Chapter 437: Old Grudges

"Hmph, as they say, Heaven's ways are just! You stole my sword essence and ruined my sword formation back then. Look at today—how does it feel? In the end, everything is still mine, haha, haha..." Xiong Shan's eyes bulged wide as he suddenly burst into loud laughter, his voice rolling down like thunder.

Back then, he had painstakingly managed for years, offending many factions to gather a thousand spirit swords, only to see it all turn to nothing.

Because of this, he didn't know how many times he had been secretly mocked by his fellow disciples of Candle Dragon Dao!

Now that his great revenge was fulfilled, how could he not laugh heartily?

"Fellow Daoist Xiong Shan, if you hadn't tried to refine my natal flying sword back then, why would I have stolen your sword essence? We both hail from Candle Dragon Dao and serve together in the Wuchang Alliance. We've crossed paths many times. Why not turn hostility into amity today and let me take my natal flying sword away?" Han Li stood upright, looking up and said.

His voice was not loud, yet it pierced through layers of obstruction like a sharp sword, reaching Xiong Shan's ears.

"Ridiculous! Back then, I was only blind, unable to see your true face, always treated like a fool by you. Later, though I sensed something, the time wasn't ripe, so I let you continue your carefree ways. Today, since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, I will naturally refine you, along with your natal flying sword, into my supreme immortal sword." Xiong Shan snorted coldly and said.

"Since you refuse to settle this amicably, don't blame Han for being ruthless." Han Li's face turned cold as he said icily.

"On the brink of death, you still dare to spout nonsense—truly ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth!" Though Xiong Shan spoke thus, for some reason, his heart trembled inexplicably at Han Li's words.

Han Li suddenly let out a fierce roar. His muscles rapidly bulged, his body instantly shot up a hundred zhang, and dense golden fur sprouted on his skin, transforming him into a golden giant ape.

Its feet stomped heavily on the ground, and its massive body, under the heavy pressure of countless sword energies, forcibly lifted off and charged into the high sky.

Flying close to the area where the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were, the golden-furred giant ape suddenly raised a thick arm, covered in golden scales, and smashed it fiercely toward the soaring sword dragon.

With a thunderous "boom!"

The entire body of the "sword dragon" instantly bent outward, emitting a chaotic, sharp clang.

In an instant, over a thousand flying swords of various colors collided with each other and tumbled out of the sword formation, including the seventy-two Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords mixed among them.

The golden-furred giant ape flashed with light and reverted to human form. Suddenly, a pair of crystalline wings sprouted from its back. With a fierce flap, it changed direction midair and shot straight toward its natal flying sword.

But before he could approach the sword, an invisible force rippled through the entire sword formation, gathering all the flying swords he had just knocked away and pulling them back into the formation.

"This time, you won't!" Xiong Shan looked down at the scene below and said coldly.

As he spoke, his hands moved through a series of gestures in front of him, and he pointed his fingers toward the "Ten Thousand Swords Iron Pledge" suspended high in the air.

A soft sound, like a click, was heard.

A drop of golden-tinged essence blood flew up from Xiong Shan's fingertip and landed on the iron pledge.

The golden patterns on the surface of the iron pledge trembled violently, and a faint reddish mist rose from it, flying into the golden light curtain high above.

A loud boom was heard!

The golden light curtain in the sky shook violently and collapsed, but all the illusory shadows on it did not disappear. Instead, they fell like a golden rain, flying into the sword formation.

With each illusory shadow that flew in, a flying sword detached from the sword dragon, grasped by the golden shadow, and flew toward Han Li.

Han Li was about to use another method to forcibly seize the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword from the sword dragon when he felt a shadow cast over him from above. His Wind and Thunder Wings flapped once, and under the suppression of the countless sword energies, he barely managed to retreat several zhang.

With a whoosh!

A giant iron sword, as wide as a door plank, slashed down close to his clothes, causing the air to rush downward with a whistling sound.

Han Li's gaze sharpened. He raised his fist and slammed it heavily onto the broad blade.

A huge green fist shadow exploded on the blade, shaking the giant sword violently like a battered door under a rainstorm.

The golden giant holding the sword trembled from the force, its figure shaking with the blade before dissipating.

But as one sword subsided, another came!

Before Han Li could withdraw his fist, a warrior with a topknot, wielding a long single-edged sword, thrust it straight at him.

Behind that warrior, among the countless golden illusory shadows—graceful women, golden-armored warriors, long-bearded elders, innocent children—dense layers of golden figures overlapped, each holding a flying sword, surging toward him like a tide.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged. He stepped forward in the void, and suddenly a great golden light burst forth behind him.

A golden wheel of truth emerged, spinning leisurely, radiating layers of golden ripples.

Any illusory shadow or flying sword that entered the range of the True Word Wheel's ripples instantly slowed down, nearly coming to a halt.

Thus, a stunning scene unfolded!

