Chapter 593: Luring the Enemy In

Seeing the Crab Daoist flee far away, the Taiyi-stage Metal Devouring Immortal did not give chase. Its massive figure hovered outside the abyss, gazing at the rolling baleful aura rising below, a flicker of hesitation in its eyes.

"How was the twenty-year spring and autumn dream? Ha ha... ha ha..." Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the abyss, loud as a bell, rolling forth.

Han Li's words precisely struck the Metal Devouring Immortal's sore spot, igniting fury in its eyes, yet its form remained motionless.

"Want to eat me, this celestial maiden? Aren't you afraid of choking? If you have the guts, come and try. I'm waiting for you here..." Following that, Gold Boy's voice also added fuel to the fire from deep within the abyss.

Hearing this, the Metal Devouring Immortal was indeed fully enraged. Golden light flickered around its body, with serrated patterns appearing at the edges, looking like burning golden flames.

A layer of golden纹路 rippled across its body, and its size rapidly shrank to less than a hundred zhang. As its form diminished, the 'golden flames' enveloping it became more solid, as if wrapped in a coat of fire.

Then, the Taiyi-stage Metal Devouring Immortal dove straight down into the thick baleful aura of the abyss.

Under the protection of that flame coat, the baleful aura of the abyss retreated, isolated several zhang away.

Yet despite this, the Taiyi-stage Metal Devouring Immortal's eyes still showed disgust, clearly disliking the abyssal baleful aura.

It descended all the way, its speed far faster than when Han Li had probed step by step, breaking limits repeatedly.

Before long, it saw Han Li and Gold Boy standing at the bottom of the abyss.

The Metal Devouring Immortal's eyes flickered with a hint of doubt. This human man and that fellow of its kind had both improved their cultivation significantly in just twenty years—this was quite unusual.

For some reason, even with its late Taiyi cultivation, a trace of wariness arose in its heart. It did not rashly continue descending but hovered above, its eyes scanning the valley floor.

Upon looking, it noticed that in some places with dense baleful aura, there were things deliberately hidden, from which faint spiritual power fluctuations emanated, as if some kind of formation had been set up.

A mocking smile flashed in the Metal Devouring Immortal's eyes. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and spat out a golden tornado storm, which surged forth toward the depths of the valley.

Where the hurricane passed, baleful aura and sand were swept up by the gale, carrying tiny crystalline lights, scattering to the sides of the cliff walls. On the ground, circular stone platforms and triangular black flags were revealed.

Under the hurricane's blast, these stone platforms and black flags were blown askew, breaking free from their original positions and falling toward the abyss walls. A great formation thus lost its function.

"Is this your setup?" the Metal Devouring Immortal asked, speaking human language.

Below the abyss, Han Li and Gold Boy both remained silent, saying nothing.

Hearing no response, the Metal Devouring Immortal suddenly felt somewhat self-deprecating. Why had it worried that a mere early Taiyi brat and a Golden Immortal peak human could use any means worthy of its caution?

"Little one, you and I are originally one. When you merge into my body, you will find that all these years of chasing and fighting have been meaningless. Instead of this, why not surrender now?" the Taiyi-stage Metal Devouring Immortal said.

"Pah! By that logic, why don't you let me eat you and merge into my body? Isn't that the same fusion?" Gold Boy spat back.

"Though we are one, our mental states differ. My realm is far above yours; devouring you is naturally easy. But for you to devour me, it's not so simple. Moreover, with your childish mind, sooner or later you'll be devoured by another completed form. Why not merge with me now? Perhaps I might choose to retain some of your memories... To be honest, seeing you step into early Taiyi, I am somewhat pleased from the bottom of my heart." The Taiyi-stage Metal Devouring Immortal, now without its earlier impatience and anger, spoke slowly.

Han Li had remained silent all along, but when he heard this, he spoke: "In terms of temperament, I still prefer Gold Boy's current state. If you want to devour her, you'll have to ask me, her master."

"A mere Golden Immortal human dares to claim to be my master? You truly deserve to die!" The Taiyi-stage Metal Devouring Immortal flew into a rage upon hearing this.

Its two forelimbs crossed and suddenly swung, sending two crescent-shaped crystalline lights racing forth, straight at Han Li.

Those crystalline lights looked no different from Gold Boy's, but their speed was several times faster, reaching Han Li in almost a single flicker.

Han Li felt his breath catch as an invisible force rushed toward him.

But fortunately, he had prepared. Golden light blazed from his body, and the True Word Wheel reversed within him. His form blurred, and he flashed aside with Gold Boy.

At the same time, he twisted his wrist, and one black and one white light shot out simultaneously, hurtling toward the Metal Devouring Immortal.

The white object was somewhat familiar to the Gold Devouring Immortal—it was the same white jade paperweight Han Li had used once before. After being repelled by it last time, it had already been badly damaged, yet unexpectedly it was being offered up again now.

With a whistling wind, the paperweight, carved with a lion's head on one end, suddenly enlarged, transforming into a snow-white camel hump covered in cracks, pressing down toward the Gold Devouring Immortal's head.

The black object was a long rectangular inkstone, heading straight for the Gold Devouring Immortal's feet. As soon as it landed, it burst into a pitch-black sea of flames, rolling waves of heat surging toward the Gold Devouring Immortal.

Both treasures had been obtained from Feng Tiandu and were originally immortal artifacts of no small power, yet when facing the Gold Devouring Immortal, they seemed somewhat inadequate.

The Gold Devouring Immortal let out a light scolding sound, and with one of its forelegs it made a vertical slash upward. A beam of crystalline light shot out instantly, striking toward the snow-white camel hump.

With a thunderous roar,

the snow-white camel hump split in two from the center, its light dissipating as it fell to the ground in two broken pieces of the paperweight.

Then, the Gold Devouring Immortal opened its mouth wide and sucked in fiercely. The sea of flames on the ground immediately condensed into a spiral wave of fire, which it inhaled into its belly without a trace, like a whale drinking water.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

On the ground previously obscured by the black flames, white jade pillars inscribed with various runes rose up one after another, gathering into a massive white stone formation that shone with dazzling light and charged toward the Gold Devouring Immortal.

At the same time, brilliant silver light blazed on the mountain walls on both sides. Four stone-carved runes, each a hundred zhang long, penetrated through the walls, transforming into four enormous light runes that descended toward the Gold Devouring Immortal's head.

These four runes were none other than the Four Symbols Rune Array, comprising the "Azure Dragon Wood Subduing Rune," "White Tiger Metal Scorching Rune," "Vermilion Bird Fire Raising Rune," and "Black Tortoise Water Repelling Rune." They were based on the four talismans Han Li had obtained from the Eight Treasures Heavy Case, and he had poured a vast amount of immortal spiritual power into carving them on the stone walls.

Amid the roars of tigers and dragons, a cyan flood dragon swooped down, a white giant tiger pounced straight down, a blazing red giant bird flew in, and a heavily armored black tortoise charged forward, pressing the Gold Devouring Immortal from all four directions in a trapping formation.

"Despicable ant, mere parlor tricks!" the Gold Devouring Immortal roared in anger.

Around its body, crystalline light burst forth. Countless razor-thin, translucent blades shot out densely, almost instantly riddling the great formation below like a sieve full of holes.

And the four strange beasts that were pouncing down from above could not withstand the crystalline light blades at all; after a few strikes, they were reduced to sparse spiritual energy and dissipated into four wisps of smoke.

But before it could rest for a moment, a huge shadow fell from above out of nowhere, transforming into a massive three-story pavilion that instantly enveloped it.

Inside the pavilion, it was resplendent and magnificent, with Buddhist chants lingering around the beams. Waves of strange sound ripples spread over, making the Devourer Immortal suddenly feel a bit lightheaded. In a daze, it seemed to return to the dreamscape it had been trapped in before, once again chasing after the Golden Child over and over.

"Roar..."

A sound like a beast's howl came from its mouth, and a huge sonic boom immediately burst forth, instantly shattering all the Buddhist chants within the three-story pavilion. Even the pavilion itself was covered with countless dense cracks.

Han Li watched this scene, his gaze involuntarily twitching. After twenty years of torment in the illusion, the Devourer Immortal's divine sense seemed to have become even more formidable.

According to his original estimate, the three-story pavilion, which had been tempered in the emerald green gourd for some time, should have been able to trap the Devourer Immortal for about ten breaths, giving him a little time to deploy the Truth Dharma Wheel. But in reality, it couldn't even hold for three breaths.

With a loud "bang"!

The three-story pavilion split apart with a resounding crack, shattering into countless fragments that scattered in all directions.

At the same time, Han Li shouted loudly, "Fellow Daoist Mo Guang, why haven't you made your move yet? What are you waiting for?"

As soon as his words fell, a black figure, completely shrouded in rolling baleful aura, suddenly flashed behind the Devouring Gold Immortal. Both hands gripping an ancient black spear, he thrust it forward toward its back.

That figure was naturally Mo Guang, who had taken over the corpse of the Gray Immortal. Having activated some secret technique, his aura now fluctuated at the early Taiyi stage.

The spear radiated intense black light, and the bloodstains on its tip emitted streaks of blood-red light, swirling around the spearhead and condensing into lotus-like blood-red spear shadows, accompanied by a chilling, piercing whistle.

As the spear shaft trembled, streaks of light swept through the air, coiling like a swimming dragon, carrying an overwhelmingly fierce killing intent as it stabbed toward the Devouring Gold Immortal. Its displayed power was dozens of times greater than when Han Li had tested it earlier.

The Taiyi-stage Devouring Gold Immortal had long sensed this, yet its body did not dodge or evade. Instead, it raised its two forelimbs to meet the black spear.

The size difference between the two was enormous, but the momentum each carried was formidable. Like a steel pestle striking a needle tip, they collided violently.