The six golden balls of light quickly combined as one in mid-air, then transformed into a giant golden vortex.

Initially, the vortex was only several tens of feet in size, but as it rapidly rotated, it swelled drastically in area, inflating to cover around an acre. Countless golden and silver runes surged out of the vortex alongside a burst of enormous force, and as soon as the two streaks of black light came into contact with the vortex, they were drawn into it by a burst of tremendous suction force before being destroyed.

The giant purple claw projection also faltered in the face of the obstruction posed by the countless golden and silver runes, and during this split-second delay, the golden vortex swelled once again by close to half its original size.

The air around the giant claw projection immediately tightened, and it was as if a massive mountain were crashing down upon it.

The claw projection began to tremor violently in the face of this astonishing force, and it appeared to be on the brink of destruction.

At the same time, the five devilish beings down below also felt the air around them tighten as they were immobilized by a burst of invisible power.

The five devilish beings faltered initially upon sensing this before immediately flaring up with rage.

Cries of fury instantly rang out as all types of light and devilish Qi erupted from the bodies of the five devilish beings to escape from the restrictive force, yet just as they were about to break free, a peculiar smile appeared on Han Li's face.

At the same time, he made a hand seal before abruptly flapping his wings, and an astonishing thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of silver lightning surged out of his wings in a frenzy, then converged to form a pair of massive balls of lightning.

Han Li then pointed a finger down at the green-robed elderly man and the winged woman, and the two balls of lightning instantly vanished amid a resounding boom.

In the next instant, a loud thunderclap erupted as the two balls of lightning emerged right in front of the elderly man and winged woman, and countless arcs of silver lightning sprang forth to form a pair of lightning formations.

The elderly man and winged woman were each situated at the center of one of the formations.

"These are teleportation formations!" The elderly man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and a burst of scorching purple flames erupted from his body, instantly nullifying the restrictive force acting upon him.

Immediately thereafter, his body blurred as he attempted to escape the lightning formation, but right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out from above, and a burst of excruciating pain instantly speared through the elderly man's head.

Even though he was far more powerful than the average Body Integration cultivator, he still threw his hands over his own head involuntarily, and his body swayed as if he were on the verge of falling.

During this split-second delay, the lightning formation was activated, and the elderly man vanished amid a flash of lightning.

The winged woman had also been teleported away by the lightning formation beneath her feet, and a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he flapped his wings again, releasing countless arcs of lightning to form another shimmering silver lightning formation.

After that, he stepped into the formation and disappeared in a flash, following which the golden vortex disintegrated amid a dull thump.

Only then did the remaining three devilish beings escape from the restrictive force, and all of them wore expressions of shock and fury.

However, the petite woman's expression quickly eased slightly as she said, "They haven't been teleported too far away; I can sense that they're still within 10,000 kilometers of us. If we want to reunite with them, we'll be able to do so very quickly."

"That's good to hear. It's a good thing that you can directly communicate with our other fellow daoists using your secret technique. Otherwise, we'd all be very concerned." The golden-armored man's expression also eased slightly upon hearing this.

The three-eyed devilish man was clearly also very relieved to hear this, yet right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted nearby.

The golden light barrier that was facing the barrage of attacks suddenly exploded as a ball of golden light. Countless streaks of golden light shot forth at once, destroying all of the nearby attacks before piercing into the swarm of red hornets up above in a flash.

Countless hornets were instantly killed by the streaks of golden light with only just over 100 fortunate survivors, all of which immediately scattered in a panicked manner.

At the same time, a terrifying aura that struck one with a sense of asphyxiation erupted into the heavens, following which a mountainous golden crab emerged within the golden light.

"That's the holy crab from the Devilish Origin Sea! It's a Faux Immortal Puppet as powerful as a Sacred Ancestor; what is it doing here?!"

The golden-armored man and petite woman were stunned by the sight of Daoist Xie's true form, and they immediately began to retreat with horrified expressions as devilish Qi surged out of their bodies. It was clear that they were preparing to flee as soon as the giant golden crab made a move.

The three-eyed devilish being displayed no intention to flee, but he was also clearly quite astonished. However, a burst of radiance then flashed through his three eyes, upon which a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"It seems that you've all seen me in the past. I'll make things simple for you; if the three of you wait here until Fellow Daoist Han concludes his battle against your companions, then I won't attack you for now. Otherwise, I'll be forced to step in," the giant golden crab said.

