Chapter 1053: Slaying the Demon

The devil shook the twin blades in his hand, and immediately, countless palm-sized black crescent moon-shaped blade lights shot out.

This demon ignored the other cultivators, seemingly having singled out Han Li as its opponent and intending to pursue him relentlessly.

This was understandable. Among these individuals, Han Li and the Tianlan Saintess had the lowest cultivation levels. Lin Yinping, however, was in the air with the young man surnamed Xu, making the isolated Han Li seem like the easiest opponent to defeat.

Of course, this was also because this ancient devil was not the same demonic soul from years ago and had never encountered Han Li. Otherwise, it would never have entertained a thought it would surely regret.

Han Li showed no surprise as he watched the ancient devil attack with full force. Instead, he flicked his sleeve, and a small silver shield shot out, instantly transforming into a massive shield that blocked his front.

He glanced at the devil and let out a soft sigh.

From a distance, the ancient devil was startled by Han Li’s demeanor, but immediately felt a strange spiritual pressure emanating from beneath its feet.

Before it could look down, with a "whoosh," a figure enveloped in yellow light eerily emerged from underground, appearing several yards away behind it.

Immediately, the figure let out a low roar, waved its hands, and a giant silver axe, carrying a fierce wind, chopped down viciously.

This was indeed Gui Ling, the unsightly woman who had been lurking beneath Han Li’s feet. With her terrifying cultivation as a level ten beast, combined with a fully charged, ready attack.

The axe blade had not yet fallen, but the terrifying spiritual energy contained within it had already caused the nearby ground to rumble. It suddenly collapsed about a foot deep.

The ancient devil’s expression changed. Ignoring its attack on Han Li, its figure flickered, turning ghost-like. At the same time, it crossed its twin blades upwards and chopped.

Black light surged. Two thick blade lights shot out, striking precisely on the silver axe.

The black and silver lights collided eerily, immediately bursting open.

A wave of energy, possessing both hot and cold attributes, swept wildly in all directions. The blade light actually managed to temporarily halt the giant axe's descent before dissipating and vanishing.

Seizing this opportunity, the ancient devil managed to unleash other demonic techniques. As its hands formed a spell, its body suddenly emitted cracking sounds from its joints. Its form swelled rapidly, and where its skin appeared, bowl-sized black-green scales emerged, shining as if instantly covered by a layer of smooth battle armor.

The previously injured areas were also shrouded in black demonic energy, with flesh regenerating and appearing to heal rapidly.

After the ancient devil's body had fully transformed, a fierce light flashed in its eyes. It took a deep breath, then opened its mouth, sending out waves of seemingly substantial shockwaves. The descending giant axe instantly solidified upon encountering these waves, as if blocked by an invisible force, unable to descend another inch.

At the same time, strange incantations suddenly resounded from the devil’s mouth. After its scales flashed with black light, foot-long black-purple demonic flames erupted, engulfing its entire body, burning fiercely and appearing eerily abnormal. It was clear it was about to use some powerful secret technique.

Gui Ling's heart tensed, but instead of retreating, she let out a loud roar. Her body suddenly swelled dramatically, and a layer of green battle armor appeared on her as well, indicating she had unleashed a gigantic transformation technique.

As Gui Ling grew in size, the silver axe also glowed brightly and grew massive. Under this amplified power, it finally chopped down again.

Gui Ling’s transformation evidently somewhat exceeded the ancient devil’s expectations. Seeing the unsightly woman now several times taller than itself, the devil was startled, and its incantation was forced to stop. Its twin black blades swiftly moved upwards to meet the attack, while its body drifted backward.

The moment the black blades and the giant axe clashed, an astonishing roar erupted, and a spiritual wind spread out. However, the ancient devil, having anticipated this, was unharmed. Instead, it used this spiritual wind to rapidly accelerate its retreat, shooting backward without any apparent injury.

However, during its retreat, the ancient devil let out a sinister laugh. The greenish long-handled halberd held by its third arm suddenly erupted with a layer of black demonic flame. With a flick, it transformed into a meteor, shooting directly towards Gui Ling’s massive body.

Its speed was like lightning and thunder; after a flash, it struck Gui Ling’s huge body, and a dazzling light erupted from the armor.

Then, before its body could stabilize, the ancient devil’s incantations resumed. It was about to unleash the secret technique it had almost finished preparing. It seemed it didn’t believe that the previous strike could truly eliminate a level ten shapeshifting beast.

But at this moment, a sudden change occurred!

About a yard behind the devil, a faint black light flashed, and a crystal-clear, ink-black inch-long flying knife appeared silently. Immediately, with a flash of black, this flying knife eerily vanished in a blink.

Almost simultaneously, the ancient devil, with its terrifying spiritual perception, detected that something was wrong and attempted to shoot away.

But in that instant, one of the ancient devil’s heads felt as if it had been pierced by a sharp object, and its spiritual sense suddenly experienced intense pain.

Even with the devil’s powerful spiritual sense, this unexpected attack caused its body to pause, its movements hesitating for a moment.

With just this slight delay, a faint, almost invisible bloodline appeared on the neck of one of its heads. Immediately, with no warning, this head rolled off, and blood spurted several feet high from the neck.

