"You truly are no ordinary Spirit Integration cultivator — to be able to teleport the two of us here out of thin air. The ability to directly construct teleportation formations is quite rare indeed! But did you really send us here expecting to face both of us at once?" The long-robed elder fixed his gaze on the colossal Dharma idol behind
"Neither of you are here in your true forms, so what would be wrong with facing two at once?" Han Li smiled lightly, his tone utterly casual.
"All talk is easy, but the price for speaking such words will be your life." The long-robed elder's rage twisted into a strange laugh. He formed a single-handed seal, and a streak of blood-colored light erupted skyward behind him. In the blink of an eye, it coalesced into the phantom of a massive crimson insect over a dozen zhang long.
The insect phantom was blood-red throughout and strikingly plump in shape, bearing a disturbing resemblance to an enormous silkworm — save that its head bore an additional gaping maw bristling with fangs. The sight was nothing short of monstrous and terrifying from a distance!
*Boom!*
The instant the insect phantom appeared, its massive jaws yawned open and a beam of blood-colored light shot forth.
The moment the blood light left the giant mouth, it blurred and split apart, transforming into countless blood-red threads that surged toward Han Li in a sweeping torrent.
"Bring it on."
The smile vanished from Han Li's face as he gave a low shout. Behind him, the Dharma idol's six arms moved in unison.
A deafening series of sonic booms erupted as countless golden fist shadows materialized before him, condensing into brilliant spheres of golden light that hurtled toward the dense web of blood threads.
*Booming* thunder rolled in an endless cascade.
The instant the golden fist shadows made contact with the blood threads, they detonated one after another in bursts of golden radiance. The resulting shockwaves swept outward in all directions, forcibly holding the blood threads at bay.
The long-robed elder let out a cold snort at the sight, his hands flying through seals before his fingers jabbed sharply toward the blood threads.
A startling scene unfolded!
The dense curtain of blood threads suddenly writhed and twisted as though come alive. With a mere tremor, they flickered and vanished into the void.
The next instant, space rippled before Han Li, and countless blood threads hissed outward like a torrential downpour, raining toward him in a savage barrage.
Han Li's expression shifted slightly. His feet never moved, yet his body slid backward several zhang in a smooth glide. Beneath him, the azure sword lotus spun rapidly and swelled, its petals unfurling into multiple layers of shimmering azure light screens that materialized before him.
The moment the blood threads pierced into the azure sword barriers, the flashing green light shredded them to pieces.
Of the overwhelming number of threads, not a single one managed to penetrate the light screens. Every last one dissolved into drifting wisps of blood mist.
The stench of blood immediately permeated half the sky.
Yet strangely, the long-robed elder in the distance, having witnessed the futility of his attack, showed no sign of disappointment. Instead, the corner of his mouth curled upward ever so slightly, a strange gleam flickering across his features.
At that moment, Han Li seemed to sense something. His gaze swept sharply toward the winged woman on the other side.
His eyes flashed with an unusual blue radiance, and his expression darkened as he discovered something. After his vast spiritual sense scoured the surroundings at lightning speed, one of his arms abruptly cracked and bulged larger, and he drove a fist backward behind him with blinding speed.
*BOOM!*
His fist blazed with resplendent golden light, as though forged from pure molten gold, and the force of the strike carried with it faint peals of thunder.
At precisely the same moment, in the void where his golden fist was headed, a nearly imperceptible ripple shimmered — and a translucent, winged, graceful silhouette materialized from the distortion like a phantom.
The golden fist vanished in a flash and arrived at the figure's head, striking with merciless force without a shred of hesitation.
In that instant, the eerie figure seemed almost to have stepped forward of its own accord to meet the blow.
The figure's pale face registered a flicker of surprise, but its body merely twisted subtly, and its form blurred once more.
A violent gust of wind roared past as the golden fist tore through the winged silhouette's head — but it struck nothing but empty air, as though it had passed clean through the void itself.
Only then did the already blurred figure truly shatter and dissipate like a bursting bubble.
"Escaped!"
Han Li pivoted with ghostly swiftness, his gaze locking onto another patch of nearby void. His brows rose slightly as he murmured to himself.
At the spot where he looked, space rippled faintly once more, and the winged figure flickered into view again, its cold gaze meeting Han Li's in kind.
It was the winged demon woman.
And yet near the long-robed elder, another winged woman remained hovering silently in place, identical down to the last detail — expression, attire, everything.
"In all my years among Spirit Integration cultivators, I have never seen anyone who could cultivate illusion and concealment techniques to such a degree. Had I not cultivated the Spirit Eye and possessed a reasonably powerful spiritual sense, I might well have believed you were still standing there without having made a move," Han Li said evenly. And the instant his words fell, he extended a single finger and tapped lightly toward the winged woman beside the long-robed elder.