Chapter 1402: Soul-Wailing Transformation

The silver lightning finally dissipated, revealing a gigantic ghost in front of the white light barrier. It stood over ten zhang tall, its entire body a gleaming, jet black. This ghost had two horns on its head, and its body was covered in scale-like black scales. A pair of enormous fleshy wings spread out from its back. Its two arms, seemingly forged from fine iron, were incredibly long, reaching almost to the ground. When Han Li looked at the ghost's face, even he felt a chill and a shiver of dread. The ghost's face was completely flat, utterly featureless. Its massive body was riddled with holes, with almost no intact areas except for its two thick arms. Clearly, the ghost had forcibly blocked most of the power from the two lightning orbs and sword light Han Li had just unleashed; otherwise, they would have been enough to break through the light barrier protecting the blood sword.

The giant ghost let out a piercing howl, raising its head. Suddenly, countless black spectral mists emerged nearby, then rolled and converged, sinking into its body. Its previously damaged body instantly became whole again as the black mist swirled.

"Heh heh, boy, let me introduce you to the power of my Thousand-Year Faceless Ghost King! This ghost's abilities are no less than my own." A sinister voice suddenly echoed in Han Li's ears, and his eyes flickered.

"Ghost King?" If one were to look closely at Han Li, they would see a faint, strange smile playing on his lips after hearing those words.

"Fellow Daoist Han, be careful! The Faceless Ghost King is a renowned entity in the Ghost Realm, with abilities comparable to a Void Refinement stage cultivator." Another woman's faint voice drifted over; it was Ye Chu, who was still locked in a stalemate with the Long Family cultivators. Seeing how swiftly Han Li had dealt with the young woman from the Black Phoenix clan, a glimmer of hope sparked within her.

Almost simultaneously, the Ghost King's head twisted towards Han Li. Although it had no eyes, it seemed to sense Han Li's every move.

With a low growl, the Faceless Ghost King suddenly raised its two unusually long arms. Immediately, violent winds surged across the sky, and dense black spectral mist swelled, casting a gloomy pall over the surrounding heavens. Simultaneously, countless wails emanated from the mist, as if ten thousand ghosts were hidden within.

The Faceless Ghost King, amidst the spectral mist, shook both arms towards Han Li. The mist in the sky violently churned, instantly coalescing into an unbelievably large black ghost claw. It was a hundred zhang in size, its entire form flickering with pale blue spectral flames, as it slowly descended to grasp Han Li.

Han Li felt the air around him tighten. An invisible, immense force inexplicably appeared, attempting to completely restrain his body.

A common cultivator, under such immense pressure, would likely be left helpless, awaiting death. However, with Han Li's formidable physical strength, he dismissed this restraint as nothing. With a cold snort, he swiftly swept his hand over his spirit beast bracelet. With a whoosh, a black light shot out, circled once, and then lightly landed about a zhang in front of Han Li. It was a half-foot tall monkey with gleaming black fur – the Soul-Devouring Beast!

The moment the little monkey appeared, its eyes darted around, its large nose sniffed lightly, and its eyes suddenly shone. It thumped its chest with a large hand, and as a strong black light erupted from its body, its form rapidly expanded. In just a few flashes, it transformed into a terrifying giant ape over thirty zhang tall. Without hesitation, the beast snorted fiercely at the ghost claw in the air. A streak of green light coiled out from one nostril, striking precisely at the palm of the descending ghost claw.

An incredible scene unfolded! The instant the green light touched the ghost claw's palm, a dark hole immediately appeared. As the green light swept across, the rest of the ghost claw disintegrated into masses of ink-black spectral mist, which were then drawn into the swirling light. In a blink of an eye, the entire ghost claw became fragmented, collapsing and dissolving.

Seeing this, the Faceless Ghost King in the distance, without a word, reached out a large hand and grabbed at the Soul-Devouring Beast. Five black streaks, like five massive blades, flashed and shot towards the giant ape in an instant. Scarcely had the sound of tearing air begun when the claw-streaks reached the giant ape's body. With a few muffled thuds, the five black streaks flashed and disappeared into the Soul-Devouring Beast's body, yet they had absolutely no effect.

The giant ghost was stunned by this sight. The giant ape, however, paid it no heed. With another snort, another streak of green light flew out from its other nostril. The two streaks of green light intertwined and flashed in the air, sweeping away the spectral mist like autumn wind scattering fallen leaves. Then, turning dark blue and black, they shot back and were swallowed by the giant ape. A look of satisfaction appeared on the Soul-Devouring Beast's face, and its gaze shifted to the Ghost King in the distance.

Seeing the Soul-Devouring Beast break its divine ability, the Faceless Ghost King finally snapped out of its astonishment. It let out a guttural growl, becoming extraordinarily furious. Without any further movement, a layer of ancient battle armor suddenly materialized on its body, from which blue flames surged. With a flick of its hands, a pair of large bone hammers appeared.

Han Li focused his gaze and realized that the bone hammers were forged from two enormous demon ghost skulls. One emanated gusts of yellow wind, and the other was wreathed in black mist, their strange abilities unknown.

The Soul-Devouring Beast paid no attention to this. With a blink of its eyes, two more streaks of green light shot out from its nostrils, directly coiling towards the ghost. With two resounding booms, the Faceless Ghost King swung its two large hammers. Immediately, a sheet of black light emerged from the hammers, scattering the green light without the slightest fear. The Soul-Devouring Beast's soul-seizing divine light had surprisingly failed against the ghost creature!

Han Li's expression subtly changed upon witnessing this. The Soul-Devouring Beast, however, adopted a solemn look. With a low growl from its throat, eerie winds arose around it, and countless bolts of lightning appeared. The giant ape's body expanded further, its fur began to turn red, and three curved horns slowly emerged from the top of its head. Its brow bulged slightly, then abruptly split open, revealing a blood-red demonic eye. Its face elongated, its fangs became fully exposed, and three thick, black bone spurs, a zhang long each and wreathed in black mist, menacingly appeared from its back. The Soul-Devouring Beast had undergone an advanced transformation, also turning into a terrifying fiend. The density of spectral energy emanating from its body seemed to surpass that of the Faceless Ghost King!

The moment the demonic eye on its brow opened, a thunderous boom erupted, and a bowl-thick electric arc shot out. This arc was surprisingly blood-red, reaching the Faceless Ghost King in an instant.

An unbelievable situation unfolded! The moment the Faceless Ghost King saw the blood-red electric arc, it let out a low growl of extreme terror. It slammed its two hammers together and simultaneously shot its massive body backward, apparently intending to flee.

With two muffled thuds, the moment the two bone hammers touched the blood-red arc, they dissipated into two wisps of green smoke as if they had encountered their bane. The blood-red electric arc was not obstructed in the slightest. With a crackle of lightning, it struck the Faceless Ghost King's blue-flame battle armor.

This battle armor, just like the bone hammers, immediately disintegrated and vanished without any effect. The electric arc instantly pierced the Ghost King's chest cavity, then coiled around it like a spiritual serpent, binding the ghost tightly before pulling it back. The giant ghost shrieked. Its body was involuntarily swept up and flew, rapidly shrinking as the electric arc tightened, until it was right before a gaping, blood-red mouth. With a flash of blood-red light, it was swallowed whole by the Soul-Devouring Beast.

The Soul-Devouring Beast, by its own power, had effortlessly devoured the so-called Faceless Ghost King!

This time, the Long Family cultivators, Ye Chu, and the white-robed woman were all dumbfounded. This was not some minor ghost spirit, but a Ghost King comparable to a Void Refinement cultivator! How could it be defeated in a single strike as if made of paper? What kind of spirit beast was this little monkey that could transform twice? And what heaven-defying ability was that blood-red electric arc spewing from its demonic eye? These thoughts flashed through the minds of almost everyone present.

But before they could recover from their shock, Han Li's figure flickered, instantly teleporting onto the white light barrier. With a movement of his sleeve, seventy-two streams of golden light surged forth, then converged in a brilliant glow, instantly forming a ten-zhang long golden greatsword. The greatsword merely flashed and then heavily struck the light barrier.

With a crisp crunch, as golden and white light intertwined, a thin white line appeared on the surface of the light barrier.

"Oh no!" The Long Family cultivators clearly had not expected Han Li's flying sword to be so sharp. Seeing this, they cried out in unison.

The light barrier trembled, then shattered and collapsed, with that line as its center. Relying on the power of his flying sword, Han Li had indeed cleaved open the white light barrier, which had already been greatly weakened. The Blood Crystal Great Brahma Sword was now fully exposed before Han Li.

Han Li showed no hesitation. With a mental command for his sword art, the massive golden sword flashed and abruptly vanished from its spot. But the next instant, it struck mercilessly against the blade of the blood sword. With a soft clang, blinding golden and crimson light erupted. The golden greatsword wobbled and was surprisingly bounced back.

Seeing this, Han Li's brow furrowed. He then flicked his sleeve, and several silver lightning orbs shot out. The blood-red greatsword merely trembled slightly amidst the power of the arcing silver lightning, yet remained completely unharmed.

"Haha, boy, give up! The Blood Crystal Great Brahma Sword is a treasure from the Myriad Spirit List of Chaos. Do you think you can destroy this sword with your abilities?" The previously startled Long Family cultivators surprisingly calmed down at this moment, one of them even remarking with a sinister chuckle.

Han Li's eyes twitched a few times. He stared deeply at the blood sword for a few moments, then suddenly pointed a finger at the golden greatsword in the air. A sudden hum resonated. The greatsword trembled and, amidst a brilliant golden glow, disintegrated, transforming back into seventy-two small golden swords. These small swords then emitted a series of hums, and with a flash, transformed into hundreds of golden sword lights. Each sword light was about a foot long, circling and dancing in the air.

Han Li then muttered incantations under his breath, his fingers rapidly moving like a spinning wheel, casting out one incantation after another. Instantly, all the flying swords vibrated, then scattered in all directions high in the air, shooting off to the four winds. With an eerie flicker, these golden sword lights vanished into thin air one by one, as if they had never existed.

Han Li had actually set up the Grand Geng Sword Formation with the blood-red greatsword as its center, intending to forcibly drive out Long Dong's nascent soul with the sword formation's astonishing power, or even simply destroy this spiritual treasure altogether.