Chapter 1233: Star Palace Battle (13)

Request for a Sticky: A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality

At this moment, the Old Devil clearly saw that the black wind previously enveloping him had been cut open, revealing a long, slender slit.

Looking at its position and direction, it was precisely where his severed arm had been. He hadn't noticed any prior sign.

Naturally, the Old Devil was both shocked and enraged. His other arm hurriedly reached for the fiery red shield that was falling.

As soon as the shield flickered, it transformed into a fiery red light barrier, enveloping him. At the same time, his divine sense instantly spread outwards, and his eyes frantically searched for Han Li's whereabouts.

Just then, the white thread shot out again from the void about ten yards behind the Old Devil. After a swirl and a brief pause, it transformed into a human figure.

It was Han Li himself.

He was inspecting himself, his twin wings gently flapping behind him, and the purple light blade still clutched in his hand.

"Though the Nine Transformations of Gale Wind is quite powerful, the strain on my body is too immense. With my third-level Bright King Art, I've only used it once, and I already feel quite overwhelmed," Han Li muttered suddenly, his voice low.

"That's only natural," came the Kiddo's nonchalant voice in Han Li's ear. "This technique was originally created for our avian demon cultivators. As a human, even with the Wind-Thunder Wings assisting you, it's truly difficult to execute this movement technique smoothly. After forcefully using it, the burden on your body is also much greater than that on an ordinary demonic bird. Your third-level Bright King Art only allows you to use it two or three times. If you were to use it more often, your entire body would collapse from being forced into such an extreme speed. If you wish to use this movement technique freely, you'll need to cultivate another layer of the Bright King Art."

"So that's how it is!" Han Li sighed. "When I practiced in the secret chamber, although I used it a few times, I didn't realize the significant strain on my body when executing such long-distance movements, likely due to the confined space." With a wave of his hand, the purple light blade dissipated.

This time, the Kiddo simply chuckled, saying nothing more.

As soon as Han Li reappeared, the Old Devil across from him immediately detected his presence.

However, the brute transformed from the Heavenly Slack Beast was using a sound transmission technique, which the Old Devil couldn't hear at all. From afar, it naturally seemed as if Han Li was just talking to himself.

Thus, his eyes flickered with suspicion. His sole arm suddenly slapped a spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Instantly, a black light flashed, and a twin-headed demonic python, entirely black, emerged. Its size wasn't colossal, only about three yards long, but its pair of triangular heads and the wisps of green gas it exhaled from its mouths clearly indicated its extreme toxicity.

The Six Paths Extreme Saint then opened his mouth again, spitting out a ball of black light that enveloped an object.

After the light ball spun, it revealed a white banner a few inches long. Then, amidst the Old Devil's incantations, it grew rapidly against the wind, instantly transforming into a ghastly white, several-foot-tall colossal banner.

Upon seeing the banner's appearance, Han Li couldn't help but be stunned.

The entire banner was refined from human bones, its surface murky black, with some greyish-white runes faintly visible. At its peak, three skull heads of varying sizes were embedded. The moment they appeared, their fangs gnashed wildly, emitting eerie, chilling cackles that unsettled the mind and made one's blood churn.

With a low growl, the Old Devil pressed his palm against the bone banner!

The three skull heads immediately trembled, spewing black mist. They swiftly sucked in the severed arm floating at the Old Devil's feet, madly scrambling for it, and in a flash, devoured it completely.

Immediately after, the three skull heads glowed with a flash of blood-red light, and their size visibly increased by more than a full circumference.

With this, much of the fear on the Six Paths Extreme Saint's face receded, and his gaze turned grim, fixed on Han Li.

It seemed the Old Devil was quite clear-headed!

He knew that with Han Li's strange escape speed, which combined wind and thunder, he couldn't possibly escape. If he were to focus solely on fleeing, he might perish even faster. It was better to grit his teeth and fight to the death, perhaps securing a sliver of hope.

Therefore, he didn't hesitate to reveal another treasured item he relied on, one he had never shown to others.

Han Li's brows furrowed at this sight. Although he had never seen this treasure before, the astonishing yin energy emanating from the banner made him unwilling to underestimate it.

Just then, the Kiddo's astonished voice suddenly came into Han Li's ear.

"The Three-Deity White Bone Banner? I can't believe someone in your realm can refine such an evil artifact; it's truly incredible!"

"Fellow Daoist Tianxie, you recognize this item?" Han Li asked, surprised.

"This banner is quite famous in our Spirit Realm; it's one of the seven great evil artifacts," the Kiddo chuckled. "Of course, this one across from us seems to have only grasped some rudimentary refining methods; its power is nowhere near that of a true Three-Deity White Bone Banner, a difference of a hundred thousand miles. But refining this object is exceptionally bloody; almost every human or demonic beast who refined it never came to a good end. Though the one before us isn't very powerful, it surely consumed many cultivators in its blood sacrifice, didn't it?" Despite praising the bone banner's power, the Kiddo seemed very apprehensive about its refinement.

"I see!" Han Li murmured with a hint of realization, then let out a cold laugh. "Tsk tsk, truly worthy of being the number one demonic cultivator in the Scattered Star Seas; there's nothing he wouldn't dare to do. Since it's such a renowned evil artifact, let's first test its true power." He reached to his waist with one hand, then flicked it, sending a dark jade bottle flying out.

