Chapter 1224: Concealing Strength

The fist shadows around Han Li had originally filled dozens of zhang, but in the blink of an eye, they were compressed to seven or eight zhang, and those green trees seemed about to strike him.

His face showed no abnormality, but he sighed inwardly. Having failed to defeat Sikong Jian in a flash just now, things had indeed become troublesome.

As he pondered, he moved his hands, and a black giant sword appeared in each.

These swords were taller than him, fully two or three zhang long and as wide as a door panel, exuding a chilling coldness.

On the black sword bodies were engraved dragon-shaped patterns, which were actually two star arrays, interspersed with dots of star patterns, numbering over two hundred.

These two giant swords were Chang Qi's weapon, the Black Dragon Sword, star artifacts forged from Nine Heavens Meteorite, capable of breaking anything.

Han Li let out a loud shout, and with a movement of his arms, the two giant swords turned into countless black sword shadows, swirling around him.

He also did not activate the power of the Black Dragon Sword as a star artifact, simply using the black swords themselves to attack.

But even so, these black sword shadows were far more destructive than the fist shadows. Any green tree that entered their range was instantly shredded.

Roar!

Han Li let out another mighty roar toward Sikong Jian.

A white sound wave shot out, but this time it did not spread out; instead, it condensed into a white sound-wave ribbon, shooting toward Sikong Jian.

Where the white sound wave passed, the green trees were shattered like dry weeds, carving a zhang-wide path through the dense forest.

Han Li's form turned into a black shadow, charging along that path toward Sikong Jian like lightning.

Seeing this, Sikong Jian was startled. He quickly chanted incantations, brought his hands together, and a dazzling green light appeared in his palms, with countless green runes leaping within.

"Go!" he muttered, pushing his hands forward in the air.

The green light shot forward, and all the surrounding trees converged toward it, merging into it.

With a splash, a green giant dozens of zhang tall materialized, its body wreathed in green light. A vast wave of wood law fluctuations erupted from within, causing the nearby void to tremble.

The giant held a huge green blade as long as its body, its surface wrapped in green runes. It raised the blade and struck the white sound wave.

A series of crackling sounds rang out as the unstoppable white sound wave was split apart and exploded.

The green giant blade paused slightly, then continued to slash toward Han Li.

Rumble!

It seemed the entire power of the spirit domain was drawn by this strike of the green giant, pressing down on Han Li from all directions.

Han Li was now not far from Sikong Jian and had no intention of tangling with the giant, but with no way to avoid it, he had to swing the Black Dragon Sword and slash through the air.

The giant sword turned into a black ribbon, striking the green giant blade with the force of thunder.

With a crisp crack, the green giant blade snapped in two, but a crack also appeared on the Black Dragon Sword, which then broke as well.

However, Han Li showed no sign of retreating. His form flickered and vanished, then reappeared before the green giant's head. The Black Dragon Sword in his other hand also turned into a black ribbon, slashing horizontally, leaving a white mark in the void.

With a tearing sound, the green giant's head was sent flying.

Han Li stepped on the giant's shoulder, turning into an afterimage as he lunged toward Sikong Jian.

But at that moment, the green giant's body exploded with a bang. Countless green tree roots shot out like living things, instantly entangling Han Li's body and binding him tightly.

These tree roots were covered in green runes, far tougher than the previous trees, and emitted a devouring force that rapidly absorbed the immortal spiritual power within him.

Han Li's expression changed. It would be one thing if these roots absorbed his own immortal spiritual power, but his body was currently filled with immortal spiritual power borrowed from Chang Qi. Once absorbed by these roots, he would immediately be exposed.

He no longer cared about concealing his physical cultivation. He let out a loud shout, and the over 1,700 acupoints around his body all blazed with light. He shook his arms.

A tremendous force like a tidal wave erupted from him, and the roots binding him shattered one after another.

"Oh? Chang Qi's physical cultivation has reached such a level, nearly perfect!" said Pure Truth True Man, looking at the 1,700 glowing acupoints on Han Li with surprise.

"Impressive, indeed rare. Our Heavenly Court has also secretly trained a group of Mystic Immortals, but Mystic Immortal cultivation is extremely difficult. Few have opened over a thousand acupoints. I wonder how this person managed it?" remarked Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy with admiration.

Heavenly Star Venerable was both surprised and delighted, casting a smug glance at Huo Yuan.

Huo Yuan's expression darkened, and he remained silent.

On the other side, Zhou Xianyang and the others were also dumbfounded, frozen in place.

The strength Han Li had displayed in the previous match had already shocked them, but they never expected his physical cultivation to reach such a level.

On the arena, Sikong Jian was greatly startled. He quickly activated his spirit domain with all his might, causing the green runes on the roots to shine brightly as they tried to restrain Han Li.

But the force Han Li unleashed was too astonishing. The roots continued to shatter one by one, albeit more slowly, and he was about to break free.

