The colossal earthworm let out a strange cry, its smooth head suddenly splitting open like a vast, blood-filled maw, lined with sharp fangs. Yet, as silver light flashed, the thunderbolts previously absorbed by its golden horns were expelled in reverse, directly aimed at Han Li, who stood beside the magical array. "Huh! It seems to have developed sentience after all. Well, this is clearly a mutated spiritual beast," Han Li remarked, not startled but rather delighted to see this. With a simple gesture, he cupped his hands and then extended them outward, launching two golden arcs of arm-thick diameter that swiftly converged and met the opposing, thick silver arcs. A tremendous roar echoed as the golden and silver arcs intertwined, like two great serpents, their delicate electrical filaments constantly leaping and sparking. Instantly, brilliant flashes of lightning erupted in waves between Han Li and the giant earthworm, ultimately engulfing and consuming both of them in a spectacular fusion of energy. The colossal beast, seeing this, seemed even more enraged. Its golden horns glowed brightly, drawing in a vast array of nearby thunderbolts and violently absorbing them, as if preparing to launch another assault upon Han Li. Yet at this moment, Han Li merely sneered, opened his mouth, and shot forth a golden blade of light. As it swept through the wind, it expanded into a golden arc stretching nearly ten paces, rushing straight toward the beast's head. Recognizing the threat, the beast emitted a strong yellow glow, shifting its body to contract and sink back into the ground. But just then, the fiery spirit filaments that had been winding around its upper body suddenly flashed red, thin as hair, then rapidly thickened into sturdy crimson ropes—each as thick as a small tree. Simultaneously, the flames surged forth, surging in waves that swept over the beast's upper half, completely engulfing it halfway. The colossal beast seemed startled. The golden horns, which had previously absorbed the silver bolts of heaven's lightning, suddenly halted. Instead, a surge of golden light erupted from its body, propelling waves of flame upward—where the golden light touched, vast flames were instantly drawn in and absorbed by the horns. This single-horned giant worm not only absorbed lightning but could also draw flame into itself. Yet, just as it had nearly cleared half of the flames, the golden arch had already reached its vicinity, flickering into a massive sword and delivering a powerful strike. The beast's head swayed, and its golden horn instantly expanded by nearly double, directly meeting the sword's impact. A clear, resonant "clang" echoed as the two met—the brilliant golden light dazzled, and the sword was deflected by the horn, failing to sever it. But at that moment, a flash of azure arc appeared above the great beast, revealing the strange sight of Han Li now with wings sprouting from his back. With a simple gesture of his hand, a second golden sword aura shot forth with astonishing speed, striking the beast so swiftly that it had no time to react—vanishing in an instant and piercing through its body to create a blood hole as wide as a bowl. Greenish-black blood gurgled out from the wound, yet the great earthworm was so massive that what would typically be a fatal injury for an ordinary cultivator was merely a minor setback for it, causing it to erupt into furious rage. As the creature roared loudly, its upper body tendrils contracted sharply, transforming into countless long, whip-like flesh strips that surged upward and were whipped toward Han Li in the sky. Han Li's expression darkened. Without a word, he pressed his palms together in a series of gestures, and instantly, dozens of golden miniature swords erupted from various parts of his body, spiraling into a dense, shimmering shield of sword blades that enveloped him. Upon contact with the vast expanse of golden light, the flesh tendrils immediately broke apart, splashing down as a fine rain of green droplets At this moment, Han Li chanted softly, focusing his intent downward. Dozens of golden flying swords below trembled, then suddenly split into seven—each sword branching out six identical golden sword beams. Under the prompt of Han Li's hand seal, these dozens of golden beams surged forward in dense waves, sweeping down toward the creature below. The colossal beast was startled, opening its mouth first to spew out vast arcs of silver lightning, then erupting waves of crimson fire balls, striving to block the multitude of sword beams. A series of sharp "thuds" echoed as half of the golden beams were scattered by the silver arcs and flames. Yet the remainder pierced through the defenses, flashing forward and reaching the beast's body before it could react. Before the giant worm could move, the sound of sword strikes surged forth. The golden beams converged and coalesced into a single, long lance of golden light, stretching over ten zhang in length. Then, with a sudden flash, the thick, barrel-sized beam swiftly spiraled around the giant worm's waist, like a lightning bolt in motion. A thunderous, unearthly cry erupted from the beast's mouth, followed by a gushing cascade of green blood, like a waterfall. The colossal earthworm's massive body split cleanly in two at its waist, silently and without a sound. Just as Han Li thought he could finally conclude the battle, an astonishing sight unfolded. The giant earthworm, which should have been utterly destroyed, suddenly, at the very instant the golden swordlight ceased, launched its upper half skyward with a powerful surge, opened its mouth wide, and fiercely swallowed Han Li whole. At the same time, the lower half flashed with yellow light, sprouting out numerous flesh-like tendrils from its body surface, instantly transforming into an exact match of the upper half. With a resounding "thud," the lower half of the earthworm plunged deep into the soil, vanishing completely. "Trying to escape?" Han Li was momentarily stunned, but then raised his brows, quickly forming hand seals and swiftly uttering the word "explosion." The thick, flaming ropes binding the earthworm instantly