Chapter 860: Confused Demon

The Demonic Soul was startled, having not realized this giant sword was a Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasure. However, with his eerie escape speed, a flash of black light instantly teleported him over ten zhang away, causing the giant sword to naturally miss its target.

As the demon stopped, his face darkened instantly. He rubbed his four palms together, and two black spheres of light materialized once more. The black spheres pulsed with light, transforming into two humming black light spears. The demon bit the tip of its tongue with its fangs. With two "poof" sounds, two mouthfuls of vital blood spurted from its mouth, striking the black spears. Instantly, the two light spears trembled slightly and turned a blood-red color. After expelling the vital blood, both of the Demonic Soul's heads showed a hint of exhaustion. This technique seemed to have significantly depleted its vital energy.

The green giant sword reappeared above the Demonic Soul's head, poised to strike again. This time, without a word, the Demonic Soul swung its four arms. The two blood spears in its hands were hurled simultaneously at the giant sword. A flash of blood-red light vanished as two thunderous "boom" sounds erupted. Golden arcs flashed wildly, yet astonishingly, the two light spears did not disperse under the force of the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder. Instead, they struck the giant sword's blade squarely.

As a result, the giant sword let out a long, pained whine. It was knocked several zhang away, tumbling several times. Simultaneously, the spiritual light on its blade flickered erratically, becoming incredibly dim. In the distance, Han Li, who was controlling the giant sword, had a blood-red face. However, after a rapid flicker of green qi, his expression returned to normal. Since the giant sword's spiritual essence had been severely damaged, and his mind was connected to it, Han Li naturally experienced some repercussions. Fortunately, his spiritual sense was incredibly powerful, and this minor injury could not affect him.

However, Han Li dared not hesitate any longer. He pointed a finger into the distance. With a hum, the giant sword suddenly disintegrated into dozens of green streaks of light, which then shot back towards Han Li.

"Trying to escape? Leave those flying swords behind!" the Demonic Soul roared furiously upon seeing the flying swords retreat. He then waved at the two blood-red light spears. With a flash of light, the spears instantly transformed into two massive blood-colored hands that whistled through the air in swift pursuit. Having witnessed Han Li rashly release so many Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasures, the Demonic Soul naturally wouldn't let him retrieve them so easily. The Demonic Soul itself spun rapidly, emitting a large quantity of demonic qi that formed into a dark cloud, which then hurtled away in swift pursuit.

Han Li saw this and felt a secret delight, but his face remained expressionless, appearing exceptionally calm. The silver-haired elder beside him, however, grew restless. He immediately flipped his hand, and a small yellow sword appeared, ready to assist Han Li.

"Senior Brother Cheng, there's no need to intervene yet," Han Li's telepathic voice sounded in the elder's ear before he could even unleash his flying sword. "It won't be too late for you to act once this demon is trapped!" The silver-haired elder paused, startled by the message. After looking around and seemingly understanding something, he immediately halted his actions, feeling much relieved.

Meanwhile, the distant blood-colored hands were clearly much faster than the swarm of flying swords. The green sword lights had only flown a short distance before the two large hands caught up to them, one after another. Seeing the two blood-red hands suddenly swell several times in size, reaching out to seize the swarm of flying swords, Han Li calmly and unhurriedly activated a magic incantation. The seemingly scattered flying swords let out a clear hum, their spiritual energy suddenly linking together. They then transformed into a single streak of green light, streaking through the air. Their escape speed instantly doubled. The two blood-red hands naturally grasped at empty air as the green flying swords swiftly shot towards Han Li's head, hovering uncertainly above him.

The Demonic Soul, enveloped in the dark cloud behind, was enraged. The opponent's recent actions felt deliberately mocking. With a face as grim as still water, the demon waved at the blood-colored hands. Two streaks of blood-red light shot back, and after a brief hover, two blood-colored long blades settled into its grasp. A piercing shriek erupted from the Demonic Soul's mouth, and a torrent of demonic qi, over ten zhang wide, surged towards Han Li without warning. The demon's body flickered, instantly vanishing within the demonic qi, concealing itself.

Seeing the demonic qi pressing down, Han Li frowned. But as he raised both hands, golden electric arcs instantly shot from his arms, forming an electrical net that intercepted a large portion of the demonic qi. Blue light flickered rapidly in his eyes as his gaze subtly swept left and right. But then, a hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face! All around him, there was no trace of the Demonic Soul. He suddenly looked up at the sky, but again, there was no sign of it!

Han Li stood stunned for a moment, rubbing his chin. But then his expression changed abruptly as he realized something. He instantly grabbed the silver-haired elder's arm and, without a word, transformed into a green rainbow, shooting backward. Just then, two flashes of blood-red light shot skyward from where Han Li had just stood. Immediately afterward, the Demonic Soul's figure appeared several zhang below, both of its heads displaying a look of surprise. He had been absolutely certain this sneak attack would succeed.

Han Li inwardly cursed the Demonic Soul's insidious nature for thinking of attacking them from below. If his reaction hadn't been quick enough, even with his Spirit Eye divine ability, he would have been sliced in half. He didn't believe that his three-colored insect armor beneath his green robe and a thin layer of protective spiritual light could truly withstand the opponent's blade energy. The silver-haired elder beside him was drenched in sweat, his face etched with lingering fear.

