After flying into the air until he was over 1,000 feet away from the dark clouds in the sky, the shopkeeper came to an abrupt halt before expelling a mouthful of blood essence with a solemn look on his face.
He then pointed his 10 fingers at the blood essence in rapid succession, upon which they transformed into several large blood runes that hurtled toward the five-colored lightning in the sky. The runes then disappeared into the five-colored lightning in a flash. The arc of lightning immediately emitted a resounding boom as the dark clouds around it were dispelled. Thus, the five-colored lightning"s intimidating true form was revealed in its full glory.
The shopkeeper looked up at the fearsome arc of lightning, and he couldn"t help but gulp nervously, even though his mouth was completely dry. He gritted his teeth and expelled a few more mouthfuls of blood essence, all of which also disappeared into the five-colored lightning as crimson runes.
Having expended so much blood essence in one go, the shopkeeper"s face was now truly as pale as a sheet of paper. However, his final roll of the dice appeared to be paying off.
Following the injection of the blood runes, the five-colored lightning in the sky finally settled down. Not only had the thunderclaps emanating from it become a lot quieter, the scintillating light radiating from it had also softened significantly. Crimson lines appeared all over the arc of lightning, creating quite a peculiar sight to behold. The shopkeeper was ecstatic upon seeing this, and the chanted something before abruptly flapping his wings upward. Countless crimson threads shot forth from his wings, puncturing the arc of five-colored lightning in a flash and fusing as one with the crimson lines on its surface, thereby ensnaring the arc of lightning within. The shopkeeper made a hand seal, and piercing white light radiated from his body as one incantation seal after another was cast into the air above.
The five-colored lightning rumbled within the crimson threads for a while before shrinking and curling together to form a ma.s.sive ball of lightning with a diameter of around 10 feet. The surface of the ball was riddled with crimson lines, and the shopkeeper was overjoyed to see this. He swept a hand toward the fearsome ball of lightning, and it descended in an obedient manner. Han Li and the others were all flabbergasted by the scenes unfolding before their eyes. However, the shopkeeper didn"t give them a chance to ask any questions. His body swayed, and he abruptly disappeared on the spot.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted as the shopkeeper appeared beside the Lightning Beast. He quickly raised both hands into the air, and two thick pillars of light immediately shot forth, disappearing into a ma.s.sive ball of lightning, which was currently only several hundred feet away from the ground. As a result, the ball of lightning paused in mid-air.
At such close quarters, Han Li"s trio could sense the terrifying power imbued within the ball of five-colored lightning, and their expressions changed drastically.
Thankfully, the ball of lightning had been stabilized in mid-air by the shopkeeper. Otherwise, all three of them would"ve immediately fled the scene. They certainly weren"t going to stand still and allow themselves to be killed.
The shopkeeper had no spare capacity to pay any heed to what Han Li and the others were thinking. As soon as he stabilized the ball of five-colored lightning, he let loose a loud cry, and a small slit suddenly opened up on the crimson line at the bottom of the lightning ball. Following a dull thunderclap, a thin bolt of five-colored lightning shot forth, heading directly toward the Lightning Beast down below.
In the instant that the ball of five-colored lightning appeared, the Lightning Beast seemed to have sensed that it was in severe peril. It roared and thrashed with all its might, managing to struggle free from some of the black chains around its body and rising to its feet. However, before it had a chance to do anything else, the five-colored arc of lightning struck the top of its head with unerring accuracy. The Lightning Beast was floored before it could utter even a single sound...
The shopkeeper was ecstatic to see this, one bolt of five-colored lightning fell after another at his behest. At the same time, he made a hand seal, and the green wooden badge above the Lightning Beast blasted forth another plume of green threads.
On this occasion, with the combined powers of Han Li"s trio along with the arcs of five-colored lightning, the miniature Lightning Beast projection was drawn out of the beast"s body again in a fit of shock and fury.
The projection struggled with all its might, but its lightning powers had mostly been sealed by the five black daggers and its physical body was being immobilized by Han Li"s trio and the five-colored lightning, so it was powerless to resist as it was forcibly drawn toward the wooden badge inch by inch.
Green light flashed from the wooden badge, and following a final roar of fury and despair, the Lightning Beast projection was drawn into the badge. The shopkeeper hurriedly cast one incantation seal after another onto the wooden badge in quick succession, and it was drawn into his grasp as an elated look appeared on his face.
"Haha, I"ve finally done it!" the shopkeeper chortled with glee.
Han Li"s eyes flashed, and the golden arcs of lightning streaming from his hands disappeared.
The young man also withdrew his lightning before looking at the motionless body of the Lightning Beast on the ground, then turning to the green badge in the shopkeeper"s hand with furrowed brows. "What"s the meaning of this, Brother Yu? Weren"t you going to tame this beast?"
That was also what Han Li and the armor-clad man wanted to ask.
"Hehe, after extracting the soul of the beast, taming it would be a piece of cake, so three of you can rest now," the shopkeeper chuckled as he carefully stowed the green badge away into a jade box with a delighted expression on his face.
Han Li and the others glanced at one another, and all of them fell silent as wary expressions appeared on their faces. Something was most definitely amiss here.
