Han Li appeared several zhang away, his body wreathed in crackling arcs of lightning, the golden radiance dazzling like a thunder god descending upon the world. The nearby demonic clouds were instantly swept clean upon contact, revealing a space of over ten zhang, unexpectedly trapping the old man within it and exposing his figure without concealment.
“Ah!” The green-robed elder let out a low cry, immediately realizing the dire situation. His body flickered with spiritual light as he hastily attempted to flee.
But Han Li, having risked using Thunder Evasion to close the distance, had no intention of letting him escape. With a flicker of his figure, he blurred forward in a series of afterimages, closing in on the elder in an instant. Both hands shot out simultaneously, unleashing a streak of purple flame and a flash of golden light.
The green-robed elder, shocked by Han Li’s speed, had no time to react. He could only open his mouth, summoning a cyan barrier from his ancient shield to block Han Li’s advance.
The purple flame struck the barrier without hesitation.
A sizzling sound echoed as frigid purple energy rapidly spread across the barrier, encasing the entire shield in thick ice.
“What kind of technique is this? How can it be so overpowering?” The elder couldn’t help but exclaim in horror.
The golden light followed immediately.
With a soft *pfft*, the golden light vanished into the ice wall, only to reappear in a flash before the elder’s face.
The green-robed elder shuddered, instinctively jerking his body to the side. A moment later, he felt a chilling pain in his shoulder—an unbearable agony.
Terrified, he glanced sideways to see his severed arm falling away. Had he reacted a fraction slower, his head would have been next.
The golden light circled once before shooting into the sky, revealing itself to be a tiny golden sword barely an inch long.
When he turned back, he saw a small hole in the ice wall. The golden light had pierced through both the ice and the shield’s barrier as if they were nothing—an unbelievable feat.
But the elder had no time to marvel. Rage and fear surged within him.
He slapped a talisman onto his wound to staunch the bleeding, then glared ahead, vowing to tear Han Li apart for the pain of losing his arm. Yet, where his gaze swept, there was nothing—Han Li had vanished without a trace.
“Not good!” A chill ran down the elder’s spine. Without wasting time searching, he frantically reached for his storage pouch to retrieve a protective treasure.
But it was already too late.
A barely audible thud sounded behind him. His protective spiritual light shattered as something punched through his chest—a hand wreathed in purple flames. In an instant, freezing ice spread across his body, encasing him alive.
A needle-like pain spread through his limbs, rendering him completely immobile. Terror gripped his heart.
Han Li, now standing behind him, showed no mercy. With a flick of his sleeve, a golden lightning net descended, shattering the frozen body into pieces. A black-cloaked infant shot out from the debris, attempting to teleport away in panic.
But Han Li had anticipated this. With a cold snort, the lightning net flared, ensnaring the fleeing Nascent Soul mid-teleportation.
A cruel smile touched Han Li’s lips as he formed a hand seal. The net contracted violently before exploding in a burst of golden light, obliterating the elder’s Nascent Soul completely.
From the elder’s ambush to his utter annihilation, mere moments had passed. The yellow-robed giant and the other demon from Fangjian Mountain had no time to intervene.
Watching Han Li effortlessly kill a mid-Nascent Soul elder of the same rank, the two demons paled in shock.
The yellow-robed elder exchanged a few hushed words with the gale-summoning Tianfeng Zhenjun. Without hesitation, they abandoned their assault on Xuan Ye Wang, withdrawing their magic treasures and retreating into the sandstorm, vanishing from sight.
Xuan Ye Wang, though severely injured, had managed to endure the attacks thanks to his Corpse King physique. Yet, his gaze toward Han Li now carried a hint of unease.
Even at full strength and within his tomb, he doubted he could kill a peer so effortlessly—let alone annihilate their Nascent Soul.
Han Li’s power and methods sent a chill down the old demon’s spine.
“Could he be a late-Nascent Soul cultivator?” Xuan Ye Wang wondered, scrutinizing Han Li again. But his cultivation was unmistakably mid-Nascent Soul. That meant this seemingly young man possessed techniques so formidable they rivaled late-stage experts.
The thought made Xuan Ye Wang inhale sharply. He was fortunate to have only sent avatars after Han Li. Had he pursued him personally for the Golden Light Shield, he might have met a disastrous end.
Since returning to the mountains, he had lost all connection to those avatars—likely destroyed by Han Li. Unease gnawed at him as he blamed their disappearance on the man before him.
Just as he hesitated to speak, the surrounding formation underwent a drastic change, seizing his attention.
The yellow sandstorm darkened, the grains vanishing to reveal the same black sand that had trapped Han Li’s flying swords earlier. These grains, though less dense, shimmered with a sinister black light, filling the storm with an eerie presence.
Accompanied by ghostly wails, the black sandstorm surged inward, pressing toward the center with overwhelming force.
“Damn it! The Mad Sand Old Ghost has unleashed all his Soul-Severing Sand into the formation! Fellow Daoist, ordinary magic treasures won’t block this—you must rely on your own cultivation! But controlling so much sand must strain his mana. Hold out for a few waves, and we’ll survive!” Xuan Ye Wang urgently warned Han Li.
Now trapped on the same sinking ship, he couldn’t afford to lose such a powerful ally. Though he had seen Han Li repel the sand with golden lightning before, the sheer volume now made that impossible.
“Soul-Severing Sand? Such dense Yin energy—it must be refined from souls. No wonder it’s so formidable,” Han Li murmured, floating calmly in the air, showing no sign of defense.
Xuan Ye Wang frowned in confusion, but with the black sandstorm closing in, he had no time to ponder.
He spat out clusters of gray-white corpse flames, forming a protective barrier around himself. Only his millennia-refined Corpse Flame could withstand the Soul-Severing Sand.
In moments, the black sand swallowed him, flames and darkness clashing violently.
Meanwhile, Han Li retreated slowly toward the center. When he could go no further, his brows arched sharply. With a slap to his spirit beast pouch, a black streak shot out, landing before him as a small, disgruntled black monkey—the Tihun Beast, forcibly summoned from refining corpse flames in the Golden Light Shield.
The monkey sniffed the air, its eyes scanning the encroaching black sandstorm before lighting up with delight.
Without needing Han Li’s command, it beat its chest and let out a deep roar. Black spikes erupted from its body as it swelled into a towering, ten-zhang-tall ape, the ghostly face on its back twisting as if alive.
Both the hidden yellow-robed giant and Xuan Ye Wang, struggling against the sand, were stunned by the beast’s sudden appearance.
Before they could speculate on Han Li’s intentions, the ape snorted, unleashing a vast yellow mist from its nostrils. The mist encircled Han Li and itself, glowing brilliantly.
When the black sandstorm crashed against it, thick black smoke billowed forth, only to be swept into the mist.
Deprived of its Yin energy, the black sand lost its luster. The ape grinned savagely, spewing a golden beam that sucked the sand straight into its maw.
In moments, the storm was torn apart, its Yin energy devoured. The surrounding sand gradually lightened from black to yellow.
Hidden within the storm, the Mad Sand Old Man and Tianfeng Zhenjun gaped in disbelief.
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