flashed with red light and burst apart on their own. After a thunderous roar, a massive, mushroom-shaped column of fire rose, engulfing the upper half of the colossal earthworm in its glow. The great beast emitted desperate, guttural cries amid the surging waves of flame, as though even its golden horns could not immediately absorb the intensity. At the same time, a thick, spiraling blade of light descended swiftly, slicing through the fire cloud like lightning. The cries within the fire cloud instantly ceased, and vast splashes of green blood rained down from the sky. Then, two dark, fragmented bodies, carrying a sharp, acrid scent of charred flesh, plummeted from the cloud and landed heavily upon the ground. At this point, Han Li glanced down at the ground and, with a calm, unhurried sweep of his divine awareness, observed that the lower half of the earthworm had not moved very swiftly—now only a few miles away beneath the surface. He remained uncertain whether the creature's natural speed had always been this slow or whether it had diminished due to the injury. Han Li, however, did not need to ponder further. Since the beast had not fled far, he had saved himself the trouble of pursuing it. He simply tapped his spiritual beast bag at his waist without a thought, and countless golden blooms shot forth from the bag, forming a swirling golden cloud of insects that hovered above his head with a resonant hum. Han Lin maintained a composed expression, pointing slightly downward at the ground. The insect cloud roared and surged toward the lower level, but as it reached the ground, it suddenly burst into countless golden points, vanishing into the earth with a soft "thud." Han Lin no longer paid attention to this, instead extending his hand toward the nearby fire clouds. The massive fire clouds spun rapidly, their volume shrinking surprisingly swiftly, until they revealed thick, towering strands of fire. However, the glow on these strands appeared noticeably dimmer than when they first formed. He then gestured toward the fire strands, and instantly, each strand flashed with light, thinning into ten delicate filaments, each about two zhang in length, floating gently in the air. Han Lin opened his mouth, and a wave of azure mist erupted, enveloping the ten fire spirit filaments. With a gentle inhalation, he drew the filaments, now wrapped in the mist, into his body. Han Li then glanced at the charred corpse on the ground, furrowed his brow, and reached out with his large hand toward the empty space below. "Whoosh!" A golden light shot forth from the corpse and sped directly toward Han Li. But when it reached a distance of about ten paces from Han Li, it suddenly halted—precisely the strange golden horn from the giant earthworm beast's head. Though not particularly large in comparison to the beast's body, the horn was actually several feet long, its surface shimmering with a brilliant glow, and some mysterious incantations faintly visible. Han Li narrowed his eyes and studied it closely, though he was deeply curious. Yet he knew now was not the time to examine it in detail. After a brief thought, he swiftly cast a series of spells upon the object before him. The golden horn flashed with a luminous glow and gradually shrank on its own, soon reducing to a size of half a foot. Han Li then raised his hand and affixed another seal to the horn. Only then did he retrieve a wooden box and place the horn into his storage satchel. After completing all this, Han Li lightly waved his hand, his face brightening with satisfaction. As he was about to turn toward the celestial dragon beast at the magical array, the ground suddenly shook violently several miles away. The half-fleeing giant earthworm leapt straight out of the earth, its body now shimmering with golden spots, covered densely by thousands of golden insect larvae that were rapidly feeding upon it. The golden exoskeletons bit and chewed steadily, penetrating the giant worm's surface and swiftly entering its body. The half-worm emitted continuous cries of agony, its massive form suddenly collapsing downward, then rolling helplessly on the ground, desperately trying to free itself from the relentless assault of the insects. Yet the golden insects seemed to have firmly rooted themselves on the worm's body, immovable, and one by one, they bit through the hard outer layer, quickly burrowing deep into the giant worm's flesh. Thus, the mutated earthworm suffered an unbearable torment, as though thousands of tiny knives were simultaneously slicing and tearing at its body. Its movements grew frantic—now plunging into the ground, now soaring into the sky—but no matter how much it struggled, it could not shake off a single golden beetle. After a while, when it once again rose into the air and danced wildly, its body suddenly stiffened, halting all motion. The massive form then plummeted to the ground, coming to rest motionless. Han Li watched this entire scene from above, and only then exhaled softly, turning his gaze toward the magical array. Though thunderbolts still fell continuously from the sky, the electric arcs on the back of Han Li's Wind-Thunder Wings flickered constantly. As soon as a lightning strike landed nearby, the wings would fan out and send it flying away, never reaching Han Li's body at all. Compared to the beginning, however, the lightning strikes had grown sparser. The Tianlan Sacred Beast had finally withstood the eighth wave of thunder. It seemed the time had come for him to act. Yet before stepping forward, it seemed the time had also come for him to claim the benefits the other had offered. Thinking thus, Han Li raised his head and hurriedly glanced upward, his eyes flashing with blue light, fixed intently on what he was searching for. When the thunder in the sky finally ceased completely, a peculiar fragrance rose from among the clouds. Then, the patch of dark clouds directly opposite the spell surged and rolled, suddenly revealing a vast, round moon, resembling a jade disc. The moon was exceptionally bright, radiating a soft, pale glow, and the unusual fragrance seemed to emanate from within it. (First update!