Seeing this, Han Li naturally had no time to spare for thoughts of the Holy Mulan Spirit Bird. After letting out a light breath, he flicked his sleeve forward, and a ball of silver flame shot out. In the blink of an eye, it vanished and transformed into a silver fire bird.
The moment the fire bird appeared, it let out a low cry, and its body similarly surged wildly in size, transforming in an instant into a colossal creature no smaller than the purple peacock. It spread its wings and charged toward the oncoming purple fire clouds, trailing waves of silver flame.
Before the two giant fire birds even made contact, the two differently colored fire clouds collided first with a deafening roar.
Then the two fire birds flickered and surged forward to engage in close combat.
Amid the unceasing shrieks and cries, two blindingly bright fireballs of different colors appeared and vanished beneath the fire clouds — sometimes crashing into each other with violent detonations, sometimes chasing one another in eerie silence.
As the purple clouds and silver flames intertwined, they illuminated nearly half the sky, while waves of searing heat radiated outward in all directions.
At that moment, far higher in the sky, golden light flashed wildly. Over a thousand golden fireballs appeared above Han Li's position and hurtled downward with menacing force.
Han Li remained unhurried. With a single hand forming a seal, a sudden hum of swords resonated within his body, and seventy-two azure flying swords shot out from various points across his figure. After whirling high above him, each sword conjured over a dozen identical copies of itself.
Han Li swept his great sleeve toward the sky once more and uttered the word "Break."
The dense web of azure sword light immediately hummed and surged skyward in a torrent.
Every golden fireball it met was cleaved cleanly in two by a flash of azure light. Then, as cold brilliance intensified, the remnants were utterly shredded to pieces.
The old man surnamed Yi saw this from afar, and his expression darkened. Yet his fingers swiftly formed a strange hand seal, and the thousand-plus mirrors behind him trembled simultaneously, blazing with blinding golden radiance.
Above Han Li, countless points of spiritual light flashed wildly, and a sharp hissing sound filled the air!
The severed fragments of the golden fireballs flickered and then eerily transformed into innumerable golden needles, raining down through the void.
"How interesting!"
Far from being alarmed, Han Li let out a hearty laugh and pointed a single finger at the swarm of sword lights in the sky.
Every sword light trembled and then silently vanished from where it stood.
In the next instant, blinding azure light flared above Han Li's head. Dense clusters of azure sword light reappeared, converging toward the center and condensing into an azure lotus the size of an acre.
The lotus rotated gently, and sword shadows surged forth — streams of sword energy crisscrossing in a tight defensive web, shielding the sky above completely.
The rain of golden needles plunged into the sword energy, and the air erupted with flashes of detonation. The vast majority were forcibly halted midair. A handful managed to pierce through, but in the blink of an eye they were silently absorbed into the azure sword lotus itself, and no further sound emerged.
But just then, a sharp whistling pierced the air!
A ripple of distortion suddenly appeared before Han Li, and three silver arrows, each over ten meters long, materialized in a flash — about to pierce through his face like bolts of lightning.
Han Li let out a soft "oh," yet his expression betrayed not the slightest change. He raised one arm and flicked a finger, now tinged with purple-gold, forward three times in rapid succession.
Three explosions rang out!
The flicked finger struck the tips of the three silver streaks with perfect accuracy. As the light receded, the three silver arrows shuddered into view, and an immense force sent them hurtling back at even greater speed. They vanished into the void and disappeared without a trace.
An instant later, three muffled thuds echoed from the distant void. Three among the dozen-plus silver warriors toppled over with holes punched through their foreheads, then dissolved into motes of silver light and vanished into nothing.
The old man surnamed Yi's expression changed drastically upon witnessing this. He immediately began chanting under his breath while thrusting his finger repeatedly at the silver scroll before him.
Seal after seal flashed and sank into the scroll, disappearing without a trace.
The silver scroll blazed fiercely, and arcane symbols flickered in and out of view upon its surface.
The remaining silver warriors swelled in size, growing more than twice as large as before, yet their movements became somehow swifter — lightning fast. After just a few leaps, they materialized in the void around Han Li, raising their weapons and charging in without a shred of restraint.
Blades, swords, and halberds flashed brilliantly as waves of formidable sword energy and blade radiance surged toward Han Li in a ferocious sweep.
A faint look of disdain crossed Han Li's face. Uttering "mere parlor tricks," he swept a single hand before him.
A sheet of hazy gray radiance materialized into a shimmering barrier in front of him.
The seemingly overwhelming sword energy and blade radiance struck it, and the gray light rippled — all of it vanishing into the barrier like a cow dropped into the sea, without the slightest additional disturbance.
But in the next moment, those silver warriors flickered and all teleported to positions within arm's reach of Han Li, their weapons slashing down like lightning.
Before the blades and halberds could even reach his body, waves of chilling cold light descended first, as though they would cleave straight through the gray barrier.
A cold glint flashed through Han Li's eyes. Without any visible movement, the gray radiance before him solidified and forcibly deflected the cold light.
Then the gray barrier hummed and instantly swelled into a wave over ten meters tall, crashing downward in a counterstrike.
The silver warriors reacted quickly, crossing their weapons and shooting backward at full speed.