Winds Stir Beyond the Seas: Deception

Chapter 433: Winds Stir Beyond the Seas: Deception

“Are you a man or a ghost?” Jin Qing asked, forcing down the fear in his heart, his voice strained.

“Man? Ghost? What do you think?” the strange shadow replied with a dark laugh, its words dripping with mockery.

Hearing this, Jin Qing’s face turned extremely ugly.

Han Li, however, said nothing. Without the slightest warning, he abruptly unfurled the scroll in his hand.

Countless firebirds surged forth, swarming straight toward the strange shadow. At the same time, the giant bird that had been battling the strange serpent let out a sharp cry, abandoned its fight, and transformed into a clump of searing white flames, shooting viciously toward the shadow.

Seeing this, the strange shadow let out a cold snort from its nose, a dismissive voice ringing out.

“A Zhi Yang Bird? If the true body of that bird were to appear in person, perhaps I would still fear it. But this is merely a sliver of its remnant spirit, and yet it dares to pretend it can devour ghosts and exorcise demons?”

The moment these words were spoken, the green shadow raised its hands. The black qi around its body instantly condensed onto its palms. Then, two “puffing” sounds rang out.

The black qi on its hands shot forth, transforming into two ink-black pythons with single horns, flying into the flock of firebirds and devouring them wantonly. With every pounce from their gaping maws, several firebirds were sucked into their mouths. The strands of white fire spat out by the firebirds could not harm the two demon pythons in the slightest.

At this moment, the white fireball formed by the giant “Zhi Yang Bird” also reached the green shadow. However, it ignored the two ink pythons and shot straight toward the green shadow’s true body.

Seeing this, a red light flashed in the green shadow’s eyes, making them even more crimson.

Though its form did not move, a hint of solemnity was faintly discernible.

Clearly, facing the remnant soul of the “Zhi Yang Bird,” this shadow was not as relaxed as its words suggested.

With a “bang,” the green shadow shook its hands, and the two single-horned pythons detached, moving on their own.

Then, it clenched its fists and slammed them together. A green ghostly flame blazed fiercely around its fists. In the next instant, its form flickered, and it threw a vicious punch, meeting the white fireball head-on.

To Han Li and Jin Qing’s shock, the white fireball was shattered by the blow, splattering in all directions before vanishing entirely in the blink of an eye.

On one of the green shadow’s fists, a milky-white crystal bead had suddenly appeared.

The strange shadow let out a sinister laugh, unhesitatingly swallowed the crystal bead whole, and then cast its cold gaze back toward Han Li.

At that moment, the painting scroll in Han Li’s hand spontaneously caught fire. He hurriedly threw it away, and it instantly turned to ashes.

The firebirds still entangled with the two ink pythons vanished one by one as the scroll turned to ash.

Han Li took a deep breath.

Although he had known that these “Zhi Yang Bird” clones would be no match for the opponent, he had only used them as a probe to test the enemy’s strength.

Even so, he had not expected the green shadow to effortlessly neutralize this treasure specifically designed to counter yin ghosts, without revealing any of its own true nature.

The only thing he was certain of was that this being was no mere ghost spirit!

Han Li stared fixedly at the green shadow, his expression unchanging, silently calculating his chances of victory should he engage the enemy.

“Not bad. I’ll take you, then. I am quite interested in your physical body. The other two can get lost!” The green shadow fixed its gaze on Han Li and slowly spoke these words.

It seemed that Han Li’s earlier attack had already angered it.

Qu Hun, naturally, did not move a muscle. But Jin Qing, upon hearing these words, was suddenly flooded with conflicting thoughts, his expression shifting between light and dark.

Though he had not yet personally traded blows, the opponent was truly unfathomable. Even if he were to join forces with Han Li, Jin Qing calculated that their odds of victory were not high.

Now that the strange shadow had spoken of letting him leave, Jin Qing’s heart began to waver.

Having witnessed so many cultivators die a miserable death before his eyes today, this cultivator, who had always prided himself on having a clear conscience, began, for the first time, to treasure his own life and think that there would always be another day.

“What? You don’t want the chance to live? Then I will simply expend a little more effort and turn you two into dried corpses as well!” the green shadow said with a cold snort, its voice dark and sinister as it swept its gaze over Jin Qing and Qu Hun.

Hearing the murderous tone in the strange shadow’s voice, Jin Qing’s face alternated between red and white several times before he finally cupped his fist at Han Li and spoke with shame:

“Brother Han, I do not wish to fall here. I am sorry about this.”

With that, he said no more and hastily rushed toward the stone steps, not glancing back at Han Li again.

Han Li’s expression remained calm. He did not show any sign of being abandoned or angered. Only a faint, almost imperceptible coldness lurked deep within his eyes as he watched Jin Qing depart.

A hint of complacency gleamed in the green shadow’s red eyes.

