Han Li wasn't entirely sure what Xuan Gu was thinking. His gaze swept around before suddenly settling on the Blood Jade Spider not far away.
At this moment, the crimson glow emanating from the spirit beast had grown even more dazzling. Though its body trembled faintly, it was still retracting its silk threads bit by bit.
The milky-white spider silk now reflected a layer of eerie blue light, flickering with a cold, sinister gleam that gave off an unsettling feeling.
However, the moment that blue light crept along the silk toward the crimson glow surrounding the Blood Jade Spider, bursts of white sparks erupted, immediately repelling it outward — unable to approach even half an inch closer to the spider's body.
Han Li furrowed his brow.
There was no need to ask — this strange light was undoubtedly closely related to the Qianlan Ice Flame. No wonder none of those old monsters had stepped forward to assist the spirit beast retrieving the treasure. They were probably wary of those blue lights.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a tremendous boom rang out from the sky, accompanied by Man Hu's furious shouts and wild laughter.
His attention was drawn once more to the center of the battlefield.
Man Hu's body had swelled to a towering three or four zhang in height. The clothes on his upper body had been blasted away to who knows where, revealing a dense covering of scales across his chest that gleamed like golden armor, radiant to the point that no one could look directly at them.
Even stranger, several silver ribbons of light were swirling and dancing around his massive form. Those ribbons drifted in and out of existence, ethereal and elusive, yet they consistently blocked Wan Tianming's purple fire dragons — manifested from his Heavenly Net Art — from getting even half a step closer. They always positioned themselves perfectly in front of the raging purple flames.
Though Man Hu proclaimed his Underpinning Demonic Art to be the foremost in the Scattered Star Seas, he would never be foolish enough to use it to take Wan Tianming's true flames head-on.
In his hands, he now gripped a pair of dark, matte-black iron gauntlets covered in spikes several inches long, their appearance savage and terrifying.
Man Hu swung these gauntlets fiercely as he exchanged blows with a purple greatsword that darted like a swimming dragon. Every time he threw a punch, a massive golden hand shot out from the gauntlet and hammered the greatsword away by several zhang.
Meanwhile, suspended in midair and controlling the greatsword, Wan Tianming wore a murderous expression as he drove two additional purple flame dragons soaring through the sky, searching for an opening in the silver light ribbons to entrap his formidable foe in one decisive move.
On the other side, Tian Wuzi and Scholar Qingyi were both clearly the type who valued their own preservation. They maintained a wide distance from each other — one ceaselessly urging the Azure Thorn Birds and his own magical treasures in an assault, while the other relied on the Turtle of Separation and a short, white-gleaming ruler to maintain a flawless defense.
The two fought with neither passion nor urgency, as though they were merely exchanging pointers in a friendly spar!
The most fierce and explosive battle, however, appeared to be between Patriarch Ji Yin and the dark, gaunt elder.
Across the vast stretch of ground where the two clashed, ghostly wails and phoenix cries intertwined, while green shadows and black qi surged and swirled, forming an enormous vortex. Only occasionally could one glimpse the flickering silhouettes of a few Heavenly Capital Corpse People outside the vortex, or catch sight of thick green vines bursting out from within, lashing about wildly — all signs that the battle within was exceptionally intense.
As for the mutated three-eyed spirit beast — which the Demonic Side valued so highly — it remained locked in a ceaseless pursuit and struggle with the white Cold Jiao. The Cold Jiao was clearly at a disadvantage, forced to dart through the sky under the pressure of the three-eyed leopard's aberrant yellow light. Every time its white cold breath touched the yellow light, it instantly petrified into ordinary chunks of stone, completely unable to draw near the leopard.
Still, it had managed to hold the mutated three-eyed leopard in check, preventing it from finding the opportunity to attack the three members of the Righteous Path. From the look of things, the Cold Jiao could hold out on its own for a while longer.
Watching all this, a peculiar feeling stirred in Han Li's heart.
These people were fighting with extraordinary vigor — treasures flying everywhere, secret arts unleashed without restraint. Yet to him, it didn't feel like a life-or-death struggle at all. It was more as though they were merely comparing skills in a martial contest.
Was this really how battles between Nascent Soul cultivators played out?
Han Li secretly wondered.
Suddenly, as though remembering something, he cast his glance toward Xuan Gu once more.
Xuan Gu's wooden, expressionless face now held a faint trace of cold mockery. But he immediately sensed Han Li's gaze, stiffened his features, and returned to his usual calm, unperturbed demeanor.
A chill ran through Han Li's heart. He vaguely felt as though he had seized hold of something important!
But before he had time to think it through, the Void Sky Cauldron at the cave entrance suddenly let out a violent, piercing blast, followed by a screeching, grinding noise that rang out shrilly.
Han Li was startled. He whipped his head toward the cave entrance and cautiously assumed a defensive stance.
He saw the blue light within the altar shudder violently, and then a dragon's roar echoed forth as a streak of fire shot out from the depths of the pit.
The streak of light spiraled rapidly above the altar before transforming into a two-headed wolf of flame that came to rest in midair.
Its entire body blazed with roaring fire. The instant it laid eyes on the assembled cultivators, it crouched on its four limbs, ready to flee into the sky.