Chapter 941: Endless Trouble
Chapter 941: Endless Trouble
Not long after Han Li and Shi Chuankong rose up into the air, the sound of insistent rustling began to ring out from beneath the wreckage of the palace.
The layer of earth on top of the wreckage site began to move, and one arm after another emerged, followed by a series of strange-looking heads.
There were countless puppets crawling out from underground one after another.
These puppets weren't particularly large, each standing at only around twenty feet tall, and they possessed humanoid lower bodies, but their upper bodies and heads weren't humanoid in appearance and could be roughly split up into three types.
One type of puppet had wolf heads and slim bodies, wielding a pair of blue longswords in their hands.
The second type of puppet had tiger heads and a more muscular build, each wielding a giant mountain-splitting saber.
The final type of puppet had snake heads and thin layers of fine scales on their bodies, as well as glowing blue bows strapped to their backs.
All of the swords, sabers, and bows wielded by these puppets were giving off starpower fluctuations, and there was an enormous number of these puppets burrowing their way out of the earth in all directions.
These puppets weren't all that remarkable in appearance, but it was clear that they were nothing to be scoffed at, and with such ridiculously large numbers on their side, getting caught among them would surely spell certain death, even for a cultivator of Han Li's caliber.
With that in mind, Han Li hurriedly sped away into the distance as quickly as he could, treading on air to ensure that he remained high above the ground.However, even though he was able to fly thanks to his Wingform Ascension Arts and Star Moon Boots, his speed was ultimately limited, and he was dragging Shi Chuankong along as well, thereby further slowing him down.
As soon as these puppets emerged from the ground, they immediately looked up at Han Li's duo with humanized looks of resentment in their eyes.
A particularly large snake-headed puppet let loose a wild roar, and all of the other snake-headed puppets on the ground raised their bows before nocking arrows upon them.
Immediately thereafter, a volley of blue arrows was sent flying toward Han Li and Shi Chuankong from all directions, cutting off all avenues of evasion.
A grim look appeared in Han Li's eyes as he conjured up his True Extreme Film over his own body, and at the same time, he swung his white scimitar through the air to defect as many of the oncoming arrows as he could.
Shi Chuankong also conjured up his own True Extreme Film while swinging his newly acquired purple staff through the air as well.
A string of loud clang rang out in rapid succession as Han Li knocked away all of the blue arrows flying at him with his scimitar.
However, these arrows had been fired with tremendous power, and it didn't take long before his arm began to feel numb from the repeated impacts.
Shi Chuankong was also able to keep the oncoming arrows at bay with his purple staff, but his arms were trembling from the strain.
In the face of such a formidable wave of attacks, the two of them had drawn to a screeching halt.
Right at this moment, dozens of the nearby wolf and tiger-headed puppets sprang up into the air, jumping up several hundred feet with ease before lashing out at Han Li and Shi Chuankong from all directions with their swords and sabers.
The three types of puppets were working together seamlessly, as if they had already rehearsed this sequence countless times, and they were giving Han Li and Shi Chuankong no opportunity for respite.
A string of metallic clangs rang out, and all of the dozens of wolf and tiger-headed puppets were dismantled before falling out of the sky.
Before Han Li and Shi Chuankong had a chance to do anything else, countless more arrows came flying at them.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he deflected the arrows away with his white scimitar while simultaneously rising up even further into the sky.
At this point, they were already close to reaching the layer of dense, yellow clouds up above, yet they still hadn't made it out of the firing range of the snake-headed puppets.
Han Li took a glance at the yellow clouds overhead with a hesitant expression, and he was just about to rise up even further when Shi Chuankong's urgent voice suddenly rang out beside his ears.
"Don't go up any higher, those yellow clouds are extremely dangerous! I'll ward off all the attacks, you focus on getting us out of here."
As soon as his voice trailed off, a string of star acupoints lit up over the purple staff in his hand, and he swung it rapidly through the air, creating a purple whirlwind that swept up all of the oncoming blue arrows before destroying them with ease.
Han Li wanted to ask Shi Chuankong what exactly was so dangerous about these yellow clouds, but the latter was entirely focused on warding off the enemy attacks, so Han Li could only continue to tread over the air in an attempt to escape.
Right at this moment, another batch of wolf and tiger-headed puppets sprang up into the air at Han Li's duo, and the puppets from elsewhere were quickly converging as well.
Shi Chuankong let loose a loud roar as he dismantled this next wave of puppets with his staff, but these wolf and tiger-headed puppets weren't as easy to deal with as the volleys of arrows, and it was clear that warding off their attacks had placed quite a physical strain upon him.
