But it was a top-tier artifact forged from the white phosphorus of the "Mo Jiao"! Through years of fighting with Han Li, aside from a small hole pierced by the "Blood Spirit Drill" some days ago, it had never suffered major damage. Yet now, it was destroyed by a monster. Han Li could hardly believe it.
At this moment, with the moonlight stone above, Han Li faintly saw the monster's shape, which was very strange. It wasn't very large, only about ten feet tall, with a slender neck and a small head atop it. But two fist-sized balls of green light glowed coldly, staring at him without any emotion.
What caught Han Li's attention most was that in front of it, its two forelimbs were like two dark, cleaver-like sharp blades, which astounded Han Li!
This monster could actually use weapons! But what cleaver was so sharp that it could cleave through the "White Phosphorus Shield" in one strike?
These thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind in an instant, but his body had already blurred and shot out of the cave like an arrow.
He was joking! In this small cave, tangled with such a terrifying monster, he wouldn't have enough lives even if he had several more. Naturally, it was more advantageous to flee outside!
But as soon as Han Li moved, the monster silently sprang after him, its speed astonishingly swift as well.
The cave was only so short a distance; Han Li and the monster shot out of the cave one after the other, stirring up two gusts of wind.
As soon as he exited the cave, Han Li raised his hand without thinking, a beam of white light shot from his palm, and then the pristine Divine Wind Boat appeared in the air before him.
He intended to command the Divine Wind Boat to take to the skies!
Since his artifacts couldn't withstand the monster's attacks, he would create distance. Then, using his artifacts, he could beat it to pieces.
But because Han Li was slightly delayed by releasing his artifact, a dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and the monster, arriving after him but getting there first, rushed to position itself between Han Li and the Divine Wind Boat. Its two cleaver-like forelimbs "clanged" against each other a few times, its gaze coldly fixed on Han Li.
Seeing this, Han Li's heart went cold.
This monster was not only so powerful but also possessed a certain level of intelligence. This was going to be trouble.
However, after leaving the dark cave, under the moonlight, Han Li recognized the monster before him—it was a huge mantis, its entire body gray-black, emanating an eerie gray aura.
Han Li took a light breath, suppressing the unease in his heart. His figure blurred, conjuring five or six identical afterimages, which charged straight toward the giant mantis. Han Li didn't believe that his fully unleashed Luo Yan Step couldn't break past a monster's obstruction.
The mantis's green eyes flashed, and it similarly conjured several blurred shadows, each meeting one of Han Li's afterimages.
Han Li's expression changed drastically!
With a few soft "pfft" sounds, Han Li's afterimages were shattered one by one by the mantis's two arms. His real body was forced to use the remaining turtle shell artifact to block hard. As a result, he was sent flying back to his original position. Moreover, a deep slashing mark appeared on the turtle shell.
Han Li looked at the slashing mark on the turtle shell with a pale face, swallowing dryly. Clearly, this artifact couldn't withstand many more strikes.
But before Han Li could devise a plan, the mantis let out a "zila" sound, a pair of gray wings several feet long unfurled, and then a buzzing sound rang out as the monster gently floated into the air under the rapid beating of its wings.
Seeing this scene, Han Li cursed inwardly. How had he forgotten that mantises were insects and could fly? This meant the monster's speed would be even more terrifying.
For the first time, Han Li felt somewhat lacking in confidence in his own movement technique.
Despite this, Han Li quickly cast various auxiliary spells like the "Lightness Technique" on himself and patted the storage pouch at his waist. A dozen or so beams of gold, black, and red light shot out together.
He wanted to strike first to gain the initiative.
But the mantis monster didn't wait for Han Li to launch his artifact attack. Just as its body had floated up, a dark shadow flashed, and it vanished from its spot without a trace. But the next moment, it reappeared out of thin air above Han Li's head, aiming a vicious slash at his skull, clearly intending to split Han Li in two with a single blow.
At this moment, Han Li's expression was incredibly calm.
He similarly swayed his shoulders, and after a trail of afterimages appeared, he also vanished from his spot. But the dozen or so "Gold" artifacts orbiting his body immediately converged on the mantis monster, clearly intending to tear it to shreds with a flurry of blades.
A series of "clangs" rang out as the giant mantis waved the two mantis blades in its hands at a speed invisible to the naked eye, forming a huge protective net. The moment the artifacts made contact, three gold blades and a fire fork were instantly chopped to pieces, turning into specks of fluorescent light that fell from the air.
