Chapter 548

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and the scene ahead came into view.

Under the devouring of the Golden Insects, the Poisonous Dragon's scales finally shattered. But the consequence of its flesh tearing open was a torrent of crimson light spurting from its body, turning countless insects into toxic sludge; soon, the dense swarm of beetles on its body was reduced to almost nothing.

At this point, the Poisonous Dragon was also covered in wounds, with vast amounts of emerald blood seeping from its entire body; its gaze toward Han Li was filled with mortal hatred.

Han Li's heart tightened—the name "Poisonous Dragon" was no empty title.

The Golden Insects had evolved beyond harm from ordinary magic treasures, yet they were so easily annihilated by this toxic light—clearly, the poison was deadly.

But then a cold sneer rose on Han Li's face.

This demon did not know that his swarm of insects was far larger than this; even if half the Golden Insects were lost, he would still eliminate one of the three demons if he could.

Thinking this, he swiftly turned his gaze to the other side—the Tortoise Demon, completely buried under a sea of flying insects.

The sound of gnawing, "shasha," never ceased, yet the insect mound had become utterly motionless.

If not for the faint traces of demonic aura within and its still-swollen bulk, he would have thought the demon already dead.

Though deep suspicion arose in his mind, Han Li had no time to ponder further; his expression darkened, and with a flick of his hands upward, he unleashed several more spirit beast bags into the air.

Instantly, the buzzing and flapping of wings filled the entire alchemy chamber; the ceiling was blanketed by over a hundred thousand tricolored Golden Insects, obscuring the entire roof.

Seeing such a vast swarm, the Poisonous Dragon's face first paled, then twisted into despair.

Bai Guang, within the light, also turned pale, his expression filled with shock.

Known among cultivators, communal spirit insects, though having shorter breeding cycles and laying many eggs at once, still required over a hundred years between each breeding. After being tamed and hatched, they needed decades of training before becoming truly usable. Moreover, the greater the power and higher the rank of the spirit insect, the longer the time required.

Thus, although many cultivators in the cultivation world knew the art of insect control, very few were renowned in the Chaos Star Sea for it—especially after Core Formation, such cases were exceedingly rare!

Most insect-controlling cultivators considered themselves lucky to possess even a thousand insects in their lifetime. Even then, such numbers were usually passed down from master to disciple, and then to the next generation, barely maintaining such quantities.

Moreover, spirit insects were far more fragile than other spirit beasts. It was common for all of them to be wiped out in a single battle. This was why, despite knowing the power of spirit insects, few cultivators practiced insect control.

Both Bai Guang and the Poisonous Dragon had already witnessed the power of Han Li's Golden Insects. Even as **-rank demonic beasts, they found them terrifying. Thus, seeing such a vast number, the two demons could hardly believe their eyes.

Of course, they did not know these Golden Insects were not yet evolved into mature forms; had they known, their shock would have been even greater.

Han Li ignored the shock, fury, and venom in the Poisonous Dragon's eyes; with a flick of his spiritual sense, all the insects roared loudly, splitting into several groups and surging down en masse onto the Poisonous Dragon's body.

As a result, crimson light erupted again from the wounded demonic body, turning countless Golden Insects to ash—but the insect swarm above the roof descended relentlessly, undeterred by death.

In mere moments, the crimson light began to fade and weaken; shortly after, it vanished entirely as the demon's face twisted into the expression of a dead man.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes brightened.

The insect swarm descended without mercy, instantly burying the Poisonous Dragon.

Soon, the towering mound of insects began to shrink, growing lower and smaller.

Unable to withstand the assault after its scales were breached, the Poisonous Dragon was finally devoured to death by the swarm.

Seeing this, Bai Guang's face twitched slightly, then quickly calmed; he merely fixed Han Li with a chilling stare.

Han Li uttered a low murmur; the insect swarm lifted from the spot, revealing fragments of the Poisonous Dragon's remains.

Among the debris, a blood-red demonic core, the size of a fist, flickered uncertainly.

Han Li's expression flickered with surprise; before he could act, the core flashed blue and shot upward, streaking toward the chamber door.

Without hesitation, Han Li flicked a finger; a streak of azure sword qi shot forth, striking the core directly.

The core spun wildly after impact, then suddenly expelled a cluster of blue light—within it, a miniature dragon no more than an inch long, the Poisonous Dragon's essence-soul.

