Chapter 424: The Power of the Gold-devouring Worm

Han Li was stunned the moment he saw the skull, which instantly reminded him of the Ghost Spirit Sect, one of the Six Devilish Dao Sects.

Disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect also used skull-shaped magic tools in combat. However, their artifacts were merely inanimate objects, unlike the lifelike black skull before him, which seemed to possess a life of its own.

While Han Li was still processing his surprise, the three black banners had already flown forward.

The cultivator surnamed Jian roared, pointing his hand from afar. The three black banners immediately unleashed countless fine black threads, which intertwined to form a giant fishing net that descended upon the skull.

The black threads were incredibly fine, shimmering, and emanated a faint dark aura. It was immediately clear they were no ordinary objects.

The moment the skull saw the black threads approaching, a red light flashed in its empty eye sockets. Then, its large mouth silently chewed wildly before snapping open, spewing forth countless emerald-green phosphorescent flames.

Thousands of black threads, upon contact with these phosphorescent flames, immediately ignited as if they had met their bane, rapidly turning into wisps of green smoke.

Seeing this, the cultivator surnamed Jian's expression changed dramatically. He hastily formed a hand seal, intending to maneuver the black banners to unleash another divine ability.

But the black skull suddenly expanded to the size of a wagon wheel. Then, with a spray and an inhale, a grey rainbow shot from its mouth, circling the three black banners once before drawing them into the skull's gaping maw.

Then, the skull's upper and lower jaws snapped together with several loud crunching sounds, utterly pulverizing the black banners. Simultaneously, the cultivator surnamed Jian's connection with the black banners was completely severed, leaving his face pale.

"Demon! How dare you destroy my treasure!" the cultivator surnamed Jian shrieked in extreme anger and alarm. At the same time, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes.

Others might not know, but he himself was well aware!

These three black banners were ancient artifacts from the primordial era! They had previously defeated countless powerful enemies, yet he never imagined that today, with just one encounter, they would be destroyed by that eerie skull.

At this moment, the thunderfire released by Hu Yue was also sucked into the mouth of another skull, having no effect whatsoever.

After exchanging a glance, Hu Yue and the cultivator surnamed Jian couldn't help but inwardly consider retreating.

At this moment, Han Li was also utterly astonished!

Only then did he realize that the eccentric dared to challenge a group of Core Formation cultivators by himself because he truly had powerful backing. He not only possessed numerous magic treasures, but each seemed to have considerable power.

It seemed that if he didn't lend a hand, the others might truly suffer a crushing defeat.

Han Li did not want to see this situation unfold.

After all, he had invested several months of effort into this grand formation and didn't want to see all that hard work go to waste for nothing.

Moreover, although Han Li wished to conceal some of his abilities from the other cultivators, he had also always wanted to test the power of his "Gold Devouring Beetles" to see if they truly lived up to their ranking on the List of Extraordinary Insects.

The eccentric before him now seemed to be no ordinary Core Formation cultivator; he was indeed the best candidate for such a test.

With this thought, Han Li glanced at the battle again.

He saw Hu Yue and the others frantically flying around in the air, incessantly bombarding the two relentlessly pursuing monstrous skulls with low-level magic. They clearly knew that ordinary magic treasures were useless against such demonic entities and could only temporarily retreat to avoid their edge.

As for Jin Qing's large white seal magic treasure, it no longer possessed its previous might.

While entangled with two flying swords, it was unexpectedly coiled by the white mist from the flower basket. Seeing it slowly being pulled towards the flower basket, sweat immediately streamed down Jin Qing's face.

As for Shi Die, who stood beside Qu Hun, she was only at the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation and could only watch from the sidelines, unable to offer any help.

Witnessing these scenes, Han Li cast a deep gaze at the eccentric. Without further hesitation, he flipped his hand, and a bulging spirit beast pouch appeared in his grasp.

The eccentric seemed to have an extremely strong spiritual sense, as he sensitively detected Han Li's gaze.

He immediately turned and glared fiercely at Han Li. With a flash of fierce light in his eyes, he reached into his robe, seemingly intending to retrieve another magic treasure to deal with Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li naturally decided to strike first.

He immediately tossed the spirit beast pouch in his hand gently into the air. Then, he raised his other hand, and a blue spell seal swiftly struck the leather pouch.

The spirit beast pouch instantly trembled at its opening, spewing out dozens of spherical objects towards the eccentric.

These spheres were about a foot in size, entirely golden and silver, and shimmered brilliantly. The moment they appeared, they transformed into dozens of streaks of light, shooting towards the eccentric.

The eccentric, however, displayed disdain upon seeing this, sneering coldly. He had already pulled a dark, wheel-like object from his robe and tossed it out without hesitation.

The object whistled, instantly expanding several times in mid-air, then spun as it moved to meet the spheres.

A series of "bangs" and "thuds" rang out. The moment the spheres touched the dark giant wheel, they transformed into scattered golden and silver starlight, seemingly shattered into pieces.

