Chapter 1746: Collapse

A startling scene unfolded before Han Li. The moment the azure light enveloped the puppet, the puppet suddenly glowed intensely and began radiating an extremely dangerous aura. Remarkably, its mere aura was enough to dispel the azure light.

Startled, Han Li instinctively swayed and shot backward, leaving a trail of afterimages. After a few rapid movements, he suddenly materialized in the air just outside the platform. In that instant, the nine puppets simultaneously swung their silver halberds, unleashing dazzling silver rays that slashed at the nearest other puppet. With several dull thuds, all nine puppets were simultaneously sliced in two, collapsing to the ground and exploding.

The platform was immediately littered with the shattered remnants of the exploded puppets, which had now vanished without a trace. Witnessing all this, Han Li naturally felt a pang of regret. His gaze swept over the puppet fragments; after a brief contemplation, he moved in a flash of escape light, rapidly circling the platform. Under the swirling light, all puppet fragments on the platform were swiftly collected. His escape light then converged above the platform, revealing his figure once more. Although the puppets were somewhat crudely constructed, the materials used were entirely new to him. Han Li decided to collect them for future research or other purposes.

After completing these actions, he lowered his gaze, looking down. The platform was now completely empty, devoid of any other objects. However, the immense star map on its surface remained perfectly intact. The illusion cast by this map was potent, as Han Li had experienced firsthand. Though his cultivation had significantly improved, he still dared not gaze at it for too long.

He took a deep breath, then with a flick of his hand, a pale white scroll suddenly appeared. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it downwards. The scroll transformed into a streak of white light and descended, but then paused and hovered about ten zang above the platform. Han Li formed hand seals with one hand, chanted incantations, and then gravely pointed downwards. With a soft pop, the scroll unfurled, revealing a blank surface several feet in length.

As he continued chanting, the scroll rapidly expanded, swiftly growing to the same size as the stone platform, where it hovered in the air like a vast white silken banner. Han Li smiled faintly, his chanting ceased, and his ten fingers began to flick downwards repeatedly. Immediately, streams of magical incantations shot forth, vanishing instantly into the blank scroll below. The white silken banner then glowed with a myriad of colors and slowly descended, completely covering the stone platform in an instant. As the spells were frantically urged in the air, a dazzling, colorful light shimmered and flowed across the blank scroll, appearing both incredibly vibrant and profoundly mysterious.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, the colorful light gradually faded from the scroll, eventually vanishing completely. However, the scroll's formerly pristine white surface had now transformed into a vibrant five-color pattern. Han Li had, in fact, used a secret technique to create an imprint of the star map from the stone platform.

Without a word, Han Li beckoned with one hand. The scroll immediately flashed with light, rose from the platform, and rapidly began to shrink. In the blink of an eye, it reverted to its original size of a few feet. On its previously blank surface, a miniature pattern identical to the large one below was now strikingly imprinted. The scroll rolled itself up, transforming into a scroll radiating five-colored light. With a slight tremor, it then shot upwards into the sky on its own. It vanished in a flash, disappearing into Han Li's sleeve.

With this perfectly replicated star map, he was confident he could gain significant insights from it, or at the very least, it would greatly aid his understanding of illusions. With this done, there was no longer anything of value remaining in this place. However, Han Li still conducted a thorough search, and after confirming there was nothing hidden, he let out a long breath, transforming into an azure rainbow and shooting towards the exit. He had already spent nearly a day in this Sumeru space and naturally had no desire to linger further.

With a colossal boom, a section of the massive, solitary screen in the grand hall suddenly burst open, revealing a ball of black light about ten zang in diameter. It spun rapidly, forming a small vortex. With a whoosh, an azure rainbow shot out from the vortex. After a single rotation, Han Li's figure materialized in the center of the grand hall. He glanced back at the screen, and the third dark mystical eye between his brows slowly closed, then vanished in a flicker.

"It's a pity this Sumeru treasure has already been fully refined by someone else; it cannot be claimed by outsiders. If only I could have acquired it, it would have been immensely useful," Han Li murmured regretfully, his gaze sweeping around. As expected, Liu Shui'er and the other individual were no longer present. His expression remained calm, betraying no hint of anxiety. After a brief thought, he strode towards the hall entrance. Having spent so long in the Sumeru Grotto-heaven, he presumed that all parts of the palace had already been thoroughly searched by the other two. There was no other reason to seek them out now than to quickly depart together, and then find a quiet place to meditate for a few days to fully restore his magical energy.

