Chapter 2267: Phoenix Spirit Treasure Plate

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Xielian and Old Ancestor Lushi exchanged bewildered glances.

"Fellow Daoist Xielian, what should we do? Should we follow them?" Old Ancestor Lushi asked, a hint of unease in his voice.

"Brother Han has a point. Since the situation has changed, remaining here would no longer be wise. Let's go see what exactly happened," Xielian said, her expression flickering rapidly before she gritting her teeth.

With a flick of her sleeve, a floral shadow flashed behind her, and she transformed into a blur, shooting off into the distance.

Seeing this, Old Ancestor Lushi sighed softly. He formed a hand seal with one hand, and green mist billowed around his body as he ascended and followed.

Meanwhile, Han Li, accompanied by Daoist Crab, was already hurtling along a narrow passage towards the epicenter of the violent tremors.

Although the ancient seal's power still maintained its aerial restrictions, Han Li and other Mahayana cultivators, expending their full spiritual energy, naturally maintained a considerable escape speed.

Han Li swept his divine sense across the passage, left and right, and his brows furrowed slightly.

The seemingly smooth passage was riddled with fine cracks, which were rapidly multiplying at a visible rate.

He deduced that the underground palace would likely not hold for much longer.

Han Li's heart sank as he quickly made his assessment.

At that moment, the tremors from ahead grew even more intense, as if the entire underground palace could collapse at any moment.

Suddenly, a fork appeared ahead. Without hesitation, Han Li took a turn, his escape light disappearing into the new passage.

However, a fierce wind immediately arose, and two dark figures lunged directly at them. They were two black-bodied human-faced insects.

It was as if these two fierce insects had been waiting at the entrance of the new passage for a long time.

A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes, and he let out a cold snort. An emerald green sword shadow suddenly flickered on his arm, and a three-foot-long dark green longsword instantly appeared in his hand. With a swing, he slashed at the two approaching insects.

With a "boom," the surrounding heaven-and-earth spiritual energy surged, and simultaneously, an immensely powerful law of force descended into the passage.

The two human-faced insects only felt a strange fluctuation around them. Their bodies immediately became numb and unable to move. Then, a green light flashed before their eyes, and they felt a chill, losing all consciousness.

Han Li swayed, his figure blurring as he appeared behind the two human-faced insects. With a flick of his wrist, the dark green longsword vanished in a flash.

Only then did two "puffs" sound from the human-faced insects' bodies. Their forms simultaneously split into two halves from the waist and immediately disintegrated into ashes amidst a swirl of light.

Unwilling to be entangled further, Han Li didn't even let Daoist Crab intervene. He directly drew his Profound Heavenly Soul-Severing Sword and slew the two human-faced insects.

With his current cultivation, he could wield part of this Profound Heaven Treasure's power without needing to activate his Nirvana Body. Dealing with two human-faced insects that weren't even Mahayana was naturally effortless.

Daoist Crab's expression shifted slightly upon witnessing this, but he followed Han Li's vanishing escape light without a word.

After eliminating these two human-faced insects, they encountered no other fierce insects in the passage.

After an unknown period, the scene before them expanded. They emerged from the passage into an immensely vast underground cavern.

The cavern floor was covered with light silver fine sand, while its ceiling was dotted with sharp, stalactite-like stones. Not far from the passage exit, however, rolled a greyish-white mist, from which a faint scent of sandalwood wafted out.

In front of the sea of mist, several figures floated in the low air. Behind one of them, a massive pink floral illusion slowly revolved, unmistakably Baohua.

Her beautiful face was coolly fixed on the greyish-white mist, yet a hint of surprise and doubt flickered in her eyes.

Opposite in the misty sea, a blurry, greyish-white mist-face hovered, its lips moving silently, seemingly engaged in a telepathic conversation with Baohua.

Behind Baohua, the fiendish Black Alligator stood with a fully vigilant expression. The remaining few were familiar-looking Mahayana cultivators from other realms.

Upon hearing the sound of air being torn, these individuals were startled and quickly turned their heads to look. However, seeing that it was Han Li and Daoist Crab, their expressions relaxed.

"What? Have the other fellow Daoists not arrived? What exactly happened here?" Han Li asked in a deep voice, his escape light stopping after he briefly swept his divine sense over the grey mist.

"So it's Fellow Daoist Han and Brother Daoist Crab. We also don't know what happened. Fellow Daoist Baohua is currently communicating with the spirit of the ancient seal, inquiring about the truth. As for the other fellow Daoists? You two are the first to arrive here!" replied an elderly man with an ancient appearance, wearing a golden circlet, his tone grave.

"The spirit of the ancient seal, is that what this is?" Han Li's gaze flickered, landing on the massive mist-face, and he asked thoughtfully.

Just then, Baohua seemed to have finished her conversation with the large mist-face.

The giant face rippled and dispersed into the misty sea.

"Fellow Daoist Han, Fellow Daoist Crab, you've arrived. This is perfect; you can lend this one a hand," Baohua said to Han Li, turning around with a solemn expression.

