Chapter 1537: Battle for the Profound Heavenly Fruit
A thick pillar of light with a diameter of over 1,000 feet erupted from the center of the formation, enveloping Han Li in a flash, affording him no time to evade with its rapid speed.
Han Li was quite stunned by this development, and the pillar of light was somehow able to directly bypass the Divine Essencefused Mountain overhead before striking him.
As soon as the crimson light rained down on him, Han Li found himself completely immobilized, unable to move so much as a single finger.
Han Li's expression changed drastically as the azure lotus flowers around him flashed before reverting back to flying swords that were each around a foot in length, then flying through the air as streaks of sword Qi at his behest.
The sword Qi flashed through the puncturing the pillar of light and emerging on the other side with ease, as if t were merely an illusion. However, Han Li was still completely immobilized, as if the air around him had turned into steel essence that had bound his body and limbs.
Han Li drew a sharp breath as his current predicament dawned on him.
Crimson runes of different sizes began to emerge from the formation up above, and Han Li knew that he couldn't hold back any longer.
He let loose a loud cry as golden light shimmered all over his body, following which the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared.
The projection was seated in mid-air with its legs crossed while making seals with its six hands.
A golden halo then radiated from the projection's body, and ripples were swept up within the crimson pillar of light around Han Li.
At the same time, the restrictive feeling in the air lessened slightly, and Han Li was naturally quite ecstatic to see this. He immediately began to chant something to accelerate the circulation of his magic power, thereby activating his Provenance True Devil Arts to their maximal extent.
However, right at this moment, brilliant crimson light suddenly erupted from the formation overhead.
Immediately thereafter, the crimson runes at the center of the formation dispersed to reveal a massive black hole that was around 100 feet in size. Countless crimson shadows could be seen lurking within the hole amid ghastly howls and eerie sobs.
The crimson pillar of light also began to rotate at high speed.
Han Li felt the pressure around his body intensify once again, and the limited degree of freedom he'd recovered instantly vanished again.
At the same time, countless runes emerged within the golden light around him before surging toward his body.
"Argh!"
Despite how calm and steadfast Han Li normally was, even he had turned deathly pale in the face of this ordeal.
He didn't know how powerful these runes were, but he was completely immobilized within this restriction, so he was nothing but a sitting duck.
In his desperation, Han Li activated his sword arts, and the flying swords around him flashed before appeared around him, then conjured up countless azure streaks of sword Qi before surging through the air in all directions.
However, the azure sword Qi merely passed through the runes as if they were illusions, unable to inflict any damage during the process.
Thus, the runes continued on toward Han Li in a seemingly unstoppable manner.
Han Li gritted his teeth, and black Qi flashed from his body as he conjured up a suit of black baleful armor. At the same time, he contacted the Gold Devouring Beetles within his spirit beast bracelet using his spiritual sense, and a ferocious look appeared on his face as he prepared to release all of his beetles at once.
The restriction around him was indeed quite peculiar, but surely it wouldn't be able to withstand so many mature Gold Devouring Beetles.
As for those runes, he'd naturally just have to try and withstand them using his powerful physical body and his suit of baleful armor.
However, even though he'd already reached the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, his spiritual sense was only powerful enough to support so many Gold Devouring Beetles for a short while. Even so, he had no choice but to unleash them in the face of this perilous situation.
However, the scenes that unfolded next immediately made Han Li falter in his attempt to summon the Gold Devouring Beetles.
Just as the runes were about to strike his body, they suddenly changed direction before surging into toward the object in his hand as specks of spiritual light.
Han Li felt a warm sensation in his palm, following which the Profound Heavenly Fruit in his hand struggled free from his fingers and flew into the air as a ball of white light.
After just a few flashes, the fruit rose over 1,000 feet into the air, enshrouded by countless crimson runes in the process.
Immediately thereafter, the fruit rotated in mid-air before swelling drastically to several times its original size, repelling away countless crimson runes around it. After that, countless streaks of sword Qi began to emanate with brilliant white light, shredding all of the runes in the air.
The white light then faded and disappeared without a trace while the enlarged Profound Heavenly Fruit remained hovering in mid-air.
Han Li looked on at the scenes unfolding before his eyes with a flabbergasted expression.
However, he quickly came to his senses, and the magic power that he'd gathered surged into the projection above him in a frenzy.
The projection shuddered, and shimmering golden light rapidly revolved around it before proliferating in all directions in the blink of an eye.
A scintillating ball of golden light akin to a golden sun rose up above Han Li's head.
Han Li then began to chant something, and the projection raised all three of its heads in unison while also waving its six arms in all directions, then letting loose a low deep cry.
The golden sun overhead expanded and shrank before abruptly exploding.
