Chapter 247: Avoiding Direct Confrontation
Before the dust even had a chance to settle, Han Li felt a blur flash before his eyes, and the white-haired elderly man instantly appeared before him, moving at an extraordinary speed.
Han Li immediately reflexively raised his arms, and he only just had enough time to cross them to form a barrier in front of himself before he was sent flying back by a tremendously powerful punch.
Thankfully, he had already conjured up his True Extreme Membrane, as well as a layer of golden scales over his arms, so he was able to ward off the attack better than Qilin 17 did, but even so, he was still sent flying back several thousand feet before managing to steady himself.
Even though the white-haired elderly man had managed to send Han Li flying, he also stumbled back a step himself, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
Immediately thereafter, Qilin 9 came swooping in with his sword, and the elderly man let loose a thunderous roar as he lashed out with his fists.
At this point, his skin had already gradually turned from a dark red color into a bright red hue, and the steam that was rising up from his body had also turned a shade of light pink.
Accompanying this change was an increase in his speed and power, and with every single punch that he threw, a loud boom would ring out in the air from the sheer force of his blows.
Qilin 9 was slashing his golden sword repeatedly through the air, while the white-haired elderly continued to fight with his bare fists, and each punch struck the edge of the golden sword's blade with tremendous force, resulting in a string of deafening booms.
The two of them were constantly changing positions, and the clashes between fists and sword sent bursts of invisible law fluctuations erupting through the air, destroying everything in the surrounding area and even carving out giant craters into the ground.
Qilin 9's swordsmanship was nothing short of exceptional, but in the face of the ridiculously fast and powerful elderly man, he was struggling to hold his own.
"All of you must die!" the white-haired elderly man roared, and his fists blurred as around a dozen identical fist projections appeared in the air before hurtling toward Qilin 9 with immense power.
Qilin 9 didn't have any time to think, and he gripped onto the hilt of his sword with both hands as a ball of dazzling light suddenly appeared at the tip of the sword. The ball of light was rapidly becoming brighter and brighter, and it swelled to several dozen feet in size before flying through the air and exploding violently.
Countless streaks of golden sword qi were sent sweeping through the air, crashing into the oncoming fist projections to produce a string of sharp metallic screeching noises.
However, to Qilin 9's surprise, almost all of the streaks of sword qi were instantly destroyed, but the fist projections weren't completely eradicated.
Immediately thereafter, a vast expanse of golden light emerged from his body to form a protective barrier in front of him.
Right at this moment, a slightly disheveled Qilin 17 abruptly flew out of a nearby giant crater, and with a flick of his wrist, a yellow rope flew out of his sleeve.
The length of rope was writhing around in mid-air like a spirit snake, and it formed seven or eight loops in the blink of an eye before flying toward the white-haired elderly man.
A string of resounding booms rang out, and the golden light around Qilin 9 shuddered violently as he was sent flying back through the air. The white-haired elderly man was about to charge forward and press his advantage, but he was caught in the loops of the yellow rope, which instantly constricted to completely bind him.
Qilin 17 was holding onto one end of the rope with one hand, and with a forceful wrenching motion, the elderly man was forcibly dragged toward him.
At the same time, Han Li popped up out of nowhere with his silver longsword raised, and he pierced the tip of the sword directly toward the elderly man's head.
Golden light flashed within the elderly man's eyes as a burst of muffled chanting rang out from within his mouth.
In the next instant, bright crimson light erupted all over his entire body, and the skin and flesh on his arms split open to reveal the bones underneath, which were still covered in a layer of pink fascia, and he was able to slice through the yellow rope with his bones to free himself as if they were sharp blades.
Immediately thereafter, he raised an arm and swept his blade-like bones toward the nearby Han Li.
The tip of Han Li's silver longsword struck the elderly man's bones to produce an extremely unpleasant screeching sound.
Han Li felt a burst of tremendous force surging toward him, and he immediately made the decision not to fight fire with fire, allowing himself to be sent flying back instead.
Even though the white-haired elderly man had lost some of his capacity for rational thought, he was still rather taken aback to see Han Li being blown back so easily. However, a thought then seemed to have occurred to him, and he abruptly turned around before pouncing at Qilin 17, who was still holding one end of the yellow rope.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared directly behind Qilin 17, then plunged the blade-like bones of his arms through several layers of protective light barriers with ease before piercing straight through Qilin 17's chest, creating a gaping hole that blood instantly began to gush out of.
Qilin 17's entire body arched back violently as a huge mouthful of blood gushed out from beneath his mask, but immediately thereafter, a burst of white light erupted from his waist, sending his entire body plummeting rapidly downward before slamming violently into the ground.
The white light then faded to reveal Qilin 17 laying on the ground in a completely still manner, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.
The white-haired elderly man cackled in a harrowing voice, and he paid no further heed to Qilin 17 as he turned a cold gaze to Han Li, who had already retreated to several thousand feet away.
Meanwhile, Han Li was watching the unfolding scene with a grim expression.