Before he even had a chance to catch his breath, another volley of arrows arrived.
While racing through the air, Han Li took a glance at Shi Chuankong's pale complexion, and a grim look surfaced in his eyes.
Shi Chuankong was still yet to fully recover from his injuries, so he most likely wasn't going to be able to last long at this rate. However, at the moment, Han Li saw no better strategy than to continue running away.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them were forced to withstand dozens of waves of attacks from the puppets down below. Shi Chuankong was doing most of the work, while Han Li helped out occasionally, but most of his attention was focused on getting away.
However, there were still more puppets burrowing their way out of the ground in all directions, forming what appeared to be a boundless sea of puppets that stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions.
A low roar rang out as close to a hundred wolf and tiger-headed puppets sprang up into the air once again.
At this point, Shi Chuankong was already looking as pale as a sheet, and the staff in his hand transformed into another purple whirlwind that swept toward the oncoming puppets.
A string of loud thumps rang out as all of the puppets were sent flying, but Shi Chuankong also threw up a large mouthful of blood.
The True Extreme Film around his body was flickering incessantly and had become far dimmer than before, and the purple staff almost slipped out of his limp grasp.
"You're going to die if you keep this up, Fellow Daoist Shi!" Han Li said in an urgent voice.
"I'll be fined," Shi Chuankong replied in a strained voice.
Right at this moment, another volley of arrows arrived, this one containing far more arrows than previous ones.
"Take some time to recover, I'll take care of everything from now on," Han Li said as he tucked Shi Chuankong under his left arm.
At the same time, he swung his scimitar through the air with his right arm, deflecting all of the blue arrows that were flying at him from the front, the left, and the right, but ignored the ones that were coming at him from behind.
Around a dozen blue arrows struck Han Li on the back with immense power, but were kept out by his True Extreme Film, which shuddered violently before quickly stabilizing again.
Thanks to the force of the arrows, Han Li sped up drastically, allowing him to cover a large distance in the blink of an eye.
Shi Chuankong couldn't help but be impressed with Han Li's courage and powers upon seeing this, and he hurriedly took a pill before closing his eyes to rest.
Following the volley of arrows, several hundred puppets sprang up into the air before pouncing at Han Li's duo, and there were so many of them that they obscured virtually the entire sky.
A burst of white starlight flashed over Han Li's legs as he sprang forward, diving headfirst into the throngs of puppets as he slashed his scimitar horizontally through the air.
The dozens of puppets directly in front of him were instantly sliced into two at the waist, and at the same time, he kicked out with his legs, unleashing a wave of leg projections that forced back the puppets pouncing at him from the left and the right.
Once again, his back was left completely unguarded with the exception of his True Extreme Film, and a string of loud thumps rang out as Han Li was sent flying forward by the attacks aimed at his back.
His True Extreme Film shuddered violently, and his complexion paled ever so slightly.
He gave a muffled groan as he channeled his Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts and continued onward without pause, crashing his way through several more dozen puppets to finally burst his way out of the encirclement.
However, he had only managed to travel several thousand feet before the next volley of arrows arrived.
Once again, he employed the same tactic, swatting away the arrows in three directions while leaving his back unguarded.
Close to half a day flew by in a flash.
At this point, Han Li had already withstood countless attacks with his True Extreme Film, and even with his immense powers, he was beginning to feel the strain. His complexion had turned rather pale, and his True Extreme Film had also become far dimmer than before.
Shi Chuankong had recovered somewhat after taking some pills, but he was still in no condition to fight, so he could look on with an urgent expression.
The area of the wreckage down below was far more massive than they imagined, and even now, there was still no end in sight as tens of thousands of puppets converged toward them from all directions.
In addition to three original types of puppets, a mace-wielding giant ape puppet had also been thrown into the mix. There weren't that many of them, but they were extraordinarily strong and fast and also seemed to possess higher intelligence than their counterparts, thereby making them far more difficult to deal with.
Right at this moment, another volley of arrows was fired from down below, and this time, it was interspersed with black rocks that had been hurled by the giant ape puppets.
Han Li swung his scimitar through the air to deflect the arrows and rocks while also darting from side to side to take evasive measures.
At this point, his True Extreme Film was far weaker than before, so he didn't dare to withstand any more attacks, and as a result, his speed was significantly hampered.
Right at this moment, a massive blue shadow came rising up rapidly from down below, and it was none other than one of the giant ape puppets, which was at least twice the size of the other puppets.
The giant ape puppet paid no heed to the countless arrows flying through the air around it as it swung its mace viciously at Han Li's back right as he was evading the oncoming arrows.