Chapter 961

They were now searching a vast expanse of sea west of Qiongying Island, tens of thousands of li away from the island itself.

A group of cultivators had been ambushed here a few days ago by that eighth-level blue jade dragon; though they believed such a cunning creature would not linger nearby for them to exterminate, the Nanhai Sect still sent out their team to scour the area once more, hoping for some unexpected gain.

In front of so many eyes, Han Li naturally did not fully extend his spiritual sense, lest he arouse suspicion from the squad’s Nascent Soul cultivator; instead, he enveloped the entire ten-li radius of sea surface with his spiritual perception. This range was sufficient to detect the fiendish dragon’s movements early and avoid being ambushed.

More than a dozen cultivators advanced in flight; despite the vastness of this sea region, after half a day they had completed most of their planned search area—but as expected, none of them found anything.

“What’s that?” A cultivator flying ahead suddenly cried out in shock.

Hearing this, Han Li, who had been carefully scanning the sea surface, immediately looked up.

Before them, on the horizon, a massive cloud of gray mist rolled forth—several mu in size—slowly drifting toward them.

“Perfect! There must be a high-level beast inside—don’t let it escape!” A cultivator in the crowd burst out in delight.

“Something’s wrong. Didn’t those fiendish dragons always flee the moment they saw us? Why are they approaching us Zhudong ? There must be a trick.” Another cultivator, clearly more cautious, hesitated to speak.

The Nascent Soul squad leader was a middle-aged man clad in golden-yellow robes. Upon hearing their words, he frowned, instinctively glancing toward the other directions—and immediately his face changed. He shouted urgently:

“Watch out! Beasts are approaching us from all other directions too!”

At these words, the cultivators were startled into chaos. They all spat out their magic treasures, assumed defensive stances, and scanned the surroundings—but miles away, the sky was clear, with not a trace of any beast.

Some cultivators exchanged glances, about to question the man, when piercing dragon roars echoed simultaneously from all around. Then, from afar, waves of demonic clouds of varying colors emerged, churning violently, faintly revealing dragon bodies covered in grotesque scales, swiftly surrounding them.

But these were not the most critical. The most alarming were the two demonic clouds emerging from east and west—each clearly several times larger than the others, glowing vividly in blue and red.

“How is this possible? Two eighth-level beasts?” At such close range, with the cultivators’ spiritual senses, they instantly sensed the terrifying power within those two demonic clouds. Someone screamed, pale-faced.

The other cultivators turned ashen, eyes filled with panic.

Clearly, these fiendish dragons had somehow summoned another eighth-level kin—and now, instead of attacking one by one, they planned to annihilate the entire group at once.

The roles had been utterly reversed!

“What’s the panic? Send out message talismans to other teams immediately, and split up to confront them! If these dragons gather together to unleash their power, their strength will only grow. Don’t even think of fleeing separately—given their aquatic Dunshu , we’d be picked off one by one.” The Nascent Soul man remained calm, barking orders sharply.

Hearing this, the Core Formation cultivators felt slightly reassured. Several immediately released multiple message talismans, sending them soaring into the sky.

“I’ll handle one of the eighth-level fiendish dragons. Who among you two with the swiftest movement can step forward and delay the other for a moment? Don’t engage directly—just buy us time. The rest of you deal with the several seventh-level dragons.” The man added, his voice grave.

But this time, the cultivators exchanged uneasy glances.

Fighting seventh-level dragons was manageable—most here, though outmatched in one-on-one combat, still had confidence in self-preservation. But asking two of them to jointly hold off another eighth-level dragon? This was no joke! Even in a delaying tactic, how long could an ordinary cultivator possibly withstand an eighth-level beast?

“If two won’t do, then three!” The Nascent Soul man, growing anxious, added one more name.

No sooner had he spoken than a sharp whistling sound pierced the air—and a shocking scene unfolded before them all.

A seemingly unremarkable cultivator beside them suddenly erupted with a towering aura, then transformed into a blinding emerald streak, shooting straight toward the crimson demonic cloud on one side.

“Nascent Soul cultivator! And a mid-Nascent Soul one!” The crowd erupted in chaos, every face alight with joy and astonishment.

The Nascent Soul leader froze, then beamed with delight. Had the Nanhai Sect sensed something and secretly assigned another Nascent Soul cultivator to his team?

Though he speculated thus, the demonic clouds were closing in—he had no time to dwell on it.

He spun swiftly, then transformed into a swirl of blue light, rushing toward the blue demonic cloud on the other side.

Seeing two Nascent Soul cultivators now confronting the two eighth-level beasts, the other cultivators regained confidence. They each shot off in colored light, intercepting the remaining demonic clouds mid-flight.

Soon, light blazed from all directions, and thunderous explosions followed in rapid succession.