The elderly man appeared to have been quite a powerful Profound Immortal, and after devouring that Nascent Incinerating Blood Pill, his powers had been enhanced to an extreme degree. If Han Li had chosen to fight fire with fire just now, he would've most likely sustained severe injuries.
At this point, the elderly man's eyes had already turned completely golden in color, and there was no longer even the slightest hint of rationality within them.
This was a Profound Immortal who possessed power close to the Golden Immortal Stage and had lost all capacity for rational thought. It was no wonder that Qilin 17 was no match for him.
All of a sudden, the elderly man vanished from the spot in a flash.
Han Li didn't hesitate in the slightest as he shot back in retreat while a layer of golden scales appeared over both of his arms, and he raised a fist before throwing a punch directly forward.
A resounding boom rang out as his fist clashed violently with that of the white-haired elderly man, who had suddenly appeared in front of him.
A burst of invisible shockwaves instantly erupted forth in all directions like an almighty wave, causing the surrounding space to shudder violently while loose rocks were sent flying in all directions.
Han Li felt a burst of tremendous force surging toward him, and he was sent flying back several thousand feet, only coming to a rest after crashing into a pulverizing a black cliff face behind him.
The white-haired elderly man was also sent flying back, but only for about 2,000 to 3,000 feet before he managed to steady himself.
"I didn't think you were also a Profound Immortal, Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15. Having said that, do not oppose him directly. Instead, I'll set up an array to trap him, and you can lure him in once it's ready. At this point, he's already lost his sanity, so once the blood essence and nascent soul in his body is incinerated to nothingness, he'll drop dead on his own," Qilin 9 called out to Han Li as he hovered high up in the air.
Han Li took a moment to catch his breath, then replied, "Try to set up the array as soon as possible, Fellow Daoist Qilin 9. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to keep him occupied for long."
After that, he sprang up into the air before hurling the longsword in his hand forward.
The silver longsword flew through the air as it began to radiate dazzling silver light, and a circle of dense sword projections appeared around it, resembling a lotus flower that was blooming in mid-air.
Han Li then began to chant an incantation while pointing a finger downward, and a rapid string of silver sword projections instantly came raining down from above, completely inundating the white-haired elderly man that had only just emerged from a cliff face.
A string of rumbling booms rang out incessantly within the valley as dust and rock fragments flew in all directions, quickly concealing the elderly man's body.
All of a sudden, an animalistic roar rang out, and the white-haired elderly man sprang out of the cloud of dust.
All of the skin on his entire body was riddled with crimson cracks, while his long white hair, which had previously been bound up in a tight bun, was now dancing wildly around him in the wind, giving him the appearance of a ferocious devilish creature.
His arms were crossed to form a barrier to protect his face, and he plowed his way straight through the barrage of silver sword projections before crashing into the silver sword lotus flower.
The silver sword lotus flower instantly exploded into a flurry of silver sword projections that erupted froth in all directions, and the silver longsword that was situated at its center was also snapped into two.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and the muscles on his scaled arms bulged as he lashed out with his fists.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, Qilin 9 was holding a golden staff that was around the same thickness as a grown man's arm, and he quickly strode over to a rock before plunging the staff forcefully downward.
There were countless runes engraved over the entire staff, which was around 30 feet in length, and around two-thirds of it was plunged into the earth, leaving only around the top 10 feet left exposed above the ground.
Qilin 9 took a glance at his surroundings to find that a circular array formed by golden staves had already taken shape, and there were two openings in the array, one to the east and one to the west.
"The array is ready, Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15!" Qilin 9 yelled as he turned to Han Li.
Han Li immediately twisted around before flying toward the array, and having completely lost all sanity, the white-haired elderly man pounced after Han Li without any hesitation, hurtling through the air at an even higher speed than Han Li's.
Han Li had only just reached the edge of the array when the white-haired elderly man caught up to him, and the latter instantly plunged the bone blade on the outer edge of his arm straight at the back of Han Li's chest.
Right at this moment, a sharp screeching sound rang out as a golden longsword shot otu of Han Li's body, clashing with the elderly man's bone blade to raise a flurry of golden sparks.
The elderly man was stopped cold in his tracks, situated directly above the array.
At the same time, Qilin 9 hurled a golden staff at Han Li with a flick of his wrist as he yelled, "Catch!"
Han Li instantly swooped down to catch the golden staff, then turned and plunged it straight into the ground where one of the openings of the array was situated, and almost at the exact same moment, Qilin 9 plunged another staff into the ground at the other opening.
A faint buzzing sound rang out as a burst of invisible fluctuations rose up within the array, and all of the runes on the golden staves began to radiate dazzling golden light. A series of shimmering golden chains then rose up from the ground before binding themselves tightly around the white-haired elderly man.
White mist was rising up from the white-haired elderly man's entire body, and he began to struggle and thrash violently in mid-air.
The dozen or so golden staves that were known as Dragon Locking Staves began to sway unsteadily in the face of the white-haired elderly man's tremendous power, resembling saplings in a ferocious storm that could snap at any moment, but they were somehow just barely able to hold on.
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