"I wouldn't be so sure!" Han Li sneered coldly.
With that, he formed a hand seal and swept both hands inward in a sudden motion. The various spiritual treasures that had been fiercely assaulting the green barrier let out a collective wail and shot skyward, converging together in midair.
This sight gave Qing Wen a moment's pause — he couldn't fathom what Han Li was planning. But the man was an old fox to the core; he would never allow Han Li to complete his casting undisturbed. He immediately opened both palms, and a pair of gleaming golden rings appeared in his hands, radiating a palpable chill that marked them as anything but ordinary.
"Go," Qing Wen muttered without hesitation, flinging both rings outward. They streaked toward Han Li as twin beams of golden light.
Han Li's eyebrows shot upright, his face turning fierce. One hand snapped out to grab the White Phosphorus Shield.
But before he could throw it, three beams of green light roughly a foot long darted in from the side, intercepting the two golden streaks halfway. The four lights immediately tangled together in a furious clash.
"Daoist priest, surely you haven't forgotten about this old master here?" said Senior Brother Wang, directing the green beams while flashing a friendly grin at Han Li.
Seeing this, Han Li felt a wave of relief wash over him and returned the smile.
Qing Wen, however, was far less composed. His expression turned dark and stormy, his gaze flickering uncertainly. For the moment, though, he had no counter to offer. After all, simultaneously controlling the Green Wood True Shield and the Gold-Locking Rings already consumed nearly all of his spiritual sense. He had never studied the Great Development Technique like Han Li, so there was no way he could effortlessly manage this many spiritual treasures at once.
Though he still had other powerful tools on his person, he dared not use them carelessly. Pouring all of one's spiritual sense into controlling treasures was a cardinal sin among cultivators — doing so left the owner completely blind to approaching dangers.
Moreover, Han Li's feat of commanding over a dozen treasures simultaneously was only possible because they belonged to a matched set. In truth, the magical power required was equivalent to controlling just three. If these were actually over a dozen different top-grade treasures of separate origin, Han Li's current cultivation base would be nowhere near sufficient, no matter how powerful his spiritual sense or how many splits he could maintain. Five or so was his hard limit. This was precisely why Han Li favored matched sets — only then could he fully unleash the power of the Great Development Technique.
As for his ability to command the eight child blades of the Gold Silkworm Mother and Child Blades back during the Qi Condensation stage, that hardly qualified as genuine treasure control. It was simply the mother blade directing the child blades by proxy, and its power and flexibility were worlds apart from what he could achieve now.
While Qing Wen hesitated, unsure whether to devise another strategy, Han Li had already finished his casting.
"Giant Sword Technique," he intoned, the words falling from his lips like ice.
Every treasure circling above Qing Wen's head erupted with blinding radiance. As the various colors merged together, they coalesced into a colossal light sword of interwoven gold, black, and red, suspended in the sky. It spanned over a dozen zhang — truly a staggering sight.
This "Giant Sword Technique" was a sword-controlling method Han Li had discovered on the golden page that documented the complete set of Green Origin Sword Rays. It was currently the only sword art he could employ at the Foundation Establishment stage, and its power was anything but ordinary.
Both Qing Wen and Senior Brother Wang's treasures were still locked in combat, yet both men's faces drained of color with horror. Even the densest fool could tell this technique packed devastating force.
Qing Wen cursed inwardly. Abandoning all thought of his golden rings, he flipped his hands and produced a gleaming yellow copper mirror.
But at that moment, Han Li — his face a mask of frost — pointed one finger at the enormous light sword.
The giant blade descended from the sky in utter silence, carrying an overwhelming momentum as though it intended to cleave both the barrier and its master in a single stroke.
The spectacle made even Senior Brother Wang forget to seize the opening and destroy Qing Wen's distracted treasures. He could only stare, momentarily transfixed, at the sword's terrifying descent. His mind raced with a single obsessive thought: if that blade were aimed at him, could he possibly withstand it?
Qing Wen, bearing the brunt of the attack, wore an expression of utmost gravity. He hastily hurled the yellow copper mirror above his head.