Chapter 1013

On the opposite light curtain, upon sensing Han Li's approach, the electric arcs let out a thunderclap, and dense bolts of lightning simultaneously shot downward.

Han Li let out a low whistle from his mouth, and the golden-colored electric flood dragon behind him flew upward, exploding with a boom on its own.

A golden-colored giant net instantly appeared out of thin air, shielding Han Li beneath it.

All silver arcs struck the golden net and silently dissipated into nothingness.

"Han Li, is it you?"

"Elder Han!"

Upon hearing this, Han Li withdrew his escape light, and as Fang Yi revealed his form, the Dry Old Devil and the middle-aged cultivator almost simultaneously shouted in anger and surprise.

Han Li was startled by the words, couldn't help but turn his head to glance at the square-faced middle-aged cultivator, seeing his expression of surprise, but he did not seem to recognize him.

Feeling somewhat puzzled, yet his hand movements did not cease in the slightest; amidst a phoenix's cry, the Three-Flame Fan struck out a ball of three-colored fire, instantly blasting a large hole in the light curtain before him, then his figure flickered and he stood outside the light curtain.

Only then did he relax slightly and turn back to glance once more.

On the other side of the light curtain, the figures of the Xu-surnamed youth and Lin Yinping had just appeared on the platform; upon seeing Han Li actually appear on the other side of the prohibition, both naturally had unpleasant expressions.

Seeing this, Han Li merely gave a cold, heh-heh laugh twice.

"Since so many have come, Han Mou will find some tasks for you all to do, lest you be too idle." Han Li spoke strangely, then flicked his finger casually, and with a crackling sound, a golden arc shot forth.

Upon contacting the other silver arcs on the light curtain, the golden arc hissed and vanished into them, but in the next moment, it strangely rebounded and shot out from the other end of the light curtain.

With a boom, the golden arc, swift as thunder, directly struck an inconspicuous stone pedestal at the edge of the platform.

Immediately, a muffled groan came from that side, revealing the Winged Yecha, the Lion-Beast, and a stout woman with a waist as thick as a water barrel.

"Lion-Beast!" The Xu-surnamed youth, upon seeing the three monsters, instantly recognized the Lion-Beast as the most obvious and ferocious of the ominous birds, his heart tightening as he blurted out the cry.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yinping and the others were also startled, immediately assuming a defensive posture.

"Grand Elder!"

Shortly after, Ge Tianhao and the others who had just arrived saw the Five Children United Heart Devil in the light curtain, and couldn't help but rejoice.

The three monsters, forced out of hiding by the strike, were extremely vexed; the Winged Yecha, in particular, recognized Han Li as the enemy who had nearly taken its life, and seeing him ruin its good fortune, it couldn't help but curse incessantly. At the same time, it secretly wondered why the opponent could repeatedly see through its wind concealment technique, leaving it so passive.

Now, under the Xu-surnamed youth's gloomy gaze, the three monsters felt greatly embarrassed.

They were not truly afraid of these human cultivators, but hoped these cultivators could help them break through the critical restriction ahead; yet now that their presence had been discovered, they momentarily didn't know how to resolve the situation properly.

After the Xu-surnamed youth's gaze swept over the Winged Yecha and the stout woman, his heart surged like turbulent waves, secretly shocked to the extreme.

The demonic aura on these two transformed monsters was indeed astonishing, seeming no less than that of the Lion-Beast; after briefly weighing the strengths of both sides, the youth secretly groaned, daring not to act rashly.

Meanwhile, the Dry Old Devil and the Ye family elder in the light curtain, seeing this sudden change, also wanted to stop, but the two bronze lions continued their relentless pursuit without pause; helpless, they could only fend off the lions while beginning to mutually guard against each other, increasing the distance.

Several parties, each wary of the others, fell into a temporary stalemate there.

Han Li paid no heed to this chaotic mess; with a flicker of his figure, he headed straight for the rear, since he had this excellent opportunity to seize the treasure first, he naturally would not stand on ceremony.

After a few leaps, he stood before the mountain gate entirely constructed of exquisite green jade.

This mountain gate was indeed peculiar: aside from two rows of lonely, unknown giant trees on either side, there was nothing else at all, the surroundings completely empty and hollow.

Through the wide-open gate, following the central white stone path, one could faintly see an ancient, massive palace over a thousand zhang away, appearing extraordinarily majestic.

"This must be the Kunwu Palace!" Han Li murmured twice, after a slight hesitation, his gaze swept around once more, finally settling on the two giant trees on either side.

Each of these giant trees stood twenty to thirty zhang tall; whether branches and leaves or trunks, they were scorched yellow, yet inexplicably gave a feeling of lush vigor, making Han Li feel somewhat strange.

Using his spiritual sense to carefully scan the giant trees, he found nothing unusual; the trees, inside and out, were indeed ordinary, with not the slightest abnormal fluctuation.

Han Li's brow unconsciously furrowed, and his gaze finally left the giant trees.

After a moment, his spiritual sense scanned the entire mountain gate again, confirming no hidden restrictions, he then strode forward without hesitation, heading straight for the distant Kunwu Palace.

But Han Li never expected that, as soon as his feet touched the white stone path for over ten zhang, he suddenly felt a chill rise all over his body, and a strange sensation instantly descended upon him.

