Chapter 1023: When the Tree Falls, the Monkeys Scatter

"Withdraw, all of you!" Dongfang Bai shouted as he made his move.

The five Taiyi-stage elders exchanged a glance and immediately led the others, flying deeper inside.

Han Li paid no attention to the others; his sword formula suddenly changed.

Golden lightning blazed on the surface of fifty or sixty flying swords, and dense sword qi appeared out of thin air, covering most of the sky with cold light. Wherever it passed, the void trembled violently and became blurred.

The power of this sword qi far exceeded that of before. The ribbons around the green pythons not only failed to entangle the flying swords but were all shredded and severed with a tearing sound.

The dozen or so green pythons were also caught by the sword qi and cut into several pieces.

"Explode!"

Dongfang Bai's pupils contracted slightly. He formed hand seals and suddenly shouted.

Bang bang bang!

The remnants of the green pythons swelled violently, then burst apart, turning into rounds of green suns that swept across half the sky, stirring up a monstrous hurricane that spread in all directions.

The void buzzed and trembled, and the漫天 sword light was also disturbed by the explosion, falling into chaos.

Taking advantage of this gap, Dongfang Bai turned abruptly. A green wind rose around his body, wrapping him in a green cloud as he flew deeper into the Immortal Palace. After just a brief exchange, he immediately retreated, his intentions unclear.

Seeing this, Han Li was surprised, then narrowed his eyes. Golden lightning flared around him, and he silently activated the Reversal True Wheel technique.

With a thunderous crack, his figure vanished, and the next moment he appeared out of thin air in front of Dongfang Bai.

His disappearance and reappearance were so incredibly fast that Dongfang Bai was momentarily stunned.

Before Dongfang Bai could react, Han Li immediately activated the True Word Wheel in forward rotation. Countless golden ripples radiated from his body and, with lightning speed, enveloped Dongfang Bai.

This series of actions was as smooth as flowing water and was completed in the blink of an eye.

Dongfang Bai's body tightened, and he, along with the green light around him, was frozen in midair like a fly in amber.

A fierce killing intent flashed in Han Li's eyes. He raised his hand and pointed.

A dazzling golden light shot from his hand, and with a "噗," it pierced through Dongfang Bai's abdomen, creating a bloody hole.

But after the strike, Han Li's expression suddenly changed. He immediately formed hand seals and withdrew the golden ripples.

A layer of white light appeared on Dongfang Bai's corpse, which quickly transformed into a white puppet.

The puppet seemed to be made of some white animal bone, covered with talismans that shimmered with white patterns forming various humanoid shapes, appearing extremely mysterious.

"Substitute puppet?" Han Li's face darkened.

He had seen records of this white puppet in the Crab Hermit's books. It was said to be a unique puppet created by a powerful figure in the Heavenly Court. By injecting one's immortal spiritual power and law power into the puppet, it could transform into a substitute identical to the original, with no flaws detectable in appearance or aura.

The Crab Hermit had once wanted to obtain a substitute puppet for research but had never succeeded. Han Li never expected to encounter one here.

At that moment, countless green lights appeared out of nowhere, coalescing into a green domain that enveloped Han Li.

Thick branches and vines, their roots unknown, emerged from nowhere and took root on his body, rapidly devouring his immortal spiritual power.

At the same time, a golden light flashed above Han Li's head, and a colossal golden mountain appeared out of thin air, occupying nearly half the sky. Huge runes were inscribed all over the mountain, which seemed to be an immortal artifact, and it slammed down at Han Li with the force to destroy everything.

On the mountain sat many figures—Dongfang Bai, the five Taiyi-stage elders, and the Golden Immortal cultivators—all solemnly forming hand seals and jointly channeling power into the golden mountain.

Before the golden mountain even fell, an indescribable weight emanated from it.

With a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth!

The golden mountain crashed to the ground. The earth within tens of thousands of miles trembled violently, and the entire Gold Source Immortal Palace, along with the surrounding mountains, sank three feet into the ground!

Seeing this, Dongfang Bai finally revealed a smile.

This Sumeru Golden Mountain was refined from gold element stones collected from the Gold Source Mountain Range over countless millennia at immense cost. He knew its power best.

Unfortunately, the mountain was too huge and heavy to be activated by individual immortal spiritual power; it could only be driven by the formation here at the Gold Source Immortal Palace. That was why he hadn't brought it last time, or else he wouldn't have been defeated by Han Li.

The other cultivators, including the five Taiyi-stage elders, also breathed a sigh of relief, their faces showing excitement.

Being able to jointly drive this extraordinary treasure with the palace master to overcome a powerful enemy was a rare experience.

But the next moment, Dongfang Bai's smile froze, and the others also stiffened.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the golden mountain, over a thousand zhang high. Many showed expressions of disbelief, as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

The originally stable golden mountain began to rumble and shake, gradually rising upward, as if being lifted from below.

