Chapter 2333: Salvage

"Alright, but before that, some other preparations need to be made. Ying'er, tell them to start setting up," the Matriarch of the Asura Spider Tribe said to the young woman in the blood-red skirt, nodding her head.

"Yes, Mother. You all, get the items out and start modifying the spell formation," the young woman replied, turning to instruct the other tribe members who had accompanied them.

Upon hearing this, the other Asura Spiders immediately ascended into the air and flew towards the spell formation surrounding the ice platform.

Some in the air either took out array plates or array flags, and some even produced strange-looking, unknown magical artifacts, tossing them towards the vicinity of the ice platform.

As these items landed within the formation, they instantly transformed into various rays of light and disappeared into the ground.

Following this, the Asura Spider tribesmen began chanting incantations and gesturing repeatedly with one hand towards the spell formation below.

The entire formation vibrated with a hum, and all the spirit runes began to flow eerily while shimmering. In a short while, it transformed into a completely different large spell formation.

As soon as this formation took shape, a crisp cracking sound emanated from the cylindrical ice platform in the center, and fine white lines appeared on its surface.

These white lines rapidly thickened, transforming into finger-thick cracks in the blink of an eye.

With a loud "boom," the entire ice platform shattered into pieces, revealing a clear pond about ten zhang in circumference.

The water surface of this pond was as clear as a mirror, and as soon as it appeared, a misty white light column immediately shot up into the sky.

However, as this light ascended over a hundred zhang, it suddenly made a "puchi" sound. The surrounding spell formation glowed intensely, and a light blue light screen suddenly appeared high in the sky, encompassing Han Li and the others, as well as a small portion of the valley.

The light column struck the high-altitude light screen with a muffled thud, immediately transforming into scattered white light and bursting open.

A vast expanse of white cold air swept outwards.

Where the cold air passed, a "zila" sound filled the air, and vague sheets of ice materialized out of thin air, rapidly rolling towards Han Li and the others.

However, Han Li and the others showed no panic. Their body-surface spiritual lights flickered, repelling the ice and preventing it from approaching them in the slightest.

"The cold here doesn't seem as formidable as I imagined," Hei Lin remarked, a slight curl on his lips, after scanning the cold air with his divine sense.

"Is that so? Why don't you try again, fellow Daoist!" a strange light flashed in the Matriarch of the Asura Spider Tribe's eyes. She suddenly gestured with one hand towards the pond.

At the edge of the pond, several flashes of red light appeared, and four spheres of red light flew out from within. After circling once, they hovered motionlessly in the low sky.

They were, surprisingly, a Ruyi scepter, a mirror, a crystal ball, and a circular ring.

These four treasures all exuded intense heat, incinerating the surrounding cold air.

And the seemingly calm pond, the moment the four treasures flew out, emitted a gurgling sound. The light column喷ing out from it intensified, turning into a solid white mist.

In an instant, the cold air within the entire light screen intensified significantly. The degree of extreme cold exceeded the previous level by more than ten times.

Under the pressure of this extreme cold, everyone's protective spiritual light flickered wildly, immediately showing signs of failing.

Xue Ran, Mo Jianli, and the others were alarmed. They either raised a hand or formed incantations with their fingers, and various protective treasures flew out, transforming into streams of light that swirled and danced before them, only then pushing back the cold air.

"It truly is different from before. These few artifacts must be the Pure Yang treasures buried by your tribe. However, if this is the extent of it, with fellow Daoist's divine abilities and protective treasures, entering the pond to retrieve the treasures directly should still be勉强 possible," Han Li slowly began.

Although he hadn't released any protective treasures, a faint silver flame flickered on his body surface. Any cold air that came into contact with it was absorbed as if into a bottomless pit, unable to approach within several zhang of him.

"If the cold in the pond were only this much, this concubine would, of course, risk trying. But what fellow Daoist doesn't know is that the deeper one goes into this pond, the stronger the cold becomes with each zhang. The depth of this pond is something even this concubine has yet to fully ascertain. To retrieve the treasures from the bottom of the pond by ordinary means is simply wishful thinking. Otherwise, why would our tribe have left these treasures unretrieved for so many years?" the woman said with a sneer, but her gaze towards Han Li held a hint of apprehension.

Previously, the old man surnamed Yi's divine abilities were in no way inferior to the Matriarch of the Asura Spider Tribe.

Han Li being able to severely damage his body and heavily injure his Nascent Soul meant that injuring or killing the woman would naturally not be too difficult.

"So that's how it is. Then, how do you intend for us to assist?" Han Li nodded, asking calmly.

"It's very simple. This spell formation was conceived by our tribe's array masters over several centuries. As long as six or more Mahayana stage cultivators simultaneously inject their magic power into it for an instant, its power can be activated to directly extract the treasures from the deep pond. Previously, because our tribe couldn't gather so many Mahayana cultivators, this plan had to be shelved. Now, with you fellow Daoists, it will be as easy as turning over one's hand," the young woman in the blood-red skirt beside him explained with a light chuckle.

