Chapter 127: Unexpected

"Everyone, fall back!" Han Qiu shouted.

"Blood Gang Yin Thunder!" Upon seeing the dark red sphere, Madam Hubei's expression shifted in alarm. She and the others immediately scattered, their bodies glowing with various colors as shields of different hues emerged.

A dark red sphere flew from Han Qiu's hand, turning into a red streak that slammed heavily into the water curtain.

Boom!

A deafening explosion resounded.

A blood-red sun hundreds of feet in size suddenly appeared, lasting for several breaths before transforming into patches of bloody clouds that swept outward and dispersed.

Several layers of the blue water curtain around Han Li had been breached instantly by the Blood Gang Yin Thunder sphere. Only the final layer remained, its surface flickering with turbulent wave phantoms, revealing Han Li and his avatar sitting opposite each other with considerable clarity.

The ground affected by the blood light was gouged into a massive pit, from which countless crimson magma jets erupted, spraying in all directions. The nearby seawater temperature soared as if it were boiling.

These effects posed no threat to Han Qiu and the others. With their respective techniques, they easily blocked the magma and heat outside.

"Truly worthy of the Blood Gang Yin Thunder! Fellow Daoist Han, do you have any more of these? One more would suffice to completely break this formation!" the black-armored man exclaimed joyfully.

"I only had one of these thunders, obtained at great expense from an auction on Black Wind Island centuries ago," Han Qiu snorted, his tone tinged with reluctance.

"We still have plenty of time. If we all go all out, we can break this last layer of restriction in no time!" Madam Hubei said.

But no sooner had she spoken than a long howl emanated from within the blue water curtain.

Han Li and the Earthly Avatar simultaneously erupted with skyward blue light, forming a towering pillar of radiance.

Clear chimes rang out from the blue light. Water essence from a thousand li around converged in rolling waves, forming a massive spiritual energy vortex that merged into the Earthly Avatar.

The blue light radiating from the Earthly Avatar grew increasingly bright.

Within the blue light, the Earthly Avatar stretched its limbs as if loosening its joints. Its facial expression was lively, indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

"It's already complete?"

"Impossible!"

Han Qiu and the others stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what they saw, exclaiming in shock.

Han Li turned his head calmly, looking at Han Qiu and the others outside the water curtain. A faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he pointed a single finger at the surrounding blue water curtain.

The final layer of the water curtain suddenly dissipated, transforming in a flash into countless bright blue threads.

A loud "hissing" sound erupted!

The dense mass of blue threads shot out wildly, streaking straight toward Han Qiu and the others like lightning.

Still in a state of shock and horror, Han Qiu and the others dared not meet the attack head-on and instead retreated backward.

At that moment, the Earthly Avatar beside Han Li flashed blue light in its eyes, raised its arms, and let out a loud shout.

The blue light around it suddenly flared, churning violently like angry waves. A hint of Water Law flickered within the blue light before vanishing.

The seawater within hundreds of li suddenly churned, forming massive raging waves that surged toward the Earthly Avatar from all directions.

Caught off guard during their retreat, Han Qiu and the others were struck by the surging seawater, which pressed down with an extraordinary force, momentarily slowing their movements.

But as Earth Immortals, they flashed with light and easily broke through the churning seawater, continuing to fly forward.

Only Madam Hubei seemed a moment slower. Her body was instantly entangled by the blue threads. Her expression changed as she tried to use her powers to break free.

But the threads moved even faster, spreading over her body like living things, wrapping her layer by layer into a large blue cocoon.

Almost immediately, a figure flickered beside the cocoon. Han Li appeared out of thin air, his face cold as he threw a punch.

Before the fist wind even arrived, a terrifying aura of destruction swept out, heading straight for the trapped Madam Hubei.

Though her body was bound, she remained calm despite the panic. A chant began from her lips.

Hum!

The black longsword flashed into existence outside the blue cocoon, transforming into a massive sword rainbow that slashed toward Han Li's body. An indescribably sharp sword intent emanated from the black sword light.

Though the black sword rainbow did not strike Han Li's body, its chilling sword intent had already penetrated his mind, as if it could cleave his very soul.

She had clearly judged that Han Li's soul must have been damaged from just refining the Earthly Avatar, and thus aimed to strike where he was vulnerable.

But Han Li showed no intention of dodging. A crystalline light flickered over his body as a transparent film emerged. His fist, without pause, turned into a golden shadow and landed solidly on the blue cocoon.

A miserable scream came from within the cocoon, followed by a dull thud. The cocoon bulged once, and the scream abruptly ceased.

Almost at the same time, a loud clang rang out! The black sword rainbow also struck Han Li's shoulder.

The True Extremity Membrane on his body trembled violently for a moment, then returned to normal, blocking the earth-shattering strike. The chilling sword intent that entered his mind vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea, not even causing a change in his expression.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Han Qiu and the others came to their senses and were about to rush over, Madam Hubei's Earthly Avatar had already ceased to emit any signs of life.

Han Li slowly withdrew his arm and waved his hand to cast a spell. The blue threads dissipated, revealing a broken earth deity incarnation inside, already shattered into pieces, its surface spiritual light completely dimmed, like several broken stones.

