Just as Han Li and the Elder Devil were about to clash, the devil’s expression suddenly stirred and he glanced behind him.
Han Li also soon sensed something as well and glanced in the same direction with a raised brow.
Soon, a blaze flashed from a distance, followed by a streak of light. When he saw how quickly it was travelling, along with the faint sounds of a storm, he was surprised.
A fierce aura bled from the devil as he flew forward to meet the approaching light with an ominous glint in his eyes. In a mere moment, the streak closed the distance of over ten kilometers, revealing a monk with dishevelled hair.
Hek had a stern expression on his face, with one hand holding a scarlet alms bowl and the other a meter-long green staff. When he saw the two, he was surprised to see that they had the same face.
The monk looked at them both and smiled, asking, “May I ask which one is the Fellow Daoist that emerged from the trade meet?”
Han Li’s expression stirred and he silently glanced at him.
The monk possessed mid-Nascent Soul cultivation and had unordinaru treasures, so it came as no surprise that he would dare to follow him. However, Han Li was disinterested since he didn’t know his intentions.
As for the Elder Devil, when he saw the intruder, he looked to the sky with his hands behind his back and ignored him.
The monk grew furious! Ever since he entered Nascent Soul stage and came into possession of his Bloodfire Bowl and Coiling Dragon Staff, those of equivalent strength had all treated him with great courtesy.
Now, these two disregarded him, despite appearing to possess somewhat similar cultivation, and he couldn’t help but hold an unsightly expression on his face. To make matters worse, their appearances were similar, so they appeared to be together. If he were to fight them, he couldn’t predict the outcome despite his confidence. As such, he could only forcefully restrain himself as he began to plan how to best strike them down.
But before he could conceive an approach, more lights s.h.i.+ned from over the horizon. Three various-colored streaks were flying together towards them.
When the monk saw this, he was stunned.
He was only able to chase Han Li after using an additional ability to increase his speed. Now, there were three unknown parties that were just a step behind. It appeared there would be some difficulty to claim the treasures for himself, but with these new arrivals, he wouldn’t need to face these two cultivators alone.
With that thought, the monk revealed a gloomy countenance and gave them a sinister glance.
As if sensing the monk’s ill intent, the Elder Devil suddenly focused his gaze on him and then looked at the incoming lights with impatience.
“How troublesome. I originally believed that you would be the only bother. I didn’t think that there were more people coming after you. Since that’s the case, let’s start off with him.” After those cold words were said, the Elder Devil’s body flashed with black light and rushed towards the monk.
The monk inwardly shouted in alarm and instantly flipped the alms bowl, releasing a cloud of scarlet flame and forming a barrier around him. Then the dark-green staff in his other hand transformed into an emerald flood dragon and charged forward to meet the streak of black light.
With green mist trailing from the flood dragon’s mouth, it fiercely swiped at the Elder Devil, but before the strike landed, the devil’s body quivered with light and disappeared.
Tapping his vast experience in battle, the monk instantly raised his hands to form an incantation gesture and released several green spell seals into the barrier of flame protecting him. The inferno surged and began to circle with astonis.h.i.+ng momentum, turning into a green-red whirlwind that reached a hundred meters tall.
Still feeling ill at ease, the monk slapped his storage pouch to take out another protective treasure.
But before he could, a black blip flashed ten meters away from him, followed by two arms covered in black-purple light reaching out towards him. In that instant, the arms had already moved into the flame barrier without the slightest fear.
“Ah!” The monk’s heart trembled at the sight and without another thought, he yelled, releasing a large golden mist from his mouth. It quickly condensed into a light barrier in front of him as his body blurred in an attempt to dodge away.
A faint bang sounded out. Like paper, the golden barrier was split by the two devilish arms and made their way to the monk’s Dantian. After piercing clean through, the claws violently parted, rending the monk’s body into two, splatting gore and blood into the air.
A red Nascent Soul cried out and flew off on a golden sword, travelling over sixty meters away from its body.
