Just as Han Li's heart tightened, the magical ape roared softly, then expelled a jet of dark-red, refined qi from its mouth. Instantly, the sword flashed with intense purple light, and within it, the unknown spiritual creature expanded in size, suddenly emerging from the sword's surface. With its head shaking and tail swaying, it appeared fierce and menacing. The sword spun once, then rose upright, its blade aimed directly at Han Li, and plunged downward. A surge of purple light, stretching over ten or more zhang, surged forth, silently advancing against the green light barrier. Instead of flashing and darting as expected, the purple blade seemed unusually weighty, moving slowly and deliberately, its pace reduced several times over. Upon seeing this, Han Li's face paled. He simultaneously pressed four golden arm seals and raised the sword formation. Four solid golden light pillars erupted, rushing directly toward the purple blade. A series of thunderous booms followed. Though the golden light burst with impressive force, it only momentarily halted the purple glow before being easily shattered. Between flashes of purple light, the attack still surged straight toward Han Li. At the very edge of his eye, Han Li's gaze snapped upward, and the two shadow puppets standing behind him immediately raised their weapons, slashing without hesitation. Golden swordlight and blade flashes erupted like a storm, sweeping forth in relentless waves. At the same time, Han Li drew upon his inner qi, sharply accelerating the sword formation. As the translucent blue barrier before him shifted, a large, vivid blue seal emerged, gently swirling before transforming into a cluster of blooming blue lotuses, now shielding the barrier. Though the sword and blade attacks flowed continuously, they struck only at the purple light, causing it to shimmer briefly before dissipating—unable to halt the advance. After the final flash of purple light, the attack reached the floating blue lotuses. As shimmering blue and purple light danced, the swordlight solidified into a spectral form indistinguishable from the mysterious spiritual creature within the fading purple blade. With a powerful surge, it plunged downward, and as its claws swept through, the lotuses were effortlessly split in two. The massive body plunged deep into the radiating blue glow, appearing unstoppable. Outside, Han Li's eyes narrowed, and his inner qi surged like a mighty river, pouring instantly into the sword formation. The previously torn fragments of Qinglian coalesced again, blooming into strange, ghostly blooms that flashed once more, once again blocking the purple swordlight. Though the purple light possessed extraordinary power, the spring-li sword formation's subtleties and transformations were equally remarkable. Under the sustained flow of spiritual energy, countless Qinglian blossoms surged forth from all around. Ultimately, the ethereal forms of the purple swordlight, though still a few zhang away from the green light barrier, dimmed and faded as their strength was fully expended. The magical macaque within the formation blinked its eyes, purple radiance flashing, and a look of mild surprise appearing on its face. He knew something of this broken blade's significance! Indeed, it was precisely because of this artifact that the boundary beings had ultimately pursued it, leading to its current state. Though limited by his current cultivation level, he could not yet fully unleash the treasure's full potential—yet even the single strike he delivered earlier had drawn upon all his present spiritual power, leaving him unable to follow up with consecutive attacks, and was instead blocked by the sword formation before him. This sent a clear chill through his heart. It clearly demonstrated that the sword formation now encircling him possessed a strength far exceeding his initial expectations. With his current condition, he truly doubted he could easily break through it. Indeed, this once-renowned creature among the Saint-tier beasts—now truly felt constrained. Since crossing over to this realm through the spatial fissure of the Magic Mountain Range, he had engaged in several consecutive battles against other Saint-tier beasts and the human Saint clans beyond the mountains, due to various other factors. These conflicts had not only severely depleted his cultivation, nearly costing him his life, but also destroyed several of his powerful artifacts that he had originally carried. Otherwise, even if his cultivation had declined to such a state, he would have been able to hold his own. After pondering whether several of his precious treasures could collectively force the beast to break through the array, the magical ape's dual eyes flickered with shifting purple light, his expression wavering between calm and restless. Yet upon seeing this, Han Li felt a sense of relief. With a simple shake of his sleeve, he suddenly produced a stack of shimmering green talismans in his hands. These talismans appeared identical in appearance, each about half a span in length, radiating an exceptionally pure wood qi. Now, Han Li was finally certain that this magical ape had indeed suffered a significant decline in his cultivation. Beyond his strong spiritual awareness and various divine techniques, his current magical power was no more than that of a late-stage Perfected Void stage cultivator. However, his protective armor and the purple-bladed weapon in his hand were truly extraordinary—eliminating this formidable foe remained immensely difficult. Fortunately, as long as Han Li could constrain the ape's unpredictable movements, much of the latter's divine abilities would effectively vanish. Still, the pair of eyes capable of easily discerning illusions posed a persistent challenge. It seemed that the ordinary illusions of the sword array would likely prove ineffective against this opponent. It was no uncommon occurrence for the Sword Formation to encounter foes with spiritual vision—something韩立 had studied extensively during his own cultivation of this formation. Now, perhaps he could put into practice some new insights and transformations he had recently gained in mastering the Chunli Sword Formation, on this Saint-Rank