Chapter 715: Blood Demon Sword

"Who I am doesn't matter—what matters is why are you so obstinate? Hand over the mind-binding talisman, and we'll let you go immediately. As for this so-called Blood Demon Sword, I don't know what it is, but I find it no threat. Don't rely on it!" Han Li's voice echoed calmly through the hall.

"No threat? Do you even know what the Blood Demon Sword is, to speak so boldly! Very well—first I'll kill you, and then my sister Nangong will come to her senses." The cold woman fixed Han Li with a glare, her lips tightening with lethal intent.

She then bit down hard on her tongue and spat a jet of essence blood onto the humming crimson little sword, her hands swiftly forming a spell seal.

The inch-long blade flared crimson, swelling to three feet in length, glowing a vivid, sinister red, its stench of blood making one nauseous.

Yet the cold woman paid it no mind; she extended her slender hand and gripped the sword's hilt, then unleashed a brilliant surge of spiritual energy, pouring all her spiritual power into the blood blade.

"Danger! Strike now! Don't let her attack first!" Nangong Wan's composure shattered; she cried out anxiously to Han Li.

Nangong Wan knew well the horror of the Blood Demon Sword—she naturally didn't believe Han Li's claim that it was no threat.

Thus, ignoring that her Wheel of Reincarnation's divine light had yet to fully form, she suddenly pointed at the massive halo above her head.

The moon-like halo trembled, then began spinning rapidly; moments later, a bizarre, long rainbow shot forth from within it—brilliant as a sky-spanning emerald arc, stunningly beautiful—and instantly reached the cold woman's front.

Seeing this, the cold woman tossed the first triangular banner she had summoned, without even looking.

The banner, lifted by her jade hand, transformed into a vast expanse of emerald, sinister mist that surged forward to meet the rainbow.

After a flash of light, the rainbow plunged into the green fog, and a muffled boom echoed from within.

The rainbow, like a dragon bursting from water, immediately gained the upper hand upon contact. It twisted and churned within the mist, striving to break free—but the green fog clung like a parasite, tightening its grip layer upon layer under the cold woman's spiritual sense, preventing any escape.

Seeing this, Nangong Wan's face paled; the cold woman's lips curled with a flicker of triumph.

Then the woman crossed the crimson longsword horizontally and brought it down with the weight of a thousand jin upon Han Li's head.

Violent spatial ripples erupted above Han Li's head; a massive sword qi, over ten feet long, materialized there.

The sword qi was crimson as blood, radiating malevolent energy that pierced the heavens, and it descended without mercy.

On the other side, after slashing, the cold woman appeared as if half her vital essence had been drained—her face flushed crimson repeatedly, and the sword's glow flickered before shrinking back to its original size, drifting into her hand.

As the sword qi descended halfway, the surrounding spiritual energy rushed toward it like myriad rivers pouring into the sea, sucked dry in an instant.

Han Li felt his body tighten—his form instantly immobilized. He couldn't form hand seals or even twitch a single finger. He could only watch helplessly as the sword qi descended, slow and deliberate.

The stench of blood surged toward him.

Seeing this, Nangong Wan's face turned as white as snow; the cold woman's lips curled with mockery.

Just as both women believed Han Li was doomed, Han Li, staring fixedly at the descending crimson sword qi, drew a deep breath.

Thunder roared; golden light flared wildly—a layer of pale golden lightning arcs appeared across Han Li's entire body.

The cold woman froze in shock, too late to react—the crimson sword qi plunged straight into the electric net.

A deafening "Boom!" erupted as golden lightning and crimson qi intertwined.

The seemingly terrifyingly massive sword qi, entangled in golden arcs, flashed violently, lashing left and right—yet could not sever the seemingly fragile threads of lightning.

Instead, it was gradually enveloped layer by layer, struggling like a great fish caught in a net.

The binding on Han Li vanished the instant the golden arcs of the Exorcising Divine Thunder appeared.

He gazed at the sword qi entangled in golden light, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

If his perception hadn't failed, the golden net formed by the Exorcising Divine Thunder had trapped the crimson sword qi—but the divine thunder itself was being rapidly depleted by the sword's struggles. Had he not released nearly a third of his divine thunder reserves at once, he wasn't certain he could have contained this strange blade at all.

