Chapter 1441: True Blood Enters the Body

The power of the Gold Devouring Beetles

When Han Li saw the skull, he was startled. It immediately reminded him of the Ghost Spirit Sect, one of the Six Devilish Dao Sects.

The disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect also used skull-like magical artifacts when facing enemies. However, their artifacts were inanimate objects, unlike the black skull before him, which was so lifelike, as if it had a life of its own.

While Han Li was greatly surprised, the three black banners had already flown over.

The cultivator surnamed Jian let out a loud shout and pointed his hand remotely. The three black banners immediately shot out countless dense black threads, weaving into a huge fishing net that descended upon the opposing skull.

The black threads were incredibly thin, shining all over, and emitted a faint black aura, indicating they were clearly not ordinary items.

Upon seeing the black threads approaching, the skull's empty eye sockets flashed with red light. Then, it silently chomped its large mouth a few times before suddenly opening wide, spewing out countless streams of emerald-green phosphorus flames.

As soon as the thousands of black threads touched these phosphorus flames, they spontaneously combusted as if encountering their nemesis, quickly turning into wisps of green smoke.

Witnessing this, the cultivator surnamed Jian's expression changed dramatically. He hastily made a hand seal, intending to activate the black banners' other abilities.

However, the black skull suddenly expanded to the size of a carriage wheel. Then, with a single exhalation and inhalation, a grey rainbow shot out from its mouth. After circling the three black banners once, it enveloped them and drew them into the skull's gaping maw.

Then, the skull's upper and lower jaws snapped together fiercely. With several crisp "crack" sounds, it crushed the black banners into smithereens. At the same time, the cultivator surnamed Jian's connection to the black banners was completely severed, leaving his face pale.

"Demon! How dare you destroy my treasure!" the cultivator surnamed Jian cried out, enraged and shocked. A hint of fear also involuntarily appeared in his eyes.

Others might not know, but he was well aware!

These three black banners were also ancient primordial treasures! They had vanquished countless formidable foes in the past. He never expected them to be destroyed in a single encounter by that bizarre skull.

At this moment, Hu Yue's unleashed thunder fire was likewise drawn into the mouth of another skull, having no effect whatsoever.

After exchanging glances, Hu Yue and the cultivator surnamed Jian both secretly considered retreating.

At this point, Han Li was also incredibly surprised!

He now realized that the eccentric dared to challenge a group of Core Formation cultivators by himself, indeed having something to rely on. He not only possessed numerous magical artifacts but also seemingly powerful ones.

It seemed that if he didn't lend a hand, they might truly suffer a crushing defeat.

And Han Li did not want to see such a situation occur.

After all, he had spent several months of effort on this grand formation. He did not want his efforts to go to waste and benefit others.

Moreover, while Han Li intended to conceal some of his abilities from the other cultivators, he also wanted to briefly test the power of the "Gold Devouring Beetles" to see if they truly lived up to their ranking on the Exotic Insect List.

The eccentric before him now seemed to be no ordinary Core Formation cultivator, making him the perfect test subject.

Thinking of this, Han Li glanced at the battle.

He saw Hu Yue and the others frantically flying around in the air, continuously bombarding the two relentlessly pursuing skull monsters with low-level spells. They clearly knew that ordinary magical artifacts were useless against the demonic entities and could only temporarily evade their attacks.

As for Jin Qing's white great seal artifact, it no longer possessed its earlier might.

While entangled with two flying swords, it was unexpectedly ensnared by the white mist from the flower basket. It was gradually being pulled towards the flower basket, causing sweat to break out on Jin Qing's face.

As for Shi Die, who stood beside Qu Hun, she was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, so she could only watch from the sidelines, unable to offer any help.

Seeing these developments, Han Li gazed deeply at the eccentric. Without further hesitation, he flipped his hand, and a bulging spirit beast pouch appeared in his grasp.

The eccentric seemed to possess exceptionally strong spiritual sense. As Han Li gazed at him, he was actually detected.

He immediately turned his face and glared fiercely at Han Li. With a flash of fierce light, he reached into his robe, seemingly intending to retrieve another magical artifact to deal with Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li naturally decided to act first.

He gently tossed the spirit beast pouch in his hand into the air, then raised his other hand and swiftly struck a green hand seal onto the leather pouch.

The spirit beast pouch immediately trembled at its opening, spewing out dozens of spheres towards the eccentric.

These spheres were about a foot in size, entirely golden and silver, and radiated a brilliant light. Upon appearing, they instantly transformed into dozens of streaks of light, shooting towards the eccentric.

Seeing this, the eccentric showed disdain, sneering as he pulled out a dark black object from his robe and threw it without hesitation.

The object whistled as it expanded several times in mid-air, then rotated as it flew towards the spheres.

