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Chapter 778: Intercepted
Chapter 778: Intercepted
Chapter 778: Intercepted
Han Li and Shi Chuankong were flying along at a low altitude through a dim forest somewhere within the Ten Hazards Mountain Range.
The forest was already quite dim to begin with, and visibility certainly wasn't helped by the fact that all of the trees were black in color.
Furthermore, the forest was also giving off a very peculiar aura that wasn't the world's origin qi or devilish qi. Instead, it was some type of special dark power, and there were many strange beasts residing in the forest that were also giving off the same aura.
Han Li and Shi Chuankong were able to blend almost perfectly into this environment thanks to their concealment techniques, and even though they were flying very quickly, they weren't giving off any aura fluctuations.
"This is quite a remarkable environment," Han Li commented as he inspected his surroundings.
At this point, they had already been traveling for around half a month, and they had been attacked by some demon beasts along the way, but all of the attacks had been easily dealt with, so they were feeling a little more relaxed.
"Compared with the True Immortal Realm, the underground energy veins in our Holy Realm are a bit more chaotic, and that's even more true for the Ten Hazards Mountain Range. There are all types of energies present in these mountains, forming many special environments, but you'll get used to this over time," Shi Chuankong replied with a smile.
Han Li nodded in response, and he was just about to say something when he abruptly stopped cold in his tracks, then peered deep into the forest up ahead.
Shi Chuankong also stopped in his tracks upon seeing this, but he couldn't see anything up ahead, and he asked, "What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Li?"
"Nothing. Perhaps it was just a figment of my imagination," Han Li replied as a hint of befuddlement flashed through his eyes.
He peered carefully into the forest for a moment longer, but was still unable to see anything, so he ushered Shi Chuankong to continue onward, and the two of them quickly vanished into the distance.
Shortly after their departure, a black fruit on a certain tree suddenly began to glow with faint black light. The tree's fruits were vaguely humanoid in shape, presenting a rather disturbing sight to behold, and the fruit that was glowing began to slowly warp as a set of facial features appeared on it, following which it slowly opened it eyes and turned its gaze to the direction that Han Li and Shi Chuankong had just departed in.
A series of black ripples were flashing incessantly within its black eyes, and at the same time, there was an enormous black cloud that was dozens of acres in size traveling rapidly through the air countless kilometers away.
Standing atop the black cloud were close to a hundred half-human, half-beast beings, and they were led by none other than Tie Yu, who had a furious look on his face.
All of his subordinates were making sure to stand far away from him for fear of falling prey to his wrath.
Many of them were seated with their legs crossed all over the black cloud, seemingly unleashing some type of secret technique.
"Have there still not been any leads?" Tie Yu suddenly asked.
He had promised to bring Shi Chuankong's head back to the Golden Rhinoceros King within a month, yet half that time had already elapsed, and he hadn't even tracked down his targets yet.
A golden-robed man strode forward with tightly gritted teeth, then reported, "We're trying our best, Master Tie Yu, but there's too much ground to cover, and those two haven't left any traces behind, so we haven't been able to track them down yet."
"Useless piece of trash!" Tie Yu roared as a layer or green light emerged over his body, then formed a series of green snake projections that glowered intently at the golden-robed man.
The man seemed to be extremely fearful of these snake projections, and he began trembling uncontrollably as he fell to his knees before kowtowing over and over again.
"Please forgive me, Master Tie Yu, I'll be sure to redouble my efforts..."
"Get down there and keep searching! I'll give you three more days. If you still can't find them by then, I'll take your head to the Golden Rhinoceros King too!" Tie Yu roared.
The golden-robed man immediately scurried away, and right at this moment, a dark-skinned man who was seated on the black cloud suddenly rose to his feet as he declared with an elated expression, "Master Tie Yu, we've found them!"
The man was holding a black wooden figure, and at this moment, its eyes were open, and there were black ripples flashing within them.
Tie Yu's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked, "Where are they?"
"They're in the Black Scale Forest, and they're currently traveling northward," the dark-skinned man hurriedly repiled.
"Northward? It looks like they're planning to leave the Ten Hazards Mountain Range. We'll just have to intercept them!" Tie Ye mused with a cold sneer, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the black cloud underfoot changed directions and diverged away from its original trajectory.
......
Han Li and Shi Chuankong continued onward, and close to a day passed by in the blink of an eye.
The black forest up ahead gradually became sparser and sparser, and a lush, green mountain range appeared up ahead.
The warm sunlight was able to filter through the sparser vegetation, making the air much warmer, and a warm breeze was gently caressing their cheeks.
The field of view widened up ahead, revealing a mountain range that stretched as far as the eyes could see, presenting a breathtaking sight to behold.
Shi Chuankong spread open his arms as he took a deep breath in a blissful manner.
The black forest that they had just emerged from was very cold and forbidding, making for a very unappealing environment even for a devilish cultivator like himself.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but it was clear that he was also glad to be out of the forest.
Shi Chuankong turned to Han Li, and he was just about to say something when the latter suddenly grabbed him by the collar before darting back in retreat.
Shi Chuankong had just been dragged away from the spot where he was standing when a thick green arrow pierced through the ground there.
The arrow was thirty to forty feet in length and as thick as an arm. There were countless green patterns engraved onto the arrow's shaft, giving off rays of warped green light that formed a series of black snake projections that were hissing incessantly.
The arrow had arrived at an astonishing speed, and even though Shi Chuankong was able to just barely evade it thanks to Han Li, a sickly sweet aroma still managed to worm its way up his nostrils, upon which he was instantly struck by a feeble and numb sensation.
There's poison at work!
As soon as this thought sprang into his mind, Shi Chuankong immediately flipped a hand over to produce a pair of longan-sized white pills that he promptly swallowed, and a layer of white light emerged over his body, while the green light on his face and the feeble sensation in his body faded away.
"Are you alright?" Han Li asked.
He had also inhaled some of the poison, but having cultivated the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body, he had become extremely resistant to all poisons, and that, coupled with his tremendous physical constitution, ensured that he remained completely unaffected. [1]
"I'm fine," Shi Chuankong replied.
"Who's there?" Han Li called out as he turned to a certain direction.
A black cloud slowly emerged up ahead amid a flash of black light, and standing atop the cloud were none other than Tie Yu and his subordinates.
At this moment, Tie Yu was observing Han Li with a hint of surprise on his face as he remarked, "It's quite impressive that you were able to evade my Divine Poison Arrow."
He raised a hand to make a beckoning motion as he spoke, and the arrow immediately swung around, then shrank down significantly before vanishing up his sleeve.
Han Li and Shi Chuankong's expressions changed slightly at the sight of the formidable lineup before them, and the latter stepped forward as he cupped his fist in a salute and said, "May I ask which one of the ten kings you serve?
“The two of us inadvertently stumbled into the Ten Hazards Mountain Range, and we were just planning to leave. We harbor no ill will toward any of the ten kings, and we're willing to offer up two hundred thousand Devilish Origin Stones if you let us go."
"You don't even know who's territory this is?"
"Is that supposed to be a joke? He wants to bribe us with just two hundred thousand Devilish Origin Stones!"
"Ptui!"
"We can let you go, but you have to leave your heads behind!"
All of Tie Yu's subordinates immediately burst into laughter upon hearing Shi Chuankong's offer, and Han Li and Shi Chuankong's expressions both darkened slightly upon seeing this.
Tie Yu raised a hand, and all of his subordinates instantly fell silent.
"Are you from outside the mountain range?" Tie Yu asked in a cold voice.
"That's right. May I ask..."
Before Shi Chuankong had a chance to finish his sentence, a look of fierce resentment flashed through Tie Yu's eyes as he declared in a cold voice, "All outsiders deserve to die! Kill them, but don't be too rough. Make sure to keep their heads intact, in particular."
All of his subordinates instantly gave a collective affirmative response, then charged toward Han Li and Shi Chuankong in unison with their weapons brandished.
His subordinates were all quite formidable, and there were over ten Golden Immortals among them.
They were led by a trio that consisted of a man silver hair, green eyes, and a horn on his head, a red-haired elderly man with skin as coarse as tree bark, and a golden-haired young woman with a pair of wings on her back, all three of whom were at the early-High Zenith Stage.
Theoretically speaking, such a formidable lineup was more than sufficient to deal with an early-High Zenith Stage human and a peak-Golden Immortal Stage devilish being.
The horned man made a hand seal, and radiant green light erupted out of his body before forming a ball, following which the ball of green light flew through the air and transformed into a green cloud.
The green cloud was instantly set alight, and a burst of law power fluctuations erupted out of it to encompass both Han Li and Shi Chuankong.
At the same time, the red-haired elderly man began to chant an incantation, and three huge tiger head projections appeared above his head in a flash, all three of which then abruptly vanished into thin air.
In the next instant, the three tiger head projections appeared directly in front of Han Li and Shi Chuankong, then opened their mouths to bite down viciously upon them.
Even before the three tiger heads had fully descended, they were giving off a harrowing aura that struck a sense of involuntary fear into the heart of the beholder.
At the same time, the golden-haired young woman spread her wings, and they began to glow as brightly as the sun.
With a flap of her wings, countless beams of golden light were released, raining down upon Han Li and Shi Chuankong in a torrential barrage.
Every single beam of golden light was a golden feather that was giving off extremely formidable law powers, and with three High Zenith cultivators attacking at once, all of the devilish qi within a radius of dozens of kilometers instantly began to churn violently, while the surrounding space also began to tremble and buzz.
A grim look appeared on Shi Chuankong's face at the sight of the barrage of oncoming attacks, and he was just about to spring into action when Han Li stepped forward and declared, "Leave it to me!"
Eighteen streaks of azure light shot out of his sleeves in rapid succession as he spoke, and each streak of light contained an Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.
After reaching the High Zenith Stage, Han Li's immortal spiritual power reserves had been significantly enhanced, thereby allowing him to control eighteen Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords at once.
1. For more information on the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body, please refer to RMJI Chapter 1846: Chaotic Myriad Poison Body. ?