In the face of the devilish ape"s fierce retaliation, the Divine Essencefused Light and five-colored glacial flames that Han Li had set up were almost instantly destroyed. In the end, he was only barely able to withstand this round of attacks using the small crystalline s.h.i.+eld.
Not only was the devilish ape immensely powerful, the purple blade segment was also an extremely lethal weapon, and Han Li was having a very hard time coping with its attacks, even from afar.
With his vast wealth of battle experience, Han Li naturally immediately decided that the best course of action available to him was to use his Gold Devouring Beetles to keep the blade segment at bay.
Meanwhile, his body combined as one with the Provenance True Devil Projection, and he conjured up a weapon for each of the four additional arms that he gained to oppose the giant ape"s fists.
At the same time, the two Gold Devouring Beetles struggled and thrashed with all their might to try and escape from the grasp of the giant ape.
Following their mutation, the Gold Devouring Beetles had attained enormous strength, and they really were able to free themselves before immediately setting off in pursuit of the purple blade segment.
Upon seeing this, the devilish ape swung its ma.s.sive fists at Han Li and engaged him in melee combat.
With Han Li"s current immensely powerful body, he certainly wasn"t going to back down from a physical brawl, and thus, the result of all that was the current situation.
The devilish ape"s armor and that purple blade segment were extremely powerful, but the fearsome aspect about it was its insane strength.
Even though Han Li was using all six arms and activating his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent, he was still being forced onto the back foot.
However, perhaps the devilish ape didn"t want to aggravate its existing injuries or perhaps it had decided that its current attacks would be enough to take care of Han Li. In any case, it didn"t unleash any additional abilities, and only used its fists to attack him.
As such, after growing accustomed to the giant ape"s startling speed, Han Li was able to deal with its attacks in a composed manner.
However, his treasures didn"t do much to the devilish ape"s purple armor, either, only leaving a few marks here and there.
This suit of strange purple armor was like an indestructible turtle sh.e.l.l that encapsulated the giant ape"s entire body, and even Han Li was finding it to be quite difficult to deal with.
It appeared that he would have to devise some other type of strategy.
Han Li"s expression remained completely unchanged, but countless thoughts were racing through his mind.
All of a sudden, he took a deep breath before extending a hand that was as pristine white as jade out of his sleeve.
Five white skulls then emerged from his fingertip before opening their mouths in unison to send a wave of five-colored glacial flames surging toward the devilish ape.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a small azure cauldron, and countless azure threads shot forth from within cauldron, hurtling directly toward his opponent.
Meanwhile, a loud thunderclap erupted from behind Han Li, following which a pair of wings appeared on his back.
He flapped those wings gently, and his body shot forth toward the exit of the hall as an arc of azure and white lightning.
He was planning to unleash these opportunities to keep this devilish ape at bay for now, then fly back to open up some distance between them.
After that, he was going to lure the devilish ape into the pa.s.sageway, where the Spring Dawn Sword Formation had been set up earlier.
Only with the power of the sword formation would he be able to trap and kill this devilish beast.
However, an extremely alarming turn of events suddenly unfolded.
Azure and white lightning flashed, following which Han Li appeared before the only exit, only for a burst of crimson light to flash right beside him in the same instant.
Immediately thereafter, a crimson object that was several tens of feet in length appeared out of thin air, then crashed down toward him with devastating might.
It was none other than the crimson bed that the devilish ape had been lying on before!
Han Li was naturally quite startled by the sudden emergence of this crimson bed, and he cast his gaze toward it to find that the entire bed was radiating brilliant crimson light. At the same time, runes of different sizes were surging from the bed in a frenzy, giving it quite a menacing appearance.
Han Li naturally didn"t dare to take the bed lightly, and he let loose a low cry almost in a reflexive manner. His four golden arms all swung their weapons upward in unison to form a barricade, while his two hands, one black and one white, also sent countless fist projections hurtling toward the bed.
The treasure had appeared far too abruptly for him to be able to unleash any other abilities, so he could only oppose it with his body alone. Even so, he was confident that the combined powers of his six arms would be enough to send this bed flying.
Thus, golden light flashed as the four weapons struck the crimson bed, and golden and crimson light intertwined amid a resounding boom.
However, the bed only faltered for an instant before slowly continuing on its descent.
Han Li"s expression darkened, and the fist projections he"d unleashed suddenly converged to form a pair of ma.s.sive head-sized fists, one black and one white, both of which also flew up toward the crimson bed.
However, right at this moment, Han Li was suddenly struck by a bone-chilling sensation, and gooseb.u.mps appeared all over his body without any premonition.
He didn"t know what kind of dangers were present, but he"d always been extremely confident his instincts. As such, he immediately withdrew his two hands before pointing toward the crystalline s.h.i.+eld up ahead. The s.h.i.+eld had already shrunk down to its original size, and he was trying to activate it against while making a hand seal to summon some other incantation seal.
However, it already seemed to be too late.
All of a sudden, a thin white line appeared directly behind Han Li, and a crimson arm with sharp hook-like fingers reached out from within.
