Chapter 856: Rebattle with the Demon Soul

What was happening? Han Li's heart sank when he realized he couldn't see any trace of the demon soul, even with his Spirit Eye.

But he took a deep breath, forcing down the unease in his heart. Then, a frantic blue light flickered around his body as all his spiritual power was mobilized and poured into his eyes.

Instantly, a dazzling, crystalline blue light appeared in his pupils, elevating his Bright Insight Spirit Eye to its peak.

This time, after Han Li scanned the area, he finally discovered something. His expression changed, and the dozen or so giant tortoises behind him simultaneously flickered with spiritual light. Thousands of ice cones of the same size suddenly shot out, completely enveloping a small, specific area to one side.

Black mist suddenly appeared under the ice cones' cover, and the two-headed, four-armed demon soul materialized, its face showing surprise. Three treasures — a magical banner, a ring, and a small sword — appeared in three of its arms. As the demon soul saw the sky-filling ice cones shooting down, its three treasure-holding arms gently waved simultaneously.

Black rays of light surged out from the small mirror. After the small sword was waved a few times, sharp black sword energy swept forth. As for the ring it had just acquired, it was unknown how it knew its purpose, but with a gentle shake, countless ring-shaped shadows of various sizes shot out densely, creating an astonishing momentum.

The sky-filling ice cones had not yet landed but were shattered mid-air by the power of these magic treasures. White cold air instantly spread over an area of more than ten zhang nearby, and the temperature plummeted.

But the demon soul, enveloped within, was completely unfazed. Instead, it gave a sinister smile, then flickered, and its figure disappeared again amidst the demonic light. Han Li's face looked rather grim as he slightly stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked his upper lip.

This ancient demon soul was arguably the most troublesome opponent Han Li had faced since entering the cultivation world. He could even perish here if he wasn't careful.

Although he had now elevated his Bright Insight Spirit Eye to its peak, the demon soul, invisible within the demonic light, had become extremely blurry. Even as it rapidly flickered and darted away, he couldn't pinpoint its exact location; he could only see a faint shadow flickering back and forth. Only when the demon soul's movement slowed slightly or stopped could he barely keep track of it.

This immediately put Han Li at a disadvantage. Moreover, fully utilizing the Bright Insight Spirit Eye placed an immense strain on his eyes, preventing him from sustaining this divine ability indefinitely. If the spirit eye ability weakened even slightly, he wouldn't even be able to see the opponent's shadow.

Han Li naturally felt frustrated. The only countermeasure was to quickly break the opponent's stealth or force them to abandon this method, making them believe that remaining hidden in the demonic light was useless against him.

Otherwise, continuing to fight such an elusive opponent would make Han Li extremely uneasy.

With these thoughts, Han Li's actions didn't stop. He slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist, and a large swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed as they poured out from the pouch's opening.

Han Li didn't command the insect swarm to attack anything. Instead, after a low hum from his mouth, the insect swarm explosively transformed into golden flowers, scattering in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, within a radius of over twenty zhang centered on Han Li, golden light flickered everywhere, indicating the presence of the Gold Devouring Beetles.

This way, even if Han Li couldn't use his Spirit Eye to track the demon soul, the moment the demonic creature entered the insect swarm's range, it would be instantly detected, eliminating the fear of a sudden sneak attack.

Just as the insect swarm was deployed, a cold snort echoed from not far away.

Following the sound, the demon soul's figure reappeared with a flash of black light. Its front head stared at the glittering golden insect swarm surrounding Han Li, its expression somewhat grim.

But immediately, the demon's eyebrows furrowed. With a shake of its head, it suddenly swapped, and the ferocious, malevolent ghost head now faced Han Li, letting out a chilling, sinister smile.

Han Li's heart tensed, and his vigilance instantly heightened. He saw the ghost head opposite open its mouth wide, and large swathes of black ripples silently shot out.

Wherever these ripples passed, the nearby Gold Devouring Beetles were uncontrollably swept into them. Then, one by one, they staggered and tumbled down from the air.

Immediately, a large section of the insect swarm Han Li had deployed around himself, facing the demon soul, disappeared, becoming empty.

The ghost head grinned widely, revealing a brutal smile towards Han Li. Then, with a flicker of its form, it was about to charge forward.

Han Li's face sank. He suddenly raised a hand and flicked his middle finger, and a small, walnut-sized golden orb silently shot out.

Its speed was incredibly fast, instantly reaching the ghost face's forehead. This was a method of manipulating lightning that Han Li had comprehended in an illusion while consuming the Creation Pill: compressing the Spirit-Dispelling Divine Thunder into a sphere and launching it unexpectedly. Its speed was far greater than that of ordinary arcs, and its power was also slightly increased.

Caught off guard, the demon soul was indeed startled. This lightning sphere was simply too fast; it was too late for it to dodge or use other divine abilities. Left with no choice, it abruptly opened its mouth, and a snake-like purple shadow flashed out, directly colliding with the golden lightning sphere.

With a dull boom, golden light flickered, and the lightning sphere burst open. The purple shadow was bounced back with a whoosh. A charred smell quickly permeated the nearby space, and the ghost head let out a painful grunt, its gaze towards Han Li instantly turning malicious.

The purple shadow that had just shot out was surprisingly its incredibly long and strange tongue. Although it was unknown why this tongue was not restrained by the Spirit-Dispelling Divine Thunder, the sheer power of the lightning alone had caused considerable damage to the tip of its tongue, making it suffer a significant setback.

Han Li showed no surprise when his sudden sneak attack proved ineffective. But immediately, after a cold chuckle, a clear cry emanated from his mouth.

Amidst the prolonged cry, those golden flying insects that had fallen suddenly flapped their wings, surprisingly came back to life, soaring back into the air and directly returning to their original positions.

Seeing this, a trace of surprise flashed across the demon soul's ferocious face, and its gaze towards the Gold Devouring Beetles became a little more solemn. At this moment, the silver-haired elder and others on the other side, seeing Han Li engage the demonic creature, also unleashed their attacking treasures. A white flying sword, a blue jade ruler, and a set of three white shuttle-shaped magic treasures all transformed into light clusters of various colors, aggressively shooting towards the demon soul.

The demon soul merely cast a cold glance at these items, and the demonic treasures in its three arms were simultaneously thrown. Instantly, they transformed into vast swathes of strange black light, sweeping forth and obstructing these treasures from afar. It was the rear head that was controlling these demonic treasures.

Afterwards, this head, employing some unknown spell, caused the demonic treasure light to surge several times over, instantly forming a massive light barrier that enveloped and trapped all the treasures of the silver-haired elder and the others. It then continuously injected magic power into the light barrier, without deploying any other methods.

It seemed the demon soul was also intent on dealing with Han Li, its most troublesome opponent, first, and then slowly dealing with the others.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned. And just then, the demon soul's rear head suddenly spoke:

“These flying insects surprisingly aren't afraid of my Quaking Wave Demonic Art! As far as I know, only a few spirit insects in this realm possess such an ability. But judging by these golden beetles, they are likely the well-known Gold Devouring Beetles. These Gold Devouring Beetles were still dazed by the shockwaves, indicating they aren't the mature forms mentioned in legends. Otherwise, with so many Gold Devouring Beetles, I would have to temporarily retreat a few feet if I didn't have a suitable demonic artifact on hand. It's a pity I'm not using my true body now, otherwise, I'd truly let you witness the might of the Saint Realm Demonic Butterflies. Such immature human realm spirit insects are the best nourishment for Demonic Butterflies.”

The demon soul finished speaking, its voice chilling. The rear head then glanced at the Demonic Head Ancient Demon, who was steadily pushing Wei Wuya back, and a strange expression appeared on its face.

Han Li's lips curled slightly, his face utterly impassive as if he hadn't heard. But then he suddenly shook his sleeve, and dozens of golden swords instantly shot out from within, circling and dancing around him.

A series of spell incantations were cast, one after another, and these flying swords instantly flickered with golden light, transforming into streaks of golden rays, about to form the Grand Geng Sword Formation.

At this moment, the eyes of the demon soul's ghost head flashed with a fierce light.

“Since you're intent on seeking death, I don't have time to bother with you. Devouring one more Nascent Soul will give me a bit more certainty when I fight that fellow later. This body will also soon be useless. I'll let you experience the true power of our Saint Realm's demonic arts. Just obediently die.”

It was unclear if the demon soul sensed the threat of Han Li's flying swords or if it was truly impatient to continue the entanglement. It simply didn't give Han Li a chance to set up his sword formation. Immediately, after a burst of wild laughter, its figure blurred, and it appeared bare-handed directly within the insect swarm.

Han Li's heart sank. Disregarding the sword formation, he abruptly urged the insect swarm with his divine sense.

Although the Gold Devouring Beetles felt some fear towards the transformed demon soul, under Han Li's forceful urging, they immediately unleashed their ferocity, swarming towards the demon soul.

The fox demon puppets that had originally surrounded Han Li also flashed with white light and, with clever coordination, lunged simultaneously at the demon soul. The Fiend-Sealing Demonic Corpse, meanwhile, strode forward, shielding Han Li.

As for the giant tortoise puppets behind, they did not use the ice cones on their backs. Instead, they simultaneously raised their necks and opened their mouths, and more than a dozen blue light beams, as thick as small trees, directly shot out.

Instantly, the demon soul was engulfed in numerous attacks.

Han Li didn't expect these things to truly stop the demon soul, but as long as they bought him time to set up the sword formation, that would be enough.

As he thought, even if such numerous attacks couldn't defeat the opponent, they should at least be able to slow down its actions, giving him enough time to complete the sword formation.

However, Han Li still underestimated the true power of the transformed two-headed, four-armed demon soul.

The demon soul's ghost head let out several clanging sounds like metal plates. Its arms blurred after a wave, and the ten fingers of its four hands rapidly twisted and deformed, forming one strange hand seal after another.

Suddenly, a dazzling black light surged from the demon soul's body. The light was so blindingly bright that it was impossible to look directly at it.

Then, wave after wave of black energy erupted from the demon soul's body. These layers of violent energy waves pushed the Gold Devouring Beetles and fox demon puppets to stagger and reel.

The dozen or so blue light beams vanished after a flash.

At this moment, both of the demon soul's heads simultaneously opened their mouths wide, and a long howl, several times more piercing than a mournful bird's cry, filled the air with abundant spiritual energy. The sound directly shook the nearby sky, causing it to rumble with continuous echoes.

Subsequently, the energy waves instantly dissipated, and the black light dimmed.

A layer of bizarre, glossy black hard shell, covered in long barbs, appeared on the demon soul's body like Asura battle armor, radiating an aura that soared beyond the heavens.

At this moment, the demon soul's ghost head slightly lowered, and its face bore a trace of brutality as it looked at Han Li.

Han Li watched, dumbfounded and utterly horrified!