When Han Li found that his flying swords were ineffective against the two demons, he was naturally quite shocked. But upon further thought, it seemed perfectly normal after all.
The vast majority of high-grade demon beasts cultivated their physical bodies as their primary focus. Among them, some species that were originally thick-skinned and tough-fleshed could even temper their demonic bodies to the point of clashing head-on with a cultivator of the same rank without taking any damage.
Moreover, a demon beast's lifespan was typically several times — even tens of times — longer than that of an ordinary cultivator.
This meant that the higher a demon beast's grade, the more time it had to cultivate its physical body to a level that left human cultivators speechless.
This was exactly why cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage could rely on their magical treasures and wits to slay demon beasts of the eighth level and below. But once a demon beast passed the Transformation stage and completed its physical cultivation while also awakening its intelligence, it could suppress human cultivators of the same rank with ease.
The flood dragon belonged to the scaled race among the heaven-and-earth spirit beasts. At the eighth level, it was already comparable to a ninth-level ordinary demon beast, so its natural defenses would not be the least bit lacking. As for the turtle demon before him, it was one of the most formidable defensive species among all turtle-type beasts.
Given that Han Li's flying swords had only been cultivated to a modest level of power, it was hardly surprising that they could do nothing against the two immobilized demons.
If it had been some Nascent Soul old monster with a treasure refined over several hundred years, the two demons' lives would have been forfeit in their current immobilized state.
Or conversely, if some Nascent Soul old monster had been lying paralyzed on the ground, Han Li could have easily dispatched them with his current flying swords. Of course, Barbaric Beard — whose physical body had been tempered to near-demonic levels — was naturally the exception.
As for the Evil-Warding Divine Thunder, while it was devastatingly effective against demonic arts and wicked techniques, it held no particular restraint against demon beasts. Though the divine thunder's power originated from the Golden Lightning Bamboo itself, with Han Li's current cultivation level, he could only truly unleash a tenth or perhaps a fifth of its true might.
Having understood all this, Han Li felt no sense of discouragement.
He knew full well that once he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage and spent another hundred or so years specifically cultivating the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords, the power of those treasures would skyrocket.
At that point, the colossal sword formed from several of his flying swords merging together would find breaking through the two demons' physical defenses absolutely no trivial matter.
After all, the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords were a top-tier magical treasure he had poured enormous effort into forging.
He had unwavering faith in their potential.
Now, Han Li could easily slay an ordinary late-stage Core Formation cultivator or even a seventh-level demon beast. But when facing Nascent Soul old monsters and eighth-level demon beasts, he dared not harbor any thought of a direct confrontation.
Core Formation and Nascent Soul — these were two completely different worlds!
These thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind several times in rapid succession. He glanced down at the turtle demon beneath his feet and at Feng Xi shrouded in white light on the other side, his expression shifting between light and shadow.
He asked himself — aside from a risky gamble with the Celestial Azure Ice Flame, there was simply no method available to him that could destroy the two demons in a short time.
But even so, Han Li estimated that while the turtle demon might be manageable, the odds of successfully destroying the Windsplitting Beast with its freakish protective treasure were less than thirty percent.
For he could not control the Celestial Azure Ice Flame in the slightest, much less manipulate it to concentrate its power onto the two demons.
As a result, the flame's actual effectiveness would be drastically reduced.
What troubled Han Li even more was that this ice flame could be released but not retrieved. If he failed to destroy the Windsplitting Beast, this supreme treasure would simply be gifted to the demon for nothing, only to bolster the enemy's strength.
In that case, he might as well keep it for himself!
After condensing his Nascent Soul and refining this treasure, the Celestial Azure Ice Flame would absolutely become another killer move in his arsenal.
Han Li did not deliberate for long — nor did he have the time to waste.
The turtle demon was still swollen and puffed up. But the Windsplitting Beast's lower abdomen had already shrunk by more than half compared to before, and the gloomy look on its face was growing darker by the moment.
The sight sent a chill through Han Li's heart.
He estimated that before much longer, this demon would be able to fully suppress the medicinal power of the spirit liquid and once again mobilize its magical power and move.
So Han Li gritted his teeth, bent down, and snatched away the storage pouch at the turtle demon's feet. Then with a swift kick, he sent the immobilized beast tumbling into the ground fire pit.
After locating another storage pouch among the venomous flood dragon's remains and collecting its demon core, he flickered and reappeared behind the Windsplitting Beast, kicking it into the raging ground fire as well.
Then Han Li did not bother to check on either demon's fate. He burst into a streak of azure light and fled at full speed.
He refused to believe that no matter how powerful the two demons might be, if he simply found some island to hide on, they would actually be able to track him down.
With a thunderous boom, he blasted a gaping hole through the stone gate, and his escape light vanished without a trace.
Silence fell over the artifact-forging chamber!
After an unknown stretch of time, a voice seething with venomous, savage fury rose from the ground fire pit. Then a blinding streak of white light shot out from the flames, punched straight through the roof, pierced through the cave dwelling's protective formations, and disappeared.
The next instant, the white light materialized above the small island, circling the surrounding area at a speed invisible to the naked eye before flying back to where it had been.
As the radiance dimmed, it revealed the figure of Feng Xi — the ninth-level Windsplitting Beast.