Chapter 1238: Sword Suppresses the Judge

Facing the judge's long tongue hurtling toward his forehead, Han Li activated the laws of time within his body, his figure suddenly flickering as he narrowly dodged it.

In his haste, he still noticed that the lightning runes on the crimson tongue had disappeared.

"Roar..."

At that moment, the Soul-Devouring Beast let out fierce shouts, its back arching abruptly as the spikes on its spine blazed with intense white light, continuously striking the descending blood-colored light wall, shattering it layer by layer.

However, within the shattered blood-colored crystalline light, a vast expanse of golden light suddenly appeared, followed by a violent rumble of thunder.

"Boom rumble"

Dozens of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords wrapped in golden lightning suddenly flew down from the blood light, linking with each other to form a golden lightning array that pressed down on the Soul-Devouring Beast, which had barely broken free from its suppression.

Bolts of golden lightning churned and rolled across the Soul-Devouring Beast's back like boiling water, their momentum shaking the heavens.

The divine lightning attribute of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords inherently suppressed yin and evil entities, and it also restrained the Soul-Devouring Beast considerably. After thousands of golden lightning bolts rolled over, the beast's back was a bloody mess.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes nearly split with rage. He formed a sword seal with his hand and summoned the flying swords through his spiritual connection.

The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords trembled violently, struggling to fly back to Han Li, but blood light coiled around them, preventing them from moving on their own.

As the flying swords were about to fall under the judge's giant boot, Han Li let out a furious roar, bit the tip of his tongue, and sprayed blood onto the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword in his hand, then focused his mind and called out.

A wild screeching sound erupted!

The dozens of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that had been controlled by the Ghost Spirit all trembled and shrieked, breaking free from control and flying back.

With the divine lightning suppression gone, the pressure on the Soul-Devouring Beast's back eased. Its form shrank, returning to human shape, and it lunged forward to dodge the descending giant boot, returning to Han Li's side.

"This fellow's ghost path arts are indeed different from others... His, his yin sha seems to have cultivated a kind of neutral, righteous aura that returns to simplicity... It has a strong tendency to transform from yin to yang, from evil to righteous. My ability to suppress him is not as strong as before," the Soul-Devouring Beast panted heavily for a moment but still reported this information to Han Li.

"Are you alright? I didn't let you out earlier precisely because I worried about this. It seems there is reason this fellow can rank as the first of the Four Envoys," Han Li said with a furrowed brow.

“What exactly is this judge-like creature before us? We've been fighting for a long time and haven't even crossed hands with the real master—it's rather frustrating.” Soul Cry shook her head, indicating she was fine, and said.

“Who says we haven't?” Han Li raised an eyebrow and retorted.

Soul Cry was puzzled by this and looked at Han Li in confusion.

“You mean this judge is the Ghost Spirit?” Lan Yan, standing by, understood and asked.

Before Han Li could answer, the sky darkened again as the judge raised its foot to stomp down on them, while its long tongue drew an arc in the air, circling around to block their retreat.

“Lan Yan, hold off that tongue for a moment!” Han Li shouted.

Hearing this, Lan Yan turned her wrist, and a blue pouch embroidered with water wave patterns appeared in her palm with a flash of light.

Han Li recognized it at a glance—it was the same pouch that Lan Yan and her brother had obtained in the Time Tower.

She softly chanted an incantation and tapped the pouch with her hand.

The water wave patterns on the blue pouch immediately blazed with light, and the sound of surging tides emanated from within.

Then, the mouth of the blue pouch suddenly opened wide, and eight blue water dragons, each dozens of feet long, burst forth, charging straight at the crimson tongue.

As they approached, a series of rumbling sounds echoed.

The eight water dragons radiated intense lightning, unleashing countless blue water thunderbolts that bombarded the crimson tongue, while electric threads wrapped around it inch by inch, exploding continuously.

Han Li's eyes flickered at the sight, recalling that when the Five Elements Annihilation Array was formed, the five immortal artifacts—including the white fire bead, the golden greatsword, and the blue pouch—had been summoned back by the array.

Later, after the array completely collapsed, the Essence Fire Bird retrieved the white fire bead, and unexpectedly, Lan Yan had also recovered the blue pouch.

Compared to her time in the Time Tower, Lan Yan's cultivation had clearly increased significantly, and her use of this immortal artifact had become more proficient.

Although she still couldn't unleash its full power, it was enough to block the tongue's attack.

The crimson tongue, battered by the water dragons' lightning, could no longer withstand it and curled upward, trying to retract into the mouth.

But Lan Yan did not relent; holding the blue pouch with one hand, she raised the other hand upward.

Eight water dragons immediately coiled around the long tongue, climbing upward together, rushing toward the Judge.

