Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 643

The blue light faded, and Han Li appeared in the void, his ears ringing from the tremendous explosion. He quickly used his flying swords to protect his entire body and surveyed his surroundings.

However, he couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

The so-called Void Spirit Battleground was incredibly vast, seemingly spanning two to three thousand *zhang* [a Chinese unit of length, approximately 3.3 meters], and about a dozen *zhang* away from him, a massive object about two hundred *zhang* in size floated in the air. It looked exactly like the gray flag he had seen in the space covered in demonic energy earlier.

Demonic energy surged from the surface of the gray flag, which was a thousand or even ten thousand times larger, engulfing the space of the entrance. It was no wonder that he had unknowingly fallen under the flag’s restriction as soon as he entered the battleground.

‘This must be the true form of the Myriad Demon Banner! What that demon was holding inside was just a part of the flag’s spiritual essence!’

Han Li stared at the flag in bewilderment.

Then, he turned his gaze to the center of the battleground, where a fierce battle was taking place. Most of the main hall was already covered in ice, with the large pillars turned pure white and tall ice mountains rising everywhere.

Above the ice, a pure white ice phoenix, its body over ten *zhang* long, was unleashing white flames from its entire body, displaying its might.

The ice phoenix’s opponents were three cultivators from the Small Polar Palace. Madam Mi and two white-haired elders were desperately blocking the ice phoenix’s attacks with various treasures. Their treasures were not weak, but they were clearly being pushed back by the ice phoenix’s sharp claws and wing movements.

Han Li was startled as he looked at the white cold flames surrounding the ice phoenix. They were too similar to the white cold flames that the woman named Bai Mengying had used. Of course, the Phoenix Departure Ice Flame could not unleash that much power.

He was suspicious of the relationship between the Phoenix Departure Ice Flame and the ice phoenix, but that wasn’t the only strange thing. The demon was only moving the Myriad Demon Banner, so why wasn’t he attacking them with the ice phoenix?

Also, Madam Mi was clearly a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, and she was definitely the palace lord of the Small Polar Palace. Her divine abilities were not as good as those of the Hanli Merchant, and she didn’t seem to be able to handle special cold flames.

Otherwise, there was no way she would be pushed back like this while fighting a tenth-level ice phoenix with the help of two mid-Nascent Soul cultivators.

The ice phoenix’s white cold flames were so powerful that the divine abilities of the three cultivators were visibly diminishing. Han Li couldn’t help but watch in a daze.

It was the first time he had seen the immense power of extreme cold flames. It seemed like a heaven-defying divine ability that ignored the laws of nature. If things continued like this, it seemed that the three cultivators could be defeated without the demon even needing to step in.

‘Could it be that the ice phoenix is wary of the demon and reluctant to fight within the Myriad Demon Banner’s restrictions?’

While he was trying to find a plausible reason, something shocking happened. Pieces of corpses and broken treasures fell from the demonic energy that the giant flag in the void was emitting.

Han Li was caught off guard and was startled to realize that the clothing of the fragmented corpses belonged to the elders of the Small Polar Palace. It turned out that they were not the only cultivators fighting within the Myriad Demon Banner’s restrictions.

In any case, he knew that the demon couldn’t move the Myriad Demon Banner to chase him until the Small Polar Palace cultivators were completely dealt with. He felt much more at ease and carefully examined the main hall.

His gaze turned to the jade altar of the flat jade building, where three teleportation arrays, one large and two small, were installed side by side. Han Li was overjoyed and was about to move when his expression suddenly changed.

The humanoid puppet standing behind him suddenly grabbed at the void, and the space a dozen *zhang* away was distorted, causing a black flying dagger to appear.

The Demon Slayer Flying Dagger, which had disappeared in the space covered in demonic energy, had escaped from the restrictions on its own and returned. The puppet flicked its sleeve and retrieved the flying dagger.

Han Li’s eyebrows twitched, and he transformed into a streak of blue light, leading over a thousand fire crows and flying sword treasures toward the high altar. If he could just escape the Void Spirit Battleground, the rise and fall of the Small Polar Palace was none of his concern.

After a while, the blue light streak circled around the center of the main hall and headed toward the altar.

Since the surroundings were already filled with the ice phoenix’s cold energy, he had no choice but to protect his entire body with purple flames.

