Chapter 1839: Might of the Golden Body
The scholar let loose a low cry, and all of the demonic butterflies spread their wings, releasing bursts of five-colored powder that quickly expanded into a five-colored toxic cloud around an acre in size. The toxic cloud surged directly toward Han Li at the scholar's behest, and at the same time, he began to chant something before opening his mouth to expel a red bamboo tube.
The bamboo tube was opened amid a flash of bright red light, and countless shimmering red runes flew out from within it. These runes all seemed to be very profound, but in the instant that they emerged from the bamboo tube, they all twisted and transformed into Fire Ravens that flew toward Han Li, right behind the toxic cloud.
This Lao Ai was only an early-Body Integration cultivator, but his attacks were quite powerful indeed, so it was no wonder that he still dared to challenge Han Li despite witnessing his earlier display of power.
However, these attacks were naturally nothing in the eyes of Han Li. As opposed to being alarmed by these ferocious oncoming attacks, Han Li chuckled instead. Without summoning any treasures, he made a hand seal, and golden light flashed, following which that golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him again.
The projection made different seals with each of its six hands, and translucent spiritual light swirled around its body, following which it attained a substantial form.
It had three extremely clear and life-like faces that were identical to that of Han Li, and at the same time, there was a layer of golden scales all over each of its six arms. There were also faint runes running along the lengths of its arms, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.
This was none other than Han Li's Provenance Golden Body.
Even the Long Family patriarch could no longer maintain his composure at the sight of this three-headed golden body. A stunned look appeared on his face, and he exclaimed, "That's a golden body!"
Not just him, but the two mid-Body Integration cultivators of the Ye Family and the Lin Family were clearly aware of the existence of golden bodies as well, and they were just as astonished.
In the instant that the golden body took shape behind Han Li, the toxic cloud and countless Fire Ravens had also reached him, and it looked as if he were going to be completely inundated.
However, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly let loose a loud cry. In the next instant, the golden body behind him swayed and somehow ended up in front of him. Bright golden light erupted from its body, and it swelled drastically to several tens of feet in size, then raised all six of its arms at once and thrust them toward the toxic cloud and Fire Ravens.
A string of spluttering sounds rang out in rapid succession, and a golden ball of light emerged within each of the golden body's six large hands. The balls of light revolved incessantly over their palms before being hurled forth in unison.
The balls of light then converged and combined in mid-air to form a golden vortex. At the same time, the golden body opened all six of its eyes at once and began to utter three completely different chants that stacked on top of one another.
Within the vortex, loud thunderclaps rang out alongside Buddhist chants, and the vortex expanded to 30 to 40 feet in size in a flash.
Immediately thereafter, a golden shockwave that was visible to the naked eye erupted from within the vortex. The oncoming toxic cloud and Fire Ravens were completely unable to put up any resistance and were swept up by the shockwave before being drawn into the vortex.
Moments later, the devastating attacks that Lao Ai had unleashed ceased to exist, and he was naturally very alarmed by this development.
He hurriedly raised the giant brush in his hand to try and unleash another wave of attacks, but it was too late.
The Provenance Golden Body raised all six of its arms at Han Li's behest before unleashing punches toward Lao Ai from afar.
Six shimmering golden fist projections erupted forth amid a string of dull thumps, then instantly vanished into thin air.
"Crap!"
Lao Ai was a seasoned veteran when it came to battles, and he immediately knew that he was in trouble. Instead of unleashing an attack with his giant golden brush, he suddenly withdrew it before drawing a circle with it in mid-air.
Golden light flashed, and a round golden shield appeared in front of him out of thin air.
At the same time, the red bamboo tube he had summoned earlier also transformed into a red light barrier that enveloped his body within it.
In addition to the black light formed by the black ferule, he had instantly set up three layers of defenses, all of which appeared to be quite formidable.
However, in the instant that these defenses took shape, the six shimmering golden fist projections suddenly re-emerged out of thin air.
Initially, they had only been around the size of human hands, yet they were now as large as a human head and struck the defenses amid a string of sharp ringing sounds.
Blinding golden light flashed as the first three fist projections exploded, and the three layers of defenses were vanquished, exposing Lao Ai to the rest of the attacks.
Lao Ai was naturally petrified to see this, and he immediately brought his hand together before separating them again to produce a white bone hammer.
He grabbed onto the long shaft of the hammer with both hands and swept it horizontally before him like lightning.
