Chapter 2357: Battle Outside the Valley (Part 2)

The miniature figure formed by the Gold-Devouring Beetle King, seeing this situation, showed no intention of holding back in the slightest. Its ten fingers quickly flicked out in succession. A menacing crystalline light surged forth once more.

But this time, before it could truly merge into the black wind, a furious roar emanated from within. Suddenly, a glistening blue giant blade, over a hundred zhang long, sliced out from it. This giant blade was strangely shaped, slightly curved, neither truly a saber nor a sword. Yet, after a thunderous roar, a layer of extreme coldness surged from its surface, creating a truly astonishing momentum.

The Gold-Devouring Beetle King merely glanced at the giant blade with an impassive expression. The crystalline sword light that had flown out immediately intensified. More than ten beams of crystalline light merged into one, transforming into a dazzling rainbow dozens of zhang long, and sliced towards it.

The moment the two made contact, the crystalline light and icy aura flashed simultaneously, emitting a crisp 'thump' sound. The blue giant blade was instantly sliced into two halves from the middle. The crystalline sword light was so sharp that ordinary treasures could not withstand it in the slightest.

Without any obstruction, the crystalline light merely flickered and, without hesitation, sliced into the black wind once more. A furious roar of alarm erupted, and the black wind suddenly churned violently, transforming into a heaven-piercing hurricane. Within the hurricane, a loud whistling sound rang out, and countless crystalline lights flashed wildly, actually slicing the hurricane apart by force.

With a 'boom,' a huge figure was then struck by the crystalline light, flying backward out of the black wind. After swaying several times, it finally regained its footing over a hundred zhang away. It was none other than the monstrous giant formed by the Immortal Venerate! However, at this moment, he was in a truly sorry state. Not only was he covered in wounds, but one of his thighs had also vanished. The giant bone shield in his hand, adorned with layers of black mist, was also missing a significant portion, appearing exceptionally damaged.

The giant's gaze, directed at the small figure in the distance, was filled with deep apprehension, in addition to extreme rage. It even contained a hint of fear. Even though the Immortal Venerate had suffered such heavy injuries, after the giant form raised its head and let out a long roar, all the wounds on its body began to fade at an incredible speed. Even the missing thigh, from which countless blood threads sprayed out and intertwined, was rapidly reforming.

Upon seeing this, the Gold-Devouring Beetle King narrowed its crystalline eyes, raised an arm, and pointed a finger at the giant. A loud 'hissing' sound rang out! In an instant, countless invisible sword qi suddenly erupted from the void around the giant, shooting violently inwards from all directions. At the same time, the miniature figure moved, lightly floating towards the opponent.

The giant's expression changed. With a furious roar, it slammed a fist against its chest, and a layer of black crystalline light rapidly circulated over its body. The white bone spurs on its body immediately trembled and shot out, transforming into white streaks of light that met the invisible sword qi from all directions. Meanwhile, the giant hurled the broken ancient shield in its hand forcefully at the approaching miniature figure. With a hum, the bone shield transformed into a grayish-white light wheel and shot out. The giant then twisted its body, blurring and vanishing from its original spot.

The next moment, in the void several hundred zhang away, a ripple appeared, and the giant's figure flickered back into existence. A loud 'boom' echoed. The miniature figure merely raised a fist slightly, shattering the bone shield that had shot towards it. Then, a trace of coldness flashed in its eyes, and it suddenly transformed into a crystalline rainbow, darting directly towards the distant giant.

The Immortal Venerate's heart trembled. He glanced down to see his reforming leg was still bloody, only a small portion having completed. Immediately, gritting his teeth, his figure flickered again, and he teleported away from his original spot, appearing elsewhere. However, the Gold-Devouring Beetle King's miniature form had no intention of letting its opponent off. The dazzling rainbow took a turn and pursued closely. One continuously teleported to avoid the direct confrontation, while the other relentlessly pursued, creating a stalemate for a time.

By this time, Daoist Sanquan on the other side had just uttered the character "Shi." But upon seeing the giant ape merely standing in the sky opposite them, coldly staring, his expression couldn't help but change drastically.

"Impossible! That blood poison is incredibly potent; even an indestructible body would be unable to take more than three steps after being poisoned. How can you be unharmed?" the young Daoist shouted in a panicked, disbelieving tone.

"To think a mere bit of blood poison could deal with me, Han, is truly wishful thinking. However, for that small snake to bite through my skin, it's quite rare," the giant ape said with a savage smile. It raised the bitten finger, and its other hairy hand slapped it like lightning. With a 'thump,' a black bloodline shot out from an almost imperceptible faint tooth mark on its fingertip. The strange snake's blood poison was actually forced out of Han Li's body instantly.

Originally, with the formidable physical body Han Li possessed after his transformation, even if the blood poison had truly spread, he would at most only feel a slight discomfort, with no real harm. Furthermore, he had previously cultivated the 'Myriad Poisons Primordial Body,' which specifically countered strange poisons, so these blood poisons naturally couldn't affect him in the slightest.