Soon, they realized what was happening.

Beneath the huge mountain, a three-headed, six-armed giant demon stood upright—it was Han Li in the form of the Heavenly Fiend Suppression Prison Art.

Two thick arms held up the golden mountain as if it were an ordinary stone.

"How can pure physical strength lift the Sumeru Golden Mountain!" Dongfang Bai exclaimed in shock, but his voice was cut short.

Golden light swirled around the giant demon Han Li had become, and the trees that had taken root on him had vanished.

In front of the giant demon floated a golden sapling—the Eastwood Divine Tree he had painstakingly condensed—radiating dazzling golden light.

The green plants in the nearby domain, upon touching the golden light, instantly turned into streams of energy, merging into the Eastwood Divine Tree like returning to their origin, and then transferring into Han Li's body.

The immortal spiritual power he had lost was quickly restored.

Meanwhile, the green domain visibly dimmed and thinned at a rapid pace.

"Impossible! My Wood Spirit Domain is self-contained and should be ever-growing. How can it be devoured..." Dongfang Bai's face showed terror as he tried to act, but the giant demon Han Li had become struck first.

The giant demon raised its remaining four arms into the air. Silver patterns appeared on its fists, each transforming into a dozen silver runic arrays.

With a "boom," the four giant fists erupted with dazzling golden light. As the demon's three heads roared simultaneously, the fists struck upward into the sky, hitting the Sumeru Golden Mountain.

A thunderous explosion erupted, even louder than when the mountain had landed.

The golden mountain shot forward, crashing into a dozen peaks before finally stopping.

Most of the people on the mountain were thrown off by the impact. Only a few powerful ones managed to stay, but they were terrified and nearly speechless.

A chill ran down Dongfang Bai's spine, and cold sweat poured from him. He immediately formed hand seals to retract his domain and transformed into a streak of green light, speeding deeper into the Immortal Palace.

"Stop!" The giant demon Han Li had become shot forward, chasing Dongfang Bai.

At that moment, a dense black cloud, vast enough to blot out the sky, swept in from the side, blocking Han Li's path. As the black cloud roiled, the five Taiyi-stage elders appeared.

Each held a black banner from before. As they waved them vigorously, the black cloud expanded rapidly, enveloping Han Li. Then, eight monstrous black dragon claws, each the size of a house, shot out from the cloud, grabbing at Han Li.

The aura of the eight dragon claws was completely different from before. They no longer had the corrosive feel but instead burst forth with an unstoppable piercing force, as if they could even tear a hole in the sky.

Although the five had stopped Han Li, they were inwardly lamenting.

The brief exchange had given them a deep understanding of Han Li's strength. But as elders of the Gold Source Immortal Palace, they had to obey the palace master's orders, or else face the crime of insubordination.

For now, they could only hope to use the Five Dragon Imperial Heaven Banner to hold Han Li off briefly and then plan their next move.

"Seeking death!" Han Li snorted coldly and flicked his sleeve.

Seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords surged from his sleeve. With a crackling sound, they transformed into seventy-two arc-like sword lights, radiating intense lightning law power, and struck the black dragon claws.

With a "rip," the seemingly indestructible black dragon claws, fragile as paper or mud, were easily sliced through by the arc sword lights.

In the black cloud, cracks appeared on the black banners in the hands of the five, and their light greatly diminished.

The five were shocked and quickly urged the black cloud to retreat.

But the seventy-two arc sword lights were extremely fast. With two flashes, they caught up to the black cloud and mercilessly slashed down.

The five Taiyi-stage elders roared in fury and alarm. The black cloud roiled violently to meet the arc sword lights, while protective treasures shimmered around them.

But upon contact, the black cloud melted like snow in fire, rapidly dissipating in the crackling lightning.

The protective treasures around them, without displaying any power, were easily destroyed by the arc sword lights and exploded.

The five Taiyi-stage elders were terrified. They finally recognized the chasm-like gap in strength between them and Han Li and were about to use the shrinking technique to escape.

But with a flash of golden light, an arc of golden light appeared around each of their necks. A fierce sword intent enveloped them, and they felt as if they had fallen into an abyss. Their hearts turned ice-cold, and the flow of their immortal spiritual power stagnated. They dared not move.

Seeing Dongfang Bai flee, many of the surrounding Golden Immortal cultivators had lost their will to fight and scattered in all directions. Those who remained were mostly the direct subordinates of the five Taiyi-stage elders.

These people had been about to follow the five elders and continue their assault on Han Li, but upon seeing this, they stopped in terror.

Then, someone cried out in alarm. After a moment of commotion, the rest of the crowd, which had been encircling, suddenly scattered in all directions—a scene of "when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter."