Chapter 663: A Last Resort

Han Li's eyes flickered as he rapidly chanted incantations under his breath, then with a single motion of his sleeve, he flung his arm outward.

Three azure giant swords shot forth instantly, arranged in a triangular formation as they slashed toward the blue mermaid, their blades wreathed in golden lightning that burst forth with a dazzling radiance.

Facing the trio's swift and thunderous combined assault, the blue mermaid's face grew even more ferocious. With a sudden swing of the blue staff in its hand, a series of hissing sounds erupted as countless blue staff shadows materialized around it, coalescing into a thick barrier of staff shadows that clashed with the trio's attacks.

Whether Han Li and the other two had truly unleashed their full power in this strike remained unknown, but their offensive came like a relentless storm, wave after wave, enough to overwhelm even an ordinary early-Taiyi stage cultivator.

"Boom, boom, boom!" A series of earth-shattering explosions rang out!

Though the blue staff shadows appeared indestructible, they were continuously shattered. The barrier of staff shadows rapidly thinned and soon collapsed entirely.

The blue staff in the mermaid's hand also shattered in a flash, but in its other hand, a blue light flickered, and a similarly ancient blue fishing rod appeared, with a faint, hair-thin blue fishing line attached.

The mermaid flicked the rod, and the fishing line immediately danced into the air, leaping around its body with incredible speed.

Wherever the line passed, waves of blue light surged out of thin air, distorting space and forming rapidly spinning blue vortices.

The three Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords struck those blue vortices, unleashing a torrent of golden lightning that swept down, but upon contact with the vortices, it vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea.

The vortices merely trembled slightly before instantly returning to their original state.

Han Li felt as if his three giant swords had struck a vast, boundless ocean, their world-splitting might swallowed by the endless seawater and completely neutralized.

Almost simultaneously, the blue giant sword summoned by Ren Hao also descended with immense force upon these blue vortices, only to be blocked as well, with all its sword light and power devoured without effect.

On the other side, the black beam shot from the black giant gate was also blocked by the blue vortices, but Maple Lin seemed to have anticipated this. She quickly formed hand seals with both hands.

With a "hum," silver spiritual patterns emerged on the surface of the black gate, and countless silver runes gushed forth, merging into the black beam.

The black beam immediately shimmered with silver light, turning semi-transparent.

With a soft "pfft" sound!

Though with some difficulty, the black beam still pierced through the blue vortices and engulfed the blue mermaid's body.

Enveloped by the black beam, the blue mermaid's face showed signs of pain, and its movements seemed somewhat hindered.

Maple Lin quickly formed another hand seal. The black beam trembled, and then with a "whoosh," a massive figure wreathed in demonic qi leaped out from the beam.

This demon had a cyan face with fangs, stood about ten zhang tall, with a head of blood-red hair and two blood-red curved horns. Its hands and feet were covered in scales, and it wielded a pitch-black steel trident that flickered with black light.

Though not extremely large in stature, it exuded an immense and ferocious aura that instantly filled the entire hall, its mouth emitting a sinister, grating laugh that made even Han Li and Ren Hao's minds tremble.

"This is one of the thirteen demon kings of the outer realm, King Suopi! Be careful, Fellow Daoist Han. Unlike ordinary outer realm demons that use heart demons and illusions to harm people, King Suopi can directly injure one's divine soul, making him very difficult to deal with!" Mo Guang's voice rang out in Han Li's mind, filled with shock.

Hearing this, Han Li's heart tightened slightly.

"Go!"

Maple Lin gave a low shout and urged with a hand seal.

King Suopi's steel trident blazed with black light and stabbed fiercely at the still somewhat sluggish blue mermaid.

With a dull "bang!"

The blue mermaid's body suddenly exploded, turning into a cloud of blue mist that scattered.

Seeing this, Maple Lin's face lit up with joy, and she changed her hand seal.

A stream of black qi separated from the black beam, like a black hand reaching out to grab the two treasures in the pool.

Seeing this, Ren Hao was extremely anxious, but the blue vortices had not disappeared, and he could only watch helplessly.

Han Li observed this scene, his eyes flickering, but he made no move.

Just as the two treasures were about to be swept up by the black qi, a sudden change occurred!

The blue mist formed from the blue mermaid suddenly condensed and flashed again into the figure of the blue mermaid, appearing completely unharmed.

The mermaid grinned, swung the blue fishing rod, and a blue shadow flashed.

With a "bang," the black light burst apart.

"Impossible!" Maple Lin's eyes showed disbelief at the sight.

This "Suopi Gate" was an ancient immortal artifact refining method she had stumbled upon in a ruin in the demon domain in her early years. She had spent countless efforts to refine it into her lifebound immortal artifact.

For this artifact, Maple Lin had spent almost all the savings of her early life, but its power had never made her regret it.

Even the Suopi demon light alone could harm the divine souls of cultivators of the same rank, and the manifested King Suopi could even injure Taiyi stage beings.

Struck simultaneously by Suopi Moguang and King Suopi, the blue mermaid seemed completely unharmed!

