Chapter 27: Carrying the Five Mountains, Crushing the Five Ghosts
As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, the surrounding space suddenly underwent a change.
A series of giant yellow rocks the size of millstones emerged out of thin air, and there were around 20 to 30 of them. They were positioned tightly next to one another, forming a watertight encirclement around the spirit ark.
Gu Yunyue's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and before she had a chance to do anything, the surfaces of the giant rocks flashed with dazzling light, and they began to spin rapidly while crashing toward the spirit ark.
Gu Yunyue was greatly alarmed to see this, and she immediately made a hand seal, upon which a streak of black light rose up into the sky from her body, then instantly swelled drastically in size, transforming into a giant black sword that was over 100 feet in length.
The giant sword swiveled around as it released a vast expanse of black light, which took on the form of a dragon with a long tail trailing behind it as it struck the nearest rock.
A resounding boom rang out, and the giant sword shattered the rock with great difficulty, but as a result of the impact, the sword itself was also sent flying back, flipping end over end, and the radiance that it was giving off had also completely faded.
Gu Yunyue shuddered violently, and she stumbled back several steps before steadying herself as a stunned look appeared on her face.
The power of that single giant rock in free fall was comparable to an all-out attack from a Nascent Soul cultivator, and she couldn't help but shudder internally at the sight of the 20 to 30 translucent giant rocks that were rapidly approaching from all directions.
However, right at this moment, Han Li's voice rang out beside her.
"Focus on protecting those two and leave the rest to me."
Before she had a chance to reply, Han Li had already risen up from the spirit ark with golden light glowing from his hands, and he spun around as he threw punches at the air all around him.
A string of resounding booms rang out in all directions as all of the giant yellow rocks were struck by a burst of tremendous force almost at the exact same time, then exploded into countless rock fragments that rained down from the sky.
"So you really are a body cultivator." A cold harrumph rang out, but it was impossible to determine where the voice was coming from.
Gu Yunyue hurriedly inspected her surroundings, trying to find the owner of the voice.
Meanwhile, a hint of derision appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he abruptly turned around before flicking a finger through the air, unleashing a burst of azure sword qi that shot forth like lightning before striking a certain corner of the translucent yellow world, exploding upon impact.
The air there rippled violently, and a burly man dressed in black stumped out into the open.
The man had a very sturdy build with a short beard on his square face, which was currently etched with shock.
The burly man's expression quickly returned to normal, and he asked, "I didn't think that you would also be a sword cultivator. It's quite remarkable that you were able to see through my illusory array as a mere Nascent Soul cultivator. Based on that alone, I'm sure you're not just some nameless cultivator. Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. A dead man like you doesn't need to know too much," Han Li chuckled coldly.
"What a joke! I was only putting a fraction of this array's power on display, don't think that you've got the better of me! I'm going to crush you to a pulp with this next attack!" The burly man was infuriated by Han Li's provocation, and he made a hand seal, upon which yellow ripples surged over his body, and he vanished into thin air once again.
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.
This array was quite an intricate construction, and the burly man had most likely concealed himself somewhere deep within it. To Han Li's surprise, he was no longer able to detect the burly man even with his spiritual sense.
However, he then gave a cold harrumph as golden light appeared all over his entire body. His plan was to destroy the array with brute force, leaving the burly man with nowhere to hide.
However, right at this moment, an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded.
The entire sky abruptly darkened, and five enormous creatures with black qi surging around their bodies emerged, surrounding the spirit ark from five different directions.
Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and piercing blue light flashed through his eyes.
Beneath the black qi were five giant black ghosts, each of which was around 300 to 400 feet tall. If it weren't for the curved horns growing on their heads, they would be the spitting image of apes that had been significantly enlarged. Their bodies were covered in short black fur, and their mouths were filled with sharp fangs, while their eyes were bright red in color. They were extremely fearsome to behold, but their expressions were quite blank and vacant.
Each of the giant ghosts was holding a miniature black mountain.
Compared with these five ghosts, Han Li was made to appear as tiny as an ant.
Gu Yunyue's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.
Every single one of these five giant ghosts was giving off an aura that was superior to hers, and a layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on her forehead.
As for Liu Le'er and Yu Menghan, they were unable to withstand the combined spiritual pressure being released by the five giant ghosts, and they had fallen unconscious on the spot.
The five giant ghosts let loose a collective deafening roar, and a vicious gleam flashed through their bright red eyes as they swung their ape arms violently to hurl the five miniature mountains that they were holding through the air.