"Rest a.s.sured, seeing as you three a.s.sisted me greatly in this endeavor, I"ll be delivering the rewards I promised you now," the shopkeeper said with a smile before sweeping a sleeve through the air. Three streaks of white light shot forth toward Han Li"s trio, and they were none other than the three wooden boxes from earlier.
The young man and the armor-clad man were still a little perplexed, but they were overjoyed to see their promised rewards being delivered. As such, they immediately cast aside their concerns and reached out for their respective wooden box.
However, piercing blue light suddenly flashed from Han Li"s eyes upon seeing this. Immediately thereafter, a set of golden and silver robes appeared over his body before enshrouding the oncoming wooden box within. Meanwhile, Han Li himself hurtled back in retreat.
The young man"s expression changed slightly upon seeing Han Li"s actions, and he immediately realized that something was wrong. However, it was already too late.
White light flashed and the wooden box in his hand suddenly crumbled like a sandcastle, revealing a translucent thumb-sized bead.
"Lightning Drawing Bead!" the young man exclaimed in alarm before attempting to fling it away.
However, a thunderclap erupted before he could do so, and a ball of piercing white light appeared amid a loud explosion.
There was still a small portion of the five-colored ball of lightning hovering in mid-air, and as soon as the white light appeared, it split up into three arcs of lightning that crashed down from above.
The lightning was far too fast to evade, and the young man, as well as the armor-clad man, were instantly struck by the five-colored lightning and white light.
The two powers combined as one and when the light receded, the two were revealed with smoke billowing from their bodies, and it was unknown whether they were dead or alive.
As for Han Li, his lightning robes had enshrouded the Lightning Drawing Bead before the bead exploded, following which the white light was absorbed into the robe, then flung away into the distance. As such, the bolt of five-colored lightning was diverted away, and struck the ground around 10 feet away from its original target. The entire ground tremored, and a crater with a radius of several tens of feet was left on the ground in the wake of the lightning strike.
Han Li had retreated right to the edge of the crater, and he arrested his momentum before looking up at the shopkeeper in an expressionless manner. "Hmm?" The man"s smile faded as a hint of surprise appeared on his face. However, his surprised expression was then immediately replaced by a deriding sneer.
Han Li"s eyes flashed, and he suddenly flapped his Thunderstorm Wings before disappearing into s.p.a.ce as an arc of azure and white lightning.
Almost at the exact same moment, a pair of green claws swiped past the spot where Han Li had just been standing, unleas.h.i.+ng crimson arcs of lightning that flashed through the air.
The physical body of the Lightning Beast that had been bound by the black chains had sprung into action, and attempted to launch a sneak attack against Han Li from behind. The only difference was that the Lightning Beast now had a pair of gleaming black eyes that were filled with intelligence. A hint of surprise reappeared on the shopkeeper"s face upon witnessing the failure of the Lightning Beast"s sneak attack.
However, his body then swayed as he made a soundless retreat.
Right at this moment, a thunderclap rang out above his head as Han Li emerged from within a burst of azure and white lightning. As soon as he appeared, he swept a sleeve toward the nearby copper pillars.
Several streaks of piercing golden light shot forth, slicing a few pillars into several segments and destroying the entire restriction. The shopkeeper"s retreating figure instantly faltered in mid-air as he looked on with a dark expression. Han Li crossed his arms and also hovered in mid-air in silence.
At this moment, the Lightning Beast appeared expressionless behind Han Li with four-colored lightning crackling around its body, sandwiching Han Li between itself the shopkeeper.
"I don"t care what your intentions are. I don"t care whether you actually wanted to tame this beast or whether you were only interested in its soul; as long as you give me what I want, I can pretend that I saw nothing here," Han Li said in a calm voice.
"You"re just a mere Flying Spirit General; do you think you have the right to negotiate terms with me?" the shopkeeper asked in a sinister voice.
"If you were at full health, then perhaps I wouldn"t be able to do anything. However, after expelling so many mouthfuls of blood essence in succession earlier, you"d be lucky to have retained even a small half of your cultivation base. Do you really think a spirit beast that"s yet to reach full maturity can keep me here?" Han Li said in a nonchalant voice as he suddenly swept a hand over his wrist. A streak of black light immediately shot forth, spiraling through the air before transforming into a small monkey.
The monkey then pounded its chest, and its body swelled drastically to several hundred feet tall in the blink of an eye. At the same time, it had taken on the form of a sinister ghost and was glowering at the Lightning Beast with a ferocious light in its eyes.
Brilliant golden light simultaneously radiated from Han Li"s body as 72 small golden swords hurtled through the air, revolving around his body. His golden Provenance True Devil Projection had also appeared behind him, thus conjuring up three heads and six arms. He then flipped both hands over at the same time, and one hand was inky black with a miniature black mountain hovering over its palm, while the other was as pristine white as jade with five miniature skulls revolving over its palm.
After that, Han Li gently flapped his wings, and azure light revolved around his body, manifesting the projections of a ma.s.sive azure bird and a five-colored heavenly phoenix. In conjunction with the Provenance True Devil Projection, all three projections had appeared at once, emanating a collective burst of astonis.h.i.+ng spiritual pressure.