Chapter 1009: Unexpected Encounter

Volume 6: Spirit Treasures of Reaching Heaven

Han Li slowly rose, reaching out with one hand towards a nearby red cloud in the void. A large azure hand materialized out of thin air, seizing the colorful cloud.

A low incantation began.

Han Li stared at the large hand, his own hands forming a strange seal as he chanted under his breath.

The hand trembled, then its five fingers closed, gripping the red cloud tightly in its palm.

A brilliant azure light burst forth, and the large hand quickly transformed into a dazzling, blinding orb.

But Han Li immediately opened his mouth, and a wisp of azure Infant Flame shot out, gently coiling around the orb. Soon, fierce flames rapidly enveloped the orb, completely encasing it.

At this point, Han Li let his incantation dissolve, gazing at the orb expressionlessly, silent.

After an unknown period, Han Li’s mouth twitched, and he suddenly flicked his sleeve towards the flames in the air, sending a wave of iridescent light sweeping over them.

The flames immediately extinguished, revealing a light red, spherical pearl.

“It seems I was right! Such a sophisticated method of concealing and transforming objects could only belong to ancient cultivators. But even among ancient cultivators, how many would have known this kind of formation? It’s fortunate that the ancient texts Xin Ruoyin gave me years ago contained a similar restriction. Otherwise, I truly wouldn’t have known how to break this formation. It seems I need to further enhance the power of my Spirit Eye in the future. If I can continue using the Spirit-Cleansing Elixir for another hundred years or so, I should be able to see through this top-tier illusion art.” Han Li sighed, feeling somewhat frustrated that his Spirit Eye couldn’t currently pierce this formation.

He no longer paid attention to the floating red pearl. His gaze swept around, then settled on a blue cloud. He similarly extended a large hand to grasp it, then exhaled a wisp of Infant Flame.

This time, the cloud vanished into nothingness in the flames in an instant.

Han Li’s face showed no change. He immediately reached for another blue cloud.

After two consecutive failures, he finally refined another blue pearl.

In this manner, after spending most of a day, he refined three more pearls: yellow, green, and gold.

Then, Han Li solemnly beckoned to the pearls. The spheres, which had been floating nearby, immediately flew towards him.

With a flurry of finger movements, he guided them. The pearls began to revolve slowly around him, gathering speed until they gradually formed a five-colored ring. The ring shimmered with spiritual light, appearing profoundly mysterious.

“Go!” Han Li raised his eyebrows and let out a low cry.

His finger movements ceased, and the five-colored ring disintegrated. The pearls then shot out in all directions with an extremely profound trajectory.

In an instant, the pearls flew to five seemingly unrelated points nearby, spinning continuously, while also mysteriously expanding and contracting.

The moment Han Li narrowed his eyes, several loud "rumbling" sounds echoed. The five pearls simultaneously exploded, and five light orbs of different colors emerged, emitting dazzling light, as if five exotic suns had simultaneously appeared in the space.

Even Han Li instinctively closed his eyes, unable to directly look at these blinding rays.

As the five types of light converged and filled the entire space, the surrounding scenery shifted. Then, Han Li’s vision blurred, and he suddenly found himself on a familiar stone staircase. Not far away was the huge rock where they had originally seen spirit herbs growing.

“Fellow Daoist Han!”

“Brother Han!”

A man’s and a woman’s exclamations sounded beside Han Li.

Han Li’s gaze shifted, and he saw that Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Fu were also standing several feet away. Both looked extremely dispirited, but their faces were now filled with pleasant surprise.

“You two are free as well!” Han Li said calmly.

“Brother Han must have broken this strange restriction! I’ve never seen such a terrifying formation before; I truly thought I was going to be trapped to death in there!” Old Man Fu said, still showing signs of lingering fear.

Clearly, this elder of the Nine Nether Sect had suffered considerably under that mysterious restriction; both his magic power and mental state appeared significantly damaged.

“My situation is similar to Brother Fu’s. I was completely at a loss in that restriction. This time, it’s all thanks to Brother Han’s efforts in breaking the formation,” Bai Yaoyi said with a wry smile, a hint of gratitude subtly appearing on her jade-like face.

“It’s nothing. I just happened to have heard of a similar restriction, which allowed me to break this formation.

This ancient restriction is indeed a very rare type. If I’m not mistaken, the spirit herb Brother Fu took was likely a transformed magical artifact. Fellow Daoist, you probably fell for a significant trick.” Han Li chuckled.

“Transformed? No way. I clearly… Huh, what is this?” Old Man Fu was stunned by Han Li’s words. As he spoke, half-believing and half-doubting, he took out a jade box from his storage bag.

However, there was no spirit herb inside. Instead, there was an ordinary jade Ruyi scepter.

The old man was immediately dumbfounded.

“Actually, the moment the three of us stepped onto that giant rock, we were already subjected to the illusion of this restriction. Your act of picking the spirit herb only triggered the most powerful part of the formation. Fellow Daoist, perhaps you should look there again!” Han Li’s eyes flashed as he casually pointed towards the giant rock.

The old man and Bai Yaoyi looked in that direction as instructed, only to see a spirit herb with a string of purple berries growing on the giant rock.

“These ancient cultivators were truly insidious to set up such a treacherous trap here. What were they thinking!” The old man immediately became exasperated.

Bai Yaoyi’s cherry lips were slightly parted, looking astonished.

“There’s no need to be surprised, fellow Daoists. This kind of ancient restriction originally required a magical artifact to be actively touched by someone entering the formation to fully unleash its power. Naturally, it would transform into this appearance. And as for this restriction, I’ve only temporarily broken it, not completely destroyed it,” Han Li said unhurriedly.

“This Kunwu Mountain doesn’t seem like a celestial mountain; it’s more like a dragon’s den and a tiger’s lair!” The old man, seeing the spirit herb he had obtained was gone, naturally looked quite dejected.

“In the future, we should be more careful. This is no ordinary ancient cultivator’s ruin. If anything strange happens, it’s best not to act rashly, lest you invite trouble.

This time, I happened to be able to break this formation, but next time, I wouldn’t have such confidence. Do both of you understand what I mean?” Han Li’s eyes flickered a few times, his voice slightly deepened, then suddenly turned cold.

“This… I, Fu, will not act rashly again in the future.” Old Man Fu let out an awkward, dry chuckle. He had indeed been a bit reckless in taking the spirit herb this time.

Bai Yaoyi also nodded thoughtfully.

“Since both fellow Daoists understand, let’s go. The sounds from the mountain have stopped. We’ve delayed for several days; others may have already reached the mountain peak.” Han Li glanced at the direction of the mountain peak, then led the way once more along the stone steps.

Bai Yaoyi and the old man naturally followed closely.

This time, they encountered no further trouble. Several hours later, the three of them finally flew past several enormous mountain ridges and arrived at the stone pavilion where the Ye family cultivators had entered that day. It was also where Xiang Zhili had mysteriously disappeared from.

Seeing the stone pavilion, Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi didn’t react much, but Han Li let out a soft exclamation. He suddenly stopped, staring at a particular spot on the ground outside the pavilion.

The old man and the other cultivator followed his gaze and also noticed something unusual.

On the soft ground, there was a shallow, faint footprint. If one didn’t pay close attention, it would be easy to overlook.

“Sure enough, other cultivators have been here!” Bai Yaoyi said, her pearly teeth slightly exposed as she exhaled softly, her eyebrows tightly furrowed.

“Not only that, look at the rock over there!” The old man murmured, sweeping his gaze towards a particular rock beside the stone pavilion.

On that rock, there was a groove about several feet long, narrow and deep, clearly the mark left by extremely powerful sword energy. This was precisely the mark inadvertently left by the yellow sword energy that shot out from the Ye family’s Seventh Uncle that day.

“This sword mark is also fresh. It seems not only have people been here, but they also appear to have fought with something. Could it be that Silver-winged Yaksha?” Bai Yaoyi said, her autumn eyes swirling.

“Perhaps! It seems those people also ascended along the stone steps. That’s excellent; someone has paved the way for us. We can save ourselves some trouble,” Han Li said with unusual calm.

As Old Man Fu heard this and was about to smile and say something, a white light suddenly flashed on a nearby barrier, and a white, fuzzy figure shot out from within.

Because the figure appeared directly in front of Han Li and the other two, they saw it clearly. Han Li and Bai Yaoyi immediately felt both surprise and delight.

They had never imagined that the exit they were looking for was right under their noses.

However, when Old Man Fu saw this white figure, his expression immediately changed dramatically.

“Five-Heart Concentric Demon, it’s Old Devil Qian’s demon avatar!” Han Li was startled by these words. Although he felt he had heard of the Five-Heart Concentric Demon somewhere before, he couldn’t immediately recall who the so-called Old Devil Qian was. Bai Yaoyi’s face, upon hearing this, also suddenly turned pale.

Just then, several "thump, thump" sounds successively echoed, and four more identical figures emerged from the white barrier.

Five faint, ethereal white figures stood side by side in a row, their ten emotionless gazes simultaneously fixed on Han Li and the two beside him.

“The Grand Elder of the Yin Luo Sect!” Upon seeing the five figures’ strange appearance, Han Li finally recalled their origin, and his expression instantly turned grim.

“So, it’s Fellow Daoist Fu, what a coincidence! No wonder my subordinates couldn’t find Fellow Daoist anywhere; it turns out you entered this place first. This fairy, with her peculiar attire, could she be a cultivator from the North Night Minor Palace? I am an old acquaintance of your palace’s Lady Liu. As for this last fellow Daoist, tsk tsk! Could you be Brother Han from Tiannan? Brother Han, you’ve made my sect and the Heavenly Expanse Sacred Hall search quite hard for you!” Old Devil Qian’s voice was initially surprised, then broke into a joyous, wild laugh.