Han Qiu and the other four saw this and exchanged glances, each seeing a hint of wariness in the other's eyes.

Especially the other four, who looked at Han Qiu with eyes full of anger and reproach.

If they had known earlier that they were to deal with a Mystic Immortal who could shatter an earth deity incarnation with a single punch in an instant, they would never have come.

Han Li unhurriedly beckoned with one hand, collecting the storage magic tool and black longsword from the incarnation of Lady Hubei, while her incarnation also transformed into a blue shadow, flashed once, and disappeared into his body, vanishing without a trace.

After doing all this, he slowly raised his head, swept his gaze over Han Qiu and the others, and finally settled on Han Qiu.

Although it was just an ordinary glance, it made Han Qiu's heart skip a beat, inexplicably rising a feeling of palpitation.

Suddenly, Han Li's figure blurred and disappeared from where he stood.

“Be careful!” Han Qiu's expression turned serious as he shouted loudly.

Before his words faded, he began to chant, waving both sleeves. A large amount of white smoke surged out from them, forming a white mist sea dozens of zhang in size around him.

The four had already thought of retreat. Seeing this, they were greatly alarmed and hastily offered their respective magic treasures or performed secret techniques, protecting themselves thoroughly.

The void flickered, and Han Li's figure appeared like a ghost above Han Qiu's head. One of his arms was already covered with a layer of light golden monkey fur, swollen to a larger size, and dazzling golden light radiated from it.

He let out a low shout and punched out from afar.

With a loud bang!

The void above Han Qiu's head suddenly rippled, and a golden vortex appeared out of nowhere, spinning wildly, emitting a hissing sound.

A huge golden fist shadow shot out from within, and an unimaginably terrifying force emanated from the fist shadow, pressing down below, causing the white smoke around Han Qiu to violently churn and roll, almost on the verge of dispersing.

Han Qiu was terrified out of his wits; the power of this punch far surpassed the divine abilities he had seen Han Li display last time!

In desperation, he suddenly roared wildly and made a hand seal.

An extremely cold aura suddenly erupted from the white mist, and the surrounding seawater instantly froze into ice. A white iceberg appeared above Han Qiu's head, emitting traces of law power.

The tip of the iceberg was extremely sharp, like a giant ice sword, meeting the golden fist shadow.

The two collided with a thunderous roar!

The white iceberg trembled violently, then shattered with a loud crash, turning into countless ice shards flying in all directions.

The golden fist shadow, undiminished, continued to fall, striking fiercely at Han Qiu.

At this critical moment, a black-gold iron token flew out from his body on its own, emitting a strange law fluctuation, transforming into a layer of black light that blocked the golden fist shadow for an instant.

But then the fist shadow crushed the black light like a whirlwind, shattering it inch by inch.

However, in that split second, Han Qiu had turned into a blue shadow, shooting backward like lightning, but one of his left arms was still grazed by the fist wind and vanished without a trace.

At this moment, Han Qiu's heart was full of terror; he didn't even dare to look back.

Just then, a cold, angry snort sounded in his ears, and then his mind suddenly ached as if stabbed by a red-hot knife.

His figure immediately stopped, and he clutched his head, screaming.

A figure flickered before him, and Han Li appeared, without a word, punching out.

Bang!

Han Qiu's earth deity incarnation, like Lady Hubei's before, burst apart, turning into a pile of debris.

The other four, seeing this, showed expressions of disbelief and terror. They had already intended to retreat, and now without any hesitation, they turned into four beams of light, fleeing far away without looking back.

Han Li glanced at the four, did not pursue, but leisurely collected the storage magic tools and magic treasures from Han Qiu's incarnation, probing his divine sense into them, appearing unhurried.

The four fled tens of thousands of li in one breath, and seeing that Han Li was not chasing, they breathed a sigh of relief and slowly stopped.

“Damn it! We've been thoroughly deceived! That Han Qiu actually invited us to deal with such a formidable person!” the yellow-bearded old man said angrily, somewhat exasperated.

The other three also had very grim expressions.

“Judging from the divine abilities that man just displayed, he seems to be a Mystic Immortal. No wonder his strength is so great,” the black-armored man said in a buzzing voice, his tone tinged with fear.

“Mystic Immortal!” the two green-robed Taoists' expressions changed slightly.

They were Ancestral Gods who had just been promoted in the last tens of thousands of years, with relatively weak strength, and hearing this made them even more uneasy.

“Han Qiu sought his own death, but he dragged us into it. Offending that person, he might retaliate in the future!” the yellow-bearded old man said, his face full of worry.

As Ancestral Gods, they could run away but not their temples.

For this reason, Ancestral Gods and Earth Immortals acted very cautiously, never daring to offend others lightly. This time, they were blinded by greed and thought it was a sure thing, so after some consideration, they accepted Han Qiu's invitation, never expecting such an outcome.

The four looked at each other, their eyes full of anxiety.

They were just minor Ancestral Gods with no backing at all. If that person came to seek revenge in the future, they had no means to deal with it.