Chapter 420: The Power of the Gold-Devouring Insects

Han Li was momentarily stunned at the sight of the skull, which immediately reminded him of the Ghost Spirit Sect among the Six Demon Sects.

Disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect also used skull-like magical tools in battle, but their tools were lifeless objects, unlike the eerily vivid black skull before him that seemed almost alive.

While Han Li was still taken aback, the three black banners had already shot forward.

Cultivator Jian let out a loud shout and pointed from a distance. The three banners immediately released dense, interwoven black threads that formed a massive net, descending upon the skull opposite them.

The threads were incredibly fine, gleaming with a faint black aura, clearly no ordinary objects.

As the black threads surged toward it, the skull’s hollow eye sockets flashed with red light. Its jaws chattered soundlessly before suddenly opening wide, spewing forth countless green will-o’-wisps.

The moment the thousands of black threads touched these phosphorescent flames, they ignited spontaneously as if meeting their natural enemy, quickly dissolving into wisps of green smoke.

Witnessing this, Cultivator Jian’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly formed a hand seal, attempting to activate another ability of the black banners.

But the black skull suddenly swelled to the size of a cartwheel. With a single exhale and inhale, it shot out a gray streak that coiled around the three banners before dragging them into its gaping maw.

Then, with a forceful crunch of its jaws, the skull ground the banners to pieces with a series of crisp cracking sounds. Simultaneously, Cultivator Jian’s connection to the banners was completely severed, leaving his face pale.

“Demon, how dare you destroy my treasures!” Cultivator Jian roared in shock and fury, though a trace of fear flickered in his eyes.

Others might not know, but he was well aware—these three banners were ancient treasures from primordial times! They had vanquished countless formidable foes in the past, yet now they were destroyed in a single encounter by that bizarre skull.

At the same time, the thunder and flames released by Hu Yue were also swallowed by another skull, rendering his attack utterly ineffective.

Exchanging a glance, Hu Yue and Cultivator Jian both felt the urge to retreat.

By now, Han Li was also deeply astonished.

He finally understood why the strange man dared to challenge a group of Core Formation cultivators alone—he had formidable backing. Not only did he possess numerous magical treasures, but each also seemed incredibly powerful. It appeared that without intervention, their group might indeed suffer a crushing defeat.

Han Li had no intention of letting that happen. After spending months preparing for this formation, he refused to let it all go to waste for someone else’s benefit.

Moreover, although Han Li had been holding back in front of the other cultivators, he had long wanted to test the power of his Gold Devouring Beetles to see if they lived up to their ranking on the Rare Insects List. The strange man before him, clearly no ordinary Core Formation cultivator, was the perfect test subject.

With this in mind, Han Li glanced at the battlefield again.

Hu Yue and the others were frantically darting through the air, bombarding the two pursuing skulls with low-level spells. Clearly aware that ordinary magical treasures were useless against these demonic objects, they could only retreat and avoid direct confrontation.

As for Jin Qing’s white seal treasure, it had lost its earlier imposing demeanor. Entangled with two flying swords, it was unexpectedly ensnared by white mist from the flower basket, gradually being pulled toward it. Sweat beaded on Jin Qing’s forehead.

Shi Die, standing beside Qu Hun, was only at the Foundation Establishment stage and could do nothing but watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Seeing this, Han Li took a deep look at the strange man and, without further hesitation, flipped his hand to produce a bulging spirit beast pouch.

The strange man seemed to possess exceptionally strong spiritual sense. Sensing Han Li’s gaze, he immediately turned and glared fiercely at him, a murderous glint in his eyes as he reached into his robe, likely preparing to retrieve another magical treasure to deal with Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li decided to strike first.

He gently tossed the spirit beast pouch into the air and flicked a green incantation seal toward it. The pouch trembled, and its opening aimed at the strange man, spewing out dozens of spherical objects.

These spheres, about a foot in size, shimmered in gold and silver. The moment they appeared, they shot toward the strange man as dozens of streaks of light.

The strange man sneered disdainfully at the sight. With a cold laugh, he pulled out a pitch-black dharma wheel from his robe and hurled it without a second thought.

