Chapter 1042

The ancient demon's twin blades trembled in its hand, instantly transforming the blade light into countless palm-sized black crescents, densely packed as they surged toward Han Li in a shooting barrage.

This demon ignored all other cultivators, seemingly having locked onto Han Li as its opponent, intending to pursue relentlessly.

It's no wonder—among these people, Han Li and that Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Ripple had the lowest cultivation, while Lin Yinping was airborne with the Xu-surnamed youth; by comparison, Han Li stood utterly alone, naturally appearing as the easiest target to break.

Of course, this was also because this ancient demon was not the demon soul from back then, having never clashed with Han Li before; otherwise, it would never have entertained the notion that it would surely regret.

Seeing the ancient demon's ferocious aura approaching, Han Li showed no trace of alarm; instead, he flicked his sleeve, and a silver-colored small shield shot out, instantly expanding into a massive shield blocking his front.

He glanced at the demon, then let out a light sigh.

The ancient demon, seeing Han Li's expression from afar, couldn't help but startle, but immediately felt a strange spiritual pressure emanating from beneath its feet.

Before it could lower its head to look, a "puchi" sound rang out—a cluster of yellow light enveloping a human figure strangely rose from beneath the ground, appearing several zhang behind it.

Immediately, this figure let out a low shout, waved both hands, and a silver-colored giant axe, accompanied by a fierce wind, came down heavily.

This person was none other than the ugly woman Gui Ling, who had been lying in wait beneath Han Li's feet; with the terrifying cultivation of a tenth-level demon beast, plus a fully powered strike held in reserve.

Though the axe blade had not yet fallen, the terrifying spiritual power contained within it caused the nearby ground to boom loudly and suddenly collapse several cun deep.

The ancient demon's face changed; it no longer bothered with attacking Han Li, its form flickering as it vanished ghostlike, simultaneously crossing its twin blades upward in a slash.

Black light surged violently, two thick blade lights shot forth, striking the silver axe squarely.

The black and silver lights collided strangely, then immediately burst apart.

A wave of hot and cold attributes surged wildly in all directions; the blade light momentarily halted the giant axe's descent before dissipating and vanishing.

Seizing this opportunity, the ancient demon finally had time to unleash other demonic arts—clutching a seal with both hands, its body suddenly transmitted explosive joint sounds, then suddenly swelled up; simultaneously, the exposed areas revealed patches of bowl-sized black-green scales, gleaming as if a layer of smooth battle armor had instantly covered it.

Even the originally wounded parts were enveloped by black demonic qi, flesh buds writhing nonstop, appearing to heal at an astonishing speed.

After the ancient demon spun its body a full circle, a fierce light flashed in its eyes; it drew a deep breath, then opened its mouth, releasing wave after wave of shockwaves that seemed substantive, causing the descending giant axe to pause momentarily—as if blocked by an invisible force—unable to fall even a fraction further.

Meanwhile, the demon suddenly began chanting strange incantations; after its scales flashed black light, it spewed black-purple demonic flames about a cun long, engulfing its entire body, blazing fiercely, appearing extraordinarily bizarre, as if preparing to unleash some dreadful secret technique.

Gui Ling's heart jolted, but her form did not retreat; instead, she let out a great shout, her form suddenly swelling, and a layer of blue-colored battle armor appeared on her body—she had thus executed the Giant Technique.

As Gui Ling transformed, the silver axe also blazed with spiritual light and grew larger accordingly; under this power, it finally came down in another slash.

Gui Ling's transformation clearly exceeded the ancient demon's expectations; seeing the ugly woman now towering over him by several times, the demon was startled, its incantation forced to a halt as it swiftly met the black blades upward, yet its form drifted backward.

The moment the black blades and giant axe made contact, a tremendous roar erupted, and a spiritual wind scattered outward; but the ancient demon, having prepared beforehand, remained unharmed, instead using this spiritual wind to boost its escape speed, shooting backward without the slightest injury.

However, during its retreat, the ancient demon let out a feral laugh; the azure-colored long spear held in its third arm suddenly erupted with black demonic flames, then swept forward, transforming into a meteor streaking straight toward Gui Ling's massive form.

As fast as lightning and thunder, it struck Gui Ling's huge body in an instant, clashing with her battle armor to produce a burst of sharp light.

Before the ancient demon could stabilize its form, the incantation in its mouth resumed—it was about to unleash the nearly prepared secret technique. Evidently, it did not believe that single strike could truly slay a tenth-level transformed demon beast.

But at this very moment, an abrupt change occurred!

Behind the demon, about a zhang away, a faint black light flashed; a crystalline, ink-like flying knife about a cun long appeared silently, noiseless; then a black line flashed—this flying knife vanished in an instant, strangely gone.

Almost simultaneously, the ancient demon, with its terrifying spiritual sense, sensed something amiss in advance; its body stirred, preparing to shoot outward.

But in that instant, the ancient demon's head felt as if pierced by a sharp cone-like object; its spiritual sense suddenly flared with intense pain.

Even with the demon's immensely powerful spiritual sense, this unexpected attack caused its body to stiffen involuntarily, its movements hesitating for a moment.

Just this slight delay, a faint bloodline appeared at the neck of its head, then instantly, without any omen, the head rolled straight down, fresh blood spurting several feet high from the neck.