The Demonic Soul stood still, observing Han Li's visibly changed expression. Its eyes swiveled a few times before a sinister smile crept onto its face, and its body flickered, transforming into a streak of black light that shot toward Han Li. Han Li chuckled softly. As soon as the black streak shot several zhang away, a golden light erupted in front of Han Li, and an unassuming golden thread appeared, fleetingly darting toward the black streak. A soft "clank" sounded. The golden thread briefly paused before the black streak, blocked by two blood-red long blades. But then, with a muffled thud, the black streak was suddenly repelled several zhang away, revealing the Demonic Soul's somewhat staggering form. Both of its heads showed expressions of utter shock.

The golden thread, however, vanished after a flash. The Grand Geng Sword Formation had finally been activated by Han Li, drawing the demon into its complex array. At that moment, Han Li formed a hand seal, his spiritual sense simultaneously connecting with all the sword lights. He then forcefully activated the entire Grand Geng Sword Formation. A bizarre sight unfolded. Countless golden threads, shimmering with an eerie golden light, appeared and vanished silently and erratically all around. They began to slowly converge toward the center.

The Demonic Soul's face hardened. Only then did it realize it had fallen into Han Li's trap, deeply ensnared within an unknown restrictive formation. In its shock and fury, it brandished both blades. Several streaks of blood-red blade energy shot out in a crisscross pattern, aiming directly at Han Li's location. Dozens of golden threads appeared simultaneously and flashed several times. The blood-red blade energy was instantly sliced into countless fragments, dissolving into scattered spiritual light and vanishing without a trace.

The Demonic Soul froze, its front head revealing a solemn expression. Then, with a cold snort, it brought its two blood-red long blades together. After a flash of piercing light, they transformed into a single massive blood-red greatblade. It held the greatblade with all four arms. Aiming in one direction, it swung the blade in an extraordinarily slow yet powerful chop. Dazzling blood-red light emanated from the greatblade as a gigantic, several-zhang-long crescent slash shot forth. The sheer power was astonishing!

The massive blade energy severed several golden threads, extending over ten zhang. However, the golden threads in front of it were incredibly dense. After penetrating only a few more feet, the blade energy finally weakened considerably and disintegrated. The Demonic Soul was finally greatly alarmed. Meanwhile, the golden threads from all directions continued their relentless, slow convergence toward the center. Having deployed the Grand Geng Sword Formation once before, Han Li controlled it with significantly greater proficiency this time. The silver-haired elder beside him was a mix of surprise and delight. He hadn't realized Han Li possessed such unfathomable divine abilities.

In the center of the formation, the Demonic Soul attempted several escape techniques in succession. It would transform into faint black qi or thin black threads, trying to escape the formation. However, without exception, it was forcibly blocked by the golden threads every time. It even transformed its greatblade into four narrow, peculiar blades, wielding them with all four arms to create a protective blood-red light sphere around its entire body. It then attempted to force its way out once more. The situation only worsened. Not only were the golden threads exceptionally sharp, but each one also contained immense power. Had it not been for the blood-colored light blades temporarily fending off the golden threads' cutting, the Demonic Soul would have been torn to pieces by now.

As the sword formation contracted and the golden threads drew closer and closer to the Demonic Soul, leaving only a few zhang of active space in the center, the Demonic Soul finally couldn't hold back. Both of its heads tilted back and let out a long howl—one coarse and sharp, the other strong and gentle. Han Li's brow unconsciously furrowed. Just as he wondered what the demon intended, another ancient demon, enveloped in demonic flames a hundred zhang away, let out a similar long howl. Following this, a gigantic figure shot out from the flames, hurtling directly towards them. Enveloped in pitch-black demonic flames, a colossal demonic creature, also with two heads and four arms but standing six or seven zhang tall, flickered in and out of sight within the firelight. Its escape speed was astonishingly rapid, covering vast distances in an instant. In the blink of an eye, it was less than a hundred zhang from Han Li's position.

Han Li's expression changed dramatically. "Junior Brother! Our reinforcements have arrived!" the silver-haired elder exclaimed, surprisingly delighted. Han Li paused, then quickly swept his gaze across the distant horizon. On both sides of the horizon, lights flashed simultaneously, revealing that two groups of cultivators were arriving at the same time. This immediately extinguished any thoughts of escape that had just arisen in Han Li's mind.

He glanced at the Demonic Soul trapped within the sword formation, then quickly eyed the other approaching demon. With a plan now firm in his mind, he suddenly pointed at the purple firebird that had been circling above him for a long time. The bird immediately spread its wings and flew to meet the approaching ancient demon. With a flip of his other hand, his Blood Demon Sword, which he had previously put away, reappeared. In his other palm, a blood-red light flickered, revealing a blood-colored talisman. A crimson blood-dragon coiled ceaselessly across its surface—it was precisely the Spirit-Summoning Talisman, which he had painstakingly refined.

Although this talisman had been used briefly during the border battle, its duration was short, consuming less than a third of its power. Now, taking it out again, Han Li unhesitatingly slapped the blood talisman onto his body. A flash of blood-red light, and the talisman vanished instantly. A massive dragon shadow, over ten zhang in size and entirely blood-red, suddenly appeared over Han Li's body. It was the true form of the Level 8 Poisonous Flood Dragon. As the dragon shadow materialized, it let out an earth-shattering roar that echoed skyward, causing the entire world to tremble and change color. The ancient demon rushing toward them and the Demonic Soul trapped in the sword formation were both greatly astonished by the sound. The silver-haired elder, meanwhile, was utterly dumbfounded.