The burly humanoid figure had silver lightning revolving all around his body, and after steadying himself, he raised his head, revealing himself to be a middle-aged man with a head of red hair and a heavy beard.
The man had a square face and a huge hook nose that resembled a falcon"s beak. There was a pair of crimson wings on his back that were crackling with arcs of lightning, and he resembled the incarnation of the Lightning G.o.d.
However, at this moment, his face was quite pale, and there were many charred sections on the silver robe that he was wearing. One of his sleeves had been completely torn off to reveal a bare arm.
This man was an early-Body Integration cultivator, and he seemed to be in an even sorrier state than Han Li. As soon as he appeared, he immediately turned to look behind himself with a panicked expression.
As soon as Han Li caught sight of the man, his heart jolted with shock, and he couldn"t help but exclaim, "It"s you!"
The man immediately turned to Han Li upon hearing his voice, and a shocked look also appeared on his face at the sight of Han Li.
Right at this moment, a thought seemed to have occurred to Han Li, and a hint of excitement appeared on his face.
In the next instant, he rose to his feet on his flying carriage, then appeared behind Doll in a wraith-like manner.
Han Li laid a hand onto Doll"s shoulder, and she was instantly drawn up his sleeve as a ball of white light.
Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed from beneath Han Li"s feet, and the speed of his flying carriage instantly doubled as he hurtled over to just over 1,000 feet away from the burly man.
The burly man swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li before asking with furrowed brows, "Han Li? Why are you here? And why are you in such a bad condition?"
The burly man clearly recognized him.
"Shouldn"t I be the one asking you that, Brother Lei? You look to be in an even worse situation than I am; are you being hunted by someone as well?" Han Li asked with a wry smile.
"Hmph, I have indeed encountered some trouble, but my situation is still better than yours. I can see that you"ve reached the mid-Body Integration Stage since we last met; how did you exhaust your magic power to such a degree? You"re not being hunted by Grand Ascension Stage beings, are you?" the burly man replied.
"I am indeed being hunted by Grand Ascension Stage beings. You seem to be really panicked despite your ability to create lightning formations; could it be that you"re also being hunted by Grand Ascension Stage beings?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Hehe, looks like we"re both in the same boat. Who are you being pursued by? Why are there suddenly so many Grand Ascension Stage beings around?" the burly man asked.
A peculiar look appeared on Han Li"s face. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to, Brother Lei? Our human race and the nearby few races are currently in the midst of a devilish tribulation, so I"m obviously being hunted by beings from the Elder Devil Race. Are you unaware of all this?"
The burly man immediately drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "Devilish tribulation? Could it be that you"re being pursued by a Sacred Ancestor? I just came out of seclusion several months ago; how am I supposed to know about this?"
"I see, it"s no wonder that you haven"t heard about the devilish tribulation, then. I"m being pursued by several Sacred Ancestor clones, all of which possess late-Body Integration Stage powers, so I naturally had no choice but to flee. Are you being pursued by a Sacred Ancestor clone as well, Brother Lei?" Han Li asked.
"I don"t know if they"re Sacred Ancestors, but they are indeed able to control extremely pure true devil Qi. One of them uses a cultivation art that can suppress my Five Lightning Physique, and as for the other one, I still haven"t been able to ascertain her level of power; perhaps she"s also a Sacred Ancestor clone," the burly man replied in an ambiguous manner.
Han Li"s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. It was quite clear that Lei Yunzi was hiding something, but he couldn"t be bothered to pry any further now. Instead, he quickly changed the subject. "We"re quite fortunate to have b.u.mped into one another. Do you still recall the lightning formation that you introduced to me when we last met? If we join forces..."
Lei Yunzi"s eyes immediately lit up with elation upon hearing this. "Ah, you"re talking about the dual lightning formation, right? How could I have forgotten something like that? Haha, there"s a good chance we"ll be able to escape from our pursuers now."
"In that case, let"s not waste any more time. We... Hmm? Where"s this fragrance coming from?" Han Li faltered mid-sentence as he suddenly caught a whiff of a special scent in the air.
Lei Yunzi"s face paled even further as he hurriedly yelled, "c.r.a.p, those two have tracked me down again! Come to me, Fellow Daoist Han; I"ll get you out of here first!"
Han Li was also quite startled to hear this, and his flying carriage immediately shot forth toward Lei Yuanzi as a streak of azure light.
After just two flashes, Han Li appeared beside Lei Yunzi, then stowed the flying carriage away with a wave of his hand.
Meanwhile, Lei Yunzi made a hand seal with an urgent look on his face, and countless arcs of silver lightning erupted out of his body and crimson wings to instantly form a brand new lightning formation.
A resounding thunderclap rang out, and lightning flashed like countless silver snakes to inundate both Han Li and Lei Yunzi. However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the lightning formation, and a pink floral tree emerged out of thin air.
The tree was around 1,000 feet tall, and it was releasing an indescribably fragrant scent.
The tree rustled up above, and countless pink flowers descended from it, then transformed into a burst of pink light that swept downward.
Strangely enough, the pink light appeared to be moving very slowly, but it instantly covered a distance of several thousand feet and reached the lightning formation down below.
"There"s not enough time! Dodge!"
The pink light was extremely alluring and beautiful, but Lei Yunzi was appraising it as if it were a ghastly apparition. He immediately abandoned his lightning formation and flapped his wings vigorously, vanis.h.i.+ng into thin air as an arc of lightning.
This was the first time that Han Li had seen this pink tree, but his heart jolted at the sight of the evasive measures that Lei Yunzi had taken, and he also shot forth out of the lightning formation as a thread of azure and white light.
The thread of light covered a distance of over 2,000 feet in a single flash while the giant lightning formation was instantly snuffed out by the pink light.
This pink light seemed to possess the ability to repress the power of lightning.
The azure and white light faded, and Han Li reappeared before drawing a sharp breath as he cast his gaze back to where the lightning formation had been just a moment ago.
He turned to Lei Yunzi with a stunned look in his eyes. "Brother Lei, are these..."
"That"s right, these two are my pursuers. They"re tracking me down faster and faster now," Lei Yunzi replied as he forced a smile onto his own face.
Han Li"s heart sank upon hearing this, but he could only steel himself and focus his attention on the floral tree projection.
However, aside from the projection, nothing else appeared in the nearby s.p.a.ce. Of course, neither Lei Yunzi nor Han Li were going to be fooled by such measly tricks; they merely remained on the spot and refrained from doing anything rash.
"Hehe, why aren"t you running away this time? Could it be that you"ve given up and are willing to hand that thing over?"
As soon as this voice trailed off, a hideous black-robed man appeared beside the floral tree before instantly turning toward Han Li and Lei Yunzi.
"Oh? And who might you be?" the hideous man interrogated as he appraised Han Li with a vicious look in his eyes.
"You"re telling me this man is making you run for your life?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Of course not. Aside from him, there"s also..."
"There"s also me!"
An indifferent female voice suddenly rang out from above the floral tree projection.
Immediately thereafter, pink light flashed erratically from the surface of the projection, and it crumbled away into specks of spiritual light, revealing a barefoot woman in a white dress in its place.
The woman had a set of peerlessly beautiful facial features, and she was standing atop a giant pink flower.
Han Li was instantly struck by a sense of asphyxiation at the sight of the woman, and his expression darkened significantly.
He was immediately able to ascertain that this woman was either a Grand Ascension Stage being or a clone of such a being. Otherwise, there was no way that he would be struck by such a strong sense of foreboding.
The woman glanced at Han Li and Lei Yunzi, and a mysterious smile appeared on her face.