Chapter 1052: Sneak Attack

The formed spirit, Gui Ling, was not surprised by the appearance of the young man surnamed Xu and the Silver-winged Nightshade nearby. However, after glancing at Han Li, his lips moved slightly as he transmitted a few words.

Han Li’s usually calm face immediately showed a hint of surprise.

“What’s wrong? Did Fellow Daoist Gui discover something down there?” Lin Yinping, the Saintess of Tianlan, brightened her eyes and asked as soon as she saw Han Li’s expression.

“Nothing, it’s just that the two fellow daoists from the Immortal Transformation Sect seem to be looking for a way out down there as well,” Han Li said indifferently, his expression quickly returning to normal.

“Oh, really?” The woman’s beautiful eyes swept around, and a faint, unreadable smile played on her lips. Clearly, she didn’t believe a word Han Li said.

But Han Li remained expressionless, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

Although the others were equally surprised, they were about to cooperate, so they naturally didn’t want to pry further.

The few immediately began discussing how to proceed.

They were all experienced in combat, and after a brief discussion within the protective barrier, they quickly formulated concrete steps. Immediately, spiritual light flashed around the others, and they disappeared into the strong winds, commencing their operation.

Han Li nodded to Gui Ling, who then re-entered the ground.

As for Silvermoon, at his command, she transformed back into a small fox and flew into his sleeve.

Han Li looked towards the black teleportation array, stroked his chin, and slapped his storage pouch at his waist. A silver light flashed, and a faint silver figure appeared before him.

It was the humanoid puppet.

He gently waved one hand.

A light revolved around the puppet, instantly transforming into an inconspicuous yellow glow. Then, the purple light in its eyes suddenly intensified, and its figure vanished into thin air, as if it had never appeared.

This battle was of great importance. To be safe, Han Li no longer held back any power.

With this puppet assisting him, he could fight with peace of mind.

Moreover, given the puppet’s previously displayed mastery of concealment, even the ancient devil would likely not detect it. As for the black-robed woman, Han Li had never encountered a devil of the level of Grand Ancestor Yuan Sha, so he wasn't very confident he could evade her spiritual sense.

He gripped the Three Flame Fan with one hand, formed a hand seal with the other, and the Wind-Thunder Wings appeared on his back.

With a flash of silver light, Han Li also disappeared from his original spot.

In another corner of the space, above the black teleportation array, the two-headed ancient devil floated in the air with four arms crossed. Its body was shrouded by a set of gray-glowing array flags.

One of the devil's heads stared in the direction of the palace, showing a grave expression. The other head’s eyes continuously scanned the surroundings, vigilantly guarding against something.

Its four devil claws respectively held a pair of purple rings, a green long halberd, and a fiery red brick-shaped treasure.

Although the fierce wind stirred by the Black Wind Flag was violent, it seemed to have little effect on the devil, whose head facing the palace didn’t even blink.

Suddenly, a strange light flashed in the devil’s eyes. A loud bang came from afar. In the center of the space, a golden saber qi shot up into the sky, cutting through the thick clouds wherever it passed. Its momentum was astonishing, as if even the howling wind paused for a moment.

The devil’s brow on one head twitched, and a hint of hesitation appeared on its face. It seemed to want to go and assist, but also appeared to have many reservations.

However, it immediately felt relieved.

Because after the astonishing saber light flashed in the distance, an unusually thick wind pillar also swept out. The wind pillar was over ten zhang in diameter, like a black wind dragon. Wherever it passed, even the lightning in the air was swept in, and due to the intense agitation, the surrounding air hummed and twisted, as if the very realm was about to be torn apart.

Seeing this scene, the ancient devil’s expression relaxed. One of its heads, without any warning, suddenly glared, and a giant hand waved forward.

A red light shot through the air, vanished in a flash, and then transformed into a several-zhang-large giant brick, smashing down fiercely.

Before it even landed, it was wreathed in fiery red flames, and several fire pythons, baring their fangs and claws, emerged, menacingly.

“Hmph! I didn’t expect you to be so vigilant!” A cold snort came from the strong wind, and two figures appeared.

One of them casually raised a hand, and a blue rainbow shot out, transforming into a zhang-sized jade umbrella that flew up to meet the incoming attack.

A series of rumbling explosions. This jade umbrella was actually an ancient treasure of the ice attribute. In a burst of blue cold energy, it managed to block the falling fire brick.

Blue light and crimson flames surged intensely between the two treasures. Although several fire pythons continuously lunged and tore, appearing extremely fierce, they couldn’t harm the jade umbrella due to the opposing elemental attributes.

The two figures stood still, coldly gazing at the ancient devil in the air. They were precisely the young man surnamed Xu and Lin Yinping.

The ancient devil’s two massive heads moved, and all four eyes simultaneously fixed on the man and woman below.

“I recognize you, you are cultivators from the Tianlan Grassland. What, you want to leave this place now? Unfortunately, it’s too late!” One head grinned hideously, emitting a thunderous roar.

Upon hearing this, a murderous aura appeared on the young man Xu’s face. Without a word, he slapped his spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Immediately, a phoenix cry echoed, and amidst flashing colorful light, a five-colored peacock shot out from within, spreading its wings and hovering above the young man’s head.