The bottle spun in mid-air, then its mouth faced downward, and the lid opened on its own.

Immediately, a greyish-white yin energy sprayed forth from within, followed by five ghastly white human-shaped skeletons that floated out, trembling. These were precisely the Five-Son Conjoined Devils Han Li had previously subdued.

As soon as the five devils materialized, Han Li activated a spell.

Immediately, the five skeletons rolled on the ground, and in a blink, transformed into five wheel-sized ghostly heads with strange horns, green faces, and tusks, charging directly towards the bone banner opposite them.

"The Five-Son Conjoined Devils!"

As the foremost demonic cultivator in the Scattered Star Seas, the Six Paths Extreme Saint was well-traveled and experienced. He recognized the origin of the five devils at a glance, exclaiming aloud in surprise.

He didn't know that Han Li had forcibly seized the five devils from another; he only assumed they were demons personally refined by his opponent. And since the refining methods for the five devils were notoriously brutal, he naturally regarded Han Li as a ruthless demonic cultivator like himself.

His heart immediately sank.

This person was already so difficult to deal with, and now he was also proficient in demonic cultivation techniques. Was he truly doomed this time?

However, with the five devils howling towards him, he could only steel himself and abruptly activate the colossal banner in front of him.

Immediately, the bone banner trembled violently, and the three skull heads on its top cackled strangely, opening their mouths wide to spew out vast amounts of ink-black yin energy.

Meanwhile, the five ghostly heads across from them opened their mouths, unleashing raging emerald-green yin flames. For a moment, black gas and green demonic flames surged and roiled, with explosions continuously echoing.

But the next moment, a muscle in the Old Devil's face twitched slightly.

Because upon contact, the yin flames from the five ghosts immediately gained the upper hand, pushing the black gas back steadily.

The Six Paths Extreme Saint inwardly cursed his misfortune!

As far as he knew, while the Five-Son Conjoined Devils were powerful, the perfected five devils should only possess abilities comparable to late-stage Core Formation cultivators. Yet, the five ghostly heads before him clearly had far greater abilities. They were actually suppressing the three main devil heads on his banner, which were at the early Nascent Soul stage.

However, apart from a few specific magic treasures and artifacts, the true power of an item largely depended on the cultivator's magical power and control. The Old Devil gritted his teeth, formed a single-handed incantation, and then opened his mouth.

Instantly, a ball of vital blood sprayed out, disappearing into the colossal banner in a flash.

The bone banner emitted a loud wailing sound, and the runes on it violently churned. Countless phantom skull heads inexplicably appeared in the vicinity of the banner.

These phantoms were much smaller, only fist-sized, but they simultaneously opened their mouths, spewing out countless streams of black gas. These streams converged, instantly forming a pitch-black flood dragon. After a brief swirl, it shook its head and wagged its tail, charging directly at the five ghostly heads.

Two of the five devils swayed slightly, transforming back into human-shaped skeletons. At the same time, as they rubbed their hands together, a pair of several-foot-long bone blades appeared in each of their hands. Without fear, they charged forward, clashing with the black flood dragon.

With two of the devils occupied, the yin flames spat by the remaining three devils naturally diminished greatly, and the three colossal skull heads on the bone banner across from them finally managed to stabilize the situation.

The black gas and yin flames entered a stalemate!

Only then did the Old Devil's heart temporarily ease. His gaze swept over Han Li again, but his heart immediately tightened.

Because at this moment, Han Li was watching the battle between the five devils and the bone banner with his arms crossed, a half-smile on his face. When the Old Devil looked at him, Han Li seemed to sense something, returning his gaze with a peculiar glint in his eyes.

The Old Devil's heart skipped a beat, and an extremely dangerous feeling surfaced inexplicably within him.

Suddenly, the twin-headed demonic python hovering above his head let out a raucous shriek. The Old Devil's expression changed, and he instantly turned his head back.

He saw a translucent figure ghosting a few yards behind him, and a dark, crystal-clear flying blade had already sliced through the black wind at his back, slowly flying towards the second layer of the fiery red light barrier.

If he hadn't turned back in time, he would likely have been decapitated by the time he realized it.

The Six Paths Extreme Saint's face instantly went pale, drained of blood. And the second Nascent Soul within the humanoid puppet, seeing its sneak attack exposed, unceremoniously activated its spell. A loud whooshing sound filled the air as the Demonic Marrow Flying Blade flashed and fiercely pierced the light barrier.

Meanwhile, the humanoid puppet itself glowed brightly with silver light, and after a flicker, it eerily vanished from its spot.

Almost simultaneously, Han Li, who had been standing with his arms crossed in the distance, his eyes flashing with a cold glint, raised a hand. With a flicker of green light, the Eight Spirit Ruler mysteriously appeared.

He gripped the ruler and gave a faint sweep towards his opponent. Then, with a slight flap of his twin wings, he vanished without a trace amidst a faint rumble of thunder.

At this moment, the Old Devil had no time to spare for Han Li. When the dark flying blade paused for a moment before easily piercing his protective barrier, he suddenly let out an earth-shattering roar.

With a flicker of his body, a black light shot out from his chest, directly colliding with the flying blade. Then, his body flickered again, transforming into two identical illusory figures that shot out in opposite directions.