Chapter 2021: The Great Battle of the Abyss (IV)

Volume 10: Battle of the Demon Realm

Time passed slowly, and the slight tremor in the hall never ceased. The battle was clearly exceptionally fierce, with occasional earth-shattering booms piercing the outer enchantments and echoing throughout the hall. Yet, neither Han Li nor the green-robed guards showed any reaction, their gazes lowered.

After a full three hours, the hall's vibrations finally ceased abruptly. However, waves of terrifying fluctuations, accompanied by explosions, swept through. These fluctuations were clearly beyond the capabilities of ordinary cultivators or low-tier demonic beasts; high-level entities from both sides had already joined the fray. Judging by the density of these powerful fluctuations and the explosions reverberating across almost the entire battlefield, it appeared the demon race had committed all their elite forces, for the battle would not otherwise have been so intense. Han Li pondered silently, his expression unmoving as he stood within the formation.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek tore through the outer enchantments, directly entering the hall and causing a faint stinging sensation in Han Li's ears.

"Not good!" Han Li cursed inwardly. Without a second thought, he flicked his sleeve, and a grey mist of light unfurled, forming a protective barrier that enveloped the entire hall. His gaze then sharpened as he looked towards the thirty-six male cultivators in green robes. He saw the cultivators, each clutching their heads and groaning in agony, with faint trickles of blood emerging from their ears.

Han Li frowned, and a cold snort suddenly emanated from his nose. Though the snort seemed chilling, upon reaching the cultivators' ears, it was like sweet dew, immediately alleviating most of their pain. They swiftly resumed their meditative postures to regulate their breathing. After roughly the time it takes for a meal, the cultivators finally suppressed their physical discomfort, and their complexions largely returned to normal.

"Many thanks for your assistance, Senior!" The leading cultivator, his face showing gratitude, bowed deeply to Han Li.

"It's nothing. With me here, you won't come to any harm. However, for a mere cry to possess such power, it seems a Demon Venerable has also entered the fray. You won't be staying here much longer, so quickly recover your strength," Han Li said calmly.

"Yes, Senior, we will definitely restore our vital energy as quickly as possible and will not impede you." The male cultivators' hearts tightened, and after acknowledging, they quickly closed their eyes to circulate their energy once more. Han Li pondered for a moment, then, with a flicker of his divine sense, he once again pierced through the enchantments to observe the outside.

Near the city walls, there was no longer any trace of the Four Heavenly River Treasures. As for the original tens of millions of demonic beasts, a staggering ninety percent had vanished, with the remaining beasts mostly mid-to-high-tier existences, each one battered and bruised. As for the super demonic beasts, it was unknown what treasures the human and monster races had used to nearly wipe them out; only seven or eight remained alive on the battlefield, each exceedingly weakened and seemingly of little use.

Beneath Tianyuan City's towering walls, a dense, armored demonic army, numbering seven to eight million, had taken their place. Strangely, only demons above the Nascent Soul stage could fly; all others were restricted to running wildly on the ground. Within a heavily guarded secret location in Tianyuan City, a massive super-formation, spanning ten thousand acres and comprised of over a thousand smaller arrays, had been activated. An invisible restriction emanating from it enveloped Tianyuan City and a vast surrounding region. This was, in fact, a colossal anti-flight restriction, yet unlike typical ones, it appeared effective only against the demon forces. Humans, regardless of their cultivation level, could still fly and burrow freely.

However, the demonic forces far outnumbered and outmatched the city's defenders and ordinary cultivators. Even under these unfavorable conditions, they still surged like a tide onto the city walls, transforming the area into a chaotic melee. Tianyuan City's once incredibly profound protective light barrier was long gone, having been forcibly shattered and breached by the demonic forces at some unknown point.

However, the true determinants of the battle's outcome were not these ordinary demons or the regular defending cultivators, but rather the intensely fierce clashes between high-level entities raging above the city walls. Groups of Soul Transformation stage (or above) entities formed battle groups, ranging from a dozen to several dozen strong, clashing incessantly in the air. Rolling demonic clouds, whistling light mist, blinding sword light, and other divine abilities constantly collided, transforming into shimmering light showers that flashed across the sky. The deafening roar of explosions was ceaseless.

Among these, several battle groups were particularly prominent. In one such group, a swirling black demonic cloud and a patch of deep blue liquid intertwined, rotating rapidly to form a massive vortex, over a hundred acres in size. Within the vortex, thunder rumbled ceaselessly as a figure wreathed in blue lightning and another cloaked in inky blackness battled fiercely.

Not far from this vortex, a vast grey light curtain obscured over a thousand zhang of the sky. Within this curtain, a tall demonic silhouette vaguely appeared, spewing forth torrents of gale-force winds that transformed into countless ten-zhang-long wind blades, sweeping towards its opponent. Opposite, an old man wielded a massive feather fan in each hand, fanning vigorously. Simultaneously, streams of red and blue light emerged, colliding with the opposing hurricane and transforming into surging powers of water and fire, showing no signs of being at a disadvantage.

