Mo Jianli was naturally startled. With a low shout, his protective spiritual light surged violently as he attempted to use his formidable Magical Power to forcibly tear through the fire chains.
But the crimson flames on the fire chains rolled and, as his protective spiritual light swelled dramatically, they blazed with equal intensity.
Mo Jianli pushed his spiritual light several times in succession, but failed to break free from the fire chains for the moment.
The expression on this Human Race Mahayana cultivator's face finally changed.
Just then, that bald Spirit Race cultivator had already activated the dharma aspect behind him once more, waving the seven-colored command medallion again.
With a thunderclap that split the clear sky, the surface of the seven-colored command medallion twisted and blurred, and a fist-sized seven-colored rune shot out from within.
The rune spun rapidly, then suddenly expanded and transformed into a dazzling, hiltless blade of light.
About ten feet long, with crystalline light flowing across its surface, it vaguely took on the semblance of facial features — mouth, nose, and the like — giving off the bizarre impression that it was a living creature.
After Mo Jianli swept his spiritual sense across the dazzling blade of light, even with his Mahayana-stage cultivation, a sudden feeling of hair-raising dread rose within him.
Just then, the blade of light born from the talisman suddenly let out a deafening hum!
"This is bad!" Mo Jianli's pupils contracted sharply. He let out a low roar, and then radiant light swirled around his body as several defensive magical treasures of different designs flew out simultaneously, conjuring layers of spiritual light to shield the space above him.
Bound by the fire chains, these treasures were the fastest defensive artifacts he could deploy. Even had he possessed more powerful defensive measures, there would have been no time to employ them.
Just then, the blade of light in the air blurred and vanished from where it had been.
At the same instant, a flash of dazzling radiance appeared above Mo Jianli's head, and the several defensive treasures he had summoned were silently split in two, one after another — as easy as slicing through tofu.
With nothing left to obstruct it, the blade of light blazed brightly and slashed down ruthlessly toward Mo Jianli's head.
Before it even landed, a thread of piercing, bizarre cold struck first.
At any other time, Mo Jianli could have easily dodged this strike with a simple burst of flight. But in his current state, his body was held fast by the chains, unable to move even slightly. All he could do was watch in alarm and fury as the dazzling blade of light descended upon him.
A fierce look suddenly crossed his face. The radiant light above his crown swirled, and a small figure identical to his true form flickered into view within the glow, holding a pair of silver short swords raised high toward the sky.
This Human Race Mahayana cultivator, seeing the dire situation, had released his fully matured Nascent Soul, preparing to meet this seemingly terrifying blade of light head-on.
With a muffled boom, a figure like a wisp of pale green smoke flashed past beneath the dazzling blade. A single, seemingly effortless punch shattered the blade of light into fragments, and then the figure flickered and appeared over ten zhang to Mo Jianli's side, where the light solidified to reveal its true form.
It was a young man in green robes with a faint smile on his face — none other than Han Li himself.
As it turned out, from not far away, Han Li had spotted Mo Jianli in danger. Without the slightest change in expression, he had used an inconceivable speed to teleport over and block the attack.
"Many thanks for your aid, Fellow Daoist Han!" Mo Jianli was naturally overjoyed. The small figure above his head blurred and then sank back into his crown, vanishing without a trace.
This Human Race Mahayana cultivator finally found his opening. He formed a one-handed seal, murmuring incantations. The glow across his body dimmed, and then he opened his mouth and sprayed a mist of light over himself.
A white beam of light of unknown divine ability immediately swept forth!
The moment the blood chain made contact, it emitted a strange sizzling sound, and under the astonished gazes of the two spirit race men, the rolling crimson flames instantly contracted, while cracks simultaneously appeared across its surface.
It was only then that Mo Jianli let out a hearty laugh, his aura surging violently as both arms moved to pull at his own body.
A series of crisp cracking sounds rang out!
The fire chain shattered inch by inch in an instant.
Though this fire chain was profoundly mysterious, how could it possibly truly restrain a Mahayana existence? Given only a brief moment, Mo Jianli had easily broken free.
As for the shattered, dazzling light blade, although the bald spirit race man hastily urged his power to reconstitute it to its original state, the seven-colored token also instantly dimmed significantly, clearly having enough power for only one or two more strikes at most. The bald man cast several glances down at Han Li and Mo Jianli, only then truly confirming that these were two Mahayana-stage existences. His expression shifted uncertainly between dark and light.
And the spirit race man with crimson flames atop his head, the instant the fire chain shattered, opened his mouth and spat out several mouthfuls of essence blood, his aura weakening several degrees in a single breath.
"Junior Spirit Yin, Junior Spirit Zhi, pay our respects to the two seniors! We were unaware the two seniors had arrived and acted rashly earlier. We hope you will forgive our offense!" After his expression shifted several times, the bald man stood up and bowed deeply toward the ground.
Han Li chuckled softly, his body swaying as he crossed several hundred zhang in a single step, appearing on the ground not far from the archway. He looked the two men up and down a few times but said nothing.