Chapter 1512: Plan to Escape

As the Blood-robed man saw the massive blade descend upon him, his face changed. His body erupted with a crimson glow as he prepared to unleash some divine ability.

But just then, the five massive blades suddenly twisted outwards, vanishing without a trace. In the next instant, they reappeared like five giant gates at the edge of the blood-colored cloud. Then, with a flash of unusual light on their surfaces, five shimmering curtains of light unfurled, resembling a cascading galaxy.

Amidst the chilling, dense light, the blood-colored cloud was immediately swept away and scattered, offering no resistance whatsoever.

A look of fear seized the Blood-robed man. He instantly abandoned any thought of casting further secret arts, hurriedly shook both sleeves, and simultaneously opened his mouth.

A small azure shield, a piece of crimson gauze, and a round alms bowl simultaneously flew out from his body.

These three treasures radiated brilliant light and possessed astonishing power, clearly indicating they were extraordinary artifacts.

As soon as they were released, they transformed into three layers of distinctively colored light shields, enveloping and protecting the Blood-robed man.

Not only that, the Blood-robed man took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and spewed out several clumps of vital blood. Then, he raised his hand, and a purple talisman flashed, disappearing into the blood clumps.

With a 'bang,' the blood clumps exploded, transforming into a mist of blood that enveloped his body.

A purple battle armor materialized on him.

This armor was exquisitely crafted, with electric currents flickering across its surface, as if it were not an artifact of the mortal realm.

By this time, the chilling light had sliced through all the blood mist and reached the Blood-robed man.

After several crisp sounds, the light curtains swept past, and the three layers of defense were sliced open like paper, striking the Blood-robed man fiercely.

With a 'rumbling' sound, the purple battle armor shimmered, finally causing the surrounding chilling light to momentarily halt.

However, it was only a momentary pause! In the next instant, the five streams of chilling light began to swirl around the armor. A faint 'thud' was heard from within, and the purple battle armor was sliced open at the waist.

Even with all his divine abilities, the Blood-robed man was helpless against this seemingly indestructible chilling light. The purple battle armor was already the strongest defensive ability he could unleash.

Despair flashed in his eyes. The Blood-robed man suddenly unleashed hundreds of talismans and over a dozen various magical artifacts, but with a continuous series of explosions, these items were all pulverized by the chilling light.

After a pained shriek, the Blood-robed man's form was engulfed by the five streams of chilling light; not even his primordial spirit managed to escape.

From a distance, the Blood-armored puppet saw this scene, a cold glint flashing in its eyes as it muttered to itself:

“The Five Dragon Blade's greatest power lies in its unparalleled sharpness. To think someone would attempt to block its might with mere treasures…” Having said this, it reached out with one hand into the void.

After a resonant hum, the five distant massive blades transformed into five luminous flood dragons that swiftly flew back.

Finally, the five dragon phantoms converged above the puppet's head, radiating brilliant light as they re-formed into the gleaming silver guillotine, which then descended.

A flicker of joy appeared in the Blood-armored puppet's eyes, and it raised its hand to receive the guillotine. However, its spiritual light suddenly dimmed, and its body swayed several times, almost falling from the air.

Fortunately, with a flash of inspiration, its form immediately stabilized. Yet, a hint of helplessness showed in its eyes. After a sigh, it reached out again and grasped the silver guillotine that was hovering before it.

It gently stroked the guillotine's gleaming surface with one hand, and a humming sound immediately resonated.

“This treasure is indeed incredibly powerful, but its consumption of spiritual sense is truly immense! It seems the next time I act, I must achieve a quick victory,” the puppet muttered thoughtfully.

At this moment, a chilling wind suddenly arose from the distant horizon, and a dark cloud pressed forward with it. In the blink of an eye, the dark cloud, covering most of the sky, arrived before Han Li.

Several high-level demonic creatures, riding gusts of eerie wind, descended from the sky and stood before the puppet. “Have you completed the task I assigned you?” The puppet’s guillotine flickered.“Rest assured, Your Excellency, we have made all the necessary arrangements. Once you enter, we will immediately use the grand formation to completely seal off the surrounding area. Even if any outsiders manage to escape from your hands, they won't be able to get away instantly. We can contain them for a good while,” a zombie-like high-level spectral entity carefully reported.

“Half of you will come with me, and the other half will immediately set up the formation. Although those people have already lured away one of the Nether Lightning Beasts, they will never imagine that the divine essence is guarded not by a single beast, but by a male and female pair,” the Blood-armored puppet said with a cold sneer, glancing up at the heavy dark clouds in the sky.

“Although the Nether Lightning Beasts were left as guardians by the noble elders back then, without a special token of entry, I fear we might also be attacked by them,” the spectral entity, seemingly quite intelligent, said hesitantly.

“Don’t worry. Since those people are ahead, even if the Nether Lightning Beasts attack, they should target them first. We just need to follow discreetly and strike secretly. Originally, even with the Five Dragon Blade, I only had about a fifty percent chance against those few. Now, with the help of these Nether Lightning Beasts, it would be strange if they could still escape with their lives. As for the other Nether Lightning Beast, it being lured away is fine. Otherwise, how would these people have entered this death trap on their own? Fighting them outside wouldn't be difficult, but to truly eliminate them all would be incredibly challenging,” the puppet said with a sinister smile.

The other spectral entities, hearing this, immediately fell silent.

“The Nether Lightning Beast that pursued them cannot be ignored either. I’ve already sent someone to secretly follow it. If that person is quickly devoured, or if there's any other unforeseen circumstance that causes the Nether Lightning Beast to return, use a long-distance talisman to warn us immediately,” the Blood-armored puppet added, as if suddenly remembering something.

