Chapter 1040: Protecting Oneself

At this moment, Han Li finally knew what it meant for the evil wind to be like a knife and for heaven and earth to collapse.

Although he was only on the edge of the Black Wind Flag's power, he still felt as if he had lost his five senses. What reached his ears was the whistling sound, what met his eyes was all yellow and hazy, and even his spiritual sense couldn't leave his body for even half a step; as soon as it left the shield, it was instantly blown away by the evil wind outside.

Now he finally understood why the Seven-Flame Fan, a replica of the Three-Flame Fan, was ranked at the bottom of the Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures. The Three-Flame Fan, which could already exert three or four tenths of its power, was fundamentally worlds apart compared to the power of this Black Wind Flag.

Fortunately, his Brightclear Spirit Eyes divine ability was still there. After injecting spiritual power into his eyes, with the blue light flickering in his pupils, he could finally see things within ten zhang vaguely.

As for how the Nine Truths Subduing Demon Formation in the distance fared under such fierce evil winds, he could not determine for a moment. He could only sense from the intermittent tremors of the ground that the battle within seemed exceptionally intense.

He looked up at the sky, and the situation was the same; it was all chaotic, as if scraped by a strong wind, making it impossible to see far.

Han Li's expression changed, and the humming sound coming from the shield grew louder and louder. In order to maintain this shield, the loss of spiritual power was clearly much more than before.

The power of the Black Wind Flag was still constantly increasing.

He took a deep breath and subconsciously looked down at his feet; tunneling into the ground seemed like a good idea.

Just as this thought appeared, a black wind pillar as thick as a bowl shot up from the ground about a zhang away from his shield, rapidly expanding and rotating.

Immediately, a giant force came from above, and the green light shield couldn't help but move rapidly toward the wind pillar.

Han Li was shocked in his heart, his whole body's spiritual power suddenly condensed, and only after the light shield shone brightly did he barely stop the movement.

Immediately, more than ten golden sword lights shot out from the light shield, circling and flickering around the shield, and with the crisscrossing sword Qi, they stirred the wind pillar, which hadn't officially exerted its power yet, into powder, turning it into black energy. But immediately, the black energy re-coalesced and rotated, forming a hurricane again in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this scene, Han Li's face turned gloomy, and he beckoned to Yin Yue, shooting backward.

It seemed these wind pillars were truly eerie; tunneling into the ground didn't seem very safe either.

After carefully avoiding several similar wind pillars, the two of them arrived at a corner at the very edge of the space.

In front was the dim and unclear gray barrier.

Sure enough, it was just as he had thought. Not only was the fierce wind much smaller here, but those black wind pillars didn't appear here either.

The two of them could finally let out a sigh of relief.

Han Li's solemn expression didn't disappear at all. Instead, after looking toward the palace for a moment, brilliance flashed in his eyes, and he flipped his hand, and a golden flying sword about a chi long slashed heavily against the barrier behind him.

With a "hissing" sound, the gray barrier immediately split into a crack several chi deep, but with a flash of white light, it returned to normal.

Han Li frowned.

This barrier didn't look very tough, and could be easily split with a flying sword, but the thickness was truly unknown, and under the restriction, the recovery speed was also astonishingly fast. If he couldn't pierce through the barrier in one blow, he shouldn't even think about leaving this place.

Thinking of this, after pondering slightly, Han Li moved his arm, and a palm pressed against the storage bag at his waist.

With a flash of spiritual light, the Three-Flame Fan manifested in his hand.

He carefully and slowly injected spiritual power, and with a shake of the fan, a layer of three-colored light halo emerged on the fan.

Han Li took a breath, held the fan in one hand, and fanned it lightly toward the barrier.

Immediately, a mass of three-colored flames surged from the fan surface. Wherever it passed, the barrier immediately dissolved and decomposed silently, and a hole about a zhang large appeared.

But after only taking one look inside, Han Li's face became unusually ugly.

Because this strike was a full ten zhang deep before the flames disappeared and dissipated, but the barrier didn't show any signs of being pierced through at all.

Although he hadn't used the full power of the Three-Flame Fan, the thickness of this barrier made a look of hesitation appear on his face.

Although the Three-Flame Fan's power was not small, since the first strike hadn't been effective, he didn't truly believe that adding a bit more power would be able to break this strange restriction set up by ancient cultivators. After all, this was the place where that demon concubine Long Meng and the ancient Demon Ancestor incarnation were sealed.

Moreover, he also suspected in his heart that this layer of barrier was so eerie, whether it contained other chain restrictions. If he destroyed the barrier and triggered other restriction backlashes, that would be no laughing matter.

Thinking this way, Han Li's five fingers holding the Three-Flame Fan loosened slightly, and his face shifted between cloudy and sunny.

"This space is not that simple, Master had better not act rashly!" Yin Yue, who had been somewhat trance-like ever since seeing Long Meng, suddenly opened her mouth.

Han Li

Han Li smiled upon hearing this and was just about to say something to the woman when his expression suddenly sank. He turned his head and said coldly toward the gale on one side:

"Who is there? Don't blame me for being impolite if you're going to be sneaky."

After saying this, he gripped the Three-Flame Fan in his hand, and the three-colored halo on the fan surface began to swirl restlessly once more.

