Chapter 1712: Chasing Down

In just a moment, the king-level dark beast turned to a three-eyed dark beast behind it and let out several angry growls.

The three-eyed dark beast immediately responded with a few roars, then respectfully retreated a few steps. With a flash of its body, it shot off in the direction it had come from, disappearing into the darkness after a few quick movements.

Seeing this, the king-level dark beast twisted its head and continued to leap forward.

To it, the outsiders who had unexpectedly intruded into the Dark Beast Forest were certainly detestable, but compared to its current target, they seemed insignificant. Therefore, although it clearly sensed the demise of the silver-eyed dark beasts, this beast merely issued an order, made other arrangements, and had no intention of turning back itself.

The other three-eyed dark beasts naturally followed closely behind the golden dark beast.

In the nearby forest, a loud rustling sound arose. It was unclear how many other dark beasts were also following. However, if one listened carefully, one would notice that some of the rustling sounds gradually faded away. It seemed many dark beasts had moved away in the opposite direction.

Han Li, meanwhile, floated at a low altitude with his arms crossed. Beneath him, the four-headed giant beast had been split in two, becoming a mangled corpse, its surface fragmenting into scattered black light particles.

Liu Shuier and Shi Kun both stared blankly at Han Li. Although their expressions were barely calm, their flickering gazes subtly revealed a hint of fear.

Just now, the combined power of the Profound Magnetic Secret Art and the silver light explosion from the four-headed giant beast were too overwhelming, and Han Li's instantaneous movement was too fast. They simply couldn't clearly see how Han Li dealt with the giant beast. They only vaguely saw an incredibly bright golden light flash and disappear below. Immediately after, the giant beast, along with its protective black light screen, was split in two by this golden light with no resistance at all. It simply fell and died.

The aura of this giant beast was almost comparable to that of a low-level Saint Race member. For it to be instantly slain like that was simply too incredible! Moreover, the moment that golden light flared, both of them sensed the nearby spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It was as if it had been violently pulled by some immense force, instantly surging towards the golden light. Then, as the golden light vanished, it also disappeared without a trace.

This further shocked the two of them.

Being able to manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was naturally not a rare feat. But for beings like them to manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, each would have to spend a long time chanting incantations and forming hand seals to barely manage it. There was even a certain possibility of failure. How could it be as effortless as their opponent, as if drinking water?

Could it be that the opponent's divine abilities were so powerful that they could directly rival their master's? If that were truly the case, it would be a bit too heaven-defying.

Liu Shuier and Shi Kun pondered this. Their gazes towards Han Li became somewhat unnatural. Han Li, however, remained expressionless. No unusual expression showed on his face.

Just now, he had manipulated the True Devil Avatar. The moment he used the Profound-Heaven Remnant Blade to instantly kill the giant beast, he quickly retracted the avatar, not allowing Liu Shuier and Shi Kun to see anything clearly.

The reason Han Li did not hesitate to expend more avatar power to use the Profound-Heaven Remnant Blade was naturally to test the power of the re-cultivated Brahma Holy Avatar when wielding the Profound-Heaven Remnant Blade. He wasn't sure if the Profound-Heaven Remnant Blade itself consumed far less energy than he expected, or if the Brahma Holy Avatar, having manifested its true form, inherently possessed a miraculous effect of controlling the consumption of avatar power. This single strike that absorbed spiritual energy to slay the giant beast was not only several times faster and easier than before, but its consumption was also less than a third of what it used to be.

Although in this process he deliberately controlled and reduced more than half of the Profound-Heaven Remnant Blade's power, this result naturally greatly satisfied Han Li. However, even so, after using a Profound-Heaven Fruit in the Demonic Gold Mountain Range last time, his avatar power had already been significantly depleted. If not for these past years, during which he had arduously cultivated in Cloud City and recovered a considerable amount, he would not have dared to use it rashly again just now.

Han Li's thoughts whirred. His jet-black hand suddenly made a grabbing motion towards the giant beast's corpse below. Immediately, a gray mist of light swept out, sweeping away all the black light particles that the corpse had turned into, but leaving behind four thumb-sized, shimmering silver orbs. These were precisely the inner cores of the three-eyed dark beast!

Han Li's brow twitched. Just as he was about to move his finger to collect these inner cores, a low, excited growl suddenly came from his sleeve. He was slightly startled, but after a brief thought, he suddenly flicked his sleeve. A golden shadow, transforming into several afterimages, flew out from his sleeve opening. But with another flash, it merged back into one, revealing a small beast with golden markings all over its body.

It was precisely the Leopard-Scaled Beast!

Since advancing to the Soul Transformation stage, this beast had been diligently cultivating in Han Li's spirit beast ring. Under the consumption of Han Li's various spirit pills and wondrous medicines, it had already advanced to the mid-Soul Transformation stage, and was even close to the late stage. However, even so, with its current cultivation level, it offered little help to Han Li, whose divine abilities were constantly increasing. Therefore, in all the previous battles, he had never summoned this beast.