The s.h.i.+mmering golden layer of protective spiritual light and Han Li"s immensely powerful body were punctured like mere papier-mâché structures before the arm emerged out the front of his chest.
Han Li stared at the arm protruding out of his chest, and his facial muscles spasmed as a glazed-over look appeared in his eyes, as if he were unable to believe what had just happened to him.
The giant ape"s cackling reverberated throughout the entire hall again, but the voice wasn"t coming from the devilish ape within the suit of purple armor. Instead, it was emanating from the spatial rift behind Han Li, so it was clearly coming from the owner of the crimson arm.
"You dare to try and kill me, little brat? You"re asking to be killed! I can see you have some very pure magic power in your body; you"ll be perfect sustenance for me." A crimson shadow emerged from the spatial rift while chortling with glee.
Immediately thereafter, the arm that had punctured through Han Li"s chest drew back, and it opened its mouth bite off Han Li"s head.
However, right at this moment, an incredible turn of events abruptly unfolded.
Han Li"s body was suddenly enshrouded within a ball of green spiritual light before disappearing as specks of green light. What remained around the crimson arm was nothing more than a punctured green talisman.
As such, the giant ape"s mouth naturally chomped down onto thin air, and it was quite startled by this development before immediately turning toward the exit of the hall.
Within the devilish Qi outside the exit, green light flashed, and Han Li appeared with a slightly pale complexion.
The crimson shadow turned its attention to his chest and was surprised to find that it was completely unscathed.
If it weren"t for the fact that a large hole had been torn into his azure robes there, the crimson shadow would"ve been led into thinking that it had fallen under the effects of an illusionary technique.
The crimson shadow then turned toward its own arm to find that a s.h.i.+mmering green talisman had been punctured in Han Li"s place.
Its expression changed slightly as it reached out toward the talisman with its other arm, but right at this moment, Han Li harrumphed coldly before uttering the word "return".
The green talisman swayed before transforming into a streak of green light, which then disappeared into Han Li"s body in a flash.
This talisman was naturally none other than the Spiritform Talisman that Han Li had been nurturing day and night within his body ever since he"d arrived in the Spirit Realm.
Taking into account Han Li"s current cultivation base and the fact that the talisman had been nurtured for several hundred years, it was naturally far more potent than it was back in the human world.
As such, in the instant that the crimson shadow"s claws were about to puncture his body, he activated the Spiritform Talisman so it could take that lethal attack in his stead.
If it weren"t for his quick thinking, even if he could"ve escaped from that surprise attack alive due to his powerful body, he would"ve definitely sustained severe wounds. However, he wouldn"t be able to use this Spiritform Talisman anytime soon; it would have to be nurtured within his body again for at least a century.
At present, Han Li was more concerned about just what this crimson shadow was, and why it had appeared here in this place of slumber for this devilish ape. From what it had just said earlier, it was referring to itself as the same being, so could it be an avatar of the devilish ape"s?
Han Li wore a rather bewildered expression, and he cast his gaze toward the crimson shadow with blue light flas.h.i.+ng through his eyes.
Even though the crimson shadow was enshrouded within a layer of crimson light, thereby making its body appear rather blurry and indistinct, Han Li was able to see just what it was with great clarity through the use of his spirit eye ability.
The sight that he was greeted by immediately made his pupils contract drastically as he discovered that aside from the fact that the crimson shadow appeared to possess no substantial body, it was completely identical in appearance to the devilish ape within the suit of purple armor.
It had the same three horns, the same mouthful of sharp fangs, and the same pair of extremely long arms that extended past its knees.
Seeing as Han Li was standing rooted to the spot with a hesitant look on his face, the crimson shadow turned to him with a sinister smile before waving a hand toward the armored devilish ape from afar.
The giant ape immediately strode toward the crimson shadow, which disappeared into the ape"s body as a streak of crimson light.
A burst of black and red devilish Qi swept forth from within the purple suit of armor, following which a burst of unfathomable spiritual pressure erupted directly into the heavens.
Spiritual pressure of such astonis.h.i.+ng potency was certainly not something that should belong to a severely wounded Body Integration Stage being, and Han Li"s expression changed drastically as he took several steps backward. At the same time, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he recalled a devilish secret technique that was recorded in the Heavenbearing Devil Arts. "You"re using the Body and Soul Division Technique!"
"Hmm? How do you know the name of this secret technique? Indeed, I am using this technique to aid in my recovery. Splitting up my body and soul incurs a certain level of risk, but it speeds up my recovery by twofold. Come to think of it, you"re a rather strange being. You"re clearly a Spirit Realm being, yet you"ve mastered the top-rate devilish arts of our Elder Devil Realm. Even though it"s been heavily adjusted to suit a being like you, much of its power has still been retained," the devilish ape mused in a cold voice.
"Does that mean you"re close to a full recovery already?" Han Li"s expression instantly darkened significantly.
"Haha! My body is recovering a little slowly, but my soul is almost fully recovered. If you know what"s good for you, you"ll come over here and let me suck away your blood. Perhaps if I"m pleased with the taste, I"ll release a wisp of your soul so you can reincarnate yourself in the next life," the devilish ape cackled with mirth.