Chapter 986

The scissors flew out and transformed into a golden streak; the black-robed woman clearly intended to use this treasure to cut through the Corpse Soul Threads and rescue the elderly man surnamed Fu first.

Han Li furrowed his brows deeply.

Saving him was certainly possible, but flying over personally and recklessly increasing the distance between them was no good idea.

Just as the golden streak neared the giant cocoon, a green human figure shot up from the ground with a loud “bang,” vanished in an instant, and blocked the cocoon’s front. With bare hands, it casually grabbed the air, launching several claw-like beams that instantly shattered the golden scissors and sent them flying away.

Han Li and the black-robed woman initially assumed this figure was the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler, but when the light faded and they saw its face, both were stunned.

The green figure had a wolf’s head and human body, its eyes blood-red—it was unmistakably the giant corpse wolf they had seen earlier. Yet somehow, through unknown secret arts, it had taken human form, its size shrunk several times over, and now it glared at the black-robed woman with a grotesque expression.

But what drew Han Li’s deeper attention was the absence of the Yin Zhi Ma that had previously rested atop the wolf’s head. Had this spiritual creature remained underground, or hidden elsewhere?

Han Li naturally thought this, and his eyes flashed blue as he instinctively scanned the surroundings.

Immediately, his face turned pale, and he shouted urgently at the black-robed woman:

“Watch your back!”

Without hesitation, he flicked his ten fingers, sending over a dozen azure sword qi streaks hurtling toward the woman.

Hearing Han Li’s shout, the woman—experienced in combat—felt a chill run through her.

Without thinking, she tapped the azure small shield before her; it instantly flipped behind her back. Simultaneously, she condensed all her magic power, and the Dharma Wheel above her head blazed with radiant light, its seven-colored spiritual radiance merging into her protective aura and swelling by double.

As the woman completed her defense, a faint golden humanoid shadow appeared behind her in an instant.

It was the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler!

This flying corpse had undergone a drastic transformation: its green fur had vanished, replaced by pale golden scales. Its silver wings shimmered with azure and white light, and its silver eyes now held pale golden pupils. More astonishingly, its overwhelming corpse aura had completely vanished—no trace of energy could be sensed; a spiritual sense sweep revealed it as nothing more than an empty spiritual vessel.

No sooner had it appeared than it raised one hand without moving its body—its arm suddenly elongated several times its original length.

Golden light flickered along its jet-black claws, which shot out several inches and seized the newly formed azure shield directly behind the woman.

The shield, upon appearing, swelled violently, radiating intense spiritual light, as if utterly indestructible.

But an unbelievable sight occurred!

The Silver-Winged Nightcrawler treated the shield as if it were nonexistent; golden light flashed along its arm, and its claws passed through the shield silently, grasping the woman’s protective aura directly.

A crisp cracking sound rang out—the claw beams paused only slightly before tearing through the aura like paper shreds.

With a “puch” sound, the claw beams plunged into the woman’s chest, pulverizing her heart, then easily pierced through the other side.

Seeing this, Han Li’s heart sank.

Being this close to a flying corpse with such immense strength was indeed fatal.

At that moment, the azure sword qi arrived from afar—but the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler merely flapped its wings, and a swirl of azure-white light swept them away.

Yet Han Li’s rescue attempt was not in vain; it had bought the woman a precious moment.

In that instant, a red glow flashed from her crown, and a tiny, inch-tall Nascent Soul appeared there.

The Nascent Soul was naked, its face identical to the woman’s, but it clutched a one-inch-long flying sword. Almost as soon as it appeared, it flashed red and instantly teleported over ten zhang away, riding the sword.

Just a few more teleports, and it could escape safely.

But the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler suddenly sneered, hurled the humanoid corpse aside, and vanished into thin air right where it stood.

Instantly, a faint human shadow appeared beside the Nascent Soul, opened its mouth, and spat out a gray silk net that enveloped the Nascent Soul just as it prepared to teleport again.

“Han Daoist, save me!”

The woman’s Nascent Soul cried out in panic, urging Han Li for help, while maneuvering the sword frantically within the net. Had her physical body still been intact, she might have had a chance to cut through the net and flee—but now, reduced to just her Nascent Soul, her magic power was severely weakened, and the Corpse Soul Threads absorbed the Five Elements’ spiritual energy, so the threads simply rebounded her every attempt.

The Silver-Winged Nightcrawler gave her no chance at all; the moment the net was spat out, it reached out with a void grasp, and a giant gray hand materialized, snatching both the net and the Nascent Soul together.

Then, with a flash of gray light, a gray cocoon, roughly a foot in size, suddenly formed and hovered in midair.

Only now did the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler’s body become clearly visible. It glanced at the gray cocoon, then at Han Li, and let out a cold laugh.

“Heh! I thought you’d use Thunder Dash to come rescue her. Turns out you know how to preserve yourself!”

“Rescue her? If I could have saved her, I would have. But going over then would’ve just been throwing myself into a trap. That giant net you’ve spread above your head—retract it.” Han Li’s expression remained calm as he spoke coolly.

“You noticed? So you can see through my illusions—this isn’t just luck.” A flicker of surprise crossed the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler’s face.

