Chapter 1401: Setting up an Ambush
Within the five-colored light, the woman with the Xiao surname was discussing something with Han Li. Upon hearing this peculiar howl, her expression immediately tensed up as she made a hand seal. The five-colored light around them immediately intensified in brightness before disappearing on the spot along with her and Han Li.
The speed at which they had been flying had been multiplied by twofold to threefold! Han Li stood silently on the spot, sensing something with his eyes narrowed, allowing the woman to guide them forward.
Even though they were flying much faster than before, the howls erupting from behind them had become a lot clearer after traveling for several hundred kilometers.
Han Li said in an indifferent voice, "Those two things are less than 150 kilometers away from us, and their speed outstrips ours, so we'll have to face them sooner or later. It's best to fight them as far away from those two Yaksha Monarchs as possible, so let me give you a hand."
One of the wings on Han Li's back suddenly flashed as he spoke, and the projection of a massive azure bird abruptly flew forth from it before disappearing into the five-colored light around them.
The entire ball of light shuddered violently before they sped up by around twofold once again, transforming into a faint blur that flashed through the air.
"Thank you, Brother Han!" The woman was elated by development.
Han Li shook his head in response, and said, "This type of technique is very energy-consuming, so I won't be able to maintain them for too long. Also, we can't get too far away; otherwise, those two Yaksha Monarchs are most likely going to step in."
"Of course. You should conserve more of your energy for our upcoming battle," the woman replied with a nod.
Han Li gave a wry smile upon hearing this and didn't say anything further. In all honesty, regardless of how powerful those demented minions were, if he were to risk sustaining damage to his spiritual sense by releasing several hundred Gold Devouring Beetles at once, it'd be no issue for him to force one into retreat or even destroy it. However, there were two of them, and there were also two Yaksha Monarchs that were constantly monitoring the situation, so he didn't dare to adopt such a reckless course of action.
With Han Li's assistance, the two demented minions behind them were unable to close the gap any further despite their fearsome speed.
Thus, they traveled for over several thousand kilometers further in the blink of an eye.
Han Li withdrew the azure bird projection when he estimated that the time was right, and he stopped in mid-air along with his female companion.
The two of them hovered in the air, looking on into the distance with unblinking eyes.
All of a sudden, fierce flames erupted in the distance. Two crimson clouds that were several tens of feet in size came hurtling toward the two of them like lightning amid thunderous roars.
Han Li immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them in unison. Following two loud thunderclaps, two bolts of golden lightning that were as thick as large bowls shot forth directly toward the oncoming crimson clouds.
However, the two clouds were seemingly completely insubstantial and extremely agile, evading the arcs of lightning as they continued on toward Han Li, having not been slowed down even in the slightest. Han Li's expression darkened as he quickly made a hand seal, following which the two arcs of golden light changed directions like a pair of spirit snakes, striking the two crimson clouds from an unexpected angle. However, the scenes that unfolded next immediately made Han Li's heart sink.
After striking the crimson clouds, the golden arcs of lightning merely disappeared without inflicting any damage.
Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and the two crimson clouds were soon within two hundred feet of Han Li and the woman. In such close proximity, the duo could even catch a whiff of the strong smell of blood and gore emanating from the clouds.
Strangely enough, Han Li remained completely stationary as he stood on the spot. In contrast, the woman beside him wore a cold expression as she activated her cultivation arts.
Two wyrms that were around 10 feet in length shot forth from the five-colored light before her, chomping down a half of each crimson cloud.
The remnants of the crimson clouds also disappeared as a result, and the woman was elated to see this.
She was just about to say something to Han Li when the latter's pupils abruptly contracted, and he cautioned, "Be careful, these two things are extremely fast; take care not to be fooled by them."
"What?" The woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before hurriedly casting her gaze toward the direction that Han Li had his attention focused on. There, in the air several hundred feet away from them, two crimson monsters that resembled a cross between wolves and apes were situated.
In the instant that the crimson clouds had been destroyed, these two creatures were able to flee from within the clouds in advance using their phenomenal speed. Their rapid evasion techniques coupled with the soundless manner in which they moved allowed them to fool the woman, but Han Li was able to immediately see through their ploy using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. At this moment, these two creatures were standing extremely high up in the air on either side of Han Li's duo. They possessed half-wolf and half-ape bodies with pairs of bat wings on their backs, and their entire bodies were of a vibrant red color. Both of them also had forked tongues like those of snakes, and their red demonic eyes were flashing with a vicious yet cunning light. These were clearly monsters with extremely high levels of intelligence. These were the so-called demented minions!
Even though the woman had heard about them before, she was still struck by a bone-chilling sensation upon seeing them in person for the first time.
