Chapter 1666: 夺路

Although the man surnamed Gui had appeared calm moments ago, he was, in fact, filled with profound anxiety. He reflected that ever since he had separated from Han Li and the others, he hadn't paused for a moment on his journey. Yet, he now found himself blocked by such a large number of suddenly appearing demonic beasts, a situation that filled him with alarm and fury.

The opposing horde consisted mainly of mid-tier demonic beasts, but there were also more than thirty high-tier ones. Moreover, the leader, a twin-horned humanoid demon, possessed a cultivation level comparable to his own. Despite his self-confidence, he knew that engaging them in combat would inevitably lead to his demise. His only hope was to find a way to shake off these creatures and then flee at top speed.

However, upon noticing seven or eight winged avian and insectoid demonic beasts among the high-tier ones, each with one or several pairs of wings on their backs, a sense of apprehension crept into his heart. There was no doubt that these demonic beasts possessed considerable escape speed. He might have been able to contend with two or three of them, hoping to shake them off. But with so many attacking simultaneously, his escape would be impossible.

Han Li's sudden appearance instantly relieved much of his pressure. His original slim chance of survival, less than ten percent, immediately increased by several times. The man surnamed Gui was, understandably, overjoyed.

Upon seeing this situation, Xianxian's expression had already turned extremely grim. Han Li's complexion was slightly better, but his eyes flickered continuously. He hovered motionless in mid-air, lost in thought.

Despite their numbers, the demonic beasts opposite were all creatures of awakened intelligence. Thus, while they glared malevolently at the three individuals, there was no chaotic scene of wailing and howling. Instead, they fixed their gazes upon the trio with the chilling intensity of those staring at the dead. An eerie silence descended upon the area.

However, the tranquility was shattered the very next moment by a single voice.

"Haha, it's you! You killed the young master, didn't you? If I eliminate or capture you and bring you back, my master will surely reward me handsomely! Kill the other two, but capture this one alive!" Wuxie, the twin-horned demon, burst into maniacal laughter as he recognized Han Li, then abruptly ceased, issuing his bloodthirsty command.

The moment these words left his lips, the mid-to-high-tier demonic beasts behind him, eager for a kill, unleashed a chorus of roars. Then, a swirling black wind rose, sweeping directly towards Han Li and his companions. Ahead of the black wind, over a dozen streaks of light flashed, surging out to spearhead the attack directly at the trio. Within the black light, monstrous creatures emerged: either bizarre, three-headed birds or colossal insects with enormous wings.

As for the twin-horned demon, a green light swirled around its body, and a seemingly ordinary green disk appeared beneath its feet. With a mere flicker, it shot forward dozens of yards, its speed in no way inferior to that of the avian and insectoid demonic beasts. It lunged directly towards Han Li's position, appearing as if it would reach him with another swift movement.

"Split up!" Han Li quickly suppressed his surprise at being recognized. With a cold whisper, his escape light flared, transforming him into a soaring green arc that shot through the air. Amidst a brilliant burst of green light, his escape arc instantly covered over forty yards, accelerating rapidly without any pause. He neither charged towards the demonic beasts nor retreated back into the thin mist; instead, he flew swiftly to one side.

Xianxian and the man surnamed Gui were no less swift in their actions. Almost simultaneously, the man opened his mouth and spat out a surge of blood qi, which instantly vanished into the blood carriage beneath his feet. The blood carriage emitted a wailing black mist and, with a *whoosh*, vanished from its original spot. Instantly, over a hundred yards away, the carriage eerily reappeared in the void, then let out a piercing shriek as it transformed into a swirling mass of black qi and shot away.

As for Xianxian, simultaneously hearing Han Li's whispered command, she bit her lip, flicked her sleeve, and unfurled a small, crystalline flag. A white light flashed across her body, instantly transforming her into a massive, dazzling white orb. With a spin, and a *bang*, dozens of identical white spheres shot simultaneously in all four directions, spreading downwards. Each sphere moved with astonishing speed, crossing twenty to thirty yards in a mere flicker, leaving a trail of afterimages.

The dozen or so white orbs that flew towards the demonic horde were naturally dispersed and annihilated by the beasts, either through sprayed attacks or powerful grabs. However, the majority of the white spheres still managed to escape over a hundred yards away. Despite the large number of high-tier demonic beasts present, not a single one could discern which sphere contained the true body of the Crystal Clan woman.

Seeing Han Li and his companions, regardless of their cultivation levels, prove to be so elusive, the twin-horned demon became utterly enraged. With a thunderous roar, he parted his hands and effortlessly crushed two white spheres that passed by him. Then, the green disk beneath his feet transformed into a verdant, dripping canoe that, with a whistle, shot directly after Han Li. Trailing behind it were a ten-foot-tall, entirely black demonic eagle and a massive green bee, several feet in length, whose body occasionally flickered with faint lightning. These three seemed to have singled out Han Li, pursuing him relentlessly with escape speeds comparable to his own green arc.

