Chapter 437: Vendetta

"This is the work of karma! You took my sword essence and spoiled my sword array, but looks what's happened now! Everything is still mine in the end!" Xiong Shan chortled with glee, and his voice rumbled across the sky like thunder.

He had made many enemies in order to gather so many spirit swords for his Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Sword Array, yet all of his efforts had been for nought thanks to Han Li.

He had been made the laughingstock of the entire Blaze Dragon Dao for years over this matter, so how could he not be ecstatic to exact his vengeance now?

"If you hadn't tried to refine my bonded flying swords, I wouldn't have foiled your sword array. You and I are both from the Blaze Dragon Dao and the Transient Guild, and we've worked together multiple times in the past, so how about we let bygones be bygones, and you let me recover my bonded flying swords?" Han Li proposed.

His voice wasn't very loud, but it was able to pierce through all of the layers of obstruction like a sharp sword to travel into Xiong Shan's ears.

"Shut your mouth! You've treated me like a fool this entire time! While it's true that I gradually came to realize your involvement in foiling my plans, there was no good opportunity to strike, so I continued to bide my time, but now that you've presented yourself to me on a silver platter, I'm going to refine both you and your bonded flying swords into my unmatched immortal sword!" Xiong Shan harrumphed coldly.

"If you're not willing to resolve this matter peacefully, then don't blame me for taking you down by force!" Han Li said in a cold voice.

"What a joke! Your death is imminent, yet you're still spouting nonsense!" Xiong Shan scoffed, but for some reason, he couldn't help but shudder internally in the face of Han Li's threat.

All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a thunderous roar, and his body rapidly swelled to over 1,000 feet tall while tufts of golden fur appeared over his skin as he took on his Giant Mountain Ape form.

He then stomped down viciously onto the ground, launching himself up into the sky in the face of the layers of sword qi above.

As it drew close to the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, the giant golden ape reached out with a thick and muscular arm, and a layer of golden scales appeared over its fur as it lashed out at the stream of swords flowing toward the fiery vortex.

A resounding boom rang out, and the entire stream of swords curved outward amid a chorus of chaotic clangs.

All of a sudden, all of the flying swords that were hurtling toward the fiery vortex were knocked off their original trajectory, and that included the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

Immediately thereafter, the giant golden ape reverted back to its human form, and a pair of translucent wings abruptly appeared on Han Li's back as he twisted around, changing direction in mid-air to fly directly toward his bonded flying swords.

However, before he had a chance to get close, a burst of invisible force erupted out of the entire sword array, gathering all of the flying swords and dragging them back on course to flow into the fiery vortex.

"I'm not letting you get your way a second time!" Xiong Shan declared in a cold voice.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a string of hand seals before pointing a finger at the metal scripture that was hovering in the air before him.

A drop of blood essence that was glowing with golden light flew out of his fingertip before falling upon the metal scripture, and the golden patterns on its surface instantly shuddered, following which a burst of faint red mist rose up and surged into the golden light barrier up above.

A resounding boom rang out as the golden light barrier in the sky exploded violently, but all of the projections on it lingered, falling into the sword array like a storm of golden rain.

With each projection that flew into the array, a sword would diverge from the stream of sword before falling into the grasp of the golden projection and flying toward Han Li.

Han Li was just about to try something else to forcibly recover his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords when he suddenly felt a shadow loom over him. He immediately flapped his Thunderstorm Wings, flying back several dozen feet through the surrounding sword qi with great difficulty.

A giant sword that was as wide as a city gate came crashing down from above, just barely glancing past Han Li as it slashed down with tremendous power.

Han Li immediately raised a fist before giving the broad side of the sword's blade a vicious punch, and a giant azure fist projection instantly erupted upon the massive sword, causing it to tremble violently.

The golden giant that was holding the sword also shuddered violently from the immense force that was transferred through the sword, and it disintegrated into countless specks of golden light.

However, before Han Li had a chance to withdraw his fist, another golden figure wielding an extremely long sword charged directly at him.

Behind this golden figure were countless more, including a gorgeous woman, a burly man clad in a suit of golden armor, an elderly man with a long beard, a small child... Waves upon waves of sword-wielding figures were converging toward him once.

Han Li remained calm and collected as he took a stride forward, and his Mantra Treasured Axis appeared behind him amid a flash of radiant golden light.

All of the projections and flying swords that entered the range of the ripples released by the Mantra Treasured Axis instantly came to a standstill, and Han Li was able to casually make his way past them as if he were taking a stroll in the park.

All of the swords that were pierced toward him had become his stepping stones, allowing him to progress steadily toward the altar.

It had already become clear to him that if he didn't defeat Xiong Shan, then he would continue to use the power of the sword array to prevent him from retrieving his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Once enough time elapsed, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords would inevitably be destroyed.

Xiong Shan was astonished to see this from the altar, and he looked on in shock as Han Li approached the altar from afar.

However, he then quickly composed himself and gritted his teeth tightly as he made his way back to the center of the array, where he cast a series of incantation seals into the hollow area before him.

Immediately thereafter, he spread a hand open, and five longan-sized golden beads dropped into the hollow area at once to fall into the sea of fire down below.

All of the flames below instantly began to sway violently, as if a fierce gust of wind were blowing through them, and the fire was spread in all directions.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the flames to see five balls of golden light emerge within it, drawing in all of the surrounding fire to form five menacing draconic heads, all of which were turned to face him.

As soon as the draconic heads took shape, a thin jet of fire instantly shot out of each of their nostrils, and their eyes also lit up with radiant golden light, making it appear as if they were actual living creatures.

In the next instant, an animalistic roar rang out from within the sea of fire, and five fiery dragons that were as thick as water vats flew out, twisting around in mid-air before pouncing at Han Li with tremendous power.

Waves of scorching heat erupted forth in all directions, causing the entire space to warp and shimmer, to the point that even the golden ripples released by the Mantra Treasured Axis had begun to warp, thereby significantly shrinking their effective area.

In the face of the oncoming fiery dragons, Han Li raised a hand before sweeping it through the air, and his Heavy Water True Axis flew out of his sleeve, then swelled to the size of a millstone while revolving rapidly as it positioned itself in front of him.

At the same time, the Water Dao Runes on its surface began to glow radiantly as it released bursts of heavy water, which converged to form a huge heavy water vortex that surged toward the five fiery dragons.

The five fiery dragons opened their cavernous mouths, and there was molten lava bubbling inside while releasing plumes of black smoke, making them resemble five volcanoes that were on the verge of eruption.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of thunderous rumbling rang out as vast torrents of lava and fiery rocks came pouring out of the five dragons' mouths down upon the Heavy Water True Axis.

A string of deafening booms rang out as the entire sky was illuminated bright red.

As the ferocious storm of fire crashed down onto the Heavy Water True Axis, enormous black waves were instantly raised, and even though the axis was able to hold its own, it was clearly struggling under the formidable barrage.

Han Li's arms were raised aloft, and his entire body was trembling uncontrollably, indicating that he was clearly also struggling to keep the assault at bay.

All of a sudden, he let loose a thunderous roar, and instead of retreating, he thrust his palms forcefully against his Heavy Water True Axis, which instantly released an enormous wave of black heavy water that swept toward the five fiery dragons in retaliation.

The fiery dragons also swooped down from above, and a clash of tremendous power took place as fire and water intertwined with one another, causing a cloud of white mist to rise up into the sky.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly declared, "All-encompassing black wave!"

A burst of earth-shattering instantly rang out in the sky above the floating altar, and a bolt of white lightning flashed past, tearing an enormous black gash into the heavens.

What seemed like an infinite volume of heavy water surged out of the black rift, forming a gargantuan black waterfall that came crashing down from above.

Xiong Shan could only stare up at the heavens with his eyes wide with despair and incredulity.

How was it possible that a True Immortal could be capable of wielding such incredible power?

However, at this point, it was already far too late to try and call a truce.

With that in mind, he could only grit his teeth as he swept his sleeves through the air, releasing one incantation seal after another into the metal scripture.

The golden light radiating from the metal scripture immediately began to flash while releasing a string of golden runes, which fell upon the eight golden pillars around the array.

The golden pillars instantly began to glow radiantly, and the eight golden dragons coiled around the pillars raised their heads as beams of crimson light shot out of their eyes, then converged directly above the altar to form a crimson light barrier that was riddled with draconic patterns, just in time to oppose the vast torrent of heavy water that was crashing down from above.