"That’s a Giant Mountain Ape!"

This was the first time that Han Li had seen this legendary true spirit being, but he was able to immediately identify it.

After all, only this true spirit being had such strange patterns on its chest.

This devilish had to possess the bloodline of the Giant Mountain Ape. Otherwise, it would definitely be unable to manifest this projection.

Han Li appraised the purple projection in the sword formation, and a hint of yearning flashed through his eyes.

The Giant Mountain Ape was one of the true spirit beings in the 12 Awakening Transformations, so if he could secure the true spirit blood of this ape, then not only would he attain another transformation, the powers of all of his other transformations would also be enhanced significantly.

With that in mind, Han Li was even more intent on killing this holy-grade devilish beast.

However, normal attacks were completely ineffective against it.

As such, following a brief hesitation, Han Li took a deep breath before rustling a sleeve to produce a mundane-looking bracelet.

This was the spirit beast bracelet that contained his Gold Devouring Beetles!

In order to kill this devilish ape, he was planning to unleash this trump card of his.

Releasing too many Gold Devouring Beetles at once would severely exhaust his spiritual sense, but if he could end this battle in a short time, then the after-effects would still be bearable.

With Han Li’s current spiritual sense, he could control 100 Gold Devouring Beetles for around 15 minutes.

However, if the number of spirit beetles released were to be doubled, the amount of time he’d be able to control them would be cut down by three quarters.

If it weren’t for the fact that the Spring Dawn Sword Formation had been set up, perhaps Han Li wouldn’t dare to use this trump card. However, seeing as the devilish ape had been trapped in the sword formation, thereby significantly limiting the area it could move around in, this was the perfect battlefield for the Gold Devouring Beetles to shine.

According to Han Li’s estimations, with the powers of his current mature Gold Devouring Beetles, it should only take around 5 minutes for 100 of them to take care of his opponent.

His only concern was that if he were to expend too much of his spiritual sense, most of his abilities would also be severely debilitated. In that case, it would be quite dangerous for him if he were to encounter any powerful foes on his way back.

However, those thoughts only flashed through his mind for an instant before he refocused on the battle at hand. To him, the top priority was naturally to take care of the enemy before him first.

Everything else could wait until after this battle.

However, before Han Li could inject his spiritual sense into the spirit beast bracelet he’d just summoned, the devilish ape within the sword formation suddenly ceased its chanting and let loose a low roar as it expelled a ball of crimson light out of its mouth.

The ball of light disappeared into the crimson blade segment in a flash, following which the blade rotated on the spot while the inky-black devilish Qi it had previously emitted began to tumble and surge violently.

A loud ringing sound erupted, following which specks of black light suddenly appeared around the blade segment, then spread to all parts of the sword formation.

Han Li faltered slightly as he sensed that there was something amiss with the world’s origin Qi in this nearby area, and he hurriedly cast his gaze around him.

The sight that he was greeted by immediately made his heart jolt with shock! All of the devilish Qi within the passageway had begun to churn violently, and swaths of black light were erupting from within, surging directly toward the sword formation

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation seemed to have transformed into a massive vortex that was drawing in black Qi in an insatiable manner.

However, after reaching the sword formation, these waves of devilish Qi were kept at bay by the azure light barrier. There, they formed a series of black balls of light, of which there was an innumerable amount, but none of them could actually enter the sword formation.

"True Devilish Qi!"

Han Li identified the nature of these black balls of light in an instant, and his eyelids twitched violently upon making this discovery.

Right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom erupted within the sword formation, causing the entire passageway to quake violently, as if it were on the verge of collapse.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure rose up into the heavens from the center of the sword formation, causing even the azure light barrier to wobble unsteadily.

Han Li was quite startled by this development, and he immediately turned his attention back to the center of the sword formation.

A peculiar scene then unfolded right before Han Li’s eyes; the entire sword formation was filled by countless runes of different sizes!

Each and every one of these runes was flashing with faint black light, and they were expanding and shrinking erratically while also fluctuating in brightness.

At the center of these runes, the crimson blade segment was hovering in a motionless manner.

At this point, it was no longer accurate to call it a blade segment as the missing top half had also appeared somehow. Furthermore, there were three unidentifiable ancient golden characters that had appeared on the crimson blade, and the three characters were all shimmering with golden light.

Han Li narrowed eyes and discovered, much to his surprise, that all of the black runes were flashing in perfect synchronicity with the crimson blade, as if the blade were controlling all of these runes.

A burst of cackling rang out, and the devilish ape suddenly made a hand seal. The purple ape projection above its head then extended a massive hand and drew the crimson blade into its grasp.

Immediately thereafter, an incredible turn of events unfolded.

The golden characters on the surface of the blade seemed to have come alive as they swirled while radiating scintillating light, following which a crisp ringing sound rang out.

Han Li could sense that the world’s origin Qi within the sword formation had been plunged into complete chaos, following which all of the black runes surged toward the blade in a frenzy like moths to a flame.

At the same time, the blade began to release a series of black halos, and all of the runes disappeared without a trace after coming into contact with these halos.

Meanwhile, the color of the blade darkened slightly, and after all of the runes had been absorbed, the halos also disappeared, while the crisp ringing sound cut off in an abrupt manner.

