"Whether you're the Corpse Xiao's incarnation or not, only one of us can walk out of here alive." Han Li's expression was utterly devoid of emotion as he spoke these words. Without a moment's further hesitation, he pointed a finger at the swarm of flying swords before him. The azure sword barrier surged upward, transforming into a vast curtain of green radiance that swept toward the demon fox in the corner of the stone chamber with the crushing force of a mountain descending upon its prey.
The young woman's expression, rather than turning to alarm at the sight of Han Li's sword attack, lit up with delight.
She extended a slender pink tongue to moisten her vermillion lips, then let out a seductive, bone-melting laugh. Her figure dissolved into a flash of white light and vanished.
The green radiance swept through empty air, slamming into the Azure Gold Stone wall instead with a piercing clang of metal against rock.
Han Li frowned. His spiritual sense swept the area in an instant, but he detected no trace of the demon fox.
Her concealment technique was indeed far superior to his own.
But Han Li's expression remained unchanged. He gave a cold snort, then slapped his storage pouch with one hand, producing a small silver bell.
"Go," he barked.
The little bell flashed with light, transformed into a silver streak, and shot to a point several feet above his head, where it rematerialized.
Han Li wasted not a single breath. He formed a series of hand seals with one hand, opened his mouth, and spat a cloud of azure qi onto the bell.
Immediately, the ancient treasure radiated blinding silver light and emitted a tremendous gong-like toll.
The stone chamber was an enclosed space, and this amplified the silver bell's sonic attack by nearly half.
The entire Azure Gold Stone chamber was instantly filled with reverberating echoes, and from a spot roughly fifteen or twenty feet away from Han Li, spatial fluctuations suddenly rippled through the air.
Then, in a flash of white light, the naked young woman materialized, swaying unsteadily on her feet.
Even as joy surged through Han Li's heart, a thread of doubt crept in. The demon fox appeared to be weaker than an ordinary seventh-grade spirit beast by a considerable margin — could it be that the Corpse Xiao's injuries had also drastically diminished this incarnation's cultivation?
Though such thoughts flickered through his mind, his fingers did not hesitate for an instant. He flicked five streams of azure sword qi from his fingertips, each vanishing in a flash.
Several feet of green radiance pierced the naked woman's body in multiple places at once.
She let out a tragic scream, then toppled backward and crashed to the ground, a pool of bright red blood spreading from beneath her snow-white flesh.
Han Li had succeeded so easily that he was momentarily stunned.
Just as he hesitated, the jade ruyi in his grip suddenly blazed with searing heat. Immediately, red light erupted from his body, and a crimson barrier of light materialized around him.
Almost simultaneously, from what had appeared to be completely empty air nearby, several hair-thin silver threads shot out from nothingness — striking the barrier that had appeared at the last possible moment, and being perfectly deflected.
"Hm!"
"Ah!"
Male and female voices of surprise rang out in unison.
Han Li was badly startled, but he recovered in an instant. He opened his mouth and a beam of azure light shot toward the spot from which the silver threads had been launched.
But from that direction came a soul-stirring peal of feminine laughter, a white figure flickered past, and the naked young woman appeared at another corner of the stone chamber, one hand resting lightly against her chest.
Han Li's face was grim. He turned to look at the spot where the young woman had supposedly fallen, struck down and bleeding. It was utterly empty — not a soul in sight.
"Illusion technique," Han Li said through slightly dry lips, his heart sinking.
The young woman's smile bloomed, but rather than answering Han Li's accusation, her bright eyes shifted with a flirtatious gleam and fixed upon the small yellow wolf crouching at Han Li's side. A trace of surprise appeared on her face.
Seeing the young woman's expression, Han Li felt a flicker of unease. He turned his head to look at the small wolf, then glanced down at the wolf-headed jade ruyi in his hand, his expression shifting between light and shadow.
That fire-attribute barrier — the one that had just deflected the demon fox's bizarre attack — had not been activated by him through the jade ruyi.
Could the spirit within the treasure have acted of its own accord to shield him? The moment he recalled the fusion of the red and yellow wolves within the artifact, and the mystery of the great silver wolf, his heart began to thump with uncertainty.
Just as the young woman swayed her slender white waist and opened her mouth to speak, the jade ruyi in Han Li's hand flashed with light. A streak of red radiance shot from within it, while the small wolf that had been crouching silently on the ground sprang into the air, transforming into a yellow beam of light that merged into the red.
Han Li's expression shifted slightly at the sight, but he gripped the jade ruyi tighter and refrained from making any rash moves.
Just as he had expected, the red and yellow lights merged together and erupted in a halo of silver radiance.
Within that halo appeared a great silver wolf. Standing over ten feet tall and hovering in midair, its eyes blazed with excitement as they locked onto the demon fox across the chamber.
Though the naked young woman had no idea what manner of creature the silver wolf was, for reasons she could not explain, the moment it appeared her heart lurched with a sudden, foreboding unease. Even the bewitching charm in her gaze froze involuntarily beneath the giant wolf's stare.
But she immediately realized her lapse. Her delicate brows arched upward, her expression darkened, and she parted her rosy lips. A billowing cloud of pink fragrant mist erupted from her mouth, enveloping her figure entirely — and in the blink of an eye, she vanished without a trace.