The black wind rolled forward and arrived directly beside the swarm of crimson bats.
A shrill, eerie cry erupted from the demon bat swarm. A little under half of them suddenly spun around, opening their mouths to spray green flames at Han Li.
Before the oily green fire could even reach him, a wave of putrid stench assailed his nostrils, so foul it made one's stomach churn.
Han Li let out a long laugh. Both sleeves billowed outward simultaneously, and two torrents of cyan gale-force wind surged from within, shoving the green flames to a halt, unable to draw any closer.
At the same moment, Han Li took a great stride forward. With a whoosh, his figure blurred and vanished from the spot.
An instant later, beside a crimson demon bat several dozen zhang away, a figure flickered into existence as Han Li materialized. His two arms moved ever so slightly, and over a hundred shimmering claw projections descended with a series of piercing whooshes.
The crimson demon bat did not even have time to let out a scream before its body was reduced to a rain of blood that poured from the sky.
The other nearby bats were struck with terror and hastily turned to attack once more, but they were already too late.
Han Li's shoulders swayed, trailing a chain of black afterimages as he disappeared again, reappearing beside another bat over a dozen zhang away.
Once more, the claw projections rang out, and the demon's body was instantly torn into countless shreds.
For the time that followed, Han Li flickered in and out among the bat swarm, and with every strike, a demon was slain.
With his ghost-like movement technique, even though the crimson demon bats unleashed torrents of green flame that filled the sky, most of it hit nothing but empty air. On the rare occasion one or two bolts struck home, they were merely blocked without incident by a black demon armor, after which Han Li continued his rampage through the swarm.
In the span of just a few breaths, over a dozen demon bats had perished at Han Li's hands.
Watching all of this, the demon cultivators who had been struggling desperately against the sea of green fire were left completely dumbstruck.
The beautiful young woman at the Void Refinement stage stared at Han Li with a face full of shock.
The others might not have known, but these people had been fighting the demon bats for the better part of a day. They understood all too well that the creatures' skin was tough as steel — even ordinary demon weapons could hardly leave a mark on them. Only a handful of top-tier demon weapons could actually inflict any real damage. Otherwise, they would not have been trapped here for so long.
And yet Han Li, relying solely on a pair of demon claws, had torn through the very same bats that had left them all helpless. No wonder they were stunned.
"This person is so powerful relying purely on his physical body alone — what kind of demon art could he possibly be cultivating? Could it be one of those legendary ancient demon arts?" the woman thought in alarm.
The remaining demon bats, seeing how formidable Han Li was, could not help but show traces of fear, despite their usual ferocity.
But just then, a sharp shriek suddenly erupted from within the swarm. The other bats immediately parted to the left and right as though granted a reprieve, revealing a single giant demon bat that dwarfed the others by more than double in size.
This creature's aura was overwhelmingly powerful, and atop its head grew a pair of pale purple horns, around which faint threads of lightning crackled. The instant it laid eyes on Han Li, it opened its mouth without a word, and a massive swath of green flame surged toward Han Li, engulfing every inch of the void within a hundred zhang.
Han Li's expression did not change. He simply slapped his own body with one hand, and the black demon armor surfaced once more, flickering as it condensed countless dense black runes that formed a layer of light screen shielding him from the front.
The moment the sea of green fire touched the black barrier, it was forcibly split apart with a sizzling hiss, utterly unable to draw near Han Li's body.
The giant bat witnessed this and flew into a rage. With a piercing shriek, the pair of purple horns atop its head released a thunderous boom as two arcs of silver lightning, as thick as bowl mouths, shot toward Han Li in a flash.
Han Li's expression remained unmoved. He raised one arm and tapped two fingers toward the void ahead.
Thunder roared!
Two cyan-white lightning arcs blazed forth from his fingertips, meeting the silver arcs head-on before both vanished into the void.
Seizing the opening, Han Li swayed his shoulders, took a single step forward, and sank into the void, instantly materializing above the giant bat. One demon claw descended toward the empty air below.
Five half-foot-long streaks of black claw light flashed downward.
The giant demon bat started in alarm. Its wings beat once, and its body shot to the side like a crossbow bolt.
Though enormous in size, this creature's movements were remarkably agile.