The petite woman and golden-armored man's faces paled upon hearing this, and they immediately faltered in their retreat.

"There's no need to be afraid, fellow daoists; this holy crab's aura is nowhere near what it had been back in the Devilish Origin Sea, and it's currently not even at the Grand Ascension Stage. It seems that this Faux Immortal Puppet's cultivation base has been severely debilitated for some reason, so the three of us should be able to face it," the three-eyed devilish being yelled as he abruptly patted a leather pouch hanging from his waist.

A burst of rainbow light swept forth from the opening of the pouch, following which three translucent jade-like skeletons appeared before him. Each of the skeletons held a white bone shield in one hand and a bone hammer in the other, and they were arranged in a row next to one another.

All of the skeletons were giving off mid-Body Integration Stage auras.

A hint of surprise appeared in the petite woman's eyes, and she hurriedly asked, "Are you sure there's something wrong with this golden crab?"

"Fellow Daoist Ming has cultivated the Treasured Dharmic Eyes, so I'm sure his judgment is reliable. This holy crab won't let us escape anyway, so as opposed to resigning ourselves to being divided and conquered, we may as well join forces to challenge it," the golden-armored man said with a hint of killing intent in his eyes as he tightened his grip around the shaft of his ax.

"I had heard rumors that the golden crab had been taken away by a human; I didn't think that I would encounter it here. Seeing as both of you are willing to oppose it, I'll do my best as well," the petite woman said after a brief hesitation.

"Alright, even if we can't defeat this holy crab, we'll definitely be able to stall it for now. Once our fellow daoists take care of that human cultivator, the five of us will be able to join forces and destroy this Faux Immortal Puppet as well," the three-eyed devilish being said in a confident voice.

"I certainly hope so," the petite woman replied with a wry smile.

The woman recalled that the human cultivator who had taken away the golden crab seemed to be quite powerful, but due to the fact that she had been situated in the Spirit Realm this entire time, the news that she had received from the holy realm was rather lacking in detail. As such, she merely regarded those rumors as hyperbole and didn't pay them any heed.

"Alright, seeing as we've arrived at a consensus, let's attack together," the golden-armored man guffawed as he opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence onto his own ax.

The blood essence scattered into a cloud of blood mist that instantly vanished into the ax, and the golden-armored man began to chant something, upon which the giant ax quickly turned a bright red color.

The ax was then hurled up into the air, and it vanished into space as a streak of crimson light.

In the next instant, the sound of rumbling thunder and howling wind rang out as dark clouds converged from out of nowhere, making the entire sky pitch-black.

A thick silver snake flashed through the air, and a mountainous crimson ax could be seen within the dark clouds. It was several thousand feet in length with wisps of devilish Qi emanating from it, and it was giving off an extremely fearsome aura.

The three-eyed devilish being and the petite woman exchanged a glance upon seeing this before springing into action as well.

The three skeletons in front of the three-eyed devilish being blurred, following which they appeared around the giant golden crab in a triangular formation. They raised their bone shields in defense, then immediately swung their bone hammers through the air.

A burst of ghostly howls instantly erupted from the three hammers alongside fierce black Qi, and around a dozen giant tentacles were manifested before sweeping viciously toward the giant crab.

Meanwhile, the petite woman opened her mouth to release a shimmering silver gourd, and she pointed a finger at it, upon which a vast expanse of pink light surged forth to manifest a series of pink devilish crows.

These crows had golden beaks and silver eyes, creating a very peculiar sight to behold.

The petite woman let loose a sharp cry, and the flock of crows was instantly mobilized.

In response to all of this, the giant golden crab merely raised its pair of massive pincers, and countless arcs of silver lightning surged out of its body amid a loud thunderclap, forming a huge net of lightning around itself.

At the same time, lightning converged toward its pair of pincers, and a pair of massive balls of lightning that were as large as houses were created.

Thus, a fierce battle commenced between Daoist Xie and the three devils.

......

Close to 10,000 kilometers away, Han Li was standing in mid-air between a pair of mountains with a faint smile on his face. The golden projection behind him had already taken on a substantial form, and there were 72 small azure swords surging through the air beneath him, manifesting layers of azure lotus flowers that were carrying his body.

Directly across from him were the green-robed elderly man and winged woman, both of whom were glowering intently at him.