Han Li looked at Silvermoon's transformed appearance as she departed, sighing in amazement at her impressive illusion. In all manners of appearance and aura, she appeared exactly the same as him.
"Does Senior believe Silvermoon's illusion techniques will allow her to trick the two pursuers?" Han Li asked Monarch Soul Divergence. "In any case, they should most likely not be able to see through her since I can't detect anything either."
"Your artifact spirit is quite unique! Even I am unable to completely see through her illusion. At one moment, her illusion is weaker and in another, it is stronger. If it weren't for the holy beast of theirs, they definitely wouldn't be able to differentiate between the two of you."
After a moment of silence, Han Li's feeling of unease still remained, but he flew in the opposite direction of Silvermoon regardless.
Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that giving Silvermoon a portion of the Gold Devouring Beetles was an unintentionally effective move.
When the Soaring Tribes Immortals saw that Han Li split into two and were heading in different directions, the purple-haired woman and the Saintess exchanged a look of dismay and stopped.
The purple-haired woman brushed the hair from her face and she clicked her tongue in amazement. "What is this? An incarnation technique? Their auras and spiritual Qi fluctuate at the same strength and they both appear entirely the same. That cultivator truly has many techniques."
Feeling quite the headache from this sudden development, the Saintess said, "The distance is too far between them. There is no way of telling which one is the genuine of the two with our spiritual sense. I'll have the Holy Beast examine them."
Soon after, the woman uttered a few words to the Endless Sky Beast with an ancient language. Azure light then flashed from the beast's body and the pair of bull horns on its body became crystalline and transparent. It cried out several times and it gave the Saintess an answer with its spiritual sense.
"It is truly troublesome. He might've discovered we were tracking him through the scent of the Gold Devouring Beetles. Both of these doppelgangers possess the beetles and the Holy Beast isn't able to differentiate them."
The purple-haired woman raised her brow and said, "If that's the case, we can't let either of them escape."
"It's no matter. Let us each pursue one of them each. Now that we're so close and he's using such tricks to split us apart, he shouldn't have anything else up his sleeve. Since he plans on dividing our forces, how about we properly oblige him?" The Saintess then wore a cold smile.
"Yes, but I heard that while this person possesses mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, his abilities are no weaker than a late-Nascent Soul cultivator," the purple-haired woman worriedly said, "However, he's injured so you shouldn't have much to fear from him if you encounter his true self. I will chase the other one. So long as he doesn't use any wicked movement techniques, I should be able to deal with him and join back with you."
"Please don't worry, Immortal Sun. Although that crimson movement technique is strange, it clearly comes at great cost, or he would've already used it to leave us behind. He's managed to escape us until now but I reckon he is at the end of the line. I also have the holy cauldron to protect me so there are no worries." The Saintess smiled and spoke with confidence.
"In that case, it should be fine. I'll be heading out first." The purple-woman smiled and then flew off in a purple streak of light, chasing after one of the Han Li's.
As for the Saintess, she chased after the other one with a cold glint of light flashing from her eyes.
With a rare tone of concern, Monarch Soul Divergence said, "They've separated as you've expected. Youngster Han, your plan to separate them was truly effective. It appears their holy beast only has a fraction of its soul and is still lacking in its abilities. Even if you don't kill that Endless Sky Beast soon, the duration of the seal release will run out and the two Grand Immortals will return. You'll be left in dire straits, not to mention the Endless Sky Saintess won't be easy to deal with either."
Han Li used his spiritual sense to look at the Saintess trailing behind him and he sullenly replied, "I have a plan. I don't wish to kill the woman, only the holy beast. It shouldn't take much time."
"Oh? Then I will wait and see what happens." Monarch Soul Divergence said with a calm tone.
Han Li didn't reply. When the time came and he felt an opportunity was about to arrive, he suddenly flew in a circle and slapped his storage pouch, releasing several thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles in a surging rush. They formed a golden buzzing cloud that revolved in the air.
Then, several tens of sparkling gold flying swords shot out from his sleeve. Under the control of a spell seal, they transformed into over a hundred astonishing swordlights wrapped around his body.
After forming two incantation gestures, he shouted, "Join!" The swordlights trembled and flew upward, filling the air with blinding golden light. In the blink of an eye, it formed an imposing twenty-meter-long sword.
Han Li then opened his mouth and spat out a ball of purple flames. It transformed into a foot-long bird and charged into the huge sword.