The miniature mountains glowed brightly with spiritual light, and they swelled rapidly in size as soon as they left the hands of the giant apes, expanding to over 1,000 feet tall in the blink of an eye as they crashed directly toward Han Li and the spirit ark.
Even before the giant mountains arrived, an asphyxiating sense of pressure had already descended upon the spirit ark, and the space around the ark was buzzing incessantly as gusts of fierce wind were instantly swept up.
Gu Yunyue was almost unable to suppress the urge to cry out in horror, and all she could do was summon a series of treasures in a panicked frenzy, conjuring up several layers of light barriers of different colors around herself and the two unconscious young women on the ark.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and golden light flashed from his palms as he extended his hands nonchalantly toward the oncoming mountains.
A string of five deafening booms rang out in rapid succession, and incredibly powerful shockwaves surged through the air one after another.
The entire yellow space began to buzz loudly while warping violently, and finally, it reached a breaking point, shattering with a dull thump.
With the yellow space destroyed, the environment reverted back to the desert, and countless bursts of yellow light scattered erratically in all directions.
The formidable shockwaves were released upon the desert, proliferating outward in all directions, causing the surrounding sandstorm to churn violently.
Even though the yellow space had been destroyed, it was only an illusion to begin with, and the glowing yellow array on the ground was still standing.
The five giant ghosts were also still hovering in mid-air, but their expressions had become vacant and aloof again.
The burly man emerged out of thin air, and a pleased smile appeared on his face.
In the face of these five ghosts, even a late-Deity Transformation cultivator would definitely struggle immensely unless they possessed a powerful spirit treasure.
However, in the next instant, his smile abruptly stiffened, and his eyes widened as he looked down with an incredulous expression.
As it turned out, the five enormous mountains had been stacked in a pile on top of one another, and Han Li was standing casually in mid-air beneath the base of the fifth mountain, casually supporting it with one hand as if he were carrying nothing more than five feathers.
As for the spirit ark beneath Han Li and the three women on it, they were completely unscathed.
Before the burly man had a chance to react, Han Li exhaled nonchalantly, releasing a burst of white energy out of his mouth, and the five giant mountains were blown away like leaves in the wind.
The surfaces of the mountains flashed with black light, and they rapidly shrank back to their original size.
Han Li casually flicked his fingers through the air, and the five miniature mountains were instantly sent flying toward the burly man at an incredible speed, reaching him in the blink of an eye.
The burly man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and dazzling black light erupted from his body as he plummeted rapidly toward the ground, just barely evading the five miniature mountains.
All of a sudden, Han Li's body blurred, and he appeared in front of the five mountains in wraith-like manner, and he casually reached out again to stop the mountains cold in their tracks.
He then swiveled around before kicking two of the miniature mountains with his feet, and the two mountains instantly descended from above like a pair of shooting stars, flying close to twice as fast as they had been when they were launched through the air earlier.
The two miniature mountains flashed with black light as they abruptly expanded once again, swelling to over 1,000 feet tall in the blink of an eye, and the whistling sound that they produced as they flew through the air was also heightened into a terrifying rumble.
One of the mountains was crashing toward the array down below, while the other was hurtling toward the burly man.
A resounding boom rang out as the former struck the yellow array with devastating force.
The array immediately began to glow with dazzling radiance in an attempt to resist, but the astonishing power imbued within the giant mountain crushed its resistance with ease, and it instantly exploded into countless bursts of light.
With the array destroyed, the spirit ark was instantly freed, and it was carried away far into the distance by a gust of fierce wind.
Meanwhile, the other mountain was hurtling rapidly toward the burly man, catching up to him before he had even landed on the ground.
The burly was greatly alarmed by this, and he opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence. His entire body was instantly enshrouded in a layer of crimson light, and he transformed into a burst of serpentine spiritual light that sped through the air, boosting his speed by severalfold.
The second giant mountain crashed into the ground, and vast volumes of sand erupted in all directions.
In the instant that the giant mountain struck the ground, the streak of serpentine spiritual light flew over the ground, appearing over 1,000 feet away in a flash. The burly man was encompassed within the streak of light, and his entire body was already drenched in cold sweat.
Before he had a chance to catch his breath, a dark shadow suddenly appeared over him, and he looked up to see another giant mountain rapidly descending upon him. At this point, it was already too close for him to evade.