At that moment, over ten zhang above it, a vast gray net materialized—no one could tell what technique it used, yet it had concealed the enormous net perfectly, leaving not a trace.

Had Han Li’s Mingqing Spiritual Eyes not reached a certain level of mastery, he would never have detected this treacherous trap.

But even without the net, Han Li likely wouldn’t have acted rashly.

This transformed Silver-Winged Nightcrawler was truly strange: not only had it completely suppressed its corpse aura, but its Wind Dash technique had become vastly more refined—almost reaching the level of “vanishing with the wind.”

Had he not possessed Spiritual Eyes, the opponent could have appeared right before him without him noticing.

Moreover, the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler’s previous strike had allowed its arm to pierce through the black-robed woman’s defensive treasure effortlessly—this made Han Li’s heart tighten with unease, and he sensed something deeply unnatural.

Seeing Han Li hadn’t fallen for the trap, the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler snorted, then gestured toward the humanoid corpse wolf.

The corpse wolf immediately flew over, arriving beside the flying corpse in an instant, then twisted its wolf head to glare menacingly at Han Li.

But at that moment, a thunderous roar erupted from beneath Han Li—Tihun Beast suddenly pounded its chest in a burst of fury.

During the earlier battle, Han Li had used his spiritual sense to restrain it from moving—so the beast had been forced to watch helplessly as the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler darted overhead. It had grown deeply frustrated. Now, seeing the corpse wolf approach, it bared its teeth and growled defiantly at it.

Upon hearing the roar, the corpse wolf’s face showed a flicker of fear, its gaze toward Tihun shrinking with dread.

The Silver-Winged Nightcrawler, watching this, frowned—but after a few quick eye movements, it suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a gray, spherical bead. It seized the bead, flipped it backward, and shoved it straight into the corpse wolf’s mouth.

The humanoid corpse wolf swallowed the bead, and immediately, thick gray mist erupted from its body—its corpse aura surged violently, and its fear vanished instantly.

Han Li ignored all of this, instead taking the opportunity to gaze at the black-robed woman’s azure shield.

The treasure, now ownerless, floated motionless in midair, its surface glowing faintly azure, smooth as ever.

Han Li frowned slightly, then shifted his gaze to the pale golden scales on the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler’s body—and suddenly, his expression changed, as if he had recalled something.

At that moment, the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler suddenly tilted its head and let out a long, piercing shriek, then its body blurred and vanished with the wind.

The corpse wolf roared loudly, spewing torrents of corpse fire straight toward the Tihun Beast below.

Tihun didn’t hesitate—it shook its head, and yellow mist surged from its nostrils.

Although the corpse wolf’s fear had lessened after summoning its light sphere, it still dared not approach the yellow mist by even a hair’s breadth.

Instantly, its body blurred, transforming into several illusions that circled Tihun Beast in chaotic motion. Due to its reduced size, its movement was astonishingly swift—the yellow mist could not catch up.

But the corpse wolf also dared not approach Tihun directly, for the beast’s alert nostrils continuously sprayed divine light, turning the yellow mist into a luminous curtain that wrapped its massive body, while its two enormous fists swung wildly in all directions.

Tihun Beast’s body was as huge as a giant ape—its fists were no small thing. Even if the corpse wolf, as a refined corpse, took a single blow, it would be severely injured.

The two were now locked in a stalemate.

While Tihun Beast was occupied, the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler and Han Li had begun darting across the sky, appearing and vanishing like ghosts—one chasing, one retreating.

Han Li’s back wings crackled with lightning, thunder never ceasing, his position utterly unpredictable—moments ago he was on the west, now he appeared on the east; one instant he was high in the sky, the next he materialized just a few zhang above the ground.

The Silver-Winged Nightcrawler, however, used some unknown technique—its fleshy wings glowed with azure and white halos, its form seeming insubstantial, yet it always managed to follow Han Li’s Thunder Dash trail without ever losing him.

Soon, Han Li began to feel overwhelmed.

The opponent’s Wind Dash was clearly far superior to his Thunder Dash—the time between his departure and the Nightcrawler’s arrival grew shorter and shorter. Now, barely had he transformed into a lightning streak and vanished, when the Nightcrawler appeared beside him on the wind.

Suddenly, as Han Li reappeared high in the sky, he did not immediately flap his wings to flee. Instead, he suddenly tapped the Snow Crystal Pearl before him. Instantly, the pearl spun rapidly, spewing a vast wave of purple flame in all directions, while the dozens of golden miniature swords circling his body erupted into blinding sword light, engulfing everything within a radius of over ten zhang.

No sooner had he finished setting this up than a spatial ripple appeared five or six zhang away—and a faint human shadow materialized there.

Instantly, purple flame and sword light converged upon the figure from all sides.

Han Li raised one hand—thunder cracked loudly—and a thick golden lightning arc erupted from his arm, transforming into a lightning serpent that lunged forward.

Seeing this display, the Silver-Winged Nightcrawler was startled—but its scales instantly shuddered, releasing a burst of golden light.

A golden shield immediately formed, shielding the Nightcrawler completely.

A deafening explosion erupted as sword light, purple flame, and golden lightning struck in succession, blinding radiance swallowing the golden shield whole.

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