A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

Setting aside the Gold Devouring Beetles, the three sword projections were an ability that Han Li had attained after combining his Provenance True Devil Arts and different types of true essence.

This secret technique could unleash the powers of his Provenance True Devil Arts, Azure Essence Sword Art, and Vajra Arts all at once through the Provenance True Devil Projection.

The Provenance True Devil Arts and Azure Essence Sword Art weren't worthy of note, but the Vajra Arts was a body refinement cultivation method, so it was extremely rare to be able for someone to be able to project the true essence imbued within the cultivation art in this manner.

Han Li had coined the name "Triessence Slash" for this ability. Due to the fact that the three types of true essence were all different and complemented one another, their combined power was far superior to just the sum of their constituent parts.

The slash that had just been unleashed had exhausted close to half of the true essence within Han Li's body, and even though the three-colored sword projection had been compressed to a completely ordinary-looking state, it possessed devastating power that could virtually split mountains and part oceans.

With all of the other attacks that Han Li had also prepared, if the black devilish ape were to take everything head-on, Han Li was 70% confident that it would be killed on the spot.

At this moment, the azure arcs of lightning struck the giant ape's suit of purple armor first, yet an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded within the formation.

The runes all over the crimson bed lit up in unison, emitting a piercing crimson light that shielded the armored ape within.

The powerful arcs of lightning struck the crimson light in a frenzy, but the light barrier only tremored slightly in the face of such an astonishingly powerful attack, yet remained completely unscathed.

However, in the next instant, the three-colored sword projection and the two golden beetles also crashed into the crimson light barrier in quick succession.

A resounding boom rang out as the entire hall tremored violently, and was instantly inundated by lights of different colors.

What appeared to be an extremely dazzling rainbow sun then rose up from the center of the formation, yet Han Li didn't falter in the slightest as a hint of blue light flashed through his eyes.

All of a sudden, he pointed toward the distance while making a hand seal with his other hand to spur the golden projection above his head into action.

Before the explosions in the hall had even subsided, the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven let loose a clearly cry and folded its wings against its sides as it plunged headfirst into the ball of light.

Silver flames immediately appeared within the scorching sun before disappearing in a flash.

Meanwhile, the giant swords in the hands of the golden projection disappeared, only to be replaced by balls of golden light that were sent flying through the air.

A gust of fierce golden winds was swept up amid a resounding boom, sweeping through the entire hall.

A burst of enormous wind pressure proliferated toward all directions from the very center, and even though Han Li was standing quite far away near the entrance, he was still forced back a couple of steps by this immense pressure.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and the golden projection above his head ceased in its attacks.

At the same time, Han Li swept both sleeves through the air to summon a layer of grey light, as well as a swath of give-colored flames that encapsulated his entire body.

Furthermore, a small crystalline shield had also flown out of his sleeve before positioning itself directly in front of him.

After that, Han Li stood silently on the spot and looked on with a grave expression.

Even with his spirit eye ability, he wasn't able to see anything through the flurry of exploding lights, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong.

Regardless of what kind of severe injuries the devilish ape had sustained, it was very strange that it would remain completely silent in the face of these attacks.

Even if he had managed to slay the devilish ape, a Body Integration Stage being definitely wouldn't pass away in such a peaceful manner.

With that in mind, Han Li released his spiritual sense to try and make sense of what was happening.

However, right at this moment, a burst of cackling suddenly rang out from within the hall.

Han Li's heart stirred as he instantly withdrew his spiritual sense, then cast his gaze into the golden winds.

All of a sudden, an earsplitting boom rang out, and the fierce golden winds were dispersed from the inside along with the massive ball of light amid a flash of countless thin purple lines.

The two then both disappeared amid a rumbling explosion.

Thus, the center of the giant formation was revealed, and Han Li focused his gaze up ahead, only for his eyelids to twitch involuntarily at the sight that he was greeted by.

The entire purple formation had been completely demolished.

It was riddled with countless pits and craters, and a part of it had even disappeared.

A massive gulf that was around 10 feet wide had also appeared at the center of the formation, virtually splitting the ground in the hall in half.

However, what was quite alarming to Han Li was that the crimson bed was situated directly in the path of the huge gulf, but it remained completely unscathed.

At this moment, a massive humanoid figure had sat up on the bed, and it was none other than the purple-armored devilish ape!

Aside from the three golden horns on its head, every single inch of its body had been covered by the suit of armor. Even its eyes were concealed beneath a pair of white crystals on the visor, making it impossible to glean emotions from the ape.

Looking at it from afar, the ape appeared to be a massive metallic puppet.

