Chapter 68: Pursuit and Slaughter

Heshan Daoist was overjoyed. He changed his hand seal and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which vanished into the Silver Moon Diagram in a flash.

Within the silver moon pattern, amidst the swirling haze, the silver moon suddenly rolled out strands of silver mist. They twisted and intertwined, transforming into a dazzling silver vortex.

Waves of spatial power emanated from within, accompanied by a rumbling sound like thunder. At the deepest part of the vortex, a faint white light could be seen.

Just before the spatial passage opened, the Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost and Han Li's transformed Thunder Roc both looked over at the same time. The former showed joy, while the latter's pupils flickered with blue light.

Heshan Daoist's gaze swept over the Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost and immediately landed on the Thunder Roc. His heart trembled, and like a rabbit, he turned abruptly and plunged into the silver vortex.

Then, ripples stirred within the vortex, and it shattered like foam, dissolving into specks of silver light that vanished without a trace.

Only faint spatial fluctuations lingered in the void.

From the opening to the closing of the spatial passage, it took less than a single breath.

"Heshan, you old Daoist!"

The Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost, seeing that Heshan Daoist had fled alone and closed the spatial passage, flew into a rage.

Meanwhile, the blue light in the Thunder Roc's pupils faded, and a thoughtful expression appeared in its eyes.

In that brief moment, he had fully captured all the changes in the opening and closing of the spatial vortex.

"Fellow Daoist Tong, now only you and I remain. That's fine—let's settle the grievances between our sects first." The Thunder Roc retracted its gaze and spoke coldly.

As soon as the words fell, the silver electric light on its body suddenly flared. With a thunderous crack, its massive figure vanished from the spot.

Startled, the Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost forgot his anger at Heshan Daoist. His pupils contracted, and he quickly formed hand seals. Viscous black qi surged from his body, transforming into over a dozen thick tentacles that danced wildly around him.

With a thunderclap behind him, a silver flash appeared, and the Thunder Roc's figure materialized. Its two giant claws blurred into afterimages, striking swiftly at its back.

But the black tentacles behind the Celestial Ghost reacted extremely quickly. They coiled like lightning and actually bound the Thunder Roc.

A hint of surprise appeared in the Thunder Roc's eyes, but then silver arcs flared around its body, and numerous silver runes emerged around the arcs.

Bang bang bang!

The runes exploded one after another, shooting out countless silver lightning threads that pierced the black tentacles, riddling them with holes. The tentacles dissolved into black qi and vanished completely in the lightning.

The Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost's back was also hit by the silver lightning. A thick arc struck his lower back, shattering seven or eight eyes there, and black blood flowed profusely.

He grunted, his form flickered, and he quickly shot forward.

A rumbling sound came from behind him.

The Thunder Roc's claws grasped the void, and silver arcs gathered around it, once again condensing into two silver lightning spheres.

It raised its claws and hurled the two spheres into the air, where they vanished into the gray clouds.

Immediately, a deafening roar erupted from the clouds. Dazzling silver lightning tore through the gray clouds, casting blinding silver light.

Two massive silver lightning pillars shot down from the clouds, surrounded by countless silver runes, and struck swiftly at the fleeing Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost.

The Celestial Ghost was terrified. Black light flared on his body, and the surrounding eyes strained open wide again, black light flickering in their pupils as he prepared to use spatial laws.

At that moment, a bone-chilling cold snort suddenly rang in the Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost's ears!

Then, with a bang in his mind, as if stabbed by a sharp awl, a tearing pain in his soul erupted abruptly.

The Celestial Ghost let out a scream, clutching his head, black blood flowing from his seven orifices.

The black light in the nearly hundred eyes around him flickered chaotically and then dissipated.

Amid the thunderous roar, the two silver lightning pillars crashed down, striking the Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost's body.

A deafening explosion!

A piercing scream came from the Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost's mouth. His body was pierced by the lightning pillars, leaving two large holes, one of which was in his chest.

The Celestial Ghost's body was nearly cut in two. Black-red blood gushed out, and his broken body fell heavily from the air, crashing to the ground.

With a series of cracking sounds, the Hundred-Eyed Celestial Ghost's body rapidly shrank, transforming into a short, bald old man. His lower abdomen and chest each had a large hole piercing through, indicating severe injuries.

Gushes of blood flowed from Tong Ren'e's mouth. His face was panicked, and the light in his eyes was dim.

But the next moment, a fierce expression flashed across his face. He quickly formed hand seals.

Suddenly, rings of black crystalline light swirled on his body surface, and his thin frame began to swell wildly.

"Self-destruct!"

In midair, the Thunder Roc muttered. Its claws waved, and dazzling silver arcs appeared again, gathering into a silver lightning sphere that descended rapidly.

Rumble!

Tong Ren'e self-destructed first. The violent fluctuations tore the nearby void, and dark black light surged out, causing the silver lightning sphere to slow its descent momentarily.