In the final battle group, a black-robed man held a small crimson drum aloft in one hand, continuously striking it with his other palm, producing 'bang bang' sounds that sent out concentric waves of faint red sonic energy. Opposing him was a colossal demonic bird with a beautiful woman's head. Its body was emerald green, with four wings on its back. It unleashed piercing shrieks from its mouth, surprisingly holding its ground against the faint red sonic waves, showing no disadvantage whatsoever.

Within several miles of these two, no other beings from the human, demonic, or monster races were present. Clearly, the range of their sonic attacks was too vast; no one dared to approach, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire. The piercing shriek that had earlier reached Han Li's pavilion was a result of a stray, uncontrolled sonic wave unleashed by that demonic bird. It was fortunate that both combatants could still largely control their attacks; only a small fraction of the sonic energy had strayed. Had their full attacks been unleashed upon ordinary beings, both human and demonic forces would likely have suffered immense casualties.

Han Li felt somewhat surprised, but after scanning the area and finding no signs of the Bloodlight Saint Ancestor's involvement, he promptly retracted his divine sense. His mission was solely to deal with the Bloodlight Saint Ancestor's avatar. Since Tianyuan City was not currently at a disadvantage, there was no immediate need for him to intervene.

The great battle outside gradually escalated in intensity as Demon Venerables and elders from both the human and monster races successively entered the fray. The number of Demon Venerables clearly surpassed Tianyuan City's Integration stage cultivators by a significant margin. Thus, when another seven or eight Demon Venerables surged forth from the demonic energy, the human counter-force consisted not of Integration stage cultivators, but rather teams of peculiar cultivators clad in vibrant, five-colored robes. These cultivators exuded considerable power, all being at the Void Refinement stage.

Seeing this, the Demon Venerables sneered, intending to unleash their divine abilities and annihilate these seemingly vulnerable cultivators. But at that moment, some cultivators suddenly produced pills from their robes and swallowed them. Immediately, their bodies swelled dramatically, some growing thick fur, others baring fangs, as they partially transformed into demonic forms. Their auras visibly surged compared to before. The pills they consumed were a type of spiritual medicine designed to unleash their hidden potential.

Meanwhile, another group of cultivators, though not transforming, each raised their hands and released dark circular rings. The next moment, chilling winds swirled, and batches of tall, purple-armored puppets eerily materialized. These puppets had pale, bloodless faces, unusually green eyes, and sharp, black talons on their bare hands. They were, surprisingly, extremely rare corpse-type puppets. As soon as these corpse puppets appeared, their eyes flashed with green light, and they immediately charged towards the Demon Venerables. Hundreds of them moved in unison, stirring up gusts of chilling winds, clearly demonstrating considerable power.

The Demon Venerables sneered. With mere gestures, they conjured colossal demonic palms to swat the puppets out of the air, or spat streams of black light that bisected them at the waist, destroying them as easily as withered wood. In the blink of an eye, the puppets were utterly routed. The Demon Venerables erupted in wild laughter, intending to annihilate everyone in one swift blow.

But the next moment, an astonishing sight unfolded. The corpse puppets, even those whose bodies were deformed by a blow, restored themselves to normal after a surge of black energy rippled over their forms. Even puppets that had been severed into multiple pieces reformed perfectly as their fragments gathered within the black mist. Then, these corpse puppets, with menacing expressions, continued to charge towards the Demon Venerables.

"Indestructible bodies! No, there's more to this!" a Demon Venerable exclaimed in surprise.

Simultaneously, within a stone tower in Tianyuan City, hundreds of black-robed cultivators sat impassively, cross-legged on the ground. In front of each, a dark, half-foot-long wooden puppet hovered. The surfaces of these puppets were covered in greyish-white runes, with faint black energy constantly swirling around them. Driven by the cultivators' ceaseless hand seals, they twisted eerily, as if alive.

At this juncture, the instant the Demon Venerables were bewildered by the corpse puppets' seemingly undying nature, another group of cultivators suddenly stomped their feet. Instantly, giant ten-zhang-wide formation plates appeared beneath them. With a flash of light, they all vanished simultaneously from their original positions. Immediately, lights flickered around the Demon Venerables as the cultivators' figures reappeared via instantaneous teleportation. In their hands, each now held a five-colored light-mist banner, which they frantically waved.

"Boom!" With a deafening roar, layers of five-colored mist surged forth from the banners, instantly engulfing the Demon Venerables. Within the mist, silver runes churned ceaselessly, fluctuating in size and emitting an exceptionally mysterious aura. Enraged roars immediately erupted from the mist, and torrents of violent aura stormed through it like hurricanes. However, as the five-colored mist pulsed and shifted, not a single Demon Venerable managed to break free. Consequently, the aura within the mist grew even more tumultuous, accompanied by continuous, booming roars.

At this point, the partially demonized monster cultivators, at a low roar from their leader, each produced a gold and silver talisman and affixed it to their bodies. Their forms immediately blurred, then transformed into gusts of demonic wind, rushing into the mist. Immediately, the rumbling within the mist intensified, becoming even louder than before. The auras of the monster cultivators instantly intertwined with those of the Demon Venerables, clashing fiercely and, surprisingly, not yielding any ground.