Chapter 302: Fierce Clash
Zhong Luan was clearly caught off guard by this turn of events, and he reflexively sprang back, but didn't take any measures to try and ward off the translucent thread, merely allowing it to fly toward his own glabella.
All of a sudden, a burst of azure light erupted out of the copper headgear on his forehead, and a projection of a four-eyed tiger-like beast emerged before opening its mouth to devour the translucent thread.
Meanwhile, a layer of golden scales had already appeared over Han Li's arm, and his fist was glowing with radiant golden light as he threw an almighty punch toward Zhong Luan's chest.
Zhong Luan forcibly suppressed his own bewilderment as he hurriedly raised his saber before him, then pressed a hand against the flat of the blade to brace it against Han Li's punch.
A resounding boom rang out as a burst of golden light exploded in the sky, and Zhong Luan was sent flying back like an asteroid from the force of the clash, crashing heavily down onto the surface of the sea to raise a flurry of massive waves.
Han Li didn't stop there, making a hand seal with both hands before sweeping his sleeves through the air, and the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords immediately shattered the black crystal around them, then flew through the air as streaks of azure light before plunging into the sea in pursuit of Zhong Luan.
At the same time, the Water Dao Rune on the Heavy Water True Axis abruptly lit up, and it also broke free from the black crystalline material before crashing down toward the surface of the sea.
All of this had taken place in the span of just a few seconds, and only after this sequence of events had unfolded did the massive black crane in the sky finally react before flapping its wings vigorously downward.
The fiery black light on its wings brightened considerably, and they released a pair of massive black fireballs that hurtled toward the Heavy Water True Axis.
Two resounding booms rang out in succession as black flames erupted over the surface of the Heavy Water True Axis, diverting it slightly to the side and causing it to plow through the sea for a moment before it righted itself and continued to fly back toward Han Li.
Han Li only took a brief glance at the giant black crane before directing his gaze back to the surface of the sea.
Deep in the water, a black shadow rapidly rose upward before flying out into the open with a black saber held tightly in his hand, and he lashed out behind him without any hesitation.
The spirit patterns on the surface of the saber light up, and one saber projection after another swept toward the sea like waves crashing against the shore.
Immediately thereafter, a series of glowing azure flying swords flew out of the water amid a string of splashes, and they crashed into the waves of saber projections with a piercing grinding sound.
The black saber projections were shattered one after another, while the azure longswords were also stopped in their tracks.
Meanwhile, Zhong Luan continued to fly back through the air before landing on the black crane's back, and he cast a furious gaze toward Han Li.
"I didn't think that you were able to free yourself from the corruption of my baleful qi. Even if your spiritual sense far exceeds that of your peers, there's no way you should've been able to do that. Could it be that you've cultivated the forbidden Spirit Refinement Technique?" Zhong Luan asked.
Han Li remained silent, displaying no intention of offering any response.
He swept his sleeves through the air, and the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords immediately flew back to him, fusing into a single azure longsword before landing in his grasp.
"It looks like you really are harboring many secrets. No wonder Fang Pan was so determined to hunt you down. I'm really looking forward to capturing your nascent soul and seeing everything conealed in it!" Zhong Luan chuckled.
"Silence is a virtue," Han Li said with an indifferent expression, following which the Mantra Treasured Axis in his body abruptly began to revolve in reverse.
At the same time, over 40 of the Time Dao Runes on the Mantra Treasured Axis lit up at once, and he instantly vanished from the spot, not even leaving any afterimages in his wake before appearing on the black crane's back as if through instantaneous teleportation.
Before Zhong Luan even had a chance to figure out what had happened, Han Li's azure longsword had already been plunged through his heart.
Zhong Luan's eyes widened with incredulity as he looked down at the sword protruding out of his chest and the black blood that was pouring out of the wound, which had already seeped through his robes.
"Master!" the black crane screeched in a shrill voice.
Meanwhile, Han Li pulled his longsword out of Zhong Luan's chest without any hesitation before darting back through the air.
He had only just flown off the black crane's back when Zhong Luan's body disintegrated into a cloud of black mist. As it turned out, that had only been a clone formed by baleful qi.
A cloud of black smoke then appeared elsewhere in the sky, and Zhong Luan re-emerged. At this point, all of the mockery in his eyes had been replaced by a cold and solemn look.
Han Li was feeling a little frustrated. His Mantra Treasured Axis still hadn't recovered all 108 of its Time Dao Runes yet, so he wasn't able to fully utilize his Reversal True Axis ability. As a result, he was unable to instantly slay an opponent of Zhong Luan's caliber with a single strike.
"I have indeed underestimated you. I didn't think that you would've also mastered the laws of speed just like Fang Pan, and your speed is even superior to his. No wonder you were able to kill him," Zhong Luan said with a serious expression.
Han Li naturally wasn't going to correct Zhong Luan's misevaluation of his law powers, and he asked, "The fact that you were able to survive that blow must have something to do with Fang Pan, right?"
"That's right. I did indeed prepare that clone as a safeguard against that junior martial brother of mine. He was developing a little too quickly, so I had no choice but to be wary of him, and I certainly didn't think that the clone would save me from someone else instead," Zhong Luan mused.
As he was speaking, he was discreetly making a string of hand seals with one hand concealed behind his back.
The circles of strange patterns on the palm of his hand began to glow with crimson light, and the skin beneath his black cloak was also beginning to take on a red coloration.
A hint of fear and alarm flashed through the black crane's eyes upon seeing this, and two balls of black light were flashing beneath its wings, clearly indicating that it was preparing itself to flee the scene at any moment.
Han Li had naturally noticed all of this, but his expression remained completely unchanged.His Heavy Water True Axis was hovering in front of him like a shield, and he held his azure longsword in one hand, while in his other hand were two balls of Heavy Water Veined Lightning, which he kept concealed up his sleeve.
A burst of chanting rang out as Zhong Luan's pupils turned a crimson color, and wisps of red mist began to rise up from his body. At the same time, his black saber was also graduallyh taking on a crimson hue.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he could sense a clear change in Zhong Luan's aura. He could still detect baleful qi rising up from his body, but it wasn't the same type of aggressive baleful qi as before.
"It's time to put an end to this battle," Zhong Luan declared as he vanished from the spot as a crimson shadow.
In the next instant, he appeared below Han Li to his right before slashing his saber diagonally upward, lashing out at Han Li from an extremely awkward angle.
Han Li seemed to have already anticipated this, and he swung his longsword downward to clash against the crimson saber, then took advantage of the impact of the clash to fly back through the air and open up some distance between himself and Zhong Luan.
At the same time, the two balls of Heavy Water Veined Lightning had slipped out of his sleeve and fallen down in front of Zhong Luan.
The purple lightning veins on the surface of the balls of veined lightning abruptly lit up, immediately following which came a thunderous explosion.
A devastating halo of purple lightning spread through the air in all directions, encompassing the entire surrounding area in a radius of several thousand feet.
Before the first explosion had a chance to subside, the other ball of Heavy Water Veined Lightning also lit up, but the lightning veins on this one were golden instead of purple.
Another violent explosion rang out, and two enormous black suns rose up above the surface of the sea one after the other, while golden and purple lightning flashed incessantly.
The eruption of light was so bright that it was impossible to see Zhong Luan within it, and the sea down below churned violently as countless tiny black specks of heavy water erupted in all directions, causing the surrounding space to shudder violently.
The explosions had released waves of spherical shockwaves that swept up enormous waves over the surface of the sea, and the black crane had already fled into the distance as a ball of black flames.
At this moment, it was hovering in the sky over 100,000 feet away, looking back at Han Li and Zhong Luan with a fearful look in its eyes.
"It looks like the Divine Devilbane Lightning is still the more powerful of the two," Han Li remarked to himself as he looked at the purple and golden lightning that was flashing above the surface of the sea.
Out of the two balls of Heavy Water Veined Lightning that he had just tossed out, one of them had been refined using the power of the purple crystalline that he had obtained from the Thunderstorm Sea, while the other one had been refined using Divine Devilbane Lightning following latest refinement of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.
Of the former, he had already expended far too many of them while carrying sect and Transient Guild missions, so he didn't have many left, and as for the former, that was very difficult to refine, so he didn't have many of those, either.
Having just detonated one of each, it was clear that the Heavy Water Veined Lightning that was infused with Divine Devilbane Lightning was the more formidable of the two.
As the explosion subsided, torn scraps of a black cloak could be seen floating on the surface of the sea, and there was a cloud of blood mist hanging in the air, but instead being elated to see this, a grim look appeared in Han Li's eyes.
He could sense Zhong Luan's aura permeating throughout the entire surrounding area in a radius of tens of thousands of feet.
Right at this moment, the surface of the sea, which had already been stained crimson, began to bubble and froth, and it didn't take long before a layer of large bubbles had appeared over the entire surface of the sea in a radius of several hundred kilometers.
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