Following an earthshattering boom, waves of golden light proliferated forth like substantial shockwaves.
As the golden shockwaves surged through the crimson light, the latter flashed erratically before being forced back in a frenzy. With Han Li at the center, all of the crimson light within a radius of over 100 feet was forcibly repelled, thereby allowing him to recover his freedom.
This ability was something that Han Li had attained from the Provenance True Devil Arts after progressing to the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.
In reality, it was merely borrowing the power of his projection to focus the power of his cultivation art into one spot, then releasing it all at once.
That seemingly ordinary attack had actually expended close to half of all of the magic power within Han Li's body.
Of course, what was unbeknownst to Han Li was that the Provenance True Devil Arts contained both Buddhist and devilish elements at the same time, giving it an extremely special attribute. If any other cultivation art had been used, even Body Integration cultivators wouldn't have been able to break free from the crimson light.
Hence, it had to be said that he had been quite lucky here.
However, after finally escaping from the restriction of the crimson pillar after expending extensive effort, a burst of loud howling suddenly rang out from within the black hole in the crimson formation up above, following which countless vibrant crimson threads shot forth, attempting to ensnare the Profound Heavenly Fruit.
However, the Profound Heavenly Fruit seemed to have attained sentient will as it tremored gently before releasing boundless white light.
The white light and crimson threads instantly intertwined with one another amid a series of crackles and pops. The white light was extremely sharp and managed to shred most of the crimson threads, but it was quickly overwhelmed and enshrouded in a massive crimson cocoon.
The Profound Heavenly Fruit struggled with all its might within the crimson threads, but the two waves of white light it had unleashed just then had clearly expended all of its power. Thus, it was dragged toward the large black hole in a powerless manner.
However, right at this moment, golden light exploded within the crimson light down below, sweeping aside a vast expanse of crimson light.
Immediately thereafter, a streak of azure light shot forth from within the crimson light, then surged toward the crimson cocoon and forming a massive azure hand that grabbed toward it.
The azure hand caught the crimson cocoon in a tight grasp, following which countless streaks of sword Qi shot forth from within the massive hand to strike down on the cocoon.
However, a peculiar scene then ensued. The sword Qi merely passed through the cocoon as if it were an imaginary structure, unable to damage it in the slightest. The azure light receded, and the massive azure hand transformed into Han Li. Azure threads then erupted from within one of his sleeves before ensnaring the Profound Heavenly Fruit within the crimson cocoon.
However, the enormity of the crimson cocoon's pulling power was far beyond what Han Li had imagined, so the Profound Heavenly Fruit was still slowly rising up into the air. If it weren't for the fact that the fruit itself was struggling with all its might to resist the immense force being exerted by the crimson threads, it would’ve most likely been drawn into the black hole already.
Even so, it would only a matter of moments before it would disappear into the hole.
In his state of urgency, Han Li abruptly pointed a finger toward the azure flying sword in the air, and a long cry erupted from the sword, following which it blurred into a faint azure mark, as if it had lost all of its substance.
This was none other than the sword's voidform ability.
Immediately thereafter, the azure blur shot forth, slashing through the air amid a string of dull thumps. The seemingly insubstantial crimson threads were instantly sliced into countless segments.
Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air before flying forth as an azure thread. At the same time, all of the other flying swords caught up to Han Li in a flash, then disappeared into his body.
At Han Li's current speed, he was able to cover a distance of around 2,000 feet in the blink of an eye. After just a few more flashes, he was going to completely disappear into the distance.
Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief, thinking that he'd finally managed to escape this ordeal.
However, right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!
The black hole within the crimson formation contracted, following which a clump of crimson threads shot forth from within. The thread merely blurred before covering a distance of 2,000 feet, reaching Han Li at a speed that was greatly astounding to him.
Before he had a chance to react, crimson light flashed before his eyes, and both he, as well as the Profound Heavenly Fruit, were swept up by the crimson threads.
The crimson threads then flashed before surging back into the black hole just as quickly as they'd reached Han Li.
In the instant that Han Li was swept into the black hole, an earthshattering boom erupted from the crimson formation up above, and blood clouds surged violently as arcs of crimson lightning appeared.
A vast number of runes erupted out of the formation before the formation itself began to turn rather blurry and indistinct.
Han Li felt extremely sluggish within the clump of crimson threads, and had lost the ability to fly. He opened his mouth to blast forth a flying sword, only for it to be repelled back in a completely ineffective manner.
On this occasion, the flying swords were unable to sever the crimson threads even after activating their voidform ability.
Right at this moment, the light in the surrounding area dimmed, and the sound of ghostly howls and eerie wails rang out.
Immediately thereafter, a burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted, and Han Li's heart immediately sank upon making this observation.