"Not good!" Han Li silently cried in his heart, about to shoot backward, but it was already too late; before he could leap into the air, his shoulders were suddenly pressed down heavily, unprepared, his knees went weak and he was about to kneel directly on the white stone ground.

Han Li.

Han Li, without time to think, let out a loud shout, his body's protective spiritual light blazing forth, a mass of green misty radiance enveloping him, whereupon he lowered his body halfway and knelt on one knee.

At the same time, his body continued to tremble nonstop, and within him came continuous crackling explosions, as if his entire skeleton were being forcibly crushed.

Han Li's shock was no small matter!

Though his protective spiritual light offset a small portion of the pressure, now, though somewhat better than before, it could barely support him from falling; his entire body felt as if simultaneously bearing the weight of ten thousand catties.

Had he not cultivated the Ming Wang Decision and consumed the Heaven Corpse Pearl, his body's toughness far surpassing that of ordinary cultivators, this blow alone would have shattered his bones entirely, leaving him prostrate on the ground, unable to move in the slightest.

Yet he had clearly searched the vicinity carefully and found no sign of any formation; how then had he inexplicably fallen into this severe restriction?

Han Li secretly cursed in his heart, and without further thought, hastily uttered a mantra; at this moment, even his fingers could not move, so to employ any supernatural power, he had no choice but to use the mantra to barely activate it.

In the blink of an eye, amidst the green light, bursts of thunderclaps sounded again.

In the flashing electric arcs, a layer of golden-colored electric armor appeared on his body; under the forced action of this electric armor, Han Li's figure swayed slightly, gnashing his teeth as he tried to slowly rise.

But as soon as he rose halfway, he felt the weight on his body suddenly increase, pressing him down again into a half-kneel.

This time, Han Li's expression truly changed dramatically.

While Han Li was trapped at the mountain gate, the Dry Old Devil and others below, due to the light curtain's obstruction and the mountain gate's high position, could only see Han Li as if he had suddenly plunged into a melee, and saw nothing else.

This naturally made those who longed for the treasure unable to restrain themselves.

"Beast, truly seeking death! Old Man will grant your wish!" Suddenly, the Dry Old Devil's furious voice came from within the light curtain.

Immediately, the five white figures in the restriction suddenly converged toward the center, actually merging into one, forming a white-colored giant several zhang tall; however, it did not strike the square-faced cultivator of the Ye family, but instead suddenly swung its arm backward in a fierce motion.

Only then was seen: the white figure flashed, its arm instantly transformed into a white python that opened its mouth and swallowed the green bronze lion lunging from behind, then the python's body coiled, instantly detaching from the giant's form to become a huge light ball, thoroughly trapping the green bronze lion within.

No matter how the bronze puppet inside bared its fangs and claws, spewing light pillars, it remained utterly motionless.

On the other side, the square-faced cultivator suddenly struck the giant bone ring on his body.

In an instant, the ring's light blazed with myriad rays, transforming into countless yellow misty rings; but under the activation of this person's magical formula, the huge phantom suddenly vanished. Yet the next moment, it appeared atop the head of the other bronze lion pursuing the middle-aged cultivator; as a result, the countless rings mercilessly fell downward, one ring after another encircling the beast and trapping it alive; upon tightening, it immediately caused the beast to overturn and collapse.

However, the square-faced cultivator no longer looked at this bronze beast at all, but instead fixed his gloomy gaze upon the opposing white-colored giant.

"Hmph! The Mi Tian Zhen indeed lives up to its name. According to hearsay, this treasure is an imitation of the ancient spiritual treasure 'Moon-Reflecting Ring'; regrettably, it has never been verified. In my view, even if this is a counterfeit of a heaven-reaching spiritual treasure, it is not much inferior." The Dry Old Devil's voice suddenly came coldly from within the giant white figure's mouth.

"Without this treasure protecting me, Ye Mou would likely have already lost my life to Brother Gan's hands. But now, Daoist friend, you're entangled in light and struggle—do you not fear that the treasures will all be taken by that brat just now?" The square-faced cultivator let out a cold laugh, then deliberately glanced sideways toward the mountain gate.

"Oh! If the restrictions of Kunwu Palace were this easy to break, Ye Daoist would have long since entered the hall, obtained the treasure, and how could you have been caught up here by this old man? By the way, Ye Xiong just now called this person Ye Elder—could he be a cultivator of your Ye family?" Gan Hehuan Lao Mo's voice suddenly turned icy.

"Haha, that was Ye Mou misjudging the person. This person—I don't recognize him at all?" The square-faced cultivator's eyes darted slightly as he let out a hollow laugh, saying something whose truth was uncertain.

Gan Hehuan Lao Mo fell silent for a moment, seemingly judging the truth of the other's words. But after a brief interval, he coldly spoke again:

"Regardless of whether this person is truly related to the Ye family. He is merely an outsider from Tiannan—your Ye family could never truly trust him with anything. You've gone to great lengths to find Mount Kunwu and break this seal—do you truly intend to let the treasure fall into outsider hands? Since I can't do anything to you for now, and have no interest in continuing to entangle with you. Why not join forces to first break this restriction, then, once we reach Kunwu Palace, each rely on our own means to claim the treasure?"

"Each relying on our own means! Good, Ye Mou has exactly this intention!"

To Gan Hehuan Lao Mo's great surprise, having thought the other would hesitate, the middle-aged man actually agreed without a moment's thought.

This caused Hehuan Lao Mo to startle, then hesitate somewhat.

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