The instant he was swallowed by the spatial rift, Han Li found the blinding radiance all around him unbearable to look at and could only squeeze his eyes shut. At the same time, having lost all the Magical Power in his body, he felt dizzy and nauseous to an extreme degree.
Had it not been for his current half-flood-dragon, half-human physique — far tougher than an ordinary mortal's — he would have passed out on the spot.
But after a brief moment, Han Li felt the spiritual energy within his body stir and flow smoothly once more. His Magical Power had actually been restored. A flash of elation crossed his mind. He immediately reestablished control over his body and stabilized his floating figure.
At the same time, the radiant light nearby flickered violently a few times before dissipating entirely, revealing everything in his surroundings.
Han Li swept his gaze around, and with a whoosh, his figure shot off — instantly putting over ten zhang between himself and his original position. The demon soul was floating in the air as well, nearly right on top of him.
Han Li didn't examine the surroundings in detail, nor was there any need to — the space here was only a few dozen zhang across, and everything was visible at a glance.
There was no one else here — only himself and the demon soul. This realization made Han Li's heart sink.
A brief spiritual probe revealed that the spiritual energy here was astonishingly dense. Around the perimeter, there appeared to be some spiritual herbs and medicinal plants growing, along with an intact stone pavilion and half a corridor. The walls and high ceiling of the space were shrouded in a murky gray haze, with nothing else to be seen.
It seemed to be some manner of incomplete medicinal garden.
Han Li was startled by this discovery, but with a powerful enemy before him and his very life at stake, he had no interest in studying the place in detail. He fixed the demon soul opposite him with a cold stare. Azure light circulated throughout his body, his fists clenched, and golden arcs of lightning crackled into existence across his skin. At the same time, a purple fireball descended from above and began circling overhead.
This mass of Purple Luo Skyfire, in the moments after Han Li had been swallowed by the rift, had followed him into this space of its own spiritual accord. This gave Han Li some measure of comfort — at the very least, he wasn't entirely without the means to fight back.
The demon soul across from him had also finished surveying the area. A look of surprise appeared on both of its faces, but before long, something peculiar crept into its expressions.
"Ha ha! I didn't expect this to be a spatial remnant of the Ethereal Garden! Fortune smiles upon me after all — this Demon Sovereign has avoided his doom!"
The demon soul threw its heads back and burst into wild laughter. Then, as the laughter gradually subsided, both heads twisted around simultaneously, fixing Han Li with a sinister gaze.
Han Li gave a cold snort, flicked his sleeve, and several dozen golden flying swords shot out, transforming into a curtain of sword shadows that shielded his front.
Only then did he notice that two of his Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords — the ones infused with Geng Metal Essence — were missing. This shocked him considerably.
These flying swords were all linked to his very life force, yet at this moment he couldn't sense them at all. It seemed those two swords had been lost outside the spatial rift, having failed to follow him in.
He couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself.
If it had been any other magical treasures, it wouldn't have mattered much. But the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords had been forged as a matched set.
With two swords missing, not only could the Grand Geng Sword Formation not be deployed, but the power of the entire set would be drastically reduced.
Han Li felt a wave of helpless resignation wash over him. With the sword formation out of the question, his only recourse was to rely on the Spirit Descending Talisman and his Baneslaying Divine Thunder to protect himself.
Seeing Han Li bracing himself as though facing a mortal foe, the demon soul bared its enormous mouth in a hideous grin, its long tongue flickering in and out, its expression turning savage.
Demonic Qi erupted skyward, instantly blanketing more than half the space. Before long, the entire area was churning with demonic energy as sinister winds began to howl.
Han Li drew a deep breath and drew out every last remnant of Baneslaying Divine Thunder within his body. Instantly, brilliant golden light blazed across his form as over a hundred golden arcs of lightning erupted from every part of his body. In the blink of an eye, they coalesced into several golden lightning serpents as thick as bowls, coiling around Han Li and rearing their heads in defiance.
"You still have that much Baneslaying Divine Thunder?"
The demon soul's expression showed a flicker of surprise, but it then let out a cold snort and, without another word, raised both hands.
Two torrents of demonic wind surged from its hands, intertwining with the demonic Qi already filling the air. In an instant, they transformed into countless pitch-black tentacles of varying thickness, writhing wildly across the sky.
While Baneslaying Divine Thunder could counter demonic Qi, when the quantity of demonic energy was this vast, there was simply no end to what needed to be destroyed.
Both Han Li and the demon soul understood this principle all too well. And so, upon seeing this, Han Li's expression grew grim.
Most frustrating of all, the Blood Escape Technique — his usual trump card for saving his life — was rendered utterly useless in this enclosed space.