Chapter 2008: Might of the Beetles
The condensed taichi diagram revolved in mid-air before crashing down toward Xue Guang as countless layers of projections, and Xue Guang felt the air tighten around himself as countless bursts of enormous force came compressing toward him from all sides, stopping him cold in his tracks.
The tremendous force then formed a massive vortex that swept up both Xue Guang and the massive skeleton beneath him, threatening to tear them both into countless pieces.
"This is Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact!" Xue Guang exclaimed as he hurriedly tossed the large black seal in his hand upward. The seal immediately swelled to the size of a pavilion, then released countless streaks of black light that hurtled directly toward the taichi diagram.
The taichi diagram tremored slightly as a resounding boom rang out, but it was able to repel the huge seal without much difficulty.
However, Xue Guang didn't seem to depend on the seal to break the restriction, and he quickly twisted around before vanishing into the crimson skeleton down below. In the next instant, the three heads of the skeleton opened their mouths to expel three items, consisting of a black talisman, a purple jade pendant, and a crimson ball of light.
The three items then exploded in unison, transforming into a plume of black devilish Qi, a ball of purple light, and a swathe of thin crimson threads, all of which plunged into the crimson skeleton's body.
Devilish patterns of three different colors immediately appeared all over the surface of the skeleton's body, and it let loose a roar of pain its body swelled to around twice its original size, allowing it to just barely struggle free of the restrictive force around it.
It then brought its six weapons together to create a giant scimitar, and green light flashed in its six eyes as it lashed out viciously toward the taichi diagram with the massive scimitar.
A saber projection that was over 1,000 feet in length immediately swept toward the taichi diagram in a flash, and the diagram was sliced in half in a completely silent manner.
The surrounding restrictive force was instantly significantly alleviated, and Xue Guang was ecstatic as he prepared to flee into the distance again.
However, right at this moment, both the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue opened their mouths in unison to expel a ball of blood essence each, which transformed into two clouds of blood mist that vanished into thin air.
At the same time, several unfamiliar auras arose from within the taichi diagram that had just been sliced in half, and it instantly regenerated to its original condition before rapidly rotating on the spot again.
At this point, the giant crimson skeleton had only just risen less than 200 feet into the air when it was struck by a renewed burst of tremendous force that sent it crashing down onto the ground again.
Xue Guang was naturally furious to see this, and the crimson skeleton swung its devilish scimitar repeatedly through the air at his behest, sending huge black saber formations sweeping upward to destroy the taichi diagram over and over again.
However, regardless of how much damage the taichi diagram sustained, it would instantly regenerate amid flashes of spiritual light, thereby preventing the crimson skeleton from being able to escape.
In order to fuel its regeneration, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were forced to expel one mouthful of blood essence after another, and as they did so, their physical bodies were becoming shriveled up at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye; it was clear that they were truly giving it their all.
Xue Guang was naturally very bewildered by this situation, and he immediately gritted his teeth, upon which four of the crimson skeleton's six arms exploded into clouds of blood mist at his behest. The clouds of mist then transformed into a pair of giant bone wings on the skeleton's back, and its two remaining hands began to make a series of hand seals as it flapped its wings vigorously.
Its giant body swayed slightly, and it began to rise up into the air again. All of this had taken place in what seemed like the mere blink of an eye, but it was already too late.
The giant golden falcon that was the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles finally reached the crimson skeleton, then came crashing down toward it with ferocious might.
The crimson skeleton let loose a panicked roar as it hurriedly slashed its devilish scimitar toward the giant golden falcon. At the same time, it flapped its wings with all its might and sped up significantly as a result, the restrictive power being unleashed by the taichi diagram meant that it was still far slower than its initial speed.
Upon being struck by the giant black saber projection, the golden falcon immediately disintegrated into over 10,000 golden flowers, and the crimson skeleton was immediately inundated by Gold Devouring Beetles amid a howl of anguish.
Fist-sized golden beetles were crawling over every single inch of its body, and the sound of its bones being scraped and devoured was truly the stuff of nightmares.
This crimson skeleton was something that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had manifested from a powerful treasure, but it was no match for the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles, and its body was being devoured at an incredible rate.
Within the span of just a few breaths, close to half of its body was gone, and it clearly wasn't going to be able to last much longer.
The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were ecstatic to see this.
"I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Han would be able to control so many mature Gold Devouring Beetles at once!" the white-robed elderly man said in an elated voice.
"Indeed, and thank heavens we resisted the urge to use that disposable holy artifact that Master Mo Jianli bestowed upon us. Otherwise, that Sacred Ancestor clone would've most likely been able to escape."
Right at this moment, Han Li flew over to the crimson skeleton, then stopped on the spot and merely appraised the situation in a completely expressionless manner.
Meanwhile, Xue Guang was concealed within the crimson skeleton, looking out at the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles with a horrified expression.
At this point, the crimson skeleton had already been reduced to only several tens of feet in size, and it would no longer be able to protect him for long. All of a sudden, he gritted his teeth and made a hand seal, upon which an earth-shattering boom rang out, and what remained of the crimson skeleton exploded into a ball of crimson light, sending all of the Gold Devouring Beetles flying back through the force of the explosion.
However, around a dozen of these beetles were able to advance through the shockwaves, and they instantly pounced onto Xue Guang's body before sinking their fangs into him with reckless abandon.
These were the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles that Han Li had nurtured, and he had snuck them into the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles. Their auras were virtually identical to those of normal mature Gold Devouring Beetles, so they were able to avoid being detected by Xue Guang.
Xue Guang was immediately struck by a sense of excruciating pain, but he knew that this was his last opportunity to escape. As such, he could only repress his agony and ignore the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles as he shot forth through the air as a streak of crimson light, and after just a single flash, he was about to escape outside of the area encompassed by the taichi diagram.
However, Han Li wasn't concerned in the slightest to see this, and the reason for his composure was quickly made apparent.
In the next instant, golden light flashed ahead of the streak of crimson light, and a dozen or so golden beastly projections appeared, along with a swathe of countless claw projections.
A string of explosions rang out, and the beastly projections were all sent flying and revealed to have originated from a small golden beast, but as a result, the crimson streak of light was stalled for a moment, and that was enough for the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles to completely inundate him once again.
A bloodcurdling howl rang out as Xue Guang desperately made a series of hand seals, releasing gusts of fierce crimson winds and bursts of inky-black devilish Qi, but regardless of what type of ability he unleashed, the Gold Devouring Beetles continued to cling to his body and refused to let go.
In the face of these indestructible Gold Devouring Beetles, Xue Guang was completely at their mercy, and mere moments later, his body was completely devoured; even his Nascent Soul hadn't managed to escape.
The swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles then dispersed and quickly flew back up Han Li's sleeve. Only then did a relieved look finally appear on his face, and the taichi diagram in the distance also disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.
However, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue both coughed up a few more mouthfuls of blood, and their bodies became even more wizened and shriveled. In contrast with their physical conditions, both of them wore ecstatic expressions.
The white-robed elderly man chortled with glee as he asked, "Haha, that Sacred Ancestor clone is finally dead! Fellow Daoist Han, did you manage to kill that devilish lord as well?"