Chapter 419

Han Li froze when he saw the skull, instantly recalling the Ghost Spirit Sect among the Six Dark Sects.

Disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect also used skull-shaped magic treasures in battle, but theirs were lifeless objects, unlike the black skull before him, which was vividly animated, as if alive.

While Han Li was stunned, the three black banners had already flown forward.

The man named Brother Jian let out a loud roar, pointed remotely with his hand, and instantly the three black banners shot out dense clouds of black threads, interweaving into a massive net that swept toward the skull's face.

The black threads were impossibly fine, glowing throughout, faintly wreathed in dark mist—clearly no ordinary item.

The skull, seeing the threads shoot forth, flashed red light in its hollow eye sockets, then opened its mouth wide in silent, frantic chewing before bursting open again—countless emerald phosphorescent flames gushed out.

Thousands of black threads touched the phosphorescence and immediately ignited like they'd met their antithesis, rapidly turning to wisps of blue smoke.

Seeing this, the man named Brother Jian turned pale and hastily formed a spell, preparing to activate another ability with the banners.

But the black skull suddenly swelled to the size of a cart wheel, then, with a single inhale and exhale, a gray rainbow shot from its mouth, circling the three banners before swallowing them whole.

Then the skull clamped its jaws shut with force—crack! crack! —and crushed the banners into fragments.

Simultaneously, the man named Brother Jian lost all connection to the banners, his face turning ashen.

"Witchcraft user! How dare you destroy my treasures!" he screamed in fury and shock, fear flickering in his eyes.

Others might not know, but he knew perfectly well!

These three banners were also ancient relics from the Primordial Era! They had defeated countless formidable foes—yet today, in a single glance, they were destroyed by that strange skull.

Meanwhile, the thunderfire released by Hu Yue was likewise swallowed by the other skull, achieving no effect whatsoever.

At this, Hu Yue and the man named Brother Jian exchanged glances and both silently considered retreating.

At this moment, Han Li was equally astonished.

He now understood why the strange man dared challenge a group of Core Formation cultivators alone—he clearly had powerful backing. Not only did he possess numerous magic treasures, but each seemed extraordinarily potent.

If they didn't lend a hand, they might indeed suffer a crushing defeat.

Han Li did not wish to see such a scenario unfold.

After all, he had spent months of painstaking effort on this great array—he couldn't let it be snatched away at the last moment.

Moreover, though Han Li wished to conceal his true strength before other cultivators, he had long wanted to test the power of the "Golden-Devouring Beetles," to see if they truly deserved their rank on the Strange Insect List.

This strange man before him clearly wasn't an ordinary Core Formation cultivator—he was the perfect test subject.

With this thought, Han Li glanced again at the battle.

He saw Hu Yue and the others frantically darting through the air, bombarding the two relentless skull monsters with low-tier spells—clearly aware that ordinary magic treasures were useless against such supernatural entities, and forced to retreat and evade.

Even Jin Qing's white jade seal had lost its former might.

While entangled with two flying swords, it had been unexpectedly wrapped by white mist from the flower basket, slowly being dragged toward it—Jin Qing's face was instantly drenched in sweat.

Shi Die, standing beside Qu Hun, was only at Foundation Establishment and could only watch helplessly, unable to assist at all.

Seeing this, Han Li gave the strange man a long look, then without hesitation flipped his hand—out came a plump, bulging spirit beast pouch.

The strange man, whose spiritual sense was clearly extremely strong, sensed Han Li's gaze and immediately noticed it.

He whirled his head and glared fiercely at Han Li, his eyes flashing with malice as he reached into his robes as if to retrieve another magic treasure.

Seeing this, Han Li naturally struck first.

He tossed the spirit beast pouch lightly into the air, then raised his hand and swiftly cast a green spell onto the pouch.

The pouch instantly trembled at its opening, spewing out dozens of spherical objects.

Each sphere was about a foot in diameter, glowing with only gold and silver hues—upon appearing, they instantly transformed into dozens of streaks of light, shooting toward the strange man.

The strange man, seeing this, sneered in contempt, pulled out a jet-black wheel from his robes, and hurled it without hesitation.