“Azure Flame Ice Flame! So you were a cultivator from the Small Polar Palace! Do you think you can fool me just because the color of my ice flame has changed!”

The ice phoenix, which had been pushing back the palace lord of the Small Polar Palace and the two elders in the center, had been watching Han Li since he had escaped the Myriad Demon Banner.

Even when he transformed into a streak of light and flew over, it was wary, but when he avoided the battlefield and circled around, it tried to ignore him. However, when it saw the purple flames, it shouted.

Before Han Li, who was startled by the way the ice phoenix glared at him as if he were its mortal enemy, could react, the ice phoenix let out a shriek and flapped one of its wings at him.

Innumerable ice wing feathers were shot out, and five or six hundred transparent flying swords, each half a *chi* [a Chinese unit of length, approximately 1/3 of a meter] long, covered the void. Han Li, who was flying, felt a chill run down his spine.

With such a large quantity, regardless of their power, it was enough to make his heart sink, and if they were weapons transformed from the feathers of a tenth-level demonic beast ice phoenix, then ordinary magic treasures would be nothing in comparison.

Without much hesitation, he increased his speed, and over a hundred sword lights and bright red fire crows that were following behind flew toward the transparent swords.

*Clang!* *Bang!*

Golden and white lights flashed as they clashed, and red flames exploded upon meeting the white light, sweeping the surroundings with pillars of fire several *zhang* high. The combined attack of the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords and the fire crows had momentarily blocked the transparent flying swords.

In that gap, Han Li, who had transformed into a streak of blue light, shot toward the high altar.

“Hmph!”

The ice phoenix was momentarily surprised that its attack had not slowed Han Li’s movements at all.

However, the demonic beast’s hatred for the Azure Flame Ice Flame was beyond imagination, and it revealed its killing intent toward Han Li. In an instant, the ice phoenix’s massive body changed vaguely, creating three identical clones.

Two of them threw themselves at the group of Small Polar Palace palace lords, and the third ice phoenix flapped its wings and disappeared from its spot in a white light.

‘…!’

Han Li was startled by the demonic beast’s actions and stopped his escape technique, standing still on the spot. He was only about a hundred *zhang* away from the teleportation array.

However, if he recklessly rushed toward the teleportation array, he could be swallowed whole by the vanished ice phoenix. His face hardened, and he clapped his hands together and spread them out to his sides.

*Crack!* *Clang!*

Dozens of golden lightning bolts spread out from his palms, covering him with a golden net of twenty to thirty *zhang*. Almost simultaneously, the space a dozen *zhang* away twisted, and the ice phoenix appeared in a white light.

Han Li quickly formed a hand seal, and the golden lightning bolts vibrated and tried to engulf the demonic beast’s body without hesitation. The ice phoenix was not flustered by the unexpected situation and opened its beak to spew something out.

*Whoosh.*

A white vortex appeared, and the sound of wind echoed, tearing the golden lightning bolts to shreds without a trace. Han Li’s face changed, and he hurriedly activated the Eight Spirit Ruler from his sleeve, but the ice phoenix had already attacked first.

The ice phoenix flapped its ice wings simultaneously.

*Rumble!*

A large amount of white cold flames condensed into a giant wave thirty *zhang* high and surged toward him, and the ice phoenix itself also disappeared vaguely, burrowing into the white energy.

The massive demonic beast’s body hid within the cold energy, completely disappearing from sight. Han Li’s lips twitched, and his eyes glowed navy blue as he swung a mass of purple cold flames with one hand.

*Swish!*

The purple cold flames blazed and blocked his path. The wave of cold flames relentlessly charged toward the Violet Aurora Flame barrier, and although both were clearly extreme flames, they surged violently as if water and fire had met.

The power of the white cold energy was greater than that of the Violet Aurora Flame, and after a while, the purple barrier began to shake and tilt toward Han Li. The Eight Spirit Ruler in his sleeve flashed and disappeared, and Han Li gritted his teeth and placed both hands on the purple barrier, frantically pouring his entire body’s Violet Aurora Flame into it. Then, the purple barrier, which had been slowly tilting, stood upright again.

