Chapter 1386: Fine Line Between Victory and Defeat

A hint of realization flashed through Han Li's eyes as he sensed this conflicting aura.

This was the aura of the Heavenly Dao. It was vast and all-encompassing, yet also cold and detached, harboring no empathy for any of the living beings of the world.

The ribbon of rainbow light was guided up into the sky by the vial spirit before plunging into the chaotic vortex, while Gu Huojin made no effort to intervene.

His action wasn't borne from conceitedness. Instead, he had to focus all of his effort and attention on the fierce clash taking place between two vortexes.

Of course, even more importantly, he had to speed up his absorption of the chaotic law powers around him. As soon as he became the Chaotic Dao Ancestor, he would become the embodiment of chaos, a truly untouchable deity.

In that state, no one would be able to defeat him, and Han Li's trio would be reduced to ants that he could crush on a whim.

"You think a mere Heaven Controlling Vial will be enough to turn the tables? What a joke!" Gu Huojin sneered as he swept both sleeves through the air, and the rate at which the plumes of dark green mist were sucked into the chaotic vortex was instantly sped up by a hundredfold.

The chaotic vortex twisted and warped momentarily before taking on the form of a massive, indistinct human face.

"Gu Huojin is undergoing the process of dao integration! As soon as that human face takes shape, it'll be too late for us to do anything!" the Reincarnation Palace Master yelled in an urgent manner.

The Devilish Monarch knew that he couldn't hold back any longer upon hearing this, and his body swelled rapidly in size, while a pair of huge, curved horns appeared on his head. His handsome facial features also morphed into something horrific and unsightly as he transformed into a devilish creature that was over a hundred thousand feet tall.

As he took a step forward, the space beneath his foot trembled violently, and a series of massive, silver ripples proliferated outward in all directions, only fading away after spreading to tens of millions of kilometers away.

At the same time, all of the space in the entire True Immortal Realm shuddered as if it were rejoicing in the birth of its Dao Ancestor.

Following in Han Li's footsteps, the Devilish Monarch had also surpassed his limits to ascend to Dao Ancestor status.

Both he and the Reincarnation Palace Master satisfied all of the prerequisites required to become Dao Ancestors, but he had never taken this step for fear of assimilation from the Heavenly Dao.

However, the situation had forced his hand, and he had to attain the power of a Dao Ancestor in order to stand any chance at turning the tables.

A fervent look appeared in his eyes as he raised his hands up high before bringing his palms together, and the space around Gu Huojin began to warp violently as a burst of immense spatial force compressed toward him from all directions, attempting to sever his connection with the chaotic vortex.

A resounding boom rang out as Gu Huojin's body exploded into a cloud of gray smoke, only to be instantly reformed amid a flash of gray light.

"The dao integration process is already mostly complete, there is nothing more that you can do to stop me!" Gu Huojin chortled.

Right at this moment, Han Li's eyes suddenly sprang open as he challenged, "Is that so?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a burst of radiant, rainbow light appeared within the chaotic vortex, and it transformed into a rainbow dragon that was hundreds of millions of feet in length as it roamed through the gargantuan vortex.

Standing atop the dragon's head was none other than the vial spirit with a look of assured confidence on his face.

The rainbow dragon flew up into the heavens, then abruptly twisted around and flew straight through the center of the chaotic vortex en route to the dark green vortex down below.

As soon as the rainbow dragon flew into the dark green vortex, it began to shrink rapidly while racing toward the opening of the Heaven Controlling Vial.

The chaotic vortex was dragged along behind it, elongating the vortex into a gargantuan funnel, which surged into the dark green vortex before being sucked into the Heaven Controlling Vial.

"No! This is impossible!" Gu Huojin roared in incredulity.

Despite his frantic efforts, he was unable to prevent the chaotic vortex from being devoured by the Heaven Controlling Vial, and he was also being sucked toward the opening of the vial with it.

In a fit of fury, he was forced to sweep a hand through the air, unleashing a massive blade of chaotic light that severed him from the chaotic vortex, and he could only look on in seething rage as the vortex was completely devoured by the Heaven Controlling Vial.

After devouring the chaotic vortex, the entire vial began to flash with lights of different colors, illuminating it into a translucent state, and a rapidly revolving gray vortex could be seen within it.

The Heaven Controlling Vial remained in its massive, pagoda-sized form, and it was swaying side to side in an unsteady manner.

"Senior Vial Spirit, the vial..."