On the other side, one of the Judge's giant boots was stomping down with immense force, heading straight for the top of their heads.

Han Li let out a furious roar, his Heavenly Fiend Soul Suppressing Art wildly circulating, while simultaneously activating his true spirit bloodline. His body instantly swelled to a hundred zhang, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed divine demon form.

He stomped his feet heavily on the ground, and instead of dodging or evading, his figure shot upward, charging straight at the giant boot. Both giant ape arms, wrapped in layers of white astral energy, slammed violently toward the boot.

With a thunderous boom!

A ring of violent energy erupted in the high sky, and Han Li's figure plummeted straight down, crashing into the ground.

Meanwhile, the giant boot that had been stomping down was knocked back by the punch, causing the Judge's enormous body to tilt backward and fall.

At the same time, the eight water dragons controlled by Lan Yan all attacked together, following the long tongue straight toward the Judge's head.

Crackling sounds rang out.

With a sharp crackle of electric current, the eight water dragons near the Judge's head exploded simultaneously, blasting half of his crown away.

Before the Judge could steady himself, a layer of golden light swept over, transforming into a spherical light curtain that rapidly expanded in all directions.

Whoosh!

A winding mountain range descended from the sky, crashing directly toward the Judge's head, while a golden river winding through it suddenly twisted like a golden belt, wrapping around his body in the blink of an eye.

The once imposing and fearsome Judge of the Underworld was instantly weighed down by the laws of time, his body stiffening in place, wrapped in golden light, his movements becoming sluggish.

“Stay away from here, don’t come close,” Han Li bellowed.

Hearing this, Ti Hun and Lan Yan immediately retreated backward without any hesitation.

A bright full moon hung behind Han Li as he soared into the air, forming hand seals with his sword fingers and making a sudden gesture.

Thirty-six Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords whistled in midair, shooting out with a series of clangs, arraying themselves like soldiers in formation around him.

Golden lightning coiled around the tips of all the flying swords, their hilts pointing downward and their tips aimed at the sky, rising and falling like breathing, constantly emitting faint trembling sounds.

Once all the flying swords had settled into position, a strange fluctuation of spiritual power emanated from them, as if the surrounding world's vital energy had instantly connected with these swords, spontaneously forming a small realm.

As the sword formation solidified, the void's airflow in its area suddenly shifted, giving rise to a thin layer of white mist, within which golden lightning occasionally flickered, making it appear like a condensed mass of pale golden thunderclouds.

"This is... the Heaven-Piercing Sword Formation!" Lan Yan exclaimed, her expression changing abruptly.

Years ago, when she and her brother had stumbled into the Time Tower, she had witnessed the Heaven-Piercing Sword Formation arranged within it. Though it differed greatly from the one Han Li had set up now, the aura of isolating heaven and earth it exuded was no different.

In fact, the oppressive and majestic aura of the current sword formation made her feel even more uneasy, even suffocating. She instinctively flew farther back before feeling slightly better.

Meanwhile, the Wicked Judge, who had been momentarily disrupted by them, finally steadied itself. Its wooden face remained expressionless, but behind the beaded curtain, a clear anger flickered in its eyes.

A crimson light surged around its body, mingling with the golden light that bound it. With a wave of its right hand, the vermilion brush it held began to move through the air.

Affected by the surrounding laws of time, its movements were somewhat slow. As the brush tip moved, blood-red ancient seal characters began to appear in the void, forming obscure and archaic words.

With each character that emerged, the void trembled violently, as if thunder had struck, and from the blood-red space around came the hair-raising cries of ten thousand ghosts.

Truly, when the brush fell, wind and rain stirred; when the writing was complete, ten thousand ghosts wailed!

As it continued to wield the brush, one character after another appeared, and a fragmentary scroll-like text materialized high in the air.

As the ancient characters on the fragment grew more numerous, the pressure it exuded intensified. The ghostly wailing around them had already drowned out the thunder, shaking Lan Yan's mind and turning her face pale.

Ti Hun was not as affected, but still felt uncomfortable. She even sensed a Dao-suppressing force from the blood-red text that could shake one's primordial spirit.

Just as the blood-red text was about to be completed, the sword formation Han Li had set up below finally began to change.

A series of crackling sounds erupted!

Golden lightning exploded continuously in the surrounding void. The thirty-six Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords blazed with electric light, their surfaces shining with dazzling golden radiance as they transformed into thirty-six thick golden thunder pillars shooting straight into the heavens.

Sword qi wrapped in golden lightning emerged from them, and instantly, the sound of swords whistling grew loud. Countless dense sword qi burst forth, filling the void.

In the next moment, the void around the Wicked Judge rippled violently. Those golden sword qi, accompanied by powerful golden thunder, surged out in layers, slashing wildly toward it.