Han Li suddenly unfolded his Wind and Thunder Wings, gently扇ing them, and at once electric arcs of pale and green light shimmered across both surfaces. As his form moved, a strand of light flashed, and he crossed a distance of seventy to eighty zhang in a single motion—silent and seamless, appearing directly at the far end of the sky from where he had started. This astonishing speed was nearly on par with that of the Saint Clan's tier, and surpassed all beings below that level. Han Li gradually began to close the gap on the two fleeing figures—Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun. Fortunately, all the surrounding dark beasts had been summoned away by the King of the Dark Beasts, so his bold flight encountered no further obstruction from other dark creatures. After more than an hour, he finally reached them and spotted their figures ahead. Yet it could hardly be called a pursuit, for when he arrived, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had already been forced to halt their flight, now engaged in a thunderous battle with several silver-eyed dark beasts. Han Li narrowed his eyes and, from afar, clearly saw everything unfolding several li away. At this moment, Shi Kun donned a shining yellow battle armor and stood motionless in the air, his feet firmly planted. In his hands, he now held a pair of large crimson hammers. As he swung them, countless flame fists of fist-sized size swirled around him, while the intense heat radiating from the hammers coalesced into a visible, shimmering crimson fire serpent that curled and danced around him, its menacing, devouring form constantly shifting. Above the great Han warrior, a red jade bottle spun continuously, projecting streams of crimson light that surged outward in relentless attacks. Shi Kun’s true mastery was not rooted in earth-based techniques, but rather in the most offensive of all—fire-based powers. This truly surprised Han Li. The three silver-eyed shadow beasts encircling Shi Kun also did not hesitate, unleashing all their duplicate forms and transforming into a dozen indistinct black silhouettes that launched relentless assaults from all directions. Countless black streaks and red beams collided, producing a series of resonant sounds. Although Shi Kun's double hammers were formidable, the silver-shaded figures moved with strange and astonishing speed, often evading the blows entirely and managing only to defend themselves. Moreover, the three silver-eyed creatures not only actively joined the assault, but the silver beams periodically emitted by the third one with a vertical eye were especially dangerous! Shi Kun dared not let these beams penetrate his defenses; he had to use his double hammers to block them all off, absorbing each one with great effort. Han Li observed closely: the silver beams emitted from the creatures' eyes struck the red hammer with such force that the area where they landed instantly turned black and dark blue. Even as the surrounding red glows rushed inward to recover, it took several moments before the massive hammer could regain its normal condition. Fortunately, the silver-eyed creatures could not continuously emit these beams, and even when all three worked together, they could not force their way through Shi Kun's defenses—thus, the two parties remained in a state of temporary stalemate. On the other hand, Liu Shui'er and the other four silver-eyed creatures were in a completely different situation. The girl had seemingly summoned a set of dazzling, brilliant silver looms at some point. Though only a few inches long, it was large at one end and small at the other, shimmering with silver glimmers as it moved—like a cascade of stars appearing across the night sky, creating an astonishing display. In addition to this marvel, a strange silver-tinged form emerged behind Liu Shui'er, resembling a graceful woman clad in silver armor. Yet, as her arms subtly waved, countless blurred arm shadows appeared, giving the impression that she possessed hundreds or even thousands of arms simultaneously. With each arm movement, a silver-long sword of indistinct clarity emerged in her hand, radiating streams of white sword energy. As her form's arms continued to dance, waves of sword energy surged forth, seamlessly connecting with the silver stars formed by the silver loom, enveloping everything within a radius of over a hundred paces. Even though the four silver-eyed beasts leaped and surged furiously, their generated duplicates charging relentlessly forward, they were still firmly blocked outside. Thus, the woman now appeared to be firmly in the upper hand. Han Li felt a sense of relief, and at the same time sighed lightly. These two had previously insisted that they would have little chance of victory against three or more ordinary dark beasts. Yet now, facing three higher-ranked three-eyed dark beasts, one was holding its own while the other was clearly in the lead. Their earlier claims, therefore, were simply not credible. It was no surprise at all—no matter how first-time he met strangers, he would never reveal a single card. The golden dark beast, though it had immediately recognized the cultivation levels of Shi Kun and his companion, must have failed to anticipate that they were far beyond ordinary late Stage of Lingxu. That was why it had only dispatched these nearby silver-eyed dark beasts to pursue them. If they had truly been mere late Stage of Lingxu cultivators, they surely would not have been able to withstand the combined strength of these silver-eyed beasts. Of course, the current situation did not necessarily mean that Liu Shui'er's abilities surpassed Shi Kun's, nor that the two had truly outperformed the silver-eyed dark beasts. Neither the dark beasts nor Li Shui'er and the others had yet fully exerted themselves, merely seeking a decisive, one-hit killing blow within the seemingly intense攻-defense exchanges. Only when the moment of life-or-death arrived could one truly discern the full extent of each party's abilities. However, under the blessing of the Spiritual Gaze ability, both Shi Kun and Li Shui'er appeared serious, with a subtle undercurrent