As soon as the blood rained down onto the burly man, it transformed into vibrant red patterns that spread all over his skin. As a result, it was as if the burly man had donned a crimson runed garment, which created quite a peculiar sight to behold.
The white-robed elderly man's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, but the burly man paid no heed to him at all as he made an extremely arrogant provocative hand gesture toward Han Li.
Han Li knew that a battle was unavoidable, and he immediately turned to the pair of elders. "As we discussed just now, leave this devilish lord to me, but make sure you get that Xue Guang clone far away from here; I don't want any other unforeseeable factors to affect my battle."
As soon as his voice trailed off, he vanished into thin air without waiting for a reply from the two elders, then re-emerged amid a flash of azure light several hundred feet away from the burly man.
A ferocious light flashed through the burly man's eyes, and he swung his mace toward Han Li without any hesitation.
The green devilish flames on the mace swept forth as a wall of flames that was over 100 feet tall, hurtling directly toward Han Li with devastating might.
At the same time, the burly man clenched his other hand into a fist and also launched it toward Han Li from afar in what seemed to be a completely harmless and nonchalant manner.
Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and the azure flying swords around him conjured up layers of azure light barriers that flew directly toward the wall of flames, and at the same time, he reached a fist out of one of his sleeves.
The fist was shimmering with golden light and looked as if it had been forged from gold, and there were faint golden runes surging all over it.
This was a clear indication that he was close to reaching full mastery in his Provenance True Devil Arts.
In the instant that the azure light barriers came into contact with the wall of flames, a string of erratic cracks and pops rang out, and azure light and green flames instantly exploded like exuberant fireworks.
All of a sudden, an earth-shattering boom rang out near the wall of flames and azure light barriers, and a gust of fierce green winds emerged alongside a golden fist projection without any warning.
The two clashed violently, sending devastating shockwaves proliferating outward in all directions, causing the entire heavens to tremor and quake.
Both Han Li and the burly man shuddered as they took several involuntary steps backward. As opposed to being alarmed by this, the excitement on the burly man's face only grew more pronounced, and he let loose a loud roar as he abruptly tossed his mace up into the air, then made a rapid string of hand seals before pointing a finger up at the weapon.
The devilish flames on the surface of the mace instantly reared up before transforming into eight green fiery wyrms that pounced directly toward Han Li. Each wyrm was over 300 feet in length with a single purple horn on each of their heads and green flames surging out of their mouths.
Han Li immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and the azure sword projections around him converged to form a massive sword at his behest before sweeping through the air.
A resounding thunderclap rang out as countless golden arcs of lightning erupted out of the giant sword in a frenzy. The eight fiery wyrms were instantly sliced in half by the massive sword, then reduced to devilish flames again by the formidable golden lightning.
In the next instant, the giant azure sword vanished into thin air before instantly reappearing directly above the burly man's head amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
The sword was over 1,000 feet in length with golden lightning revolving all over its surface, and as it crashed down from above, a burst of enormous invisible pressure began to descend upon the burly man.
In response, the burly man's expression darkened slightly as brilliant crimson light suddenly appeared over one of his arms, and he swept the arm upward to conjure up a dazzling crimson sun. The giant azure sword was instantly destroyed amid a resounding boom, and it seemed that this crimson light was imbued with some kind of incredible power.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion with both hands. Azure light flashed within his grasp, and two azure sword projections appeared before combining to form a giant azure sword again.
He flicked his wrists, and the massive sword in his hands split up into 72 small swords once again before revolving around his body.
The burly man chuckled coldly, and the dazzling crimson light on his arm faded as a piece of strange crimson armor appeared over his entire arm.
The piece of armor had intricate patterns on its surface that were identical to the crimson patterns previously seen on his arm, as if the armor had been manifested from those patterns in the first place.
It was quite alarming to Han Li that such a nondescript-looking piece of armor was able to destroy the giant sword projection he had unleashed so easily.
All of a sudden, the burly man pointed a finger forward once again, and the green devilish flames surged before transforming into a giant eight-headed devilish wyrm projection. The massive projection encompassed virtually the entire sky, and it pounced directly toward Han Li, aiming to tear his body into shreds.
In the face of such a ferocious counterattack, Han Li remained completely expressionless and didn't even move in the slightest. However, a golden pillar of light suddenly erupted into the air behind him, and within the pillar of light was a projection with three heads and six arms.
The projection swung its six arms through the air, and a series of golden fist projections immediately hurtled through the air, completely destroying the oncoming devilish wyrm.
The golden light then faded, and the devilish projection gained a substantial form as it hovered high above Han Li's head, appraising the burly man up ahead in a completely expressionless manner.
The burly man faltered initially upon seeing this before a hint of bloodlust flashed through his eyes. "Oh? This golden body seems to be related to the cultivation arts of our holy race. Looks like I really will be able to enjoy a good battle here!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, countless balls of inky-black devilish Qi surfaced all over his body, and the crimson patterns on his skin instantly began to glow.
After the black Qi dispersed, a full suit of crimson armor had appeared over the burly man's body.
He threw his head back and guffawed as he slammed his own fists together in front of himself, and a devilish projection that was around 100 feet tall appeared behind him as well.
Immediately thereafter, the burly man abruptly vanished amid a gust of fierce winds, and Han Li's pupils instantly contracted upon seeing this as a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap.
He flapped the wings gently, and countless silver arcs of lightning sprang forth, following which he and the Provenance Golden Body vanished into thin air as well.
In the next instant, two humanoid figures emerged nearby, and one of them had fearsome lightning crackling all over his body, while the other was enveloped in a cloud of formidable devilish Qi.
Both of them were simultaneous cultivators with immense confidence in their own physical bodies, and a string of violent clashes ensued.
Not only were Han Li and the burly man engaged in a physical brawl, they were also attacking one another with different treasures and abilities, and they seemed to be evenly matched.
The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were both stunned and ecstatic to see this.
They already had a very high opinion of Han Li, but they didn't think that he would actually have the power to contend with this burly devilish man.
In contrast with the elation in their eyes, the Xue Guang clone's expression darkened even further, and a vicious light flashed through his eyes as he suddenly raised a hand to release something.
However, right at this moment, a white light formation abruptly emerged beneath him before immediately releasing a burst of spatial fluctuations.
"Crap!"
The Xue Guang clone had the knowledge and experience of a Grand Ascension Stage powerful being, and it immediately tried to rush out of the formation, but it was already too late.
The space around him warped, and the surrounding environment changed drastically as he found himself in a strange space that was filled with faint white mist.
Within the same space, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were appraising him with grim expressions.
"Hmph, you two dare to try and stop me? So be it, I'll take care of both of you, then go after that Han brat," the Xue Guang clone said as a hint of killing intent flashed through his cold eyes.
The white-robed elderly man turned to Buddhist Monk Jin Yue with a calm expression, and said, "Looks like we'll really have to give it our all here, Fellow Daoist Jin. If you have any abilities or treasures that you've been hiding, now would be the time to bring them out. Either he dies in here, or we die!"
"Of course. I'm going to keep this devil here even if I have to give my life to do so!" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a determined look in his eyes.
"Haha, that's all I needed to hear," the white-robed elderly man chortled as he suddenly flipped his hands over to reveal a pair of treasures.
One of them was a fan refined from seven-colored feathers that was glowing with red light, while the other was a string of five shimmering silver interconnected rings.
"Sevenflame Fan and Unbroken Rings! You really are hiding some powerful spirit treasures, Brother Gu!" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's eyes immediately lit up with elation at the sight of these two treasures.
Immediately thereafter, he swept his own kasaya through the air to release a torrent of countless Buddhist runes, which then transformed into 18 golden Buddha projections.