heart demon from influencing his consciousness outside, he had severed all connection with his physical body. Now that the demon was gone, he wasted no time returning to his true form.
The moment Han Li reopened his eyes, he saw that the surrounding gray specks of light had coalesced into five shadowy phantoms, each about ten feet tall, their forms shifting unpredictably as they relentlessly assaulted his protective barrier.
Each strike from the phantoms sent violent tremors through the barrier, weakening it significantly.
The phantoms shrieked eerily, refusing to leave Han Li’s side, their bodies radiating a terrifyingly violent aura.
“Hmph, mere evil spirits formed from miasma dare challenge me? Begone!”
Han Li’s expression darkened. Without hesitation, golden lightning crackled across his body as countless arcs erupted outward.
The five miasma-born demons, engulfed in golden light, were instantly obliterated by the thunderous force, offering no resistance whatsoever.
Yet Han Li’s face remained grim.
At that moment, the defensive formations he had prepared for the tribulation had already been activated, forming multiple colossal barriers encasing the entire stone tower.
Above, eighty-one black flood dragons summoned wind and rain, spewing multicolored arcs of devastating lightning.
Some bolts were mere inches long, while others stretched for miles, raining down like a tempest.
Under the onslaught, the barriers groaned under strain, their light flickering precariously.
Suddenly, the scattered arcs converged midair, forming a single massive bolt as thick as a water pillar. It struck the barrier with a deafening *crack*, shattering it instantly.
Unimpeded, the five-colored lightning vanished from above the tower only to reappear directly over Han Li’s chamber, crashing down.
Han Li flicked his sleeve without hesitation, releasing over a dozen golden arcs.
A thunderous explosion erupted as the golden arcs and the five-colored lightning annihilated each other.
But this was only the beginning. More five-colored lightning materialized within the chamber, descending upon Han Li like a storm.
Narrowing his eyes, Han Li raised a hand, summoning a sphere of azure light that split into seventy-two streaks, vanishing in all directions.
A dragon’s roar echoed!
Countless azure sword energies crisscrossed the chamber, filling every corner before converging above Han Li into a single radiant sphere.
The sphere spun rapidly, its surface flickering with blinding sword light before shattering, revealing a coiling emerald-scaled dragon that lunged forth.
Han Li seized the azure sword lotus midair, transforming it back into dozens of small swords to reform the Emerald Swarm Sword Formation.
This formation, one of Han Li’s trump cards, proved its worth. The emerald dragon soared through the chamber, effortlessly dispersing the five-colored lightning with its sweeping tail.
Meanwhile, the previously shrinking fire clouds had regained their original size. As their spiritual energy churned, fist-sized globs of molten rock began raining down, transforming into crimson fireballs.
Unfazed, Han Li took a deep breath as two miniature mountains materialized before him. With a single slap, grayish primordial magnetic light and invisible sword qi surged forth in waves…
After a full day and night, the eighty-one black dragons in the sky let out a final cry before exploding into dark mist.
The high-ranking cultivators who had lingered nearby were left utterly stunned, both by the tribulation’s ferocity and Han Li’s ability to withstand it single-handedly.
Such a devastating tribulation was unprecedented, yet Han Li had countered it with sheer might, leaving the onlookers in awe.
As the dragons dissipated, a clear, resonant cry erupted from the stone tower, piercing the heavens. Simultaneously, a towering azure pillar of light shot skyward, sweeping away all remnants of fire and darkness, leaving only a sky filled with multicolored runes.
The light retracted, revealing a thousand-foot-tall spectral figure hovering imposingly in the sky—its features unmistakably Han Li’s.
“Eh? Isn’t that Fellow Daoist Han?”
“So it was Senior Han attempting to break through to the late stage! Unbelievable!”
Recognizing the figure, the surrounding cultivators erupted into murmurs of astonishment.
The azure figure scanned the sea of runes before curling its lips into a faint smile. It opened its mouth and inhaled deeply.
The runes trembled before dissolving into countless motes of light, surging into the figure’s maw like rivers returning to the ocean.
Each breath swallowed tens of thousands of motes, and the spectral figure swelled at an alarming rate. As nearby lights were consumed, distant glows were drawn in by an unseen force, hurtling toward the figure to be devoured as well.
“Retreat, everyone! Fellow Daoist Han has overcome the tribulation and is now absorbing heaven and earth’s essence to reshape his spirit! We are within his influence—leave at once to avoid disrupting him!” The silver-haired elder, who had been staring in disbelief, suddenly shouted in alarm.
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