"Haha..." the eccentric roared with laughter. He then pointed at the dark wheel, intending to send it flying towards Han Li.

But just then, a series of buzzing sounds suddenly erupted. The sound grew louder and louder, instantly becoming piercingly sharp, causing everyone to look on in astonishment. The eccentric himself reined in his wild demeanor, revealing a look of alarm and suspicion.

He saw that the shattered fragments of the spheres had inexplicably come to life, transforming into thousands of thumb-sized golden and silver beetles. They densely covered the area around the dark wheel, and the high-pitched buzzing, caused by their flapping wings, was extremely unsettling to hear.

Han Li did not give the eccentric any time to recover. He immediately used his spiritual sense to give a slight command, and the Gold Devouring Beetles instantly swarmed towards the dark wheel as if fearless. In an instant, they covered the magic treasure, staining it golden and silver.

"You seek death!"

The eccentric, momentarily stunned, quickly regained his composure. He immediately formed a hand seal with both hands, causing the dark wheel to release black mist in waves and spin automatically, intending to destroy these strange insects.

But a scene that left the eccentric gaping in astonishment appeared: the moment the dark mist was released, the beetles swarmed forward and devoured it completely in a few mouthfuls, leaving not even a trace.

As for the high-speed rotation of the dark wheel, although it flung some Gold Devouring Beetles away, even more beetles immediately clung to it, seemingly unafraid of its sharp cutting edges.

Seeing this, the eccentric's face showed horror, while Han Li was overjoyed.

In the blink of an eye, the wheel visibly shrank from large to small, and then from small to nothing. It was completely devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles, leaving nothing behind, and then the buzzing sound grew loud once more.

The eccentric's face turned somewhat green!

Han Li, without politeness, pointed a finger. The Gold Devouring Beetles immediately transformed into a large, shimmering golden and silver cloud, swarming towards the eccentric.

The eccentric, having already witnessed the formidable power of these beetles, showed a hint of panic on his face. He hurriedly beckoned to the two black skulls that were relentlessly chasing Hu Yue and the other two, leaving them drenched in sweat. Instantly, the two evil artifacts paused their momentum, then after several flashes, flew back towards the eccentric, halting menacingly in front of him.

Hu Yue and the cultivator surnamed Jian, who had finally gotten a breather, exhaled deeply and stopped far away, looking over with a hint of surprise.

The eccentric still seemed uneasy. A cold glint flashed in his hand, and a small, several-inch-long dagger appeared.

After a slight hesitation, his face twisted into a sneer, and with a swift movement of his hand, he actually cut off two more of his fingers.

The two skulls immediately flew over upon seeing this, each devouring a finger. Afterward, they emitted strange wailing sounds, seemingly overjoyed.

The eccentric's eyes widened, then he opened his mouth, and two streaks of dark light shot into the foreheads of the skulls.

Instantly, the two black skulls, amidst sounds of painful groans, began to undergo a grotesque transformation.

With two "plop" sounds, two grotesque goat-like horns sprouted from their crowns. Next, their fangs elongated by several inches, appearing incredibly sharp. As for their tangled hair, it turned blood-red after a few breaths, fully transforming them into the appearance of demonic heads.

"Go!" Seeing the skulls complete their transformation, the eccentric felt a slight relief and, enduring immense pain, pointed his mutilated finger at the approaching swarm of beetles.

A strange green light flashed in their eyes, and the demonic heads obediently transformed into two streaks of black light. Emitting long, ghostly wails, they flew towards the swarm of beetles.

The Gold Devouring Beetles, upon seeing the demonic heads flying towards them, immediately divided into two groups under Han Li's command and fiercely charged in two separate paths.

The skulls, now transformed into demonic heads, opened their large mouths, and emerald-green phosphorescent flames, several times thicker than before, surged out. They precisely sprayed onto the large swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles charging head-on, causing great disarray among them and flinging them several zhang backward.

The beetle swarm became chaotic.

The eccentric revealed a hint of joy, but this joy lasted only for a brief moment before vanishing without a trace.

Because those Gold Devouring Beetles hit by the phosphorescent flames, after tumbling over a dozen times, nonchalantly spread their wings and flew again, showing no signs of damage whatsoever.

The eccentric's face was now entirely filled with disbelief!

One must know that the phosphorescent flames spat out by these demonic heads were the Azure Abyss Ghostflames, superior to ordinary elixirs by three points. How could they fail to burn even small insects?

However, although the demonic heads had no way to deal with the Gold Devouring Beetles, the Gold Devouring Beetles also couldn't immediately break through the demonic heads' phosphorescent flame spray. For a moment, a stalemate ensued.

The eccentric's brow furrowed tightly as he couldn't help but ponder other countermeasures.

But just then, a buzzing sound several times louder than before suddenly erupted again in the distance.

The eccentric couldn't help but lift his head in surprise and look. His face instantly turned deathly pale, devoid of all color.