Chapter 1648: Escape
This silver-armored being was naturally none other than the man with the Gui surname.
Perhaps it was simply a coincidence, but the route it had taken just so happened to intersect at this point with the one that Han Li was taking.
Upon seeing the bewildered look on the horned devilish beast's face, the silver-armored man's brows furrowed slightly, and he hurriedly turned back, just in time to see Han Li and Xian Xian emerge from the sea of mist behind him.
The silver-armored being faltered slightly before an elated look appeared on his face.
He had seemed to be quite calm and collected earlier, but he was actually feeling quite anxious internally.
After parting with Han Li and Xian Xian, he had traveled without pause toward the exit of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges without any pause, yet he had still been intercepted by so many devilish beasts, so he was naturally quite stunned and enraged.
Most of these beasts were mid-grade devilish beasts, but there were over 30 high-grade devilish beasts among them, and the humanoid horned devilish possessed a similar cultivation base to his.
He was rather conceited, but even he knew that a battle here would spell certain death for him.
His only hope was to delay these devilish beasts somehow, then escape as quickly as he could.
However, he then caught sight of the seven or eight high-grade winged devilish beasts among the beast pack up ahead, and he was growing quite hesitant again.
It was quite clear that those devilish beasts had to be extremely fast. If there were only two or three of them, he could try and throw them off his trail somehow, but if that many of them were to mob him at once, then he was still dead for sure.
However, Han Li's arrival instantly alleviated the pressure on his shoulder's significantly, increasing his chances of survival, which were less objectively less than 10%, by several tens of percentage points.
As such, the silver-armored being was naturally ecstatic.
Xian Xian's face had paled considerably upon witnessing this situation, while Han Li was slightly more composed, but he was also contemplating something with a grave expression on his face.
There were many devilish beasts up ahead, but all of them had already attained intelligence. As such, even though they were appraising the three beings before them with animosity in their eyes, they weren't screeching and howling like a pack of mindless beasts. Thus, a peculiar silence ensued.
However, in the next instant, the silence was suddenly shattered by a burst of hearty laughter.
"Haha, it's you! You're the one who killed the young master! If I can kill you or capture you alive, Master will reward me handsomely! Kill them! Kill the other two and try to capture that one alive!" Wu Qi suddenly threw his head back and chortled with glee at the sight of Han Li before issuing an order in a menacing manner.
The devilish beasts behind him were all itching for action, and upon hearing this command, all of them roared in unison before charging toward Han Li's trio with gusts of black winds howling in their wake.
A dozen or so streaks of light surged on ahead, overtaking the rest of the pack as they hurtled toward Han Li's trio.
These were all either three-headed devilish birds or a type of massive winged insect.
As for Wu Qi, green light swirled around his body, and a mundane-looking green disk appeared beneath his feet. The disk was carrying him through the air at an astonishing speed that was comparable to the flying devilish beasts, and it was about to reach Han Li in a flash.
"Split up!"
Han Li forcibly repressed his shock at being recognized by this horned demon as he issued a quick instruction, then flew into the distance as a streak of azure light.
After just a few flashes, he had covered a distance of over 400 feet, and he showed no signs of slowing down.
As opposed to flying directly toward the devilish beasts or retreating back into the mist, he was flying directly off to the side.
Xian Xian and the silver-armored man also reacted quite quickly.
Almost as soon as Han Li sprang into action, the silver-armored man opened his mouth to expel a cloud of crimson Qi that disappeared into the flying carriage beneath his feet.
A burst of loud ghostly wails rang out from the crimson carriage, and it abruptly disappeared on the spot. However, the carriage then reappeared out of thin air over 1,000 feet away, and it transformed into a cloud of black Qi amid a sharp shriek before hurtling into the distance.
As for Xian Xian, she also gritted her teeth upon hearing Han Li's instruction, and she rustled a sleeve to summon a small translucent flag.
White light then flashed from her body before instantly forming a gigantic ball of white light, and several tens of identical white balls shot forth from it in all directions in unison.
Each and every ball of light was astonishingly fast, and all of them left trails of afterimages in their wake as they sped away into the distance.
The dozen or so white balls of light that flew toward the pack of beasts all vanished upon being attacked by the devilish beasts, but most of them managed to escape to over 1,000 feet away.
Despite the fact that there were so many high-grade devilish beasts present, none of them were able to identify in which ball of light Xian Xian's true body could be found.
All three Spirit Realm beings were proving to be very difficult to capture, regardless of what their cultivation bases were, and Wu Qi was quite infuriated by this development. He let loose a thunderous roar as he swung his massive hands through the air, instantly destroying two of the balls of light that were passing him by.
