Space rippled!
A light cough rang out, and amid flashing golden light, a figure stumbled into view from an impossibly far distance.
It was none other than Han Li, who had already withdrawn the Nirvana Sacred Body and reverted to his original form.
But at this moment, his face was even more devoid of color, his azure robe in tatters, half his body blackened and scorched, with a faint smell of charring still clinging to the air.
As for the arm sealing the Profound Heaven Sword, the dark-green spirit patterns on its surface had faded completely, revealing clean and translucent skin beneath, though the faint-green sword scar was still visible — and far more distinct than before.
Han Li's aura had diminished by nearly half compared to before. Though he had survived the Golden Giant Crab's full-power strike, his vital essence had been truly and severely depleted.
Seeing this, a flash of savage ferocity crossed the golden-robed middle-aged man's face before vanishing. Clenching both fists, his figure blurred and disappeared on the spot.
The Golden Giant Crab, after landing its second strike, did not immediately fall back into slumber, but it hung motionless in the air, showing no intention of striking again.
Not far away, Han Li had barely steadied himself, but the golden-robed man's movements could not escape his notice. His expression shifting, he rolled toward the ground and transformed into a five-colored phoenix roughly ten feet long.
The phoenix flicked both wings, and five-colored radiance erupted wildly across its body before it flashed into the void and vanished without a trace.
The next instant, where the phoenix had disappeared, two pitch-black demon hands the size of houses tore through the air and slammed together. The void within an acre of space roared, convulsing and warping as though collapsing in on itself.
Then, as black qi surged and churned, a demon-god-like figure over thirty zhang tall materialized out of thin air nearby.
The face covered in black scales was none other than the golden-robed man, who had undergone demonic transformation.
But now, his body had not only swelled to dozens of times its original size and was covered head to toe in black scales — a single green horn had also sprouted from his crown, with faint purple lightning crackling around it. His appearance bore a striking resemblance to Han Li's earlier First Nirvana Transformation, even down to the aura, which was some fifty to sixty percent similar.
Finding that his strike had failed to keep the severely weakened Han Li was somewhat unexpected, but the golden-robed man snorted coldly. His enormous head turned, and he spoke in a deep, rumbling voice: "I didn't expect that in this state, you still had the strength to tear through the void. Granted, you borrowed the phoenix's body to do it, but even I have to admit — not bad."
The direction he was looking was precisely where the Golden Giant Crab was positioned.
And the instant his words fell, five-colored radiance flashed above the Golden Crab, and Han Li's phoenix form emerged from within, flickering as it reverted to human shape amid the glow.
This further transformation had weakened his aura yet again, but after hearing the demonified golden-robed man's words, his expression remained unchanged. He merely regarded the other's transformed state with a hint of curiosity before speaking slowly: "With such an arrogant tone, you must be one of the supreme powers of the Demon Realm. Among the Demon Realm's several Ancestors, I have never met either Six Extremes or Nirvana. I've heard that Six Extremes is a woman, while Nirvana is the only one among the Ancestors to have cultivated the Nirvana Sacred Body to the Mahayana stage. That being the case, your identity is self-evident. But your cultivation is only marginally stronger than a late-stage Integration cultivator — you haven't entered Mahayana yet. It appears that only an incarnation has come."
"Hmph, I didn't expect that besides myself, someone else could cultivate the Nirvana Sacred Body to the Second Nirvana stage — and a mere Integration cultivator at that. But after taking two strikes from the Sacred Crab, you're gravely wounded. The thought of escaping my hands now is nothing but wishful thinking. Surrender your life." The golden-robed man snorted coldly, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.
With a low roar, ten thousand streaks of black light erupted from his body, and his frame grew to a colossal size at an inconceivable speed, transforming within moments into a monstrous entity over a hundred zhang tall. Demon qi roiled through the surrounding void, surging up toward the heavens.
Han Li's expression shifted slightly, and from within his sleeve, one hand curled its five fingers inward.
Immediately, a flash of spirit light appeared in his palm as an entirely pitch-black ring materialized, which he seized firmly.
It was none other than the spirit beast ring filled with Gold Devouring Beetles!
Han Li's spiritual sense still retained its former power, enough to command the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles and over a dozen candidate insects.
Moreover, he still had his Golden Body and Spirit Body unrevealed, plus the Leopard Qilin Beast. He believed that as long as the Golden Giant Crab did not strike again, even if this Nirvana Sacred Ancestor's incarnation deployed the Nirvana Sacred Body, he could still hold his own in a fight.
Thus, until this point, Han Li had maintained his composure.
However, when his gaze swept downward to the Golden Giant Crab, a thought struck him, and the motion of releasing the spirit beast ring froze. He suddenly addressed the Golden Giant Crab: "The Nirvana Sacred Ancestor offered Creation Dew as a sacrifice to enlist your aid twice. If I were to offer something, could I similarly persuade you to act on my behalf just once?"
"Of course! Immortal or demon — so long as you can provide the sacrifice I require, I will lend my aid." The Golden Giant Crab was not the least bit surprised, answering immediately in its droning hum.
Hearing this, Han Li's heart soared with joy.
Though he still harbored considerable doubt about whether the Green Liquid from the mysterious Small Bottle was truly the Heaven-Reaching Creation Dew, in his current predicament, he could only try a desperate remedy and hope for the best.
But before he could make his move, wild laughter rang out from the demonified golden-robed man across from him: