“You thought you could avoid fighting me by not engaging?”

Tong Yu chuckled, his body radiating a dark light. Wisps of black energy leaked from the gaps in his armor, transforming into a cloud of darkness that enveloped his entire form, rendering it blurry.

The demonic energy from the surrounding天地间 (tiān dì jiān, heaven and earth) also gathered, merging into the black mist.

In an instant, the black mist flashed forward, instantly engulfing Han Li.

Han Li frowned. Before he could react, a fist, carrying the momentum of wind and thunder, slammed toward him.

He blocked it with his elbow, but another fist came at him from the left.

Before he could block that one with his other hand, he took a heavy blow to the chest, grunting as he flew backward.

Before he could stabilize himself, the black mist followed like a leech, striking him with a series of punches to the temples, back of the head, chest, and waist, all vital points.

Each punch carried immense force, creating explosive sounds as they landed.

Han Li felt his仙灵力 (xiān líng lì, immortal spiritual power) becoming sluggish. Surprised, he quickly activated his True Spirit Bloodline, donning his Xuanwu Armor.

The rain of fists continued, falling upon the armor. While Han Li no longer felt as vulnerable, the vibrations in his internal organs were still extremely unpleasant.

His eyes narrowed, and a dim violet light shone within them as he looked at the surrounding black mist.

He was surprised to find that Tong Yu's figure was nowhere to be seen. All he could see were black fists formed from the mist, thousands of them, attacking him from all directions. No wonder he couldn't defend himself.

Could this be some kind of shapeshifting Demonic Mist Law?

A thought flashed through Han Li's mind. He chanted the incantation of the Mantra Wheel Sutra. Golden light exploded behind him, and a golden wheel spun, emitting rays of light.

Within the Demonic Mist, the speed of the incoming fists slowed down as they were illuminated by the golden light of the Mantra Treasure Wheel. Han Li scanned the scene and found that there were actually tens of thousands of them.

A smile touched his lips. With a flick of his wrist, a golden electric light flashed in his palm, and a Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword appeared.

Han Li gripped the sword, and his body shot forward. He flashed through the void, the sword in his hand crackling with lightning patterns. The Evil-warding Divine Lightning, fused with Bone-cleansing Golden Lightning, had birthed the Law of Lightning, making it even more powerful than before.

"霹雳 (Pīlì, sound of thunder)" echoed continuously in the void. Thick trails of golden electricity appeared, crisscrossing like iron chains across the river, shattering the black mist.

The seemingly solid fists, struck by the golden lightning of the sword, didn't bleed or break bones. Instead, they dissipated like smoke, turning into black mist.

Tong Yu's aura seemed to have vanished completely. Han Li's divine sense couldn't detect him at all.

Violet light shone in his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings. All he could see were wisps of Demonic Qi scattered everywhere, ubiquitous, all slowed down by the golden light emitted from the Mantra Treasure Wheel.

Han Li frowned, feeling somewhat frustrated. Although he had trapped Tong Yu with the Mantra Treasure Wheel, the attacks of his sword and lightning were ineffective and couldn't harm his foundation.

A thought crossed his mind. A silver light flashed on his shoulder, and a silver flame figure jumped out.

"Since I can't cut you, I'll burn you," Han Li said with a smile.

At his command, the silver flame figure spread its arms, and its flames intensified, transforming into a giant silver flame bird.

As soon as it rushed out, Han Li withdrew the Mantra Treasure Wheel. The silver flames on the firebird immediately "腾 (téng, whoosh)" spread out, directly entering the black mist.

The silver flames rose, and a giant wave of fire swept through, rapidly shrinking the black mist.

A miserable howl echoed, and a figure instantly solidified in the shrinking black mist: it was Tong Yu.

He was covered in charred wounds, looking extremely wretched.

"What the hell is this?"

As he spoke, wisps of black mist flowed into his body, slowly repairing the wounds inflicted by the Spirit Essence Firebird.

Han Li naturally didn't reply. He shot forward, and the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword in his hand crackled with golden lightning. At the same time, he made a beckoning gesture with his other hand, and immediately the sound of tearing through the air erupted around him.

The other seventeen Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords shot out, drawing trails of azure light in the air. As they approached Tong Yu, the sword light suddenly exploded, releasing hundreds of solid sword shadows, surrounding him in the center.

The Spirit Essence Firebird hovered behind him, its eyes burning with flames as it watched him.

Han Li thrust forward from the front, and the surrounding sword shadows contracted, stabbing toward Tong Yu.