However, at that moment, a white light flashed within the giant wave, and a sharp claw one *chi* long emerged, trying to grab Han Li’s shoulder, which was supporting the Violet Aurora Flame barrier. No matter how well he had mastered the Underworld King Incantation, if he was caught by the ice phoenix’s claws, his arms would undoubtedly be severed.

Fortunately, as if he had predicted it, he extended two strands of blue silk from one of his sleeves, blocking the sharp claws. The blue light flashed, tightly wrapping around the sharp claws.

“Hmm?”

Someone seemed surprised and made a sound from within the cold flames, and then something shocking happened.

The space a few *zhang* above Han Li suddenly tore open, and a transparent beak half a *chi* long appeared, trying to peck at the top of his head like lightning.

With such a quick attack at close range, Han Li didn’t even have time to use the Lightning Escape Technique. Moreover, he had not prepared any defenses because he was blocking the cold flames and claws in front of him.

But strangely, Han Li didn’t even lift his head even as the transparent beak pierced through the purple flames.

*Clang!*

A loud noise rang out, and a silver fist appeared in the void, punching toward the beak. The silver light exploded, and the sharp beak was pushed a few *chi* away. The blue figure that appeared next to the sharp beak was the humanoid puppet.

Han Li had ordered it to protect the surroundings while he was fighting the ice phoenix, so it was able to strike a blow at the moment of crisis.

The attacked beak disappeared vaguely, and the white flames in front suddenly retreated, revealing the phoenix within. Now, the demonic beast was only two or three *zhang* in size, much smaller than its original form.

The ice phoenix looked down at its claws, which were bound by the blue silk, and scoffed. Then, its two claws suddenly grew several times larger, trying to break free. However, the blue silk also flashed, lengthening and shortening, refusing to let go of the claws.

This time, the ice phoenix seemed a little surprised and opened its beak, spewing out two sharp white lights.

*Shashashak!*

The white lights circled around the ice phoenix’s two claws, and the blue silk was cut off like dry leaves. When the white light faded, what was revealed were two milky white small swords, exuding immense cold energy from within.

“Ten Thousand Year Mystic Jade!”

Han Li immediately recognized the materials of the two flying swords and frowned.

The blue silk strands were made from the energy of the surface of the Heaven Piercing Cauldron, but no matter how powerful a Heaven Piercing Treasure was, with the shallow divine abilities that could only be used at the first level of the Treasure Binding Technique, there was no way to deal with a tenth-level demonic beast.

However, he had no intention of defeating the powerful enemy in front of him. He just needed to use any one of the small teleportation arrays a hundred *zhang* away to leave this place.

Han Li was thinking this as he watched the ice phoenix, which was preparing to attack again by flapping its wings, when his face hardened. Soon, his figure, which had withdrawn the purple flames, became blurry, and three identical phantoms appeared, hiding themselves in the blue energy.

While the ice phoenix hesitated about which phantom to target, three streaks of blue light flew in different directions. Their speed was extremely fast, and they all appeared a dozen *zhang* away in an instant.

And on the other side, the golden flying swords and fire crows that had been fighting hundreds of transparent flying swords suddenly changed direction and moved toward one of the teleportation arrays.

The ice phoenix was furious and let out a sharp cry, emitting white light from its entire body and transforming into a young woman. As soon as the woman took human form, she immediately brushed past the Spirit Beast Pouch and released two white lights.

The light masses circled in the void and transformed into white centipedes with four wings that emitted cold energy. Except for the number of wings, their ferocious appearance was exactly like Han Li’s Six-Winged Frost Cicadas. They were surprisingly evolved Six-Winged Frost Cicadas. Han Li turned his head and was startled when he saw them.

*Swoosh!*

Before he could even come up with a plan, the two Six-Winged Frost Cicadas flapped their four wings and suddenly disappeared, blocking the path of the real Han Li and one of his phantoms that were flying in different directions, and spewed out white cold energy.

Of course, Han Li easily dodged the cold energy, but the phantom was hit by the cold energy while flying in its original direction and disappeared like a bubble. The silver-robed woman confirmed this and then split the void expressionlessly.

*Swoosh!*

A white crack appeared, and the woman easily created a spatial rift. Then, her figure became blurry and disappeared into the gap, and the spatial rift also vanished without a trace.

# 645