Chapter 389: Layers of Mist and Shadows

A series of crackling sounds erupted!

Golden lightning bolts suddenly emerged on the surface of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that had cut into the black tentacles, and the swords instantly swelled, transforming into two giant golden lightning swords over a hundred feet in size.

As the golden lightning swords spun and sliced like lightning, a string of muffled thuds rang out. The two black tentacles coiled around his body were severed into several pieces, which then turned into streams of black qi and dissipated.

“Roar…”

A slightly hoarse, strange cry came from the depths of the vortex, filled with pain.

Han Li steadied himself and gazed into the depths of the vortex, a blue light flickering in his eyes.

He saw a massive black shadow emerge deep within the vortex, rapidly approaching his location.

Seeing this, Han Li did not retreat or dodge. The tearing force that filled the void here still existed, and though he could still move with his current strength, it was already somewhat difficult.

As thoughts raced through his mind, he beckoned with one hand. From the black qi not far away, a golden lightning flashed, and the giant lightning sword that had slain the toad yin beast flew back, stopping at his side.

Three golden lightning swords hovered beside him, their surfaces wreathed in golden sparks, slowly rotating.

The next moment, the vortex ahead churned, and a massive black shadow shot out. It was a giant octopus, dozens of feet in size, like a small mountain.

The beast was entirely pitch-black, except for its water-tank-sized eyes that glowed red, filled with a mixture of coldness and malice.

Behind the octopus monster, over a dozen tentacles waved, stirring up fierce winds. Two of them were clearly severed at the middle, but black light flickered at the breaks, rapidly regenerating at a visible rate.

An immense aura of yin cold radiated from this beast, more than ten times stronger than that of the toad yin beast, comparable to a late-stage True Immortal realm cultivator.

As soon as the beast appeared, all its tentacles suddenly blurred and wove together into a black net, sweeping toward Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned slightly.

These yin beasts seemed fairly powerful, but their intelligence appeared low, driven solely by bloodlust and slaughter, with no regard for the disparity in strength. He had previously studied one or two secret techniques to communicate simply with speechless strange beasts and spiritual creatures, but that required the other party to have clear intelligence.

Thus, his original plan to capture this beast to investigate the situation in this black mist region could not be put into action.

Han Li shook his head, formed a hand seal, and pointed.

The three giant lightning swords beside him arranged in a triangular formation, transforming into three golden bolts of lightning that shot forth.

With a tearing sound!

The golden lightning on the three giant swords flared up intensely, and golden arcs of electricity rose from their surfaces, connecting to form a golden net of lightning.

Countless thick golden arcs leaped and exploded on the net, colliding with the net formed by the octopus's tentacles with a thunderous impact.

A series of muffled, piercing sounds followed, as black qi and golden light interwove, scattering radiance in all directions.

Where the black qi on the tentacles touched the evil-repelling divine lightning, it immediately collapsed and dissipated. The golden arcs spread across the tentacles, leaving crisscrossing wounds on most of them.

Although the black tentacles were also formed from the local yin qi, and were restrained by the evil-repelling divine lightning, they were too thick and condensed for the divine lightning to shatter them in one blow.

The octopus yin beast let out a scream, and a hint of fear finally appeared in its eyes, as if it now understood that the enemy before it was beyond its ability to contend with.

The beast moved its body, preparing to turn and flee into the distance.

How could Han Li allow it to escape so easily? A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and he immediately urged the sword art.

The three giant swords instantly spun rapidly, and countless golden sword shadows emerged, chasing after the octopus and slashing at its tentacles.

Rip!

These tentacles, already greatly weakened, were easily severed by the sword shadows.

The sword shadows flashed continuously, and in the blink of an eye, nearly all the tentacles were cut off.

The octopus yin beast let out another scream, ignoring its severed tentacles, and opened its massive mouth to spew a jet of pitch-black liquid.

As soon as the liquid appeared, it expanded, turning into a cloud of black mist the size of an acre, which instantly enveloped the countless sword shadows and the three golden giant swords.

The three golden giant swords immediately sank, trapped by a force within the cloud, unable to move.

The octopus yin beast's severed tentacles moved, and its entire body radiated black light, transforming into a black shadow that shot into the distance at great speed.

The tearing force of the vortex here seemed to have no effect on the octopus yin beast.

Han Li snorted coldly, formed a hand seal, and pointed rapidly.

The three golden giant swords blazed with light, blurred, and merged into one, becoming a hundred-zhang giant sword. Thick golden arcs of electricity appeared on its surface, dazzling and emitting a terrifying pressure.

The hundred-zhang giant sword rotated slightly, and a formidable force erupted from it.

With a “boom,”

the surrounding black cloud was torn apart and scattered.

The golden arcs on the giant sword flashed brightly, and with a thunderous roar, the golden giant sword vanished, only to reappear in the next instant above the distant octopus yin beast, slashing into its body with unimaginable speed.

Rip!

The octopus yin beast offered no resistance, and its body was cleaved in two by the giant sword.

