Chapter 1403: Sword Formation and Blood Sword

The sword array was fully deployed in mere moments. As Han Li channeled his magic power, an astonishing spiritual pressure instantly surged skyward from all directions.

Then, centered around the blood-colored giant sword, countless sparkling golden threads simultaneously emerged at the edge of the hundred-zhang diameter area. These threads shimmered in and out of view, slowly converging towards the center.

Upon seeing this, the two cultivators from the Long family felt a chill, even though they were unaware of the Great Geng Sword Array's origins.

After exchanging a glance, the cultivator controlling the blood book suddenly formed a hand seal with both hands. The blood book in the air swiftly flipped through several pages, from which ten crimson demonic shadows shot out with a "swoosh," hurtling towards Han Li.

While they didn't believe Han Li truly possessed the means to destroy the blood-colored giant sword, they absolutely did not want him to attack it directly without any hindrance.

The crimson demonic shadows were unusually indistinct, their bodies flickering with red light as they materialized near Han Li. However, Han Li, who had been prepared, let out a cold snort. He rubbed his hands together, then suddenly flung them upwards.

Following a series of thunderous roars, over a dozen golden electric arcs shot forth unexpectedly, striking the crimson shadows in a flash.

Most of these demonic shadows were instantly obliterated, wailing amidst the flashing golden light. The remaining few also screamed and shot back.

These demonic shadows, being creatures summoned by Void Refinement cultivators, possessed considerable power against ordinary cultivators. They were immune to cuts from blades and swords, and unharmed by fire or water, making them extremely difficult for typical cultivators to handle. However, because they harbored dense demonic energy, they were instantly countered by Han Li's Spirit Dispelling Divine Thunder.

This effectiveness was also due to Han Li's significantly advanced cultivation; the Spirit Dispelling Divine Thunder he now wielded was many times more potent than it had been in the Human Realm. Otherwise, with their innate abilities, these demonic shadows might have been able to withstand a single strike from Han Li's divine thunder back when he was in his Nascent Soul stage.

Han Li's display of this divine ability startled the other four individuals engaged in combat.

This time, however, before Han Li could even wait for the Long family cultivators to conjure anything else, the Soul-Devouring Beast beside him suddenly snorted. A wave of green light instantly surged out, surprisingly counterattacking the seven red-haired fiends who were entangled in battle with the white-robed maiden.

Even though those seven fiends possessed considerable abilities, they were not the Formless Ghost King. Once enveloped by the green light, three instantly dissolved into red mist and were swept back and devoured by the Soul-Devouring Beast. The other four, seeing the dire situation, immediately teleported over a hundred zhang away, barely escaping the calamity.

With this, the white-robed maiden was instantly freed.

The maiden was overjoyed. She glanced at the blood-colored giant sword, now surrounded by countless golden threads, and then at the two Long family cultivators. Immediately and without hesitation, she activated the five exotic treasures circling before her and instantly joined Ye Chu's battle.

Originally, even with both Long family cultivators working together, they could only barely contain Ye Chu. Now, with the white-robed maiden's five treasures joining the fray, five different colored lights shimmered together, instantly merging with the green spiritual light emitted by Ye Chu. This immediately pushed back the surrounding purple miasma in stages.

For a moment, the two cultivators from the Long family could no longer spare attention for Han Li. They immediately each conjured a small red drum and a blue iron ruler.

As the small drum was struck, swarms of crimson ghost bees immediately materialized within the miasma, buzzing as they swarmed forward. Meanwhile, the blue iron ruler swirled and danced, suddenly tearing open the nearby void to pull out an eight-tentacled demonic creature resembling a giant octopus. Its eight massive tentacles ruthlessly lashed out at Ye Chu and the other maiden.

Only then did the two Long family cultivators barely manage to stabilize the situation.

On the other side, the Soul-Devouring Beast activated its divine soul light, directly pursuing the four escaped fiends. The two sides chased and flew in the nearby air, neither appearing to gain an immediate advantage.

Seeing this, Han Li finally felt relieved and continued to activate the Great Geng Sword Array.

Without interference from the Long family cultivators, he didn't believe the sword array's power couldn't handle a mere artifact.

With no other concerns, the Great Geng Sword Array finally displayed its true power. The dense golden threads finally converged, making contact with the blood sword.

As countless golden threads cut into the giant sword, they produced a grating sound, like metal scraping.

The sword's spiritual light flickered wildly across its entire body, golden and blood-red light intertwining as streaks of sword light shot out from its sides, actually resisting the golden threads. But immediately, the blood sword itself emitted a long cry and soared skyward, attempting to break out of the sword array.

However, the air was densely filled with even more golden threads. As soon as the giant sword ascended a few zhang, it erupted with an even more dazzling light and was forcefully repelled.

Powerless, the treasure could only struggle to resist the might of the sword array. Even though this sword possessed the power of a spiritual treasure, it could not sustain its own abilities for long without a controller.

As a result, after a short while, the blood sword's spiritual light began to dim under the relentless, tide-like cutting of the golden threads, and it emitted a mournful wail.

