A faint cry of surprise sounded from within the glacial flames. However, what transpired next was even more astonishing.
In the air several tens of feet above Han Li, white light suddenly flashed as a spatial rift was torn open. A translucent beak half a foot in length emerged from the spatial right before pecking down toward Han Li's head like lightning.
In the face of a surprise attack from such a close range, even if Han Li were able to react in time, there was simply not enough time for evasion.
Furthermore, he had been focused entirely on the glacial flames in front of him and hadn't set up any defensive measures. However, what was strange was that even as the beak was about to pierce through the layer of purple flames over his body, his expression remained completely unchanged and he didn't even raise his head.
A loud thump erupted as a silver first appeared, seemingly from thin air, before slamming into the beak.
Silver light flashed during the clash and the beak was knocked off course by several feet.
Spiritual light then flashed beside the beak as an azure figure emerged, in the process of withdrawing a silver fist.
This was none other than the humanoid puppet.
As soon as Han Li realized that a clash with the Ice Phoenix was inevitable, he had instructed the humanoid puppet to protect him, which was why it was able to divert that lethal attack just in the nick of time.
After having its surprise attack thwarted, the sharp beak immediately disappeared. The white glacial flames before Han Li suddenly shrank back before converging to form the body of that tenth grade Ice Phoenix.
At this point, the demon beast was only around 20 to 30 feet in size, significantly downsized from its original stature.
It looked down at the azure threads binding its talons and harrumphed coldly. Its talons suddenly expanded in size by severalfold as it attempted to struggle free from the threads.
However, azure light flashed over the surface of the threads and they remained firmly in place despite the Ice Phoenix's best efforts.
A hint of surprise flashed through the Ice Phoenix's eyes upon seeing this. However, it then abruptly opened its mouth to blast out two blinding streaks of white light, which circled around its talons.
As the white streaks of light flashed through the air, the azure threads were severed like wilted grass.
Only then did the white light pause in the air and reveal their true form.
They were two small white swords that were emanating faint glacial light.
"Myriad Year Profound Jade!"
Han Li immediately recognized the material that the two flying swords have been crafted from. At the same time, his brows furrowed with concern.
Those azure threads were a manifestation of the light shimmering on the surface of the Heavenvoid Cauldron in his sleeve. It appeared that even Divine Spirit Treasure wouldn't be able to do anything to a tenth grade demon beast if he couldn't unleash the treasure's full power.
However, he had no intention of engaging in a prolonged battle with this opponent. All he had to do was to travel a further 1,000 feet or so, upon which he would be able to flee into one of the two smaller teleportation formations that would take him away from this place.
Just as this thought flashed through Han Li's mind, the Ice Phoenix spread open its ice wings again as if it were going to attack. Han Li's expression darkened as the purple flames over his body receded, and his body also blurred before splitting into three.
Thus, three identical projections appeared, all of which were completely azure in color, so there was no way to identify which one was Han Li's true body.
The Ice Phoenix was surprised to see this and the white light shimmering along its wings immediately faltered. Right at this moment, the three projections transforming into three streaks of azure light and fled in different directions. All of them were traveling so quickly that they were covering over 100 feet in the blink of an eye. On the other side, the golden flying swords and Fire Ravens that were engaged in battle with the hundreds of translucent flying swords also abruptly flew away, heading straight for the teleportation platform in the corner of the hall.
The Ice Phoenix faltered slightly upon seeing this before flying into a thunderous rage. It let loose a sharp cry as white light flashed over its body, which shrank drastically, transforming it into a young woman who appeared to be just over 20 years of age in the blink of an eye.
This was a woman in silver palatial robes with the beauty of a celestial maiden!
As soon as the transforming was complete, the woman immediately patted the spirit beast pouch hanging from her waist, upon which a hissing sound erupted from within. Two balls of white light shot forth before spinning through the air, transforming into a pair of pristine white centipedes, each with four wings on their backs. Their emergence summoned two bursts of bone-chilling winds. The centipedes were each over 10 feet in length and had an extremely sinister appearance.
These were two Six-Winged Frost Centipedes that had already evolved to the four-winged stage.
Han Li turned to glance back over his shoulder and was abruptly given a massive fright upon seeing this.
Before he had a chance to devise a course of action, the two four-winged centipedes spread their wings open in unison, upon which both of them abruptly disappeared amid the sound of something hurtling through the air. In the next instant, one of the centipedes emerged beside Han Li's true body while the other appeared near one of his projections. Both of them opened their mouths and blasted out bursts of white glacial Qi from within.
Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow himself to be struck by this glacial Qi. Thus, he adjusted his trajectory slightly to easily evade the attack. However, the other projection continued onward robotically along a set trajectory, only to be vanquished into nothingness by the glacial Qi rushing toward it.
The silver-robed woman swept her hand through the air before her expressionlessly upon seeing this. A white spatial rift opened up before her as a result. The fact that she was able to tear open space with such ease was another indication of her power.