Now that this beast was suddenly so excited in the spirit beast ring, Han Li naturally felt a stir and released it.

The moment the Leopard-Scaled Beast appeared, it instantly darted forward with a flash of its body. Afterimages reappeared as it swallowed all four dark beast inner cores in one gulp. Then, it circled and shot back, landing back on Han Li's shoulder. It rubbed its furry head against Han Li's neck a few times and let out a few snorts, showing extreme affection for Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li's expression shifted. With a flip of his hand, a silver light flashed, and three identical orbs appeared in his palm. The small beast's eyes immediately lit up. Without hesitation, its body flickered, and it transformed into a phantom, pouncing out again. It swallowed the three inner cores in one gulp, then floated on Han Li's palm, raising its head and growling continuously. It seemed utterly delighted.

Han Li smiled faintly. Although he didn't know why this beast valued these silver-eyed dark beast inner cores so highly, while showing no reaction to the ordinary dark beast inner cores obtained earlier, after instantly swallowing so many silver-eyed dark beast inner cores, it was naturally beneficial and harmless to the Leopard-Scaled Beast.

Han Li said nothing and flicked his sleeve again. Immediately, a mist of green light flew out, enveloping the small beast. The small beast's body flickered and it strangely vanished within the green light, being drawn back into the spirit beast ring. As for what miraculous effects these inner cores ultimately had on the Leopard-Scaled Beast, he would naturally only know a little after the beast had refined them.

Meanwhile, after Liu Shuier and Shi Kun witnessed the scene of the Leopard-Scaled Beast devouring the inner cores, they exchanged glances. They finally moved, floating towards Han Li. The moment they reached a few dozen feet from Han Li, they paused and stopped.

The cloaked woman, with a sparkle in her eyes, smiled faintly and said: "This time, we owe it to Brother Han for taking action! Otherwise, with these three-eyed dark beasts being so troublesome and capable of freely combining, Daoist Shi Kun and I might truly have fallen here."

"Indeed," Shi Kun said with a bitter smile. "Brother Han's divine abilities are truly astonishing and put us to shame. If it weren't absolutely impossible for outsiders above the Saint level to enter this realm, I, Shi, would truly suspect that you are an ancient senior who has transformed and arrived here."

Both Liu Shuier and Shi Kun subconsciously conveyed a hint of respect in their demeanor and tone.

Seeing this, Han Li swept his gaze over the two of them and chuckled: "Why are you two Daoists so modest? If it weren't for you two distracting most of these dark beasts, how could I, Han, have succeeded so easily? However, even though they are all destroyed, we shouldn't stay here long. I expect other dark beasts will continue to pursue us, so it's best we leave quickly."

"What Brother Han says is true. It's best to set off as soon as possible!" Liu Shuier's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she immediately agreed.

Shi Kun naturally had no objections and nodded repeatedly.

After the three of them quickly discussed a few more things, they immediately transformed into three streaks of astonishing light and shot away through the air.

Five or six days later, in a dense forest, Han Li, expressionless, formed a hand seal with one hand. Dozens of green flying swords beside him transformed into a green light lotus and descended towards the head of a three-eyed dark beast. As the green sword light flickered, it instantly sliced the beast into countless pieces.

Behind him, the puppet, holding a blue jade fan, was frantically fanning another ordinary dark beast. The rolling blue light mist emanating from the fan, with just a flash, instantly solidified the dark beast, along with the two black shadows it had split into, into a blue ice mountain ten zhang tall, rendering it completely immobile.

Further away, continuous rumbling sounds also echoed, and clusters of spiritual light exploded. Over there, Liu Shuier and Shi Kun were also displaying their might, slaying the remaining dark beasts.

This was already the seventh wave of ambush they had encountered since leaving the core area that day. Each wave consisted of at least five or six beasts, and sometimes seven or eight. Fortunately, none of them were the silver-eyed dark beasts from that day; at most, some three-eyed dark beasts led the groups, and there was no combined transformation. As such, they were naturally no match for Han Li and the others and were all completely slain. However, because of this, Han Li and the others' progress was inevitably delayed repeatedly.

And this time was also a bit different. There were actually over a dozen dark beasts that appeared. If Han Li and the others hadn't each used some of their most powerful divine abilities, it would truly not have been easy to win.

Han Li beckoned with one hand, and the green light lotus hummed. It instantly transformed into dozens of green threads that shot out. With just a flash, it also easily pierced the dark beast in the blue ice mountain on the other side, leaving it full of holes. Then he shifted his gaze. He expressionlessly looked towards Liu Shuier's battle. The sound of "chi chi" slicing through the air arose again. The green threads once again shot out densely.

Ten days later, at the edge of the Dark Beast Forest, three figures floated in mid-air. They gazed motionless towards the forest opposite them. There, over thirty dark beasts had gathered, with three-eyed dark beasts making up a significant portion.

Both Liu Shuier and Shi Kun had solemn expressions. Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly.