Just as the Core Formation cultivator's figure began to slow inside the formation, more than a dozen crystalline, snow-white ice lances shot out without warning from the seawater to one side, hurtling straight toward his back.
Elder Gu's clumsy body suddenly regained its agility. He twisted around with a flick, raised one hand, and a massive yellow crescent-blade sliced out from his palm. In the blink of an eye it shattered the ambushing ice lances with a rapid crack-crack-crack, then continued without decelerating toward the direction from which the ice serpent had launched its attack.
At the same time, the seawater behind Elder Gu abruptly parted, and a blood-red pillar of crimson light shot forth. Because it was so fast and the distance so short—and because the formation was pinning him down—Elder Gu had no time to dodge. His expression shifted slightly, the yellow glow over his body flared brilliantly, and he braced himself to take the hit head-on.
The blood-light, as thick as an arm, struck him squarely, sending the Core Formation cultivator stumbling forward two full steps. He swayed unsteadily, barely managing to stay on his feet.
But just then, a flash of green light flickered at his side and Han Li materialized out of thin air beside Elder Gu, both hands gripping a massive silver greatsword that he brought slashing down in a vicious diagonal cut.
This time Elder Gu was truly alarmed!
There had been no one here a moment ago—what kind of escape art had the man used to appear so ghostly?
Though shock churned inside him, the yellow glow around his body surged instinctively, bracing to meet Han Li's greatsword head-on.
Han Li gave a soft chuckle and vanished from before the elder's eyes. At the same time, muffled bursts of something piercing the air came from every direction—more than a dozen hair-thin red threads suddenly appeared around him and thrust inward with vicious force.
"Flying needles!" Elder Gu's face went pale.
He knew all too well about these notorious "shadow weapons" of the cultivation world.
The yellow light over his body blazed to full brightness as he prepared to destroy the insidious artifacts before they could catch him off guard.
A thunderous boom erupted as Han Li reappeared behind him and brought the sword crashing down, sending the yellow radiance flickering wildly. Then the red threads slithered like venomous serpents into the glow, boring several feet deep and still drilling forward relentlessly.
Elder Gu's eyes flashed with a mixture of fury and alarm. He reached toward his storage pouch.
He was beginning to understand now—trapped by the opponent's formation and plagued by those bizarre attacks, his vital energy already severely depleted, a single protective artifact was far from enough to win this fight.
Before he could pull anything out, two thumb-thick beams of blood-light flickered into existence before him and pierced into his protective yellow glow with terrifying sharpness.
The yellow light—already flickering and dimmed from blocking Han Li's silver sword and trapping the flying needles—was effortlessly punctured by the seemingly insignificant blood-beams.
Elder Gu's face went deathly pale!
But he was a Core Formation cultivator after all. The instant the blood-light pierced his protective glow, he sensed the danger. Without bothering to retrieve any treasure, he threw his body aside with all his strength.
One blood-beam grazed past his ear, tearing away more than half the flesh. The other missed his heart but punched a small hole in his shoulder that spurted blood in rapid pulses.
Elder Gu cried out in pain, his legs buckling as he nearly dropped to his knees.
But Han Li's assault was far from over. Qu Hun's towering figure surged out of the seawater, raised both hands, and two blood-red pillars of light blasted forth.
Simultaneously, Han Li—his expression utterly blank—wielded the silver sword with one hand, spinning it into a massive sphere of silver light that hammered against the yellow glow with ear-splitting friction sounds. With his other hand he produced a thick stack of talismans and released them in an instant torrent—countless fireballs and ice spikes erupted forth, filling the air with dazzling multi-colored radiance and continuous explosive detonations.
Elder Gu, recovering from the searing pain, began to panic.
He could clearly feel that under the formation's crushing pressure and the relentless barrage of attacks, the Mixed Origin Bowl was consuming an immense amount of magical power. It could barely sustain the protective yellow glow any longer.
In desperation, he resolved to use a secret technique to forcibly extract more magical power—but before he could act, Han Li's incantation rang out coldly ahead of him.
The surrounding seawater began to spin madly, and the tremendous pressure bearing down on him multiplied several times over in an instant. The last trace of yellow light on his body let out a pitiful creak— Under his disbelieving gaze, the yellow glow vanished without a trace. The dozen or so freed flying needles immediately flashed red and shot through his vitals from every direction, piercing clean through his body. Elder Gu swayed several times and finally sank to one knee.
A flash of silver—Han Li swept past his side without a sound. Then the splendid head of this Six Unified Halls elder flew a full zhang through the air.
Blood geysered several feet high, and the thick stench of it spread outward in an instant.
Han Li let out a long breath of relief!
But he immediately darted forward in two quick strides, reaching the corpse and flicking up the storage pouch from the dead man's waist with his silver sword, catching it in his hand.
At the same time, Qu Hun picked up the yellow bowl-shaped artifact from the ground.
Han Li then led Qu Hun out of the great formation in a few flickering movements, summoned the Divine Compassion Boat, and immediately rode it skyward.
After flying only twenty or thirty li, Han Li angled the vessel downward and plunged straight into the vast sea below, diving to a depth of several dozen zhang.