He had never heard of a demonic artifact the Exorcising Divine Thunder couldn't fully suppress.

Yet even so, if this continued, the crimson sword qi and the divine thunder above would likely destroy each other in mutual ruin.

He would not stand idly by and let that happen.

Thinking this, Han Li's expression darkened; he raised both hands, and two monstrous golden arcs erupted from his palms, piercing through the golden net to strike the crimson sword qi directly.

After a few moments of furious golden lightning strikes, the sword qi let out a final mournful cry and shattered into a small cloud of crimson mist, hanging motionless in midair.

Without hesitation, Han Li pointed upward at the golden net—the net instantly retracted, fully enclosing the crimson mist into a golden sphere the size of a fist, which landed in his palm.

Only then did Han Li glance sideways, his expression blank, at the woman across from him.

The cold woman stood stunned, her face filled with disbelief and shock.

Even Nangong Wan stood with her lips slightly parted, frozen in place.

The Blood Demon Sword's full strike had failed—this left both women utterly disoriented.

Since its mysterious appearance in Tiannan, no one knew whether it was an ancient treasure or a magic treasure.

The sword could be stored within the body like a magic treasure, yet could not be refined or bonded to its owner like one—anyone who obtained it could unleash its astonishing power.

Against its void slash, nothing could block it except fleeing in advance; those who tried to resist it with spells or magical artifacts were almost always cut cleanly in two.

Of course, wielding this sword required vast amounts of essence and vital energy, and constant vigilance against the demonic aura's backlash.

After using it, regardless of duration, one's true qi became tainted with a trace of demonic nature; if too much accumulated, the user would lose reason, be consumed by demonic aura, and ultimately die in a mad, demonic frenzy.

Such artifacts existed in other numbers in Tiannan, so Tiannan cultivators collectively called them "demonic artifacts"—loved and hated alike.

But Han Li did not wait for the two women to recover; he let out a piercing cry, and the golden insect cloud hovering beside him buzzed to life, surging forth like a storm to engulf the cold woman.

Han Li's insect assault finally jolted the stunned cold woman back to her senses. With a cry of fury, she spat out another silver little sword, her hands flashing through seals.

The silver sword blazed with brilliance, engulfed in dazzling silver light.

"Puff!" The silver sword trembled, transforming into a thousand slender silver threads that shot through the air.

They met the golden insect cloud head-on.

"Sword-to-thread transformation," Han Li muttered, frowning.

This sister of Nangong Wan was clearly a sword cultivator—no wonder most of her magic treasures were flying swords.

At that moment, the silver threads and golden cloud collided.

A crackling "Pipipa" erupted as countless golden blossoms rained down from the sky—the golden cloud thinned noticeably.

Seeing this, Han Li's heart sank.

Even now, the Gold-Biting Insects still couldn't stand against a Nascent Soul cultivator? All his painstaking efforts had been wasted.

The silver sword threads pierced through the golden cloud, then turned and pierced through it again.

Naturally, more Gold-Biting Insects fell from the air.

Seeing this, the cold woman felt a slight relief.

If she repeated this several times, she could destroy all these strange flying insects—apparently, they weren't truly fearsome.

Han Li was deeply disappointed—but suddenly, his gaze swept over the fallen insects on the ground, and his face lit up with joy.

The Gold-Biting Insects, which should have been dead, twitched simultaneously, emitted a piercing cry, spread their wings again, and reformed into golden blossoms, coalescing into a new insect cloud that surged toward the cold woman.

At that moment, a phoenix cry rang out from within the green mist; brilliant light burst forth, and all the green fog vanished instantly, revealing a crimson full moon.

The full moon flashed once, then descended to engulf the cold woman.

Seeing this, the cold woman's face turned ashen.

She spun rapidly within the light, her body transforming into a streak of black-and-white lightning, aiming to pierce through the hall's ceiling and flee.

After their earlier clash, she finally understood: alone, she stood little chance against Han Li and Nangong Wan together.

Thus, she must escape the cave, rally others, and then subdue them.

After all, even if Han Li and Nangong Wan were formidable, they could never match the tens of thousands of disciples of the Yan Yue Sect.

Moreover, once outside, she could activate the Yan Yue Sect's sect-defending great array and trap them alive within.

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