Unlike the other fronts, Han Li stood motionless within his demonic cloud, enveloped in a layer of pale purple ice flame. Around him stretched a hellish sea of fire, occasionally hissing. These sounds, compared to the earth-shattering clashes elsewhere, were insignificant.

Across from him, dozens of zhang away, a half-human, half-dragon beast stood within a pillar of flame, gazing coldly at him. Though its form resembled a man, its entire body was covered in crimson, translucent scales the size of fists, spewing streams of red flame of varying thicknesses.

“So it’s a crimson dragon. Looks like I came at the right time. An eighth-level Crimson Fire Dragon—far stronger than the seventh-level ones. Your scales must be far more potent.” Han Li suddenly smiled.

“You came for me.” The crimson fire dragon blinked, then its eyes flashed green. It opened its mouth slightly, revealing rows of snow-white fangs that sent chills down the spine. Simultaneously, the surrounding fire pillars surged upward by a third, their power intensifying.

Yet despite its fearsome appearance, the dragon was deeply uneasy.

This human cultivator wasn’t just mid-Nascent Soul—he wielded a profound, mysterious purple ice flame that showed no fear of its own hard-won demonic fire, instantly nullifying half its abilities.

Moreover, for some reason, merely seeing Han Li’s calm demeanor sent waves of icy dread through it, as if doom loomed overhead—deepening its unease.

“When I arrived, I was told only a seventh-level Crimson Fire Dragon was here. Now that you’re present, the little one holds no interest for me. But since you’ve already taken form, I have little desire to kill you outright. How about this: if you willingly give me a few of your life-scales from your neck, then lead your dragon kin away, I’ll let you go.” Han Li chuckled, his tone calm.

“Give you my life-scales? How bold of you! A mere mid-Nascent Soul cultivator dares speak so arrogantly! I’ll reduce you to ashes and let you dream of this in the underworld!” The crimson fire dragon, enraged as if its reverse scale had been touched, flew into a fury.

Life-scales were innate to dragons, appearing at birth in varying numbers. Over time, they absorbed vast amounts of essence and magic power—second only to the demonic core. Losing them meant instantly losing over half one’s cultivation—naturally, this enraged the beast.

In a rage, the dragon rolled within the fire pillar—there was a soft *pop*—and the pillar scattered. A crimson dragon, seven or eight zhang long and several chi thick, suddenly emerged from the flames. It had discarded all caution, now intent only on tearing Han Li apart and reducing him to nothing with its demonic fire.

As soon as it revealed its true form, it opened its mouth and spat a stream of molten crimson liquid, hurtling straight toward Han Li.

Han Li’s eyebrows lifted slightly at the sight.

“Solidifying fire into liquid? To refine demonic fire to this level is no small feat. But it seems I must act myself.”

Speaking thus, Han Li did not delay. He slapped the back of his head, and a snow-white, crystalline pearl shot from his mouth—the already-tempered ice magic treasure, Snow Crystal Pearl.

As the pearl left his mouth, it expanded rapidly in the wind, growing to the size of a fist, then shot toward the enemy. Han Li uttered a low command, pointed his finger from afar—and suddenly, a clear chime rang out. Thick purple flames erupted from the pearl, coalescing into a ten-foot-long purple fire dragon, its mouth clutching the massive Snow Crystal Pearl.

The moment the purple dragon formed, it lunged without hesitation, twisting and lashing its tail to collide head-on with the crimson molten stream.

A loud *sizzling* erupted, followed by a sudden surge of white vapor that swallowed both projectiles. Within the mist, the purple dragon could barely be seen, its mouth spewing torrents of purple flame, forcing the molten stream steadily backward.

Seeing this, the crimson fire dragon’s eyes flickered with fear—but then its fury flared. Crimson light blazed from its body, and it let out a piercing shriek.

The sea of fire around Han Li surged violently, then rose into towering waves over ten zhang high, crashing down from both sides with overwhelming force.

Han Li sneered, rubbed his hands together, then parted them and swept them gently to either side.

A flash of purple light erupted from his heart, followed by a crisp, ringing sound. Two crystalline ice peaks, twenty to thirty zhang tall, erupted from the ground, shimmering with pale purple cold light, instantly halting the oncoming fire waves.

At that moment, the distant fire dragon suddenly shifted—its body shrank rapidly to a mere ten feet in length.

It ceased spitting molten fire, and with a *whoosh*, transformed into a streak of crimson light, hurtling straight toward Han Li at blinding speed—crossing over twenty zhang in an instant, arriving mere feet before him, both claws raised in attack.

The dragon, realizing its demonic fire was useless, now intended to rely on its monstrous body’s resilience to close in and strike Han Li down with a sudden claw blow.

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