"Fellow Daoist Baohua, you haven't told me what exactly happened here, and what's causing those tremors over there?" Han Li countered, his gaze flickering as he swept his eyes towards the depths of the misty sea.

"The power of the ancient seal has gone out of control!" Baohua replied with a sigh. "Whether it's the seal suppressing the Mother of Nightmarish Insects or the portion of power trapping Yuan Yan and the others, nearly half of it has been lost. Now, not only is the Mother of Nightmarish Insects on the verge of waking, but the other fellow Daoists trapped in the seal are also in immediate danger. Without a doubt, the first thing this insect will do upon waking is to eliminate Yuan Yan and the others. As for these tremors, they are a sign that the ancient seal is about to collapse. With such a massive loss of power, the ancient seal can no longer be maintained, and the entire underground palace is likely to collapse soon."

"What? The seal is out of control? How is that possible! We haven't done anything. Could it be that one of the groups repairing the restrictions made a huge mistake during their work?" asked a stout man with a ruddy complexion, startled.

"Fellow Daoist Baohua, you just communicated with the spirit of the ancient seal, didn't you ask for specific details? As the inherent spirit of the seal, it should know the specifics," the ancient-looking elder asked, taking a deep breath.

Clearly, these individuals had only just learned of the situation.

"Of course I asked," Baohua said with a bitter smile. "But the spirit of the seal doesn't know what happened either; it just felt as if its inherent power was suddenly drawn away by something. However, it has promised me that it will directly transport us to where the Mother of Nightmarish Insects slumbers, allowing us to severely wound her before she fully awakens. This way, we can not only temporarily stall her but also buy time for other fellow Daoists to rescue those who are trapped. It seems that man proposes, God disposes; we can only abandon our original plan."

"What? Just a few of us going to confront the Mother of Nightmarish Insects? Fellow Daoist Baohua, you must be joking," exclaimed the last person, a woman in a black robe, losing her composure.

The elder and the burly man also changed their expressions upon hearing this.

Han Li, however, merely frowned, not saying anything directly.

"Please rest assured, everyone, I naturally have some confidence in doing this," Baohua quickly explained. "I learned from the spirit of the seal that although the Mother of Nightmarish Insects managed to trap over a hundred Mahayana Daoists, including Yuan Yan, by manipulating the seal's power in one go, she also paid a tremendous price to do so. Furthermore, this time she was forced to awaken, so her vital energy should not have recovered much, making her incomparable to her peak state. The spirit of the seal has also promised us that it will no longer concern itself with other parts of the underground palace but will dedicate all its remaining power to assist us in this endeavor. And for this trip, I specifically borrowed a Profound Heaven object capable of restraining insect kind. Considering all this, we are not without a chance."

Hearing her words, the other three Mahayana cultivators from different realms felt a slight easing in their hearts. However, as this matter concerned the lives of everyone involved, no one immediately agreed.

Baohua naturally perceived the remaining concerns in the others' minds. Her heart firmed, she forced a smile and said:

"Even if you, fellow Daoists, are unwilling to take this risk, you should still consider those trapped kin and friends. Fellow Daoist Tongya and the others are currently near where Yuan Yan and the rest are trapped. Even if we can't directly slay this Mother Insect, holding her back for a short while can buy others a good chance to escape. Moreover, I have an item to give to each of you. With this item, even if we are truly no match for this Mother Insect, escaping will still be more than sufficient."

As soon as her words fell, Baohua flicked her sleeve. With several "puffs," individual red lights shot towards Han Li and the others.

The others instinctively grabbed the red light before them.

Han Li's eyes brightened, revealing a crimson formation disc inscribed with a complex pattern.

Han Li sensed the faint spatial fluctuations emanating from the disc. His heart stirred, and he flipped it over to examine it, discovering an exquisitely intricate feather pattern inscribed on its back, lifelike in detail!

"This is..." Han Li's expression showed hesitation.

"A Phoenix Spirit Treasure Disk! This is a Phoenix Spirit Treasure Disk capable of instantly teleporting one a million li away! For Fellow Daoist Baohua to possess such an item, this is truly an incredible stroke of luck!" the ancient-looking elder exclaimed, his voice filled with shock and delight, after clearly seeing the appearance of the formation disc in his hand and sweeping it with his divine sense.

"What? This is the Phoenix Spirit Disk that can only be refined using a genuine Heavenly Phoenix feather! Fellow Daoist, you can't be mistaken, can you? I've heard that possessing this item is almost like having an extra life, and almost no restrictive formation can directly block its teleportation power," the black-robed woman also asked, astonished.

"There's no mistake about this item. In my early years, I once saw an identical Phoenix Spirit Disk at an auction. Its style and the Heavenly Phoenix aura it emitted were exactly the same," the elder said without hesitation.

"Alright, since Fellow Daoist Baohua is willing to bestow this item, I'll risk my life for this journey. If this wondrous item isn't used on this trip, this one will not return it!" the red-faced man declared, his eyes flashing with a hint of greed as he stared at the formation disc in his hand, finally making up his mind.