Chapter 286: Imminent Battle
"You've saved me the trouble of coming after you," Lu Ji remarked in an indifferent voice, then raised his silver longsword before taking a step forward, upon which he instantly vanished from the spot.
Immediately thereafter, countless streaks of swordlight crashed into the petals of the oncoming snow lotus flower projection, with thousands of clashes taking place in an instant. An ear-splitting screeching sound rang out from the clashing swordlight and flower petals, while the nearby space trembled violently.
"I'll see you on the island, Fellow Daoist Xue Han," Zhong Luan said, then flipped a hand over to summon a long black saber before jumping straight down from the black spirit boat, plummeting directly toward the nearest island puppet.
"I'm sure that won't take too long," Xue Han murmured to himself as he swept a sleeve through the air, and a palm-sized golden ring flew out amid a flash of golden light.
The golden ring then rapidly swelled in size to a diameter in excess of 1,000 feet before hovering in mid-air.
Xue Han then chanted an incantation, and dense layers of runes instantly appeared on the surface of the giant golden ring, releasing rays of yellow light and bursts of formidable law fluctuations.
A string of dull thuds rang out within the space encompassed beneath the golden ring, and it was as if a burst of invisible pressure had isolated the area and was forcefully compressing the air down below.
A deep indentation that corresponded with the golden ring also appeared on the surface of the colorful light barrier down below, and it began to tremble unsteadily amid a burst of incessant buzzing.
Xue Han let loose a loud roar as he thrust a palm forcefully downward, and a long rift was instantly torn open on the light barrier, making it appear as if it could collapse at any moment.
Right at this moment, a streak of blue light hurtled rapidly through the air from down below, then struck the giant golden ring in the sky with a loud clang.
The golden ring shuddered violently upon being struck by the streak of blue light, and yellow light that it was releasing also began to sway in an unstable manner. As a result, the pressure on the light barrier down below was significantly alleviated, allowing it to return to its original form.
Xue Han's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he looked down to find a beautiful woman in a palace dress rising up toward him while wielding a shimmering blue sword, and she was accompanied by a young daoist priest in a gray daoist robe.
There was a silver gourd strapped to the daoist priest's waist and a golden horsetail whisk held in his hand. His appearance was no different from that of a normal human, but in reality, it was an extremely life-like high-grade puppet.
"A faux immortal puppet, I see," Xue Han chuckled as he licked his own lips.
He then made a beckoning motion with one hand, and the golden ring flew back to him before fitting itself around his wrist, following which he turned and flew directly toward the woman and the young daoist priest.
Meanwhile, the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators had already spread themselves out, and they were flying toward the surrounding array islands rather than continuing to charge at the colorful light barrier.
At this point, they had already noticed that the light barrier seemed to have been connected to the giant puppets around the main island, so if they were to vanquish these puppets, then the light barrier would automatically be unraveled.
However, the cultivators of the Holy Puppet Sect naturally weren't just going to allow them to do as they pleased, and they had already risen up into the air to oppose the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators.
A fierce battle instantly ensued.
The majority of the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators were itinerant cultivators, so their powers and abilities were all quite varied.
In the northwest, one of the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators opened up a spirit beast pouch to release several dozen strange-looking ferocious beasts, each of which was close to 1,000 feet in size, and they immediately pounced onto the army of puppets being controlled by the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators down below.
In the southeast, someone summoned a giant black flag that was over 2,000 feet in size, and the flag released gusts of inky-black yin wind that instantly stripped the flesh from the bones of many low-grade Holy Puppet Sect disciples.
In the southwest, someone opened a white bone box to release a swarm of countless golden hornets that began attacking the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators with their highly toxic stingers.
In contrast, the powers and abilities of the Holy Puppet Sect disciples were far less varied, but they were determined to defend their sect with their lives, and with the army of puppets on their side, they far outnumbered the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators, so they were able to gain the upper hand for now.
High up in the sky, all of the black spirit boats dispersed as the golden patterns on their surfaces began to glow radiantly, and a series of golden spears that were several dozen feet thick shot out of the giant holes on the undersides of the boats before raining down amid a sharp screeching sound.
The hundreds of mechanical flying boats that had already risen up into the sky also began to glow brightly as the circular array at the center of each of the boats flashed with red light, releasing a relentless barrage of crimson fireballs the size of millstones. These fireballs converged in mid-air to form a fiery storm to oppose the oncoming golden spears, and a string of deafening booms rang out as the fireballs clashed against the golden spears.
Golden light and crimson flames erupted in all directions, plunging the entire sky into a state of complete chaos.
While the battle was raging in the sky, a fierce skirmish was taking place down below as well.