Her body then swayed into the spatial rift as she, along with the rift, both disappeared.
Meanwhile, Han Li was fleeing with all his might and had already reached the air directly above the platform. After evading another blast of glacial Qi from the four-winged centipede, he began to descend at full speed.
However, right at this moment, white light flashed nearby and the silver-robed woman appeared from thin air. Her body then flashed over to the platform, where she looked up at Han Li with a pair of frosty eyes.
Han Li's heart sank upon seeing this. He didn't dare to force his way into the teleportation formation as an attack launched from outside the formation while he teleported could result in catastrophic consequences.
Han Li glowered at the silver-robed woman with a dark expression, and said coldly, "I'm not a North Night Palace cultivator and nor do I have a vendetta against the demon beasts. Do you really insist on fighting me to the death?"
"Hmph! I don't care who you are, anyone who has inherited Fairy Ice Soul's Celestial Ice Flames is a sworn enemy of the Ice Phoenixes. You're not getting away from me!" A frosty expression appeared on the silver-robed woman's face. She was not backing down in the slightest.
At the height of his rage, Han Li burst into laughter, and said, "You sure are one to talk! Do you really think you can stop me just because you possess spatial powers? If you're determined to battle me, then I won't hold back either. Let me see if you have the power to back up that big mouth of yours!"
He raised a hand and all of the golden swords and Fire Ravens immediately began to circle around him. Sword Qi and crimson flames swirled amid bursts of resounding booms, creating an astonishing spectacle to behold.
At the same time, silver light flashed beside Han Li as the expressionless humanoid puppet emerged.
He then patted his storage pouch and a pitch-black vial emerged, upon which he cast several Celestial Techniques onto the vial.
The vial immediately shuddered before five bursts of grey-white Qi emerged from within. Five sets of skeletons then began to take shape, all of which had shimmering green flames in their eye sockets. A burst of unsettling screeching rang out from the five devils' mouth as all of them turned to appraise the Ice Phoenix with bloodlust in their eyes.
"The Unbroken Cinque Devils!" The Ice Phoenix's expression stiffened momentarily upon seeing this. She then took a glance at the humanoid puppet beside Han Li and her expression became even grimmer.
After a brief silence, the woman said in a slow voice, "Since when did cultivators of the human world gain the ability to refine puppets of this caliber? With that puppet and the five devils by your side, it would indeed be rather unlikely for me to be able to kill you even if I were to summon my other two avatars to assist me. However, I'm confident in my ability to force you to remain here. If you're not afraid of mishaps during teleportation, then you can give it a shot!"
Han Li didn't even have to turn around to assess the situation as he could sense what was going on at the center of the hall using his spiritual sense. As such, he sneered, "Summon your avatars? Without you there to control them, your avatars are most likely already struggling with self-preservation against those three North Night Palace cultivators! Let me see how long you can last against the five devils and this puppet!"
Indeed, those two Ice Phoenix avatars were clearly inferior in power to the three North Night Palace cultivators and had been forced firmly onto the back foot.
If it weren't for the fact that those two avatars were also capable of using glacial flames, they would most likely have been destroyed long ago. Even so, they were still only barely holding on. The palace master even had the spare capacity to watch Han Li's battle as she fought the two avatars. Her expression was very indecisive as she looked on from afar, but she had no intention of lending Han Li her assistance.
It appeared that she was using Han Li to divert the main body of the Ice Phoenix away while they slew these two avatars.
Han Li wasn't very angry about this. After all, if he were in her shoes, he would most likely do the exact same thing.
Upon hearing Han Li's words, the silver-robed woman merely chuckled coldly, seemingly completely undeterred by Han Li's threats.
Han Li heaved a faint sigh and finally relinquished any attempt to settle this with words. He made a hand seal and prepared to attack the Ice Phoenix with both his puppet and his five devils. Only by severely wounding or killing this woman would he be able to teleport away without fear of interference.
However, right at this moment, a peculiar look suddenly flashed through her eyes. It seemed to be a mixture of surprise and relief.
Han Li's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this. Before he could identify why such an expression would appear on her face, the space around him suddenly dimmed as a familiar sinister voice sounded.
"Get in here, you little brat!"
As soon as the voice fell, a layer of grey light surfaced around him and the surrounding scenery began to blur.
Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he immediately whipped a sleeve through the air.
The Worldbreaker Talisman abruptly shot forth and the surrounding scenery returned to normal following a flash of yellow light. At the same time, the golden swords and Fire Ravens around Han Li were sent flying downward.
A series of resounding booms erupted as the grey light was completely vanquished.
Only after raising his head did Han Li discovered that the massive Myriad Demon Flag had somehow appeared several hundred feet in the air above him. The grey light raining down from the flag was descending straight toward his head.
Thankfully, he hadn't completely exhausted the power of the Worldbreaker Talisman when he had first escaped from the Myriad Demon Flag. Otherwise, he would have been in a lot of trouble.
Even so, his expression had become very strained.
It was not going to be anywhere near an easy task for him to escape now.