At that moment, the blue mermaid waved its arm again, and the blue fishing line flew out once more, instantly weaving into a blue fishing net that covered Maple Forest's Suopi Gate.

Startled by the shock, Maple Forest's attention wavered for a moment, and his natal immortal artifact was trapped. His face changed color, and his hands rapidly formed hand seals like spinning wheels.

A loud "whoosh-whoosh" sound arose!

The Suopi Gate emitted a brilliant black light and trembled violently, trying to break free from the blue fishing net's restraint.

But no matter how it struggled, the blue fishing net tightened more and more, dragging the Suopi Gate like a large fish, flying rapidly toward the pool below.

At the same time, two more blue fishing lines shot out from the blue fishing rod with a "pop-pop" sound, coiling toward Han Li's three Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and Ren Hao's blue giant sword.

Having witnessed the power of the blue fishing line, Han Li quickly formed a hand seal and pointed.

The surfaces of the three Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords burst with golden lightning, shooting back with extreme speed, evading the entanglement of the blue fishing line.

On the other side, Ren Hao also hastily recalled his blue giant sword, narrowly dodging the other blue fishing line.

The two exchanged glances, both seeing a trace of shock in each other's eyes.

This blue mermaid was so formidable that it could gain the upper hand while facing all three of them at once.

Han Li's eyes flickered as he pondered whether to employ the law of time; otherwise, defeating the blue mermaid seemed unlikely.

At that moment, a tremendous roar came from Maple Forest's direction.

A brilliant black light burst from her body, forming a black wave that rapidly spread outward, instantly creating a black spiritual domain that covered the entire hall.

Countless black demonic shadows flickered within the domain, emitting piercing, agonizing screams that made one's scalp tingle.

As the black spiritual domain expanded, the Suopi Gate seemed to resonate, emitting several times more black light. The two demon god reliefs on it twisted as if alive, letting out a huge roar.

A狂暴无比的力量从娑毗之门上爆发而出，使得附近虚空也为之颤抖不已，猛地停了下来.

Under the black spiritual domain's influence, the blue vortex around the blue mermaid dimmed considerably, as if suppressed by the domain's power.

Seeing this, Ren Hao's eyes lit up, and he quickly formed hand seals in front of his chest.

Boom!

Blue light blazed from his body, spreading in all directions as he instantly unfurled his spirit domain.

Countless blue waves churned within his domain with a thunderous roar, like a raging ocean, and the blue vortex around the mermaid dimmed once more.

“Brother Li!” Ren Hao looked at Han Li, his meaning clear.

Han Li’s eyes flickered, but he still formed hand seals with both hands. Golden light blazed around him, and countless golden runes tumbled within it.

He waved his sleeve, and the golden runes exploded outward, unfurling his time domain.

“This is…”

“A time law domain!”

Ren Hao and Feng Lin felt the time law within Han Li’s domain and both showed shock.

After all, there are three thousand great laws in the world, each containing the mysteries of the operation and life of all things. Comprehending their myriad changes is extremely difficult, often requiring ten thousand years for a slim chance to utilize them through one’s own power. As one of the three supreme laws, the time law is even more ethereal—not to mention comprehending it, even finding an entry point is immensely challenging.

Yet Han Li, a Golden Immortal cultivator of similar cultivation to them, not only cultivated and comprehended the time law but, judging from the domain he could mobilize, his understanding of it was evidently not shallow. How could this not astonish the two?

The blue mermaid, enveloped by Han Li’s time domain, slowed in its movements, and the blue vortex around it dimmed sharply again, becoming faint and indistinct.

At that moment, a fierce glint flashed in Han Li’s eyes. He suddenly formed a sword seal with one hand. With a series of green flashes, nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords flew out from his sleeve in a line, spun around, and transformed into nine giant green swords.

“Chop!” He formed a seal and waved.

The nine giant swords simultaneously slashed down, striking at the blue vortex.

Ren Hao had also recovered his wits by now. He let out a loud shout, and the blue giant sword beside him shot forth, erupting with sky-piercing blue light.

He rapidly chanted an incantation, and the blue wave phantoms within his domain surged toward the blue giant sword, merging into it.

The blue giant sword rumbled and trembled, its surface blue light blazing again. After a violent shudder, it suddenly vanished, only to reappear above the blue vortex the next moment as a colossal sword hundreds of feet in size, following Han Li’s nine green giant swords as it slashed down!

Although Feng Lin’s natal immortal artifact was trapped, she gritted her teeth and waved her sleeve.

A fist-sized black seal shot out, its surface glittering with black crystal light, and a black tiger shadow emerged within it.

She muttered an incantation and pressed her hand toward the black seal in the air.

Instantly, a heaven-shaking tiger roar came from it. The black tiger shadow circled the seal, dancing, and then opened its mouth wide, inhaling fiercely. The numerous black shadows in her domain immediately converged and merged into the black seal.

The black seal rapidly expanded, in the blink of an eye becoming the size of a house, radiating substantial black light as it smashed heavily toward the blue vortex.