It was truly incredible! Where the five-colored light from the peacock’s body shone, all the fierce winds died down, and the area immediately became calm and still.

This scene fell entirely into the ancient devil’s eyes.

“Spiritual Rhinoceros Peacock! You actually possess such an ancient spiritual bird. It’s a pity its cultivation is a bit shallow. If it were fully mature, this venerable one might indeed be a little wary.” The ancient devil seemed somewhat surprised.

“Is that so? Then first taste the power of the Five-Colored Spiritual Light,” the young man Xu was completely unmoved by the ancient devil’s words. With a clear cry, the peacock above his head raised its neck in response, then suddenly flapped its wings.

Ten thousand rays of colorful light, and rolls of five-colored spiritual light, swept out.

The ancient devil snorted coldly, joining its two large hands gripping the purple rings. The rings lightly touched, emitting a piercing hum that made one feel agitated and dizzy.

Then, the two rings shot out, creating layers of purple shadows that momentarily obscured the nearby sky, an astonishing display of power. And the devil was not done yet; forming hand seals, layers of black demonic energy emanated from its body, seemingly to cast demonic spells to aid its treasure attack.

Meanwhile, the young man Xu and the Saintess of Tianlan on the opposite side each took out a treasure. One raised a hand, and a ball of green light directly smashed towards the enemy. The other flashed a silver silkworm brocade scarf, and countless silver threads sprayed out.

Just then, in the air, two faint wisps of purple and green smoke emerged in the wind, stealthily approaching the ancient devil’s head. Their movements were silent, demonstrating the extreme subtlety of their concealment technique.

The purple phantom clashed with the five-colored spiritual light, splashing out spiritual flowers. Meanwhile, the demonic energy on the ancient devil’s body transformed into several black pythons, rushing out menacingly.

Suddenly, from the two wisps of green and purple smoke, dazzling spiritual light burst forth. Two figures lunged out, and two sharp claws and a cluster of fine gray threads covered the ancient devil’s head in an instant. At this very moment, the treasure attacks unleashed by the young man Xu and his companion also reached the ancient devil’s front, their timing perfectly coordinated, virtually seamless.

Someone having stealthily approached so close and launched a sudden sneak attack indeed startled the ancient devil, though it did not truly panic. With a flick of its divine sense, the black pythons formed from nearby demonic energy circled once, immediately switching from offense to defense to block the ball of green light and the dense silver silkworm threads. Simultaneously, both its heads lifted; one spewed black demonic flames, while the other flashed a fleeting black ray.

But then, another unexpected event occurred. Just as the ancient devil’s attention was entirely drawn to the sneak attack from above, at the edge of the gray array flag formation beneath its feet, a golden light flashed, and a giant sword shot out from underground with a crackling sound, slashing directly into the air.

Its speed was so astonishing that the giant sword arrived before the ancient devil almost at the same instant it became aware. The purple flames and golden electric arcs emanating from the sword were clearly visible to the devil.

“It’s you!” The ancient devil instantly recognized the owner of the giant sword and cried out in shock and fury. But because the giant sword came too fast, and it was entangled by other attacks, it could only hurriedly wave its four arms downwards. With a “chi chi” sound of air being torn, dozens of crystalline claw lights formed a large net, grabbing at the giant sword.

Such an improvised interception naturally could not truly stop the giant sword.

In an instant, the giant sword pierced through the net, then flashed and slashed towards the ancient devil.

But this momentary delay allowed a layer of dark demonic light to appear on the ancient devil’s body almost at the moment the giant sword struck it.

With a loud bang, a huge ball of light suddenly appeared on the ancient devil’s body, its radiance blinding, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

On the ground, a silver arc flashed, and Han Li emerged from below using the Thunder Escape technique, looking up at the sky with a frown.

He had sensed it clearly: although the giant sword had struck the devil’s body, it hadn’t truly cut deeply, seeming to have bounced off and slid past.

Just as he was secretly wondering, something moved within the dazzling light sphere in the air. Then, with a “puchi” sound, a black shadow shot out like a powerful bow and arrow, vanished in a flash, and then reappeared above Han Li’s head the next moment.

“Die!” The huge figure let out a thunderous roar, and a colossal, humming black blade chopped straight down at Han Li, as swift as lightning, giving no time to react.

Although startled, Han Li, being prepared, had already flapped his Wind-Thunder Wings an instant before the huge blade descended. He vanished from his spot amidst electric arcs, and the black blade narrowly missed him.

A muffled thud was heard, and a giant blade mark several feet deep was left on the ground.

Twenty-odd zhang away, thunder sounded, and Han Li’s figure reappeared, gazing at the original spot.

The huge figure was, of course, the ancient devil.

But at this moment, it looked utterly battered. Of its four demonic arms, only three were intact; the remaining one was severed by more than half, a fist-sized hole appeared on its shoulder, and several deep claw marks were visible on its chest, almost disemboweling it.

It seemed that under the combined assault of Han Li and the others, this devil was ultimately unable to resist and suffered a considerable loss.

Seeing Han Li escape from before him, the ancient devil’s four eyes flashed with malevolent light. It glared fiercely at Han Li, then suddenly spread its hands apart.