Consecutive "bang" sounds rang out. As the spheres collided with the dark giant wheel, they fragmented into scattered golden and silver starlight, seemingly shattered to pieces.

"Ha, ha..." the eccentric laughed wildly. Then, he pointed at the object, intending for it to fly towards Han Li.

But at that moment, a buzzing sound suddenly began, growing louder and louder, instantly becoming incredibly shrill and piercing, causing everyone to look on in astonishment. The eccentric, even more so, reined in his wild demeanor, revealing a look of surprise and doubt.

The shattered fragments of the spheres had come alive, transforming into thousands of thumb-sized golden and silver beetles. They densely covered the area around the object. The piercing buzz was the sound of these beetles' wings vibrating, a sound that sent shivers down the spine.

Han Li gave the eccentric no time to recover. He merely urged them with his spiritual sense, and instantly, these Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed the object as if fearless of death, instantly dyeing the magical artifact in golden and silver hues.

"Seeking death!"

The eccentric was stunned for a moment but quickly recovered. He immediately made two hand seals, causing the object to emit bursts of black mist and rotate automatically, intending to eradicate these strange insects.

But then, a scene that left the eccentric gaping occurred. As soon as the inky black mist was released, the multitude of beetles swarmed it, devouring it cleanly in a few gulps, leaving not a trace.

As for the object's high-speed rotation, while it did fling away some Gold Devouring Beetles, even more beetles immediately clung to it, seemingly unafraid of its sharp cutting edges.

Seeing this, the eccentric looked horrified, while Han Li was secretly delighted.

In the blink of an eye, the object visibly shrunk from large to small, and then from small to nothing, completely devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles without a trace. Then, the buzzing sound rose again.

The eccentric's face turned somewhat green!

Han Li, however, pointed without ceremony, and the multitude of Gold Devouring Beetles immediately transformed into a brilliant cloud of golden and silver mist, swarming towards the eccentric.

The eccentric, who had already witnessed the power of these beetles, showed a hint of panic on his face. He hastily waved at the black skulls that were relentlessly pursuing Hu Yue and the other two, making them sweat profusely. Immediately, the two evil artifacts paused their pursuit. After several flashes, they flew back towards the eccentric, ferociously blocking his path.

Hu Yue and the cultivator surnamed Jian, finally able to breathe, sighed in relief and stopped at a distance, looking on with some surprise.

The eccentric still seemed uneasy. A cold light flashed in his hand, and a small, several-inch-long dagger appeared.

After a slight hesitation, his face turned grim. With a swift movement, he brought the dagger down, severing two more of his fingers.

Upon seeing this, the two skulls immediately flew over, each devouring one finger. They then let out strange "woo woo" cries, appearing extremely joyful.

The eccentric stared wide-eyed, then opened his mouth. Two streaks of black light shot into the foreheads of the skulls.

Immediately, the two black skulls, amidst painful wailing, began to undergo a transformation.

With two "puff" sounds, two grotesque, goat-like horns sprouted from their crown. Then, the fangs in their monstrous mouths extended several inches, appearing incredibly sharp. As for their wild hair, after a few breaths, it turned blood-red, completely transforming them into the appearance of demonic heads.

"Go!" Seeing the skulls complete their transformation, the eccentric felt a sense of relief. Enduring the intense pain, he pointed his mangled finger at the approaching insect swarm.

A strange green light flashed in the demonic heads' eyes, and they immediately obeyed, transforming into two black streaks of light. Emitting long, ghostly wails, they flew towards the insect swarm.

Upon seeing the demonic heads flying towards them, the Gold Devouring Beetles immediately divided into two groups under Han Li's command, fiercely attacking them from two directions.

The skulls, now transformed into demonic heads, opened their mouths. Emerald-green phosphorus flames, several times thicker than before, shot out, directly hitting the large swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles head-on, throwing them into disarray and scattering them several feet away.

The insect swarm became chaotic.

The eccentric showed a hint of joy, but this joy lasted only for a fleeting moment before disappearing without a trace.

This was because the Gold Devouring Beetles that had been struck by the phosphorus flames, after tumbling more than a dozen times, spread their wings and flew up again as if nothing had happened, showing no signs of injury.

The eccentric's face was now filled with an expression of disbelief!

One had to know that the phosphorus flames spat out by these demonic heads were the Azure Abyss Ghost Flames, which were three parts superior to common alchemical fire. How could they fail to burn even small insects?

However, while the demonic heads could do nothing to the Gold Devouring Beetles, these Gold Devouring Beetles were also temporarily unable to break through the demonic heads' phosphorus flame attacks, resulting in a stalemate.

The eccentric's brows furrowed tightly as he secretly pondered other strategies.

But then, a buzzing sound, several times louder than before, suddenly rang out again from a distance.

The eccentric involuntarily looked up in surprise, and his face instantly turned deathly pale, completely devoid of color.