A look of anger flashed in Tong Yu's eyes. He suddenly roared, and a layer of dark light instantly expanded around him, turning into a Demonic Qi domain, instantly enveloping Han Li and all his flying swords.

The instant the swords and sword shadows pierced the domain, the sword bodies trembled violently. Layers of Demonic Qi clung to their surfaces, one layer after another, almost instantly causing them to lose control.

The sword shadows formed from sword energy were quickly petrified, turning grayish-white, then exhausted their spiritual power and turned into dust, disappearing.

The seventeen Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords were also entangled in black mist, but golden lightning jumped within them, constantly struggling violently, floating in the void and trembling.

At the same time, patches of black mist, like black python-serpents, twisted and coiled, rushing up and directly enveloping Han Li, shrinking around him.

The thick black mist, like drying soil, gradually turned grayish-white, slowly outlining Han Li's appearance, making him look like a statue about to be finished.

Seeing this, the Spirit Essence Firebird immediately surged with silver flames, its body shooting out, charging toward Han Li.

Tong Yu sneered. He made a series of hand seals in front of his body, then clasped his hands together.

Within his domain, two patches of black sand rose, forming two giant hands in the void. They clasped together, trapping the Spirit Essence Firebird in the center.

Tong Yu waved his hand, and a golden talisman shot out, landing on the black sand hands.

The talisman flashed, disappearing into the hands. Several extremely long, strange runes appeared on their surface, crawling around like living things, binding the two hands together.

After the runes locked, a dark light exploded, and a powerful force of restriction was born from within.

No matter how the Spirit Essence Firebird struggled, it couldn't escape. Instead, its scorching heat was guided away by the strange fluctuations released by the runes, and its flames were steadily suppressed.

On the other side, Shi Chuan Kong was being forced back by Yin Yu's powerful sword energy, already a great distance away from here.

He caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye, and his mind couldn't help but waver slightly.

"No need to look so much. Although your companion cultivates the Time Law, he is definitely no match for Tong Yu. Our Great King also ordered us to capture you alive and bring you back. Your big brother is still waiting for you! If you obediently surrender now, you can avoid some physical suffering. But if you continue to resist stubbornly, I will first cut off your limbs, let you taste the pain of sword qi flaying your heart, and then take you back," Yin Yu said with indifference, temporarily slowing down his sword attacks.

"Shi Zhanfeng, so it really is him... But I wonder what price he offered for my death? I am willing to offer three times the price to let you let me go. How about it?" Shi Chuan Kong forced a smile and said.

"If you want to talk business, you can go back and talk to our Great King slowly. I only kill people," Yin Yu said coldly.

"Then can you let Daoist Tong Yu stop first, and I will return with you with my companion?" Shi Chuan Kong bargained, but his wrist, hidden in his sleeve, turned, and a silver pipa with a cracked head appeared.

"Offering a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!" Yin Yu's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he shouted.

The long sword in his hand suddenly turned, and the sword light exploded layer by layer, condensing hundreds of snow-white sword lights from it, each higher than the other, each stronger than the other, as if condensing a giant sword mountain, slashing down towards Shi Chuan Kong.

Shi Chuan Kong's heart skipped a beat, and he flashed to escape.

But as soon as he moved, he felt a sharp pain in his knees. Two cone-shaped, transparent sword qi, emerged from nowhere, shooting out with two trails of crimson blood, instantly piercing his knees.

Just that moment of hesitation made it impossible to dodge.

Shi Chuan Kong had no choice but to harden his heart, lifting the Luocha Pipa with both hands in front of him, plucking a string with one hand.

The pipa trembled violently with silver light, and the void above it twisted. The space seemed to be pulled down by the bent strings, compressed together, blocking the giant sword light.

"轰轰轰 (Hōng hōng hōng, rumble rumble rumble)"

Explosions echoed continuously in the high sky. The power of space drawn by the Luocha Pipa collided with the giant sword light, constantly collapsing and shattering, rippling waves of violent energy that swept around.

But the giant sword light only wore down the outermost three layers.

Just as Shi Chuan Kong was about to be unable to resist, a loud explosion suddenly came from a distance.

Yin Yu frowned and looked over there.

Han Li, who had been wrapped into a grayish-white statue by the black mist, suddenly exploded out of it, carrying a Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword in one hand and a verdant gourd in the other, heading straight for Tong Yu.

The latter was surprised at first, but after reacting, he waved his arms and immediately blasted towards Han Li.

As his fists moved, imperceptible Demonic Qi overflowed from the front end of his fists, being hammered by the fist strength, constantly superimposing, condensing a wall of Demonic Qi enough to distort space, rolling towards Han Li.