High in the sky, Han Li walked through the air, freely weaving among the golden phantoms and flying swords as if strolling in a leisurely courtyard.

The flying swords that had originally been aimed at him now became his stepping stones, which he trod upon one by one as he walked toward the suspended altar high above.

At this moment, he understood clearly that if he did not defeat Xiong Shan, the latter would continue to rely on the power of the sword formation to hinder him from retrieving the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. If time dragged on, his life-bound flying swords would inevitably be smelted into molten iron.

On the altar, Xiong Shan, witnessing this scene, was also filled with shock. He murmured to himself, "This is the law of time... You, you have actually cultivated the 'True Word Transmutation Wheel Sutra' to such a degree?"

Han Li paid him no heed. He simply continued walking upward, brushing aside the flying swords that obstructed his path, and soon reached a position less than a hundred zhang from the altar.

Suppressing his emotions, Xiong Shan gritted his teeth and walked back to the center of the altar. With both hands rapidly forming hand seals, he struck a series of spell formulas into the hollow area at the center.

Then, spreading his five fingers, a flash of light appeared in his palm, and five golden beads, each the size of a dragon's eye, simultaneously fell from the hollow area into the crimson sea of fire.

With a "whoosh" sound,

a storm seemed to rise within that blazing sea of fire. The flames began to sway violently and spread outward in all directions.

Han Li sensed something and looked into the flames. There, five clusters of golden light shone, attracting the surrounding crimson flames to coalesce into five massive, ferocious dragon heads that stretched out toward him.

As soon as the dragon heads took shape, two slender jets of flame burst from their nostrils with a "puff," and their eyes gleamed with golden light as they fixed their gaze on Han Li, appearing as lifelike as living creatures, full of spiritual intelligence.

In the next instant, a faint, almost imperceptible beastly roar came from the sea of fire. Five flame dragons, as thick as water vats, shot out, their bodies coiling and twisting in midair as they lunged at Han Li with their five claws spread wide.

The surrounding air instantly became stagnant. Rolling waves of scorching heat surged forward, burning the entire void until it slightly distorted. Even the golden ripples released by the True Word Wheel twisted in the void, and the area they affected shrank considerably.

Seeing the fire dragons approaching, Han Li raised a palm and swung it forward.

A patch of pitch-black light expanded violently. The Heavy Water True Wheel shot out from within, hovering in front of Han Li the size of a millstone. It spun rapidly, emitting a series of whistling sounds.

The water dao patterns on it shone brightly. Streams of black heavy water gushed out, forming a massive heavy water vortex in the sky that met the five crimson fire dragons head-on.

The five crimson fire dragons opened their huge mouths wide, revealing surging magma and billowing black smoke, as if hiding a volcano about to erupt.

Then, with five sounds like rolling thunder, the fire dragons' mouths blazed with intense light. Countless magma firestones spewed out like a rain of fire meteors, crashing down toward the Heavy Water True Wheel.

"Boom, rumble, rumble..."

A series of earth-shaking sounds came, and the entire sky was almost lit up by the glow of fire.

A rain of fire fell into the heavy water vortex, stirring up black waves nearly a hundred zhang high. Though it failed to break through the vortex, it shook the Heavy Water True Wheel below, causing it to tremble incessantly.

Han Li raised his arms high, his whole body trembling as well, clearly unable to withstand this immense force.

"Fire Dragon Pearls? You really spare no expense..." Han Li muttered to himself.

With that, his gaze suddenly sharpened, his hand seals changed, and instead of retreating, he advanced, slapping his palm heavily on the Heavy Water True Wheel.

"Hum..."

The Heavy Water True Wheel trembled, and the black waves surging from it suddenly swelled, rushing back toward the Crimson Flame Fire Dragons.

The five Crimson Flame Fire Dragons also dove down, one black and one red, one water and one fire, colliding violently and merging together, rising into clouds of white steam.

"Black Water Flooding the Sky!" At that moment, Han Li suddenly shouted.

In the sky above the suspended altar, a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth resounded!

A flash of snow-white lightning streaked across, tearing a black rift across the sky. A vast amount of heavy water surged out from it, forming a colossal black waterfall hanging in the sky.

Xiong Shan looked up at the sky, watching the floodwaters raging, his eyes wide open, nearly splitting at the corners.

He could hardly believe that this was a technique a True Immortal could employ.

But things had come to this point; even if he wanted to call a truce, it was too late.

He gritted his teeth fiercely, waved his hands in the air, and streaks of spell light flew out, landing on the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Scroll.

Golden light flashed on the iron scroll, and golden characters flew out from it, landing on the eight coiled-dragon golden pillars around the great formation.

Light shone on the golden pillars, and the eight golden dragons slightly raised their heads, shooting two beams of crimson light from their eyes. These beams converged above the altar, forming a crimson light screen covered with dragon patterns, enveloping the entire altar.

The heavy water waterfall from the sky fell down, crashing onto the crimson light screen like a thousand-ton mountain.