Chapter 17: Slaying the Two Cultivators

"Look out, Daoist Master White Stone! Daoist Master Red Robe perished to this very same weapon!" Yu Qi cautioned in a loud voice.

Daoist Master White Stone was already greatly alarmed by the power imbued within the bone blade, and his expression changed drastically upon hearing this. His first instinct was to flee the scene, but with Han Li present, he had no choice but to grit his teeth before opening his mouth to release his serpentine flying sword.

He then quickly made a hand seal, and the sword began to glow with black light, wrapping around the bone blade like a black python.

A cold smile appeared on the young man's face as he made a sequence of hand seals before pointing a finger forward, and the light radiating from the bone blade became even brighter as it tore viciously through the air.

A dull thump rang out from the serpentine flying sword, and it was snapped into several pieces that fell out of the air.

Daoist Master White Stone hurriedly raised his hand to release a round azure shield to take the flying sword's place.

The light radiating from the bone blade had dimmed slightly, but its power wasn't diminished at all as it struck the azure shield with tremendous force.

This time, the azure shield was able to pose some resistance, but it was still snapped in half in the end. The bone blade was stopped in its tracks for a brief moment before glowing brightly once again as it continued to hurtle toward Daoist Master White Stone.

Daoist Master White Stone was greatly alarmed to see this, and he ducked behind Han Li during the split second that the bone blade was kept at bay by the azure shield.

In the past, even if he were no match for the young man, he would've still been able to put up a good fight. However, all of his most powerful treasures had been destroyed during his clash with Han Li earlier, so he was completely powerless to stop the bone blade.

In the blink of an eye, the bone blade appeared in front of Han Li before continuing onward at an incredible speed, aiming to slice through both Han Li and Daoist Master White Stone's bodies at the waist.

"Senior Han!" Daoist Master White Stone exclaimed in a panicked voice.

Han Li remained as calm as ever as he raised a hand, and golden light flashed from his palm as he reached out like lightning while a series of golden scales surfaced over his skin.

A loud clang rang out, and the light glowing from the bone blade completely faded, as did the ghostly howls that were ringing out incessantly. As for the bone blade itself, it had been caught in Han Li's grasp, and it was squirming and struggling incessantly like a small fish, but it was unable to break free.

"Impossible!"

The young man's eyes widened with incredulity, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The bone blade appeared to be quite ordinary, but it was a replica of the Heavenly Ghost Blade, the most powerful treasure of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, and it had been crafted for him using a vast array of precious materials by the seniors of his family. It was such a formidable artifact that even late-Core Formation cultivators would struggle to withstand its power, yet Han Li had caught it with his bare hand.

Everyone else at the scene was also looking on with astonished expressions.

Yu Qi was just as shocked as everyone around her, and she was staring at Han Li with bewilderment and a hint of admiration in her eyes.

Daoist Master White Stone was also staring at Han Li with a slack-jawed expression. He knew that there was a good chance that Han Li would be capable of stopping the bone blade, but he didn't think that Han Li would be able to grab it out of thin air with such ridiculous ease!

With that in mind, he couldn't help but wonder just how powerful Han Li was.

At the same time, he was also counting himself to be quite fortunate.

It was clear to him that if Han Li hadn't held back during their clash, then he would've already been dead by now.

In contrast with everyone else, Liu Le'er's eyes were filled with excitement, and she wasn't surprised in the slightest. In her eyes, her Brother Rock was the epitome of invincibility, so this display of power was only to be expected for her.

"It's been a very long time since I've dealt with such a low-grade treasure," Han Li said as he took an indifferent glance at the bone blade in his hand, then abruptly closed his fingers around it.

The bone blade was instantly crushed in his grasp with a dull thump, scattering onto the ground as specks of gray light.

"No!"

The young man's face instantly paled, and he threw up a mouthful of blood.

That blade was his bonded treasure, and for him, its destruction was akin to having an arm chopped.

"I'm going to make you pay with your life for destroying my treasure!"

A look of vicious resentment appeared in the young man's eyes as he made a hand seal and let loose a thunderous roar. Bursts of black qi rose up all around him, forming an inky-black cloud in the blink of an eye, within which were countless indistinct ghostly shadows.

Immediately thereafter, he slammed his palm into his own chest thrice in rapid succession, releasing three mouthfuls of blood essence. With each mouthful of blood essence that was released, his face would pale slightly further, and by the time all three mouthfuls of blood essence had been expelled, he was already looking as pale as a sheet.

The blood essence that was released instantly swelled to form a vast expanse of dense blood mist that fused into the black cloud.

The black cloud instantly turned as red as blood, and it churned violently as it expanded by severalfold. The indistinct ghostly shadows within it also became several times more substantial as they let loose chilling howls.

The young man then stepped forward and vanished into the blood cloud without a trace.

All of this had taken place in the blink of an eye, and in the instant that the blood cloud appeared, the temperature in the entire courtyard plummeted drastically as if the entire area had been plunged into a glacial pit.

