Chapter 1238: Sword Array VS Underworld Magistrate

In the face of the oncoming tongue, Han Li channeled his time law powers and dodged to the side, only just barely managing to evade the attack.

At the same time, he noticed that the lightning patterns on the tongue had disappeared.

Right at this moment, Weeping Soul let loose a thunderous roar, and the white light emanating from the bone spikes on her back began to glow radiantly as it resisted against the walls of crimson light, destroying them layer by layer.

However, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted out of the destroyed walls of crimson light, and this was accompanied by a resounding thunderclap.

Dozens of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords suddenly descended out of the crimson light, and they connected together with one another to form a circular, golden lightning array to suppress Weeping Soul once again.

Arcs of golden lightning were churning over Weeping Soul's back like boiling water, and given that the golden lightning within the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had a suppressive effect on all ghostly beings, they were naturally very effective on Weeping Soul as well, and it didn't take long before her back was reduced to a mass of torn and ravaged blood and flesh.

Han Li was frantically trying to summon his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords back to himself through their spiritual connection, and the swords were trembling violently as they strove to return to his side, but with the crimson light clinging to them, they were unable to act of their own volition.

As the flying swords descended out of the sky with the underworld magistrate's boot, Han Li let loose a loud roar as he bit through the tip of his own tongue, then sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the combined Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword in his grasp.

The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that had been seized by Gui Lingzi instantly began to tremble even more violently than before, and they were able to struggle free from their constraints before flying back to him.

With the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and their golden lightning removed, the pressure on Weeping Soul was greatly lessened, and she reverted back to her human form, then sprang back to Han Li's side, evading the falling boot in the process.

"His ghostly powers are indeed rather different. It's as if his powers have reached their peak and have returned to a more natural state, granting it a righteous quality, and that has robbed me of my usual advantage against ghostly cultivators," Weeping Soul explained while panting heavily.

"Are you alright? This is why I didn't want to release you earlier. I figured that he had to have been the most powerful of the four holy envoys for a reason, and it seems that my concerns were warranted," Han Li said with tightly furrowed brows.

"I'm alright, Master," Weeping Soul replied with a reassuring nod. "What is this creature that we're facing right now? It's rather infuriating that Gui Lingzi has managed to remain hidden to us this entire time."

"Who says he's remained hidden all this time?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Weeping Soul turned to Han Li with a perplexed expression, whereas Lan Yan realized what Han Li was implying, and she exclaimed, "You're saying that this underworld magistrate is Gui Lingzi?"

Before Han Li had a chance to reply, the underworld magistrate came stomping down upon them once again, and at the same time, its long tongue curled through the air to form a semi-circle, blocking their path for retreat.

"Lan Yan, hold off that tongue for me for a moment," Han Li yelled, and Lan Yan immediately sprang into action upon hearing this, flipping a hand over to summon a blue cloth pouch with wave designs embroidered upon it.

With a single glance, Han Li was able to identify it as the pouch that the Lan siblings had obtained in the Eon Pagoda.

She chanted an incantation as she pointed a finger at the cloth pouch, and the wave patterns on its surface instantly lit up, accompanied by the sound of turbulent, rushing water.

Immediately thereafter, the mouth of the pouch opened up wide to release eight blue water dragons that were hundreds of feet in length, all of which crashed their way toward the crimson tongue.

A string of resounding thunderclaps as countless arcs of blue water lightning erupted out of the eight water dragons to bombard the long tongue, and a bemused look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

During the formation of the Five-Elemental Great Annihilation Array, the five immortal treasures, including the white fire bead and the blue cloth pouch, had all been summoned back into the array.

Following the array's destruction, the Essence Fire Raven had managed to recover teh white fire bead, and it was clear that Lan Yan had somehow managed to recover the blue pouch as well.

Furthermore, compared with back in the Eon Pagoda, Lan Yan had clearly become far more proficient in her usage of the immortal treasure.

Even though she was still unable to completely unleash its full power, it was enough to keep the crimson tongue at bay.

