Though the black mist was extraordinarily dense, under the glow of blue light flickering in Han Li's eyes, he could clearly make out the creatures emerging from it.
They were three towering corpse puppets clad in jet-black armor. One gripped a pair of short halberds glowing with yellow light, another wielded a long spear of deep jade green, and the last one — remarkably — shouldered a massive, gleaming silver mace studded with iron spikes.
All three corpse puppets bared their fangs, their eyes gleaming with an eerie green light. They appeared to be Corpse Kings among the armored class, each possessing cultivation roughly at the Nascent Soul stage. The one carrying the mace was especially notable — its corpse qi was extraordinarily dense, hinting at cultivation already approaching the mid-stage level.
Han Li felt a flicker of surprise, but felt not the slightest fear. He swept his sleeve through the air, sending a small black bottle soaring into the sky nearby. His hands formed seals and poured spiritual energy into it.
Five streaks of ashen-white qi erupted from the bottle, tumbling through the air before several humanoid skeletons shakily materialized. The moment they steadied themselves, their fangs clattered in wild, eerie cackles, and horrifyingly powerful gray-white demonic qi radiated from their bodies. Each one looked utterly savage and malevolent.
"The Five Devils of One Heart?" The Yinluo Sect Master's face darkened the moment he laid eyes on them. After being fellow disciples with Old Devil Qian for so many years, how could he possibly fail to recognize these demons the old devil had painstakingly refined?
But even as alarm churned in his heart, the five devils — under Han Li's driving hand seals — each produced a pair of bone blades and lunged forward without the slightest hesitation.
"Go!"
There was no room for further deliberation. With a silent grit of his teeth, the three black-armored corpse puppets surged forward from the black mist, charging to meet the five devils head-on with no intention of backing down.
Meanwhile, the Yinluo Sect Master flicked his sleeve, and a pitch-black sphere rolled into one palm. His other hand turned over, and a stack of yellow, gauze-like material appeared in his grasp.
But before the Yinluo Sect Master could launch either treasure, the three corpse puppets and five devils had already clashed.
The instant the three black-armored corpses were about to make contact, they opened their mouths and spewed three jets of virulent green qi. Before the blast even reached the five devils, a nauseating stench assailed the senses — this was corpse poison that had accumulated within the three corpses for untold centuries.
If an ordinary cultivator were struck by this toxin, their body would be immediately consumed by the virulent poison, stripping away most of their cultivation. But the five devils were not human bodies — they made no effort to dodge the jade-green corpse poison. Instead, they opened their mouths in kind and spat out five plumes of cold flame, each a different color.
This was no friendly spar. Han Li had resolved to kill the Yinluo Sect Master. That was why the moment the five devils moved, they unleashed the Five Extreme Cold Flames, now fully mastered.
The five colors of cold flame converged at a single point and surged forward as a rolling sea of five-colored fire. It did not merely scatter the corpse poison — with one great sweep, it engulfed all three corpse puppets within its blazing embrace.
The three black-armored corpses, which had looked so savage and terrifying, were instantly reduced to the same state the five devils had imposed on the three skulls of the Six Extremes Supreme Saint's bone banner. Their movements within the five-colored flames slowed to a crawl.
Yet the three corpses were not without their own abilities. Although every motion was sluggish, as if slowed more than tenfold, they radiated ink-black corpse qi from their entire bodies, desperately resisting the cold flames. They did not immediately drown in the sea of five-colored fire.
Seeing this, the five devils did not press their advantage. Instead, they retreated several zhang, merely opening their mouths wider and unleashing continuous streams of bone-chilling flame, preventing the three corpses from breaking free of the five-colored inferno.
The Yinluo Sect Master's expression had grown extremely ugly.
He had never imagined that the three Black-Armored Corpse Kings he had spent centuries painstakingly cultivating from tens of thousands of copper-armored corpses — which possessed tremendous physical strength and bodies as tough as refined steel — would be so utterly suppressed by the Five Devils of One Heart after a single exchange. They had not even had the chance to unleash a fraction of their true abilities.
But what exactly were those flames the five devils were spitting? These five demons were clearly the same ones Old Devil Qian once commanded — so how had they, after being seized by his opponent, developed such bizarre and terrifying powers?
The Yinluo Sect Master's mind raced, a growing sense of dread welling within him. But the two treasures in his hands were already flying into the air without hesitation.
The yellow, gauze-like artifact spun rapidly in midair, then abruptly expanded into an enormous silk net spanning dozens of zhang — like a canopy blotting out the sky — and descended to envelop both Han Li and the five devils beneath it.
The black sphere, meanwhile, drifted forward in an unassuming manner, trailing close behind the net.
Han Li's brow furrowed slightly, but he wasted no time. Opening his mouth, he spat out a small azure tripod.
He struck the tripod with a single palm, and amid a flash of spiritual light, a mass of azure threads shot skyward from within. They spread into a vast curtain of azure radiance that blocked the enormous net in midair, preventing it from descending even an inch.
At the same time, he shook both hands, and the Three Flame Fan and Eight Spirit Ruler appeared in his palms. He waved the Eight Spirit Ruler toward his opponent.
A silver lotus blossomed into existence beneath the black sphere. The sphere, which had not yet displayed any discernible power, was frozen in place — utterly unable to advance another fraction of a step.
Though Han Li did not know what the black sphere truly was, the instant it flew toward him, he had felt an inexplicable surge of alarm in his heart.
Without overthinking, he had first used the Eight Spirit Ruler to lock it down. Only then did his mind ease somewhat.
The Yinluo Sect Master, witnessing this scene, hastily sent out several bursts of divine sense to recall the black sphere. But the treasure appeared to have been nailed to the void itself, utterly unresponsive.