However, the suit of purple armor hadn't emerged without any damage. Not only had many sections of it been cracked and shattered, there were several parts that had already been melted and charred black. At this moment, the ape was holding onto a shimmering golden object in each of its armored hands, and they were none other than Han Li's two mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

The two beetles weren't backing down, either; both of them were gnawing on a finger each, displaying no intention of letting go.

Han Li didn't know what kind of material this suit of armor had been refined from, but it was quite extraordinary that it was able to withstand such astonishing attacks and even keep the Gold Devouring Beetles at bay for now.

It was quite clear that the devilish ape was extremely wary of these two beetles, making sure go grab ahold of them even at the expense of a finger or two.

Otherwise, if these beetles were to exploit a chink in its armor and burrow into its body, it would be in a lot of trouble.

However, none of this was what Han Li's attention was focused on at the moment.

Instead, his gaze had fallen upon a shimmering object that was hovering before the giant ape. This was a segment of a blade that was around half a foot in length.

The top half of the blade was nowhere to be seen, and it was shimmering with purple light. The entire segment of the blade was semi-transparent, and there seemed to be something moving around incessantly within it.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he focused his gaze on the object within the purple blade, quickly discovering that it was a creature that resembled both a wyrm, yet also a phoenix.

At first glance, this creature bore a slight resemblance to the winged wyrms of the Jiao Chi Race, but upon closer inspection, one would find that they were completely different.

Even though both had massive wings and bodies that were similar to wyrms, this creature's wings were covered in purple scales and were devoid of any fur. Furthermore, this creature had two pairs of wings as opposed to one, with one pair being bigger than the other.

What was even more eye-catching was the remarkably long golden horn that was growing on its nose, which gave the creature a rather comical appearance.

However, laughing was the last thing on Han Li's mind as his pupils contracted drastically.

Every time the unknown creature moved, the blade would move as well, and the enormous spiritual pressure emanating from it was quite astonishing, even to Han Li.

This was a damaged blade, yet it still possessed such astonishing spiritual pressure. If it were fully intact, it would be an insanely powerful weapon.

It appeared that even though the holy-grade devilish beast had been severely wounded, these extraordinary treasures in its possession made it quite a difficult opponent to face.

Just as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, the cackling coming from within the purple suit of armor drew to an abrupt halt, and black Qi flashed from the suit of armor before the giant ape stood up on the bed, then strode down from it in a wobbly manner.

Han Li's lips twitched as he suddenly made a grabbing motion, and countless pea-sized balls of silver flames appeared out of thin air around the devilish ape before raining down upon it in a torrential downpour.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed from the walls of the hall, following which hundreds of talismans emerged before abruptly vanishing.

A shimmering silver light formation appeared in the air above the giant ape, and a massive palatial projection surfaced within the silver light, as if the giant ape had been teleported to an ethereal realm.

The entire palace was shimmering with silver light, and countless runes were dancing around it while delightful heavenly music was emanating from within.

However, if one were to focus on the music and really try to listen to it, the music would suddenly fade.

This was the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, and the light formation rotated on the spot before blasting forth a pillar of silver light.

In the blink of an eye, two attacks had reached the devilish ape, yet it made no effort to take evasive measures.

A burst of cackling rang out from behind the visor yet again, and it merely clenched a fist before swiping an arm through the air.

A burst of black Qi immediately erupted from its body amid a resounding boom, and all of the oncoming balls of silver flames were instantly snuffed out.

The pillar of silver light descending from above was also stalled and prevented from traveling downward any further by the wave of black Qi.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal.

The heavenly music within the light formation instantly increased in volume while the palatial projection swelled to several times its original size, then plummeted directly toward the devilish ape from the light formation.

The palatial projection was extremely life-like, and it was emanating and astonishing aura of superiority.

The devilish ape raised its head to look up at the projection, following which the blade segment before it moved slightly, sending a thin and long purple streak slashing through the air.

The purple light flashed past, and both the palatial projection, as well as the light formation up above, were both sliced in half before disappearing in a flash.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to do anything else, the blade segment suddenly aimed itself at Han Li before moving slightly again.

Another purple streak appeared before his eyes, and at the same time, the seemingly slow and sluggish devilish ape's body blurred as it abruptly disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, purple light flashed, and the armored ape appeared beside Han Li before launching a massive fist directly at his head.

There were two light barriers around Han Li's body, yet his ears were still struck by a ringing sensation even before the fist had made contact. An invisible soundwave had pierced through the light barriers before hurtling directly into his ears.

"Crack!"

"Boom!"

Two different sounds rang out from within the hall almost in unison, and the purple streak flashed past while a powerful soundwave swept over the spot where Han Li was standing.