The purple firebird ruptured and covered the huge sword in a layer of purple flames. Countless small arcs of golden lightning then flash from within the purple flames, in a display of immense power.
Han Li frowned when he saw this. After some thought, he spat a mist of azure Qi onto the sword. Suddenly, the arcing lightning from the sword disappeared without a trace.
He nodded with satisfaction from the sight and under his mental command, the golden sword pierced into the sky, instantly entering the black clouds and disappearing without a trace.
At that moment, a faint speck of light could be seen from the horizon. It was the Endless Sky Saintess.
Han Li narrowed his eyes when he saw her and his sleeve trembled, summoning a set of azure flying swords that began to circle around him. A blue shield then flew out from his other sleeve to block his front.
He flipped his two palms to summon an ancient purple mirror he acquired from Devilfall Valley in one hand, and his Spirit Subjugation Talisman in the other. With the Soullock Seal lifted, the last use of his talisman should raise his cultivation to an even higher level than the last two times he used it. Having thought that, he quietly waited in place for the Saintess to arrive.
Although the holy beast didn't possess a high cultivation, its speed was truly unordinary. In a span of a few breathes, it quickly arrived several hundred meters in front of Han Li.
Han Li coldly examined the Saintess and then turned to look at the Endless Sky beast. Apart from its large bull head, he wasn't able to make out anything particularly fearsome about it.
Compared to the beast, the Endless Sky Saintess was far more eye-catching. She possessed outstanding and unique charm, not to mention her immensely powerful cultivation as well.
As Han Li examined her, the Saintess did so as well. She felt somewhat alarmed by Han Li's young appearance, but her attention was immediately attracted to the huge cloud of Gold Devouring Beetles in the sky. She couldn't help but betray an expression of delight.
"You..." The Saintess hesitated for a moment as if wanting to ask something.
However, Han Li had a limited amount of time before the Soullock Seal would take effect again, and he also feared she would discover the huge sword hidden in the sky. Uninterested in the woman wasting his limited time, he silently pointed to the Gold Devouring Beetles in the sky and command them to charge towards her. Then, the azure flying swords fluttering around him swept towards the woman in waves of sword blurs.
"You're courting death!" When the Endless Sky Saintess saw that Han Li immediately set out to attack, she flew into a rage and raised her hand, releasing a dark green bracelet from her wrist. It massively grew in size and rushed to meet the sword blurs.
She tossed a spirit beast pouch into the air with her other hand. In a flash of golden light, over ten huge fully-matured Gold Devouring Beetles shot towards the insect cloud.
As this all happened, she hadn't noticed how the black clouds in the sky were slowly growing closer to her.
The jade band was a powerful ancient treasure. As soon as the azure sword blurs made contact with it, the jade band began to quickly spin and contain all the sword blurs inside of it. When Han Li sensed the swords rendered completely ineffective by the powerful revolving force, he felt his heart tremble.
As for the dozen mature Gold Devouring Beetles, they had a huge advantage against Han Li's swarm.
Han Li clearly saw that while his own beetles far outnumbered the fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles, they weren't able to harm them in the slightest. Rather, the fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles were devouring the smaller beetles one bite at a time.
With a sullen expression, Han Li silently slapped the Spirit Subjugation Talisman on his body, instantly beginning his transformation. His entire body glowed with crimson light as red scales covered it and a flood dragon horn appeared on the top of his head. An astonishing aura then surged from Han Li's body.
The Saintess yelped in shock, "What technique is this?!"
But then without the slightest fear, she opened her mouth and spat out a scarf magic treasure. It circled around her body before growing over ten meters long. It then stood upright to reveal the portrait of a huge silver silkworm.
Han Li was startled when he saw this. Just as he pondered about the treasure's abilities, light began to glow from the silver silkworm portrait on the scarf and it came to life. It opened its mouth and shot out streams of silver thread in Han Li's direction.
The two were separated by a gap of over three hundred meters, but the dense streams of silver thread closed the distance in an instant.
In Han Li's alarm, he pointed to the blue light shield without any further thought. The shield immediately transformed into a large barrier of light and completely enveloped Han Li. Then, he opened his mouth and spat out a ball of purple flame at the barrier of light.
Purple glacial Qi burst from the light barrier and covered an area of ten meters in front of him. Then with a crackle, a purple ice wall thirty meters tall was raised in front of him.