Chapter 1390: Spirit and Tree as One
The ancient tree projection was entirely green in color, and it remained completely unscathed in the face of the attacks from the sword threads.
The Aureate Sword Formation was already in tatters from the relentless assault of silver spikes, and after being swept aside with reckless abandon by the rapidly expanding tree projection, the golden threads were finally no longer able to come together.
The sword formation had been broken.
Han Li's heart sank, but before he had a chance to unleash any further attacks, the Silver Tier Wood Spirit harrumphed coldly, "Your sword formation is indeed rather peculiar, but I've now released my soul-link spirit tree. In my current state with spirit and tree combined as one, your fate of death is sealed."
The Wood Spirit made a hand seal, and brilliant green light erupted from its body as it transformed into a projection, disappearing into the ancient tree projection behind it in a flash, seemingly having fused itself with the tree.
An incredible scene then ensued.
The ancient tree projection suddenly began to emanate a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure, following which it transformed into a green giant that was around 100 feet tall.
Not only did the giant have a tree canopy above its head, its four limbs were also quite lush and green making it appear as if it were a humanoid tree. On the trunk of the tree was a giant face that was identical to that of the Wood Spirit. This was the true form of beings from the Wood Tribe, the Wood Spirit Body!
At this moment, the torrent of silver spikes had ceased, and the green giant was the only thing remaining in the sword formation.
Han Li was a little flabbergasted as he looked on, but he still immediately activated the sword formation again to summon the golden threads that had disappeared. As soon as those golden threads emerged, they swept toward the giant once again.
However, the green giant merely stood on the spot and appraised Han Li with a hint of mockery in its eyes.
The sharp screech of metal grating on metal rang out amid flashes of golden and green light. All of the golden threads were repelled while the green giant remained completely unscathed.
"Hehe, a mere Deity Transformation cultivator like you is trying to harm my soul-link spirit tree? What a joke! I'll have to hibernate for 100 years after using my Wood Spirit Body, but even the so-called Divine Spirit Treasures of your human race won't be able to harm me in my current state. You should just give up and resign yourself to death," the giant chuckled coldly before striding forward, completely shrugging off the golden threads around it as it covered a distance of 70 to 80 feet. One more step would almost take it right to where Han Li was standing.
Han Li's lips twitched as he withdrew the five-colored halo around his body. In the next instant, the halo appeared around the giant's waist amid a resounding boom.
The oncoming giant's speed suddenly faltered significantly as it was reduced to less than a tenth of its original speed.
Han Li was elated to see this, and he hurriedly pointed a finger toward the green giant.
A silver Fire Raven abruptly emerged from the ground, opening its mouth to blast forth several balls of silver flames as it rose up into the air. It then spread its wings, and scorching silver flames erupted all over its body as it also pounced toward the giant.
A few rumbling thunderclaps rang out as several silver balls of lightning surfaced beneath the giant's feet. Immediately thereafter, balls of silver flames exploded, completely inundating the giant, creating a thunderous commotion in the process.
In the distance, a set of golden and silver robes appeared over Han Li's body as he flew over into the air directly above the giant.
The robe spread open at Han Li's behest before swelling to several times its original size.
Following an earth-shattering thunderclap, golden and silver fist-sized balls of lightning came raining down in a torrential downpour, crashing down toward the spot where the green giant was situated.
The ground below was transformed into a sea of a golden and silver lightning that was interspersed with scorching silver flames.
However, Han Li had no intention of ending things there. He let loose a loud cry, and the entire Aureate Sword Formation completely vanished. Several hundred streaks of golden sword Qi immediately surfaced in the surrounding area before converging toward the center at Han Li's behest.
All of them disappeared into the lightning and silver flames, creating an even louder string of explosions. Only then did Han Li retreat back to over 100 feet away, where he surveyed the situation from afar.
He was sure that even if a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage were to be struck by his lightning robe, lightning beads, Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, and flying swords at once, they definitely wouldn't be able to emerge unscathed.
As for Body Integration cultivators, only the heavens knew if the combination of those attacks would have any effect.
Following the span of a few breaths, the lightning finally began to dissipate. The giant's body was revealed once again, and it appeared that it hadn't moved so much as a single inch from its original spot.
Han Li's heart immediately sank as he assessed the giant's condition.
The giant's body was shimmering and glittering as if it had been carved from a block of translucent green jade. What was even more incredible was that it was entirely smooth and unscathed. Such a fearsome barrage of attacks hadn't even hurt it in the slightest.
