Chapter 557: Miscalculation

The bald, burly insectoid man extended a finger and gently tapped.

With a "puff" sound, six translucent wings suddenly sprouted from that lump of white slime. Flapping rapidly, they carried the white slime-like thing flying toward the bone-white light barrier.

It turned out to be a bizarre spirit insect!

Wherever it passed, spiral white icicles formed in the nearby void, exuding an extremely frigid aura as if even a soul would be completely frozen upon approaching.

Its body also swelled up like a balloon, becoming thousands of times larger than before, and the moment it touched the bone-white light barrier, it silently exploded, turning into a hazy white mist that enveloped the entire barrier.

A layer of white ice immediately spread across the light barrier, and the flow of white light within the barrier suddenly slowed greatly, as if frozen.

At the same time, the two golden-robed insectoid women silently shook their sleeves, and two golden clouds surged out from them, revealing countless tiny golden insects.

The insects resembled ants, with wings on their backs and mouths full of blade-like sharp teeth, looking extremely ferocious.

These golden flying ants landed on the white ice layer, gnawing rapidly, soon chewing holes in the ice, and then continued to gnaw at the bone-white light barrier.

In just a few moments, the bone-white light barrier was covered with small pits, becoming riddled with holes.

Although the bone-white light barrier was still absorbing the surrounding corpses and bones to repair these holes, its speed had noticeably slowed.

The next moment, a loud tearing sound rang out as the yellow-robed old man's golden flying sword whistled through the air and slashed down fiercely.

With a thunderous "boom," the flying sword collided with the light barrier, erupting in blinding golden and white light. Several cracks appeared on the already battered surface of the white light barrier, which seemed about to shatter.

The three, including the veiled beastwoman, their faces changing drastically, spat out several mouthfuls of essence blood. Ignoring their pallid complexions, they urgently chanted spells, causing the essence blood to sink into the three white bone treasures above their heads.

The originally somewhat dim light of the three treasures suddenly blazed brightly, causing the sluggish flow of white light on the bone-white light barrier below to increase somewhat.

But the veiled beastwoman and the other two knew in their hearts that even so, they could not hold out much longer.

...

High in the sky far from the battlefield, a golden lightning bolt and a yellow phantom chased each other, both as fast as lightning. They were Han Li and the sand beast.

The sand beast's originally enormous body had somehow shrunk a thousand times, and its speed was much faster than before.

Han Li had already summoned the Wind Thunder Wings and was fully executing the lightning遁 technique, but he still could not shake off the shrunken sand beast.

A large part of the reason was that he was still carrying Noyifan; carrying an extra person naturally multiplied the burden several times.

Just as the distance between them was less than a hundred miles, a sudden change occurred!

A yellow light mass descended from the sky, enveloping Han Li from above. A vast law power emanated from the yellow light mass—it was the sand beast's domain.

Han Li's expression shifted slightly. The golden lightning on the Wind Thunder Wings behind him blazed, instantly covering his entire body.

With a thunderous roar, the two figures barely disappeared the moment the domain covered them, reappearing hundreds of miles away.

He did not pause at all; the lightning on his body blazed again, and he vanished once more, then reappeared above a mountain forest.

After two consecutive lightning遁s, he finally shook off the sand beast temporarily.

Fellow Daoist Nuo, take the chance to leave now. The sand beast's target is me; it probably won't chase you," Han Li said quickly to Noyifan. Lightning flashed on his body, and he turned into a golden electric arc, fleeing into the distance.

Senior Li, take care!

Noyifan's face was pale, but her mind remained calm. She bowed to Han Li's figure, then immediately turned into a beam of light, flying toward the canyon.

A yellow blur flashed on the distant horizon, and the sand beast's figure blurred and shot over.

Feeling the approach of the aura behind her, Noyifan's face turned white. Her遁光 immediately blazed, and she fled forward at full speed.

The sand beast turned its head and 'looked' at the direction of Han Li's lightning form in the distance, but did not immediately give chase. Then it flickered and pounced toward Noyifan.

Noyifan's flying speed was far inferior to the sand beast's, and the distance between them rapidly closed.

Not good!

Hundreds of miles away, Han Li saw this and his expression changed. He had not expected the sand beast's intelligence to have reached such a level.

The main reason he had been unwilling to abandon this woman earlier was that he still had a reason to stay here. If she were killed because of him, he might have to leave immediately.

But he was now quite far from them, too far to rescue her in time. He couldn't help but exclaim inwardly, "Miscalculation."

The Wind Thunder Wings on his back suddenly spread wide. His figure abruptly stopped, then he turned around like lightning and executed the lightning遁 technique, rushing toward Noyifan with all his might.

Feeling the terrifying giant beast rapidly approaching from behind, Noyifan's pretty face lost all color. She quickly waved her hand, and a white jade talisman appeared in her palm, which she crushed with a snap.

