Chapter 2403: Taking the Treasure

Chapter 2364: Retrieving the Treasure

A deafening boom!

The entire light barrier suddenly caved in, and faint white lines appeared on its surface, threatening to shatter it with a crisp crack.

At that moment, the hand of the True Monarch Tianding statue, which was holding the small pagoda, suddenly emitted faint white light. This light quickly merged into the light barrier, causing the recently formed cracks on its surface to mend rapidly as if new.

With a "thud," the caved-in part of the light barrier instantly restored itself, forcefully repelling the small azure mountain.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned. With a single-hand gesture, he recalled the miniature mountain back into his sleeve.

"Brother Han, this True Monarch Tianding statue is highly unusual. It complements the small pagoda, and I used every method imaginable back then but couldn't break through their combined restriction," Ice Soul quickly explained, secretly astonished that Han Li's casual strike had almost shattered the small pagoda's light barrier. "In that case, let's destroy this statue first," Han Li said indifferently, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

A low roar.

A golden light burst forth from Han Li's body as his form rapidly expanded. In an instant, he transformed into a golden-furred giant ape, over ten zhang tall. Simultaneously, a terrifying ripple of power erupted from behind him, and a ferocious, three-headed, six-armed Dharma Idol materialized.

With two "thump-thump" sounds.

The giant ape flipped its two massive hands, and the small azure and black mountains instantly appeared in its palms. In a flash, they grew several zhang tall.

The giant ape shook its arms and hurled the two small mountains forward again with terrifying force.

This time, however, the target was clearly the True Monarch Tianding statue.

As soon as the two small mountains were launched, they instantly transformed into two blurred masses of azure and black light. With a piercing whistle that almost tore the eardrums, they flashed and arrived right before the statue.

A crystalline light flashed, and the light barrier, which had only enveloped the small pagoda, immediately expanded into a colossal crystal shield, encasing the entire statue.

At the same time, the long sword on the back of the previously motionless statue suddenly quivered on its own.

Two "hissing" sounds were heard!

Two streaks of dazzling white sword energy swept out from the statue. In a mere flash, they struck the incoming small mountains with lightning speed.

Two thunderous "boom" sounds reverberated.

The two small mountains merely trembled slightly, then used their terrifying power to forcibly crush and dissipate the two streaks of sword light. However, their own momentum was also significantly halted, having been largely offset.

When they crashed onto the light barrier again, the entire statue suddenly glowed with intense white light,

causing the light barrier to slightly indent before attempting to repel them just as before.

However, by then, the golden-furred giant ape had already taken a step, vanishing into the void in a flash.

The next moment, it reappeared indistinctly above the light barrier. Its two furry fists clenched slightly, immediately emitting a layer of purple-golden light, and then furiously hammered downwards.

In an instant, dense purple-golden fist shadows materialized with whistling sounds, striking the light barrier like a torrential downpour.

At first, the fist shadows vanished into the light barrier with a flash, but as more attacks landed, the barrier's absorption became sluggish. It could only rely on its inherent resilience to forcibly withstand most of the subsequent attacks.

Immediately, explosive sounds erupted on the surface of the light barrier, as clusters of purple-golden fist shadows burst open, and the barrier itself began to flicker wildly.

Seeing this, the giant ape above showed a sudden flash of sternness on its face. It abruptly retracted both fists and swiftly formed a hand seal with one hand.

The three-headed, six-armed Brahma Saint Dharma Idol behind it solidified with golden light, transforming into a tangible golden body. With a movement of its arms, its six gleaming golden hands simultaneously pressed down towards the light barrier below.

A rumbling sound echoed.

Six dazzling golden orbs appeared out of thin air above the light barrier. With another flash, they converged at a single point, transforming into a massive golden vortex.

Innumerable Sanskrit characters floated out from within this vortex, accompanied by waves of Brahma chants, and it descended menacingly downwards.

At that very moment, a white light flashed in the eyes of the True Monarch Tianding statue. Suddenly, two streaks of crystalline light shot out, directly slashing towards the vortex in the air.

However, with just a mighty roar from the golden vortex, an enormous force immediately surged out from within it, violently slamming into the already somewhat wavering light barrier.

A "crackle" sound was heard!

The entire surface of the statue suddenly lit up with white patterns, emitting even more dazzling white light. This caused the light barrier to tremble violently, yet it still barely managed to withstand the immense force from above.

But the golden vortex spun relentlessly, its immense power pressing down like successive waves, showing no signs of stopping.

Faced with such a terrifying attack, even if the statue was incredibly profound, how could it truly withstand it entirely?

After just a few breaths, the white light on the True Monarch Tianding statue retracted, all the patterns vanished indistinctly, and with a "crack," countless cracks appeared on its surface, causing it to shatter into tiny pieces and collapse.

Without the support of the statue, the golden pagoda's self-imposed restrictions alone could not possibly withstand the immense force from above.

Almost immediately after the True Monarch Tianding statue's demise, the golden pagoda emitted a dull thud, and its crystalline light barrier also collapsed and dissipated.