“Rest assured, Your Excellency, we have sent Bai Gui, the most proficient among us in stealth and evasion techniques, to follow. There will absolutely be no delays,” the high-level spectral entity quickly affirmed.

“Bai Gui! You mean the one who escaped from the most formidable outsider with only the loss of an arm?” The Blood-armored puppet seemed surprised.

“Indeed, it is she.”

“Hmm, if it's her, then there shouldn't be any problem. Let’s move out. The outsiders should have already entered the underground palace of the Divine Pond,” the Blood-armored puppet nodded and commanded.

All the spectral entities solemnly assented! Immediately, among the few entities, three followed the Blood-armored puppet into a blue passage. The remaining two high-level spectral entities let out a long howl heavenward, after which countless skeletal shadows surged from the nearby dark clouds, filling the air with ghostly cries.

Han Li waved one hand, and immediately seven or eight golden arcs shot backward consecutively amidst the sound of thunder, targeting the creature that had already pursued him to about a hundred zhang behind him.

There, a shimmering silver form flickered erratically – it was the Nether Lightning Beast that had chased him for countless miles.

Upon seeing the golden arcs strike, the beast, far from being surprised or enraged, instead showed excitement. It opened its mouth, and a wave of silver mist immediately swept out.

As several bolts of Exorcist Divine Thunder touched the silver mist, they were silently enveloped and then drawn back into the Nether Lightning Beast’s widely opened maw.

It licked its large mouth, and several low, muffled 'rumbling' sounds emanated from its belly. The Nether Lightning Beast, however, showed delight in its eyes, as if it had just consumed some earthly delicacy.

Taking advantage of this, Han Li powerfully flapped the twin wings on his back, transforming into a crystalline thread that vanished in a flash. After a few blinks, he instantly appeared several hundred zhang away, temporarily widening the distance from the beast.

The Nether Lightning Beast, seeing this, was not anxious. After a rumbling growl from its mouth, silver arcs enveloped its four limbs, and it then strenuously gave chase.

Han Li knew all of the beast's movements without needing to look back.

The beast had repeated the same actions countless times throughout their chase.

The beast's evasion speed was even slightly faster than his own at full flight.

Even having gained this much distance, within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, it would slowly close the gap again, little by little. Then, the beast would unceremoniously begin its attacks from afar.

Initially, the beast had spewed out silver lightning foxes from its mouth, whose power was astonishing. However, Han Li, possessing Exorcist Divine Thunder and protected by his Thunder Robe, easily fended them off.

Upon seeing this, the Nether Lightning Beast immediately stopped its lightning attacks and began emitting streaks of azure claw-light.

These claw-lights initially were only palm-sized, but shortly after leaving the beast's claws, they instantly expanded to about a zhang in size amidst tearing air.

With a single grab of its claw-lights, even the surrounding air was sucked dry, creating an eerie feeling of inescapable doom! If not for Han Li's formidable Wind-Thunder Wings, which could temporarily merge wind and thunder evasion techniques into one, he would likely have lost more than half his life to that single attack.

Even so, he was in extreme peril. Under the claw-light's unpredictable attacks, he narrowly avoided a hit several times. In a recent attack, he was merely grazed by a speck of the claw-light and immediately suffered considerable pain.

Fortunately, the Qiankun Banner given by the white-haired beautiful woman proved incredibly miraculous, transforming into a gigantic Tai Chi diagram that absorbed most of the attack.

Even so, he was shaken, his protective armor shattered, and his thunder cannon dissipated. His internal vital energy suffered some damage.

Thus, Han Li dared not let the beast approach even half a step closer. He could only continuously release Exorcist Divine Thunder when the beast was about to catch up, temporarily slowing its pursuit.

As for the Nether Lightning Beast, while continuously devouring the Exorcist Divine Thunder, it seemed in no hurry to kill Han Li, merely relentlessly pursuing him.

Now, a little over half an hour had passed, and Han Li had led the beast far beyond the edge of the gray mountain range, continually increasing the distance.

This was also due to his much deeper magic power compared to others of his cultivation level, coupled with his mastery of evasion techniques and abundant Exorcist Divine Thunder. Had it been a cultivator at the Nascent Soul or even Void Refinement stage, they would have long since been caught and devoured by this beast.

No wonder Six-legged and the others believed he would likely face misfortune as bait.

Previously, to break the Nether River restrictions, Han Li had already used a considerable amount of Exorcist Divine Thunder.

Without this divine thunder to restrain the beast, Six-legged and the others naturally assumed he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

While constantly wary of the Nether Lightning Beast behind him, Han Li secretly estimated that Six-legged and the others must have broken through the restrictions and were too preoccupied to notice him, so he began to ponder a strategy for escape.

Ordinary methods would certainly not allow him to shake off this terrifyingly unusual demonic beast. His only reliance lay in the dozens of thunder beads on his person, two newly refined talismans, and the fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles he had cultivated.

The first two items were consumables, originally intended for use against Six-legged and the others. The latter, if used, would severely damage his spiritual sense. He would only resort to it when facing a life-or-death situation, and even then, he would be extremely hesitant.

Han Li's gaze flickered erratically, his mind racing...

He couldn't command hundreds or thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles to attack an enemy, but he could try releasing a few to harass the Nether Lightning Beast behind him.

He didn't need to defeat the beast; he merely needed to slow its evasion speed slightly to make his escape.

For greater certainty, using talismans in conjunction with them should increase his chances of success.

After much deliberation, Han Li finally conceived a highly feasible method.

He immediately took a deep breath, and his spiritual sense instantly connected with the spirit beast ring hidden on his person.