The flamboyant man and Dong Xuan'er, who had been standing together, were also sent hurtling backward by the man's rosy light.
A Core Formation stage cultivator's vengeful strike was not something the three of them could withstand!
The sky full of white sword light, propelled by the masked woman, pursued them for over ten zhang before suddenly dissipating like clouds and mist, vanishing without a trace.
At the same time, the woman standing on her magical treasure swayed several times, looking as if she might fall at any moment.
Seeing this, the flamboyant man and the young lord of the Ghost Spirit Sect were overjoyed. They immediately switched from retreat to advance, charging forward.
Han Li, watching from below, saw the situation change and, without hesitation, patted his storage pouch. Thirteen "Red-Line Escape Needles" automatically jumped into his hands, which he gripped tightly.
Even if it was dangerous to act now, Han Li could not stand by and watch Nangong Wan perish.
After all, no matter how selfish and cold he was, he was not truly devoid of all familial feeling or cruel beyond measure. Moreover, he was confident that while he might not yet be a match for the young lord of the Ghost Spirit Sect and his companion, he had more than enough ability to escape if he truly set his mind to it.
Just as Han Li raised his hand, ready to release these flying needles to save the masked woman, the situation in the sky took a sudden and drastic turn.
The masked woman, who had appeared unsteady on her sword, suddenly stabilized as Wang Chan and the others closed in. Her beautiful eyes flashed with cold light.
Wang Chan and the flamboyant man, seeing this, revealed expressions of horror and immediately realized they had fallen for a trap.
But when they wanted to turn and flee, it was already too late.
The woman raised her hands, and countless sword auras shot skyward once more. The blinding white light completely engulfed the three of them.
Seeing this scene, Han Li felt a slight relief, and the magical treasure he had been gripping tightly loosened slightly.
At this moment, the entire sky was illuminated in a gray-white hue by the masked woman's sword light. Within that white light, the blood mist and rosy light, though teetering like small boats in a raging storm, somehow managed to cling on. In particular, the flamboyant man and Dong Xuan'er, within the rosy light, shot out strange green and red beams from their hands, actually managing to offset the frenzied assault of the sword light.
This situation made Han Li frown slightly. After a moment's thought, he silently vanished from his spot.
Meanwhile, the masked woman in the sky was extremely anxious!
Although she had used a stratagem to trap these two junior demon cultivators, the intensity of her current attack was surprisingly unable to deal with the three of them. This was truly beyond her expectations.
Moreover, not long ago, she had fought a fierce battle with a Core Formation stage cultivator from the demonic path. The outcome had been that she nearly perished together with her opponent after exhausting her mana.
Although she had later escaped the encirclement, the severity of her injuries had been shocking even to herself.
What was worse, the spiritual treasure closely connected to her primordial spirit had been heavily damaged in the battle and could not be used for some time.
Furthermore, because there were still pursuers, she had no choice but to use a secret technique that greatly damaged her vital essence. She forcibly extracted a portion of her inner potential to stimulate a sliver of spiritual power, allowing her to control her treasure and escape.
However, unexpectedly, while most of the demonic path cultivators had been shaken off, these three possessed peculiar demonic arts and were able to chase relentlessly after her.
Thus, she could only try to eliminate these three. Otherwise, once the effects of the secret technique wore off, even as a Core Formation stage cultivator, she would be at their mercy.
The reason she chose to stop here was because her spiritual sense had detected a cultivator in the area. Although she did not know who it was, the person definitely did not possess the demonic energy of the six demon sects. This was certain.
Furthermore, this person was a mid Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. He was either a cultivator from a major immortal cultivation clan or an allied cultivator from one of the other five sects.
Therefore, harboring the thought that things could not possibly get any worse, she had fled to this location, fully intending to drag this cultivator into the situation as well. Perhaps this way, there might be some turn for the better.
But she never expected that this person's spiritual sense was also quite strong. He had hidden himself far away upon hearing the noise, adopting an attitude of not wanting to attract trouble.
Thus, the masked woman could only stop and face the enemy alone, which made her grit her teeth with hatred toward this person.
Yet another fatal unexpected event occurred.
These three demonic path cultivators turned out to be tenaciously resilient, and they also possessed extremely formidable defensive magical treasures. The techniques and abilities she could cast using her remaining spiritual power were, for the moment, unable to eliminate them.
The high-grade talismans and other powerful magical treasures she had on her person had long since been completely exhausted in the prolonged battles of the past few days.
Now, she felt the very last bit of mana within her body about to vanish. This made her heart sink!
Wang Chan and the others, who were desperately enduring opposite her sword light, felt the pressure like a mountain gradually lessen, and then the sword light dissipated completely.
This left the three of them stunned, but they immediately saw the masked woman standing woodenly on her magical treasure, her eyes dull and lifeless, her body trembling pitifully.
After exchanging a glance, Wang Chan and the flamboyant man felt a surge of joy. However, the suffering they had just endured made them hesitate, not daring to act rashly.
But just then, a beam of white light shot up from below. This light was as fast as lightning, arriving before the masked woman in the blink of an eye. Within the white light, a figure seemed to flash, catching the masked woman around the waist. Then, the white light turned and, to their astonishment, flew back down along the original path.
This scene infuriated Wang Chan and the flamboyant man.
How could they allow the fat meat that was already at their lips to be snatched away by someone else? Without a second thought, they cast their escape techniques and pursued straight down.
However, Dong Xuan'er remained stationary this time, showing no intention of giving chase. Instead, she revealed an expression of suspicion and surprise. Because that figure seemed incredibly familiar to her, causing her to hesitate.
The distance of several dozen zhang allowed the white light to descend almost instantly into a dense forest below. As the white light subsided, it revealed an unassuming young man.
This man was holding the masked woman tightly with one arm, raising his head to look at the pursuing Wang Chan and the other man. His face was completely expressionless.
But the masked woman struggled weakly in his embrace, her eyes filled with shame and anger, seemingly scolding the man. Yet the young man paid no heed whatsoever.
"So it's you!"
"It's you!"
After clearly seeing the man's appearance, Wang Chan and the flamboyant man cried out almost simultaneously.
Both had recognized Han Li, who had suddenly intervened. After a startled glance at each other, they no longer hesitated and each unleashed their powers, charging toward Han Li.
Wang Chan's blood mist surged, instantly filling a space of twenty or thirty zhang. The scent of blood intensified, its imposing momentum truly terrifying.
The flamboyant man let out a cold laugh. Suddenly, a jade flute appeared in his hand. With a slight wave, a clear, melodious sound rang out. The rosy light on his body responded to this sound, detaching to transform into a pink peacock that flew straight toward Han Li. The man himself followed closely behind the peacock, unwilling to fall behind.
Seeing the two of them approaching fiercely, Han Li finally revealed a trace of panic.
He suddenly stepped on the small boat beneath his feet. The boat immediately emitted a blinding white light and trembled slightly, as if it were about to shoot forth.
At this moment, the formidable offensive of Wang Chan and the other man had already reached above Han Li's head, completely blocking his escape path. They could even clearly see that the masked woman, who had been struggling moments ago, had suddenly become still, her bright eyes filled with despair.
This put their minds at ease! It seemed this female Core Formation stage cultivator was completely powerless to resist!
Yet the panicked Han Li's expression changed in an instant, a strange smile appearing on his face.
Seeing Han Li reveal this expression, the two prodigies of the demonic path couldn't help but feel a jolt of apprehension in their hearts.
Suddenly, the scenery before them changed. Han Li and the masked woman vanished like a gentle breeze. Instead, two enormous boulders appeared before them. This caused Wang Chan and the flamboyant man to hastily and fearfully halt their escape techniques, looking around in astonishment.
What they saw made their faces change.
The surroundings were no longer a forest. Instead, countless towering stone pillars, like a forest, had appeared. They were trapped within an illusion formation.
Wang Chan and the flamboyant man were furious.
Although this illusion formation was not very powerful, and breaking it would not take them much effort, it was enough to allow Han Li to make off with their quarry. This only intensified the two demonic sect young lords' hatred for Han Li, making him detestable to the core.
"Brother Wang, let's break the formation quickly. Don't forget, my junior sister Dong is still outside! With her cultivation, she can at least stall him for a moment." The flamboyant man suddenly remembered something and said to Wang Chan with a cold smile.
"Ah, I almost forgot about that! But that girl, I recall she used to be a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley. Will she actually intervene to stop him?" Wang Chan's face showed a flash of joy, but he spoke with some disbelief.
Hearing this, the flamboyant man hesitated, his tone uncertain as he replied:
"She probably will! After all, Dong Xuan'er's status in our Harmony Sect is not low, far better than being an ordinary disciple in Yellow Maple Valley! And my father has not treated her poorly!"