At this point, the giant ape, Han Li's transformed form, let out a loud laugh and waved its furry hand downwards.

The golden vortex and the two small mountains instantly vanished. Simultaneously, the small golden pagoda was enveloped by a suction force and landed steadily in the giant ape's hand.

The treasure that Immortal Ice Soul had been unable to retrieve for so long had, unexpectedly, fallen into Han Li's hands with such ease.

A golden light flashed.

The golden-furred giant ape appeared near Ice Soul. With a single-hand seal, its body rapidly shrank, and in a blink of an eye, it reverted to its human form.

"Fortunately, I didn't fail. I've got the item. Fellow Daoist Ice Soul, please check if the treasure you need is indeed inside," Han Li said, calmly handing it over after only briefly scanning the item in his hand with his divine sense.

"This time, breaking the restriction was entirely your effort, Fellow Daoist. How dare I choose first? Brother Han should pick three items first, and then I will select what I need," Ice Soul said, clearly still in shock. Seeing Han Li's gesture, she hastily waved her hand in refusal.

"I've already examined the contents. Besides that jade slip containing secret arts, which I can use for reference, the other treasures are of no great use to me. I just need to copy the contents of that jade slip later. Fellow Daoist Ice Soul, there's no need to be concerned," Han Li chuckled. With a flick of his wrist, he directly tossed the golden pagoda in his hand to her.

"Many thanks for Brother Han's generous gift. I will engrave this kindness in my heart and will surely repay it handsomely in the future," Immortal Ice Soul said, feeling a slight relief and immense gratitude when she saw Han Li's action.

She then used her divine sense to examine the seven or eight treasures within the golden pagoda. With a thought, she conjured a crimson jade slip from it, grasped it, and immediately handed it to Han Li.

"Since this jade slip is useful to Brother Han, there's no need to copy anything; just take it directly," she said.

"Since Fellow Daoist insists, it would be rude for me to refuse," Han Li said, his eyes glinting slightly. He didn't decline and, with a flick of his sleeve, accepted the crimson jade slip.

Seeing this, Immortal Ice Soul smiled charmingly.

"Things here are done; let's leave. If the formation outside is destroyed by someone, it will be a lot more trouble to get out," Han Li said after a brief thought.

"Brother Han, please wait a moment. I haven't wasted my years here; I can already control some of Tianding Palace's restrictions. I'll go to the central formation to activate some things that were set up long ago. That way, once we meet up with Blood Soul, I can close Tianding Palace at any time and easily teleport us out," Ice Soul replied with a smile.

"That's a good idea. Go ahead, Fellow Daoist," Han Li nodded immediately, naturally having no reason to refuse.

The two immediately activated their escape light and flew out of the main hall, returning along the same path.

After about the time it takes to eat a meal, their figures reappeared at the teleportation array where Han Li had first entered.

Han Li formed a hand seal with one hand, pointed into the air, and seeing the formation hum and flicker with spiritual light, a faint smile appeared on his face.

As soon as they stepped into the formation, their figures vanished.

Outside the mountain-like crimson stone tablet, three figures were gathered near several large silver characters on the tablet, conversing with solemn expressions.

It was none other than Xiao Ming and the other two.

These three Grand Ascension cultivators from the Blood Sky Continent had, after a difficult struggle outside, finally broken into this space.

"Fellow Daoist Qingping, are you certain this is the entrance to the core? You haven't mistaken the location, have you? Otherwise, we've already tried various methods, so why can't we open it?" Xiao Ming asked the Daoist Qingping in a deep voice.

"Absolutely no mistake. It's just that the method of entry seems to have been tampered with; most of the original incantations are now ineffective. While I do understand some silver tadpole script, I wouldn't call myself proficient. How about this: I'll try one more time. If it still doesn't work, we'll force it open, even if that risks triggering other restrictions. We can't afford to worry about that now," Daoist Qingping said through gritted teeth after his expression flickered for a moment.

"Alright, Fellow Daoist Qingping, do your best. If it still doesn't work, we'll break open the central entrance together," Xiao Ming said, nodding after a moment's thought.

Madam Wanhua naturally had no objections.

Then, Daoist Qingping took a deep breath. His ten fingers moved rapidly, forming hand seals like a spinning wheel, while he chanted incantations under his breath.

The four large silver characters on the stone tablet before them began to glow brightly. Following the chant, they moved along a strange trajectory, but their speed was incredibly slow, almost crawling inch by inch.

"Open!"

After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Daoist Qingping let out a low shout and abruptly pointed a finger at a certain spot on the stone tablet.

The four silver characters blurred, then suddenly converged like lightning into a massive silver light mass.

As the Daoist's chanting grew more rapid, the silver light mass began to spin quickly.

However, after only a few breaths, an explosive sound was heard. The light mass shattered in response, transforming back into the four silver characters and flying back to their original positions.

It was as if all the Daoist's efforts just now had been in vain.The expressions of the three cultivators all turned somewhat grim.