Chapter 1019: Luring the Enemy into the Formation

The Punishment Beast was inherently the bane of all malevolent ghosts and evil entities in the world, let alone the current Soul-Devouring Beast, which had undergone a series of life-and-death trials and was now far from its former self.

The blood-colored chain connected to its vertical brow eye whistled through the air like a massive steel whip, breaking through everything in its path. No matter how ferocious those狰狞 ghosts appeared, their chests were pierced like rotten wood, strung together like candied hawthorns on a stick.

"Crackle, crackle"

With a burst of electric sounds, arcs of blood-colored lightning surged from the chain, instantly shattering the thousands of ghosts lurking in the dark clouds, turning them into wisps of black smoke.

The next moment, the Punishment Beast wrinkled its nose, and a beam of rosy light swept out, rolling up the black smoke from the ghosts and sucking it all into its belly.

Startled, Black Blade had only pulled back half of his long blade when the blood-colored chain caught up and coiled around it like a spirit snake.

Instantly, blood-colored lightning flared up, countless bolts striking the blade with sharp crackling sounds.

Black Blade felt as if struck by lightning, his soul seemingly fried in a cauldron of oil, and he let out agonized howls.

Just then, a dark green light flashed on his arm, and verdant vines sprouted from it, spreading toward his sword-wielding hand and winding around the blade.

Those verdant vines seemed to possess a strange law power; even when struck by blood-colored lightning, they rapidly regenerated, unaffected, and pierced into the gaps between the chain and the blade, gradually peeling them apart.

Feeling the pressure suddenly ease, Black Blade quickly stabilized his soul, sheathed his long sword, and saw that the dark clouds carried by the blade had already diminished by more than half.

"Thank you, Palace Master, for your assistance..."

Despite heavy losses, Black Blade was content to have survived and hurried to thank Dongfang Bai for his timely aid.

But before he could finish, he felt a sudden gust of wind from behind and sensed great danger.

Not far away, Lü Yun was the first to notice something wrong, as Han Li's figure vanished from its spot and then appeared behind Black Blade like a ghost. Startled, Lü Yun instinctively retreated.

Han Li appeared in a flash, and before Black Blade could react, he reached out and grabbed his throat.

Black Blade's eyes bulged, and his half-open mouth emitted some unintelligible sounds.

But Han Li gave him no chance to speak. Fixing his gaze on Dongfang Bai, he tightened his fingers, and with a "crack," snapped Black Blade's neck.

Enraged by this act, Dongfang Bai raised a hand and struck toward Han Li.

In the void, strands of heaven and earth spiritual energy seemed to be drawn to him, instantly transforming into countless arm-thick green wooden spikes that shot toward Han Li.

But Han Li had already released his grip. Reversing his True Word Wheel, he flashed past the slowest-reacting Tao Ji without harming him and landed on the square before the Ancestral Hall.

Black Blade's corpse fell through the air. Just as a black light flickered on his crown, and the infant soul within tried to flee, the Punishment Beast's massive ghost claw caught it and tossed it into its gaping maw.

Having witnessed all this, Tao Ji's initial terror multiplied, and he stumbled down toward the sea below.

Lü Yun, with a grim expression, flew to a spot not far from Dongfang Bai. He restrained his aura, focusing all his attention on Han Li, and enveloped himself in a gray domain spanning only a hundred zhang, guarding against Han Li's inexplicable sudden attacks.

Having lost a general at the first exchange, Dongfang Bai was both shocked and furious.

Shocked by Han Li's cultivation, and furious at the loss of face.

He formed claws with his fingers, clenched them before him, and waved in the void. The countless wooden spikes gathered into a several-hundred-zhang-long wooden spike dragon, which lunged at Han Li with open jaws.

"A thing made of wood dares to be used to kill enemies? Isn't this a toy for a three-year-old?" Han Li taunted while secretly clenching his fist.

His fist intent and star power converged, and wind and thunder roared in his palm.

With a thunderous boom,

Han Li threw a punch. The star power at his fist erupted, exploding into a dazzling white light.

The wooden spike dragon crashed into the white light, producing a series of loud bangs as all the spikes shattered into dust.

The splintered debris nearly covered half the sky, but Dongfang Bai's figure suddenly flashed out from within. Approaching Han Li, he pointed a finger seemingly casually.

A faint mosquito-like buzz sounded!

A green light flashed at his fingertip, transforming into a dark green coiled-dragon wooden spear that thrust straight at Han Li's heart.

A phantom azure dragon coiled around the spear, and as it shot forth, it stirred up a violent wind, distorting the surrounding void.

Seeing this, Han Li did not dodge but simply waved his hand in the void.