At this moment, from a distance, Han Li, with a pale face, released a hand seal he had been clenching, and his expression appeared significantly weakened.

The strike on the ancient devil’s spiritual sense just now was a simplified version of a spiritual attack he had developed himself, referencing the "Spirit-Shocking" technique from the Great Evolution Arts.

Although the power of this spiritual attack could not be compared to the true "Spirit Thrust" because he had not cultivated the final layers of the Great Evolution Arts, if suddenly unleashed, anyone not specifically on guard would be hit and greatly affected. Therefore, he named this secret technique "Spirit-Lost Thrust" to distinguish it from the true "Spirit-Shocking Thrust."

However, even though he had intentionally reduced the power of this spiritual attack, a single strike still caused his spiritual sense to reel continuously, making him unable to unleash a second strike.

The ancient devil’s remaining head blinked, seemingly still disbelieving what had just happened, but immediately let out a sharp, furious shriek. Countless demonic energies suddenly erupted from its body, enveloping its entire form.

Immediately, as the demonic energy surged, the devil’s figure blurred and vanished.

The next moment, about three or four yards away, space fluctuated!

Immediately, a burst of black energy eerily emerged, and the ancient devil stumbled, reappearing within the demonic energy. It seemed that although the loss of one head hadn't truly killed the devil, it had indeed severely wounded it.

From the moment Gui Ling appeared and chopped down with her axe, to the ancient devil being severely wounded by the decapitation and hastily fleeing, this series of actions happened in a flash, in just an instant.

It left the young man surnamed Xu and the Silver-winged Yaksha above completely dumbfounded!

This was somewhat different from what they had initially planned. Their original plan was merely to jointly strike the devil and temporarily scare it away from the vicinity of the teleportation array.

As for whether they could injure the devil, that was not even a consideration.

But now that the devil had been forced below, although Han Li, as planned, had ambushed the devil with Gui Ling, what about the subsequent developments?

Han Li actually looked as if he was desperately trying to kill the devil. And how did that eerie flying knife appear behind the ancient devil? Even from their elevated position, they hadn't noticed the appearance of this treasure.

If it appeared behind them, would they notice it?

As this thought emerged, both the young man surnamed Xu and the Silver-winged Yaksha felt a chill down their spines, and their expressions subtly changed.

But in fairness, the ancient devil was quite unlucky!

So many grand cultivator-level opponents attacked one after another without giving it any chance to breathe. Despite possessing astonishing divine abilities, it had no time to display them before inexplicably suffering heavy injuries. Otherwise, if it truly unleashed its formidable demonic arts, even if Han Li and the others combined forces, severely injuring the devil would not have been a matter of moments.

Therefore, the ancient devil, now visible, twisted its remaining head, shot a resentful, hateful glare at Han Li, and then, with black energy surging again, prepared to flee towards the black-robed woman.

It knew that in its current state, it couldn't gain any advantage against Han Li and the others, so it had no intention of fighting head-on.

But Han Li’s gaze towards the devil revealed a hint of mockery.

A burst of silver light suddenly exploded near the ancient devil, then a figure flickered and eerily appeared.

The ancient devil was greatly startled. Like a startled bird, it hastily adopted a defensive posture, wrapping itself in rolling demonic energy before looking up. The moment its eyes met the opponent’s, it suddenly felt a dizzying sensation, and its mind was instantly devoid of all sensation except for two masses of strange purple light.

"A spell!"

The ancient devil’s spiritual sense was so powerful that even late Nascent Soul cultivators couldn’t compare. Therefore, the Dazzling Crystal, which once stunned Old Devil Qian, only caused this devil to lose focus for an instant before it quickly recovered.

But in that brief moment of distraction, a verdant light, accompanied by thunder, suddenly arrived before the demonic energy. The intertwining golden arcs within it were clearly seen by the newly awakened ancient devil.

"Demon-Slaying Divine Thunder!" The ancient devil was startled, recognizing the origin of the golden arcs that had caused many ancient demons to suffer greatly in the past. If it hadn’t been injured, it would still have had a way to activate secret techniques to resist. But now, it was unwilling to take the blow head-on, fearing another significant loss of vital energy.

Instantly, the devil waved one hand. A surge of energy in front of it suddenly gathered, instantly forming a small, dark black shield that directly met the green light. Meanwhile, its own figure flickered, moving several yards away to another spot.

But at the very same moment the devil’s figure had just stabilized, a sudden thunderous roar sounded from behind it.

"Not good!" The devil’s heart instantly tensed. Before it could act, accompanied by a silver arc, Han Li, with his wings fluttering, appeared behind it. He flicked both sleeves, and a purple fire dragon and dozens of golden small swords shot forth.

Han Li’s timing was exquisitely clever. Even if the ancient devil wanted to dodge, it simply wouldn't have enough time to completely evade.

Helplessly, the devil’s only remaining head suddenly rotated 180 degrees, eerily facing Han Li. Then it opened its mouth, and circles of intensely turbulent black shockwaves again shot out. With a flick of its two demonic arms, two black blades immediately appeared, following closely and sweeping forward to meet the attack.

But what the devil never expected was that just as its head rotated, a ripple appeared in its original front, and the black flying knife that had severed one of its heads eerily reappeared, flashing and vanishing again.