Seeing this situation, Han Li, who had seized the opportunity to rush onto the Divine Wind Boat, felt extremely pained.
He hurriedly recalled the remaining artifacts, but to no avail, the remaining few lights turned around and flew back together.
However, the giant mantis wasn't willing to let it go. Its forelimbs crossed and scraped against each other slightly, its body suddenly shot forward, transforming into a black line that rapidly gave chase. In an instant, it caught up to these artifacts and, without any politeness, unleashed another flurry of slashes. Two more gold blades snapped into several sections and fell to the dust.
Han Li felt as if his heart was bleeding!
This set of "Gold Blades" was originally a matched set, extremely convenient to use in daily life, and this set of artifacts had followed him for so many years, he already had some affection for them. He never expected that today, eight or nine out of ten would be destroyed.
Fortunately, the pair of "Wu Long Duo" that Han Li valued the most was still intact; at least one of them wasn't destroyed. This was a blessing in disguise.
But looking at the mantis monster that was still staring intently at him, Han Li couldn't feel any sense of blessing. If he didn't find a good way to deal with this creature, he was afraid that not only the remaining artifacts but also his own life would likely be in jeopardy.
Thinking of this, the spiritual energy beneath Han Li's feet erupted wildly. Instantly, the Divine Wind Boat, trembling slightly, transformed into a beam of white light and shot up into the sky. Han Li didn't believe that a monster could actually keep up with the flying speed of the Divine Wind Boat.
But after flying at high altitude for only a moment, Han Li had to change his mind, admitting that he was a frog at the bottom of a well.
Now, he was frantically fleeing ahead while occasionally looking back to instantly release a few fireballs to hinder the mantis monster that was closely following behind.
"This is too bizarre. This monster not only attacks swiftly, but its flying speed is also incredibly fast. Even Han Li's Divine Wind Boat is slightly slower compared to it." Han Li thought dejectedly.
He was now certain that this monster was definitely much more powerful than the white spider from the underground cavern back then.
This giant mantis was either at the peak of a fourth-level monster or a legendary fifth-level monster. That was a creature that could almost rival an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!
The more Han Li considered this possibility, the colder the sweat on his back became. He had to desperately release fireballs to hinder the monster's relentless advance. Although every fireball he launched was easily cleaved in half by it, at least it could slow its figure slightly and buy some time for the Divine Wind Boat.
But Han Li knew very well that if this continued, being caught up by his opponent was only a matter of time. He absolutely couldn't let this stalemate continue. Therefore, while controlling the boat and releasing fireballs, he still used a split consciousness to hurriedly search his storage pouch for any artifacts that could be used at this moment.
Suddenly, something extremely soft was found by Han Li's spiritual sense, which gave him a flash of inspiration. He immediately had an idea.
Thus, after looking down at the environment below, Han Li stomped hard on the Divine Wind Boat beneath his feet and actually directed the artifact to fly diagonally down toward the dense jungle below.
At the same time, he fumbled out seven or eight ordinary artifacts from his storage pouch, regardless of anything, and released them all together. Then, four or five puppet soldiers were also thrown out in a flash of white light. Instantly, several piercing beams of light, following the artifacts, shot toward the monster behind.
This frantic attack indeed made the giant mantis wave its arms to deal with it for a moment. Although it quickly chopped the artifacts and puppets to pieces, when it wanted to search for Han Li again, the forest below was silent. Han Li had vanished without a trace among the sea of trees.
The monster's green eyes flickered uncertainly. It slowly flew down to a low altitude and then circled above the dense forest nearby, looking as if it still wanted to find Han Li.
Behind a large tree in the dense forest below, Han Li was solemnly watching the giant mantis circling overhead, a hint of tension in his eyes.
At this moment, he was draped in a cloak-like light gauze, which completely isolated all the various auras from Han Li's body.
This "Spirit-Hiding Gauze" was the spoils Han Li had obtained from Xuan Le during the battle with the white spider. Back then, Xuan Le had intended to use it to trap Han Li, but instead lost his life because of it. This gauze could not only isolate fluctuations in spiritual energy but also completely mask a person's bodily scent and aura.
Now, Han Li was using this artifact as a last resort, hoping that this monster wasn't too intelligent and would leave on its own after searching for a while without finding him. Otherwise, he would be in trouble.
However, just in case, Han Li still held that solidified "Blood Spirit Drill" in one hand.
Although this thing was incredibly fast and had great killing power, after seeing the giant mantis's astonishing speed, Han Li really didn't have the confidence to use it to kill this monster. Therefore, he only took it out as a precaution.