"What do you think? Obviously, we strike first." The giant ape's voice boomed out as it reached out both hands through the void. Immediately, two orbs of dark green and black radiance solidified within its palms, each condensing into a small mountain peak several zhang tall.
The giant ape swung both arms and hurled the peaks forward with devastating force. They exploded into two enormous spheres of light and hurtled straight toward two of the gaunt elders.
Simultaneously, a flash of crystalline light appeared atop its head, and a third small mountain materialized out of thin air.
With a series of sharp hissing sounds, a dense web of invisible sword qi suddenly manifested around the last elder from all directions, converging inward to slash down at him.
The three gaunt elders' faces changed drastically. Two of them roared, and behind each of them appeared the phantom image of a creature—one a centipede, the other a giant scorpion. Four arms moved in unison, and two palms from each elder slammed toward the mountain peaks.
The instant the four seemingly ordinary palms extended outward, two of them were immediately covered in countless shimmering blue scales, while arcs of blinding lightning crackled and coiled around them.
The other two palms turned an oily, lustrous black, then swelled grotesquely as though inflated. Ten green, razor-sharp claws sprouted from the fingertips, and waves of putrid black qi rolled outward in billowing waves.
As for the third elder, upon seeing himself enveloped by invisible sword qi, he flipped a single palm. A half-foot-tall statue of a fox-headed human figure appeared in his hand, and he tossed it up above his head.
The statue emitted a clear cry. Radiant light blazed from its entire form, then it transformed into a red fox puppet with five tails.
The fox simply swept its multiple tails in a flash, conjuring a layer of crimson light that blanketed the void below it.
In the next instant, four palms struck the two spheres of light produced by the Ultimate Mountains with bone-jarring force.
Two thunderous explosions shook heaven and earth, and the surrounding void rippled violently, blurring at the edges.
The two spheres of light shuddered, then came to an abrupt halt—and the true forms of the Ultimate Mountains reappeared.
However, the two gaunt elders who had struck out immediately felt their expressions change. Their bodies lurched backward, sent flying through the air. When they managed to stabilize themselves several dozen zhang away, their faces contorted with shock and fury. All four of their arms were drenched in blood—the skin had shattered completely, not a single inch remaining intact. All ten fingers had snapped clean through.
At the same time, the invisible sword qi crashed in rolling waves against the third elder's crimson light screen.
The light screen flickered wildly. Within moments, a network of fine cracks began to appear across its surface.
Startled, the third elder immediately spat a wisp of vital essence into the statue in his hand and fiercely activated a series of spell seals.
The red fox puppet overhead flashed with a layer of golden light, and the barrier formed by its five tails shifted in color to a pale gold. The cracks on its surface rapidly mended themselves, and this wave of invisible sword qi was entirely blocked by sheer force.
Still, in his exchange against all three opponents moments ago, Han Li had clearly held a slight advantage.
This gave the three elders, who had arrived with such fierce momentum, pause. They hovered in place, hesitating.
But after exchanging a few grim words with one another, they slowly began to close in on Han Li's giant ape form once more.
It seemed these three Mahayana-stage old monsters truly intended to gang up on him.
Han Li let out a cold laugh in his heart. The giant ape he had become slammed both fists against its chest and raised its head to unleash a long howl that pierced straight through the heavens.
Behind it, the colossal phantom of the Brahma Saint appeared in a flash, then lunged forward and merged with the giant ape, the two becoming one.
Instantly, purple-gold light blazed from the ape's body. It hunched its shoulders slightly, and golden radiance erupted from both sides beneath its ribs. Two additional ape heads and four furry golden arms sprouted forth.
Han Li had activated both the Insect Awakening Technique and the True Demon Art of the Brahma Saint simultaneously.
His physical body's toughness in this state was now second only to the Nirvana Sacred Body.
It went to show that when facing three opponents of the same cultivation stage, even Han Li did not dare to be careless.
Just as the four were about to unleash their great powers and truly begin their battle, a sudden fluctuation rippled through the void roughly a hundred zhang away. Another glowing magical formation materialized out of nothingness. Light swept through it in a brilliant arc, and three figures of varying heights flickered into view.
The three elders, who had been advancing toward Han Li, immediately felt a chill run through them and halted in their tracks.
Han Li's three-headed, six-armed giant ape form turned all three of its heads in that direction, and six eyes blazed like lightning, sweeping toward the newcomers.
The three figures were an old woman, a Daoist priest, and a masked man—Xiao Ming, Madame Wan, and the others.
The moment the three of them completed their teleportation and took in the sight of the three gaunt elders and Han Li's three-headed, six-armed giant ape, they too were startled. They exchanged uneasy glances with one another.