Chapter 426: Deception

“Are you human or ghost?” Jin Qing suppressed the fear in his heart and asked somewhat unnaturally.

“Human? Ghost? What do you think?” The eerie shadow chuckled darkly, its words full of mockery.

Upon hearing this, Jin Qing’s face turned extremely grim.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained silent and, without any warning, swiftly unfurled the scroll in his hand.

Countless firebirds surged out, swarming directly toward the eerie shadow. At the same time, the giant bird that had been battling the strange serpent let out a sharp cry, abandoned its fight with the opponent, transformed into a mass of scorching white flames, and shot fiercely toward the eerie shadow.

Seeing this, the eerie shadow snorted disdainfully. “A Zhiyang Bird? If it were the true form of this bird, I might have feared it somewhat. But now, it’s merely a remnant soul—how dare it imitate others in devouring ghosts and vanquishing demons?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the green shadow raised its hands, and the black energy around its body instantly converged into its palms. Two soft “puff” sounds followed.

The black energy on its hands shot out, transforming into two single-horned ink-black pythons that flew into the flock of firebirds, wreaking havoc and devouring them. With each lunge of their massive jaws, several firebirds were sucked into their mouths. The threads of white fire spat by the firebirds couldn’t harm the two demonic pythons in the slightest.

Just then, the white flame mass transformed by the giant “Zhiyang Bird” arrived. However, it ignored the two ink pythons and instead shot straight toward the green shadow’s main body.

Seeing this, the green shadow’s eyes flashed with a red light that grew even more vivid. Though its body remained still, a hint of solemnity subtly emanated from it. Clearly, facing the remnant soul of the “Zhiyang Bird,” the shadow was not as relaxed as it claimed.

With a “thud,” the green shadow shook its hands, and the two horned pythons detached, moving independently.

Then, it clenched its fists and struck them together fiercely. Emerald flames blazed fiercely over its fists. In a flash, it lunged forward, throwing a powerful punch at the white flame mass.

To Han Li and Jin Qing’s astonishment, the white flame mass shattered upon impact, scattering in all directions and vanishing in an instant. A milky white crystal pearl suddenly appeared on one of the green shadow’s fists.

The eerie shadow let out a sinister laugh and, without hesitation, swallowed the crystal pearl. Then, its icy gaze turned back to Han Li.

At that moment, the scroll in Han Li’s hand spontaneously ignited. He hurriedly threw it aside, and it instantly turned to ashes. The firebirds still entangled with the two ink pythons also vanished one by one as the scroll turned to dust.

Han Li took a deep breath.

Although he had known that these “Zhiyang Bird” clones were no match for the opponent and had only used them to test the waters, he hadn’t expected the green shadow to effortlessly destroy this treasure specifically designed to suppress ghosts and demons—without even revealing its full capabilities.

The only certainty was that the opponent was definitely not a mere ghost or demon!

Han Li watched the green shadow expressionlessly, silently calculating his chances of victory if he were to engage it in combat.

“Not bad. You’ll do! I’m quite interested in your body now. The other two can leave!” The green shadow stared at Han Li and slowly uttered these words, as if Han Li’s earlier attack had provoked its anger.

Qu Hun naturally didn’t move an inch, but Jin Qing, upon hearing this, was filled with conflicting thoughts, his expression shifting uncertainly.

Though they hadn’t yet fought directly, the opponent was truly unfathomable. Even teaming up with Han Li, Jin Qing estimated their chances of victory were slim.

Now, hearing the eerie shadow offer him a way out, Jin Qing’s resolve wavered.

Having witnessed so many cultivators meet gruesome deaths before his eyes today, this usually self-assured cultivator, for the first time, felt a desire to preserve his life and live to fight another day.

“What? Not interested in the chance to live? Then I’ll just put in a little more effort and turn both of you into dried corpses!” The green shadow snorted coldly, its voice sinister as it glanced at Jin Qing and Qu Hun.

Hearing the murderous tone in the eerie shadow’s words, Jin Qing’s face flushed and paled several times. Finally, he clasped his hands toward Han Li and said shamefully, “Brother Han, I have no wish to perish here. I must apologize for this.”

With those words, he hurried toward the stone steps without another glance at Han Li.

Han Li’s expression remained unchanged, showing no signs of abandonment or anger, though a faint coldness lurked in his eyes as he watched Jin Qing leave.

The green shadow’s red eyes, however, revealed a hint of triumph.

Just as Jin Qing rushed past the scattered white bones, another shocking turn of events occurred.

The nearby skeletal remains suddenly launched an attack on him, shooting toward him like arrows from a crossbow.

