The object flashed with light, revealing itself to be an unassuming scroll.
The scroll flew above the green sphere and slowly unfurled, projecting an image bearing countless golden flying swords.
It was none other than the "Ten Thousand Swords Diagram" that Han Li had only recently finished refining.
The moment the diagram opened, a torrent of sword qi surged skyward, and a wave of golden sword light swept outward from within the painting.
Once the golden light flickered and vanished, the green sphere that had been floating in front of the sword diagram had completely disappeared.
It had been absorbed directly into the Ten Thousand Swords Diagram.
A hint of a smile surfaced on the blank face of the green-skinned spirit body. With a single-handed seal manipulation, the golden sword diagram slowly closed once more, transforming back into a scroll that hovered silently in the void.
At that same moment, the golden giant ape reached one massive hand toward the sky.
A thunderous boom erupted!
The phantom image of palace towers that had been faintly visible thousands of zhang above, held in place by some mysterious force and unable to descend, suddenly spewed ten thousand zhang of resplendent light from its base. The scroll was whisked up into the air with a whoosh and drawn into the phantom in the blink of an eye.
Then, as waves of multicolored radiance churned and rolled, a vast expanse of white mist materialized around the palace towers, engulfing all the structures in its surging embrace.
At the same time, within the area enclosed by the Nine Palace Heavenly Firmament Talisman— The Ten Thousand Swords Diagram began to tremble violently. After a layer of golden light circulated across its surface, a muffled boom sounded and the scroll slowly began to open once more.
But before it could unfold more than halfway, the phantom image of a seven-colored pagoda suddenly emerged from within the diagram.
The next instant, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering detonation thundered through the area. The scroll burst apart on the spot, sending countless spears of golden radiance scattering outward from the explosion's halo.
A seven-colored sphere of light shot out from the midst of the debris, gone in a flash.
It was precisely that seven-colored miniature pagoda.
However, upon the pagoda's surface, a deathly pale face could faintly be seen flickering in and out of visibility — the youth whose consciousness was fused with it.
His complexion was ghastly white, his expression a mixture of shock and fury. It was clear that the recent exertion of driving the pagoda had gravely depleted his vital energy.
But before the seven-colored pagoda could unleash any further abilities, the golden radiance that had scattered from the explosion suddenly blazed into blinding brilliance.
Piercing shrieks filled the air as golden flying swords materialized one after another around the seven-colored pagoda — each one gleaming with golden light, all identical in size, but so numerous that one's gaze could not reach the end of them.
The entire region had transformed into a true sea of swords, golden light filling every direction one looked.
The human face fused upon the seven-colored pagoda was visibly stunned by this sight.
But in the very next instant, all the flying swords let out a shrill, mournful wail. Their tips shifted ever so slightly, and every last one locked unerringly onto the seven-colored pagoda.
"This is bad!"
The youth's face upon the pagoda underwent a dramatic change at the sight of ten thousand swords all trained upon it, even though his expression had always been exceptionally cold and detached.
The seven-colored pagoda— In the span of a single breath, the surrounding golden flying swords trembled as one, and tens of thousands of sword beams shot toward the pagoda simultaneously like a tempestuous storm.
Though the seven-colored halo possessed truly formidable defensive power, under the frenzied onslaught of so many sword beams, its spiritual light began to flicker wildly within moments, clearly on the verge of collapse.
But Blood Light's avatar, merged as one with this pagoda, naturally could not simply stand by and do nothing. Under such savage bombardment, however, there was no time to deploy any other technique.
With a resigned grunt, he funneled a vast torrent of spiritual power surging into the pagoda. In an instant, the seven-colored halo steadied once more, re-solidifying to its original state, and as it spun rapidly, it deflected a portion of the sword beams away.
But the golden sword light swirling and attacking from every direction was simply too abundant — and they showed no sign of being destroyed or diminished.
Just as Blood Light's avatar managed to catch a brief reprieve, the next wave of sword beams came screaming in. After another ferocious barrage, the seven-colored halo flickered into instability once again.
Left with no choice, the avatar had no option but to draw upon the Magical Power within his body and pour it into the pagoda yet again, reinforcing the defense first and foremost.
For a time, the seven-colored miniature pagoda was trapped firmly in place, completely powerless to break free.
At the same time, outside the area enveloped by the Nine Palace Heavenly Firmament Talisman, the giant ape that Han Li had transformed into sensed the situation unfolding within and felt a surge of joy.
With a thunderous roar, his massive body lunged toward the other side — straight for the leading youth, who was currently locked in a temporary stalemate with the Gold Devouring Beetles.
Below, the spirit body's surface flickered with spiritual light as it prepared to fly over as well.
But the very next instant, the sharp sound of something tearing through the air echoed from the horizon. A streak of blood-red light appeared and shot straight toward them.