Huang Yuanzi, who was nearby, had already shown a constantly shifting expression, alternating between dark and light. But after glancing towards the valley and the Immortal Venerate, who was being forced into a desperate retreat by the Gold-Devouring Beetle King, a hint of ruthlessness flashed across his face, and he suddenly stomped his foot on the giant archway beneath him. Immediately, the archway blurred, transforming into a faint, vanishing glow.

Above the giant ape's head, the sound of wind and thunder rang out, and the giant archway silently reappeared. Huang Yuanzi, who had teleported with it, had an arm detach from his shoulder with a 'crack' sound. Then, under the activation of a hand seal, it self-destructed, transforming into a cloud of blood mist that rapidly merged into the archway below him.

Upon seeing this, Han Li knew the opponent intended to cast some extremely powerful secret technique. The giant ape form's eyes flashed with fierce light, and it suddenly unleashed a powerful punch at the archway in the sky. The moment the hairy fist was thrust out, a portion of the sky suddenly dimmed, and an invisible spiritual pressure surged forth like a storm, sweeping directly towards the archway and Huang Yuanzi.

Just then, Huang Yuanzi let out a shrill cry, his body glowing with blood. Countless fresh blood threads sprayed from his skin, and then, with a sudden leap, he transformed into a faint blood shadow and directly entered the archway. A 'boom' explosion echoed. The void where the archway had been rippled like a moon in water or a flower in a mirror. The storm formed by the immense spiritual pressure passed directly through it, sweeping hundreds of zhang away before its power was exhausted and it vanished.

"Path of Illusions!" The giant ape paused slightly upon seeing this, a trace of surprise flashing across its face. But it immediately sneered twice, then formed a hand seal with one hand to cast a secret technique to break the illusion before it. With his spirit eye divine ability, coupled with his terrifying divine sense power, which was even stronger than that of a true immortal, casting illusions before him was naturally an act of utter foolishness, inviting self-destruction.

However, just then, Huang Yuanzi's gritted voice echoed from high in the sky: "Your divine abilities are astonishing. I, Huang, am naturally no match for you based on cultivation alone. But why must you get involved in this mess? On this journey, I've sworn a Heart Demon Oath: I will never leave the Underworld River Land until I kill this scoundrel Qing Yuanzi. If you are willing to withdraw now, I, Huang, am willing to give you the majority of my accumulated wealth from the first half of my life. Otherwise, you'll be forcing me to fight to the death with you."

"Fight to the death? With just these few illusions of yours?" The giant ape heard this, raised its head, and burst into laughter, blue light flashing in its eyes. A golden hand shot out like lightning in another direction, grabbing. As its five fingers flickered, faint threads of cold light shimmered continuously, as if about to tear open the void ahead. With a low growl, where the golden hand grasped, five-colored light swirled, the nearby void rippled, and a faint blood-red figure flashed and vanished. When the golden hand retracted, apart from a few strands of yellow cloth hanging from its fingertips, only drops of fresh blood slowly dripped from its sharp nails.

Although this attack failed to capture Huang Yuanzi, it prevented him from retreating completely unharmed. Han Li frowned slightly. He seemed a little surprised.

"You forced my hand! I'll let you witness the true power of the Nine Illusions Ruyi Gate." Huang Yuanzi's enraged voice instantly sounded from high in the sky. Following a series of low incantations, space around Han Li suddenly rippled, and nine clusters of glowing light flashed, condensing into nine identical white archways. Each archway was over ten zhang tall, with a translucent surface. The moment they appeared, a loud buzzing sound immediately erupted from within them as countless blood-red runes surged forth. After a slight tremor, they suddenly transformed into countless thumb-sized grayish-white orbs.

Each of these orbs was covered with blood threads on its surface, flickering erratically between dark and light, and simultaneously emanating a terrifying aura that made even Han Li's heart tighten. "Mother-Child Corpse Yin Thunder!" Han Li finally recognized the origin of these orbs, and a chill ran down his spine.

The giant ape form, however, formed a hand seal with one hand, and a cold light instantly permeated its body. Dense, green threads wildly sprayed out, each one shooting directly towards the orbs. Although these Mother-Child Corpse Yin Thunders contained destructive power, and their immense number meant even Han Li dared not take them head-on, their activation had a delay, which was enough time for him to use his sword threads to slice them apart first.

However, the next moment, the giant ape's pupils slightly contracted. When the green threads sliced through the orbs, they all flickered and passed right through them, as if they were mere illusions. "Illusions!" Han Li was stunned, and an expression of surprise finally appeared on his face. Before releasing the sword threads, he had naturally already scanned these orbs with his divine sense and spirit eyes, yet he had not discovered anything unusual about these Corpse Yin Thunders.

As these orbs flickered, they elegantly floated towards him. Han Li's mind raced. The giant ape form suddenly flashed with golden light, and a large hand stretched out again, grabbing a grayish-white orb tens of zhang away in its palm.

"No, it's a physical object, not an illusionary shadow." The moment its finger touched the orb, it felt a heat in its palm, and its expression immediately changed drastically. With a 'boom,' a gray halo of light instantly exploded between the giant ape's fingers and rapidly expanded. An immense power surged forth as the halo flickered, instantly engulfing the giant ape's entire body.