Annihilation of the Enemy

The moment Song and Meng saw the Yue Emperor attack the cross-legged Han Li, their hearts leaped with alarm.

Though they knew that against the might of that blade, they could not block even a single exchange, they still raised their hands in helpless unison. One sent out a chain of fireballs; the other threw a talisman that transformed into seven or eight millstone-sized boulders, hurling them forward in a desperate attempt to block the attack, if only for a moment.

But the two spell attacks, met by the sweeping arc of the colossal blade-light, were crushed into nothingness before they could even approach the blade.

Then the blade-light spun back, carrying a foul, sanguine aura, and slashed downward once more.

The blade-light was nearly upon him, yet Han Li’s expression did not change. A faint, cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

Seeing Han Li so composed, the Yue Emperor was startled. Before he could ponder the meaning of it, his blade had already struck.

The moment the blade fell, his vision blurred. Han Li had vanished from beneath him. The strike landed on empty air.

Startled, the Yue Emperor realized he had somehow returned to a height of several hundred feet. Below him, the five-colored radiance still filled his vision. He had been teleported back to his original position.

The Yue Emperor’s expression turned exceedingly grim. Gritting his teeth, he slashed several times more, once again tearing through the radiance and charging downward. Below, Han Li remained seated cross-legged, watching him with a calm, detached gaze.

This time, the Yue Emperor did not recklessly charge in. Instead, he shook his body, unleashing a vast tide of blood-light that pressed downward, with the black blade-light following close behind.

Because he had prepared himself mentally, the Yue Emperor finally saw clearly the strange turn of events below.

The blood-light, when it reached about ten feet above Han Li’s head, seemed to be devoured by something, vanishing without a trace. Then, behind him, high in the sky, he simultaneously sensed his own protective demonic light reappear. It had truly been instantaneously teleported back to its original spot.

Beneath the Yue Emperor’s shock, the blade he had swung downward was naturally useless. With a flicker, he and his blade returned to the heights above the radiance.

This time, the Yue Emperor’s face turned pale. A look of panic surfaced for the first time.

He no longer charged downward. Instead, he swung the Black Blood Demon Blade, sending out crescent-shaped blade-light in all directions, attempting to find a flaw in the formation.

But soon after the blade-light flew out, it was rebounded back, unchanged, after a flash of white light, forcing him into a flustered scramble before he could catch his own sharp attack in fury.

Earlier, when the Yue Emperor could not escape the formation, he had only thought it contained some illusionary techniques and was not overly worried. He believed that with his demonic skills, breaking a small formation would be effortless. But now, with the sudden teleportation of a person and the rebounding of a powerful attack, his heart began to sink.

This was the kind of restriction that appeared only in formations known as “Absolute Sealing Arrays”!

Just as a deep unease and a sense of great danger flooded his mind, a surge of powerful spiritual energy suddenly erupted from the radiance below him. His heart tensed. He quickly gripped his black blade tighter, and the blood-light around him began to spin at a furious speed. In an instant, he was enveloped in a blood-colored whirlwind, shielding himself from all sides.

Then, two other equally strong pulses of spiritual pressure exploded from below. Following a buzzing sound, the radiance split open, revealing a circular passage about ten feet in diameter.

In an instant, a dense swarm of small cyan rulers surged out of the passage, forming a surging cyan torrent that charged straight at the Yue Emperor. This was Han Li’s successfully activated Ruler Talisman Treasure.

After the swarm of rulers flew out, a fiery red small sword and a yellow crystal sphere emerged, one after the other.

The moment they left the passage, they transformed. One grew to an enormous size; the other emitted a blinding yellow light.

Driven by Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang, the two Talisman Treasures silently split left and right, moving to flank him.

Seeing this, the Yue Emperor’s face turned ashen within his blood-storm. He suddenly began to swing the Black Blood Blade in a mad frenzy, sending out seven or eight enormous blade-light crescents that shot forth to meet the cyan ruler swarm. Amidst a series of crackling explosions, the blade-light shattered most of the small rulers.

Below, the face of Han Li, who was controlling the Talisman Treasure, turned slightly pale. Due to the mental connection, he had suffered a backlash as well.

The might of this blood blade was indeed far greater than expected. Fortunately, he did not have to meet it head-on in direct confrontation.

But the Yue Emperor was now merely putting up a desperate struggle.

Despite the interference of the blade-light, the remaining cyan rulers, along with the red small sword and yellow crystal sphere behind them, had taken the opportunity to fly in front of the blood-storm and plunged into it without hesitation.

Immediately, a cacophony of sharp howls erupted from within the crimson whirlwind pillar. Cyan, red, and yellow light burst forth continuously, clashing with the black light in a stalemate. Clearly, the battle raging within was fierce beyond measure.