Sikong Jian's face changed color. He gritted his teeth, and a dazzling green light burst from his body, as bright as a green sun.

In an instant, he released an immense spiritual pressure far exceeding his previous level, clearly reaching the mid-Da Luo stage.

However, Sikong Jian seemed to have just advanced to mid-Da Luo, as his aura was still somewhat unstable.

"This... Sikong Jian has indeed reached mid-Da Luo!" Zhou Xianyang's face twitched. The joy he had felt from Han Li's display of strength instantly sank again.

After all, in his view, if the opponent were only at early Da Luo, Han Li might still handle it, but if mid-Da Luo, the gap was like a chasm, and the chance of victory was negligible.

The others from Xianshan Sect beside him, as well as Zhao Yuanlai and his group, also changed expressions upon seeing this, each with a different look.

On the high platform nearby, Pure Truth True Man and the others remained calm, as if they had known this all along.

Green light flickered around Sikong Jian. His fingers moved like picking flowers, continuously pointing.

Green crystal threads shot from his fingertips, spun around, and turned into green crystal rings that sank into the roots around Han Li.

The roots suddenly thickened by half, emitting a dazzling crystalline light, resisting the tremendous force Han Li had unleashed.

Han Li was startled. He moved his lips, about to unleash another "Prison Roar" to break the roots binding him.

But at that moment, green light flashed wildly around him. One green tree after another materialized, wrapping around him, and in an instant, formed a tree cocoon dozens of zhang high around Han Li, emitting a terrifying wood law.

Sikong Jian flipped his hand, and a green wooden ruler appeared, with some fiery red patterns on it, exuding a terrifying wood law fluctuation as well as a fire law fluctuation.

He chanted incantations rapidly, and one green crystal ring after another flew out from his body, all sinking into the green wooden ruler.

The wooden ruler immediately burst into dazzling green and red light, containing two distinct law fluctuations.

Sikong Jian pointed the wooden ruler in the void. The tip trembled slightly, and a green light sphere appeared, but at its center was a ball of red flame.

The two law forces clashed violently within the sphere, producing a piercing screech, but they did not fully erupt.

"Go!" Sikong Jian formed a hand seal and pointed.

The green light sphere shot out instantly. At first, it was only the size of a human head, but it quickly expanded a hundredfold, becoming as large as a house. Like a meteor, it struck the green tree cocoon, merged into it, and disappeared.

A strong fire law fluctuation emerged from deep within the cocoon. Dazzling red rays burst from the gaps in the cocoon.

The originally green tree cocoon burst into blazing flames, its size suddenly shrinking several times and becoming spherical. The immensely powerful wood and fire laws clashed violently within the cocoon, yet complemented each other.

"This is... the Wood God Thunderbolt!" said Chi Meng from the stone platform nearby, her beautiful eyes flickering as she looked at the spherical tree cocoon.

"Wood God Thunderbolt? Could it be the signature technique of the Wood King Immortal Venerable, a Dao Ancestor envoy under the Heavenly Wood Dao Ancestor?" Pure Truth True Man looked at Chi Meng and said.

The others on the stone platform also looked at Chi Meng.

"Indeed. Back then, the Wood King Immortal Venerable specialized in the wood and fire laws and perfectly fused them, creating this law-fusion technique, the Wood God Thunderbolt. With this technique, he once fought against one late Da Luo and two mid-Da Luo opponents alone at the mid-Da Luo stage and emerged undefeated, showing its power... Unfortunately, he later acted arrogantly and offended our sect's Profound Fire Dao Ancestor, who gave him a slight punishment. With a single finger, he severely wounded him, causing him to flee. After that, he disappeared, presumably fallen. That wooden ruler should be the Wood King Immortal Venerable's lifebound immortal artifact, the Wood King Ruler. Since Sikong Jian possesses this treasure, he must have inherited his legacy. No wonder someone of his aptitude could also advance to mid-Da Luo. However, Sikong Jian has not fully inherited the Wood King Immortal Venerable's divine abilities. This Wood God Thunderbolt is only similar in form and is executed only with the help of the Wood King Ruler." Chi Meng's beautiful eyes flickered as she spoke calmly.

"Even so, this Wood God Thunderbolt is not weak. It seems this match will be more interesting," Pure Truth True Man said indifferently.

As soon as Pure Truth True Man finished speaking, a deafening explosion came from the arena. The Wood God Thunderbolt suddenly burst open.

A halo of red and green light erupted. Where it passed, the nearby void completely shattered, collapsing into a black hole hundreds of zhang in size, swallowing everything around.

The entire arena creaked and shook violently under the immense pressure from the black hole.

Fortunately, Pure Truth True Man had already reinforced the arena and the surrounding restrictions with spells; otherwise, everything around would have collapsed.

The onlookers breathed a sigh of relief and then turned their gazes to the center of the arena.

Han Li's figure had disappeared, apparently also swallowed by the black hole.