Chapter 1708: Two

Han Li and Liu Shuier exchanged glances, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Shi Kun, who had been lying on the ground, slowly got up and sent a telepathic message to Han Li and Liu Shuier, his voice filled with shock and anger: "What's going on? How could a King-level dark beast appear here alone? What terrible luck, to accidentally run into a King beast!"

"Brother Shi, are you alright?" Liu Shuier asked, sounding genuinely concerned, through a telepathic message.

"I'm fine, my body just went numb for a moment. I'm much better now," Shi Kun replied with a grunt, his voice gradually growing stronger, as if he truly wasn't seriously injured.

Han Li, upon hearing this, frowned. Just as he was about to ask something, another anomaly occurred an unknown distance ahead!

Suddenly, myriad beasts roared in unison!

The roars, like rolling thunder from the sky, reverberated, causing a buzzing in their ears and making the nearby trees tremble violently, as if coming alive.

"What is this?" Liu Shuier gasped.

Han Li and Shi Kun also showed expressions of alarm and uncertainty.

But the next moment, the roars abruptly ceased. From the direction of the sound, countless astonishing auras suddenly emerged, approaching them at incredible speed.

A short while later, Han Li and the others all heard an incessant "rustling" sound.

"No good, hide quickly!"

This time, with just a thought, Han Li's face suddenly paled. He sent a low telepathic message to Liu Shuier and Shi Kun, then instantly darted towards a nearby large tree. With a flash of green light, his entire figure vanished within it.

Shi Kun and Liu Shuier were no slower.

Almost at the same moment Han Li gave his warning, they too realized the danger.

One stomped a foot on the nearby ground, and a flash of yellow light later, sank completely into the soil below. The other opened her mouth and spat out a cluster of blue mist, her entire body gradually becoming transparent within the mist until she vanished into thin air.

Almost immediately after the three scattered and fled, black light flickered in the distant woods, and countless dark beasts surged out, densely packed and seemingly innumerable.

It was as if most of the dark beasts from the entire Dark Beast Forest had gathered there.

Han Li's entire body pulsed with magic power, and in a few flashes, he was already several miles away. Turning his head to gaze intently into the distance, he immediately noticed that many of these dark beasts were unusually large, and between their foreheads, a grey, eerie vertical eye was prominently visible.

They were high-level Three-eyed dark beasts!

They hadn't encountered a single one of these high-level dark beasts earlier on their journey; it turned out they had all been gathered in one place.

As soon as these dark beasts surged out, countless streams of spiritual sense spread outwards in all directions, enveloping an area of several hundred miles.

Seeing this, Han Li abandoned any thoughts of luck. A black light suddenly flashed on his body, and a piece of light black gauze appeared, enveloping his entire form.

He had actually deployed the two mysterious black gauze pieces obtained from the Wuluo people.

Then, the dark beast he had transformed into opened its mouth, spitting out a purple talisman that quickly adhered to its body.

With a "puff," a cloud of purple mist intermingled with countless silver runes emerged, shrouding his figure.

The dark beast's body became illusory, but at the same time, its escape speed slowed down immensely.

Han Li glanced quickly at Shi Kun and Liu Shuier.

Unlike him, their escape speed showed no signs of stopping. With a nearly imperceptible aura, they had already fled more than ten miles away.

Clearly, unlike Han Li who chose to conceal himself on the spot, these two intended to escape before being discovered by the high-level dark beasts.

Naturally, neither method could be definitively called better.

If the spiritual sense of those high-level dark beasts couldn't penetrate their concealment for a while, then leaving the area quickly would naturally be the best course of action.

However, if their rapid flight severely reduced the effectiveness of their concealment, leading the dark beasts to detect their presence, that would present an extremely dangerous situation.

Han Li chose to conceal himself on the spot primarily because he possessed concealment treasures like the Taiyi Cleansing Talisman and the black gauze, which made him difficult to detect.

As the third vertical eyes of the many high-level dark beasts in the horde flickered, dense streams of spiritual sense descended from the air, not only sweeping past Han Li repeatedly but also not sparing Shi Kun and Liu Shuier in the distance.

However, these spiritual senses merely swept past, not lingering on any of the three. Evidently, they had not detected their presence.

Han Li and the other two all breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, Han Li's gaze shifted slightly, and he suddenly saw something within the beast horde that made his face instantly change drastically, causing him to gasp.

Within the horde, a striking golden figure leaped forth, shining brightly with golden light. It was another King-level dark beast.

This King-level dark beast was clearly different from the previous one. Not only was it slightly larger, but it was also closely accompanied by seven or eight other Three-eyed dark beasts.

The third vertical eyes of these high-level dark beasts were not grey, but emitted a faint silver light.

As soon as the golden dark beast appeared, all other dark beasts nearby, except for the few silver-eyed dark beasts close to it, respectfully retreated more than ten zhang away, leaving a large empty area around it.