"My Divine Devilbane Lightning is ineffective against them, so it looks like they aren't devilish creatures in nature. In that case, Yang-attribute attacks most likely won't be very useful in this battle. Looks like we'll have to face them in a head-on battle," Han Li analyzed in an indifferent voice before suddenly placing a hand on the back of his own head.
Brilliant grey light erupted before abruptly transforming into a grey light barrier that enshrouded his body. At the same time, a small black mountain slowly emerged from within the grey light.
The woman adopted a serious expression before chanting something, and the space before her immediately tremored violently once again. The body of the five-headed wyrm was also revealed, and it appeared to have grown to several times their original size.
The wyrm was a spirit-like being, and it swayed its heads as it looked up at the demented minions up above, letting loose low snarls in an attempt at intimidation.
Right at this moment, one of the demented minions took the initiative and sprang into action.
It flapped its vibrant red bat wings, and its entire body shot forth as a crimson blur before disappearing in a flash.
Brilliant crimson light erupted and the demented minion appeared right above Han Li and the woman before pouncing down without any hesitation.
The five wyrm heads immediately attempted to chomp down on the demented minion in response.
However, the demented minion merely swayed, and its body disappeared as if it were evaporating liquid. As such, all five wyrm heads sunk their teeth viciously into empty air. Before it had figured out what had happened, a series of thin crimson lines appeared over its bodies before vanishing in a flash.
Immediately thereafter, the five wyrm heads along with the massive body they were attached to disintegrated into countless fragments without any premonition.
It had been destroyed by the demented minion in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Crimson light flashed in the air once again, and countless more of those crimson lines appeared, descending toward the woman standing beside Han Li.
Han Li harrumphed coldly as the grey light before him extended to instantly shield the woman within. At the same time, the small black mountain flashed and abruptly appeared over her head.
Brilliant light erupted from the crimson lines as they flew through the air before slicing into the grey light, tearing it apart without any impediment before crashing into the small black mountain.
Almost at the exact same moment, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of Han Li, following which a faint crimson shadow appeared.
A pair of sharp claws were extended before swiping through the air in a completely soundless manner.
Within the crimson shadow, a pair of cunning eyes were flashing with a vicious light.
The other demented minion had taken advantage of the diversion set up by its companion and snuck over to Han Li before unleashing a sneak attack.
Even with Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, he had completely failed to detect its approach. When those sharp claws made contact with the protective grey light around his body, it was already too late for him to adopt any evasive measures.
The sharp claws swiped through the air to summon a series of claw projections which instantly slashed through the grey light before hurtling toward Han Li's back like lightning.
At this moment, Han Li finally detected what was happening behind him, and he let loose a loud cry as the golden and silver lightning robe surfaced over his body.
A loud thunderclap erupted as golden and silver arcs of lightning radiated from the lightning robe, crashing into the claw projections amid a resounding boom.
After being struck by the arcs of lightning, the pair of arms to which the claws were attached began to smoke and char. However, the claws themselves continued onward as if they were divine weapons, instantly puncturing the lightning en route to Han Li's back.
However, right at this moment, four indistinct golden arms suddenly sprouted from Han Li's back before unleashing a seemingly nonchalant attack toward the pair of claws. Even though they were set into motion after the claw strikes were unleashed, they somehow managed to seize back the initiative, keeping the sharp claws at bay as they clashed amid a sharp screeching sound of metal grating on metal.
Crimson light flashed from the claws and the four golden arms were immediately shattered. However, during this brief moment of respite, Han Li was able to hurtle through the air as a white line. Over 200 feet away, spiritual light flashed as Han Li appeared again, appraising the demented minion that had just attacked him with a dark expression.
The demented minion appeared to be rather surprised that its sneak attack had been thwarted, and its eyes darted around in a display of bewilderment.
On the other end, the woman also flew back several hundred feet after the Divine Essencefused Mountain withstood the crimson threads for her.
Those crimson threads converged toward the center, manifesting back into the demented minion's original beastly form, and it turned to appraise the woman with a ferocious light in its eyes.
The two demented minions had clearly already picked their respective opponents.
"Let's act according to the plan," Han Li suddenly said.
"Alright!" The woman nodded without any hesitation as she flipped her hand over to summon a disk. Meanwhile, white light flashed from her other hand, and she slammed her palm heavily into the disk.
A series of spluttering sounds rang out as 36 small flags of different colors appeared over 1,000 feet away in a circular formation with the demented minions at the very center.
When those small flags first emerged, they were only around an inch in size each. However, they swelled rapidly at the woman's behest, expanding to over 100 feet in size in the blink of an eye. Each and every flag had runes shimmering on their surfaces and were emanating fearsome spiritual Qi.
Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li made a hand seal, and a series of shimmering golden threads appeared within these flags. These threads then immediately converged toward the demented minion in a rapid and purposeful manner.