Han Li actually summoned his Wind and Thunder Wings. With a slight flap, arcs of cyan and white lightning crackled across their surface, and in an instant, his figure transformed into a streak of cyan-white light, shooting forward like an arrow.
The light streak flashed across seventy to eighty zhang in the blink of an eye, soundlessly traversing from one end of the sky to the other.
Such an eerie speed was almost on par with that of a Saint-level being, enough to outpace any existence below that tier. Han Li was gradually closing the gap between himself and the fleeing Liu Shuier and Shi Kun.
Fortunately, it seemed all the Shadow Beasts in the vicinity had been summoned away by their king. Despite his blatant flight, no other Shadow Beasts intercepted him.
After more than an hour, he finally caught up to his targets, spotting their figures in the distance.
Though “caught up” might not be the right term—by the time he arrived, Liu Shuier and Shi Kun had already been forced to halt their escape, locked in a thunderous battle with several Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts.
Han Li narrowed his eyes, clearly observing the scene several li away.
Shi Kun was now clad in a dazzling yellow battle armor, standing firm in mid-air. In his hands, he wielded a pair of crimson war hammers. With each swing, countless fist-sized flames surged around him, and under the hammers’ guidance, the scorching heat coalesced into a faintly visible crimson fire dragon, coiling around him with a menacing, devouring aura.
Above the burly man, a red jade bottle spun incessantly, spewing crimson beams that lashed out wildly in all directions.
To Han Li’s surprise, Shi Kun’s true abilities weren’t earth-attribute techniques but rather the most aggressive fire-attribute spells.
The three Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts surrounding Shi Kun were equally relentless, summoning all their clones to form over a dozen indistinct black shadows, attacking from all directions.
Countless black streaks clashed with crimson light, erupting in bursts of explosive noise.
Though Shi Kun’s hammers were unstoppable, the silver shadows moved with eerie speed, making it nearly impossible to land a solid hit. He could only focus on defending himself.
Moreover, the three Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts didn’t just rely on physical attacks—their third vertical eyes occasionally shot out deadly silver beams.
Shi Kun dared not let these beams penetrate his defenses, forcefully blocking each one with his hammers.
Han Li noticed that wherever the silver beams struck the crimson hammers, the impact points instantly turned black and blue. Even when the crimson glow surged to repair the damage, it took considerable time for the hammers to recover.
Fortunately, the Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts couldn’t continuously fire these beams. Even with their combined efforts, they couldn’t break through Shi Kun’s defenses, resulting in a temporary stalemate.
On the other side, Liu Shuier’s battle with four Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts was entirely different.
At some point, the woman had summoned a dazzling set of silver shuttle weapons—each about a foot long, with one large and seven smaller ones. When activated, they scattered silver light like countless stars in the night sky, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle.
Beyond these weapons, a strange silver dharma form loomed behind Liu Shuier—a silver-armored, delicate-looking woman whose arms multiplied into hundreds of blurry limbs, each wielding an indistinct silver sword that unleashed white sword qi.
With each motion of the dharma form’s arms, countless sword qi surged forth, intertwining with the silver stars from the shuttles to form an impenetrable net covering a hundred zhang radius.
Despite the four Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts’ furious assaults, their clones were relentlessly repelled.
For now, Liu Shuier seemed to hold the upper hand.
Seeing this, Han Li relaxed slightly but also sighed inwardly.
These two had previously claimed they’d struggle against even three ordinary Shadow Beasts. Yet now, facing higher-tier Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts, one was holding his own while the other dominated. Clearly, their earlier words couldn’t be trusted.
But this wasn’t surprising. Even if it were his first encounter with strangers, Han Li wouldn’t reveal his full capabilities either.
The golden Shadow Beast King had likely discerned Shi Kun and Liu Shuier’s cultivation levels but never imagined they weren’t ordinary late-stage Void Refinement cultivators. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have dispatched only these few Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts.
If they were truly average late-stage Void Refinement cultivators, they’d have been overwhelmed by the beasts’ combined strength.
Of course, the current situation didn’t necessarily mean Liu Shuier was stronger than Shi Kun or that the Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts were inferior.
Neither side had gone all out yet—both were probing for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow amidst the fierce exchanges.
Only in a life-or-death moment would their true abilities be revealed.
However, with his spiritual sight, Han Li noticed Shi Kun and Liu Shuier wore grave expressions, tinged with subtle anxiety.
This was understandable—they were deep in the Shadow Beast Forest’s heartland. Though it seemed all the beasts had been summoned away by their king, there was no telling when they might return. If the horde swarmed them, even three heads and six arms wouldn’t save them.
But if they fought recklessly now, the seven Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts’ combined strength was nearly on par with theirs. Even if they exhausted their trump cards to kill the beasts, they’d be severely weakened and injured.
In such a state, how could they escape the forest and evade potential pursuit?
Torn between these dilemmas, Liu Shuier and Shi Kun grew increasingly anxious. Their only hope was for Han Li to arrive swiftly—with three of them united, victory would be far easier.
Han Li’s thoughts raced, quickly grasping their predicament.
He knew they had to end this battle swiftly—protracted combat risked unforeseen disasters.
Expressionlessly, he flicked his sleeve, revealing an object in his concealed palm.
With a flick of his wrist, a black ring shot out, vanishing into the void in a flash.
Simultaneously, his other hand turned pitch-black, wisps of dark mist seeping from his fingertips. Golden light flashed across his body as scales emerged, pushing his Vajra Devilish Arts to its limit.
He then tossed out a black veil, which coiled around him, rendering him completely invisible.
Moments later, near Shi Kun’s battlefield, one of the Silver-Eyed Shadow Beasts—furiously slashing at the dense sword and silver light—suddenly slowed its attacks, suspicion flickering in its eyes.
At that moment, the space behind it rippled, and a white blur shot toward it.
The beast reacted swiftly, swiping backward with its claws before even turning its head.
Black streaks lashed out, colliding with a burst of white light from the blur in a deafening explosion.
Seizing the moment, the beast twisted around, finally identifying its attacker—a translucent white python several zhang long, radiating chilling coldness, its eyes utterly emotionless.
Enraged, the beast prepared to retaliate when a miniature mountain suddenly materialized above it.
With a single rotation, the mountain expanded to over a hundred zhang, silently descending.
Its surface was inscribed with massive silver runes in the Silver Script.
The mountain’s appearance was so abrupt and soundless that the beast only noticed it as it began to fall.
Meanwhile, the white python spat out a blue jade fan, unleashing a wave of freezing blue light toward the beast.
Panicked, the beast tried to evade, but its two companions abandoned Shi Kun to rush to its aid.
Shi Kun roared with laughter, hurling his crimson hammers at the two beasts. The hammers swelled to several zhang in size, their crushing force locking the beasts in place, forcing them to counter the deadly strike.
Trapped, the first beast bristled, its fur shooting out as countless black needles toward the blue light.
It then tilted its head, blasting a thick black beam at the descending mountain.
Though it didn’t expect these hasty attacks to fully block the dual assault, even a slight delay would buy it time to escape.
In the next instant, black light erupted from its body as it split into hundreds of black butterflies, scattering in all directions.
The black beam struck the mountain, halting it momentarily—just long enough for the butterflies to flee twenty to thirty zhang away, nearly escaping the mountain’s range.
But then, a cold snort echoed through the void. Though seemingly ordinary, the sound sent the butterflies staggering, nearly plummeting from the sky.
Simultaneously, the silver runes on the black mountain flared brilliantly.
Grey light flashed at its base, and countless grey threads shot out like arrows.
In an instant, the threads pierced through the disoriented butterflies, sealing their fate.
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