The object whistled as it expanded several times in size midair, then spun toward the spheres.

Boom! Boom! —the spheres struck the black wheel and shattered into specks of gold and silver starlight, as if pulverized.

"Hah, hah…" the strange man laughed wildly, then pointed at the wheel, preparing to send it slicing toward Han Li.

But at that moment, a buzzing sound suddenly rose—growing louder and louder, swiftly becoming piercingly shrill, causing everyone to glance over in shock; the strange man himself halted his laughter, his expression turning to stunned disbelief.

The shattered fragments of the spheres had come alive—transforming into thousands of thumb-sized gold-and-silver beetles, densely swarming around the wheel; the piercing noise was the sound of their wings beating, sending chills through all who heard it.

Han Li gave the strange man no time to recover—he subtly urged the beetles with his spiritual sense, and instantly the Golden-Devouring Beetles surged forward like suicidal demons, instantly drenching the wheel in gold and silver.

"Die!"

The strange man snapped back to his senses, immediately forming a spell with both hands, releasing waves of black mist from the wheel and making it spin rapidly, trying to annihilate the beetles.

But what he saw left him dumbfounded—the moment the black mist emerged, the beetles swarmed it en masse and devoured it clean, leaving not a trace.

As for the wheel's high-speed rotation, though it flung away some beetles, far more clung tightly to it, seemingly unharmed by its razor-sharp edges.

Seeing this, the strange man's face turned pale with horror; Han Li's heart soared with joy.

In the blink of an eye, the wheel visibly shrank—from large to small, then vanished entirely, completely devoured by the Golden-Devouring Beetles; the buzzing rose again, louder than before.

The strange man's face turned slightly blue.

Han Li didn't hesitate—he pointed, and the beetles instantly coalesced into a dazzling golden-silver cloud, surging toward the strange man like a tidal wave.

The strange man, now fully aware of the beetles' power, wore a look of panic, frantically gesturing toward the two black skulls that had been relentlessly chasing Hu Yue and the others—immediately, the two demonic objects halted, flickered several times, and flew back to him, looming grotesquely before his body as shields.

Hu Yue and the man named Brother Jian, finally granted breathing room, halted far away and stared over in surprise.

The strange man still seemed uneasy—he flashed a glint of cold light in his hand, producing a small dagger, several inches long.

After a moment's hesitation, his face twisted in grim determination—he chopped off two more fingers.

The two skulls immediately flew over, each swallowing one finger, then emitted mournful, delighted wails.

The strange man glared, then opened his mouth and shot two streaks of dark light into the skulls' foreheads.

Instantly, the two black skulls began to transform amid pained moans.

Puff! Puff! —two goat-like horns sprouted from their crowns; their fangs extended several inches, appearing razor-sharp; their disheveled hair turned blood-red within seconds, fully becoming demonic heads.

"Go!" Seeing the transformation complete, the strange man exhaled in relief, gritted his teeth against the pain, and used his remaining fingers to point at the approaching swarm.

A flash of green light ignited in his eyes—the demonic heads obediently transformed into two streaks of black light, emitting long, ghostly wails as they flew toward the swarm.

The Golden-Devouring Beetles, upon seeing the demonic heads charge, split into two groups under Han Li's command and attacked from both sides.

The demonic heads opened their mouths and unleashed emerald phosphorescent flames, thicker than before, directly striking the oncoming swarm—sending them reeling in chaos, flung back several zhang.

The swarm fell into disarray.

The strange man showed a flicker of triumph—but it vanished instantly.

For the beetles struck by the phosphorescence flipped over several times, then calmly took flight again, utterly unharmed.

The strange man's face was now filled with utter disbelief.

He knew these demonic heads' phosphorescence was the Azure Ghost Flame—superior to Golden Core flame—how could it fail to burn even a few insects?

Yet though the demonic heads could not harm the Golden-Devouring Beetles, neither could the beetles break through the phosphorescent flames—both sides were locked in stalemate.

The strange man furrowed his brow, silently searching for another tactic.

But then, suddenly, a buzzing sound far louder than before echoed from afar.

The strange man looked up in surprise—and his face turned deathly pale, drained of all color.

WM