Han Li and the woman had set up those formation flags well in advance. At this moment, they had chosen to activate it, and it was yet to be seen what effect these formation flags had, but just the Aureate Sword Formation alone was enough to immediately trap the two demented minions.
One of the demented minions faltered upon seeing this before a vicious light flashed through its eyes. Its four limbs moved in a powerful manner and it disappeared as a faint crimson shadow, attempting to force its way out of the sword formation.
It was quite clear that with the demented minion"s high level of intelligence, it had quickly realized that staying here for any longer would not be a good idea.
However, the Aureate Sword Formation was not that easy to escape from. Despite the demented minion"s rapid movement techniques, several hundred golden threads suddenly appeared in its path before sweeping toward it.
Several crimson chunks erupted from empty s.p.a.ce before merging back to form the demented minion once again.
Before it had another chance to try and escape from the sword formation, golden light flashed around it as countless more golden threads appeared, then converged toward it at an astonis.h.i.+ng pace.
Golden light flashed, and this demented minion was sliced into countless chunks once again.
Following a string of loud thumps, all of the crimson chunks self-detonated to form a cloud of blood mist, which swept toward the edge of the sword formation.
Due to the fact that the mist was insubstantial in nature, it was able to completely disregard the countless sword threads around it. At this moment, a cold light flashed through Han Li"s eyes as he stood outside the formation.
The abilities of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were not limited to this repertoire. With that in mind, he immediately activated his sword arts and all of the s.h.i.+mmering golden sword threads suddenly turned snowy white at his behest. Wisps of glacial Qi emanated from these sword threads in a wild frenzy and even though the blood mist was insubstantial, as these sword threads pa.s.sed through it, a layer of ice quickly materialized on its surface.
In the end, the blood mist was completely frozen into a chunk of translucent ice and was unable to move any further.
A rumbling thunderclap erupted as countless thin arcs of lightning shot forth in unison from the sword threads. All of a sudden, golden light illuminated the entire formation, and the chunk of ice was reduced to powdered snow by the power of the lightning strikes.
A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li"s face upon seeing this. However, in the next instant, his smile completely congealed.
The powdered snow drifting through the air suddenly began to glow with crimson light and melted into drops of liquid that were as vibrant red as blood. Before the sword threads around them could converge once again, all of these drops of liquid hurtled back in retreat.
Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed at the very center of the sword formation to form that demented minion again.
The crimson light emanating from its body had dimmed slightly, but it wasn"t a very noticeable change. The Aureate Sword Formation seemed to have vanquished this creature just a moment ago, but in reality, it hadn"t inflicted much damage at all.
Han Li was feeling even warier upon seeing this.
He immediately injected more magic power into the sword formation to activate the full extent of its power. All of a sudden, layers upon layers of golden threads appeared within the sword formation, and thousands of those sword threads had emerged in the blink of an eye. Their numbers continued to increase as they swept toward the center of the formation at a rate that was more than twice as fast as their original speed.
It appeared that they would be upon the demented minions in mere moments.
Han Li took this opportunity to shoot a glance at the woman, only to find that she had closed her eyes and was carrying a formation plate with one hand while chanting an incantation. Han Li didn"t know what kind of ability she was trying to unleash, but it had to be quite a powerful one, seeing as it was taking so long to prepare.
Meanwhile, the 36 formation flags were trembling gently amid the tumbling and surging of countless silver runes.
Those runes were all in beveled silver text!
Han Li"s expression changed slightly upon seeing this, yet he didn"t have time to ponder the issue any longer as the other demented minion in the sword formation suddenly sprang into action.
In contrast with the first demented minion, this one had remained at the center of the sword formation this entire time. At this moment, it suddenly flapped its wings, and several tens of crimson tendrils suddenly shot forth from various parts of its body, each of which was extremely thin and was several tens of feet in length.
Before Han Li had figured out what these tendrils were capable of, they abruptly began to sweep through the air in a violent manner, creating a ball of blurry whip projections that encapsulated the demented minion"s body.
From a distance, these whip projections appeared to be a giant crimson ball, and it was still expanding at an alarming rate.
As such, the crimson ball quickly came into contact with the converging sword threads.
Golden and crimson light intertwined with one another amid a sharp screeching sound. Han Li"s sword formation was able to prevent the crimson ball from expanding any further, but it was unable to slice through it.
Han Li"s pupils abruptly contracted as he made a hand seal. Countless golden threads began to emanate white glacial Qi again as they swept toward the crimson ball from all directions.
However, a dark expression soon appeared on Han Li"s face.
As soon as the white glacial Qi came into contact with those whip projections, they were immediately repelled by an enormous force. The slight traces of ice and frost that formed over those tendrils were also quickly cast aside as those tendrils danced through the air.
As such, even his glacial Qi had failed to produce a satisfactory outcome.
Right at this moment, crimson light flashed from the demented minion"s body as several tens of additional tendrils shot forth to contribute to the existing crimson ball.
With the influx of crimson tendrils, the crimson ball suddenly seized the ascendancy in the battle against the relentless sword threads. The crimson ball began to slowly expand once again, gradually forcing back the sword threads, and this process only seemed to be accelerating.
Meanwhile, the other demented minion seemed to have been inspired by what its companion was doing, and its body transformed into a crimson blur again as it hurtled toward the golden threads on the other side.