Just as the Nascent Soul glowed in golden light to perform another instantaneous movement, it was too late A purple thread suddenly appeared behind it, followed by something piercing through its head. Its mind burned and it let out a shriek as all its strength fled. Powerless, it was tightly wrapped by the purple thread and was brought back into the barrier of red flames.
The three streaks of light had then arrived a kilometer away, and the cultivators within them were able to clearly see what had happened. The three felt fear overwhelm their hearts and immediately turned around, flying back with even greater speed.
They were all early-Nascent Soul cultivators. Though they originally conspired to join hands together, when they saw the famous Monk Wickedfire viciously slain and had his Nascent Soul captured, they immediately turned to flee. They now knew their greed would only result in downfall, and soon disappeared out of sight.
Han Li felt his breath turn cold when he saw how viciously the Elder Devil disposed of the monk, he stared at the distant flames with a disturbed expression.
Strange shrill laughs echoed out from the blaze, and then the flames were extinguished, revealing the devil once more.
Han Li’s mouth twitched when he saw this and he felt sullen.
The Elder Devil had already taken half-devil form. Although his appearance still resembled that of a human, he had another pair of arms and all four of them had turned black-purple.
A frightening meter-long purple tongue hung from his mouth. It was halfway lifted and firmly holding the monk’s Nascent Soul.
As the he stared at Han Li with an unflinching gaze, Han Li narrowed his eyes and silently returned it.
Monarch Soul Divergence then worryingly said, “Youngster Han, you can’t tangle with this devil for long. The underground trade fair is nearby, and I fear that in just a moment, more will come and it will be difficult for you to break free.”
“I know... I originally thought to compare his abilities to that of the main soul, but it seems to be too dangerous to fight him. Let’s go.” Han Li spoke indifferently. With a wave of his hand, the golden flying swords revolving around him let out a cry and they all flew into his sleeve. Afterwards, he opened his mouth and released several b.a.l.l.s of blood essence from his mouth, shrouding his body in a blood mist.
“Don’t you think it’s too late to run?” An inhuman light flashed from the Elder Devil’s eyes and his tongue withdrew into his mouth. Then in a blur, he disappeared from sight.
Han Li took no notice of these actions and formed a gesture with his hands. In a clap of thunder, silver light flashed and his figure became unclear as blood mist emerged around him.
At nearly that same moment, black light flickered in front of Han Li, revealing the Elder Devil’s monstrous form. He was quite a bit quicker than when he had killed the monk despite travelling twice the distance.
Han Li now no longer carried his calm air, and inwardly shouted in alarm.
An evil grin appeared on the devil’s Face, and he opened his mouth in an attempt to strike at Han Li with his tongue.
He was stopped, however, when an icy snort bore into the Elder Devil’s mind. Although his spiritual sense was exceedingly powerful, immense pain flooded through his mind and he suddenly had to stop his attack.
During that delay, Han Li blurred and shot forward in a blur of crimson light, disappearing from sight in the span of a single breath.
In the Elder Devil’s alarm, he quickly released his spiritual sense and swept the range of fifty kilometers and found a trace of Han Li. However, he immediately made use of Bloodshadow Evasion once more and fully escaped from the range of the devil’s spiritual sense.
The Elder Devil couldn’t help but remain in place.
“...Wasn’t that the Shadowform Evasion, a secret technique of Ironwing Devils? How can a cultivator from the mortal realm employ it? This will be troublesome... Wait, there seems to be something different about it.” As he muttered to himself, a pensive expression appeared on his face.
Spiritual light then flickered from the distant sky, followed by seven various-colored streaks heading in his direction.
The Elder Devil’s expression stirred and he woke from his stupor. A fierce and icy gaze swept past the group. “It’s good that you’ve come. I just finished refining the Nascent Souls that I’ve collected. After consuming you lot, my injuries should be fully restored in several years.” He eerily muttered to himself. With a deep breath, a large cloud of black-purple devilish Qi was released from his body, thoroughly covering himself.
His transformation began a step further, growing a second head in addition to his four arms. Then, he emotionlessly stared at the oncoming cultivators with two pairs of glowing purple eyes.