Immediately thereafter, the green disk beneath his feet transformed into a vibrant green canoe in a flash, then hurtled directly toward Han Li.
There was also an inky-black devilish falcon that was around 10 feet in length, as well as a giant azure wasp with lightning flashing all over its body, chasing Han Li in hot pursuit.
All three of them were determined to capture him, and their speed was not inferior to Han Li's.
Meanwhile, there were also several fast high-grade devilish beasts chasing after the silver-armored man, and as for all of the other devilish beasts that were proficient in flight, they hesitated momentarily before charging toward the white balls of light.
The devilish beasts that were slower and lagging behind also split up into three groups to pursue their three targets.
Han Li had naturally witnessed everything that was taking place behind him, and after ascertaining that Xian Xian did indeed still have some trump cards up his sleeve, he heaved an internal sigh of relief before focusing on his own escape.
At Han Li's current speed, he was able to cover hundreds of kilometers in the blink of an eye, and before the devilish beasts knew it, they'd been pursuing him for tens of thousands of kilometers.
Han Li cast his gaze behind him to find that the three devilish beasts were still only trailing by just over 1,000 feet, so he hadn't opened up much distance between them at all.
Further away in the distance, there was an indistinct cloud of black Qi that was also surging along in hot pursuit.
A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.
The three high-grade devilish beasts weren't fearsome opponents to him, but if they were to stall him and allow all of the other devilish beasts to catch up, he'd be in deep trouble as he still hadn't recovered to his peak condition.
With that in mind, Han Li no longer hesitated as he immediately made a hand seal. All of a sudden, a loud thunderclap rang out behind him, and a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back.
He flapped the wings gently, and another thunderclap erupted as he shot forth as an arc of azure and white lightning, disappearing into the distance in a flash.
In the next instant, azure and white lightning flashed over 1,000 feet away, and Han Li reappeared before abruptly vanishing on the spot once again.
Thus, Han Li flapped his Thunderstorm Wings with all his might, unleashing his lightning movement technique to its maximal extent.
Azure and white lightning flashed, and within the span of just a few breaths, he'd widened the gap between himself and the three devilish beasts by over 1,000 feet.
Wu Qi was quite startled to see this, and he immediately became quite flustered and anxious.
If he were to allow Han Li to escape right under his nose, only one possible fate could await him at the hands of his master.
With that in mind, it abruptly opened its mouth to expel a strange triangular copper mirror. The mirror was yellow in color, and its surface was quite blurry and indistinct.
Wu Qi turned around to the other two high-grade devilish beasts before letting loose a low snarl.
The devilish falcon and azure wasp exchanged a glance upon hearing this snarl, and both of them seemed rather hesitant.
A cold light flashed through Wu Qi's eyes as he let loose a louder menacing roar.
Both the high-grade devilish beasts shuddered before reluctantly opening their mouths to expel two fist-sized beads, one black and one azure, both of which disappeared into the mirror in a flash.
The triangular mirror immediately began to emit a low buzzing sound, and at the same time, its surface turned into a black and azure color.
Wu Qi was ecstatic to see this, and he tossed the mirror into the air before also opening his mouth to expel a grey bead.
The bead revolved around the mirror before also vanishing into its surface, and the mirror began to tremor violently as it emanated grey, black, and azure three-colored light.
Wu Qi then thrust a finger toward the copper mirror, and brilliant spiritual light radiated from it as it suddenly emitted a streak of three-colored light.
The streak of light was like a dragon rising out of the ocean, encompassing all three devilish beasts in the flash. As for the copper mirror itself, it swayed slightly before also disappearing into the light.
Immediately thereafter, the light flashed and covered a distance of 700 to 800 feet in the blink of an eye, hurtling directly toward the arc of azure and white lightning in a wraith-like manner.
The three devilish beasts had used this treasure to combined their powers, thereby drastically enhancing their speeds.
They were still slightly slower than Han Li, but Wu Qi heaved a long sigh of relief.
At Han Li's lowly cultivation base, there was no way that he'd be able to outlast a treasure that was being fuelled by magic power from all three of them. As such, it was only a matter of time before they caught up to him.
The azure and white arc of lightning flashed through the air amid dull thunderclaps up ahead, while the three-colored light followed along in a wraith-like manner form behind.
The two disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye, and after giving chase for tens of thousands more kilometers, the massive cloud of devilish Qi could only stop as the devilish beasts within it had lost sight of their target.
Thus, the devilish Qi dissipated, and over 30 devilish beasts were left staring at one another as they stood on the spot.