Han Li began in an urgent manner, only to be cut off by the vial spirit, who declared in an agitated voice, "I'll explain everything later. Right now, I have to help the Heaven Controlling Vial suppress this chaotic power."

Han Li didn't dare to ask any further questions for fear of distracting the vial spirit. Earlier, he had ultimately failed in his attempt to refine the Heaven Controlling Vial.

However, this was no surprise, given that the power in the Heaven Controlling Vial was infinitely approaching that of the Heavenly Dao, making it impossible to refine even for a Dao Ancestor of one of the three paramount laws.

"I should've listened to Chen Tuan and gotten rid of you first!" Gu Huojin spat through gritted teeth, and at this point, his facade of composure had already completely fallen away.

The killing intent emanating from his body was so fierce that even the chaotic power around him was unable to mask it, but Han Li remained unfazed as he smiled and goaded, "Come and get me!"

"Don't get careless," the Reincarnation Palace Master cautioned through voice transmission. "Right now, he's on the cusp of becoming the Chaotic Dao Ancestor, and his law powers aren't affected by the Heavenly Dao, so he can wield them to his heart's content, while the two of you have to worry about about assimilation by the Heavenly Dao."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the space up ahead abruptly collapsed.

Gu Huojin seemed to have become one with the cloud of chaotic, gray mist around him, and countless feelers were extending out of the cloud in all directions, devouring everything that they came into contact with.

"What's going on?" the Devilish Monarch exclaimed.

"Without the chaotic vortex to provide him with law powers, Gu Huojin has turned to absorbing power from the world around him. This entire space is most likely going to be devoured by him soon," the Reincarnation Palace Master explained.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, seal off this expanse of space to make it as difficult for him as possible to attain more power," Han Li yelled.

The Devilish Monarch immediately did as he was told without any hesitation, and two massive wings of silver light erupted out of his back before spreading through the space on either side of him.

Within mere moments, the pair of silver wings reconvened, and the entire surrounding space within a radius of tens of millions of kilometers had been encompassed within them.

"If I'm going to completely seal this area, then I have to focus solely on that task alone, and I won't be able to take any further part in battle," the Devilish Monarch said.

"That's fine. You focus on sealing this space, leave everything else to us," Han Li said, and the Reincarnation Palace Master also gave him a reassuring nod.

With that, the Devilish Monarch didn't hesitate any longer as his entire body began to blur.

He slowly became one with the silver light barrier that he had just conjured up, and a humanoid statue of himself appeared north, south, east, and west of the light barrier, while his body completely faded away.

At the same time, a massive, silver array appeared above and below the light barrier, while a series of feathers of silver light emerged between them.

These feathers were all imbued with the true meaning of the laws of space, and despite their feather-like appearance, they were incredibly heavy.

They descended like snowflakes upon the cloud of gray mist around Gu Huojin, and even the cloud of mist formed by chaotic law powers crumbled away under the immense weight of the silver feathers.

As a result, Gu Huojin was revealed, and he was looking much different from before. His clothes were in tatters, his hair was disheveled, and he was looking utterly deranged.

His legs, which had previously been devoured by the Heavenly Dao, had returned, and eh was standing in mid-air barefoot with a pair of chaotic vortexes swirling in his eyes as he glowered at Han Li with ferocious killing intent.

Han Li summoned his seventy-two Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, which combined into one before falling into his grasp.

The Reincarnation Palace Master took a glance at him, then turned his gaze back to Gu Huojin, and a look of finality appeared in his eyes.

Regardless of the final outcome, the long-running vendetta between them was inevitably going to be settled on this day.

Six pillars of dark red light erupted out of the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate at the Reincarnation Palace Master's behest before hurtling directly toward Gu Huojin, who abruptly vanished into a cloud of chaotic mist.

In the next instant, he passed straight through the center of the six pillars of light to arrive before the Reincarnation Palace Master as if by instantaneous teleportation.

Han Li was astonished that Gu Huojin was still capable of mustering up such incredible speed while burdened by the Devilish Monarch's spatial law powers.

Gu Huojin let loose a low snarl as he reached out for the Reincarnation Palace Master's throat, and a layer of dark red light appeared over the latter's body as it began to dissipate.

However, Gu Huojin had other plans, and a burst of gray light erupted out of his body to envelop the Reincarnation Palace Master, forcing his body to revert back to a substantial form.

Han Li could only look on helplessly as the Reincarnation Palace Master's neck was brutally snapped, following which his head toppled off his body.

Before Han Li had a chance to try and save him, his head was decapitated head was completely pulverized by a kick from Gu Huojin, and with that, his aura completely faded away.