The wheel whistled through the air, expanding several times in size, and spun toward the oncoming spheres.

A series of “bang, bang” sounds echoed as the spheres shattered into specks of gold and silver starlight upon contact with the black wheel, seemingly destroyed.

“Hah, hah…” The strange man laughed maniacally, then pointed at the wheel, directing it to slice toward Han Li.

But at that moment, a faint buzzing sound arose, growing rapidly louder until it became an ear-piercing screech. Everyone turned in surprise, and the strange man’s laughter died as his expression shifted to shock and suspicion.

The shattered remnants of the spheres had come to life, transforming into thousands of thumb-sized gold and silver beetles densely swarming around the dharma wheel. The sharp buzzing was the sound of their beating wings, unnerving to all who heard it.

Han Li gave the strange man no time to recover. With a slight push of his spiritual sense, the Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed the dharma wheel as if possessed, instantly coating the treasure in gold and silver.

“Seeking death!” The strange man snapped out of his daze and formed hand seals, causing the wheel to emit waves of black mist and spin rapidly, attempting to annihilate the strange insects.

But what happened next left him dumbfounded. The black mist had barely appeared when the beetles devoured it in mere bites, leaving not a trace behind.

As for the wheel’s high-speed rotation, while it sent some beetles flying, many more clung tightly to it, seemingly unafraid of its sharp edges.

Seeing this, the strange man looked horrified, while Han Li was inwardly delighted.

In the blink of an eye, the dharma wheel visibly shrank until it was completely devoured by the beetles, leaving nothing behind. The buzzing grew louder once more.

The strange man’s face turned ashen.

Without mercy, Han Li pointed forward, and the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles transformed into a glittering cloud of gold and silver, surging toward the strange man.

Having witnessed the beetles’ power, the strange man panicked. He hurriedly summoned the two black skulls that had been relentlessly pursuing Hu Yue and the others. The sinister objects halted, flickered several times, and flew back to position themselves menacingly in front of him.

Hu Yue and Cultivator Jian, finally given a respite, stopped at a distance to catch their breath, watching in astonishment.

Still uneasy, the strange man produced a small dagger several inches long. After a moment’s hesitation, his expression turned ferocious, and he severed two more fingers with a swift slash.

The two skulls immediately flew over, each devouring one of the fingers, then emitted strange, mournful cries as if delighted.

The strange man’s eyes widened, and he spat out two streaks of black light that shot into the skulls’ foreheads. The two black skulls began to transform, groaning in pain.

With two soft “pfft” sounds, a pair of goat-like horns sprouted from their crowns. The fangs in their grotesque mouths elongated by several inches, appearing razor-sharp. Within moments, their wild hair turned blood-red, fully transforming them into demonic heads.

“Go!” Relieved to see the transformation complete, the strange man endured the pain and pointed his mutilated hand toward the approaching swarm.

With green light flashing in their eyes, the demonic heads obediently transformed into two streaks of black light, emitting long, ghostly wails as they shot toward the beetle swarm.

At Han Li’s command, the Gold Devouring Beetles split into two groups and fiercely charged forward.

The transformed demonic heads opened their mouths wide, spewing jets of phosphorescent green flames several times thicker than before, directly hitting the oncoming beetles and throwing them into disarray, sending them flying back several yards.

The swarm fell into chaos.

A flicker of joy appeared on the strange man’s face, but it vanished almost instantly.

The beetles that had been struck by the phosphorescent flames somersaulted a dozen times before calmly spreading their wings and flying again, completely unharmed.

The strange man’s face was now filled with utter disbelief.

How was this possible? The phosphorescent flames spat by these demonic heads were the Green Abyss Ghost Fire, superior even to Core Flame. How could they fail to burn even these tiny insects?

Although the demonic heads could do nothing to the beetles, the beetles, in turn, were temporarily unable to break through the barrage of phosphorescent flames, resulting in a stalemate.

Frowning deeply, the strange man began considering other strategies.

But then, a buzzing sound, several times louder than before, suddenly arose in the distance. The strange man looked up in surprise, his face instantly turning deathly pale, devoid of any color.