Chapter 301: Baleful Qi
"I don't believe it would be wise to continue this battle any further, Fellow Daoist Lu Ji. Let's make a retreat," Xue Han said to Lu Ji through voice transmission.
"My sword has already been drawn several inches out of its scabbard, I can't just sheath it again for no good reason," Lu Ji replied in a cold voice.
As soon as his voice trailed off, he drew his longsword completely out of its scabbard, sending an enormous streak of white sword qi hurtling directly upward.
"Impressive!" Daoist Hu Yan chuckled as he swept a hand through the air, and a crimson longsword appeared behind him out of thin air.
The golden spirit patterns on the sword's blade were glowing radiantly, and there was a massive sword projection that was over 10,000 feet in length around it. Crimson flames were surging out of either side of the sword projection, resembling a pair of giant fiery wings that had spread open in the sky.
All of a sudden, the air temperature within a radius of hundreds of kilometers elevated sharply, and scorching heat permeated throughout the entire area.
At the same time, the spirit patterns on the giant black axes wielded by all of the black Dao Warriors also lit up with scorching flames, and they lashed out at the azure-armored Dao Warriors and Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators.
The Holy Puppet Sect cultivators had already resigned themselves to death, and all of them were so elated by this turn of events that many of them had burst into tears. All of the sudden, the tide of the battle was turned once again.
Xue Han heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this, and he was just about to fly toward Lu Ji when Yun Ni and Bai Fengyi rose up into the air to get in his way.
With that, the melee on the plaza resumed.
……
On the Thunderstorm Sea, somewhere hundreds of thousand of kilometers away from the Holy Puppet Sect.
Han Li was standing in mid-air, facing Zhong Luan from afar.
He had used his lightning teleportation array several times up to this point, but he had been unable to shake off Zhong Luan.
"You won't be able to escape from me even if you flee to the corners of this realm, Han Li!" Zhong Luan declared as a mocking sneer appeared on his face.
"That's quite a bit of insolence from someone who's only gained some slight mastery over baleful qi laws. It looks like you're not much better than that idiot junior martial brother of yours!" Han Li jeered.
A cold look appeared in Zhong Luan's eyes upon hearing this. "I didn't think you would be able to identify my baleful qi laws. It appears I may have underestimated you."
"I'm assuming you've been using baleful qi to track me this entire time and to unleash those sneak attacks against me, right?" Han Li chuckled.
"Indeed. The reality is that you've been bringing me with you this entire time, and I haven't had to do anything," Zhong Luan openly admitted with a mocking sneer on his face.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but internally, he was rather intrigued.
He didn't actually know much about baleful qi laws as it was a very uncommon type of laws, so he wasn't familiar with what was special about it.
That black thread that Zhong Luan had shot into his body earlier was one that had been manifested from baleful qi laws, and through it, he seemed to be able to track his location and teleport himself to his side.
Aside from that, Han Li could also clearly sense a violent and baleful energy accumulating in his heart. Even with his enormous spiritual sense, he was unable to forcibly suppress it, and the more he tried to do so, the quicker this baleful energy grew.
Han Li had a feeling that once this baleful energy developed to a certain point, that would be when his opponent would unleash his killing blow. Hence, the best course of action would be to finish this battle as soon as possible.
With that in mind, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to summon his Heavy Water True Axis amid a flash of black light, then sent it hurtling directly toward Zhong Luan.
A faint smile appeared on Zhong Luan's face, and instead of taking any evasive measures, he flew directly toward the axis.
In the instant that the Heavy Water True Axis was about to crash into his body, he transformed into a cloud of black mist once again, allowing him to pass through completely unscathed.
Han Li immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and the Water Dao Rune on the Heavy Water True Axis began to glow brightly, while the axis itself swelled to around twice its original size and began to revolve rapidly.
All of the water-attribute spiritual qi in the area was churned up into a frenzy by the axis, which was releasing bursts of incredibly powerful tearing force, and it didn't take long before an enormous vortex took shape on the surface of the sea.
All of a sudden, the cloud of black mist that Zhong Luan had transformed into was sucked into the vortex, quickly vanishing into it before he had a chance to react.
However, Han Li knew that this was far from the end of the battle, and he made a beckoning motion to draw the Heavy Water True Axis back to himself, where it hovered in the air in front of him.
As a result, the vortex of water that had risen up into the heavens cascaded back down into the sea, raising a series of massive waves as it did so.
However, even after the waves had completely subsided, Zhong Luan was still nowhere to be seen.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. Just now, a burst of aggression had risen up inexplicably in his heart without any warning, and wisps of black mist were also beginning to seep out of his glabella.