The dragon-soul, seeing its hiding place exposed, instantly panicked, flashed crimson, and vanished.

Han Li's face hardened; he slapped one of the spirit beast bags at his waist. A streak of green light shot out, landing on the ground, revealing a lazy little monkey with a disgruntled expression—it was the Ti Hun Beast.

Han Li had no time to care for the beast's mood; he lightly tapped its head. The Ti Hun Beast involuntarily snorted, and a streak of yellow light shot forth, swirling in the air before enveloping an empty spot beside it.

The yellow light flashed, revealing a miniature crimson dragon-soul.

The yellow light then retracted, dragging the Poisonous Dragon's essence-soul toward the Ti Hun Beast's nostrils.

The dragon-soul, of course, refused to be swallowed; it emitted blinding blue light from its entire body, momentarily holding back the yellow glow and freezing in place.

No wonder it was a **-rank heavenly spirit beast—its soul power far surpassed that of sixth- or seventh-rank demonic beasts.

Of course, this was also because the Ti Hun Beast was still in its juvenile stage; otherwise, it would have been truly unworthy of its great reputation.

But Han Li never intended for the Ti Hun Beast to actually swallow the dragon-soul.

The soul of an eighth-rank demonic beast was exceedingly rare in this realm; he would never waste it.

Thus, as the Ti Hun Beast's yellow glow and the Poisonous Dragon's soul remained locked in stalemate, Han Li flashed sideways, reached out with five fingers, and—without expression—grasped the helpless soul firmly in his hand, its surface shimmering with azure light.

The dragon-soul, no longer than an inch, writhed desperately between his fingers; Han Li flipped his other palm, and a jade vial he had long prepared appeared in his grasp.

With a flick, a soft "whoosh" echoed—the soul, wrapped in azure light, was flung directly into the vial.

Han Li swiftly capped the bottle and carefully stowed it in his storage bag. Only then did he exhale slightly in relief.

Without delay, Han Li turned and walked toward the Tortoise Demon.

But at that moment, a sharp crack echoed through the air—the barrier finally shattered under the twin strikes of the giant swords.

Han Li didn't even look up; he extended one hand, and a vast wave of azure light erupted, instantly engulfing the exposed Wind-Thunder Wings and pulling them back to his hand.

He didn't bother to examine it further; he shoved the treasure straight into his storage bag.

Watching this, the Split-Wind Beast nearly spat blood; his previously calm face once again twisted into a look of bitter venom.

But Han Li's gaze was fixed on the towering insect mound; he uttered a low call, and the swarm instantly rose into the air, revealing the Tortoise Demon beneath.

At the sight, Han Li drew a sharp breath.

The demon was covered in wounds, its flesh torn and bloody, yet it emitted a faint earth-yellow glow; its exposed flesh writhed continuously, healing and regenerating before Han Li's very eyes.

In an instant, most of its wounds were already healed.

"Self-Repairing Body"

Han Li's face showed astonishment, then bitterness crept into his mouth.

The "Self-Repairing Body" was not uncommon among demonic beasts.

Many low-rank demonic beasts possessed this strange ability to heal wounds and regenerate limbs.

But such innate talent was exceedingly rare among high-rank demonic beasts. In fact, among the dozens of sixth- and seventh-rank demons Han Li had slain, he had never encountered one with this regenerative ability.

And now, this eighth-rank Tortoise Demon possessed exactly this trait—naturally, Han Li was deeply surprised.

But this meant his troubles had just grown far worse.

Unless he could sever the Tortoise Demon's head or shatter its Golden Core, the Golden Insects alone could not kill it in the short term.

At least not until this innate ability was exhausted.

Unfortunately, his Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword had only been forged for a few decades, and the time he had spent refining it was minimal.

Thus, even though its material was Tian Jin Leizhu—one of the Three Divine Woods—and it had been infused with the exceedingly rare "Refined Crystals," its single-sword power was still not particularly strong compared to the life-weapon of a cultivator at the same level.

In the past, Han Li had slain sixth- and seventh-rank demons with this sword mostly by relying on its sheer number; when several—or even a full set of twelve—swords merged into one giant blade, its power naturally became incomparable. This was the fundamental reason why sets of magic treasures were so powerful.

But clearly, even now, if he unleashed the Giant Sword Technique, it still would not be enough to pierce the demonic bodies of these two eighth-rank beasts.

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