In other directions, several high-tier demonic beasts, equally swift, pursued the man surnamed Gui. The remaining flying demonic beasts hesitated briefly before charging after the scattered white spheres. As for the demonic beasts propelling the black wind behind them, with a collective roar, they spontaneously formed three waves. Two of these waves pursued Han Li and the man surnamed Gui in their respective directions of flight. The remaining wave charged towards the scattered light spheres.

Han Li naturally observed everything happening behind him with perfect clarity. Seeing that the Crystal Clan woman indeed had a contingency plan, he felt a surge of relief and immediately focused solely on controlling his escape light to flee. At Han Li's current escape speed, he could traverse a thousand *li* in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he had already covered tens of thousands of *li*.

Glancing back, he saw the three demonic beasts still clinging to him like a festering wound, barely a hundred yards behind him. He hadn't shaken them off by much at all. Further back, the swirling black wind was also vaguely visible, still in relentless pursuit. A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes. He wasn't afraid of just the three high-tier demonic beasts behind him. However, if they managed to delay him even for a moment, and the dozens of other beasts behind them caught up and encircled him, his currently unrecovered cultivation wouldn't be able to withstand the assault.

Pondering this, Han Li no longer hesitated. As he continued his flight, he formed a hand seal with one hand, and a rumble of thunder immediately erupted behind him, revealing a pair of crystalline feathered wings. With a slight tremor of these wings, a peal of thunder reverberated. His green arc shimmered, then transformed into a bolt of blue-white lightning that shot forth. With a mere flash, it vanished from sight. The next moment, over a hundred yards away, the blue-white electricity flashed, and the arc reappeared with a rumble. But it paused for only an instant before darting forward again and disappearing once more. In this manner, Han Li furiously urged his Wind Thunder Wings, executing the Lightning Evasion Art with consummate skill. With the blue-white arc flickering in and out of sight, he managed to pull more than a hundred yards ahead of the three demonic beasts in just a few breaths.

Wuxie was startled by this, then his heart immediately filled with urgency. If he allowed this individual to escape right under his nose, his fate upon returning was easily imaginable. Instantly, it suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a peculiar triangular bronze mirror. The mirror was hazy and appeared unusually blurred. However, the twin-horned demon suddenly turned its head and let out a series of low growls at the other two high-tier demonic beasts. Upon hearing this roar, the demonic eagle and the green bee exchanged glances, and a look of hesitation flickered in their eyes. A fierce glint flashed across the twin-horned demon's face, followed by another sudden, powerful roar. This time, the roar was imbued with a chilling bloodlust.

The demonic eagle and the green bee trembled. With extreme reluctance, they each opened their mouths and spat out a black and a green fist-sized orb, respectively, which vanished into the mirror in a flash. The triangular bronze mirror immediately vibrated, emitting a low hum. Simultaneously, the spiritual light on its surface shifted, abruptly changing to a mixture of green and black. Wuxie was overjoyed at this sight. He tossed the bronze mirror into the air, then opened his mouth and spat out a grey pearl. After circling the mirror once, the pearl also flashed and vanished into its surface.

The bronze mirror's vibrations intensified, and the spiritual light it emitted transformed into a tripartite glow of black, green, and grey. Following this, the twin-horned demon extended a thick finger and sharply pointed at the bronze mirror. Instantly, the mirror's surface blazed with spiritual light, suddenly spewing forth a three-colored mist. This light, like a dragon emerging from the sea, enveloped all three demonic beasts in a flash. The bronze mirror itself then flickered and disappeared into the shimmering mist.

The mist then moved, silently traversing seventy to eighty yards, pursuing the blue-white electric arc like a phantom. The three demons, utilizing the treasure, had astonishingly merged their powers, dramatically increasing their escape speed. While it still appeared slightly slower than Han Li, Wuxie nevertheless let out a great sigh of relief. The opponent's cultivation was inferior to his own, and they were three individuals pooling their magical energy to power the treasure. Wuxie was confident that Han Li couldn't maintain such an unusual speed indefinitely; catching him was only a matter of time.

The blue-white electric arc flickered in and out of sight ahead, accompanied by a low rumble of thunder, while the three-colored mist pursued silently, like a wraith. With one leading and the other following, they vanished into the distant horizon within moments.

The dark, swirling demonic wind continued its pursuit for another tens of thousands of *li*. However, seeing Han Li and the three demonic beasts accelerate their escape and eventually disappear completely, the pursuing horde gave up. The black wind dispersed, revealing over thirty mid-to-high-tier demonic beasts who stood on the spot, looking at each other in confusion.