Chapter 2029: Great Victory

"Well, that late-stage demon venerable was indeed troublesome, but he was indeed slain by me." Han Li saw no need to conceal this, smiling faintly as he nodded.

"Fellow Daoist Han has truly achieved an unprecedented feat; with this battle, our victory is beyond doubt." Hearing this, the silver-haired elder felt the last trace of worry in his heart completely dissipate, and he exclaimed joyfully.

Immediately afterward, without hesitation, he drew a deep breath and suddenly let out a loud, frenzied shout:

"The demon race's holy ancestor has already been slain by us—what arrogance do you demon spawn have left? Utter annihilation of body and spirit is your only fate!"

The elder's voice thundered like rolling thunder across the entire battlefield, echoing incessantly, so that both human and demon races could hear it clearly.

Upon hearing this, the human side naturally erupted in cheers, morale instantly soaring severalfold, while the demon side, upon hearing it, fell into a brief commotion.

Those high-ranking demon venerables, upon glancing toward the elder's side, saw no trace of the blood-robed youth or the demon burly man, and their hearts instantly filled with alarm, also becoming somewhat bewildered.

Seeing this, the silver-haired elder and Monk Jin Yue immediately made a hand seal, at once enveloping several treasures as they flew toward the nearest combat group.

There, two elders of Tian Yuan City and two demon venerables were locked in a fierce, indecisive battle; upon seeing the two approaching with fierce momentum, they immediately exchanged a startled glance.

"Go"

One of them, an elder wearing blue demon armor, suddenly let out a low cry.

The other, a demon venerable entirely wrapped in black aura, without a word let out a cold snort, then rubbed his two hands together and thrust them forward.

A booming sound rose!

Countless black lightning-fire spread across the sky and earth, violently lashing out and forcing the two human elders to temporarily retreat; then, with a single-handed toss, a black wooden boat appeared in midair.

He flashed onto it in an instant.

The wooden boat let out a booming sound and instantly transformed into a black rainbow, shooting far into the distance.

As for the blue-armored elder on the other side, he had already unfurled a blue banner and violently shook it, releasing a vast expanse of azure misty light that instantly engulfed his figure.

A flash of blue light—he vanished completely from sight in that very spot.

And the very next moment, space fluctuated several hundred zhang away, a faint human figure flickered into view, but as the blue light surged again, it vanished once more without a trace.

These two demon venerables fled without hesitation.

Their opponents, the two elders of Tian Yuan City, seeing this, naturally felt unwilling; they joined forces to scatter the black lightning-fire with a single strike, then prepared to pursue using evasion light.

But just then, the silver-haired elder and Monk Jin Yue flashed to a nearby spot and immediately called out to them.

"Fellow Daoists, there's no need to bother with these retreating demon venerables for now—first go assist other fellow Daoists!" The silver-haired elder transmitted a few words with slight lip movement.

Then, he shifted his evasion light and lunged toward another combat group.

The two elders immediately came to their senses, abandoned their thoughts of relentless pursuit, and instead turned to support other units.

In the blink of an eye, the entire demon army descended into utter chaos!

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, many demon venerables immediately fled backward.

Some ferocious demons, still wishing to lead their troops in continued slaughter, were instead surrounded by a combined force of human and monster cultivators who had recovered, and were either slain on the spot or severely wounded and forced to flee.

As for the low-ranking demons lacking demon venerables to command and direct them, they fell into great panic, scattered, and abandoned their assault on the city, retreating in disarray, with the situation quickly becoming uncontrollable.

Despite also suffering heavy losses, the human and monster races, buoyed by greatly heightened morale, surged down from the city walls in a relentless pursuit and slaughter.

For a time, within tens of thousands of li, shouting and killing filled the air, as countless demons fled in panic toward the distance,

and behind them, various radiant lights spread across heaven and earth in relentless pursuit; occasionally, low- and mid-ranking demons swept by the light would fall like dumplings, their fate unknown—life or death uncertain.

Han Li did not join Monk Jin Yue and the others in attacking the demon venerables, but remained quietly in place, observing the entire process of the demon army's collapse.

When he saw all the demons scattering from the vicinity of Tian Yuan City, and then vanishing into the void nearby in the blink of an eye, chased away by the human and monster races like herding ducks, he finally let out a long breath.

Under these circumstances, the demon army's defeat was truly sealed.

Even if the demon holy ancestor's incarnation were to descend again at this moment, it would be utterly impossible to turn the tide.

After waiting a little longer in place, seeing most of the guards had pursued far into the distance, a flash of blue light appeared—Han Li, accompanied by the leopard qilin beast, shot toward the city like an arrow.

Meanwhile, the ordinary inhabitants and scattered cultivators of both human and monster races in the city had already learned of the demon army's great defeat; the great city instantly erupted in cheers, as numerous low-ranking cultivators rushed out of their dwellings to fully vent their inner joy.

For a time, the streets and low skies were thick with figures, bustling beyond compare.

Seeing this, Han Li, though his mind was usually as still as water, could not help but feel greatly relieved—but he had no intention of lingering, and continued racing straight to his dwelling on evasion light.

Not long after, he saw his stone tower in the distance; his evasion light flashed, and without hesitation, he plunged directly into it.

