Time passed bit by bit, and the slight trembling of the great hall never ceased.
Clearly, the battle had been exceptionally fierce. Occasionally, earth-shattering booms would pierce straight through the barriers outside, echoing endlessly through the great hall.
Yet whether it was
A full six hours passed before the trembling of the great hall finally came to an abrupt halt, but wave after wave of terrifying fluctuations came sweeping in amid the sound of explosions.
These fluctuations were not something ordinary cultivators or low-tier demon beasts could produce—high-ranking existences on both sides had entered the fray.
Judging by the density of the fluctuations and the explosions that seemed to reverberate across the entire battlefield, the demon race appeared to have thrown all their elite forces into the fight at once. Otherwise, the battle could not have been so intense.
Han Li silently pondered this, though his expressionless figure remained perfectly still within the magic formation.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek tore through the barriers outside and carried straight into the great hall, making Han Li's ears tingle with a faint pain.
"Not good!"
Han Li's heart cried out in alarm. Without a moment's hesitation, he flicked his sleeve. A swirl of gray, misty radiance unfurled and transformed into a curtain of light that enveloped the entire hall. Then his gaze flickered toward the thirty-six green-robed male cultivators.
He saw every one of these cultivators clutching their heads and groaning in agony, with faint traces of blood seeping from their ears.
Han Li furrowed his brow and let out a cold snort from his nose.
The snort seemed bone-chillingly cold, yet the moment it entered those cultivators' ears, it was as though sweet dew had descended upon them. The pain on their faces was immediately more than half relieved, and they each straightened back into their cross-legged seats to regulate their breathing.
A full meal's time passed before these cultivators managed to fully suppress the discomfort in their bodies, their complexions mostly recovered.
"Thank you for saving us, Senior!" The leading cultivator stepped forward with a look of deep gratitude and bowed deeply to Han Li.
"It's nothing. With me here, naturally I won't let any harm come to you. But if a mere cry carries such power, it seems a demon lord must have joined the battle as well. You won't be staying here much longer—use what time you have to recover your vital energy." Han Li spoke evenly.
"Yes, Senior. We will do our best to recover as quickly as possible. We certainly won't hold you back." The male cultivator shuddered inwardly, and after agreeing, hurriedly closed his eyes and resumed channeling his energy.
Han Li pondered for a moment, then sent his spiritual sense piercing through the barriers once more to probe the outside.
Near the city walls at this point, the Four Heavenly River Treasures were nowhere to be seen. As for the demon beast army that had numbered in the tens of millions, fully ninety percent of them had been wiped out. The survivors were mostly mid-tier and higher existences, each one covered in wounds.
As for those super demon beasts, it was unclear what kind of treasure the human and yao tribes had deployed, but they had been nearly annihilated. Only about seven or eight remained on the battlefield, each one extremely feeble in aura, seemingly unable to contribute much.
At the foot of Sky Abyss City's towering walls, the demon race's armored legions had taken the place of the fallen beasts, their numbers reaching seven or eight million. Strangely, however, only those at Nascent Soul stage and above could take to the air—all the rest could do was sprint along the ground.
In some heavily guarded secret area within Sky Abyss City, a super-formation composed of over a thousand small magic arrays was being activated. The invisible barrier it emanated enveloped not only Sky Abyss City but also the surrounding vast expanse of territory.
This was none other than a colossal anti-flight restriction. But unlike ordinary anti-flight restrictions, this one appeared to affect only the demon race. Regardless of their cultivation level, the human side could still fly through the sky and traverse the earth.
Yet whether in numbers or in strength, the demons far surpassed the city's garrison warriors and ordinary cultivators. Even under this disadvantage, they surged like a tide onto the city walls, plunging into a chaotic melee.
Sky Abyss City's once mysterious and intricate protective barrier had long since vanished without a trace, shattered by the demons at some unknown moment.
But what truly determined the outcome of the battle was not these ordinary demons and the regular cultivators defending the city, but the clusters of fierce battles between high-ranking existences above the city walls.
Groups of existences at the Deity Transformation stage and above had formed into a dozen or several dozen battle clusters of varying size, fighting ceaselessly across the sky.
Roiling demonic clouds, howling radiance, blinding sword light, and other divine abilities clashed together time and again, transforming into a sky full of luminous rain that flashed across every corner of the heavens. The rumbling of explosions never ceased for a single moment.
Several battle clusters stood out above all the rest!
In one cluster, a mass of pitch-black demonic cloud intertwined with a sheet of deep-blue liquid, spinning rapidly without end to form a colossal vortex over a hundred acres in size.
From within the vortex came the unceasing rumble of thunder, as a figure wreathed in blue lightning and another figure as black as ink fought on and on without end.
Not far from the vortex, a vast expanse of gray light shrouded over a thousand zhang of sky. Within the light, a towering demon figure could be vaguely seen, opening its mouth to belch out gale after gale that transformed into countless wind blades over a zhang long, sweeping toward the opposition.
Facing it was an old man, each hand gripping a massive feathered fan that he fanned furiously. Red and blue radiance flew forth to meet the oncoming hurricane, transforming respectively into surging torrents of water and fire. Remarkably, he was not the least bit at a disadvantage.
In the final battle cluster, a man in black robes held aloft a small crimson drum with one hand while the other hand struck it again and again with a resounding "bang, bang." Rings of pale-red sonic waves rippled outward in concentric circles.