Jin Qing was both shocked and furious. A silver light flashed around him, enveloping his body. But before he could question the eerie shadow or summon his magical treasure, the white bones radiated a brilliant white light and pierced through his silver protective barrier as if it were nothing.

In an instant, Jin Qing’s body was riddled with holes. Without even a chance to utter a word, he collapsed heavily to the ground.

Han Li glanced indifferently at the corpse on the ground and shook his head slightly.

Then, he flipped his hand, and a spirit beast pouch appeared in his palm. At the same time, the two flying swords before him trembled, emitting a faint green glow.

“Interesting! Aren’t you going to ask why I broke my promise?” the green shadow sneered.

“If you truly wanted to say it, you would have volunteered the information without being asked. If not, asking would be a waste of breath,” Han Li replied expressionlessly.

“Not bad! Kid, you really suit my taste. If I hadn’t suffered a great calamity, I might have taken you as my disciple. But now, I will never take another disciple in this lifetime. Instead, I will grind all my former rebellious disciples to dust and refine their souls!” The green shadow sounded somewhat surprised at first, but its voice soon turned icy and menacing.

Han Li’s expression remained unchanged. With a wave of his hand, Qu Hun, who stood behind him, released a protective blood light and took two steps to stand side by side with Han Li.

He had no intention of wasting words and prepared to strike with thunderous force. At the same time, the other Green Bambose Cloud-Swallowing Swords within him were ready to be summoned at any moment.

“Blood Refinement Divine Light! Well, well! Are you disciples of Jiyin or Jixuan?” The green shadow trembled slightly upon seeing the blood light around Qu Hun, then laughed in extreme anger.

Han Li frowned, a slight change in his expression.

“Jiyin? Are you referring to the Jiyin Island’s Patriarch Jiyin?” Han Li asked calmly. He had a vague feeling that he might be on the verge of uncovering the secrets behind the Black Fiend Cult and Jiyin Island’s techniques.

“Patriarch Jiyin! How dare that rebellious disciple call himself a patriarch?” Upon hearing Han Li’s words, the green shadow flew into a rage and began hurling a stream of curses.

Han Li was stunned! This ghostly figure was actually the master of that Patriarch Jiyin? How bizarre!

Just as Han Li was utterly shocked by the other’s words, a green light flashed around him, followed by a dull thud from behind.

Startled, Han Li instinctively turned to look, but there was nothing behind him.

“Not good!” Almost instantly, Han Li realized he had been tricked. He swiftly turned his head back and, without a second thought, released the other seven flying swords to protect himself.

Controlling nine Green Bambose Cloud-Swallowing Swords at once was Han Li’s current limit.

Sure enough, as he turned his head, the sword light formed by the nine flying swords released a pale golden “Evil-Warding Divine Lightning.” A fist-sized green light mass vanished into nothingness under the electric arcs.

Cold sweat poured down Han Li’s back. He had almost fallen into the opponent’s trap.

“Golden Lightning Bamboo! Your flying swords are forged from Golden Lightning Bamboo!” The green shadow now emitted a voice filled with disbelief.

Han Li let out a cold laugh and was about to mock the other when he sensed an unusual fluctuation in the air beside him.

He instinctively leaned aside, but a familiar blood-red light pierced through his chest, causing blood to gush out instantly. Immediately after, a yellow light shot fiercely toward him.

A clear “clang” rang out as several flying swords simultaneously deflected the yellow light, revealing its true form—the Mixed Essence Bowl.

“Qu Hun!” Han Li shouted in shock and anger toward the side. First attacked by the Blood Spirit Drill and then assaulted by the Mixed Essence Bowl, it was clear something had gone terribly wrong with Qu Hun.

But the figure beside him flickered, and Qu Hun, as if hearing nothing, shot toward the green shadow.

Though Han Li’s spiritual sense was still connected to the split soul within Qu Hun, for some reason, he had completely lost control over Qu Hun’s body.

The green shadow let out a wild laugh and transformed into a green rainbow, charging toward Qu Hun.

Han Li’s face turned deathly pale, but he gritted his teeth, formed a hand seal, and spat out the word “Retrieve!” fiercely. From Qu Hun’s forehead in the distance, a small green light mass flew out and swiftly shot back into Han Li’s body, vanishing.

At that moment, the rainbow light transformed by the green shadow had already merged into Qu Hun.

Han Li pressed a hand against the wound on his chest while glaring viciously at the “Qu Hun” opposite him.

“Qu Hun” slowly opened its eyes, revealing a pair of blood-red pupils.