This time, the ancient demon’s attention was entirely drawn to Han Li, who had suddenly appeared behind him. When the demon-refined flying daggers made from Demon Marrow Pills reappeared, his reaction was noticeably slower than before.
Given the eerie speed of these daggers, by the time the ancient demon realized the danger and tried to evade again, it was already too late.
The same scene repeated itself—a thin red line appeared on the demon’s neck, and his other head cleanly rolled off.
Han Li was naturally overjoyed at this sight. But before his smile could fully form, the headless demon’s twin blades, instead of dissipating, suddenly shot toward him as two streaks of black light. Simultaneously, a fierce gale erupted as the headless demonic body exploded into a thick cloud of demonic energy.
Though startled, Han Li had no intention of letting his prey escape. Without hesitation, he formed a hand seal, and the purple fire wyrm he had previously unleashed also self-detonated.
Tiny purple flames, each no larger than an inch, scattered across a ten-zhang radius like rain.
Meanwhile, dozens of golden flying swords swirled densely, instantly obliterating the two black blades. Then, the swords dispersed, releasing arcs of golden lightning that formed a massive golden net, descending alongside the purple flames.
A sizzling sound erupted!
Most of the demonic energy had no chance to escape before being frozen solid within massive blocks of purple ice. The remaining black mist collided with the golden lightning net, vanishing in a series of thunderous explosions.
Still cautious, Han Li formed another hand seal and softly uttered, “Explode.”
The entire golden net detonated, unleashing countless fine lightning arcs that shattered the purple ice. The demonic energy and the countless strands of the ancient demon’s essence hidden within were completely eradicated.
Several treasures fell from the dissipating demonic energy.
Han Li’s eyes lit up when he spotted two objects wrapped in black threads.
With a flick of his fingers, two golden arcs shot out, instantly dispersing the black threads and revealing two slightly dulled golden flying swords—clearly damaged in spirit.
These were none other than his long-lost Emerald Swarm Swords.
Overjoyed, Han Li immediately tested them with his divine sense. The two swords leaped into his hands.
His heart, which had been tense, finally relaxed.
Fortunately, though the swords had been sealed by the ancient demon for years, their spiritual essence hadn’t been completely lost. With a bit of refinement, they could be restored to their former glory.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing and the Silver-Winged Nightfiend, watching from a distance, were stunned as Han Li first wounded the ancient demon, then chased it down and annihilated it completely—even its primordial spirit had no chance to escape. They exchanged uneasy glances, fear evident in their eyes.
As for the newly appeared humanoid puppet, they were utterly baffled, unsure where Han Li had summoned such a powerful ally. There had been no sign of this person when they first teleported in. Could this person’s concealment techniques be so advanced as to evade all their senses?
This thought only deepened their unease.
However, they were no ordinary individuals. Suppressing their doubts, they immediately turned their attention to attacking the barrier below.
Several formation flags around the black teleportation array formed a gray light barrier, isolating the formation within. This barrier also rendered the teleportation array at the other end useless.
A barrage of attacks rained down.
After flashes of spiritual light and thunderous explosions, to everyone’s surprise, the gray barrier proved incredibly resilient. Whether it was the Silver-Winged Nightfiend’s Soul-Severing Threads, the Lion-Hawk Beast’s claws, or even the green orb Xu Qing summoned, all merely caused faint ripples. The seemingly simple gray banners swayed slightly but remained intact.
This sight tightened the hearts of those who had thought the path to escape was now clear with the ancient demon gone.
The Lion-Hawk Beast, the most hot-tempered of them all, grew furious when its claws proved ineffective. With a roar, it unleashed a golden soundwave from its maw, finally causing a deep dent in the barrier.
Seizing the opportunity, Xu Qing commanded his Spirit Rhinoceros Peacock to flap its wings, unleashing a surge of five-colored spiritual light. Meanwhile, Lin Yinping spat out a series of silver orbs, bombarding the barrier. The Silver-Winged Nightfiend condensed countless Soul-Severing Threads into a giant serpent, delivering a final, vicious strike.