Suddenly, a cry of alarm and fury rang out. Amidst a cracking sound, the black light, yellow light, and red light all flashed violently at the same time. Then, the three colored lights completely vanished from within the blood-storm. Below, Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang, who were seated beside Han Li, both had their faces turn ashen in an instant, their gazes becoming utterly vacant.

“Seventh Junior Sister, are you two alright?” Seeing this, Song Meng asked with concern.

“It’s nothing. That blood blade of the enemy is truly sinister. It forced a mutual destruction with both mine and Senior Sister Zhong’s Talisman Treasures. Now, it all depends on whether Junior Brother Han’s Talisman Treasure can kill him,” Chen Qiaoqian said softly, taking out two blue pills from her bosom, swallowing one, and tossing the other to Zhong Weiniang.

“Both Junior Sisters’ Talisman Treasures are destroyed?” The other person exclaimed, utterly shocked. In their mind, apart from a true magic treasure, a Talisman Treasure should be invincible.

“That’s right. I suspect the enemy’s demon blade might be a remnant fragment of some true magic treasure,” Zhong Weiniang said after taking the pill, an unnatural flush rising to her face as she parted her red lips slightly.

“A remnant of a magic treasure? How is that possible?” Chen Qiaoqian was also astonished.

At that moment, a series of earth-shattering explosions rumbled continuously above their heads, startling the group into looking up hurriedly.

Through the faint radiance, at the site of the great battle, a dazzling light mixed with cyan and blood radiance erupted. After a few moments, the blood-light rapidly diminished, completely submerged by the cyan light.

Then, all the light gradually faded, revealing the Yue Emperor standing rigidly upright.

A look of utter bewilderment was frozen on his face. His lips moved, as if to speak. Then, like a piece of shattered porcelain, his body collapsed. The entire mass turned into a heap of rotting flesh, falling straight down from the air, landing softly on the radiance above their heads.

Seeing this, Han Li’s fellow disciples were overjoyed. Song Meng immediately turned his head and said excitedly to Han Li:

“Junior Brother Han, you’ve vanquished the demon! I knew you could do it!”

“I had to release the remaining power of my Talisman Treasure all at once to break his blood-light. Otherwise, it might have dragged on for much longer,” Han Li said, standing up with a faint smile, a tone of quiet pride in his words.

Truth be told, the method of drawing out a Talisman Treasure’s power in such a massive burst was not something just anyone could use. It was only after Han Li had used and witnessed so many different Talisman Treasures that he had gleaned a little insight.

It was a lethal technique. Though it greatly reduced the number of times a Talisman Treasure could be used, it greatly increased its power.

Against a powerful enemy, it was extremely effective.

Han Li had only grasped this insight a few days ago. Using it unexpectedly now, he had indeed annihilated the enemy, who was already severely wounded from their earlier battle.

Of course, this Talisman Treasure had also reached the end of its life, turning into ashes.

But Han Li’s mind was already set on the “Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill.” After exchanging a few words with Song Meng, he wasted no time in releasing his two beast-shaped puppets, sending them straight for the Yue Emperor’s corpse.

The others, seeing this, did not think much of it.

After all, this enemy had been defeated almost entirely by Han Li alone. The spoils of war naturally belonged to him.

Zhong Weiniang, in particular, now that her lover’s revenge had been avenged, finally showed a trace of joy on her face, repeatedly thanking Han Li.

She said that if Senior Brother Liu and the others knew in the underworld, they would surely be grateful to Han Li for avenging them.

These words made Han Li, whose true purpose for this expedition was something else entirely, feel a bit awkward.

He quickly changed the subject, suggesting that the others should immediately search the Imperial Palace once more to see if any remnants of the Black Fiend Sect were still lurking. He added that he would clean up here and dismantle the grand formation.

Hearing this, the other Yellow Maple Valley disciples immediately understood his meaning. He was giving them the opportunity to loot the Black Fiend Sect’s headquarters.

A grin immediately spread across Song Meng’s face. Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang felt a little embarrassed, but Han Li merely said in a calm voice:

“I will join up with you after I finish here. Besides, the Black Fiend Sect Leader should have quite a few good items on him. That will be more than enough compensation for me.”

Hearing this, the others felt it was reasonable and did not refuse. After all, they had also suffered significant losses in today’s battle.

Thus, after Han Li withdrew the grand formation, the others flew off on their respective tools.

Watching them disappear from sight, Han Li finally let out a sigh of relief. He waved his hand at the two beast-shaped puppets above. They carried the few items they had found and flew back down to his side.