Chapter 492: Chapter 498: Phantom Shadow Chapter 492: Chapter 498: Phantom Shadow The Spirit Void Fox was truly a natural spatial Spirit Beast, for Hu Linghuan, Space Power was as tame as a long-domesticated petâsummoned with a mere gesture.
Wave after wave of astonishingly powerful Spatial Blades allowed Hu Linghuan to steal the spotlight, while Li Zhirui seemed somewhat ragged and at a loss, barely able to defend himself.
It appeared that Hu Linghuan held the upper hand and Li Zhirui was in great peril. It wouldnât be long before he would be defeated and forced to flee.
As time passed, however, Hu Linghuanâs expression grew increasingly ugly. In contrast, Li Zhirui seemed relaxed and comfortable, effortlessly dealing with the aggressive offense.
Hu Linghuan had just achieved his breakthrough and thus his mana was inadequately built up. Furthermore, as the aggressor, his mana consumption was substantial.
On the other hand, Li Zhirui, no matter how busy he was over the years, had always made time to absorb Spiritual Energy and hone his mana. Years of accumulation simply couldnât be matched by a Great Devil newly advanced to the fourth tier.
Of course, Hu Linghuan was no fool. He quickly recognized Li Zhiruiâs strategy, but the problem was that he was out of solutions.
Li Zhiruiâs power was far superior to his. If not for Hu Linghuanâs unique bloodline talents, he wouldnât have lasted long and would have already been harmed and forced to flee.
Now Hu Linghuan faced two choicesâeither give up and return home to continue his cultivation before seeking trouble with the Li family again,
or continue to grit his teeth and hope that Li Zhirui would reveal a weakness. However, it was very likely that he would collapse first and, should that happen, his fate would certainly not be a pleasant one.
After hesitating, Hu Linghuan couldnât bear to retreat like this. He wanted to gamble on the chance that Li Zhirui couldnât overcome his bloodline talents.
Swish, swish, swishâ
Having made up his mind, Hu Linghuan took out a Precious Pill infused with dense Spiritual Energy from his Storage Magical Treasure and swallowed it. The mana he had nearly expended was instantly replenished, and his offensive strength surged once again.
âA Hidden Spirit Treasure Pill? Thatâs quite extravagant!â As an Alchemist, Li Zhirui naturally recognized this famous fourth-tier Precious Pill.
It was a treasure capable of instantly restoring mana, incredibly precious. Others would treasure it as a rare family heirloom, not to be used lightly.
Yet Hu Linghuan, in a bid to deal with Li Zhirui, had actually chosen to consume such a priceless Precious Pill.
âAs long as I can capture you and annihilate the Li family, fulfilling my aspirations, what is one Hidden Spirit Treasure Pill to me?!â Hu Linghuanâs eyes were filled with spite and venom.
Being a privileged scion from birth, he had suffered humiliation at the hands of Li Zhixuan in the Secret Realm and had hated her to the core ever since, wishing to flay her and lash her bones, to savor her flesh and drink her blood, to crush her bones and scatter her ashes.
By association, he harbored deep resentment toward the family she belonged to.
âThen it remains to be seen whether you have the capability to do so,â Li Zhirui replied with a cold smile, flipping his hand and taking a Spirit Pill into his mouth to slowly replenish his mana.
Though not as conspicuously effective as the Hidden Spirit Treasure Pill, the Spirit Pill he had personally concocted was nonetheless not too shabby.
âIâve been working on a Spell recently. Itâs not perfectly refined yet, so please lend your strength to assist my testing!â
No sooner had the words left his mouth than hundreds of green lights flew from Li Zhiruiâs fingertips into the surrounding flora, transforming into fiercely charging devil beasts and pouncing toward Hu Linghuan.
âWood Commanders Divine Power?â After taking a careful look, Hu Linghuan scoffed, âA mere illusion, and you dare to display it? Arenât you afraid to make a fool of yourself?â
Li Zhirui said nothing but smiled. The Plant Spirits he summoned were not as mighty as those from the Wood Commanders spell, but they did have one advantageâ
They required less mana!
If Li Zhirui were to unleash his full power, he could summon tens of thousands of Plant Spirits in one go. Even though their strength lay between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core, they could still cause significant trouble for a Nascent Soul Cultivator.
However, what Li Zhirui was about to do next didnât require the use of that many Plant Spirits.
âSince you lack self-awareness, Iâll give you a hand,â Li Zhiruiâs eyes flickered with a ruthless light as his hands formed a spell, and the hundreds of Spirits rapidly expanded, emitting an extremely terrifying aura.
Boomâ
With the casting of the last spell, the hundreds of Spirits exploded all at once!
A horrific wave of energy swept through everything nearby, turning anything it touched to ash in an instant, dissipating between heaven and earth.
But most importantly, the surrounding space became unstable as well.
Hu Linghuan reacted extremely fast, leaping out of the space at the first opportunity and fleeing.
âIâve finally forced you out!â A smile appeared on Li Zhiruiâs face.
He hadnât wanted to use this move from the start, for its power was too great, and he couldnât fully control it; a single misstep might have led to injuring himself.
But Hu Linghuan was relentless, determined to entangle with Li Zhirui, leaving him no choice but to resort to this indiscriminate tactic.
And this was the only move Li Zhirui had up his sleeve that could shake the fabric of space.
âEven if youâve gone to great lengths to force me out, what can you do?â Hu Linghuan disdainfully glanced at him and said, âIn less than a quarter of an hour, the space will settle, and youâll still be unable to do anything to me!â
âA quarter of an hour is more than enough!â Li Zhirui confidently declared.
âLet me show you my true strength!â
Vines and trees rose from the ground, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a deep, ancient forest, trapping Hu Linghuan before he could even grasp what had happened.
âBurial of Ten Thousand Trees!â
Vines whipped through the air, leaves shot out explosively, and even the flowers and grass launched relentless attacks; this piece of the world completely became a domain of plants, carrying the âpower of the worldâ, and slammed towards Hu Linghuan.
âIf you canât withstand this, you will die!â Spirit Sense was frantically pulsating, continuously warning Hu Linghuan to escape quickly.
But this âworldâ crafted to imprison Hu Linghuan had no safe exit.
Roar!
Despite his reluctance, faced with a life-or-death crisis, Hu Linghuan activated the life-saving Jade Talisman given by his ancestor.
A humongous Spirit Void Fox emerged from the Talisman, the supreme ruler of the Taixu Devil Race, a top-tier Great Devil in the late fourth stage!
âLingâerâs life-saving Talisman has been triggered!â
Far away, thousands of miles distant, Hu Qingshan instantly projected his power over, and the previously still Ling Xu now seemed as though its true form had arrived.
The moment Hu Qingshan arrived, he reacted by creating a small space, redirecting Li Zhiruiâs attacks into it.
Watching the space in his palm extinguish instantly, and needing to intervene again to completely clear the remaining force, a murderous intent flashed in Hu Qingshanâs eyes as he looked toward Li Zhirui.
And Li Zhirui, whose Mana was nearly depleted from unleashing Burial of Ten Thousand Trees, faced this intense killing intent without hesitation, swiftly swallowing several Spirit Revitalizing Pills.