Right at this moment, a black shadow suddenly appeared in the seawater down below, much like the ink of a squid, and it quickly spread to stain all of the seawater in a radius of over 10,000 feet black.
Black waves began to churn incessantly on the surface of the sea with wisps of black mist surging out from within.
All of a sudden, a series of enormous waves rose up from all directions like a giant black flower, and its petals closed in around Han Li, attempting to devour him whole.
Han Li immediately tried to take evasive measures, but right this moment, a flash of black light suddenly appeared on his glabella, and he was struck by a burst of sharp pain in his consciousness.
As a result, he was momentarily immobilized, and before he could do anything else, he was completely enveloped within the black wave along with his Heavy Water True Axis.
Han Li inspected his surroundings to find that he was situated in a completely pitch-black space.
Through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was able to see wisps of black mist hovering in the air around him, but he was unable to see very far through it.
At the same time, he discovered that his spiritual sense had also been severely limited, and at this moment, all he could sense was a seemingly boundless expanse of baleful qi around him.
He took a deep breath before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and his Heavy Water True Axis immediately began to revolve rapidly before launching itself forward.
A dull thud rang out as the Heavy Water True Axis struck a wall of water, which shuddered violently a few times before releasing wisps of black mist to ensnare the Heavy Water True Axis, rendering it completely immobilized.
The more immortal spiritual power he tried to inject into the Heavy Water True Axis, the tighter the surrounding wisps of black mist bound themselves to the axis.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he made a hand seal with one hand, and an azure longsword shot out of his sleeve, then split up into 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords amid a flash of azure light before flying away in all directions.
Each sword was glowing with azure light that was releasing more azure sword projections, amounting to several thousand sword projections that instantly filled the entire surrounding space.
If there were anyone situated outside this inky-black space at this moment, then they would be able to see that it was a black ball with a diameter in excess of 1,000 feet, and it was hovering above the sea, constantly absorbing the inky-black seawater down below.
At the same time, countless bulges were appearing incessantly on the surface of the black ball, stretching it into an irregular shape and making it resemble a spiky black ball.
Situated in the sky not far away from the spiky ball was a black crane with a golden crown and a metallic black plumage that had a faint fiery sheen, indicating that this was no ordinary creature.
Atop the crane's back sat Zhong Luan with his legs crossed. His black saber was resting across his hands, and he was staring intently at the black ball up ahead.
All of the spirit patterns on the surface of the black saber were flashing incessantly, and black qi was also surging over its blade.
"He's causing quite a ruckus in there, Master," the black crane said in a high-pitched voice as it swiveled its head around to face Zhong Luan.
"No matter. The more violently he struggles, the faster the baleful aura would converge, and the more he'll be corroded by my baleful aura. When he's completely spent and exhausted, that's when we'll put an end to his life," Zhong Luan replied with a smile.
"We wouldn't have to go through so much trouble if we weren't trying to uncover the secrets that he's harboring. There's no way he would be able to withstand your Black Emperor Immortal Slaying Blade, Master," the black crane said in a fawning voice.
"I'm truly curious about secrets Fang Pan was so desperate to uncover. If I can uncover all of those secrets, that would certainly be worth all the extra time and effort I'm investing here," Zhong Luan said.
As the two of them were conversing with one another, the unrest in the black ball gradually began to fade until it had completely subsided, and at this point, all of the black seawater had already been fused into the black ball.
However, strangely enough, not only had the black ball not become any larger, it had shrunk down significantly instead, and at this moment, it was resembling a giant black crystal.
"Looks like it's about time," Zhong Luan declared as he rose to his feet atop the black crane's back, then sprang up into the air and flew over to the black ball before gently laying a hand upon it.
A burst of black light suddenly appeared at the center of his palm before transforming into a black vortex, and a plume of black smoke immediately surged out of the black ball before entering Zhong Luan's body through the vortex.
As more and more black smoke emerged, the black ball shrank down further and further, and Han Li's figure was gradually revealed.
At this moment, his entire body was completely stiff and still, and his eyes were tightly shut. The baleful qi law thread on his glabella had already disappeared, having been replaced by an inky-black baleful rune that appeared as if it had become a part of his body.
The 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and the Heavy Water True Axis beside him were all enveloped in a thin layer of black crystal, and they were struggling to break free, but unable to do so.
Zhong Luan gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, then raised a finger toward the baleful rune on Han Li's glabella.
As soon as his fingertip came into contact with the baleful rune, all of the secrets hidden in Han Li's mind would immediately be fully revealed to him.
However, right at this moment, Han Li's eyes suddenly sprang open, and a flash of blue light appeared in his pupils. A translucent thread then shot out of his glabella to shatter the baleful rune before hurtling directly toward Zhong Luan's glabella.
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