Everyone knew their escape hinged on this moment, so they held nothing back.
In an instant, dazzling spiritual light engulfed the barrier.
The gray-white barrier finally cracked. Just then, Han Li and Gui Ling arrived in flashes of light. The humanoid puppet, however, remained hidden.
Han Li’s arrival, though seemingly calm, put the others on edge. As the formation flags snapped in half, several figures lunged toward the teleportation array.
But after a series of explosions, they were forced back, having attacked each other to prevent the others from escaping first.
“Fellow Daoist Han, what is the meaning of this?” Xu Qing demanded, his face dark as he held the green orb, glaring at Han Li.
“The meaning? You should ask yourself that,” Han Li replied with a faint smile, golden swords floating before him while he gripped the Three Flames Fan, which sent chills down the others’ spines.
“The first group to teleport must include me. I don’t trust you human cultivators!” the Silver-Winged Nightfiend declared coldly, his wings shielding his body.
“That’s a problem,” Han Li said, his smile vanishing. “This small teleportation array can only carry two at a time. If the first group destroys the array outside, those left behind will be trapped here to die.”
As they spoke, the Lion-Hawk Beast and Gui Ling closed in, creating a tense standoff.
Just then, a cold, furious voice echoed from the direction of the palace:
“You dare kill one of my Sacred Clan before my very eyes? None of you will leave alive!”
The voice, icy and piercing, belonged to the black-robed woman—the incarnation of the Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha.
Having sensed the ancient demon’s death, she had finally freed herself enough to vent her rage.
The Black Wind Banner in her hands unleashed nearly half its power, shattering the Nine Truths Demon-Subduing Formation. Even the Eight Spirit Ruler above the palace summoned eight spirit beast phantoms to attack her, but under the banner’s near-invincible offense and defense, they couldn’t harm her.
Originally planning to dismantle the formation before subduing the ruler, she now burned with murderous intent upon losing her last subordinate.
With a cold expression, she spat several mouthfuls of blood essence onto the small banner in the air, then rapidly formed hand seals.
The banner erupted with blinding black light, swelling into a massive flag over ten zhang long, covered in purple runes and swirling black mist.
The surrounding hurricanes intensified, their destructive force increasing. The gales tore through the Nine Truths Formation, shattering its altar. The golden blades within spun wildly, signaling the formation’s imminent collapse.
As for the Eight Spirit Ruler, its full power wouldn’t manifest until she approached the palace. For now, its eight beast phantoms harried her, but the Black Wind Banner’s cyclones sent them reeling.
Hearing the black-robed woman’s chilling words and sensing the sudden intensification of the winds, Xu Qing and the Silver-Winged Nightfiend grew uneasy. If not for their mutual wariness, they would have already rushed into the teleportation array.
“Let Gui Ling and Lin Yinping go first,” Han Li proposed urgently, seeing the dark clouds gathering and the black wind pillars merging in the distance. “Gui Ling is a demon beast and acquainted with the Silver-Winged Nightfiend. I trust her not to abandon me. Lin Yinping’s departure should reassure Xu Qing. The Lion-Hawk Beast and Xu Qing can go next, followed by me and the Silver-Winged Nightfiend. We must act now—delay invites disaster!”
Xu Qing and the Silver-Winged Nightfiend, sensing the spatial anomalies, reluctantly nodded. There was no better plan, and further hesitation risked annihilation.
Gui Ling and Lin Yinping stepped toward the teleportation array.
But as soon as they set foot inside, the array flashed white—someone was teleporting in from the outside.
Han Li and the others were stunned.
At that moment, the black-robed woman’s voice rang out coldly from the palace:
“Chaos Parts the Heavens!”
A pitch-black beam of light shot into the sky, then paused midair. The heavens split along its path—one side remained bright, while the other was swallowed by endless darkness. The black curtain spread rapidly, soon covering most of the sky and descending upon Han Li and the others.
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