The moment the archaic characters "shield," "repel," and "reflect" flickered into view, the black lotus hovering in the void abruptly transformed, morphing into a layer of dark, murky light screen whose surface shimmered with an ever-shifting crystalline glow.
The Yuan Magnetic Supreme Mountain, which had been plunging downward, slammed into the black light screen—and the instant it made contact, a force nearly identical in magnitude to its own downward momentum surged up from below. After a momentary pause, the mountain was flung violently back into the sky.
As for the golden lightning arcs and azure sword shadows, the moment they touched the black light screen, an equal number of lightning arcs and razor-sharp sword shadows sprang forth from within—except theirs were black as ink. The two sets of attacks collided with a deafening roar, and all of them annihilated each other, scattering into nothing.
This light screen actually possessed the ability to replicate and reflect attacks like a mirror!
How could such a heaven-defying treasure exist!
Han Li's expression changed at the sight, but he still refused to believe what he was seeing. Almost on instinct, his fingers wove through a set of hand seals, and he stamped his foot, channeling a surge of power once more into the black mountain peak.
A torrent of azure radiance erupted from the sole of his foot and flooded into the Yuan Magnetic Supreme Mountain.
The peak let out a howl of wind and thunder as it plunged downward again. Several enormous silver runes blazed to life across the surface of the black mountain, and its entire body erupted with brilliant gray radiance. As that gray glow condensed, it coalesced into a dense thicket of fine gray threads.
A whistling sound tore through the air!
The gray threads trembled once, then shot downward like a torrential storm.
Meanwhile, the second azure mountain peak, secretly urged on by Han Li, also crashed down with far greater momentum than before!
Yet the beautiful middle-aged woman merely wore a cold smile of indifference. She opened her mouth and once more sprayed a plume of pure demonic Qi into the massive purple cauldron.
With a thunderous rumble, the same scene played out.
Not only were the two mountain peaks bounced back once more with nothing to show for it, but the gray threads—sharp enough to pierce metal and shatter stone—were all met and neutralized by black threads that shot out from the black light screen.
This shield formed by the giant cauldron below truly seemed capable of replicating and reflecting every attack.
A faint weight settled in Han Li's chest.
Just then, the silver-robed man struck as well.
He merely tapped the seven-colored treasure pagoda floating before him, and the seven-tiered tower roared, transforming into a massive pillar of light that shot skyward and vanished in a flash.
Standing atop a peak a thousand zhang high, Han Li sensed something and immediately swept his gaze upward with a changed expression.
Far above, in the void ten thousand zhang overhead, a sphere of seven-colored radiance had appeared without warning. It looked small at first, but as it slowly descended, it rapidly expanded until it blanketed most of the sky above.
Startled, Han Li had no time to deliberate. Both hands waved, drawing the two giant mountain peaks back into his body. At the same time, azure light flickered across his skin and he transformed into a streak of azure rainbow, shooting off at blinding speed.
He had no idea what that seven-colored radiance was capable of, but he had absolutely no intention of letting it engulf him.
But at that very moment, the beautiful middle-aged woman below spoke in a frigid voice:
"Trying to leave now? Too late. Stay where you are!"
The instant her words fell, the hand seals in her fingers shifted as she urged the purple cauldron once more.
The black runes circling the mouth of the cauldron shifted and suddenly transformed into a single enormous character—"absorb."
Han Li felt his body grow impossibly heavy. An irresistible suction force enveloped him from below. His escape stalled in midair, and he was forcibly pinned in place, his true form reappearing.
Han Li's expression darkened. With a low shout, golden light flashed behind him and a spectral figure with three heads and six arms materialized.
The phantom's six arms thrashed wildly, unleashing a terrifying aura that abruptly broke free of the suction force below.
Golden spiritual light flickered across Han Li's body, and he was about to shoot away once more.
At that exact moment, a cataclysmic boom echoed from the seven-colored radiance above. A colossal tower ten thousand zhang tall materialized out of the light and came crashing down.
Even with Han Li's extraordinary escape speed, there was no dodging it. The world before his eyes blazed with blinding light, and in the next instant he found himself standing in the void of an entirely different space.
No sky above, no ground below—nothing in every direction but dazzling, prismatic radiance of every color.
Staring at this scene, which felt eerily familiar from not long ago, Han Li blinked and couldn't help but let a bitter smile curl his lips.
"A Sumeru treasure… I've run into this type of artifact again. It looks like this time, things are going to be genuinely troublesome."
He murmured under his breath, then suddenly sensed something. His brow arched as he turned to gaze in a specific direction.
The next moment, the seven-colored radiance in that direction flickered, and massive black demon beasts emerged one after another, silent as ghosts.
A single glance revealed that they were packed dense as a forest, numbering in the thousands—perhaps tens of thousands!
Han Li's pupils contracted. Without a second thought, he shook both sleeves, and seventy-two small azure swords surged forth once more. With a flicker they multiplied into hundreds of azure sword lights, swirling and dancing before him in a protective orbit…
Outside the seven-colored pagoda, the middle-aged man saw that Han Li had been sealed inside the tower and immediately broke into a look of great joy. He waved his hand toward the colossal structure.