of anxiety. This was understandable—this very heart of the Dark Beasts' Forest, though it seemed all the higher-ranked dark beasts had been taken away, one could never be certain when the others might suddenly return. Should that happen, and the herd surge upon them, even with three or six arms, they would surely perish. Yet if they pressed now, the combined strength of these seven silver-eyed dark beasts would not fall far short of theirs. Even if they summoned their full reserves to annihilate their opponents, they themselves would suffer severe exhaustion, likely sustaining serious injuries. Under such circumstances, how could they possibly emerge from the forest and evade the inevitable subsequent pursuit? With such conflicting emotions, Liu and Shui naturally grew increasingly anxious. They only hoped that Han Li would soon catch up, so that together the three of them could achieve a much more confident victory. Han Li swiftly pondered, and within moments grasped the predicament of Shi Kun and the others. He realized that a swift, decisive battle was essential—any prolonged engagement with these shadow beasts would surely prove disastrous. He remained composed, then gave a smooth flick of his sleeve. His palm, concealed within the sleeve, turned over, and suddenly a new object appeared in his hand. With a further flick of his wrist, a dark, circular ring shot forth, vanishing into the void in a single flash. At the same time, his other palm instantly darkened like ink, with delicate streaks of shimmering light beginning to radiate from his fingertips. His own body glowed with a golden hue, and golden scales emerged on his skin, pushing the梵圣真魔功 (Fàn Shèng Zhēn Mó Gōng) to its very limits. Then, with a single gesture of his hand, a black silk cloth was launched into the air, spinning smoothly before wrapping itself around him. He suddenly became transparent and formless, vanishing completely without a trace at the spot. A moment later, at the battlefield near Shi Kun, a dark beast that had been furiously waving its claws through dense streams of sword and silver light suddenly paused its attack, its eyes flashing with a moment of surprise. At that very instant, a ripple of disturbance surged suddenly from behind it in the void, and a white object unexpectedly shot forth, hurtling straight toward the beast. This silver-eyed dark creature reacted swiftly—before even turning its head, it instinctively reached back with one claw. As the black glow flashed, several black claw-spikes shot out in advance. "Boom!" The black claw-spikes collided with the white glow emitted by the object, producing a powerful explosive sound. Seizing this brief moment, the beast's body blurred momentarily, then swiftly turned around, finally catching a clear view of the thing that had launched the surprise attack. There stood a white serpent several zhang long, its body covered in luminous, transparent scales, radiating an astonishing coldness, its eyes utterly expressionless. Upon seeing this, the dark beast naturally erupted into furious rage. Yet before it could take any action, a mountain of about an inch in size suddenly appeared atop its head, spinning smoothly before suddenly swelling to a height of over a hundred zhang, pressing down silently and without a sound. The mountain's surface bore several large silver glyphs inscribed in silver kōtō script. Because the emergence of this mountain was so strange, and because it descended without a single sound, it was only when it began to press down that the dark beast below suddenly became aware of it. At that very moment, the white giant serpent also expelled a blue jade fan from its mouth, sweeping it toward the dark beast with a powerful blow. A wave of vivid blue, icy light surged forth, directly targeting the dark beast. The dark beast was immediately startled. The other two dark beasts, upon witnessing this scene, roared in outrage and instantly abandoned Shí Kūn, charging toward this side. Shi Kun burst forth with a thunderous laugh, and suddenly launched his two red hammers from his hands. The hammer heads instantly expanded into massive forms, each reaching a span in width, charging fiercely toward the two beasts. Before they even made contact, two invisible torrents of immense force enveloped them, momentarily freezing their movements. The two beasts could only turn around and exhale black light to meet the deadly blows from above. The darker beast, crushed beneath the weight of the mountain, was forced to raise its fur instantly, which stood upright and transformed into a dense stream of black glimmers, shooting out in a hissing rush toward the azure mist across the field. Then, as it lifted its head, a thick column of black light erupted from its body and surged downward into the mountain's base. This creature did not expect to withstand the combined assault from both sides in this sudden and desperate strike. Yet, as long as it could just slightly ease the pressure from both directions, it was absolutely confident it could escape unharmed. For the next instant, the dark beast's body suddenly radiated an intense surge of black light, and as its form began to disperse, it fragmented into hundreds of black butterflies, scattering in all directions. A column of black light struck the colossal mountain, and indeed caused it to pause slightly. With just this brief delay, the black butterflies surged forward, retreating twenty or thirty paces, seemingly poised to escape the mountain's embrace within a single flash. Yet at that very moment, a sharp, ordinary exhalation suddenly echoed from the nearby void. To the black butterflies, this sound seemed ordinary, yet it caused them to stagger involuntarily, nearly falling from the sky in droves. Almost simultaneously, the silver glyphs on the surface of the black mountain suddenly glowed brilliantly. Then, a flash of gray light emanated from the mountain's base, accompanied by a powerful burst of sound as countless gray filaments shot forth from within. As the light spread across the sky below, dense networks of gray filaments pierced through the motionless, lifeless black butterflies.