The Divine Wind Skiff was incredibly fast, and with Han Li's Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivation powering it, it shot forward like an arrow from the bowstring. Almost carrying a sharp "swish" sound as it tore through the air, the skiff arrived before the nameless little island in no time.
When Han Li spotted the reef he had lingered at not far away, a measure of relief finally eased through his heart. He raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and was about to turn his head to look back when— A bone-chilling sensation suddenly surged from behind him!
Horror seized Han Li. Without a second thought, he stomped his foot down hard on the Divine Wind Skiff beneath him.
Instantly, both man and artifact shot sideways in a sharp drift, the skiff teleporting roughly ten zhang from its original position in a blur.
Almost at the same instant, a streak of deep yellow light flashed through the space where Han Li had been standing a heartbeat ago, shot forward another twenty or thirty zhang, and then the yellow glow contracted to reveal a human figure.
Han Li wiped a palmful of sticky cold sweat from his face, took one look at the newcomer, and let out a bitter laugh.
The figure before him — wild hair draped over his shoulders — was none other than the Gu-surnamed Elder of the Six Linking Hall!
Right now, the elder stood atop a round, earth-yellow treasure artifact, gazing down at Han Li in utter silence. The coldness in his eyes was absolute, as though Han Li were already a dead man to him.
And directly below this grim apparition, roughly a dozen zhang down, lay the very spot where Han Li had set up his grand formation. The realization chilled Han Li to the core.
Yet Han Li also understood clearly that any attempt at questioning or begging for mercy now would be utterly pointless.
His only hope was to fight this Core Formation "senior" head-on and see whether he could create an opening to lure him into the range of the formation and trap him there.
At that thought, Han Li steeled his heart.
Under his silent command, Qu Hun's figure flickered, shifting to stand in front of Han Li. Threads of bloody light radiated from his body, shrouding him entirely in a faintly metallic, crimson glow.
Han Li, meanwhile, flashed his hands once, and two more artifacts materialized in his grip.
The Gu elder, seeing Han Li and Qu Hun arrayed for a desperate resistance, let a cold glint flash through his eyes. The round artifact beneath his feet let out a resonant hum, and its yellow radiance surged brilliantly, wrapping around him like a suit of armor formed from pure yellow light.
Then his hands suddenly spread wide, and dense clusters of yellow light-points spiraled out from all ten fingertips. In an instant they transformed into palm-sized crescent-blade lights and, without a sound, surged toward Han Li and Qu Hun in a furious tide.
Han Li was alarmed — but also felt a sliver of relief.
This man's treasure was nothing like Lei Wanhe's speed-type weapon. That difference could mean the difference between life and death.
Han Li rallied his spirit and raised both hands.
From one hand flew a tortoise-shell artifact that expanded dramatically the moment it left his grasp. From the other appeared a small, gleaming mirror. A broad sheet of cyan light erupted from its surface and shot head-on into the oncoming barrage of light blades.
"Pop-pop-pop!" — a continuous string of muffled sounds rang out. The first small cluster of crescent blades, struck by the cyan light, visibly slowed, their momentum nearly halted.
But as more and more crescent blades behind them pressed forward into the cyan light, it was sliced apart in the blink of an eye, shattering into motes of scattered starlight.
At the same moment, the mirror in Han Li's hand cracked with a sharp "snap" and split cleanly in two, completely destroyed.
Han Li tossed the ruined halves aside without the slightest pang of regret over the loss of the Azure Condensing Mirror.
Without even glancing back, he slapped his storage pouch with one hand. Two streaks of dark light and five streaks of white light shot out in succession, circled once above his head, and then flew forward in neat formation to meet the attack.
But Han Li was not done. At his sides, seven or eight more flashes of white appeared, and as many puppets — soldier-beasts — materialized in formation, each drawing its bow and nocking an arrow, poised to fire at a moment's notice.
By now the swarm of crescent light-blades had struck the enormous tortoise shell. Nearly on contact, the artifact's surface was instantly riddled with countless deep gashes. It held for barely a moment before letting out a mournful wail and being hacked to pieces by the blades.
That brief reprieve was enough. Han Li's seven or eight peak-grade artifacts arrived behind Qu Hun, spinning and dancing ceaselessly to weave a shifting curtain of interlocking black-and-white blades.
Naturally, these peak-grade artifacts were no match for the crescent blades either, even with their momentum reduced. The Black Dragon Seizer and the five white flying blades flickered a few times and then dissolved into streaks of fading light.
Now entirely unobstructed, the crescent blade swarm surged mercilessly toward Qu Hun — who had not moved a single step since the fight began, standing firm before Han Li all this while.
"Haaa!"
A thunderous roar erupted from Qu Hun's throat. The crimson bloody glow around his body suddenly detached and surged outward, transforming in an instant into a massive scarlet light-serpent that lunged forward with bared fangs and spread claws.
The red radiance and the now-weakened crescent blades crashed together in a furious tangle. At the same time, the light-arrows from the puppet soldiers at Han Li's sides joined the crimson serpent's assault at just the right moment, and for a brief span the clash settled into a deadlock.
The sight of it filled Han Li with elation. The Gu elder standing opposite, however, showed a flicker of surprise on his face, pausing ever so slightly.