Han Li raised an eyebrow slightly, then swept his gaze over the swarm of bats before him. He extended one hand from his sleeve and lightly struck out with a palm.
With a muffled boom, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a hundred-li radius suddenly trembled. Countless wisps of five-colored light materialized out of thin air and frantically converged upward, condensing into a colossal five-colored palm the size of a small mountain in the blink of an eye. It pressed down with overwhelming force toward the bat swarm.
The surrounding void was instantly enveloped by an indescribable, tremendous pressure.
The densely packed ordinary blood bats, before the giant palm had even truly descended, were bursting apart into mists of blood one after another.
As for that translucent wave of force, it too was utterly annihilated in an instant under this crushing pressure.
Only that enormous bat managed to let out a startled, furious roar as the golden patterns across its body flared brilliantly. The patterns seemingly came to life, surging outward from within its body to form a layer of golden light that shielded it within.
But under the tremendous pressure, the golden light barrier twisted and shuddered violently, and the giant bat was splayed out inside in the shape of a spread-eagle, unable to move even slightly.
"Interesting — a natural body-protecting divine ability. A pity it's still far too weak. Otherwise, I might have tamed it as a spirit beast." A flicker of surprise crossed Han Li's eyes, though he murmured with a hint of regret.
Then he pointed a finger at the five-colored giant palm from a distance once more.
Immediately, myriads of radiance blazed across the palm's surface, and its size swelled once again by another several degrees.
With a thunderous boom, the giant palm finally descended. The surrounding void dimmed first, and then a sphere of light erupted amid violent fluctuations.
The golden light barrier shattered inch by inch within the blast, and the giant bat crumbled apart before it could even let out a whimper, ceasing to exist entirely.
Han Li smiled. He flicked his sleeve forward, and the five-colored giant palm shuddered before vanishing into thin air.
The entire sky and earth returned to their original state.
But where the giant bat had been, faint golden patterns flickered in and out of visibility.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and raised his hand with a beckoning gesture without a second thought.
A whistling sound cut through the air as those golden patterns, drawn by a force of suction, shot toward him one after another, all flashing into his palm.
Han Li glanced at them, then pressed his palms together and rubbed the golden patterns between his fingers.
Immediately, a strange sound of metal scraping rang out from between his fingers, with golden light flashing wildly within.
But after his hands separated once more, a shimmering golden beast hide had materialized there.
The faint golden designs on the hide were precisely those brilliant golden patterns that had adorned the giant bat's body earlier.
"This thing should have some value if refined into a defensive artifact. At least today won't have been a complete waste," Han Li murmured to himself, and with a flip of his hand, the beast hide vanished.
Then his expression shifted, as if he had sensed something. A blue light flashed in his eyes, and his gaze pierced through the void several hundred li away to behold a massive flock of nameless, gray-feathered birds hurtling madly in his direction.
Han Li focused his gaze to discern their features clearly — they were enormous eagle-like creatures with four wings apiece and a single horn upon each head, every one of them hideous beyond measure, their eyes filled with a bloodthirsty glint.
Han Li furrowed his brow, retracted his gaze, and glanced down at the vast expanse of crimson blood mist below the hillside that had yet to dissipate. He shook his head, and with a flash of azure light across his body, transformed into a streak of brilliant rainbow that tore through the sky and departed.
Though these birds posed no threat to him whatsoever, he had no intention of dealing with wave after wave of beast hordes drawn by the scent of blood.
If he was going to spend his time on anything, it should be devoted to finding those Asura Webspiders!
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
During this time, apart from slaying several more powerful-looking demonic creatures and discovering some materials rare to the outside world, Han Li found nothing else of particular note.
As for the materials he had obtained, aside from two stalks of unidentified poisonous herbs, the rest — though precious — were of little use to someone at his current cultivation level. He could only keep them to reward a few of his disciples.
But on the third day, in a valley strewn with black stones, Han Li finally discovered something related to the Asura Webspiders.
He was standing in a hidden beast lair tucked into a corner of the valley, where several bear-like humanoid monsters lay silently upon a floor of dried grass. Their fur was snow-white, their flesh and blood withered to near-skeletal proportions, yet not a single wound marked their bodies — as though they had all perished from natural aging.
Han Li stood beside one of the half-exposed carcasses, observing quietly for a time, before flicking his sleeve to release several fire serpents that incinerated all the remains to ash in moments.
Though the corpses had been reduced to nothing, the ground where they had lain glimmered faintly with crystalline light.
Han Li reached out with one hand, and several crystal threads roughly a foot long flew into his grasp, enveloped in a sphere of azure light.
He sent a wisp of spiritual sense sweeping across them!
Han Li's expression changed slightly. He moved one arm, and a single finger slipped silently into the azure light to touch one of the crystal threads.
A bizarre sight appeared!