He formed a rapid one-handed seal, and a column of black energy shot skyward from behind him, within which a phantom of a golden demon with three heads and six arms could faintly be seen.
With a casual wave of four of its arms, four enormous golden blades materialized in its grasp, and each one slashed downward in a bolt of golden blade-light.
The blade-light, once released, stretched a full thirty meters in length, its momentum utterly terrifying. Despite the demon man, the woman, and the demon beast all deploying their own techniques to defend, they were forced backward by the sheer force.
Seizing the opportunity, Han Li retracted his doppelgänger and the silver firebird in a flash, his body transforming into a blinding streak of cyan light that shot out through the doorway.
The leopard-lynx beast likewise recalled its illusory clone and followed close behind in a ball of golden light.
The demon man and the woman in green saw this and immediately realized something was terribly wrong. After exchanging two quick voice transmissions, the man mounted the white demon bird and gave chase without hesitation, while the woman hurriedly flew toward the quarters where the Core Disciples were staying.
Moments later, when the woman arrived before a side hall, her face turned utterly dark.
The hall's main gate had been shattered, and the several layers of protective formations arranged around it had been completely torn apart.
Moreover, several demon guards clad in green armor lay sprawled across the ground in front of the gate, knocked in every direction.
The woman in green let loose a curse from her lips, then, wasting no more time, opened her mouth and released a piercing, shrill howl that pierced straight through the clouds.
In an instant, the entirety of Xunxiang Fortress was thrown into chaos. The low-cultivation Greenwing natives immediately shut their doors and barred their windows, while the higher-ranking demon clansmen emerged from their dwellings with shocked expressions, flying at full speed toward the source of the howl.
At the same time, Han Li had already regrouped with the leopard-lynx beast and was heading without a moment's hesitation toward the most remote corner of the fortress.
Not far behind him, the demon man sat atop the white demon bird, giving his all to maintain the pursuit.
When the woman's howl reached his ears, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly. The demon man behind him, however, his expression turned savage. He took a deep breath and was about to unleash his own long howl in response.
But just then, Han Li suddenly flung something backward. Several hundred gold-and-silver talismans shot skyward simultaneously, then vanished in a flash within the void.
A thunderous boom!
The ambient spiritual energy between heaven and earth trembled. Within a cascade of five-colored radiance, the spectral image of a grand palace materialized high above, then crashed downward with a deafening rumble.
The demon man's heart lurched with alarm, and he could no longer think of anything else. He waved the white feather fan in his hand wildly at the sky, and several violent gales erupted forth, surging upward to envelop the phantom palace.
The howling winds whipped up sand and stone, seemingly on the verge of blowing the palace illusion apart by sheer force.
But from afar, Han Li let out a cold laugh and pointed a single finger at the spectral palace above.
Ten thousand rays of light instantly erupted from the heights, and the five-colored radiance swept downward in a rolling wave, sweeping every last gust of wind into oblivion without a trace.
Then, with another thunderous boom, the palace phantom descended and sealed the demon man inside before he could react.
The demon man felt the world before his eyes shift, and in the next instant he found himself standing amid a vast expanse of gray mist. In the distance, the faint silhouettes of towers, pavilions, and terraces flickered in and out of sight, leaving him momentarily disoriented.
The Greenwing demon lord's expression changed. Without a second thought, he tossed his feather fan into the air, and it instantly conjured over a dozen gray wind-dragons that roared toward the distant phantom structures.
He understood full well that even if he could break free, he would have no chance of catching up to Han Li again.
And that was precisely how things unfolded.
The moment Han Li saw that the talismans had temporarily trapped the demon man, he formed a one-handed seal without delay.
A crack of thunder!
A pair of cyan-and-white wings materialized behind his back. With a single gentle flap, he transformed into a streak of cyan-white light that shot forward at breathtaking speed. After just a few flickers, he vanished into the darkness.
A short while later, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the milky-white sea of mist nestled between three mountain peaks.
A colossal beam of sword-light, thick as a man's body, slashed outward from within the mist. Wherever the cold gleam passed, the entire sea of mist was cleaved in two.
The mist scattered frantically in every direction, as though the fortress's grand protective formation had been shattered in a single blow.
But once the cyan sword-light flashed and disappeared, two streaks of radiance shot out from a corner of the mist-sea, circled once, and then pierced through the sky toward the horizon.
Moments later, several furious roars echoed from beneath the mist, and a handful of multicolored lights of escape shot after them in hot pursuit.
Of the two streaks leading the way, one bore a slender figure — the young woman in feathered robes — and the other, a figure in cyan robes, was Han Li.