What’s going on? The demon soul was nowhere to be seen under the Spirit Eyes, causing Han Li’s heart to sink. But he took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his unease, and then his body flashed wildly with cyan light as he channeled all his spiritual power into his eyes. Instantly, his pupils gleamed with an intimidating blue radiance, pushing his Bright Spirit Eyes to their limit.
This time, after scanning the area once more, Han Li finally noticed something. His expression changed, and the dozen or so giant tortoises behind him simultaneously flickered with spiritual light. Thousands of ice spikes of uniform size shot out abruptly, enveloping a small area to one side.
Black mist suddenly appeared under the barrage of ice spikes, revealing the double-headed, four-armed demon soul with a look of surprise on its face. Three of its arms now held a magic banner, a ring, and a small sword. Seeing the countless ice spikes raining down, the three treasure-wielding arms waved lightly—black light erupted from the small mirror, sweeping outward; the small sword slashed a few times, unleashing razor-sharp black sword energy; and the newly acquired ring, though it was unclear how the demon soul knew its use, was shaken lightly, releasing countless ring-shaped shadows that densely filled the air with astonishing force.
Before the ice spikes could land, they were shattered mid-air by the power of these treasures. A white chill instantly spread across a radius of over ten zhang, causing the temperature to plummet. However, the demon soul within the mist paid no heed. Instead, it gave a sinister chuckle before vanishing once more in a flash of demonic light. Han Li’s face darkened slightly, and he licked his upper lip with the tip of his tongue.
This ancient demon soul was undoubtedly the most troublesome opponent he had faced since entering the world of cultivation. Even the slightest misstep could lead to his demise here.
At this moment, despite pushing his Bright Spirit Eyes to their limit, the demon soul’s figure remained extremely blurry within the demonic light. Even as it darted around at high speed, Han Li couldn’t lock onto its exact position—only a faint shadow flickering back and forth. Only when the demon soul slowed or stopped could he barely track it.
This immediately put Han Li at a disadvantage. Moreover, maintaining the Bright Spirit Eyes at full power placed an immense burden on his eyes, making it impossible to sustain the technique indefinitely. Once the power of the Spirit Eyes waned even slightly, he couldn’t even see the demon soul’s shadow anymore.
Naturally, Han Li felt frustrated. His only option was to quickly break the demon soul’s concealment or force it to abandon this tactic, making it realize that hiding in the demonic light was useless against him. Otherwise, battling such an elusive opponent would only unsettle him further.
With this in mind, Han Li didn’t stop his movements. He slapped his spirit beast pouch, and a swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed out in a dense cloud. Instead of directing them to attack, he let out a low hum, and the swarm dispersed like golden blossoms, scattering in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, the area within a twenty-zhang radius around Han Li was filled with shimmering golden traces of the beetles.
This way, even if Han Li couldn’t spot the demon soul with his Spirit Eyes, the moment the creature entered the beetle-infested area, he would sense it immediately, preventing any sudden ambush.
Just as the beetle swarm settled, a cold snort echoed from nearby. In the next moment, the demon soul reappeared in a flash of black light, its front head glaring at the golden specks of beetles around Han Li, its expression darkening.
But then, the demon’s brows furrowed, and its heads abruptly swapped places—the ferocious, monstrous visage now faced Han Li, revealing a chilling, sinister grin.
Han Li’s heart tightened, and his vigilance spiked. The monstrous head opened its maw wide, spewing forth a wave of silent black ripples. Wherever the ripples passed, the nearby Gold Devouring Beetles were helplessly swept up, tumbling chaotically from the sky. Instantly, a large gap appeared in the beetle swarm around Han Li, leaving a void in the direction of the demon soul.
The monstrous head grinned cruelly at Han Li before lunging forward. But Han Li’s expression darkened, and he suddenly raised his hand, flicking his middle finger to silently shoot out a walnut-sized golden sphere.
The speed was astonishingly fast—it reached the demon’s forehead in an instant. This was a technique Han Li had grasped in the illusionary realm after consuming the Creation Pill: compressing Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning into a sphere and launching it unexpectedly. The speed far surpassed ordinary lightning arcs, and its power was slightly enhanced as well.
Caught off guard, the demon soul was startled. The lightning sphere was too fast—whether it dodged or used another technique, it was already too late. In desperation, it opened its mouth and spat out a purple shadow like a venomous snake, colliding directly with the golden lightning sphere.
With a muffled *boom*, golden light flashed as the sphere exploded. The purple shadow rebounded with a *whoosh*, and the scent of something scorched quickly filled the air. The monstrous head let out a pained grunt, its gaze toward Han Li turning venomous.