"Fellow Daoist Han, don't attack yet. I know the power of your precious fan, and I don't want to take a hit for no reason." A man's voice drifted over, and two white figures appeared in the yellow gale—a man and a woman. It was the youth surnamed Xu and the Tianlan Saintess, Lin Lin Yinping.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, not hiding his surprise, but his voice remained cold and unchanged:

"Oh, since the two of you are here, are you planning to take this opportunity to make a move against me?"

After saying this, he glanced casually toward the palace.

Although that was where the gale was fiercest and most of the black wind pillars were gathered, the sound of thunder could still be faintly heard amidst the wind, and occasionally, one or two blinding golden lights would tear through the sky, illuminating the entire space in an instant.

It seemed the Nine Truths Subduing Demon Formation was truly extraordinary to have held out until now under the fierce power of the Black Wind Flag. It was just unclear if the Eight Spirit Ruler had also joined the fray.

Han Li pondered secretly, but upon seeing that the black-robed woman was still unable to spare attention for this side, he felt temporarily at ease. He immediately stared back at the man and woman before him, his expression neither surprised nor happy.

"Fellow Daoist, there is no need for this. We didn't come here to cause trouble for Brother Han, but to discuss a strategy for self-preservation." Lin Lin Yinping seemed to have anticipated Han Li's hostility; she raised her hand to release a sound-insulation barrier before speaking unhurriedly.

"What strategy for self-preservation?" Han Li's heart stirred, but his voice remained devoid of emotion.

"Fellow Daoist Han, why ask when you already know? The Ancient Demon Saint Ancestor's Black Wind Flag is so powerful that even if we joined forces, we couldn't be his match. If we don't take this opportunity while the demon is entangled with the Spirit Realm's demon concubine to leave this dangerous place, are we just going to wait for the demon to turn back and deal with us at his leisure?" Because time was short, the woman didn't play any other tricks and stated her intentions directly.

"Oh, do you two not want the Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasure anymore?" Han Li narrowed his eyes and asked indifferently.

"Fellow Daoist, you jest. Spirit treasures are precious, but how can they compare to our lives? This Ancient Demon Saint Ancestor has been trapped beneath this tower for so many years, and his true essence has long been depleted. Our Nascent Souls are the best medicine for him to recover his vitality. Once he catches his breath, he will never let us go." The youth surnamed Xu seemed to know quite a bit about the ancient demons and said decisively.

"Then what do you plan to do?" Han Li vaguely guessed the other party's thoughts but still asked woodenly.

"Naturally, we will join forces to ambush the ancient demon guarding the teleportation array over there, and then fight our way out." The youth surnamed Xu said without hesitation.

"Just us few? Do you really know the power of that two-headed, four-armed ancient demon?" Han Li sneered and asked in return.

"What, can't we few take down this demon?" Lin Lin Yinping was somewhat surprised and asked with a light laugh.

"If you knew about this demon—that he once managed to escape after being besieged by three Great Cultivators and over a dozen other Nascent Soul cultivators—would you still have such confidence?" Han Li stroked the feather fan in his hand and said slowly.

"This ancient demon is the monster that escaped from your Tiannan back then?" The youth surnamed Xu was suddenly shocked!

"Correct, it is this demon."

Seeing Han Li so certain, the Great Immortal Master of Mulan and Lin Lin Yinping beside him exchanged a glance, their faces showing a trace of hesitation.

"Then what if the two of us join? That should be enough to force this demon back!" A cold voice suddenly came from above their heads. Just as Han Li and the others' expressions changed drastically, two colors of light—cyan and purple—flashed amidst the yellow wind in the sky, revealing the figures of the Silver-Winged Winged Yecha and the Lion-Bird Beast.

The two demons were surrounded by spiritual light and seemed completely unafraid of the evil winds in the air, hovering there motionlessly. It seemed the Silver-Winged Winged Yecha's wind-escape divine ability was like a fish in water in this harsh environment.

"It's you two. You also want to join forces?" After seeing the two demons clearly, Han Li calmed down again.

"Of course. Although we are not the same kind as you, in the eyes of this Ancient Demon Saint Ancestor, there is no difference. If we don't leave, we'll all be in grave danger!" The Silver-Winged Winged Yecha said bluntly.

"Good. With the two fellow daoists helping, plus Fellow Daoist Gui Ling, it will be foolproof. There's no time to lose; let's act immediately! Who knows how much time that array and the Eight Spirit Ruler can buy us." The youth surnamed Xu agreed immediately. A flash of murderous intent appeared on his face as he turned to look at Han Li.

Clearly, as long as Han Li agreed, their alliance would be formed. The Silver-Winged Winged Yecha and the other demon also looked at Han Li.

Han Li subconsciously licked his lips. After a moment of silence, he finally nodded slowly.

"We are only temporarily forcing this demon back, not necessarily destroying him. These people are indeed enough. Good, I will summon Fellow Daoist Gui back now." Since he had made his decision, Han Li did not hesitate. He immediately pinched a spell with both hands, and after the Gui Ling life-soul plaque in his body trembled, it immediately began to flash with a faint spiritual light.

The Silver-Winged Winged Yecha and the Lion-Bird Beast took this opportunity to descend from the sky and stand to the side.

After only a moment, a yellow light flashed where Han Li was standing, and the ugly woman appeared behind him like a ghost, without a sound.

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