After completing its second transformation, the demon soul let out a sinister laugh, and its figure swayed like a light breeze before vanishing.
The Heavenly Fiend Demon Corpse, which had been standing motionless before Han Li, suddenly let out a low growl as both of its arms moved abruptly.
Countless emerald claw shadows tore through the air with sharp, hissing sounds, blanketing the space before it.
Black light flickered, and the demon soul's two-headed, four-armed figure materialized like a ghost amidst the storm of claw shadows.
A vicious glint flashed across the demon soul's ghoulish face. One of its arms swept lightly toward the claw shadows, and immediately, claw radiance even denser than the emerald ones, accompanied by sharper shrieks through the air, erupted before the demon soul.
The moment the two forces met, the black radiance tore through the emerald claw shadows with ease, and the arm grotesquely elongated by several feet in an instant, transforming into a black shadow that drove its five fingers deep into the Corpse Wraith's metal-hard chest cavity.
With a clench of its five fingers, it tore open a blood hole as wide as a bowl. Black corpse blood gushed out in torrents.
A blow that should have been fatal for an ordinary cultivator was, for the demon corpse, nothing more than a searing burst of pain across its chest. If anything, it only drove the creature into a berserk fury!
Rather than retreating, one of its arms flashed with green light and instantly transformed into a tricolored spike several feet long, which it thrust directly at the demon soul.
The demon soul let out a faint "oh" — whether slightly surprised by the Corpse Wraith's tenacious vitality or startled by the spike that had suddenly materialized, it was impossible to tell.
But after that brief exclamation, the demon soul merely let out a cold laugh.
Both arms blurred like phantoms toward its chest. The moment the tricolored spike arrived, it was firmly clamped between two palms sheathed in pitch-black chitin, unable to advance a single inch.
Then the ghastly face twisted into a vicious grin, and both hands suddenly gripped and wrenched with tremendous force, about to snap the cone clean in two.
A soft "pop" sounded — before the crushing force could be applied, the spike shattered on its own. A cloud of tri-colored insects materialized in its place, then plunged straight toward the demon soul's head without the slightest hesitation.
At such close range, with such an eerie and sudden change, even the demon soul — which had already pushed its demonic arts to their absolute limit — was greatly startled.
Seeing the insect cloud about to descend, a vicious expression flashed across the demon soul's face. It suddenly opened its mouth, and ring after ring of black shockwaves surged outward, instantly enveloping the tri-colored insect cloud that was practically at its doorstep.
A bizarre sight unfolded.
The moment the tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles were trapped within the black ripples, their bodies froze in mid-air. Then came a series of muffled thuds as the flying insects burst apart one by one, transforming into a sky of blood mist that drifted and dissipated.
The tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles, after all, did not possess the same tough bodies as the gold-colored ones. The entire swarm had been utterly obliterated by the demon soul's demonic resonance, amplified by its greatly increased cultivation — not a single beetle remained.
Just then, the Corpse Wraith's other arm was already clawing down from above.
An impatient look crossed the demon soul's face. Its expression instantly turned cold, and its figure flickered before vanishing. An instant later, it reappeared behind the Corpse Wraith, a pitch-black fist swinging backward in a seemingly effortless strike.
Though the motion appeared slow, for some reason the demon corpse had only time to tilt its head slightly before the fist was already upon it.
At the same time, a pitch-black bone spike roughly a foot long shot out from the fist, piercing into one side of the Corpse Wraith's skull and bursting clean through the other. The Corpse Wraith's body shuddered, and all movement ceased.
The demon soul let out a dark grin. Black flames suddenly ignited along the bone spike and blazed fiercely. It retracted the spike, and the Corpse Wraith's body swayed several times in the black flames before plummeting toward the ground.
From the moment the demon soul charged into the insect cloud and transformed again, to the moment it dispatched the Corpse Wraith with the bone spike — the entire sequence seemed to take forever, but in reality, it was over in the blink of an eye.
When Han Li had first seen the demon soul closing in and the Heavenly Fiend Demon Corpse had moved to intercept it, he had immediately shot backward without a second thought, trying to put distance between himself and the demon.
At the same time, he directed the multitude of golden sword lights orbiting above his head, and all the sword lights merged into one through his sword seals. Layer upon layer of sword shadows transformed into rolling waves of gold. With a pulse of spiritual sense, Han Li was about to drive this golden tide down upon the demon soul's position.
But in that brief moment of delay, the two-headed, six-armed demon soul had already obliterated the Heavenly Fiend Demon Corpse left behind.
Han Li drew in a sharp breath, bitterness welling in his heart along with a pang of distress.
He had only just refined this Heavenly Fiend Demon Corpse to a usable state. He had deployed it here for the very first time, and it had already been effortlessly destroyed by the ancient demon before him. Now, relying on its refined corpse body, it had fallen to the ground, its fate uncertain. But judging by the appearance of things, even if it hadn't truly perished, it had been completely stripped of its fighting capability.
Even as these thoughts raced through his mind, Han Li was simultaneously channeling his spiritual sense in two directions at once.
The tiger demon puppets, which had been scattered by the shockwave moments ago, had already stabilized their positions. With white light flashing, they lunged at the demon soul once more. Meanwhile, the giant turtle puppets, like Han Li himself, were spreading outward and retreating in every direction while blue light flickered in their mouths, preparing to unleash their ice-element beams again.
And above Han Li's head, the layered sword shadows were already roaring as they descended upon the demon soul.
Seeing this, the demon soul let out a cold snort. Its four demonic arms waved slightly, and pitch-black bone spikes sprouted from the elbows and fingertips alike. The spikes varied in shape — some curved, some straight — but every one of them gleamed with a cold, lethal light, each appearing razor-sharp.
Before the tiger demon puppets could close in, the demon soul let out a whoosh and vanished from the spot without a trace.