Chapter 1408: Escape

Evidently, these were mere illusory projections conjured by Han Li's divine abilities.

At the same time, a black flash appeared above the giant's head, and another green figure emerged from thin air, quietly swooping downwards.

However, the giant, formed by the wood spirit, seemed to have anticipated this. It suddenly raised its head and spewed a beam of emerald green light from its mouth.

This light beam, as thick as a water vat and incredibly swift, struck the green figure head-on, giving it no time to dodge.

A cry of agony immediately rang out as the green figure was sent stumbling and flying from the impact. A cold smile appeared on the giant's face.

Just then, an incredible purple light erupted directly behind it, and another figure mysteriously materialized. With a flick of its sleeve, hundreds of golden light particles scattered outwards.

This green figure was, astonishingly, another Han Li.

At such close range, even if the giant immediately sensed the green figure's presence, it was too late to stop it.

A loud "thudding" sound, like rain hitting a fence, reverberated as all the golden light particles struck the giant's back.

In a furious roar, the giant's other green hand mysteriously appeared above Han Li's head, threatening to scoop him up.

Han Li, however, remained unfazed. He unfurled the wings on his back, ready to vanish into thin air.

But the giant sneered, and two fingers from its descending hand flicked, instantly launching two vibrating fingernails that vanished in a flash.

The next moment, two streaks of green light pierced through Han Li's wings with incredible speed, abruptly silencing the thunderous sound that had just begun.

Han Li was finally startled. He tried to move and flee again, but it was already too late.

The giant hand in the air glowed brightly. Han Li felt the surrounding air tighten, becoming as solid as steel. Even with his immense strength, he was momentarily stunned before barely managing to break free.

But this brief delay was enough for the green hand to grab him firmly around the waist.

The green giant's strength was surprisingly comparable to his own. A gloomy smile then crossed the giant's face, revealing a hint of cruelty in its eyes.

It clenched its five fingers, green light swirling around its large hand, intending to crush Han Li into a pulp.

Han Li's face drastically changed. He suddenly chanted an incantation, and a gentle light continuously flowed around his body. With a flash within the five fingers, his body instantly shattered like paper, turning into specks of spiritual light.

These spiritual lights converged in the nearby air, forming a green talisman that suddenly rolled up and shot into the distance.

The giant's expression solidified, showing surprise.

Dozens of feet away, space rippled, and Han Li reappeared from thin air. His face was somewhat pale, but with a gesture, he collected the green talisman into his hand.

In that critical moment, he had astonishingly used the Spirit Transformation Talisman's substitution ability, instantly replacing his body with the talisman and teleporting his true self to this location.

After so many years of refinement, the power of this Spirit Transformation Talisman was naturally far beyond what it once was.

Just then, the figure struck by the giant's light beam high in the sky also suddenly stirred, falling clumsily near Han Li.

Its clothes were tattered, and its face was unusually haggard, but it twisted its head and gave the giant a strange smile.

It was, astonishingly, another "Han Li."

The giant blinked, its eyes showing surprise and doubt.

But the Han Li who had just appeared then flashed with a peculiar light, and its body suddenly shrank, transforming into a half-foot tall, glossy black monkey.

It was the Soul-Cry Beast!

When Han Li attacked earlier, he had secretly released this beast, disguising it as himself, and sent it to attack alongside him.

The silver-ranked wood spirit was caught off guard and was genuinely distracted. Meanwhile, Han Li, under the cover of his attack and the Soul-Cry Beast, used the Spirit Transformation Talisman to quietly make his escape.

Otherwise, given the opponent's powerful spiritual sense, Han Li would have had no chance of getting so close to the giant.

The green giant vaguely sensed that something was amiss. Recalling the golden light particles shot from Han Li's sleeve, its face suddenly darkened, and it reached for its back.

While the Man-Tree Fusion made the wood spirit's body incredibly robust, its sensory perception became much duller. It had initially not believed that the opponent could truly harm it.

When its large hand returned and opened before its eyes, several inch-sized golden beetles were revealed, lying motionless in its palm.

"What is this?"

The green giant paused, then clenched and reopened its fingers. The few golden beetles, however, remained unharmed.

Its face suddenly changed dramatically. Han Li, seeing this from afar, a sharp glint in his eyes, suddenly urged something with his spiritual sense.

Immediately, golden light erupted from the giant's back, and large, half-foot-sized beetles mysteriously emerged, quickly crawling all over half of the giant's body, simultaneously gnawing ferociously.

Han Li appeared expressionless, but his heart pounded.

Although the Gold Devouring Beetles were reputed to devour anything, historical records in the Human Realm indicated that this spiritual insect was countered by wood-jade type treasures. The Man-Tree Fusion ability displayed by this wood spirit was incredibly strange. Although its body resembled a large tree, it was uncertain whether it truly belonged to the so-called "wood" category of treasures.