The purple shadow it had spat out was actually its grotesquely long tongue. Though it was unclear why the tongue wasn’t affected by the Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning, the sheer force of the lightning had still injured it severely, giving the demon a nasty shock.
Seeing that his sudden sneak attack had failed, Han Li showed no surprise. Instead, he let out a cold laugh and emitted a clear chirp. At the sound, the golden beetles that had fallen suddenly fluttered their wings and took to the air again, returning to their original positions.
The demon soul’s monstrous face flickered with astonishment, its gaze toward the beetles turning grave. Meanwhile, the silver-haired elder and the others, seeing Han Li engaged with the demon, also summoned their own attack treasures—a white flying sword, a blue jade ruler, and a set of three white shuttle-shaped artifacts—all transforming into multicolored streaks of light as they shot menacingly toward the demon soul.
The demon soul merely cast a cold glance at these items before tossing the three demonic treasures in its arms. A surge of black light swept out, intercepting the incoming treasures mid-flight. The rear head controlled these demonic treasures while muttering an incantation. The demonic light suddenly expanded severalfold, forming a massive barrier that trapped the silver-haired elder’s treasures inside, rendering them useless. The demon soul then simply poured more mana into the barrier, making no further moves.
It seemed the demon soul intended to deal with Han Li—the most troublesome opponent—first before turning its attention to the others.
Han Li frowned at this. Then, the demon soul’s rear head suddenly spoke: “These insects aren’t affected by my Soul-Shaking Demon Art! As far as I know, only a handful of spirit insects in this realm possess such resistance. Judging by their appearance, these golden beetles are most likely the infamous Gold Devouring Beetles. The fact that they were momentarily stunned by the shockwaves means they aren’t yet mature. Otherwise, with so many of them, I’d have no choice but to retreat without the proper demonic tools. It’s a pity I’m not in my true form—otherwise, I’d love to show you the might of our Sacred Realm’s Demon Butterflies. Immature spirit insects like these are their favorite delicacy.”
After delivering this cold speech, the rear head glanced at the ancient demon currently overwhelming Wei Wuyi, its expression turning peculiar.
Han Li’s lips curled slightly, his face remaining impassive. But then, with a flick of his sleeve, dozens of golden swords shot out, swirling around him in a dazzling display.
He rapidly formed a series of hand seals, causing the swords to glow brilliantly, their golden light multiplying as he prepared to deploy the Great Geng Sword Formation.
However, the monstrous head’s eyes flashed with malice: “Since you’re so eager to die, I won’t waste time with you. Devouring another Nascent Soul will only strengthen me for the fight ahead. This body is nearly spent anyway—let me show you the true power of our Sacred Realm’s demonic arts. Prepare to meet your end.”
Whether sensing the threat of Han Li’s swords or simply growing impatient, the demon soul gave Han Li no chance to complete his formation. With a wild laugh, its figure blurred, and it lunged bare-handed into the beetle swarm.
Han Li’s heart sank. Abandoning the sword formation, he willed the beetles to attack. Though the Gold Devouring Beetles were somewhat fearful of the transformed demon soul, under Han Li’s forceful command, they turned ferocious, swarming toward the demon in a frenzy.
The tiger puppet beasts surrounding Han Li also flashed with white light, pouncing on the demon soul in perfect coordination. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Fiend Corpse strode forward, positioning itself protectively in front of Han Li. The giant tortoise puppets at the rear didn’t use their ice spikes but instead raised their heads and fired over a dozen thick blue beams, each as wide as a small tree.
In an instant, the demon soul was engulfed in a storm of attacks.
Han Li didn’t expect these attacks to truly stop the demon soul—only to buy him enough time to complete the sword formation. He believed that even if the barrage couldn’t harm the demon, it would at least slow it down enough for him to finish his setup.
But Han Li had underestimated the true power of the double-headed, four-armed demon soul.
The monstrous head emitted metallic clangs as its arms blurred, its fingers twisting rapidly into a series of bizarre hand seals. Suddenly, a blinding ring of black light erupted from the demon soul’s body, so intense it was impossible to look at directly.
Then, wave after wave of black energy exploded outward, sending the Gold Devouring Beetles and tiger puppets tumbling chaotically. The dozen blue beams vanished upon contact.
At the same time, both of the demon soul’s heads opened their mouths wide, releasing a piercing shriek several times louder than the most horrific bird cry. The sound reverberated through the sky, shaking the very air.
The energy waves dissipated, and the black light dimmed, revealing a glossy, spiked exoskeleton covering the demon soul’s body like a suit of Asura armor. Its aura surged into the heavens.
The monstrous head lowered slightly, fixing Han Li with a savage, bloodthirsty gaze.
Han Li stood frozen, his heart filled with utter dread.
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