With two dull thuds, the two halves of the body exploded, turning into black mist that scattered in the air.

Han Li waved his hand and formed a hand seal. The golden giant sword shot back, the lightning on its surface completely disappearing, and turned into three cyan flying swords that vanished into his sleeve.

But the next moment, a blue light flashed in his eyes, and he let out a soft exclamation. He waved his hand, sending a beam of cyan light into the black mist.

The cyan light quickly rolled back, wrapping around a dark green sphere, and pulled it in front of him.

The green sphere was the size of a fist, its surface covered with a layer of pure green light, looking crystal clear. It seemed very much like a wood-attribute spirit stone, but the object emitted an extremely yin-cold fluctuation of primordial energy, completely different from wood-attribute spiritual energy.

"What is this? Could it be a demon core?" Han Li muttered to himself, examining the sphere up and down.

But then his gaze flickered, and in his mind surfaced the soul stones he had collected in the Netherworld back when he was still in the mortal realm.

The aura emitted by this green sphere was very similar to those soul stones, only the sphere's aura was thousands of times stronger.

Han Li flipped his hand and put away the green sphere, then looked around, a thoughtful expression on his face.

This area of the Desolate Wind of Fallen Souls was indeed somewhat similar to the Storm Mountain in the Netherworld back then. And this green sphere—could there be some connection between the two?

Han Li thought for a moment, then quickly shook his head and looked outward.

There was no time to worry about these things now; leaving this vortex was the top priority.

Although the tearing force deep within this vortex was extremely strong, it couldn't cause any substantial damage to his current physical body.

However, the suction force was so powerful that leaving would be somewhat troublesome.

Han Li pondered for a moment, then suddenly let out a soft shout. A bright cyan light burst from his body, and at the same time, streaks of golden lightning appeared within it.

He twisted his body, transforming into a golden-cyan streak of light that shot outward from the vortex.

Rumble!

As soon as he flew out of the central area of the vortex, the surrounding storm suddenly intensified, becoming even stronger than at the center.

Han Li felt the air around him tighten, and then his body was involuntarily swept up by the storm and began to spin.

He let out a low grunt, silently urged his technique, and the light around him suddenly flared. He did not forcibly resist the storm's rotational force but instead flew outward while spinning along with the vortex.

After a moment, black mist churned at the edge of the massive vortex, and a figure shot out from within, revealing Han Li's form.

His complexion was slightly pale. He did not stop immediately but flew a bit further before halting and letting out a long breath.

The power of this massive vortex was greater than he had imagined, costing him a considerable amount of immortal spiritual power to break free.

Han Li flipped his hand and took out a recovery pill. After swallowing it, a red light flickered over his body, and he returned to his original appearance.

After putting away the mask, a dense green light enveloped him, and he continued flying forward.

In the blink of an eye, he advanced through the black mist sea for several more days.

There were no other dangers in this black mist sea, except for the occasional appearance of the same bizarre, enormous whirlpools as before.

These whirlpools varied in size, but most were even larger than the first one he encountered, some several times larger. The suction force they emitted gave him a sense of powerlessness; if he got too close, he would likely fall into an abyss of eternal damnation.

As for some relatively smaller whirlpools, he would occasionally take the opportunity to slay the yin beasts lurking within, thus obtaining many more green beads.

With a thunderous roar!

Just as Han Li was flying forward, the mist sea behind him suddenly churned violently.

He paused mid-flight, a blue glint flashing in his eyes, but then, as a burst of green light radiated from his body, he quickly flew off in another direction.

No sooner had he flown a short distance than the mist sea behind him roiled, and an enormous whirlpool swept past, disappearing into the mist ahead.

Seeing this, Han Li paused for a moment in place before continuing to fly forward.

Over these past days, he had gradually figured out how to avoid these whirlpools and was becoming increasingly adept at it.

He had not flown far when a strange sound suddenly came from the mist ahead, which began to churn and surge.

Han Li's expression turned slightly cold. Without a word, he waved his hand, and a clear ringing sound emanated from his body.

A green flying sword shot out from his hand like a bolt of lightning. As it grew in the wind, it suddenly transformed into a colossal sword over a hundred zhang long, radiating dazzling green light, and slashed into the churning mist ahead.

The giant sword had just plunged into the mist when a thunderous boom came from within.

The green giant sword shot back out, its surface green light slightly scattered.

A tremendous force transmitted through the giant sword from afar. Han Li's body shook, and he involuntarily took a step back, simultaneously flicking his sleeve.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Over a dozen Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords shot out, and with a flash of green light, they all swelled, transforming into hundred-zhang giant swords that slashed fiercely into the mist.

Although Han Li had not yet seen the opponent's form, he knew that the yin beast this time was far more powerful than any he had encountered before.

Rumble!

Streams of clear, hazy sword qi shot out from the mist ahead, causing it to churn violently.

Then, with a loud crash, the dozen-plus green giant swords were sent flying back again.

Moreover, each giant sword's blade was covered in a thick layer of black ice crystals, and the sword light they emitted had dimmed considerably.