The thunder ball hovering in the sky naturally showed no mercy. Pressing downward, arcs of lightning erupted in massive sheets and lashed into the insect swarms below.
In an instant, black and white lightning danced wildly through the dozen-odd clusters of insects. Many spirit insects were scorched black and fell from the high sky like a rain of arrows.
Though the Devouring Gold Insects possessed bodies close to indestructibility, the weaker among them still suffered significant injuries under the savage bombardment of the True Lightning Tribulation. Thanks to their rugged constitutions they had not lost their lives, but quite a few fell unconscious on the spot.
However, the remaining Devouring Gold Insects and the dozen or so candidate Insect Kings, battered by the thunder ball's frenzied assault, snapped fully awake from their daze.
The moment those Insect Kings let out piercing shrieks, over ten thousand Devouring Gold Insects swarmed toward the thunder ball in a frenzy, wrapping it into a blazing golden sphere and desperately devouring the lightning's power.
The instant the insects pounced, even more arcs of black and white lightning surged from the surface of the thunder ball, weaving together and bombarding the insect swarm without restraint.
As a result, while the thunder ball shrank rapidly under the insects' voracious assault, even more mature Devouring Gold Insects succumbed amid the crackling arcs and lost consciousness.
In the span of just a few breaths, the ordinary mature Devouring Gold Insects began tumbling from the thunder ball one after another. Only the dozen or so Insect Kings remained stubbornly latched on, ferociously devouring the lightning's power.
But by now, the black and white thunder ball no longer cared about these Insect Kings. With a deafening roar, it plunged directly toward Han Li far below.
At this point, the thunder ball had shrunk to roughly a quarter of its original size.
Yet even so, its diameter still spanned several zhang. Countless arcs of light crackled around it as it fell, its momentum still utterly terrifying.
Thanks to the Devouring Gold Insects' brief resistance, however, Han Li had just completed his Nirvana Sacred Body transformation.
The moment he saw the thunder ball descending, the demonic ape let out a heaven-shaking roar, its body swelling to a colossal size of several hundred zhang amid a halo of purple-gold light, while four solid arms shot skyward.
Layers of silver spirit patterns emerged across the ape's body and circulated rapidly, converging into all six arms and forming dense arrays of silver runes of varying sizes.
Silver light blazed brilliantly!
The next instant, a sharp tearing sound erupted!
The silver light across the ape's six arms condensed, manifesting as gleaming silver arm-gauntlets that encased each arm from fingertip to shoulder in seamless coverage.
But upon closer inspection, one would notice that these four gauntlets were composed of countless exquisitely crafted silver scale-plates, each one bearing a faintly visible miniature rune array that radiated a mysterious aura.
Han Li had simultaneously employed the Nirvana Sacred Body, the Acute Awakening Art, and the newly perfected Hundred Meridian Treasure Refining Art — three divine abilities unleashed at once.
Even for Han Li, this was the first time he had ever combined all three.
Yet upon sensing the terrifying power surging through his body — power that felt as though it could rend space itself — Han Li gained ameasure of confidence that he could withstand the final blow.
The four arms wrapped in silver gauntlets drew back slightly, then pressed slowly upward. Four piercing wails that could split the sky erupted from the void.
The four palms blurred and instantly manifested as four colossal silver hand-phantoms, which struck the descending black and white thunder ball in a flash.
A cataclysmic boom that shook earth and sky thundered through the void once more!
The phantom hands solidified as though they were real, their ten fingers sinking like silver hooks halfway into the thunder ball, while tremendous force surged from their palms and crushed inward toward the ball's core.
Under this tremendous pressure, the black and white thunder ball shrank rapidly, but the black and white arcs it discharged showed no mercy, lashing savagely at the four giant hand-phantoms.
Each time a phantom hand took a lightning strike, the light in the demonic ape's eyes below dimmed slightly, and its aura weakened by another fraction.
In the blink of an eye, the four giant hand-phantoms had endured hundreds of lightning strikes, and the demonic ape's aura — Han Li's transformed state — had vanished by nearly half once more.
But just then, the ape below let out a thunderous roar. The four silver hand-phantoms swelled once more, suddenly doubling in size.
The ten fingers of the four giant hands spread apart and enveloped the entire thunder ball within their grip. Ignoring the fiercer backlash of arcs flaring between their fingers, their palms erupted with blinding silver light.
Countless five-colored runes swirled forth from within the light, and the enormous force it unleashed surged several times over. With a savage clenching of the fingers, the thunder ball — already reduced in size — was crushed and burst apart.
The exploding black and white thunder ball instantly transformed into innumerable arcs of black and white lightning that bombarded everything in the vicinity. The four silver giant hand-phantoms were obliterated in an instant amid the interweaving web of lightning.
The ape coughed up a mouthful of vital blood. The silver gauntlets on its four arms let out a mournful wail, then flickered wildly before shattering inch by inch, dissolving into motes of silver light that vanished without a trace.