beast. With this thought, Han Li immediately, while the magical ape hesitated within the formation, raised his hand. A cascade of jade-colored scroll seals burst forth, radiating brilliant green light, swiftly fading and then vanishing into the formation. At the same time, Han Li murmured incantations, and with the golden orb gently held in his other hand, it suddenly transformed into a beam of golden light, shooting upward toward the formation's apex. Then, as he opened his mouth, a large golden character erupted and likewise shot upward, disappearing into the sky. The magical ape within the formation instantly sensed the change, its expression hardening as it lifted its head. "Boom!" Suddenly, a fierce gale surged through the sky, dark clouds gathered, and a golden sun emerged, faintly visible among them. From the golden sun, a powerful aura surged upward, seemingly capable of extinguishing heaven and earth. Across the surface of the sun, lightning flashed incessantly, and the thunder rolled on, deep and resonant. "Rite of Thunder!" The magian's eyes flashed with runes as he murmured the incantation. Then, with a sharp exhalation, he swiftly raised his hand, palm outstretched, and with a decisive motion, summoned the purple great sword into his grasp. Holding the sword horizontally, the great ape intended to cut through the celestial phenomenon with a single stroke. Faced with the Rite of Thunder—a spell particularly effective against magical energy—despite his purple armor, he absolutely refused to risk taking a direct hit. Yet, even before he could bring the sword down, a sudden surge of green light illuminated the surroundings, blurring the landscape. In an instant, he found himself immersed in a dense, verdant forest. All around, towering trees of immense girth and height—each as thick as a person and stretching dozens of zhang high—stood in majestic splendor. "Hmph! Such a mere trick, and you dare to present it!" The magical ape burst out in a strange laugh, his great sword trembling and emitting a resonant hum. At the same time, the symbols within his pupils spun rapidly. Yet before he could use his divine vision to detect any flaw in the illusions surrounding him, all the great trees suddenly flashed with vibrant green light, then twisted abruptly, transforming into massive warriors—each ten zhang tall, clad in full green armor. A flash of green light swept across the sky, and as each warrior raised one hand, a surge of green radiance rippled through the air, instantly forming a variety of great green-bladed weapons—swords, spears, axes, and halberds. The warriors closest to the magical ape immediately launched their great blades with no hesitation, their movements creating powerful gusts of wind. Dozens of massive black shadows descended in a flurry, each one bringing a strong gust of wind with it. The magical ape was startled! Without even pausing to consider the issue of the divine thunder A loud crack echoed. Dozens of massive blades, along with the giant infantry surrounding them, were all severed in one swift stroke. "Wait—these aren't entirely illusions!" Despite the ease of the victory, the magical ape showed no signs of delight, but instead grew puzzled. When the purple blade had struck the great weapons, it had clearly sensed a considerable amount of spiritual energy within them. Yet before the ape could fully grasp what was happening, a steady thunder of footsteps rolled in from all around—more infantry surged forward like a tidal wave, their blades flashing, countless massive blades roaring toward the ape. The ape gave a sharp snort, ceased swinging its purple greatsword, and suddenly lifted one foot, then slammed it down hard onto the ground. A thunderous roar shook the earth, the ground trembling as if the mountains themselves were moving. A wave of dark and crimson energy surged outward, spreading like a tide. Wherever this dark-red magical wave passed, the infantry collapsed like bubbles, swiftly swept away in a matter of moments. Outside the sword formation, Han Li saw this and his expression darkened. Suddenly, he changed the spell he was holding. A faint figure in the void flickered, and countless streaks of emerald light emerged, then shifted downward, transforming into a series of long, slender arrows about a foot in length. A continuous series of sharp crackling sounds erupted as the arrows surged forth like a torrent, rushing toward the demonic apes. This time, the apes did not panic. Instead, they simply raised one hand and slapped their purple armor. A layer of purple fabric instantly rose from within the armor. Then, the apes calmly narrowed their eyes, their spiritual vision sweeping across the emerald arrows. Immediately, a furrow appeared between their brows, and a look of mild confusion settled upon their faces. Under their spiritual sight, each arrow revealed genuine spiritual energy—none of them were mere illusions. The apes' expression hardened, but moments later, a steady series of "puff" sounds followed one another. The emerald glimmers burst out like fireworks across the apes' bodies, and the dense array of arrows struck the purple light curtain with such force that it trembled violently, its radiance flickering But with the purple light forming this protective aura, it remained as steady as a mountain, showing not the slightest sign of wavering. Upon seeing the arrows, though not mere illusions, yet possessing only modest power, the magical ape relaxed slightly, yet found himself somewhat puzzled, silently pondering the intent behind Han Li's actions. At that moment, a tremendous roar echoed from beneath its feet, and suddenly a massive hand of jade green color surged upward from the ground. With a simple twist, the five fingers of the hand pressed down upon the ape with the weight of a mountain. Naturally unafraid, the ape swiftly spun its great sword, intending to cleave the hand in two. Yet suddenly, it felt something, and promptly raised its head. Just then, it caught sight of a golden beam of light, which had emerged silently from the golden sun formed by the divine lightning, flashing swiftly and arriving precisely at its head, mere inches away. The magical ape's face instantly turned pale.