With a "bang," a ball of white spiritual light flew out of the jade talisman and merged into her body.

Noyifan's body blazed with white light, and a pair of white crane wings several dozen feet long appeared on her back. Her speed instantly increased several times.

Although her speed had greatly increased, it was still no match for the sand beast's, and the distance between them continued to shrink.

Just as they were less than a hundred miles apart, the sand beast opened its huge mouth, and a rope-like yellow light shot out from it, rolling toward Noyifan ahead.

At that moment, a thick silver lightning bolt descended from the sky, striking the sand beast's head.

Boom!

A huge silver lightning ball emerged, enveloping the sand beast's head. Countless silver electric arcs crackled, and the nearby void buzzed and trembled.

Silver lightning flashed beside Noyifan, and a figure appeared—it was the scar-faced man.

Elder Kedun!" Noyifan was overjoyed to see him.

Young master, go quickly!

The scar-faced man swiftly grabbed Noyifan with one hand, while the other hand held a silver lightning hammer. The hammer head was engraved with a lightning pattern, exuding a law power of lightning.

Silver electric arcs emerged on the silver lightning hammer, enveloping the two as they prepared to fly away.

With a "whoosh!"

A bowl-thick yellow light shot out from the silver lightning ball behind them, incredibly fast. In a flash, it pierced through the scar-faced man's body.

The silver lightning ball behind fluctuated and quickly dissipated, revealing the giant sand beast's figure. Its head was slightly scorched, but that was all.

That yellow light had been shot from the sand beast's brow.

The sand beast 'looked' at the scar-faced man, its bloody mouth wide open, revealing a row of ferocious teeth.

The scar-faced man's expression froze. He looked down at the yellow light on his chest, and the silver lightning on his body quickly dimmed and disappeared.

Then the yellow light trembled and exploded.

The scar-faced man's body also shattered, turning into countless pieces of flesh and blood, falling downward.

But at that moment, the silver lightning hammer in the scar-faced man's hand suddenly shot out, flying toward the sand beast, appearing before it in a blur.

On the lightning hammer, a tiny infant could be faintly seen attached to it.

Explode!" a low shout came from the lightning hammer.

With a thunderous boom!

The silver lightning hammer turned into a huge silver light mass, emitting a terrifying aura fluctuation. The nearby void trembled violently, and a hurricane swept outward.

The giant sand beast was engulfed by the silver light mass, momentarily invisible, though its furious roars could be faintly heard.

Noyifan was pushed far ahead by the hurricane.

She looked back at the silver light mass, tears glistening in her eyes, but the next moment her expression turned resolute. She turned into a white light, shooting forward and disappearing into the distance.

A few breaths later, the giant sand beast's figure shot out from the silver light mass, covered in wounds, especially its head, which was scorched black, appearing heavily injured.

The sand beast roared up to the sky, then suddenly turned its huge body and flew downward.

A layer of yellow light appeared on its body surface, and like a fish entering water, it plunged into the ground, then quickly emerged from another place.

A bizarre scene appeared!

The wounds on the sand beast's body had vanished without a trace, though its aura had weakened somewhat.

It twisted its body, turned into a yellow blur, and urgently chased after Noyifan's direction of flight.

Golden lightning flashed, and Han Li's figure appeared, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

He then formed hand seals, golden lightning flashed on his body, and his figure disappeared.

...

At the entrance of the distant Dark Star Canyon, Nuo Qinglin's figure suddenly turned and flew back, landing on the castle at the canyon's entrance.

On the castle, two high priests in gray robes were already waiting. Seeing the clan leader fly back, they immediately approached and said, "Clan leader, everything is ready."

Nuo Qinglin's expression was solemn. He nodded, waved his hand, and a flash of purple light appeared on him, revealing a wide purple ritual robe embroidered with golden threads forming exquisite star patterns.

The three quickly walked to a spacious altar in the center of the castle, occupying the three positions of the Three Talents formation. Each took out a green wooden staff and struck the strange array patterns on the ground.

The other two high priests remained silent; only Nuo Qinglin, matching the rhythm of his staff strikes, chanted in the true spirit language.

After a moment, his staff stopped, and he thrust it heavily into the ground.

The stone-built altar's ground was pierced by the staff, and the other two high priests also thrust their staves deeply into the ground.

Then, Nuo Qinglin raised a palm and slashed horizontally across his palm. A deep, bone-deep wound appeared, and a large amount of purple-glowing blood gushed out, dripping onto the ground.

The fallen blood made a slight "drip" sound but did not splash; instead, it merged like a dark purple snake, twisting and extending forward.

Writhing and twisting, it soon covered the entire altar array.

Activate," Nuo Qinglin said in a low voice, his light blue face somewhat pale as he gritted his teeth.

With a "humming" sound,

The entire altar erupted with soaring purple light. A huge purple light array with intricate patterns emerged, with tiny firefly-like light points dancing around, from which a massive shadow like a small mountain condensed.