Under the influence of the formation, the situation had turned back in their favor — it seemed they could hold out a while longer.
Just when Han Li thought they were temporarily safe, something unexpected happened.
A tremendous boom rang out, and a section of ground near the three girls suddenly erupted, sending sand and soil flying as a serpent demon burst forth from beneath.
The creature had the head of a woman with wild, scorched-yellow hair and a hideous, ferocious face. Its lower body was that of a massive snake, and from either side of its serpentine torso sprouted two arms as pale and plump as a baby's. In each hand it gripped a bone spear several feet long, wreathed in undulating wisps of black qi — both appeared to be low-grade spiritual artifacts.
The moment the snake demon appeared, not only did Han Li startle, but Xiang'er and the other two girls, who were currently sustaining the formation, were stricken with alarm. The demon's grotesque face swiveled until its gaze fell upon the three girls running the formation, and a cruel smirk crept across its features. Without a word, it raised one arm and slashed the air toward the girls three times in rapid succession. Three streaks of dark light shot from the spear tips, hurtling straight toward them.
Xiang'er and her companions proved remarkably quick-witted. Snapping out of their shock almost instantly, they yanked the small flags from the formation diagram before them and waved them urgently in front of their bodies.
Three muffled bursts rang out as shimmering veils of spiritual radiance materialized before each girl, shielding them. The dark light slammed into the luminous barriers with a trio of thunderous booms.
Xiang'er and the girl in white managed to hold — though their barriers scattered sparks in every direction, they barely absorbed the impact. But the youngest, the girl in red, had conjured the thinnest barrier of the three. When the dark light struck, her entire body shuddered violently and she was hurled backward, tumbling out of the protection of her own barrier.
The girl in red silently cursed her luck, her face draining of all color. But for the moment she could do nothing to regain control of her body.
The snake demon clearly noticed. Its tail slammed into the ground behind it, and the entire creature flickered forward like a bolt of lightning, reappearing directly beneath the girl in red. One bone spear thrust downward at her without the slightest hesitation.
The other two girls cried out, but they were far too late to intervene. The spear, trailing dark light, was about to pierce the girl clean through —
But at that very instant, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air. A white object flashed past with pinpoint accuracy and struck the dark light dead on.
With a resounding crack, the bone spear was deflected half a foot to the side. Its tip grazed past the girl in red's clothing by a hair's breadth, leaving her ashen-faced. But the interruption gave her just enough time to regain control of her body. She twisted nimbly and landed lightly on both feet.
The white object turned out to be nothing more than an unremarkable stone.
The snake demon froze for a split second, but malice blazed in its eyes. Its other arm moved, driving the second bone spear forward in a relentless follow-up thrust.
However, another whistling sound immediately rang out as a second stone came screaming through the air. This time, the stone was not aimed at the spear — it hurtled directly toward the demon's head.
Given the tremendous force the first stone had displayed, a clean hit this time would likely shatter the snake demon's skull, or at the very least render it unconscious on the spot.
Furious though it was, the demon had no choice but to tilt its head aside while sweeping the bone spear back to block the stone.
Another muffled impact. The snake demon felt a tremendous force travel through its arm and was forced back several steps. Enraged beyond measure, it snapped its head toward the direction the stone had come from.
There, atop one of the nearby turtle carriages, a young man was gazing over with an expression of mild disinterest, casually tossing another similar stone in his hand.
It was Han Li.
The girl in red had long since flickered into the protective barrier of one of the other girls, and only then did she let out a long, relieved breath.
Having been thwarted twice in a row, the snake demon's bloodlust reached its peak. It opened its mouth wide and spat out a billowing cloud of black, murky poisonous gas that surged toward the three girls' protective barriers.
But at that moment, a cold snort came from within another turtle carriage — Nanqi Zi's voice.
"Insolent beast — you dare!"
With those words, a streak of white light shot from the carriage, circling once before slicing toward the snake demon — a crystalline small sword no more than several inches long.
The snake demon's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. It hurled one of its bone spears with all its might toward the nearby carriage, then twisted its body and plunged straight into the sand below.
The moment it sensed the presence of a cultivator, it didn't even dare exchange blows — it simply executed an earth-escape technique and fled the scene.
The bone spear it had thrown, however, was aimed directly at Han Li.
Clearly, the demon intended to kill the mortal who had ruined its plans before making its escape, if only to vent its fury.
Han Li watched the bone spear hurtling toward him as a streak of dark light, and a bitter smile appeared on his face. He made no move to deflect it with the stone in his hand. Instead, he simply stood rooted in place.
The result was a booming impact as the bone spear struck Han Li squarely. His body, utterly powerless to resist, was sent flying more than thirty feet through the air, crashing into a cargo crate on the back of one of the giant turtles and punching a large hole clean through it.
With a clattering cacophony, a pile of cold-gleaming weapons spilled out of the crate and clattered across the ground.
"Ah!"
When the three girls saw what had befallen Han Li, cries of alarm escaped their lips. From inside the carriage, even Nanqi Zi let out a faint sound of surprise.
The small sword circled once in the nearby air, then shot back toward the carriage.
Only then did the girl in red and the others wave their small flags, dispelling the barriers, and hurried toward the wrecked cargo crate.