The silver lightning also finally vanished at this moment. Standing right before the white barrier of light was a completely black giant ghost that was over 100 feet tall.
This ghost had a pair of horns on its head, and its entire body was covered in black scales, creating a suit of natural armor. There was also a pair of fleshy bat-like wings on its back, as well as a pair of extraordinarily long arms that hung straight down to the ground, and appeared as if they had been forged from fine iron. Even Han Li was struck by a bone-chilling sensation when casting his gaze toward the ghost"s face.
This ghost"s face was completely flat and devoid of facial features. Furthermore, its ma.s.sive body was riddled with holes, and no part of it was left unscathed aside from its two ma.s.sive long arms.
It was quite clear that this ghost had withstood most of the power from the lightning beads and sword Qi that Han Li had unleashed. Otherwise, they would"ve been more than enough to destroy the white barrier of light protecting the crimson sword.
The giant ghost raised its head and let loose a shrill howl, following which countless bursts of black Yin Qi appeared around it before disappearing into its body.
In the blink of an eye, it had completely regenerated to full health.
A sinister voice suddenly sounded beside Han Li"s ear. "Hehe, experience the horror of this Faceless Ghost Monarch that I"ve been nurturing for thousands of years, you nosy brat. This ghost is no less powerful than I am."
"Ghost Monarch?" A peculiar expression appeared on Han Li"s face upon hearing this.
"Be careful, Fellow Daoist Han; Faceless Ghost Monarchs are vastly renowned beings of the ghostly realm, and they"re no less powerful than Spatial Tempering cultivators." A female voice was then transmitted to him, and it belonged to none other than Ye Chu.
After witnessing Han Li detaining Xiao Hong so easily, a hint of hope had arisen in her heart.
Almost at the exact same moment, the Ghost Monarch turned its head toward Han Li. Even though it had no eyes, it seemed to still be able to detect Han Li"s presence.
It let loose a low roar as it suddenly raised its arms into the air. Violent winds were immediately swept up as black Yin Qi swelled, causing the surrounding sky to dim significantly. At the same time, countless howls of despair rang out from within the Yin Qi, making it appear as if there were countless ghosts lurking within.
Standing beneath the Yin Qi up above, the Faceless Ghost Monarch swept its arms toward Han Li.
The Yin Qi in the air swirled violently, instantly manifesting an unfathomably gargantuan black ghostly claw. The claw was over 1,000 feet in size, and azure ghostly flames were s.h.i.+mmering over its surface as it slowly descended toward Han Li.
Han Li felt the air tighten around him as an enormous invisible power appeared out of nowhere, attempting to completely immobilize him.
If a normal cultivator were in Han Li"s position, they would most likely be powerless to resist this immense force. However, Han Li was able to simply disregard it, such was the power of his current body. After letting loose a cold harrumph, he rapidly swept a hand over his spirit beast bracelet. A burst of black light shot forth before circling around, then landing around 10 feet in front of Han Li. It was a small monkey with glossy black fur that was around half a foot tall.
It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast.
As soon as the little monkey appeared, it surveyed its surroundings before sniffing at the air, following which its eyes immediately lit up. It pounded its chest with its fists as its body rapidly expanded amid a burst of brilliant black light. Following just a few flashes, it had transformed into a ma.s.sive ape that was over 300 feet tall.
The ape let loose a loud harrumph as it looked up at the ghostly claw in the sky above, expelling a streak of azure light from its nostrils that struck the palm of the descending ghostly claw with unerring accuracy.
An incredible scene ensued.
In the instant that the azure light made contact with the ghostly claw, a black hole immediately appeared at the center of the latter"s palm. The azure light then continued to wreak havoc, reducing the other parts of the ghostly claw to inky-black Yin Qi before being swept up by the light.
The entire ghostly claw was soon in tatters, and dissipated amid specks of black light.
The Faceless Ghost Monarch immediately grabbed the air toward the Weeping Soul Beast upon seeing this.
Five black streaks of light instantly hurtled toward the giant ape like five ma.s.sive blades.
The sound of air being parted rang out as the claw projections swept toward the giant ape. However, they merely disappeared into the Weeping Soul"s Body without having any effect whatsoever.
The giant ghost couldn"t help but falter upon seeing this.
The giant ape completely disregarded its stunned reaction as it let loose another loud harrumph to expel a second streak of azure light from its nostrils.
The two streaks of azure light intertwined and flashed through the air, sweeping up the residual Yin Qi up above like a gust of autumn wind lapping up fallen leaves. The streaks of light then shot back toward the giant ape before being swallowed.
A pleased expression appeared on the Weeping Soul Beast"s face, following which it turned its attention toward the Ghost Monarch in the distance.
At this moment, the Faceless Ghost Monarch finally recovered from its shock, and it let loose a cry of violent rage.
All of a sudden, an antiquated suit of armor surfaced over its body, upon which azure flames were burning incessantly. At the same time, a pair of white bone war hammers had appeared in its grasp.
Han Li focused his gaze on those war hammers to discover that they had been refined from the skulls of two ma.s.sive demonic ghosts. One of the war hammers was sweeping up gusts of yellow winds while the other had black mist swirling around it, and Han Li wondered what kind of abilities they possessed.
Meanwhile, the Weeping Soul Beast paid no heed to the pair of war hammers at all as it blinked and blasted forth the two streaks of azure light from its nostrils again, both of which headed straight for the ma.s.sive ghost.