The tongue was unable to withstand the barrage of water lightning, and it began to withdraw back into the underworld magistrate's mouth, but Lan Yan refused to let up, holding the blue pouch in one hand while raising her other hand.

The eight water dragons instantly began to soar their way up along the tongue en route toward the underworld magistrate, while the underworld magistrate's boot continued to descend with mountainous force.

Han Li let loose a resounding roar as he channeled his Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts and true spirit bloodlines with all his might, instantly transforming into a giant devilish deity with three heads and six arms.

He pushed off against the ground with both feet, launching himself up toward the giant boot while lashing out with his six fists in retaliation.

A deafening boom rang out high up in the sky, and Han Li was sent plummeting into the ground below.

The underworld magistrate's giant foot was flung up into the air by the force of the impact, tipping it off balance.

At the same time, the eight water dragons under Lan Yan's control were rapidly closing in on its head.

A string of violent thunderclaps rang out as the eight water dragons exploded in unison near the underworld magistrate's head, destroying half of its mianguan.

Before the underworld magistrate had a chance to steady itself, a golden light barrier erupted out of Han Li's body before rapidly proliferating outward in all directions.

A short mountain range descended from the heavens, crashing down upon the underworld magistrate's head, while a golden river that was flowing through the mountain range wrapped itself around the underworld magistrate's body like a golden belt.

Under the debilitating effects of Han Li's time law powers, the underworld magistrate was immobilized, and its movements had slowed down to a crawl.

"Get away from here," Han Li yelled, and Weeping Soul and Lan Yan immediately did as they were told without any hesitation.

A bright, full moon rose up into the air from behind Han Li, and with a sweep of his sleeve, thirty-six of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords shot forth through the air, fanning out around him like an army adopting a formation.

All of the swords had arcs of golden lightning flashing over them, and they were hovering upside-down with their tips pointing up at the heavens. On top of that, they were gently bobbing up and down in a rhythmic fashion.

Once all of the flying swords were in place, they began releasing a burst of peculiar spiritual power fluctuations. It was as if in that instant, all of the surrounding world's origin qi had become connected with the flying swords to form a small world.

With the formation of the sword array, the flow of air through the area suddenly changed. A layer of faint, white mist arose, and occasional flashes of golden lightning could be seen within it, as if it were a golden lightning cloud.

"That's the Almighty Sword Array!" Lan Yan exclaimed with a stunned expression.

Back in the Eon Pagoda, she had personally witnessed the Almighty Sword Array, and even though it had been quite different from the sword array that Han Li had set up, it was giving off the same type of suffocating aura.

In fact, the vast and oppressive aura of this sword array struck her with an even deeper sense of apprehension, to the point that she was having difficulty breathing, and only after flying back a long distance did she feel a little better.

At this point, the underworld magistrate had finally managed to steady itself, and its expressionless facade remained unchanged, but a hint of fury had surfaced in its eyes.

The red light around his body reared up to clash against the restrictive golden light around its body, and at the same time, the tip of the red brush in its hand began to glide through the air.

However, its movements were still very slow under the effects of Han Li's time law powers, and a series of ancient, crimson runes were beginning to take shape beneath the tip of its brush.

With each rune that appeared, the surrounding space would shudder violently, and the harrowing shrieks and cries of countless ghosts began to ring out within the crimson space.

As more and more runes took shape beneath its brush, an ancient text appeared high up in the sky, and the pressure in the air was constantly building.

The ghostly cries were already drowning out the rumbling thunderclaps, and Lan Yan's complexion had turned deathly pale in the face of this harrowing chorus.

Weeping Soul was faring much better than her, but she was also struggling somewhat. In fact, she could even sense a hint of subjugation from the Great Dao through the passage of crimson text.

Right as the crimson text was about to be completed, Han Li's sword array finally began to display a change.

Loud thunderclaps rang out as arcs of golden lightning exploded incessantly, and the thirty-six Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords transformed into thirty-six thick pillars of golden lightning that erupted straight into the heavens.

Countless streaks of incredibly formidable golden sword qi appeared in the surrounding space, all of which converged toward the underworld magistrate in a frenzy.