Some of the Ubiquitous Pavilion were locked in battle against Holy Puppet Sect disciples and puppets, while others were charging toward the eight giant puppets, led by True Immortal cultivators, aiming to destroy the puppets so that the light barrier that was protecting the main island would be unraveled.
The hundred or so Holy Puppet Sect cultivators who were standing on the giant puppet on the southwestern island were all holding a series of golden and silver talismans tightly in their hands while looking up at the sky with tense expressions.
This was the island where Han Li and Qilin 9 stationed, and the latter was peering into the distance as he said, "There are over 200 cultivators coming to our island, three of whom are True Immortal cultivators, while the majority of the rest of them are below the Grand Ascension Stage."
"You and I can take care of those three True Immortals, while the Holy Puppet Sect's cultivators deal with the rest," Han Li proposed.
"My thoughts exactly," Qilin 9 replied with a nod.
With that, the two of them didn't waste any more time with words before launching themselves up toward the approaching Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators.
A chorus of incantations rang out as numerous talismans flew up into the sky from the top of the giant puppet's head, and puppets of all types of shapes and forms flew out of the talismans amid flashes of bright light.
The army of puppets was followed closely by the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators.
Among the three True Immortals from the Ubiquitous Pavilion, one of them was a burly and imposing young man, while to his left was a thin old man that was quite a bit shorter in stature, and to his right was a voluptuous woman, the type that Elder Hu Yan would've referred to as possessing big tits and a big arse.
As soon as the old man spotted Han Li and Qilin 9, his brows immediately furrowed slightly as he cursed to himself under his breath.
"What's wrong?" the burly young man asked.
"Those two are fellow Transient Guild members, and they're both azure mask members. What terrible luck," the thin old man replied.
"I recall hearing you speak about the hierarchy of your Transient Guild, and you told me that all of the guild's azure mask members are quite formidable. It looks like we're in for a rough battle," the burly man remarked.
"I'm starting to get a little scared after hearing that," the voluptuous woman chuckled. "In any case, I definitely don't want to take on either of them on my own."
"The one with the cow mask seems a little weaker. I'll take care of him by myself and leave the other one to you two," the burly man decided.
"Alright, we'll do as you say," the thin old man immediately agreed, and the voluptuous woman had no objections, either.
As the two opposing forces reached within 10,000 feet of one another, all of the cultivators below the True Immortal Stage made a conscious effort to distance themselves from the True Immortal cultivators before commencing their battle.
Meanwhile, the burly man flew directly toward Han Li, while the thin old man and the voluptuous woman charged toward Qilin 9, one from the left and one from the right.
Qilin 9 gave a cold harrumph as he rose up further into the air, opening up some distance between himself and Han Li as he met his assailants head-on.
While he was still several thousand feet away, the burly man abruptly flicked his wrist through the air, sending a streak of black light flying out of the palm of his hand directly toward Han Li.
The streak of black light then swelled drastically in size, transforming into a massive black ax the size of a small mountain in the blink of an eye before crashing down toward Han Li.
Even before the ax had reached Han Li, a ferocious gust of wind was already sweeping toward him, forcing all of the surrounding air to either side while threatening to slice the very space apart.
Han Li was caught slightly off guard, not expecting his opponent to unleash such a ferocious attack from the get-go, but that didn't hamper his reaction speed at all as a layer of golden scales appeared over his arm, and he clenched his hand into a tight fist before swinging it forcefully into the blade of the ax.
A resounding boom rang out as a gust of fierce wind swept through the air in all directions.
Han Li was forced down by over 1,000 feet before stomping his feet forcefully into the air below to stabilize himself.
Meanwhile, the giant ax was sent flying back, and it reverted back to its original size before being caught by the burly man, who also stumbled back a few steps involuntarily from the tremendous momentum that the ax carried.
"I didn't expect you to also be a Profound Immortal," the burly man exclaimed.
Han Li paid no heed to him as he made a hand seal while chanting an incantation, and his Heavy Water True Axis instantly appeared before him, giving off powerful water law fluctuations.
"Go!" he commanded, and the Heavy Water True Axis began to rapidly revolve in mid-air, transforming into a black blur as it hurtled directly toward the burly man.
The Heavy Water True Axis was traveling extremely quickly, reaching the burly man in the blink of an eye.
The burly man's expression changed slightly seeing this, and he grabbed onto the shaft of the ax with both hands before holding it in front of him like a shield.
This ax had been refined using many types of precious ore and earth-attribute materials, and there were also many bolstering runes engraved onto its surface, making it an extremely formidable treasure that was no less sturdy than a top-tier defensive treasures, so he was confident that he would be able to block this attack.
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