Just as Jin Qing sprinted past the pile of scattered bones, another change occurred.

The bones strewn about the area suddenly launched an attack at him, shooting forth like crossbow bolts.

Jin Qing was shocked and furious. A silver light flashed around his body, enveloping him in a protective barrier.

But before he could question the strange shadow or release his magic tools, the white bones burst with a brilliant light, piercing through his protective silver light as if it were nothing and penetrating his body.

In an instant, Jin Qing’s body was riddled with holes. Before he could even utter a single word, he crashed heavily to the ground.

Han Li stared blankly at the corpse on the ground, then lightly shook his head.

In the next moment, a spirit beast pouch appeared in his hand, while the two flying swords in front of him began to tremble, faintly emitting a green radiance.

“Interesting! Don’t you want to ask me why I broke my word?” the green shadow said with a cold laugh.

“If you truly wished to speak, you would have said it without being asked. If you do not wish to speak, asking would be a waste of breath,” Han Li replied, his face expressionless.

“Not bad! Kid, you really are to my liking. If I had not suffered that great calamity, perhaps I would have taken you as a disciple. But as things stand now, this old one will never take another disciple for the rest of his life. Instead, I will grind every traitor from my past to dust, scatter their ashes, and refine their souls!” The green shadow first showed a hint of surprise, then its voice turned cold and venomous.

Han Li’s expression did not change. He raised a hand, and Qu Hun behind him released his protective blood light, taking two steps to stand shoulder to shoulder with Han Li.

He had no intention of wasting words. He was preparing to break the enemy with a single, thunderous strike.

At the same time, the other Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords within his body were also eager to be unleashed at any moment.

“Blood Refinement Divine Light! Good, good! Are you disciples of Extreme Yin or Extreme Xuan?” Upon seeing the blood light on Qu Hun’s body, the green shadow’s form trembled slightly before it laughed in a fit of rage.

Han Li furrowed his brow, his expression shifting slightly.

“Extreme Yin? Are you referring to Extreme Yin Patriarch of Extreme Yin Island?” Han Li asked calmly.

He had a faint feeling that the secrets of Black Fiend Sect and Extreme Yin Island’s techniques were about to be unraveled.

“Extreme Yin Patriarch? How dare that traitor call himself a Patriarch!” Upon hearing Han Li’s words, the green shadow flew into a violent rage, cursing loudly.

Han Li was stunned!

This ghost-like being was actually the master of that Extreme Yin Patriarch? That was too bizarre!

Just as Han Li was reeling in shock from the being’s words, a green light flashed on his body, followed by a muffled sound from behind him.

His heart startled, Han Li instinctively turned his head to look, but there was nothing behind him—no one at all.

“Not good!”

In an instant, Han Li knew he had been tricked. He hastily whipped his head back around and, without a second thought, released the other seven flying swords to form a protective formation before him.

Controlling nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords at once was Han Li’s current limit.

Sure enough, the moment he turned his head, the sword light formed by the nine flying swords released a pale golden “Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning.” A fist-sized ball of green light was utterly annihilated under the arcs of electricity.

Cold sweat dripped from Han Li’s brow.

He had nearly been taken by the enemy.

“Golden Lightning Bamboo! You used Golden Lightning Bamboo to forge your flying swords!”

At this moment, the green shadow’s voice rang out, filled with disbelief.

Han Li let out a cold laugh and was just about to hurl a few sarcastic remarks back when he sensed an unusual fluctuation in the air beside him.

Almost by reflex, he tilted his body. But then, a tremor struck his chest. A familiar blood light pierced clean through him, and blood instantly gushed forth.

Immediately after, a yellow light viciously struck toward him.

A crisp “clang” rang out as several flying swords simultaneously deflected the yellow light, revealing its true form—the Hunyuan Bowl.

“Qu Hun!” Han Li shouted in shock and anger, turning to one side.

First the Blood Spirit Drill attack, then a fierce assault from the Hunyuan Bowl—clearly, something was terribly wrong with Qu Hun.

But a figure flashed beside him, and Qu Hun, acting as if he had heard nothing, shot straight toward the green shadow.

When Han Li tried to communicate with him through his mind, he found that although the Soul Divide was still within Qu Hun’s body, he had inexplicably lost all control over it.

The green shadow let out a wild laugh and turned into a green rainbow, shooting toward Qu Hun as well.

Han Li’s face was deathly pale. But then, gritting his teeth, he formed a hand seal and fiercely spat out a single word: “Return!”

A small ball of green light flew out from the crown of Qu Hun’s head in the distance, rapidly shooting back toward Han Li before disappearing into his body.

Meanwhile, the rainbow formed by the green shadow had also vanished into Qu Hun.

Han Li pressed a hand against the wound on his chest, glaring viciously at the “Qu Hun” opposite him.

“Qu Hun” slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of blood-red pupils.