Meanwhile, the giant's massive hands were locked around the five-colored halo around its waist, and it clenched its 10 fingers tightly to crush the halo with its immense power.
After doing so, the giant threw its head back and chortled heartily before abruptly stomping a foot into the ground in a violent motion. A green halo of spiritual light immediately proliferated through the air, sweeping through the scorching silver flames. Amid the flash of green light, the silver Fire Raven was forced to reveal itself, and was ensnared by this mysterious spiritual light.
The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames was capable of devouring all types of spiritual powers, but it was completely powerless in the face of this green light.
As for the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in the air, the green giant paid them no heed at all, allowing them to strike its body, upon which they would be immediately repelled by flashes of green light.
There were even a dozen or so flying swords among them that began to dim significantly after striking the giant's body a few times, and they began to emit cries of anguish.
These were none other than the flying swords that had been most heavily affected by the detonation of the Blood Crystal Mohe Sword.
These flying swords were damaged by the explosion to begin with, and only barely managed to contribute to setting up the Aureate Sword Formation. After being repelled by the green giant's body several times, they were completely spent.
Han Li's expression changed drastically as he waved a hand to summon all of the flying swords back to him. The sword flew back rapidly, quickly shrinking in the process before disappearing up his sleeve.
"I now possess and indestructible body. Even beings with a slightly superior cultivation base won't be able to harm me. If you can hurt me in my current state, I could consider letting you go," the giant chortled in a deafening voice as it crossed its arms with an expression of extreme arrogance on its face.
After transforming into this giant form, this Silver Tier Wood Spirit was far more powerful than before, and its body had also become vastly more robust.
None of Han Li's attacks had any effect on it, and that was quite concerning for him. Only then did he realize that he had underestimated the massive gulf between a Silver Tier Wood Spirit and a Spatial Tempering cultivator.
Having cultivated the Provenance True Devil Arts and the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, he was naturally aware that his powers went far beyond the realm of his cultivation base. However, he had never established a clear gauge on his exact power level.
Deity Transformation cultivators were definitely no match for him, and he hadn't encountered any opportunities to test his powers against Spatial Tempering cultivators.
After witnessing the Spatial Tempering Stage Ye Chu and the two Long Family cultivators in battle, he was under the impression that he was comparable to them in power if he were to unleash all of his abilities. In the case of the Long Family cultivators, whose devils and ghosts were vulnerable to his Divine Devilbane Lightning, there was even a good chance that he would be able to defeat them.
If he had known this earlier, he would've fought the crimson shadow he had encountered in the Shadow Tribe without resorting to using his Gold Devouring Beetles.
On this occasion, he knew that he would be unable to escape the detection of the Silver Tier Wood Spirit's powerful spiritual sense, so he could only take the initiative by setting up the Aureate Sword Formation in advance to fight for his life. Otherwise, facing such a powerful being in direct combat would be nothing short of suicidal.
However, never would he have thought that even a severely wounded Silver Tier Wood Spirit could be this powerful. None of his secret techniques or treasures could harm it, and its speed and power had also undergone drastic improvements. This ability of the Wood Spirit was insane!
In this situation, there was only one more strategy that he could try. If that didn't work, then he would have to resort to fleeing using his Bloodshadow Evasion Technique in the hope that he could encounter something that would save him during his escape.
In any case, he definitely wasn't going to give up and offer his head on a silver platter.
With these thoughts racing through Han Li's mind, the indecision in his eyes disappeared, and was replaced by renewed determination.
Without uttering a single word, he suddenly flapped his Thunderstorm Wings and after several flashes, arcs of azure and white lightning began to revolve around his wings, forming a series of fist-sized azure and white balls of lightning.
These balls of lightning were crackling loudly as Han Li made a hand seal with a grim expression on his face. Azure light flashed on either side of his body, and four identical azure figures appeared, all of which had wings on their backs.
"Interesting!" the green giant chuckled nonchalantly upon seeing this.
The five azure figures wore grave expressions as they shot forth through the air, transforming into white threads in the process before disappearing in a flash.
The green giant chortled as it abruptly swung a massive hand toward a certain spot that was several tens of feet away.
A loud boom erupted as the space there was shattered and warped. A dozen or so white threads immediately emerged from the spatial cracks before stumbling out as a series of azure figures.
The giant made a grabbing motion with its massive hand and a burst of immense invisible power swept past, crushing all of these azure figures into nothingness.