With a "whoosh," a baby several inches tall shot out of the black light in a flash, instantly appearing in the void dozens of feet away. Then its protective spiritual light flickered wildly as it transformed into a streak of black light, ready to teleport again.

In the blink of an eye, the silver thunderball suddenly exploded, turning into a colossal silver sun that rapidly expanded in all directions, instantly engulfing Tong Ren'e's nascent soul.

With a "whoosh," something shot out from the silver light and, in a flash, flew toward the Thunder Roc above.

Moments later, the silver sun slowly dissipated, revealing a pitch-black pit on the ground.

Tong Ren'e had vanished completely, leaving not a trace behind.

A silver electric arc flashed, the Thunder Roc disappeared, and Han Li's figure emerged, holding a red pouch in one hand that emitted a faint red glow.

After successive transformations and fierce combat, his complexion was now extremely pale, and the spiritual power in his dantian was nearly depleted.

He put away the red pouch, then took out a millennium Cloud Crane Herb and consumed it. Raising his head to look at the void, he muttered incantations and shook his sleeve.

Seven streaks of black light shot out and halted in midair—they were the seven Star-Moon Treasure Mirrors he had refined earlier using Yin Chen Stone, arranged faintly in the shape of the Big Dipper.

Han Li formed hand seals with both hands, and beams of light landed on the seven mirrors.

The Star-Moon Treasure Mirrors immediately spun rapidly, emitting dazzling starlight, and many black runes flew out, dancing within the light.

He changed his hand seals, and the mirrors emitted a low hum, their light growing brighter but also trembling, becoming increasingly unstable.

"Explode!"

Han Li uttered a soft shout and urged the hand seals.

Bang bang bang!

The seven mirrors flashed brightly and all exploded, turning into seven massive light spheres.

Han Li's expression tightened, and his hands moved like wheels as he formed seals.

Under his urging, the seven spheres of starlight rapidly condensed, soon transforming into seven enormous phantom stars, unmistakably the Big Dipper.

Seeing this, Han Li suddenly changed his hand seals.

The light of the seven phantom stars abruptly connected with each other, vaguely forming a grand star array.

Han Li gave a soft cry and formed a peculiar hand seal.

Rip!

The star array suddenly brightened, then, as if pulled by two giant hands, tore apart to both sides, revealing a pitch-black rift that emitted a deep, dark radiance.

But deep within the darkness, a faint glimmer of light could be seen.

…

Above the Star-Gathering Platform of Jingyuan Temple, the massive silver moon rippled violently, and a spatial rift suddenly tore open at one spot. A green figure shot out and hovered in midair—it was Han Li.

At this moment, the formation covering a hundred li radius centered on the Star-Gathering Platform was still active. The bright silver radiance from the giant moon above intertwined with the multicolored light curtain surrounding the area, illuminating the space within into a bizarre world.

But He Shan Dao Ren, who had escaped earlier, was nowhere to be seen.

Han Li flickered and appeared before a section of the light curtain. He struck three consecutive punches, blasting a hole through it, then leaped out and emerged outside the curtain.

Outside, Jingyuan Temple was completely silent, submerged in the night, with no anomalies.

Han Li frowned slightly. Sweeping his divine sense, he suddenly turned his head and stared coldly at the distant Jingtian Peak.

The next moment, his figure transformed into a green rainbow, shooting toward it like lightning.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

The ground around Jingtian Peak suddenly trembled, and dozens of thick yellow light pillars burst forth from the earth, each four or five zhang thick and towering into the clouds.

The pillars were covered with earthy yellow spiritual patterns, radiating vast spiritual power fluctuations.

The pillars simultaneously brightened, emitting a dense yellow glow, and connected with each other to form a thick earthy yellow light curtain. From afar, it looked like a massive thick yellow cloud covering the entire Jingtian Peak.

Inside the main hall of Jingtian Peak stood a three-tiered jade platform, crafted entirely from translucent yellow crystal.

The tiers decreased in area from bottom to top: the lowest was over ten zhang in size, while the topmost was only two or three zhang, covered with yellow runes.

Around the jade platform stood dozens of earthy yellow jade pillars, densely inscribed with countless runes.

He Shan Dao Ren was here, sitting cross-legged on the third tier of the platform. Though his expression was calm, a trace of panic deep in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.

He muttered incantations, his ten fingers moving like wheels, rapidly forming hand seals.

The three-tiered jade platform and the surrounding dozens of jade pillars flickered with bright earthy yellow light, resonating with the great formation outside.

Seven or eight Combined Movement cultivators of Jingyuan Temple were also sitting cross-legged on the second tier of the platform, likewise muttering incantations as they channeled their spiritual power into the platform.

Outside Jingtian Peak, a green rainbow streaked through the air and, in a flash, stopped before the great formation, revealing Han Li's figure.

He gazed at the earthy yellow light enveloping the entire peak, squinted his eyes, and took a deep breath. Cracking sounds came from his body as it rapidly expanded, golden monkey fur emerged on his skin, and in an instant, he transformed into a giant ape over ten zhang tall, like a mountain.