Chapter 2029: Insect's Might

Main Text, Volume 10: War of the Demon Realm

The condensed Tai Chi Formation Diagram spun, then fragmented into countless illusory images, pressing down on the blood-robed youth. The blood-robed youth felt the air around him tighten as immense forces surged from all directions, causing the crimson gale he had conjured to burst and dissipate with a muffled thud. As the colossal power swirled, it instantly formed a massive vortex, sweeping both the youth and the skeleton beneath him into its depths, threatening to tear them into countless fragments. The youth and the skeleton beneath him felt their bodies sink, unable to advance an inch from their original positions.

"No, it's a Profound Heaven Sacred Treasure!" the blood-robed youth cried out in alarm, his face instantly changing. He hastily summoned the large black seal from his hand. The great seal swiftly rotated, transforming into the size of a pavilion, and emitted ten thousand rays of black light as it slammed fiercely onto the Tai Chi diagram.

A tremendous "boom" echoed. The Tai Chi diagram merely trembled slightly, a flash of light appearing on its surface, and it bounced the great seal away, rendering its attack ineffective. The blood-robed youth seemed to not have expected to break the restriction with that single blow. With a low growl, his body twisted rapidly, and he merged into the crimson skeleton beneath him.

The next moment, the crimson skeleton's three heads suddenly opened their mouths, each spitting out a black talisman, a purple jade pendant, and a ball of crimson light, respectively. The three items appeared, then simultaneously burst open with muffled thuds, transforming into a surge of black demonic energy, a mass of purple misty light, and a shower of crimson threads, all drilling into the skeleton's body.

Instantly, three different colored, eerie demonic patterns appeared on the crimson skeleton's surface, spreading across its entire body. After a painful shriek, its body suddenly expanded by more than double, barely managing to break free from the surrounding immense forces. Its six dark demonic weapons then swung together fiercely. A black light flashed, and a long-handled weapon resembling a Moon-Covering Saber instantly coalesced and emerged. The crimson skeleton's six green eyes glinted fiercely. Its six crimson hands simultaneously gripped the long handle of the demonic weapon and slashed violently at the Tai Chi diagram in the air.

A black saber light, over a hundred zhang long, sliced through the sky and flashed across the Tai Chi diagram. The Tai Chi diagram paused momentarily, a faint black mark suddenly appearing in its center, then silently splitting apart, actually being forcefully severed into two pieces.

The crimson skeleton felt the surrounding immense forces diminish by more than half. Overjoyed, it burst into crimson light, preparing to soar into the air and escape. But just then, the silver-haired elder and Zen Master Jinyue in the distance simultaneously opened their mouths without a word, each spitting out a ball of vital essence. With a point in the air, these transformed into wisps of blood mist that vanished into thin air.

Simultaneously, the two severed halves of the Tai Chi diagram buzzed loudly. Several unfamiliar auras suddenly appeared within them, and with a flash, they overlapped. With a flash of light, the split Tai Chi diagram instantly mended itself, returning to its original state, and began to rotate once more. The crimson skeleton's colossal body had just transformed into a crimson rainbow and flown over ten zhang high when a thunderous "rumble" forced it down by the reappearing immense power, binding it once again on the spot.

The Bloodlight Avatar, hidden within the crimson skeleton, was undoubtedly furious upon seeing this. Without hesitation, its long-handled demonic blade relentlessly chopped at the air like a rapidly spinning wheel. Streaks of dark saber light, like black dragons soaring into the sky, continuously tore open and shattered the Tai Chi diagram. But no matter how sharp and fierce the saber light was, the Tai Chi diagram would instantly recover with just a flash of light, firmly entangling the crimson skeleton and preventing it from moving an inch.

The corresponding cost was that the two individuals, the silver-haired elder and the monk, continuously exerted their vital essence, desperately urging the Tai Chi diagram treasure. As the two spat out vital essence, their flesh and blood rapidly shriveled and withered at a visible pace, looking utterly desperate.

The blood-robed youth was utterly horrified. With a quick thought, he suddenly gritted his teeth. Four of the crimson skeleton's six arms suddenly exploded with loud bangs. The shattered bone fragments were swept by a ball of blood mist, miraculously transforming into a pair of enormous, blood-tinged bone wings on the skeleton's back. The skeleton's two remaining arms each formed different hand seals. As the massive wings flapped wildly, its previously unmoving body trembled slightly, and it actually soared into the air once again.

All of this seemed complicated, but it happened in a flash. However, the crimson skeleton's action was clearly a bit too late!

A tearing sound echoed in the sky. The golden giant eagle, formed by the Gold-Devouring Beetle swarm, finally flashed into view, shooting towards the crimson skeleton and fiercely clawing at its back.

"No!" the crimson skeleton's three heads frantically shook as it shrieked. Its long-handled demonic blade hastily slashed towards the golden giant eagle. Simultaneously, the huge wings on its back flapped twice without regard for energy consumption, greatly increasing its escape speed. Unfortunately, it was currently enveloped by the Tai Chi diagram. Even though it had transformed into a rapidly escaping crimson light, its escape speed was still incredibly slow compared to what it should have been.