He did not return to the topmost chamber, but instead directly cast a spell to evade into the secret chamber over a hundred zhang deep at the base of the stone tower.

Han Li broke the restriction, instructed the leopard qilin beast with a few words, and then hurriedly entered meditation to regulate his breath.

His vitality was greatly depleted, and various medicinal powers within his body were intertwined and conflicting—naturally, the situation was not optimistic, and naturally, the sooner he treated it, the better.

Therefore, he did not even wait for the silver-haired elder and others to return victorious before retreating to his dwelling to enter seclusion.

While Han Li was in seclusion, the human and monster cultivators, under the leadership of numerous combined-body cultivators, pursued the defeated demon army relentlessly for three days and three nights.

Although the number of demon venerables slain in this process was pitifully few, the mid- and low-ranking demons were at least slain by them in a proportion of five or six out of ten.

The Tian Yuan City army can thus be said to have achieved a true great victory, and only then did everyone, excited, embark on the return journey.

Of course, to prevent the demon army's ashes from reigniting, the silver-haired elder and others still arranged for many personnel to continue monitoring the remnants of the demon army's movements.

Upon returning to the city, all those who had gone out to battle were warmly welcomed by those left behind, and the entire city held a grand victory celebration feast.

Nearly everyone in the city participated in this grand celebration.

But few know that the elders of Tian Yuan City did not join this celebration; instead, they and some other participating combined-body cultivators gathered secretly in a hidden hall,

including some envoys from the Holy Island who had come secretly to support, as well as several cultivators from Tian Yuan City who had long remained obscure in reputation.

At this moment, a group of combined-body cultivators, having just finished listening to the silver-haired elder recount how the blood-light incarnation was devoured by ten thousand insects, all involuntarily revealed expressions of alarm.

"Gold-devouring insects, and mature ones at that. This vicious insect was actually cultivated by humans to number over ten thousand—this is truly an unbelievable thing. So speaking, that blood-light holy ancestor incarnation and another even more formidable late-stage demon venerable both met their end at the hands of this Daoist Han." A yellow-faced man with a full beard of black, stiff whiskers muttered.

"How shameful to say. In this battle, I, the old man, was unable to play a major role—only in the early stage did I, together with Master Jin Yue, hold off that old demon's incarnation for a while; later, I still relied on Daoist Han's gold-devouring insects to slay the opponent. And before that, Daoist Han had already independently resolved another late-stage demon venerable." The silver-haired elder said with a bitter smile.

"Elder Gu, why be so modest? Without you and the master using the holy treasure, even if Daoist Han could activate the gold-devouring insects, he would surely be unable to truly catch up to that holy ancestor's incarnation." Another elder, with narrow eyes and greenish hair, said thoughtfully.

"Elder Cui, that Taiji Holy Treasure was bestowed upon us by Lord Mozhongli before his departure—Gu certainly dare not claim credit for it!" Upon hearing this, the silver-haired elder shook his head repeatedly.

"How could the Xuan Tian Holy Treasure be easy to activate? Elder Gu and the master also achieved this only by risking the loss of their entire essence and blood. How could there be no merit? If this is not counted as merit, then we would feel even more guilty." The old elder chuckled.

The silver-haired elder and Monk Jin Yue naturally engaged in another round of modesty.

At this time, a woman in a light blue long dress smiled and spoke:

"There's no need to mention the contributions of Brother Gu and the Master. Just the painstaking planning before the great battle alone means the two fellow Daoists' contributions are absolutely foremost. However, hearing you say this, that Daoist Han's divine powers are absolutely not trivial, and he could certainly rank among the top five in our two clans. Such a person, I must certainly meet. But where is this fellow Daoist now?"

"Indeed, Lady Shu's words are quite right. I, too, would like to meet him." Someone among the others immediately echoed.

"It's not very convenient for everyone to see Brother Han now. Because Daoist Han also expended a great deal of vital energy in this great battle, he immediately entered seclusion upon returning to the city. So for this gathering, I did not summon Daoist Han over." The silver-haired elder said slowly.

"I see, then my words were somewhat rash. I will wait for Daoist Han to emerge from seclusion and then personally visit him." The woman in the blue dress, upon hearing this, revealed a look of regret on her face.

Several others also showed a hint of regret, but naturally it was not appropriate to say anything further.

"Although Daoist Han has made great contributions in this battle, the city's escape from disaster mainly relied on your strong assistance. I will not say more words of thanks. In the future, whenever you need anything from Tian Yuan City, just tell me, and the city will surely repay you in full." The silver-haired elder's expression turned solemn, and he then clasped his fists toward the others.

Several other elders of Tian Yuan City also rose and made similar promises.

Upon hearing this, the other Body Integration cultivators could not help but show joy on their faces, for such a promise from the silver-haired elder and others is no small matter and will surely be useful in the future, so they likewise became more courteous.

"Although we have won this great battle, we must not let our guard down. After all, those demon venerables and nearly half of the demon army remain unharmed. If the Blood Light Holy Ancestor hardens his heart and descends another incarnation into the Spirit Realm, we may yet face another bitter struggle. To prevent this, our city cannot merely remain passive; we must seize this great victory to take the initiative, continue to pursue and slaughter the remnants of the demon army, and give them no chance to regroup." The silver-haired elder's expression darkened somewhat as he spoke.

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