The white bone hammer instantly swelled to around 10 feet in size, following which the remaining three golden fist projections reached him at alarming speeds.
An earth-shattering boom rang out as golden and white light intertwined. Lao Ai felt a burst of enormous power crash into his hammer, sending sharp pain spearing through his fingers, and he took an involuntary step backward.
Before he even had a chance to steady himself, the second fist projection struck the bone hammer as well amid another resounding boom.
Lao Ai's face turned completely pale and devoid of color as the bone hammer was forcibly wrenched out of his hands, flying away into the distance alongside the second fist projection.
The third fist projection then struck the protective spiritual light around his body without giving him any chance to react, and he could only look on in horror and despair at the oncoming unstoppable attack.
Golden light flashed, and a burst of enormous power erupted forth, sending him flying without being able to offer any resistance. His body flew through the air like a cannonball, crashing straight through the light barrier with a dull thump before flying over 100 feet away from the Myriad Spirit Platform.
Only then did he just barely manage to stabilize himself in mid-air, and he hurriedly examined his own body, upon which he heaved a long sigh of relief.
Lao Ai then turned to Han Li with a grateful look on his face before cupping his fist in a salute. "Thank you for holding back, Brother Han. Your powers are far superior to mine."
It was quite clear that he knew that he was only able to remain completely unscathed as Han Li had held back in his final attack.
"There's no need to thank me. This is only a sparring match, so my objective isn't to wound you," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.
He naturally wasn't going to make enemies for himself for no good reason.
At this point, all of the onlookers from the true spirit families were completely flabbergasted. Most of them had already identified that Han Li was definitely no ordinary early-Body Integration cultivator, yet it still came as a massive shock to everyone that he was able to defeat Lao Ai so easily.
As for the Body Integration cultivators among the true spirit families, they were now appraising Han Li with awe and veneration, while a small portion of them were looking at him with complex contemplative looks on their faces.
Han Li flew casually out of the light barrier and returned to his seat among the Gu Family entourage, upon which Bai Guo'er immediately offered a cup of spirit tea to him in a respectful manner. "Master, please have some tea!"
Han Li took a glance at her to find that her cheeks were slightly red from excitement. It was no wonder that she was displaying such a reaction; she was already aware that Han Li was a Body Integration cultivator, but he had never displayed his powers before her. As such, how could she not be elated and excited upon witnessing Han Li's extraordinary powers?
Han Li smiled as he accepted the cup of spirit tea before taking a sip. Meanwhile, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao were also appraising Han Li with surprise and elation. His powers had clearly far exceeded their expectations as well.
The Gu Family's spot in the top five was now truly assured. The rest of the process was quite simple.
All of the true spirit families were aware of how powerful one another were, so there weren't that many challenges. After just a few matches, all of the rankings had been decided. After that, it was time to distribute the badges created by that Myriad Spirit Beast, as well as other resources, according to these new rankings.
Han Li naturally played no role in this and left things to Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao.
He merely sat in his seat with an amused smile as the family leaders gathered on the Myriad Spirit Platform completely cast aside all pretenses of affability and civility, arguing with one another with spittle flying in all directions.
Even the slightest compromise would lead to the loss of an astonishing amount of benefits, so there were naturally no families who were willing to back down.
Thankfully, the rankings that had just been established aided in speeding up this resource distribution process. Otherwise, they would most likely argue indefinitely without a consensus ever being reached.
However, the Body Integration cultivators among the true spirit families naturally weren't going to stoop to this level, and they all remained in their seats as well, patiently awaiting the result of the negotiations.
Some of them were appraising Han Li with curiosity in their eyes, and on this occasion, none of them dared to display any animosity, so Han Li merely rested with his eyes closed and pretended not to notice.
All of a sudden, the voice of the Long Family patriarch rang out within his ears. "Fellow Daoist Han, your abilities aren't limited to the clone and golden body you displayed just now, right?"
Han Li's expression changed slightly as he opened his eyes and turned toward the Long Family patriarch. He then also transmitted his voice calmly in response. "Oh? I'm sure your abilities aren't just limited to your half-dragon transformation, isn't that right, Brother Long?"
The Long Family patriarch was silent for a moment before asking a question that caught Han Li completely off guard. "Of course. However, your powers are far superior to what I anticipated. Are you related in any way to the holy island, Brother Han?"