Even a cultivator of Daoist Master White Stone's caliber couldn't help but shiver from the cold, and he hurriedly summoned a jade pendant treasure that released a white light barrier to encompass both himself and Liu Le'er, then retreated into the distance.

The black-suited figures in the courtyard and the three elders and surviving members of the Yu Family were all shivering uncontrollably from the freezing cold.

Liu Le'er only felt the biting chill for an instant before the freezing sensation was immediately alleviated by a white light barrier.

She turned to discover that Daoist Master White Stone had arrived by her side, and that the white light barrier had been conjured up by a jade pendant that he had summoned.

At the sight of Liu Le'er's surprised gaze, Daoist Master White Stone immediately flashed her a fawning smile, then retreated to over 100 feet away with her in tow.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he cast his gaze toward the blood cloud in the sky, and he suddenly threw a punch in a certain direction.

A faint ghostly shadow was sent flying out of thin air, and it let loose an anguished wail before exploding into a cloud of gray mist.

However, right at this moment, several black chains shot out from beneath Han Li like a nest of vicious spitting vipers, instantly binding his entire body tightly.

Immediately thereafter, a gray-robed man emerged silently nearby with his hands locked in a hand seal. It was none other than the very same gray-robed man who had accompanied the young man back in Farbright City.

The aura that he was giving off was even superior to that of the young man's, and his entire body was encompassed within the black ghostly shadow. It seemed as if the two had fused as one, and his body had also taken on a semi-transparent state, looking as if it could vanish into thin air at any moment.

"You came just in time, Senior Martial Brother Fan! Let's kill this man together!" The young man's chortling voice rang out from within the blood cloud, followed by a burst of chanting.

Gusts of fierce wind were instantly swept up, and the blood cloud surged toward Han Li like a giant wave.

Han Li remained completely expressionless as he stood still on the spot, allowing the blood cloud to devour him in an instant.

The ghostly shadows within the blood cloud all had bloodthirsty looks in their eyes, and they were howling incessantly with their menacing fangs bared, looking as if they wanted to tear Han Li into pieces.

The young man was ecstatic to see this.

These blood souls were all refined using a special secret technique, making them extremely difficult to kill. Anyone who was caught among them would be powerless to escape and worn down until they died.

The gray-robed man was quite surprised that the concealed ghostly entity that he was controlling had been detected by Han Li, but a cruel smile then quickly appeared on his face as he said, "No matter who you are, you're going to pay with your life for opposing our Heavenly Ghost Sect!"

Immediately thereafter, he appeared directly above Han Li in a flash, then thrust his palms downward. Two giant black ghostly claws appeared out of thin air with green light revolving around the tips of the claws, and they were giving off a foul stench, indicating that they were carrying lethal poison.

The two massive claws came swooping down viciously, and Liu Le'er immediately rushed toward Han Li without any regard for her own safety.

Daoist Master White Stone hurriedly pulled her back with an alarmed expression. "Stop! With Senior Han's unfathomable powers, I'm sure he'll have a way to break free!"

Despite what he was saying, he was also feeling rather uneasy. Another powerful enemy had arrived on the scene, this one seemingly even more formidable than the first one, and he didn't know if Han Li would actually be able to hold his own against them.

In the distance, the three elders and surviving members of the Yu Family were all looking on with bated breath, hoping against hope that their unlikely savior would be able to rise to the occasion.

Han Li remained completely unfazed by the situation that he was in, and a string of dull cracks suddenly rang out from within his body. At the same time, he suddenly swelled drastically in size while a layer of golden scales surfaced over his skin.

With a casual shrug of his shoulders, the black chains around him instantly snapped into pieces. He then lashed out with his fists, unleashing a dense wall of golden fist projections that erupted in all directions like a ferocious storm.

As soon as the black ghostly claws came into contact with the golden fist projections, they instantly shattered and disintegrated into nothingness. The gray-robed man was also struck by countless fist projections amid an alarmed cry that was quickly cut short.

The black ghostly shadow around him was immediately destroyed, and he was sent flying like a ragdoll before slamming heavily down onto the ground. By the time he came to a rest, his entire body was nothing more than a gruesome mass of mangled flesh and blood. His body and soul had been instantly destroyed, and he was well and truly dead.

At the same time, the entire blood cloud and all of the ghostly shadows within it were also completely erased by the golden fist projections, forcibly revealing the young man.

At this moment, he was completely rooted to the spot, but in the instant that he met Han Li's icy cold gaze, he immediately shuddered before making a hand seal, upon which a vast black cloud surged out of his body, and he sped away into the distance as quickly as he could.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he took a deep breath before exhaling sharply.

A burst of white light shot out of his mouth, piercing into the black cloud in a flash.

A blood-curdling cry rang out, and the black cloud abruptly disintegrated, following which the young man fell out of the sky, having had a hole punched through his head.

Complete silence descended upon the entire courtyard.

"He's a sword cultivator!" someone exclaimed in a feeble voice.