When the golden giant eagle was struck by the dark saber light, it instantly burst with a "bang," transforming into ten thousand golden flowers that swarmed downwards. Amidst the frantic flashing of golden light, the crimson skeleton shrieked, then was instantly submerged by over ten thousand Gold-Devouring Beetles. Every inch of its body was covered by fist-sized golden beetles, emitting crunching sounds of consumption that were horrifying to hear from a distance.

Even though the crimson skeleton was formed by the Bloodlight Sacred Ancestor using a rare treasure, it continued to shriek piercingly while enveloped by the swarm. With tens of thousands of Gold-Devouring Beetles devouring simultaneously, the speed of consumption was simply appalling. In just a few blinks of an eye, the skeleton's body, which was as hard as metal and stone, was forcibly reduced by nearly half. It appeared that in a moment, it would be completely devoured.

The silver-haired elder and the old monk in the distance were overjoyed upon seeing this. "They are indeed mature Gold-Devouring Beetles. It's fortunate that Fellow Daoist Han can control so many of these ferocious insects at once," the elder said with a joyful expression.

"What Fellow Daoist said is true. This one-time use Sacred Treasure bestowed by Lord Mo Jianli seems to have been used at the right time. Fortunately, we resisted using this treasure earlier. Otherwise, how could we have unexpectedly trapped this devil?" Zen Master Jinyue also said, his expression relaxing in delight.

At this moment, Han Li's figure flickered several times, appearing beside the crimson skeleton. His hands, tucked into his sleeves, subtly moved a few times, but his face remained expressionless. At the same time, the blood-robed youth, hidden within the crimson skeleton, wore a face full of panic, like an ant on a hot pan.

Seeing the crimson skeleton rapidly being devoured and shrunk to only a few zhang in size, no longer able to protect the blood-robed youth within it, he suddenly gritted his teeth and abruptly formed a hand seal with one hand. An earth-shattering roar reverberated. After the crimson skeleton's remaining body surface flashed with abnormal crimson light, it instantly burst into a crimson halo, and a rolling wave of energy swept out, knocking all ten thousand Gold-Devouring Beetles away.

However, among these Gold-Devouring Beetles, over a dozen of them flashed with intense golden light, treating the energy wave as nothing as they advanced instead of retreating. With a flicker, they shot like crossbow bolts onto the back of the revealed blood-robed youth, baring their fangs and biting wildly. These were precisely Han Li's dozen or so candidate Gold-Devouring Beetle Kings. Each of these Beetle Kings possessed abilities comparable to late-stage Void Refinement cultivators. Han Li had quietly released them earlier, mixing them into the swarm. With their almost identical aura, they managed to deceive the Bloodlight Avatar's senses and successfully landed a strike.

The blood-robed youth felt a searing pain that pierced his heart and lungs, but he knew that his survival hinged on this single attempt. He immediately shrieked, ignoring the dozen or so Gold-Devouring Beetles on his back. Instead, he transformed into a dazzling rainbow, shooting out from the midst of them, and with a flash, was about to escape the Tai Chi diagram's range.

Han Li watched this scene without the slightest trace of panic on his face. Instead, his eyes glinted with a strange look. The next moment, a faint golden light suddenly flashed in the void in front of the crimson rainbow. Over a dozen ethereal golden beast shadows strangely appeared, and at the same time, a dense flurry of claw shadows burst forth. After a series of explosions, the dozen or so beast shadows trembled and shot backward. Their light dissipated, and they re-transformed into a single pale golden exotic beast, clearly no match.

However, a sudden shriek came from within the crimson rainbow, causing the blood-robed youth's escape light to pause. But in that brief moment of delay, the beetles that had been shaken off immediately swarmed back with a howl, completely enveloping the blood-robed youth's true body. Agonized screams erupted from the blood-robed youth's mouth. As he swiftly formed hand seals, rolling crimson winds and surges of dark demonic energy emerged from his body, swirling fiercely around him.

But no matter what kind of divine ability swirled across his body, the dense swarm of Gold-Devouring Beetles clung tightly to his form like maggots on bone, refusing to let go in the slightest. Pitiable was this avatar of the Demon Ancestor. Even with his immense demonic cultivation, encountering these Gold-Devouring Beetles—which were immune to blades, spears, water, and fire—and without any counteracting treasures, while his escape techniques were restricted by the exotic treasure, he had absolutely no means of resistance.

In an instant, the blood-robed youth's entire physical body was completely devoured, not even his Nascent Soul managed to escape in the slightest. At this point, the tens of thousands of Gold-Devouring Beetles buzzed, scattered, and transformed into countless golden flowers, shooting back towards Han Li. Han Li flicked his sleeve, instantly retracting all the spirit insects into his body. Then, his gaze swept over the empty space where the Tai Chi diagram had been, and only then did his expression truly relax.

At this moment, the solidified Tai Chi diagram burst with a "bang," suddenly shattering into points of spiritual light. The elder and the monk in the distance, who had been controlling the treasure, simultaneously opened their mouths, spitting out several more blobs of vital essence. Their flesh and blood withered by another two points. However, after witnessing the blood-robed youth being devoured by the swarm, their expressions were utterly ecstatic.

"Haha, excellent! This devil has finally died. Fellow Daoist Han, did that Demon Race Venerable also fall by your hand?" the silver-haired elder asked, laughing heartily despite his dim eyes.