Han Li's face was tense as he stared unblinkingly at his opponent's every move. His grip tightened on the red-and-yellow wolf-head jade ruyi, while behind him, silver light flashed as a pair of silver-white wings materialized at his back.
"The Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror! How does he have something this heaven-defying?!" A bitter smile crept onto Han Li's lips.
The moment he recalled the origins of this treasure, his very first thought was that he absolutely could not take this thing head-on.
Fighting this kind of legendary treasure directly — unless he'd gone completely mad, he would never do something so foolish!
The "Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror" was a supreme-grade magical treasure that had once slain the master of the Star Palace. It had followed a cultivator of unfathomable cultivation and dominated the entire Scattered Star Seas for several centuries. That cultivator, single-handedly, had stood toe-to-toe with the entire Star Palace without giving an inch — he was the genuine, undisputed number one cultivator of the Star Seas at the time.
His towering reputation was, of course, primarily due to his cultivation base, which stood above all others across the entire Star Seas in that era. But the overwhelming power of his natal treasure, the "Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror," was common knowledge as well. In its day, it was even hailed as the number one offensive magical treasure in the Star Seas.
The cultivators who had perished beneath its mirror were countless — among them were five or six Nascent Soul stage cultivators who had met their end at its hands. That alone spoke to the terror of this treasure!
Of course, the eight small mirrors Wen Tianren wielded were certainly not the original from the "Heavenly Mirror Sage" — they were replicas.
Given Wen Tianren's level of cultivation, it was impossible for him to control a treasure of such immense power that exceeded his tier. Merely drawing the original into his body would have caused that tremendous force to tear him apart.
If it were the genuine article, Han Li wouldn't have hesitated for even a second — he would have fled immediately, without the slightest thought of putting up a fight.
But even facing these weakened replicas, Han Li had no intention of taking the attack head-on. After all, the title of the Star Seas' number one offensive magical treasure was far too terrifying. If all else failed, he was prepared to rely on the speed of his Wind Thunder Wings to evade the brunt of the attack.
He still had a fair degree of confidence in the lightning escape speed of his Wind Thunder Wings, so despite the tension he felt, no trace of panic showed on his face.
Over on Wen Tianren's side, the golden light, after its final reflection off the last golden mirror, coalesced into a golden sphere of light about the size of a head. It hovered in the air before his chest, flickering and pulsing — swelling and shrinking — as if it might detonate at any moment.
Without the slightest hesitation, Wen Tianren beckoned toward the sphere of light. With a sharp whistling sound, it shot at once into his palm.
Wen Tianren held the glowing sphere in one hand and glanced across at Han Li. When his gaze fell on the silver wings behind Han Li's back, a fleeting look of something odd crossed his face, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Behind him, the Fairy Zi Ling looked at the golden horn between Wen Tianren's brows, then stole a glance at the silver wings at Han Li's back. Her mouth felt dry, and a complicated expression filled her face.
The furious exchange between these two had truly opened her eyes — they were nothing like ordinary cultivators. And now, both sides were unleashing their ultimate techniques. It was clear they intended to settle this with life and death.
Under the suffocating tension, the young woman involuntarily held her breath, silently watching without a word.
As for which of the two she truly hoped would win — probably only she herself knew that!
Wen Tianren made his move!
He swung the golden sphere of light across his chest, then lightly tapped it with his other hand. His two palms clapped together around it from above and below, and the sphere shattered apart. Countless thumb-sized orbs of light flew outward in every direction, but with uncanny precision, every single one of them shot into the eight small mirrors without missing a single one.
Instantly, all eight golden mirrors blazed with radiant light, trembling in unison. Eight golden beams as thick as a bowl's mouth erupted from the mirrors.
Those beams, almost the very instant they left the mirrors, arrived before Han Li — so fast that even Han Li's expression changed dramatically.
A rapid series of muffled sounds rang out.
The outermost layer — dozens of sword beams conjured through the Sword Beam Phantasm Splitting Art — dissolved into nothing the instant they made contact with the golden beams. Even the actual bodies of the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords, once struck by the golden light, flickered once with their cyan glow before being sent flying helplessly, unable to block the golden beams in the slightest.
Behind those, the giant Five Elements Ring flickered with radiance and managed to hold for a brief moment. But then it let out a mournful wail, its prismatic light flashing wildly, and the massive ring crumbled apart inch by inch right before Han Li's eyes, disintegrating into countless specks of dust.
A look of horror surfaced on Han Li's face, and at the same time, a pang of heartache stirred within him.