However, the moment Han Li stepped out of the hall entrance, just as he was about to let out a long whistle to contact Liu Shui'er and the other person, the ground suddenly rumbled like thunder, followed by a violent, earth-shaking tremor. Han Li was startled, but before he could investigate, the sky abruptly darkened. A vast expanse of inky black clouds had drifted in, seemingly from nowhere, obscuring more than half the sky. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed violently within the clouds! In the distance, hazy grey hurricanes, resembling ascending dragons, rose from the ground and merged directly into the dark clouds overhead. From afar, it looked as though numerous colossal pillars, supporting the heavens, had suddenly appeared between earth and sky, an exceptionally magnificent sight.

Han Li's expression instantly turned grim. He didn't need to investigate to clearly sense that the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi had instantly devolved into utter chaos, with various spiritual pressures now saturating the entire sky. What alarmed him even more was the emergence of numerous unstable prohibition fluctuations in the nearby void, varying wildly in strength. This was clearly a sign that the area's prohibitions were on the verge of collapsing.

Without a second thought, Han Li’s body shimmered with azure light, and he slowly ascended into the air. He halted and hovered motionless at a height of five or six zang above the ground. Although the anti-flight restriction had not entirely ceased to function, its power was less than half of what it once was. In such a state, low-altitude flight would pose no issue.

In just that brief moment, the ground tremors intensified. Even the main hall behind him began to glow with a layer of purple light, flickering wildly, alternately dimming and brightening. From a cluster of pavilions behind the main hall, a sphere of yellow light suddenly burst forth from the rooftop of one room, letting out a long howl as it shot directly towards the front of the palace. Concurrently, a flash of white light shot out from the side hall adjacent to the main hall, heading in the same direction. It was none other than Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun. They clearly had not anticipated this sudden alarming change, and a hint of panic was visible on both their faces.

Han Li's eyelid twitched, and he wasted no more time. With a flash of azure light, he transformed into an azure rainbow, sweeping across the plaza in front of the main hall. In a few more blinks, he had already reached the mountain path just outside the hall entrance, then shot downwards, practically skimming the ground. He had initially worried that the path's gravitational pull might still be active, hindering his descent. However, after flying more than ten zang, he was completely relieved. He wasn't sure if it was due to the spatial anomaly or if the path's prohibition had originally only affected those ascending, but his escape light encountered no resistance whatsoever. In an instant, the azure rainbow flashed and reached the foot of the mountain. Almost immediately, Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er's escape lights arrived beside Han Li.

"What on earth is happening? Why does this space seem to be on the verge of collapse? I was just about to get my hands on another important treasure!" Shi Kun's figure appeared, and he growled, filled with surprise and anger.

"Hmph, you're not the only one. I had just broken the prohibition of a secret chamber and was about to enter," Liu Shui'er retorted, her tone equally displeased.

Though neither specified whom they were addressing, their gazes involuntarily fixed on Han Li. "What, do you two fellow Daoists suspect I'm involved? I've only just emerged from that spatial prohibition myself; how could I have caused such a phenomenon?" Han Li's expression darkened; he certainly wasn't going to take the blame.

"But—"

"Whatever you have to say can wait until we're outside. If we don't leave now, once this space collapses, we'll all be lost without a trace."

Shi Kun was about to speak again, but Liu Shui'er preempted him. Hearing this, Shi Kun immediately fell silent. Han Li, of course, said nothing further. The three ascended into the air once more, their escape lights merging into a single stream, and their speed increased by roughly twofold. In a matter of a few breaths, the three arrived at the stone platform of the nearby teleportation array.

Their bodies blurred as all three stepped into the teleportation array simultaneously. Han Li raised one hand and cast a spell onto the edge of the array. The array hummed, and a brilliant white light erupted. Han Li and the other two figures flashed, immediately enveloped by the white light. When the hum subsided and the light receded, the teleportation array was utterly empty.

An azure rainbow flashed and vanished. After circling several thousand zang high, Han Li's figure reappeared. Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun likewise materialized, each about a dozen zang away. The three remained silent, their eyes flickering as they intently gazed at the enormous glowing aperture below. Within this aperture, various colored lights pulsed incessantly, and continuous rumbling sounds emanated. Furthermore, the spiritual light along its edges expanded and contracted erratically, writhing as if it were a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"Let's go! We cannot stay here much longer; the area below is about to completely collapse. Getting caught in a spatial vortex is extremely dangerous as well," Han Li stated expressionlessly. Without waiting for Liu Shui'er and the other to react, he turned and shot off in a certain direction. Shi Kun and the other exchanged a grave look. Without a word, their escape lights flared, and they swiftly followed Han Li.

Given their combined escape speed, they covered several thousand *li* in just a few moments. Just then, an earth-shattering boom rumbled from a great distance behind them.

(To be continued)