Ripples spread beside him, and a Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword flashed out, its tip pointing directly at the coiled-dragon wooden spear.

The two clashed head-on like needle against thread.

Runes flickered on the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, and a golden electric light burst forth with a crackling explosion!

Wood fears lightning. Struck by the golden lightning, the coiled-dragon wooden spear smoked and shattered.

"Sir, as a palace master, is this all you've got? Truly disappointing." Han Li chuckled.

Hearing this, the fury on Dongfang Bai's face suddenly faded, replaced by calm.

He leaped and slowly descended onto the square before the Ancestral Hall.

"Alright. Ever since I appeared, you've been provoking me, just to lure me onto this square and into your pre-arranged formation. Though I didn't enter in a rage as you planned, I've come nonetheless. So let's see what you can do to me." Dongfang Bai looked at Han Li with a faint smile, displaying a proud demeanor of knowing the tiger's den but entering anyway.

"Haha... Palace Master Dongfang, what I calculated was not that you would enter in a rage from taunts, but that you would enter out of arrogance and conceit. Since you're here, don't leave." Han Li laughed heartily.

With that, he formed a hand seal. The entire hill where the Ancestral Hall stood trembled, and the lakebed rumbled. Four wrathful Vajra statues, as tall as small hills, rose slowly from underground, each holding a precious umbrella, a celestial sword, a precious mirror, and a fierce python.

The wrathful Vajra guarded the four directions. The one holding the umbrella, with a blue-purple body, emitted seven-colored rays from his umbrella that shot into the sky, spreading ten thousand beams of light like a canopy, enveloping the entire hill. Where the light covered, the flow of heaven and earth spiritual energy halted, and all techniques and divine abilities were forbidden.

Inside, Dongfang Bai immediately felt the surrounding spiritual energy tighten, no longer available for his use.

However, his expression remained unchanged, utterly unmoved. Those who cultivated wood-attribute laws had a self-contained world within, with endless immortal spiritual power, far more abundant than other cultivators, and thus unafraid of such tactics.

But just then, his gaze flickered as he caught sight of a light mass shining toward him. His mind tensed, and he flashed sideways, shifting a hundred zhang away.

When he looked back, the ground where the white light had shone suddenly shattered, collapsing into a pitch-black hole three zhang in diameter, with all bricks and stones reduced to powder.

He turned his gaze and saw the indigo-blue figure holding the mirror, whose precious mirror shone brightly like a sun hanging in the sky. The light it emitted caused intense spatial distortion wherever it went.

Had he been hit, even with his immortal physique, he would have suffered broken bones and torn muscles.

Before he could think further, the crimson figure holding the sword and the pitch-black figure controlling the snake attacked simultaneously.

Runes on the sword blazed, and clusters of five-colored flames shot out like a meteor shower. The fierce python's scales bristled, and cyan thunder and purple lightning churned within its mouth, cascading down like a waterfall.

While the mirror's white light might still be dodged, the fire rain and lightning waterfall left no room to evade.

"Mere tricks, and you dare show off?" Dongfang Bai snorted coldly.

He raised both hands, chanting continuously, making a gesture of supporting the sky.

Green light erupted from his body like a volcanic eruption, and a massive phantom of an ancient verdant tree emerged, its canopy spreading like an umbrella, shielding him from the fire rain and lightning waterfall.

Though a phantom, the canopy of the ancient verdant tree burst into flames when struck by fire and lightning.

But even as it burned fiercely, the canopy seemed to regenerate continuously. As soon as it was destroyed, it restored itself, seemingly even faster.

Even the mirror's white light could not breach the canopy's defense!

"Fellow Daoist Han, is this your trump card? If so, I'm truly disappointed." Dongfang Bai sneered.

As his words fell, he suddenly felt a daze. A crystalline light flashed before his brow, and before he could see it clearly, it had transformed into a small sword, piercing his brow and drilling inside.

Dongfang Bai felt a sharp pain in his head, as if a storm had stirred in his sea of consciousness. His body shook violently, and the green light surging behind him trembled and subsided.

The massive green tree phantom dissipated, and the torrential fire rain and lightning waterfall poured down, instantly engulfing him.

"Rumble..."

A continuous roar echoed as cyan-purple lightning and five-colored flames intertwined, illuminating the entire Ancestral Hall square.

"Palace Master..." Tao Ji, who was fighting alongside Lü Yun against the Punishment Beast transformed from the Soul-Devouring Beast, cried out in alarm.

"Elder Tao, do your duty. The Palace Master doesn't need your concern." Lü Yun waved his hands in the void, and eighteen crimson iron flags danced in the air, surrounding the Soul-Devouring Beast.