All of the pillars emitted a burst of ringing before b.a.l.l.s of white light surfaced above them, manifesting a series of sinister dragon heads. All of these dragon heads then opened their mouths to blast forth arcs of black lightning.
A low roar suddenly erupted within the mist as a ball of silver light hurtled forth. Following a flash of light, the Lightning Beast had appeared in a corner of the net of lightning. However, those black arcs of lightning seemed to have locked onto the Lightning Beast as they all changed directions to compensate for its movement.
The Lightning Beast let loose a roar of fury, but it was clearly extremely fearful of these arcs of black lightning, as evidenced by the fact that it was desperately attempting to evade them.
Thus, a ball of silver light began to spring from one spot in the restriction to another in a wraith-like manner, but the tens of arcs of black lightning followed it relentlessly in hot pursuit.
All of a sudden, loud thunderclaps rang out within the restriction, and the shopkeeper also began to chant something again.
The black arcs of lightning accelerated even further, leaving trails of afterimages in their wake and enshrouding the entire s.p.a.ce within the restriction in black lightning.
Han Li looked on with a slightly awestruck expression.
He didn"t know what kind of lightning ability these black arcs of lightning were, but they were astonis.h.i.+ngly fast. If he were trapped within that restriction, he wouldn"t be able to evade for long even with his Thunderstorm Wings.
This Lightning Beast was quite proficient in lightning movement techniques, but it most likely wouldn"t be able to last much longer, either.
Just as he"d expected, only a short while had pa.s.sed by before the ball of silver light was struck by several arcs of black lightning at once.
The Lightning Beast"s body was forcibly revealed in mid-air amid a howl of anguish, and it was convulsing spasmodically. As such, all of the other arcs of black lightning also converged and struck it as well.
A thunderous roar of rage erupted from the Lightning Beast"s beak as crimson, white, blue, and golden lightning erupted from its body at once in a desperate attempt to keep the black lightning at bay.
The shopkeeper"s eyes lit up upon seeing this, and the took a deep breath before striding forward, then slamming his palm into a copper pillar in front of him.
All of a sudden, bursts of white spiritual power flower from his palm into the copper pillar in a frenzy.
The thin arcs of lightning being blasted from the dragon heads up above immediately thickened by around twofold amid a rumbling boom.
On the other end, the Lightning Beast was finally unable to resist any longer in the face of the fearsome black lightning, and it plummeted toward the ground as the four different types of lightning around its body became extremely dull and l.u.s.terless.
Meanwhile, the black arcs of lightning in the sky formed a series of black chains that bound the Lightning Beast tightly, thereby completely immobilizing it.
"Alright, you can all go in now, Fellow Daoists," the shopkeeper announced.
He then immediately withdrew his palm from the copper pillar before casting an incantation seal onto it.
The copper pillar tremored before the ma.s.sive net of lightning crumbled and vanished.
Han Li"s trio glanced at one another before flying into the cage as streaks of spiritual light without any hesitation. The three of them situated themselves around 10 feet away from the bound Lightning Beast, not daring to get too close to it.
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper himself also appeared beside Han Li and the others in a flash.
"I"m going to use a secret technique to lock away the source of lightning within this beast"s body. The three of you, listen for my signal, then inject your powers of lightning into the beast"s body," the shopkeeper quickly instructed.
He then flipped his hand over to produce five pitch-black daggers.
The daggers were very light, as if they had been made from wood.
However, both the armor-clad man and the young man"s expressions changed drastically upon seeing this. "Blackstar Daggers!"
Despite their obvious astonishment, neither of them asked any questions this time, and the shopkeeper didn"t provide any explanation, either, so Han Li was left wondering what these daggers could be.
Several streaks of black light flashed through the air, and the five daggers embedded themselves into the Lightning Beast"s limbs and heart.
The Lightning Beast let loose an earthshattering roar as it thrashed violently within the black chains. Not a single drop of blood seeped out of its stab wounds.
Spiritual light swirled around the five daggers, following which the Lightning Beast"s eyes glazed over, and the four types of lightning around its body finally disappeared.
The shopkeeper blasted forth another ball of white light from his mouth upon seeing this. This was only a fist-sized rhomboid white crystal, but it was imbued with astonis.h.i.+ng spiritual pressure, and Han Li"s eyes narrowed as he looked on from the side.
In contrast with high-grade cultivators of the human race, high-grade beings of the Flying Spirit Race didn"t have Nascent Souls. Instead, they had crystal cores, and those cores were just as important to them as Nascent Souls were to human cultivators.
The shopkeeper threw up a large mouthful of blood essence onto the crystal core before pointing a finger at it in a solemn manner.
The core immediately began to descend and disappeared into the Lightning Beast"s head in a flash.
Almost at the exact same moment, the shopkeeper yelled, "Go!"
Han Li and the others immediately sprung into action.
Han Li rubbed his hands together, and arcs of golden lightning surfaced between his palms.