The entire beast horde voluntarily came to a halt, individual beasts either perched on trees or remaining underground, all looking towards the golden dark beast with expressions of awe.

The King-level dark beast first swept its cold gaze around, then a powerful aura emanated from its body, overwhelmingly suppressing the spiritual sense fluctuations of the other high-level dark beasts and sweeping across the nearby area with an irresistible force.

Seeing this, Han Li's heart sank slightly. He simply stopped his flight and quietly hid within a large tree, no longer moving.

Liu Shuier and Shi Kun, in the distance, also stopped their escape lights in alarm as they sensed the massive wave of spiritual sense sweeping towards them. They held their breath and concealed their auras, hoping to still evade the opponent's spiritual power.

But this time, it was clearly unlikely.

Han Li was fine; the powerful spiritual sense also swept past him without seeing through his etherealized body. However, when it landed on Liu Shuier and Shi Kun, it paused, then suddenly became unusually cold.

"Run!" Shi Kun exclaimed in a low voice, his face drastically changing as he sensed the shift in spiritual power. With a flash of yellow light, he transformed into a yellow rainbow and shot away without any further concealment.

Liu Shuier also knew things were bad. Without a word, a white jade rat appeared beneath her feet with a flash, transforming into a cluster of radiant mist that enveloped her, and she, too, shot away with great speed.

At this, not only the other golden dark beasts but also the ordinary and high-level dark beasts discovered their presence, and a commotion immediately stirred within the horde.

The golden dark beast, whose dark eyes flashed with cold light, exuded a chilling aura. With a slight movement of its mouth, it seemed about to give an order.

But the next moment, the beast's expression suddenly shifted. It turned its head towards the direction the previous golden dark beast had fled and let out a long howl that reverberated through the heavens and earth.

The howl was not only exceptionally clear but also seemed to possess an incredible power.

Ordinary dark beasts that heard the howl instantly collapsed, their limbs paralyzed. High-level ones also swayed unsteadily, as if unable to stand firm.

And almost immediately after this howl sounded, another long howl resonated from another location an unknown distance away.

Upon first hearing it, it sounded strikingly similar, yet it was filled with boundless fury.

Upon hearing this howl, the golden dark beast in the horde showed an extremely human-like ferocious expression, and at the same time, let out a deep, thunderous roar from its mouth.

The beast horde, which had previously stopped, surged forward again in a roaring torrent.

Their direction of advance was clearly towards where the other golden dark beast had gone.

However, the King-level dark beast leading the horde did not intend to simply abandon Liu Shuier and Shi Kun. It twisted its body and let out a few roars at the silver-eyed dark beasts clustered around it.

Immediately, those silver-eyed dark beasts respectfully let out a similar low roar, then moved instantly, transforming into several dazzling silver rainbows, and shot off in pursuit of Liu Shuier and Shi Kun.

As for the King-level dark beast itself, with a single leap, it re-entered the horde and continued its pursuit of the other golden dark beast.

In the blink of an eye, the beast horde swept past like a hurricane, and the silver-eyed dark beasts, along with Liu Shuier and Shi Kun, disappeared without a trace, one after the other.

Han Li, however, remained motionless inside the giant tree. It was not until an hour later, after confirming that there were indeed no other dark beasts nearby, that he stirred, dispelled the miraculous effects of the Taiyi Cleansing Talisman, and retracted the black gauze.

The Taiyi Cleansing Talisman certainly had a time limit, and although the black gauze appeared thin, it consumed a considerable amount of magic power.

He naturally couldn't keep both items deployed indefinitely without retracting them.

With a flash of green light, the dark beast that Han Li had transformed into reappeared from within the giant tree.

He turned his head and coldly glanced, first at the direction where the beast horde had vanished, then at where Liu Shuier and the others had disappeared. After a moment of thought, he let out a soft sigh.

Opening his mouth, a small green sword shot out. After a circle, it transformed into a sheet of green light that rolled back down.

Then, a green rainbow, about a zhang long, shot out, directly chasing after the latter group.

At first, the green rainbow was dazzlingly bright, but a moment later, it became exceptionally dim, eventually turning into nothing more than a faint green silhouette.

Han Li's escape light was remarkably fast, yet after pursuing for half a day straight, he still couldn't find any trace of his targets.

If not for the secret treasures they had each refined with secret arts before setting off, which allowed them to vaguely determine the three's positions, he might have genuinely thought he had lost Liu Shuier and the others.

It seemed Liu Shuier and Shi Kun had truly exerted their full strength to escape the pursuers, as even with his current sword-light escape speed, he couldn't shorten the distance at all.

And those silver-eyed dark beasts, at such a speed, could also keep close pursuit. They were not to be underestimated either!

Han Li's mind raced. After a silent clenching of his jaw, his figure suddenly shimmered with silver light, transforming back into his human form.

He retracted the beast hide covering his body and formed a hand seal with one hand.

With a low rumble like thunder, a pair of crystalline feathered wings emerged from his back.