At this moment, Han Li in the distance finally released the hand seal he had been pinching, his face turning pale, his expression noticeably listless.

The previous strike to the demon's head and spiritual sense was his own simplified version, modeled after the Dayan Decree's "Startling Spirit Pierce," which he had slightly modified and researched himself.

Though this spiritual sense attack, due to his lack of cultivation in the final layers of the Dayan Decree, could not compare in power to the true "Spirit Pierce," once unleashed suddenly, if no special guard was taken, anyone would be struck hard and greatly affected. Hence, he named this secret technique the "Lost Spirit Pierce" to distinguish it from the true "Startling Spirit Pierce."

However, even though he had deliberately reduced its power, after one discharge, his spiritual sense still swirled with dizziness nonstop, truly unable to unleash a second strike.

The ancient demon's remaining head blinked its eyes, as if still unable to believe what lay before it, but immediately let out a shrill, furious howl; countless demonic qi suddenly erupted from its body, enveloping it entirely.

Immediately, the demonic qi rolled, and the demon's form blurred, vanishing without a trace.

The next moment, in a space thirty to forty zhang away, space underwent a strange disturbance!

Immediately, a strange black qi welled up; the ancient demon stumbled, appearing within the black qi. It seemed that although the severed head had not truly slain the demon, it had indeed inflicted severe damage.

From Gui Ling's appearance and axe strike to the ancient demon's beheading, severe injury, and frantic escape—this entire sequence unfolded like lightning and flint, merely an instant.

Yet it left the Xu-surnamed youth and the Winged Yecha above staring wide-eyed, mouths agape!

This was not quite what they had initially discussed; their original plan had merely been to join forces for a single strike, temporarily driving this demon back from near the teleportation array.

As for whether they could injure the demon, that had never entered their considerations. But now, having driven the demon downward, Han Li, though he had secretly attacked it alongside Gui Ling as planned, what happened afterward?

Han Li actually appeared determined to slay the demon with desperate resolve. And how did that strange flying knife appear behind the demon? Even from their high vantage, they had equally failed to notice its emergence.

If it had appeared behind them, could they have detected it?

As this thought surfaced, the Xu-surnamed youth and the Winged Yecha both felt a chill behind their backs, their faces subtly changing.

Still, one could say the ancient demon was rather unlucky!

Faced with successive attacks from so many high-level cultivators, it had no chance to catch its breath; despite possessing astonishing divine powers, it had no time to unleash even a fraction before suffering inexplicable severe injury. Otherwise, if it could truly unleash astonishing demonic arts, even if Han Li and the others joined forces, wanting to severely injure it would absolutely not be a matter of a moment.

Thus, having manifested, the ancient demon twisted its remaining head, glaring at Han Li with eyes full of utmost resentment, then black qi surged again as it prepared to flee toward the black-robed woman.

It knew that in its current state, it could no longer gain any advantage from Han Li and the others; better to retreat than to engage in a hard clash.

But Han Li's gaze toward the demon revealed a mocking expression.

Suddenly, a cluster of silver light exploded near the ancient demon; then, a figure flickered into view, strangely appearing.

The ancient demon was greatly startled, like a startled bird, hastily assuming a defensive posture as demonic qi rolled and enveloped it; then, upon looking, the moment its eyes met the opponent's, it suddenly felt the world spin—aside from two clusters of bewitching purple light in its mind, it felt nothing else.

"Soul-Bewildering Technique!"

The ancient demon's spiritual sense was so powerful that even a late Nascent Soul cultivator could not compare; thus, it had once dazed Gan Lao Mo's glare crystal, only causing the demon to lose god momentarily before immediately regaining clarity.

But just this momentary loss of god, a jade light, amidst thunder, suddenly arrived before the demonic qi; within it, intertwined flashing golden arcs allowed the just-cleared ancient demon to see everything clearly.

"Heaven-Repelling Divine Thunder!" The ancient demon startled, actually recognizing the golden arcs that had once made countless ancient demons suffer greatly. Had it not been injured, it still had a way to activate secret techniques to block one or two, but now, unwilling to take the blow head-on, fearing further depletion of vital energy.

Immediately, the demon swept its single hand forward; instantly, a mass gathered before it, instantly forming a small black shield, directly meeting the green light; meanwhile, it shifted its form, instantly appearing several zhang away in another location.

But just as the demon had just planted its feet, a sudden thunderclap rang out from behind.

"Not good!" This demon's heart jolted at once, and before he could act, a silver arc appeared—Han Li's wings unfurled behind him, his sleeves shaking as a purple 'colored' fire flood dragon and dozens of golden 'colored' small swords shot forth.

At this moment, Han Li's timing was perfect; even if the ancient demon wished to dodge, he simply had no time to fully evade.

With no choice, this demon's sole head suddenly rotated 180 degrees, strangely facing Han Li directly, then his mouth opened, releasing an unusually agitated black 'colored' shockwave in ripples, while his two demon arms flashed, two black blades immediately appearing, followed by a swing to meet the attack.

But this demon never expected that, just as his head began to turn, the earlier disturbance ahead surged again—the black 'colored' flying knife that had severed one of his heads reappeared strangely, then flashed and vanished.

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