At this point, the crimson blade had turned an inky-black color, and the giant ape projection swung it gently through the air, upon which the three ancient characters on the blade instantly began to radiate shimmering golden light, creating quite a mystical sight to behold.

However, Han Li’s pupils contracted drastically upon seeing this as he suddenly gripped onto his arm with his other hand. At the same time, he was staring intently at the black blade in the ape projection’s hand, and his face had turned deathly pale.

"That’s a Profound Heavenly Treasure! But that’s impossible! If you possess such a powerful treasure that defies the natural order, how did you sustain such severe injuries?" Han Li exclaimed in a voice that was trembling slightly.

"How do you know this is a Profound Heavenly Treasure?" The devilish ape’s expression changed drastically upon hearing Han Li’s words, and a vicious purple light flashed through its eyes.

However, Han Li didn’t have any intention of answering the giant ape’s question as his arm had been afflicted by a burst of searing pain, and the agonizing sensation was coming from none other than the location where the Profound Heavenly Sword had been sealed.

He had been struck by this pain without any premonition after the giant ape projection had swung the black blade through the air a few times, and he could sense that the Profound Heavenly Sword was fighting to emerge from his arm, as if it had been provoked by the black blade.

Only then did a thought suddenly occur to Han Li, thereby allowing him to guess what the black blade was.

Seeing as the devilish ape wasn’t refuting his claim, Han Li’s heart sank even further.

Not only was he using most of his magic power to restrict the Profound Heavenly Sword in his arm with all his might, even if he were to use his Gold Devouring Beetles, he wasn’t confident at all that they’d be effective in the face of another Profound Heavenly Treasure.

His other alternative was to use the Profound Heavenly Sword in his arm, but the memories of what had happened the last time he’d used the treasure was still clear in his mind, and he definitely didn’t want to suffer the same fate again.

After all, this was a perilous realm that was rife with devilish beasts. Allowing himself to be completely debilitated here was no different from committing suicide.

However, the memory of the astonishing might of his Profound Heavenly Sword was also something that remained clear in his mind.

The blade that the giant ape projection was clearly an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure, but if it possessed even half of the power of the Profound Heavenly Sword that was sealed in his arm, then he definitely wouldn’t be able to survive an attack from it.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation was indeed quite powerful, but how was it supposed to oppose the power of laws?

Seeing as Han Li was displaying no intention of answering its question, the devilish ape within the sword formation was infuriated even further, the Giant Mountain Ape projection above its head immediately aimed its black blade toward Han Li at its behest.

Han Li’s eyelids twitched, and his entire body instantly became drenched in cold sweat.

With the Profound Heavenly Treasures’ ability to slice through space, even trying to escape would be completely futile.

As such, he would either have to give up and allow himself to be killed or use his own Profound Heavenly Sword to oppose the ape projection.

Both of those courses of action were far from ideal.

However, at this moment, the giant ape projection had already raised the black blade above its head, so he didn’t have time to think of any other feasible plans.

Wait! The devilish ape has already lost its physical body, and its cultivation base has also been severely damaged from its injuries, so how does it still have enough power to use a Profound Heavenly Treasure? Could it be that it’s not actually powering the treasure itself, but instead drawing on another power source?

In this desperate situation, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he felt like he was onto something.

At this moment, a vicious look appeared on the devilish ape’s face, and the black blade that was being wielded by the purple projection slowly began its descent.

Han Li was greatly alarmed to see this, and he immediately gritted his teeth as he wrenched his hand away from his arm.

A dull tearing sound rang out, following which a yellow wooden rod appeared in his hand. It was none other than the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

Han Li wasted no time at all as he flicked his wrist and tossed the Profound Heavenly Fruit up into the air.

Golden light flashed, and his Provenance True Devil Projection reappeared. One of the golden arms of the projection caught the Profound Heavenly Fruit in its grasp while the other arms all made hand seals, and brilliant golden light began to erupt from the projection’s body.

Immediately thereafter, all of the golden light surged toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit like flowing water, making the fruit glow with dazzling light while the dark green patterns on its surface also became more exuberant in color.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this.

Right at this moment, a dull thump rang out, and a burst of black ripples erupted from the black blade. The ripples appeared to be completely mundane and nondescript initially, but after surging through the air for over 100 feet, it suddenly swept up a black wave of Qi that was several tens of feet tall, which hurtled directly toward Han Li.

The black wave struck the azure light barrier in a flash, and the latter instantly began to tremor as countless azure lotus flowers appeared on its surface again.

However, in the next instant, an incredible scene ensued.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The black wave swept through the azure lotus flowers and completely eradicated them with ease, then passed through the azure light barrier as if it didn’t even exist.

Han Li’s eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal.

All of a sudden, countless specks of five-colored light appeared in the surrounding area, all of which rushed toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit like moths to a flame.

Green light flashed from one end of the Profound Heavenly Fruit, and a shimmering blade that was around a foot in length suddenly emerged from it.

The blade was of a vibrant green color and as smooth as a mirror. However, there was a line of five green runes inscribed onto the center of the blade, all of which were emanating a menacing light.