Countless crimson tendrils appeared over the surface of its body and also began to rapidly swing through the air. As such, the exact same scene was replicated once again. The golden threads were forced back by the powerful whip projections, powerless to oppose their advances.
Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this. It seemed that the Aureate Sword Formation really wouldn"t be enough to take care of these two demented minions.
As such, he immediately rustled his sleeve to produce a dozen or so golden and silver beads.
Han Li hid these lightning beads up his sleeve and appraised the situation within the sword formation with an intense unblinking gaze and a dark expression on his face.
All of a sudden, the woman beside him ceased her chanting. Han Li was elated to hear this, and he hurriedly turned his gaze toward her.
Sure enough, the woman had finished preparing her technique, and the formation plate in her hand was emanating scintillating golden light. Countless silver runes were drifting and revolving around her body and at the same time, the sky had dimmed significantly. Gusts of Yin winds were swept up nearby and even though they weren"t very fierce, they possessed a penetrative bone-chilling quality that made one s.h.i.+ver involuntarily.
The technique that she was preparing had even summoned the world"s origin Qi.
As side from that, a burst of immense power was also emanating from within the formation plate in her hand.
The enormity of this power sent a chill down Han Li"s spine, and it struck him with the same unfathomable feeling he had experienced when facing the two Yaksha Monarchs earlier.
Han Li was stunned by this observation, and he tried to focus his gaze on the formation plate in the woman"s hand, only to find his vision impeded by the piercing spiritual light emanating from it.
Without any time for further thought, he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their maximal extent, thereby allowing him to instantly glean the situation within the formation plate.
"Golden seal text!" Han Li exclaimed in astonishment.
Even though he didn"t recognize so much as a single one of the golden runes that had surfaced over the formation plate, he could tell from their form and fearsome spiritual power that this was clearly the golden seal text, which was even more mysterious than spiritual power.
There were extremely few high-grade cultivators even in the Spirit Realm that understood and were capable of using such a legendary text.
The woman seemed to have sensed Han Li"s gaze, and she turned to him with a dainty smile before suddenly raising the formation plate high up into the air with both hands.
An incredible scene ensued.
The formation plate began to rotate in mid-air amid a layer of brilliant golden light. A fist-sized golden ball of light suddenly materialized at its center, and a burst of astonis.h.i.+ng spiritual pressure abruptly erupted into the air.
The dark clouds in the sky immediately began to tumble and surge as howling winds swept through the air.
At the same time, the 36 formation flags all began emitting the roars of dragons and tigers as countless specks of light of different colors emerged nearby, then converged toward the flags in unison.
All of a sudden, brilliant spiritual light radiated forth from all 36 flags. In the next instant, 36 dazzling pillars of light shot forth in unison, all of which were around the same thickness as a large bowl. These pillars of light climbed upward and disappeared into the dark clouds up above in a flash.
All of a sudden, a deafening thunderclap rang out from within the dark clouds, following which a ma.s.sive formation of light that was around 1,000 feet in size slowly emerged. The center of this formation was situated directly above the formation plate down below, and it suddenly expelled a thin golden light that disappeared into the ball of golden light within the formation plate. The golden ball immediately rose up into the air, heading directly toward the center of the ma.s.sive formation.
At this point, Han Li was already completely flabbergasted.
The woman hadn"t revealed to him what abilities this formation possessed, and had only asked him to buy her time. Even though the formation was still yet to reveal its true power, it was most definitely an immensely powerful formation, one that far exceeded the might of the Aureate Sword Formation.
At this moment, the woman was sweating profusely as she struggled to hold the formation plate aloft. Her face had been drained off all color, and she appeared to be on the verge of collapse.
The golden ball of light was finally sucked into the center of the formation, and the two combined as one amid a loud buzzing sound. The light formation was already astonis.h.i.+ngly huge, yet its area swelled by severalfold once again with the injection of the golden ball of light, and it covered virtually the entire sky.
The spiritual pressure emanating from the formation was so devastating that even Han Li"s body swayed involuntarily, and he was forced to stumble back a few steps.
At the same time, the two Yaksha Monarchs that were several thousand kilometers away suddenly exchanged a shocked glance. Neither of them uttered a single word, but they both disappeared into s.p.a.ce in unison.
At this moment, the two demented minions finally charged out of the Aureate Sword Formation before pouncing toward Han Li and the woman with crimson light flas.h.i.+ng from their bodies.
Han Li"s heart jolted with shock, and just as he was about to hurl his lightning beads at them, two pillars of white light were suddenly blasted forth from the light formation up above, striking the two demented minions in a flash.
The two formidable demented minions abruptly disappeared amid the pillars of white light.
"That"s a teleportation formation!"
Han Li was immediately able to identify that the two demented minions had been killed. Instead, they"d been teleported to some unknown location as soon as they were struck by the white light.
A smug smile appeared on the woman"s face, and she was just about to say something to Han Li when her expression suddenly changed drastically. She then hurriedly flew up toward the light formation in the sky as a streak of light.
Han Li was rather bewildered upon seeing this, but after quickly a.s.sessing the situation, he also followed along after the woman as a streak of azure light.
Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from two different spots in the air around 1,000 feet away, and two ma.s.sive humanoid figures emerged out of thin air just in time to see what Han Li and the woman were doing.
The two ma.s.sive Yaksha Monarchs immediately let loose thunderous roars of rage. One of them threw a fist at Han Li and the woman from afar while crimson light flashed from the hand of its companion, and it sent a vast expanse of light sweeping through the air.