"Six Mahayana cultivators? Even with fellow Daoist Luo, we only have five people here, do we not?" Han Li's eyes flickered, a hint of surprise in them.

"You don't need to worry about that, Brother Han and the others. This little sister has a secret technique that can temporarily boost my cultivation level. At that time, I can勉强 be counted as a Mahayana stage cultivator," the young woman said with a charming smile.

"Fellow Daoist possesses such a secret technique? Could it also be a type of spatial-temporal divine ability?" Upon hearing the young woman's words, Han Li's heart tensed.

"Fellow Daoist Han truly has a good understanding of the Laws of Space-Time. This technique indeed requires spatial-temporal power as its foundation to be executed," the young woman in the blood-red skirt was momentarily startled upon hearing this. After taking a deep look at Han Li, she slowly replied.

Han Li smiled but did not press further.

"Since everything is ready, let's begin. It's so cold here, I don't wish to stay any longer," Hei Lin said grumpily at this moment, appearing quite impatient.

"Good, this concubine also does not wish to delay. Fellow Daoists, please enter the spell formation according to these positions. Hehe, with your attainments in formations, you can naturally see at a glance that this formation is harmless to you, so there's no need to worry," the Matriarch of the Asura Spider Tribe agreed expressionlessly. She suddenly formed an incantation with one hand and pointed at the four Pure Yang treasures above the cold pond.

With a "boom," the four treasures instantly flashed, transforming into four rolling fireballs. With fiery red flames churning on their surfaces, they expanded wildly.

In an instant, they turned into four blazing red suns hanging high in the void, simultaneously sending a wave of fire sweeping in all directions.

Everything frozen within the light screen melted away as the red wave passed.

At the same time, the spell formation surrounding the cold pond rumbled, and six stone pillars, several zhang high, slowly rose from it.

These stone pillars were enveloped in colorful light on their surfaces, inscribed with dense spiritual runes, and each had a faint silver miniature spell formation at its top.

"Fellow Daoists only need to stand on these pillars. When I give the command, inject all your magic power into them. The control of the spell formation will be handled by our tribe. Ying'er, you go first," the Matriarch of the Asura Spider Tribe took a deep breath, then released the incantation in her hand and said.

Her instruction for the young woman in the blood-red skirt to enter the formation first was clearly intended to reassure everyone.

This action indeed had an effect. Seeing the young woman in the blood-red skirt gracefully float into the grand formation first, Xue Ran and Hei Lin exchanged glances, then moved without hesitation, occupying two other stone pillars.

Mo Jianli hesitated slightly, then likewise flew over.

Han Li's gaze swept over the six stone pillars. With a faint smile, he formed an incantation with one hand, and his body blurred, directly disappearing from his original spot.

The next moment, a movement occurred on one of the stone pillars, and Han Li's figure appeared there via instant teleportation.

Seeing everyone enter the spell formation, the woman dared not delay. After a few blurs, she also stood on the last stone pillar and instructed the other tribe members outside the formation:

"Begin casting the spell. This time, we must succeed in one go."

"Yes, Matriarch," a male among the four adult Asura Spiders replied solemnly. He immediately gestured, and the others' figures flickered one after another, taking their positions at the edge of the spell formation. They then sat cross-legged and began chanting incantations.

Instantly, the spirit runes of the entire spell formation began to flow eerily again. At the same time, various runes began to emerge from all directions and slowly gathered above the cold pond, vaguely forming a hazy sphere of runes.

At this point, those Asura Spider tribesmen either began activating their magical artifacts or formed hand seals, starting to inject streams of pure magic power directly into the spell formation.

The entire spell formation hummed loudly. The flowing and moving spirit runes, shimmering brightly, became crystal clear, and the runes emerging from within them surged by more than half.

After a short while, the sphere of runes above the cold pond grew to about ten feet in size and became increasingly clear, as if it were a solid entity.

The Matriarch of the Asura Spider Tribe watched the sky above the cold pond without blinking. When the sphere of runes reached a certain size and could no longer expand, she focused her mind and instructed Han Li and the others:

"Now is the time. Fellow Daoists, please also begin injecting your magic power."

As soon as her words fell, spiritual light surged around the woman's body, and torrents of true essence poured down her legs into the stone pillar beneath her.

Although the other five had different thoughts, upon hearing this, they dared not delay and began casting their spells.

In an instant, under the infusion of astonishing magic power, the six light pillars began to flicker wildly throughout. Their surface spiritual runes brightened considerably, and dense runes also surged out, converging upwards.

A thunderous roar echoed as the floating sphere rapidly expanded with the influx of so many runes.

In a short while, it grew to the size of a pavilion, completely enveloping the entire pond in a silver glow.

First warm reminder: