Chapter 859: Magic Might Runs Rampant

**A Mortal's Journey to Immortality**

The dark blade light effortlessly sliced through several layers of protective shields as if cutting vegetables. Immediately, the shields disintegrated into specks of spiritual light amidst explosive sounds.

After unleashing its blade, the Demon Soul saw the three figures fleeing in separate directions. Its gaze swept over their escaping lights, and a look of mockery appeared on its face.

At this moment, thousands of ice cones covered the area above its head, engulfing it.

The Demon Soul flicked its hands slightly, and the black giant blade in its grasp shimmered, transforming back into a dazzling ball of light. Then, as its hands separated, the black light elongated and thinned, instantly forming two black light-spears, each about two zhang long.

With a swift sweep of its arms, one spear shot towards the old man, while the other was flung back, flying towards the silver-haired old man. The Demon Soul itself stomped its foot, and its figure suddenly transformed into a black streak of light, shooting directly towards True Lord Tianjing.

A loud shriek resounded as the two black spears flashed and then eerily vanished mid-flight. Meanwhile, the Demon Soul's figure flickered a few times, appearing like a phantom more than twenty zhang away, instantly escaping the ice cone attack range.

The Nascent Soul cultivator, who was fleeing at full speed, heard a sharp cry from behind him. Startled, and without time to think, he abruptly conjured an item he had already clutched in his hand.

Instantly, an octagonal silver plate shot out, transforming into a layer of silvery-white light curtain that enveloped him.

Only then did the old man feel a slight relief, and he hastily turned his head to look behind him.

However, the space before him was utterly empty; there was nothing to be seen.

The old man was stunned. Before he could understand what was happening, the sharp cry resounded right beside him. A black light flashed, and the black spear eerily reappeared about a zhang away, striking the silver curtain with lightning speed.

Under the old man's horrified gaze, black and silver lights intertwined. As the black spear rapidly twisted and vibrated, with a 'thump,' the light curtain was pierced through as if it were paper.

Immediately, the spear pierced the old man's abdomen and exploded.

The old man didn't even have time to scream. His body disintegrated into scattered flesh and blood. A Nascent Soul, surrounded by a silvery light sphere, appeared in his place, its face filled with bewilderment.

It seemed to still disbelieve that its physical body had been destroyed in such a manner.

But in that brief moment of hesitation, the strands of black light that had just exploded instantly reformed into a large net, enveloping the Nascent Soul.

Only then did the Nascent Soul awaken to its terror. It hastily formed a hand seal, and the silver light around its body flickered wildly a few times before it suddenly vanished from its spot, having used the teleportation technique.

The silver light flickered, and the Nascent Soul reappeared within the net, having plunged right into it.

The black silken net mercilessly constricted and tightened, instantly wrapping the Nascent Soul into a tight sphere of light, which then hovered motionless in the air.

Meanwhile, the other black spear, aimed at the silver-haired old man, similarly appeared as if teleported, materializing behind Old Man Cheng.

The silver-haired old man, whose vital energy had not yet recovered before entering the valley, was even less able to react to such a bizarre attack. He could only cry out 'Not good!' inwardly and prepare for his Nascent Soul to exit his body and escape, hoping to save his life.

But at that very moment, intense spatial fluctuations appeared where the old man was reaching out. Following this, a blood-red sword light, about a zhang long, emerged before the black spear.

This sword light was scarlet like blood, imbued with rampant evil energy. It mercilessly slashed at the black spear.

After the black light and blood light intertwined, a burst sounded, and both vanished without a trace, perishing together.

Greatly relieved, the silver-haired old man hurriedly looked towards Han Li. He saw Han Li, his face pale, slowly lowering the blood-red sword in his hand, and offering the old man a strained smile.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng naturally looked at his junior martial brother Han Li with deep gratitude. Then, his entire body's magical power surged, and he instantly flew to Han Li's side.

The other, True Lord Tianjing, was not so fortunate.

Not far away, he witnessed the scene of the old man's body being destroyed and his Nascent Soul trapped. His face instantly turned ghastly pale, and his escaping light unexpectedly increased its speed by a third.

And just then, a figure flickered before him, and an eerie, two-headed, four-armed silhouette emerged.

True Lord Tianjing's heart trembled. He immediately stopped his escaping light, and at the same time, without thinking, opened his mouth. A crystal-like small sword shot out. Then, with a flick of a spell, this sword instantly transformed into dozens of dense, scorching white sword lights that slashed wildly forward.

The Demon Soul said nothing; its figure twisted eerily and it vanished into thin air from its spot. The sword lights, naturally, all struck empty space.

True Lord Tianjing's heart sank. His body shimmered with spiritual light, and he was about to fly upward. However, just as his figure moved, he felt his protective light shield tremble violently, and a series of muffled thuds echoed. His magical power suddenly lost control and scattered by more than half, causing his body to pause.

'Not good!' True Lord Tianjing cried out in alarm, his face drained of color. The sound of his shield shattering immediately followed.

A dark black demonic claw, accompanied by ripping sounds through the air, pierced straight through his abdomen. It seized the Nascent Soul in his dantian, which was just about to exit his body and flee.

With a tug of the arm, True Lord Tianjing's body went limp, instantly losing all power of movement. Immediately after, black flames flared up, engulfing his mutilated body instantly, turning it into a pile of ashes.

Just as True Lord Tianjing's Nascent Soul was terrified out of its wits, the demonic hand that had tightly grasped it suddenly loosened its grip, and to its surprise, it suddenly gained its freedom.

At this, the Nascent Soul was filled with both surprise and joy. Without pausing to ponder the reason, a white light flashed, and the Nascent Soul instantly teleported more than ten zhang away.

However, before it could teleport again, the Demon Soul in the distance let out a cold laugh. It opened its mouth slightly, and a purple shadow flashed out. The distant Nascent Soul was pierced through by a long purple tongue, which then effortlessly coiled back, sweeping True Lord Tianjing's Nascent Soul into the gaping, blood-red maw of the Demon Soul's ghastly head.

After a few light chews, black light flickered on the Demon Soul's fiendish face, revealing a look of satisfaction.

Then, it beckoned to the sphere of light not far away that enveloped another Nascent Soul. The sphere flew over, and the demon similarly opened its large mouth and swallowed it. After consecutively swallowing two Nascent Souls, the Demon Soul felt its demonic power greatly surge. Only then did it unhurriedly turn around to look at the silver-haired old man, the only one who had escaped, and Han Li, who stood beside him.

Its tongue quickly licked its upper palate and then retracted. Its hideous face revealed a look of wanting more.

The silver-haired old man in the distance witnessed True Lord Tianjing and his other friend's Nascent Soul being devoured by the Demon Soul. While his face wasn't utterly terrified, it was exceptionally grim.

He deeply knew that if his escaping direction hadn't been towards Han Li, and if Han Li hadn't lent his aid, his fate would certainly have been no better.

The Nascent Soul cultivators, whom all the cultivators outside the valley respectfully admired and envied, couldn't even last a single round against this demonic creature. This was truly an unbelievable matter.

Yet, Han Li was able to contend with this demon for so long, only slightly at a disadvantage, which showed his vast supernatural powers. It was indeed an extremely correct decision to have vigorously courted Junior Martial Brother Han back then.

Thinking this with a pang of emotion, the old man couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Han Li beside him.

Han Li's expression was exceptionally somber, but his eyes remained calm and unwavering.

Having already set up the Grand Geng Sword Formation, he felt confident that he now had the power to fight. Therefore, his confidence greatly increased, and he casually glanced at another battle group several hundred zhang away.

Over there, another ancient demon evidently preferred a steady approach. It simply released black demonic flames, hundreds of zhang wide, completely encircling Wei Wuya's green cloud, continuously refining and weakening it.

The emerald poisonous cloud, originally several mu in size, was now only about a mu, looking precarious.

Grand Ancestor Linghu and the white-robed woman, however, were temporarily safe under the protection of the green cloud. However, they were also desperately urging on several treasures to resist the might of the demonic flames.

Han Li secretly sighed, knowing that Wei Wuya and the others wouldn't last much longer either. However, he couldn't afford to worry about them too much; he could only first focus on dealing with the Demon Soul before him, to see if he could rely on the grand formation to first eliminate this fiend.

At this moment, the Demon Soul in the distance began to fly unhurriedly towards Han Li.

Han Li narrowed his eyes. Without a word, he raised his hand, and a jade talisman shot out from it. Immediately, a dark light flashed, and a pitch-black ghostly hand flew directly towards the Demon Soul to seize it.

At the same time, he flicked his large sleeve, and dozens of green flying swords shot skyward from his sleeve. After a humming sound, a brilliant green light burst forth, and the sword lights astonishingly condensed into a colossal green sword, its momentum formidable.

Han Li formed a hand seal with both hands and gently pointed at the Demon Soul. The giant sword vanished from the air after a flicker, only to suddenly appear above the Demon Soul's head the next moment, striking first despite moving later, and mercilessly slashing down.

The Demon Soul let out a strange laugh. With a rub of its hands, another black giant blade appeared in its grasp, and it met the descending green giant sword with a powerful chop.

This demon had already discerned that this green flying sword was one of Han Li's nascent-life magic treasures. Naturally, it harbored the malicious thought of cleaving the giant sword in two with a single strike, thus crippling its opponent's spiritual core.

As for the ghostly claw flying towards it, the demon disdainfully raised an arm. A surge of black demonic qi gushed from its hand, instantly transforming into a black tentacle that wrapped around the ghostly claw, firmly trapping it.

The ghostly claw desperately tore at the surrounding demonic qi, but it was utterly futile. The demonic qi was like maggots clinging to bone, reforming instantly even after being severed, making it impossible to escape in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the black giant blade and the green giant sword clashed, erupting in an astonishing roar.

Black and green lights intertwined indistinguishably, and the entire giant blade emitted a low hum. The space between them began to twist and deform, revealing ripple-like shockwaves. However, although the green giant sword was forcibly pushed back step by step, it surprisingly remained perfectly intact, shimmering with spiritual light, showing no signs of breaking.

Both of the Demon Soul's heads looked up in surprise, and expressions of astonishment appeared on both faces.

It naturally didn't know that although Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had not been refined for a long time and did not contain Geng essence, their power was quite limited. However, in earlier years, Han Li had re-refined them once using that refining crystal. Their hardness far surpassed that of ordinary magic treasures, and in this realm, practically nothing could instantly cleave them.

Although the demonic blade formed by the Demon Soul's highly vibrating demonic qi was incomparably sharp, comparable to the most formidable flying swords and daggers of human cultivators, it naturally lacked the power to sever the giant sword formed by dozens of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in a short amount of time. Just as the Demon Soul paused in surprise, the green giant sword suddenly thundered, and countless golden electrical arcs abruptly shot out from its blade, flickering with golden light.

The black giant blade, which had previously held the upper hand, instantly disintegrated with a 'sputter' upon contact with these golden arcs.

The green giant sword, meeting no resistance, then carried along with the blazing golden arcs and fiercely slashed down towards the Demon Soul's head.