The Faceless Ghost Monarch swung its two war hammers through the air, and a vast expanse of black light immediately surfaced before swatting the azure light aside with ease.
The Weeping Soul Beast"s soul-devouring light had been dispelled by this Ghost Monarch.
Han Li"s expression changed slightly upon seeing this.
The Weeping Soul Beast also adopted a solemn look as it let loose a low roar. Yin winds were immediately swept up around it as countless arcs of lightning flashed in the surrounding area.
The giant ape"s body swelled once again as its fur began to turn red. Three crooked horns slowly sprouted from the top of its head while its glabella bulged before splitting open, revealing a crimson demonic eye. At the same time, its face elongated and it bared its fangs in a menacing manner. Three black bone spikes that were around 10 feet in length each also appeared on its back, and sinister black Yin Qi was swirling around them.
The Weeping Soul Beast had undergone a transformation into a sinister malicious ghost. The Yin Qi swirling around its body seemed to be even more powerful than that of the Faceless Ghost Monarch, and as soon as the demonic eye on its glabella opened, a bolt of lightning that was as thick as a large bowl shot forth amid a resounding boom.
The arc of lightning was as red as blood and instantly reached the Faceless Ghost Monarch.
An incredible turn of events then unfolded!
In the face of this crimson arc of lightning, the Faceless Ghost Monarch let loose a roar of utter shock and horror. It abruptly brought its war hammers together, and at the same time, its enormous body hurtled back in retreat, seemingly intending on fleeing for its life.
Two m.u.f.fled thumps erupted as the pair of white bone war hammers came into contact with the arc of crimson lightning. However, the war hammers were instantly reduced to plumes of smoke as if they had encountered the very bane of their existence.
In contrast, the arc of crimson lightning hadn"t been impeded even in the slightest, and it went on to strike the Faceless Ghost Monarch"s suit of azure flaming armor.
The suit of armor met the same fate as the pair of war hammers, dissipating without posing any resistance. As such, the arc of lightning punctured the Ghost Monarch"s chest before binding around its body like a spirit snake, then towing it back toward the Weeping Soul Beast.
The giant ghost let loose a howl of anguish as it was forcibly wrenched toward the ma.s.sive ape"s cavernous mouth.
Following a flash of crimson light, the giant ghost was swallowed by the Weeping Soul Beast.
The mighty Faceless Ghost Monarch, which was supposed to be comparable in power to a Spatial Tempering cultivator, had just been subdued and devoured by the Weeping Soul Beast with ease.
On this occasion, the two Long Family cultivators, as well as Ye Chu and Ye Ying, were all completely flabbergasted.
This wasn"t some kind of insignificant ghostly minion; it was a powerful Ghost Monarch! How could it have been crushed like a papier-mache structure like this? Just what kind of spirit beast was this shapes.h.i.+fting little monkey? And what kind of insane ability was that crimson arc of lightning that it had just unleashed?
The same thoughts were racing through the minds of all four cultivators.
However, before they had recovered from their shock, Han Li"s body flashed, and he instantly arrived before the white barrier of light.
He swept a sleeve through the air, and 72 streaks of azure light shot forth in a frenzy. Brilliant spiritual light flashed as they instantly combined to form a giant golden sword that was around 100 feet in length.
The giant sword only flashed once before striking the light barrier with ferocious might.
A crisp crack sounded as golden and white light intertwined with one another, and a thin white line appeared on the white light barrier.
"c.r.a.p!" Both of the Long Family cultivators had clearly underestimated the power of Han Li"s flying swords, and expressions of shock immediately appeared on their faces.
Meanwhile, the light barrier tremored before crumbling with that thin white line as the center from which all the cracks stemmed.
The white barrier of light had already been reduced to a very fragile state by Han Li"s earlier attacks, and his flying swords were able to land the final blow to destroy it.
Thus, the Blood Crystal Mohe Sword was bared to Han Li.
He didn"t hesitate even in the slightest as he activated his sword arts. The giant golden sword flashed before abruptly disappearing on the spot, but in the next instant, it reappeared and struck the crimson sword with violent force.
A loud clang rang out as piercing golden and red light radiated from the two swords. The giant golden sword tremored in response, and was completely repelled.
Han Li"s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. He swept his sleeve through the air to hurl forth several silver lightning beads, but the crimson sword remained completely unscathed even in the aftermath of the beads" explosions.
The slightly panicked Long Family cultivators calmed down again upon seeing this, and one of them cackled in a sinister manner, "Haha, just give up, you nosy brat. The Blood Crystal Mohe Sword is ranked on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll; you think you have what it takes to destroy it?"
Han Li"s expression darkened slightly as he scrutinized the crimson sword. All of a sudden, he pointed a finger at the giant golden sword.
A ringing sound erupted as the giant sword tremored, then split up into 72 small golden swords again amid a flash of brilliant golden light.
These smaller swords then manifested several hundred streaks of sword Qi, each of which was around a foot in length, and all of them began to circle through the air.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li began to chant something as he made a rapid series of hand seals, casting one incantation seal after another.
All of the flying swords immediately tremored before dispersing high up in the air, then hurtling toward all directions.
Amid a few peculiar flashes of light, all of the golden streaks of sword Qi disappeared as if they"d never existed.
Han Li had set up the Aureate Sword Formation with the giant crimson sword at the center, planning to use the formation"s astonis.h.i.+ng power to force Long Dong"s soul out of the sword or to destroy this spirit treasure altogether.