Lu Weiying’s chanting ceased abruptly, and he pointed a finger at the dharma banner.
The banner shuddered and its surface unfurled violently, radiating blinding light.
Gales identical to the ones before swarmed out from it, transforming into over a dozen white, misty wind dragons, which surged aggressively toward the distant grey fog.
The golden giant sword also hummed as it shot forth from its position, flying above the grey fog and hovering there, circling uncertainly.
It seemed that the Marquis of Nanlong intended to wait for the grey fog to dissipate and the monster to reveal itself before launching a thunderous attack.
Han Li remained silent, giving a flick of his large sleeve. A silver-gleaming alms bowl flew out from within, then transformed into a ball of silver light and shot toward the distance.
This alms bowl was one of the few ancient treasures Han Li had obtained after killing the Mulan Dharma Master. Its power could only be considered passably decent.
In using this treasure to attack, Han Li’s intention was largely to probe.
The dozen-plus wind dragons plunged first into the thick fog. The grey mist churned violently as huge swathes of it were lifted high by the gales and then torn to shreds.
The grey sea of fog was gradually eroded by the gales.
But this situation only lasted for a moment before a strange hissing sound suddenly rumbled low from within the mist.
A snake tail thick as a water vat suddenly lashed out from the fog, striking one of the wind dragons. The gale instantly dissipated into nothing.
The tail ruthlessly slapped twice more, and two more wind dragons were easily destroyed.
The elderly man surnamed Lu saw this, and his expression changed.
But immediately, his hands formed a strange seal, and he spat out the word, "Break!"
The remaining dozen or so gales flashed with white light and exploded simultaneously.
The violent wind from the explosion rampaged through the sea of fog. The gales blowing in all directions shattered most of the grey mist. Finally, the entire sea of fog collapsed. The monster’s figure was vaguely revealed.
A massive, dark body, huge as a small mountain, was coiled there.
The golden giant sword, which had been circling above the grey fog for some time, seized this opportunity to descend silently, slashing toward the giant serpent that had just revealed itself.
Han Li urged his darts with a mental command. The flying alms bowl shot forth, its silver light flaring intensely. Suddenly, its size swelled enormously, becoming over ten feet large.
A muffled hum resonated out, and a wave of silver light surged from the massive glowing orb, sweeping directly toward the giant serpent opposite. This put it in a temporary alliance with the golden sword.
The giant serpent seemed somewhat sluggish. Facing the attack of the silver wave and the golden sword, it remained coiled there, shrinking into a ball without moving at all.
The Marquis of Nanlong was naturally overjoyed. He hurriedly infused more spiritual energy into the sword. The giant sword actually swelled another size larger.
But before the golden light could truly strike home, a flash of spiritual light, completely without warning, flickered across the serpent’s body. A layer of green luminous haze suddenly surfaced.
"Boom!" A thunderous roar echoed as the gold and green lights intertwined. Then, the green haze flared brilliantly, actually deflecting the golden giant sword with a single bounce.
This development shocked all three cultivators.
The silver light that followed closely also struck the green haze and was similarly repelled without success.
And only after these two attacks did the giant serpent seem to awaken somewhat.
It slowly withdrew its huge head, which had been deeply buried in its body, shook it a few times, and then looked toward Han Li and the others.
By now, the grey fog had completely dissipated. The true appearance of the giant serpent was clearly visible to all three.
The serpent’s entire body was black as iron, over five or six hundred feet long, with an incredibly thick body covered in palm-sized, dark-black scales. A pair of green, gloomy snake eyes radiated a cold, sinister light.
Han Li’s heart skipped a beat. He was about to recall his silver alms bowl with a technique when the giant serpent made a slight move.
A long, blurry shadow flashed past. The silver giant alms bowl, over thirty feet away, vanished without a trace.
Han Li was startled. Before he could understand what had happened, the Marquis of Nanlong’s golden giant sword suffered the same fate.
After the blurry shadow flashed by, the golden giant sword in the sky suddenly disappeared.
But this time, Han Li, who had been prepared in advance, saw everything clearly.
In an instant, the giant serpent’s body had strangely elongated and thinned, like lightning swallowing both treasures into its belly. The movement was so fast that Han Li and the others initially couldn’t react at all.
This giant serpent was enormous in its true form, yet its movements were incredibly swift.
Han Li’s expression turned serious.
Beside him, the Marquis of Nanlong, seeing his flying sword swallowed, first felt shock, then joy.
That golden flying sword of his was a life-bound magical treasure he had nurtured for over a hundred years. Originally, this serpent’s scales and skin were incredibly hard, impossible to harm from the outside. But now that it had actively swallowed the sword into its belly, wasn’t that simply seeking its own demise!
Thinking of this, the Marquis of Nanlong said nothing. He hurriedly used his spiritual sense to urge the golden flying sword, preparing for it to wreak havoc inside the serpent’s stomach and break out through its body to end the creature’s life.
But in the next moment, the Marquis of Nanlong’s expression froze.
Although he could still sense the connection to his life-bound treasure, it seemed to be bound by something inside the serpent’s stomach. It couldn’t move even a fraction. At this, he couldn’t help but grow nervous.
After all, if his life-bound treasure were damaged, he, connected to it by mind and body, would certainly suffer severe injuries as well.