Only then did they see clearly that the figure standing beside the white-bearded elder was a young man who appeared to be around twenty years of age.
Who else could it be but Han Li!
But before these high-rank demons could recover from their shock and rage to seize control of their treasures back, a fluctuation rippled through the air overhead. A streak of golden light shot out from within, and with inconceivable speed it circled around them in a blur before flickering into existence over a dozen zhang away in the void.
The light condensed, revealing a yellowish strange beast roughly a zhang in size.
The creature had a slender body that resembled a leopard, and atop its head were two small horns brimming with an almost dripping luster of emerald green, lending it an air of profound mystery.
The moment it appeared, it swept its gaze across the four demons with a toss of its head.
Its eyes carried an astonishingly human-like look of mockery.
And in an eerie turn, all four demons stood frozen in place, each wearing a peculiar, strained expression on their faces.
But in the very next instant, countless thread-thin lines of blood suddenly surfaced across the four demons' bodies. Then, under the white-bearded elder's stunned gaze, they collapsed into piles of chopped flesh.
A rain of blood cascaded down from the sky, plunging directly into the demon clouds below.
The low-rank demon beasts within the clouds, once splattered with this demonic blood, went berserk on the spot. They let out wild roars and began tearing into one another.
As for those demon soldiers, they were dumbfounded with terror. Without knowing who had shouted first, several hundred demons abruptly wheeled around and fled at full speed.
None of them gave a single thought to the demon beasts that had devolved into chaos behind them.
Han Li's expression darkened when he saw this.
Since he had already made his move, he certainly wasn't about to let these demons escape. He immediately transmitted a voice message to the Leopard Kirin Beast: "Leave the demon beasts to you. I'll deal with those demons myself!"
The yellowish strange beast gave its furry head a slight nod upon hearing Han Li's words. Its body lunged forward and blurred, instantly splitting into dozens of pale golden phantom images that shot like lightning toward those low-rank demon beasts.
As for Han Li, he didn't move a single step from where he stood. He merely raised one sleeve, and a palm emerged, gleaming.
Five fingers closed in what appeared to be a casual grip toward the center of his palm.
A clap of thunder rumbled!
A ball of golden lightning instantly coalesced within his clenched fist, flickering with piercing golden radiance.
But the moment his five fingers abruptly released their grip, the golden light in his palm surged explosively. Countless finger-thick arcs of electricity shot out in a dense, blinding barrage.
Under the sky full of flashing golden light, each arc vanished and reappeared in a teleportation-like flicker behind the fleeing demon soldiers' backs, striking them mercilessly.
With the suppressive effect of the Divine Deviation Thunder, these low-rank demons stood no chance of resisting.
After a series of booming detonations, the demons' bodies along with their armor all disintegrated into flying ash amid the golden light.
Where the lightning had passed, the surrounding demon clouds and demonic winds were swept clean.
By now, under the dozens of phantom images conjured by the Leopard Kirin Beast, those low-rank demon beasts met the same fate as their high-rank masters moments earlier, also hacked into piles of bloody flesh.
From start to finish, the entire affair lasted no more than a few breaths.
The white-bearded elder hadn't even had time to react before the pursuers who had nearly killed him were all dead to the last.
"Thank you, Senior, for saving us! Senior, might you be an Elder of Heavenly Abyss City?"
The white-bearded elder finally came back to his senses and hurriedly cupped his fists toward Han Li, his face brimming with wild joy.
"Mm, you could say that. What sect are you cultivators from? Why weren't you hiding properly? What are you doing out here? Don't you know the area around Heavenly Abyss City has long been demon territory?" Han Li glanced at the elder with an unchanged expression and asked mildly.
"Reporting to Senior — this humble one and our group are cultivators of the Huoli Sect. Our sect's hiding place was unfortunately discovered by the demons, so the entire sect had to relocate here. We never expected that the teleportation array ahead would be ambushed by the demons. We nearly perished right there." The white-bearded elder didn't dare be careless and replied with extreme deference.
"Is the teleportation array ahead really under demon control now? Aside from the ones I killed, are there other high-rank demons stationed there?" Han Li narrowed his eyes and continued questioning.
"There are still several other high-rank demons at the teleportation array, but they're all injured. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent only this small a force to hunt us down." The white-bearded elder held nothing back and answered honestly.
"Several more? In that case, I'll just take care of them all at once. I'd better move quickly — once they get the news, they might panic and destroy the array." Han Li furrowed his brow and muttered to himself. The elder's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this.
By now, the surviving Huoli Sect disciples, led by a hideously ugly old woman, had flown back to the elder's side with various expressions on their faces. The gazes they turned toward Han Li were naturally filled with the utmost reverence.
But before these cultivators could say a word, Han Li had already beckoned to the yellowish strange beast with one hand. With a flash of azure light across his body, he transformed into a streak of azure radiance and shot at tremendous speed toward a canyon deep within the mountain range.