The armor-clad man opened his mouth, and white lightning could be seen s.h.i.+mmering within. As for the young man, he flapped his wings, and arcs of silver lightning appeared over those wings.
A resounding boom erupted as all three types of lightning struck the Lightning Beast"s body in unison.
A peculiar scene unfolded.
Han Li"s Divine Devilbane Lightning and the lightning unleashed by the other two cultivators were all drawn into the five black daggers upon coming into contact with the Lightning Beast"s body.
Layers of black light then appeared over the five daggers before transforming into arcs of black lightning that disappeared soundlessly into the Lightning Beast"s body.
The young man and the armor-clad man both faltered upon seeing this, but their lightning output did not cease.
Thus, the black light s.h.i.+mmering from the five daggers became more and more piercing, and the daggers themselves began to tremor slightly.
Han Li cast his glance toward the shopkeeper to find that he was seated off to the side with his legs crossed and his eyes closed while making a strange hand seal, seemingly unleas.h.i.+ng some kind of secret technique.
Bright white light was radiating around his body, clearly an indication that he was unleas.h.i.+ng all of his spiritual power to its maximal extent.
Han Li couldn"t ascertain what he was doing, so he withdrew his gaze and focused on maintaining his Divine Devilbane Lightning output.
After a while, the daggers had absorbed a vast amount of lightning, but they did nothing other than continue to tremor.
However, the shopkeeper"s face had become extremely pale, and sweat had begun to bead on his forehead. Furthermore, veins were bulging on his forehead as well as on his neck, making it appear as if he were going through intense exertion. Even the spiritual light around his body had dimmed slightly.
Meanwhile, the projection of a fist-sized white crystal had appeared on his glabella. The projection was flas.h.i.+ng erratically, and it was none other than his crystal core.
After some more time had pa.s.sed, all of the color had drained from the shopkeeper"s face, and he suddenly rasped, "Increase your lightning output!"
Han Li"s trio were all rather disgruntled by this instruction.
This prolonged period of lightning output had exhausted close to half of their lightning power. If they were to increase their output, they wouldn"t be able to last very long.
However, they could all hear the resolute and implacable tone in the shopkeeper"s voice, so all of them did as they were instructed after only a brief hesitation.
Thus, loud thunderclaps erupted as the three different types of lightning virtually inundated the Lightning Beast"s entire body.
Through their increased lightning output, the five daggers embedded within the Lightning Beast"s body finally began to display some changes.
The daggers gradually turned a shade of vibrant red, as if they were sucking blood.
At this moment, the projection of the crystal core on the shopkeeper"s glabella also took on a crimson hue, and it also began to expand and shrink in an erratic manner.
After letting loose a low cry, the shopkeeper abruptly opened his eyes to blast forth another item from his mouth.
It was a green wooden badge with layers of complex patterns all over its surface, giving it a rather mysterious appearance.
As soon as the wooden badge appeared, it flashed over to the Lightning Beast"s head.
A plume of thin green threads shot forth from within the badge before disappearing into the Lightning Beast"s head in a flash.
The unconscious Lightning Beast shuddered and as the wooden badge buzzed gently, a portion of a miniature green Lightning Beast projection was drawn out of the Lightning Beast"s body by the countless green threads.
An elated look appeared on the shopkeeper"s face, and he began to make hand seals while chanting something in a soundless manner at the same time.
The buzzing from the wooden badge intensified as the Lightning Beast projection continued to be forcibly dragged out of its body little by little.
All of a sudden, golden light flashed within the Lightning Beast"s l.u.s.terless eyes. An explosive thunderclap erupted from its body, and the five black daggers were almost completely extricated amid a loud boom.
The four different types of lightning surfaced over the Lightning Beast"s body again.
The shopkeeper"s heart jolted with shock, yet before he had a chance to do anything else, piercing green light erupted from the projection of the Lightning Beast as it disappeared into its body again. At the same time, the Lightning Beast let loose another thunderous roar, and the arcs of lighting all over its body intensified in power as it struggled and thrashed with all its might.
An expression of shock and fury appeared on the shopkeeper"s face as he hurriedly turned to Han Li"s trio, and asked, "Can you increase your lightning output any further."
"No, I"m already at my limit." The young man"s face was also rather pale.
"I won"t be able to, either." The armor-clad man appeared to be in slightly better condition, but he also expressed an inability to offer any further output.
As for Han Li, he merely shook his head in response.
The shopkeeper was slightly disappointed to hear this, but he then immediately gritted his teeth as he said, "Alright, looks like we"ll have to take the risk, then. Maintain your current lightning output, and I"ll bring the five-colored lightning down on this beast. With its power, we have a very good chance at success."
Han Li and the others" expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, but none of them objected to this course of action in the end.
Thus, the shopkeeper paid no further heed to the struggling Lightning Beast as he flapped his wings and slowly rose up into the air.