The condensed Taiji diagram merely spun once before splitting into countless overlapping shadows, pressing down toward the blood-robed youth.
The youth felt the air around him tighten as immense forces surged from all directions, causing the crimson whirlwind he had summoned to burst apart with a muffled explosion.
The tremendous force swirled violently, forming a massive vortex that engulfed both the youth and the skeletal figure beneath him, threatening to tear them into countless fragments.
The youth and the skeleton beneath him suddenly felt an overwhelming weight, rendering them completely immobile.
“Not good—it’s a Profound Heaven Sacred Treasure!”
The blood-robed youth’s expression changed drastically as he hastily summoned a massive black seal from his hand.
The seal spun rapidly, expanding to the size of a pavilion before unleashing countless beams of black light, smashing fiercely toward the Taiji diagram.
With a thunderous boom, the Taiji diagram wobbled slightly, its surface flashing once before repelling the seal effortlessly.
The youth clearly hadn’t expected a single strike to break the restriction. With a low growl, his body twisted rapidly, merging entirely into the crimson skeleton beneath him.
The next moment, the three heads of the skeleton suddenly opened their mouths, spewing forth a black talisman, a purple jade pendant, and a sphere of bloody light.
The moment these three objects appeared, they exploded simultaneously—transforming into a surge of black demonic energy, a mass of purple radiance, and a cloud of crimson threads—all of which burrowed into the skeleton’s body.
Instantly, eerie demonic patterns of three different colors spread across the skeleton’s surface. After a pained howl, its body swelled violently, barely managing to break free from the surrounding restraints.
Its six arms then swung six shadowy demonic weapons together, merging them in a flash of black light into a single long-handled weapon resembling a crescent-moon blade.
The skeleton’s six eyes gleamed with malice as its six crimson hands gripped the weapon, slashing it toward the Taiji diagram in the sky.
A black blade-light over a hundred zhang long tore through the air, slicing the Taiji diagram in two with a faint black scar.
The skeleton felt the surrounding pressure lessen significantly and, overjoyed, immediately attempted to flee in a streak of bloody light.
But at that moment, the silver-haired elder and Golden Zen Master in the distance simultaneously spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which vanished into the air as mist.
The two halves of the Taiji diagram trembled violently, merging back together in a flash of light and resuming their rotation.
The skeleton, having just risen into the air, was abruptly crushed back down by the renewed force, once again immobilized.
Furious, the blood-robed youth hidden within the skeleton swung his weapon wildly, sending countless black blade-lights like soaring dragons to tear apart the Taiji diagram.
Yet no matter how fierce the attacks, the diagram would instantly reform, keeping the skeleton trapped.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired elder and the monk continued to burn their essence blood to sustain the treasure, their bodies visibly withering at an alarming rate.
Realizing the dire situation, the youth gritted his teeth—four of the skeleton’s six arms suddenly exploded, their fragments coalescing into a pair of massive, blood-misted bone wings on its back.
With the remaining two arms forming seals, the skeleton flapped its wings violently, managing to rise once more.
But it was too late.
A golden eagle formed from the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles shot toward the skeleton, its talons aiming for its back.
“Not good!”
The skeleton swung its weapon desperately, but within the Taiji diagram’s suppression, its speed was drastically reduced.
The golden eagle was struck by the blade-light, exploding into thousands of golden beetles that swarmed over the skeleton.
In moments, every inch of its body was covered in fist-sized golden insects, their gnawing sounds horrifying to behold.
Despite being a treasure transformed by the Blood Light Saint Ancestor, the skeleton shrieked in agony as the beetles devoured it at a terrifying speed.
Within moments, half of its body was gone.
The silver-haired elder and the monk rejoiced.
“Truly mature Gold Devouring Beetles! It’s astonishing that Fellow Daoist Han can control so many at once,” the elder said excitedly.
“Indeed. The one-time-use sacred treasure gifted by Lord Mo Jianli was perfectly timed. Had we used it earlier, we wouldn’t have caught this demon off guard,” the Golden Zen Master agreed, visibly relieved.
Meanwhile, Han Li appeared beside the skeleton, his hands hidden in his sleeves, expression unreadable.
Inside the skeleton, the blood-robed youth panicked.
As the skeleton shrank to a few zhang in size, he gritted his teeth and formed a seal.
A deafening explosion erupted—the skeleton’s remnants burst into a bloody halo, scattering the beetles.
But a dozen of them, Han Li’s potential Gold Devouring Beetle Kings, ignored the shockwave and latched onto the youth’s back, biting viciously.
Screaming in pain, the youth ignored them and transformed into a streak of light, attempting to escape.
Han Li watched calmly, a strange glint in his eyes.
Suddenly, a dozen faint golden beast phantoms appeared before the fleeing light, unleashing a flurry of claw strikes.
Though the beasts were repelled, the youth’s escape was delayed—just long enough for the beetle swarm to engulf him again.
His desperate attempts to shake them off failed.
Within moments, his body was devoured entirely, his nascent soul unable to escape.
The beetles then dispersed, returning to Han Li in a golden storm.
With a flick of his sleeve, he recalled them all, finally relaxing as he surveyed the empty space beneath the Taiji diagram.
The diagram shattered into motes of light.
The elder and the monk spat more essence blood, their bodies further withering—but their faces were alight with triumph.
“Hah! The demon is finally dead! Fellow Daoist Han, did you also eliminate that Demon Commander?” the silver-haired elder asked, his eyes dim but his voice jubilant.
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