On the square, tens of thousands of cultivators suddenly felt a heavy pressure on their shoulders, as if an enormous mountain had descended upon them. Their bodies became unbearably heavy, and their limbs froze in place, unable to move even an inch.
Han Li, however, swept his divine sense across the black-and-white world in an instant and let out a cold laugh. The golden light of his three-headed, six-armed Vajra Body flashed behind him, transforming into a purple-gold rainbow that soared into the air. After circling once, it shot back toward Han Li.
With a thunderous boom, golden light erupted from Han Li’s body, and he transformed into a massive purple-gold ape with three heads and six arms. The ape pounded its chest with all six fists, and as countless silver-white spirit patterns swirled around it, its body rapidly expanded. In mere moments, it grew to a towering height of seven to eight thousand zhang, appearing to hold up the heavens and earth.
The silver-white spirit patterns shimmered once before converging into intricate silver-white arrays that fused seamlessly into the ape’s body, as if they had been naturally inscribed upon it.
The giant man, witnessing this, felt a chill in his heart. Without hesitation, he raised a finger and swiftly traced a circle in the air.
A thunderclap echoed through the black-and-white world as a massive black-and-white ring, a thousand zhang in diameter, materialized around the giant ape. The ring contracted like a torture device, tightly binding the ape’s body.
The ape lowered its three heads, casting six icy gazes upon the black-and-white ring. A trace of frosty amusement flickered at the corners of its mouths.
With a sudden shake of its shoulders, the ape’s purple-gold fur bristled. The silver-white arrays hummed and glowed brilliantly as an immense, invisible force surged from within its body, crashing into the ring like a storm.
The black-and-white ring trembled violently before being forcibly pried open under the dazzling light. The ape’s six arms moved, each hand grabbing different sections of the ring. With a simultaneous heave, the ring shattered into countless fragments with a mournful cry.
High above, the giant man’s face flushed crimson. Unable to suppress it any longer, he spat out two mouthfuls of faint silver essence blood. Shocked and terrified, he hastily suppressed the backlash of his law power and prepared another spell to counter Han Li.
But the three-headed ape in the black-and-white world had already struck first.
The ape raised all six arms into the air, its fists swirling with silver patterns that coalesced into over a dozen silver arrays. These arrays merged instantly onto its fists.
With a deafening boom, all six furry fists blazed with blinding light. As the ape’s three heads roared in unison, countless fist shadows shot into the sky.
A sharp hissing sound filled the air as the fist shadows transformed into countless silver threads, striking the pitch-black sky at an unimaginable speed. The void was torn apart with a piercing screech.
After a few violent flashes, the entire black-and-white void shattered into fragments, restoring the square to its original state.
The cultivators, who had been struggling under the immense pressure, suddenly felt their bodies lighten as their freedom of movement returned. Overjoyed, they looked up to the sky.
There, the countless silver threads paused mid-air before coalescing into a colossal silver hand, a hundred zhang long. Without hesitation, it swung down toward the giant man below.
The giant man’s face paled, his eyes flickering with panic. But a fierce glint soon replaced his fear as he grabbed his jade fan and swung it at the descending hand. A torrent of seven-colored light surged forth.
At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat out a pitch-black square treasure, which expanded in the wind into a massive brick dozens of zhang long.
A thunderous roar erupted as the seven-colored light and the black brick struck the silver hand simultaneously.
The sky trembled from the impact, but the silver hand merely clenched its fingers, shattering the black brick into pieces and tearing through the seven-colored light with a flash of silver.
In a blur, the silver hand appeared above the giant man and pressed down relentlessly.
Seeing his two treasures obliterated so easily, the giant man was horrified. Not daring to take the blow head-on, he flickered and vanished from his spot.
The distant ape snorted through its central head and suddenly punched the void before it.
With a “puff,” a silver fist shadow shot out and disappeared.
The next moment, the giant man reappeared dozens of zhang away, but another ripple followed closely behind. The silver fist shadow emerged from the void and struck his back.
A deafening explosion erupted as blinding silver light flashed. The giant man’s black armor shattered, and he was sent flying, unable to maintain his enlarged form. He shrank back to his original size.
As soon as he steadied himself, a metallic taste filled his mouth, and he spat another mouthful of essence blood. His aura weakened significantly.
He was utterly terrified.
His black armor, forged from forty-nine rare materials over centuries, was a supreme defensive treasure. Yet it couldn’t withstand a single void strike from his opponent.
This realization shocked him a hundred times more than before.
“I’m no match for him. I must flee!”
Suppressing the pain in his back, the giant man made his decision without hesitation. He transformed into a black streak and shot into the distance, covering hundreds of zhang in a single flash. Another flicker, and he was at the horizon, on the verge of escape.
“Thinking of leaving so easily? Do you take my Grand Ascension celebration for a joke? Sword Chant, Slash!” The ape’s central head boomed.
As the words fell, a vertical black eye opened on each of its three foreheads. Three crystalline beams shot out, transforming into three gleaming swords that vanished into the void.
At the horizon, the giant man was activating a secret technique to flee when his expression suddenly changed. He flickered to the side, narrowly avoiding two of the three crystalline sword lights that slashed down like lightning.
But the third sword struck his waist, cleaving him in two.
A blood-curdling scream echoed as silver blood rained from the sky.
Despite the fatal wound for an ordinary cultivator, the giant man, as a Grand Ascension being, had his upper body eject a shadowy figure. It morphed into a three-to-four-foot-tall figure identical to him.
The figure rolled on the spot, transforming into a black wind that swept up the severed halves and fled into the distance.
“Han Li, I will remember this ‘kindness’ today. Next time, I will repay it in full!” The giant man’s voice, filled with hatred, echoed from the horizon.
“Next time? Let’s see if you can escape my spirit insects first.” The three-headed ape’s purple-gold light flashed as Han Li reverted to his human form. He glanced coldly at the horizon and flicked his sleeve.
Three golden flowers flew out, expanding in the wind into three massive golden insects, each a zhang long and covered in sinister purple patterns.
Without needing orders, the three golden insects circled above Han Li before shooting off like golden meteors, vanishing into the distance. Their speed matched the fleeing giant man’s.
These were the three pseudo-Gold Devouring Kings.
With strength rivaling late-stage Body Integration cultivators, near-indestructible bodies, and terrifying endurance even for Grand Ascension beings, they were perfect for hunting the already severely wounded giant man.
Han Li was confident that even if the giant man escaped, he would be further injured, unable to recover during his flight. At best, he would need centuries of recuperation to regain his former strength.
Meanwhile, the human and demon cultivators and foreign envoys on the square were already stunned by Han Li’s overwhelming power. Witnessing him effortlessly defeat the fearsome Grand Ascension Yaksha and force him to flee with a severed body sent them into a frenzy.
“Senior Han’s might shakes the Spirit Realm!”
Countless human and demon cultivators roared in unison, their faces alight with fervent excitement.
Han Li’s casual defeat of another Grand Ascension being convinced them that after hundreds of millennia, their races had finally found a true Grand Ascension leader capable of guiding them to greatness.
The cheers soared, piercing the barriers and spreading throughout Skydeep City.
Even those who hadn’t attended the celebration joined in the jubilation, though they didn’t know the details. The entire city resonated with praises for Han Li, their voices shaking the heavens.
The foreign envoys, however, wore expressions of awe mixed with wariness. The sudden emergence of such a powerful Grand Ascension cultivator in the human race was a development whose implications were uncertain.
In their unease, they unanimously decided to report this event to their respective races as soon as possible.
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