The golden threads emerging around the sword array were endless, growing brighter and more dazzling. Clearly, the sword array's power now surpassed its previous might.

The four individuals in the distance, seeing this situation, saw the two Long family members greatly alarmed. They repeatedly switched to various secret arts, summoning more fiends and devils in an attempt to stop Han Li's actions. However, the white-robed maiden and Ye Chu were overjoyed by this development. Holding nothing back, they unleashed all their divine abilities, firmly entangling their two opponents, as well as all the fiends and devils.

While it would be difficult for them to completely defeat and kill the two Long family cultivators, merely holding them back was not overly challenging.

Therefore, even though the two Long family cultivators were furious, they could only prioritize dealing with the formidable enemies before them.

As the Blood Crystal Maha Sword's spiritual light was visibly being almost entirely worn away by the sword array's power, a voice transmission from Long Dong, suppressing his rage, suddenly reached Han Li's ears:

"Brother Han, do you truly intend to ruin my plans? If you destroy this sword, you will become an irreconcilable enemy of our Long family. Do you really think the Ye family can protect you for long?"

Han Li heard these words but merely continued to form hand seals and activate the sword array, paying no attention whatsoever.

"If Fellow Daoist would let me off the hook," Long Dong's tone immediately changed, speaking with a hint of pleading. "Whatever conditions the Ye family offered you, I can give you double the benefits."

Seeing that Han Li was completely unmoved by his words, Long Dong ceased his voice transmissions. However, the blood sword within the sword array remained suspended motionless in the air, allowing the countless golden threads to cut relentlessly upon it.

When the last bit of spiritual light on the sword finally dissipated and vanished, fine, elongated marks began appearing one after another on its massive body. Although each mark was not very deep, the dense, relentless cutting of so many sword threads quickly left the giant sword scarred all over, looking as if it could be destroyed at any moment.

Han Li was startled by this, but after his eyes flickered several times, he suddenly remembered something. His face changed dramatically, and he let out a loud shout as his figure instantly transformed into a green rainbow, shooting backward, no longer bothering to control the sword array.

Almost simultaneously, the sounds of dragon roars and phoenix cries emanated from the blood sword, which then self-detonated with a massive explosion.

A blazing white sun emerged, from which countless white lights shot out in all directions.

The golden threads in the sword array shattered inch by inch the moment they came into contact with these white lights. In the span of a single breath, the blazing sun's area expanded exponentially, spreading hundreds of zhang wide. Even the nearby Long family cultivators, the white-robed maiden, and other combatants were affected, startling all four of them.

Fortunately, they were originally quite far from the blood sword's position, allowing them to retract their divine abilities in time and simultaneously teleport away from the nearby air.

The power of a top-tier Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure's self-detonation was such that even a Body Integration stage cultivator would have to temporarily retreat.

If Han Li hadn't been exceptionally quick-witted and fled a step earlier, his fate, had he been enveloped by the self-detonation's power, would have been utter annihilation, both body and soul.

Now, hundreds of zhang away from the blazing white sun, his face was unusually pale as he stared intently in the direction of the self-detonation.

Although he immediately retracted all his flying swords during his escape, over a dozen were slightly delayed and caught by the explosion, suffering damage to their spiritual essence. It appeared he would have to re-refine them later to restore their power.

This was also due to the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords being forged with numerous rare materials like refining crystals; otherwise, for ordinary flying swords, the damage wouldn't have been limited to just their spiritual essence. Their destruction and the scattering of their spirits would have been highly probable.

At this moment, Han Li's eyes flickered with blue light as he stared fixedly ahead.

While others found it impossible to look directly at the blazing sun, Han Li could discern a few details within it. Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he unfurled the wings on his back, transforming into a clear white electric arc that vanished from his spot.

But the next moment, Han Li's figure strangely reappeared elsewhere in the void, a hand as pure white as jade reaching out to grasp downwards.

Immediately, five bone rings appeared on his five fingers, only to vanish in a flash.

Five streams of intensely cold flames shot out from his fingertips, immediately transforming into five-colored light flames that enveloped a large area below.

With a "whoosh," a foot-long blood-red shadow strangely materialized within the light flames. It was a five-clawed blood dragon, entirely crimson, firmly biting onto another incomplete blood phoenix in its mouth.

A small portion of the blood phoenix's body was missing, and the remaining part was motionless in the blood dragon's mouth, as if it had long lost all its spiritual essence.

The blood dragon within the cold flames looked furtive and sneaky, clearly having used the self-detonation as cover to stealthily escape somewhere. However, it never expected Han Li to possess a divine ability like the Bright Clarity Spirit Eyes. Han Li not only immediately saw through its form but also seized the opportunity to release the five-colored cold flames, trapping it within.

Now, the blood dragon, trapped within the five-colored cold flames, found its movements slowed by more than tenfold; all its actions became unusually sluggish.

A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes. With a single wave of his hand, the five-colored cold flames immediately rolled back, tightly encasing the blood dragon.

Han Li then opened his mouth, and a ball of green light, enveloping the Void Sky Cauldron, shot out.