The burly man who had been channeling the residual image of the Broad Yin Treasure Mirror midair was startled upon hearing the cry. His spiritual sense swept urgently toward the black mist below.
That scream had unmistakably come from one of the Bai family disciples he had brought along.
Under normal circumstances, his cultivation would have let him survey the situation inside the formation in an instant. But now, with his power severely suppressed and the formation's own barriers in the way, he could not see clearly what was happening within the black mist.
He could only vaguely sense that the aura of the six disciples originally inside the formation had already been reduced by one.
Before the yellow-haired giant could react in his shock and fury, two more screams echoed out from the black mist in quick succession.
Then two more Bai family disciples' auras vanished in the same bizarre fashion.
"Senior, save me!"
A figure suddenly burst from the black mist, letting out the desperate shriek of a Bai family disciple, and rocketed toward the closest of them — Sovereign Luan Long.
But in this sea of fire, even flying at full speed, how fast could one really go?
Sovereign Luan Long's expression flickered, yet he did not move a muscle from where he stood.
The white-haired elder of the Bai family saw this and a look of utter despair crossed his face. Before he could even manage to curse Sovereign Luan Long, the spot where he had emerged from the black mist churned, and a beam of white light shot out after him — arriving before him, completely unaffected by the sea of fire. In a single flash it struck the fleeing elder.
After one final scream, the protective demonic energy around the old man scattered, and his entire head tumbled from his neck. In its place, a blurry second head suddenly sprouted from the stump — wreathed in pale white light, its gaze red as blood. It cast a cold glance at Sovereign Luan Long, who stood closest.
The moment Sovereign Luan Long's eyes met those luminous eyes, a bone-chilling wave of icy dread crashed from the crown of his head down through his entire body. His blood seemed to freeze in his veins.
Heart pounding with terror, Sovereign Luan Long flicked his sleeve and a bone shield flew out, screaming with ghostly wails as it positioned itself before him.
Just then, two soft pops sounded from within the black mist. Bai Yunxin and another Bai family disciple fled out, faces pale with horror — one streaking toward
The grotesque head that had grown from the elder's neck swept both of them with a vacant stare, then suddenly transformed into a beam of white light and launched itself out of the corpse. With a single blur, it split into two, hurtling toward Bai Yunxin and the other disciple.
In just one flash, it had somehow materialized behind the two of them!
"Senior, save me!"
"Han Li, Senior!"
The other Bai family disciple and Bai Yunxin screamed, their souls nearly leaving their bodies. Each unleashed several defensive demonic treasures — some forming layers of black mist, others swirling into cascading light — to shield themselves.
But that white light seemed to be formless and incorporeal, passing straight through the black mist and the radiance as if they did not exist. With a single flash, it plunged directly into both of their bodies.
The next instant, Bai Yunxin and the other disciple shrieked as their heads rolled to the ground, and two more pale white heads rose from their necks.
The white light had moved so fast that even Han Li and Han Qizi had been unable to lend a hand in time.
Both of their expressions shifted slightly.
Had it not been for the fact that movement techniques were sealed and they were trapped within the fire sea's restrictions, saving those two Bai family disciples would not have been particularly difficult. But now, they could only watch as Bai Yunxin and the other fell on the spot.
Han Li's gaze swept to the headless elder's corpse from which the white light had departed, only to find it already shriveled into a husk — every drop of blood and scrap of flesh gone. The sight was identical to the gruesome remains of several Bai family disciples they had discovered back in the mine tunnels.
It seemed the Bai family members left behind at the outpost had all perished at the hands of this unknown monster.
Yet the two creatures that had split off from the main one appeared to understand that the others would not be as easy to dispatch as the six it had just killed. Though they had occupied the bodies of two Bai family Void Refinement cultivators, they merely watched Han Li and the rest with their blood-red eyes, making no move to attack.
This very restraint, showing that the monster possessed no small degree of intelligence, only made Sovereign Luan Long, Han Qizi, and the other old demons even more wary.
The yellow-haired Bai family man and the purple-haired woman both witnessed the spectacle of the white light splitting in two. They exchanged a glance, and each saw shock and alarm mirrored in the other's eyes. Their lips moved rapidly as they exchanged a quick transmission of messages. Then the yellow-haired giant called out in a booming voice toward Han Li's position:
"Friend Han, you and my little sister deal with this monster first. I, along with Sovereign Luan Long and Friend Han Qizi, will take care of that demonic beast below. Once we've dealt with the beast, we'll join forces with you to tackle the monster."
The moment his words ended, the purple-haired woman's white battle armor blazed with radiant light. Pushing back the surrounding crimson flames, she soared straight toward Han Li.