A scream of extreme pain emanated from the giant's mouth as its two massive hands desperately slapped at its back. The large golden beetles on its back continuously devoured, bite after bite. Its originally seemingly indestructible crystalline body was effortlessly torn apart by the mouths of these giant beetles.

With hundreds of giant beetles gnawing simultaneously, even with the green giant's delayed reaction, it instantly felt a heart-wrenching pain.

Han Li was overjoyed. He shook his sleeve to retrieve the Soul-Cry Beast, then enveloped himself in green light, transforming into a green rainbow that broke through the air and fled.

Even if the Gold Devouring Beetles could deal with the opponent, he, their master, could not withstand a desperate counterattack. It was naturally better to flee far away.

"Gold Devouring Beetles! Adult Gold Devouring Beetles! You actually possess such demonic insects!" The giant's terrified roar echoed from afar, as if it had encountered its greatest nightmare.

Then, continuous explosive sounds filled the air as streaks of green light instantly flashed across most of the sky.

Han Li did not look back, sprinting madly. In a flash, he reached the edge of the sky, and after a few more flashes of his escaping light, he vanished without a trace.

Moments later, from the original battleground, a massive ball of light soared into the sky, also fleeing towards another distant horizon. Within the green light, a fragmented giant figure was faintly visible.

Behind it, a cloud of golden insects pursued relentlessly. The two, one in front and one behind, appeared to be flying in the opposite direction to Han Li.

However, not long after, the golden insect cloud buzzed and circled back. Not only had their size shrunk to about an inch, but the swarm was also disorganized, appearing unusually scattered.

Fortunately, these Gold Devouring Beetles' escape speed remained undiminished, whistling through the nearby air like lightning.

Underneath some scattered rocks a thousand miles away, Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground, his face pale, desperately urging the insect swarm to fly towards him.

At this moment, his spiritual sense was incredibly depleted.

When Han Li saw the golden insect swarm rapidly descending from the sky, he finally could not sustain himself. His body trembled violently and collapsed to the ground, simultaneously clutching his head and emitting groans of extreme pain, as if he wished to die.

It took a full quarter of an hour before he managed to stop groaning and sat up again.

Controlling the insect swarm this time was extremely dangerous, almost draining all of his spiritual sense. Even so, his spiritual consciousness suffered some minor damage.

It seemed that for safety, he must never again urge his spiritual insects to pursue enemies too far. But then again, if he hadn't made the Gold Devouring Beetles chase the escaping high-level wood spirit for a while, the opponent might have immediately realized something was wrong and wouldn't have given up easily.

But now, after suffering such a significant loss from the Gold Devouring Beetles, combined with its previous severe injuries, even if the wood spirit were bolder, it would not dare to target him again.

Han Li caressed the spirit beast ring in his sleeve containing the Gold Devouring Beetles and let out a long sigh.

Tens of thousands of miles away, in a dense forest, the green giant transformed from Muri sat beneath a giant tree. One of its arms and a small part of its torso had inexplicably vanished, but at this moment, countless green light particles flew from the surrounding trees, surging wildly into its body.

The giant's missing parts were rapidly healing at a visible rate.

Within a quarter of an hour, the light particles flying from the nearby trees dispersed, and the giant's body was completely restored. However, when its eyes opened, its gaze appeared incredibly dim.

With a hand gesture, a phantom image suddenly separated from the giant's body. It swayed slightly, then solidified and transformed into a pale, green-skinned wood spirit.

The giant's spiritual light flickered, and it once again scattered and disappeared, turning into an ancient tree.

As soon as the wood spirit changed form and appeared, its gaze flickered as it looked twice in Han Li's direction.

"This person actually possesses Gold Devouring Beetles, and hundreds of them! This is incredibly troublesome. If I were at my peak, I could risk killing him to make the insect swarm lose command. But now, I've been severely injured twice, and my 본명灵树 (Soulbound Spirit Tree) has suffered such damage. If I encounter his insect swarm again, I might truly perish. It seems I can only give up and let him leave." Muri thought for a long while, his expression fluctuating between cloudy and clear, before shaking his head and making a decision.

He suddenly transformed into a silver light, soared into the sky, and flew towards the Black Leaf Forest.

Not long after, Han Li, in another location, having recovered a little spiritual sense, also dared not linger. Enduring the intense pain in his head, he too transformed into a green rainbow and departed, breaking through the air.

The direction he was headed was none other than the One-Line Sky!

Two months later, Han Li's escaping light appeared over a desolate plateau. He casually found a secluded small mound, and with a flash of yellow light, burrowed into it.

Deep within the mound, he easily excavated a secret chamber about ten feet in size. After a quick tidy-up, he immediately consumed a few pills, disregarded everything else, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to recuperate.

Over a month later, when Han Li opened his eyes again, the divine light in them was once more full and vibrant, and his spirit and complexion had returned to normal.