Chapter 1503: Nether River Barrier and Eight-Gate Lightning-Attracting Array

Mu Qing smiled upon hearing this, and with a careless flip of her hand, three blood-red pearls appeared in her palm.

They were the size of a thumb, shimmering with a crystalline light.

Liu Zu shook his shoulders, and amidst a flash of black light, two more arms sprouted from his back.

One hand grasped a triangular pitch-black token, while the other held a shuttle-shaped blue treasure.

His original two arms formed a hand seal in front of him, and with a *puchi* sound, a pillar of black light erupted from his mouth, flashing once before striking into the silver mist.

With a "Boom—", the silver mist, upon contact with the black light pillar—whatever great divine ability it was—immediately showed signs of failing, erupting with waves of humming sounds.

Seeing this, Mu Qing, standing to the side, raised a hand without hesitation.

Instantly, the three blood-red pearls shot out in a line, transforming into three blood-colored fire-lightning orbs.

After three earth-shattering explosions, the silver mist began to destabilize and dissipate following the detonation of the three head-sized blood flames.

The silver mist, black light, and blood flames intertwined, causing the entire passageway to shake.

Han Li, standing behind Mu Qing and Liu Zu, couldn't help but have his expression change slightly.

Although he had experienced the collapse and disintegration of spatial rifts several times and had even survived passing through spatial nodes, this did not mean he truly had any confidence in avoiding spatial collapses. His previous lucky escapes were merely due to his good fortune. Unless one had cultivated to the Great Ascension stage or was a True Spirit-level existence, no one dared to ignore spatial dangers.

Just then, Liu Zu's newly emerged arms moved simultaneously.

The triangular token vibrated, releasing countless clusters of crimson lightning fire that smashed toward the front. The other shuttle-shaped magic treasure hummed and suddenly transformed into a blue rainbow, shooting out.

At this moment, Mu Qing also shook her sleeves, and countless green rays shot out.

With the addition of the latter three's attacks, the silver mist collapsed and scattered backward step by step.

When the silver mist had been forced back over ten *zhang*, it finally vanished completely after an earth-shattering roar.

The entire spatial barrier was breached, revealing an exit to another space.

Han Li's gaze flashed, seeing the situation at the exit clearly.

Outside, a pale white light flickered uncertainly, and a cold wind blew violently toward them.

Even with his protective spiritual light wrapping his body, Han Li shivered the moment the cold wind swept past.

The chill in the wind could penetrate his spiritual light and reach his body directly. If not for his Five-Colored Cold Flames, he would have suffered quite a bit.

Fortunately, this wind passed in an instant, and after a moment, everything returned to normal.

Han Li exhaled lightly.

Liu Zu stared at the cave entrance, his eyes flashing with sharp light. His figure flickered as he shot out directly, and a calm voice came from his escape light:

"The passage is now open! Tell the other fellow Daoists to enter immediately. I will go outside and take a look first!"

Before the words had faded, Liu Zu's figure reached outside the cave entrance, flickering into the white light.

Mu Qing frowned, but without looking back, she ordered:

"Jin Ling, tell Di Xue and fellow Daoist Lan to lead the others up. I will take fellow Daoist Han and go ahead."

"Yes, Master!" the Golden Ape replied, its figure spinning as it transformed into a golden rainbow and shot backward.

Han Li could only silently follow Mu Qing toward the exit.

A moment later, Han Li's eyes brightened, and he appeared in another space.

However, the scene before him made Han Li's eyes flash with strange light.

Several hundred *zhang* away, a vast expanse of white water blocked their path.

This water was milky white and somewhat turbid; its depth was unknown, but looking left and right, there was no end in sight.

On the surface of the water, waves of cold wind whistled and swirled.

What was eerie was that despite the powerful wind, the water surface remained as calm as a mirror, without a single ripple, like dead water.

Liu Zu was hovering not far in front of the water, staring ahead in silence.

"This is the Nether River!" Han Li exhaled, muttering to himself.

"Correct. To cross this river and enter the Nether River land shrouded by this water, we need the power of fellow Daoist Han's Evil-Warding Divine Lightning," Mu Qing said calmly.

"This junior will naturally do his best!" Han Li replied respectfully.

Mu Qing nodded, and just as she was about to say something else, Liu Zu in front suddenly grabbed at the empty air above the water.

Instantly, a pitch-black giant hand appeared and grabbed downward with great momentum.

But the moment the giant hand reached three or four *zhang* from the water surface, with a *huala* sound, countless silver rays shot out from the water.

Wherever the sound of breaking air passed, the black giant hand was instantly riddled with holes, disappearing into thin air.

"What is this?" Han Li was startled.

"This is a type of strange fish in the Nether River. Their bodies are thin as needles, and they tirelessly attack any living creature that approaches the water surface. They cannot be underestimated. And these things are just the least dangerous existence in the Nether River; as long as one has a certain level of cultivation, they can be blocked with protective spiritual light. The danger is not even as great as the Nether River water itself! The only trouble is that these fish are gregarious; once they attack, it is endless, unless all the fish in the vicinity are slaughtered clean," Mu Qing finally turned back and explained casually.

Hearing this, Han Li suddenly understood.

At this moment, sounds came from the passage behind.

Han Li turned his head and saw two blood-robed figures stepping on purple-blood puppets, a white-haired beautiful woman leading eight black shadows, and Yuan Yao and Yan Li flying out one after another.

Behind them was an seemingly endless army of demonic creatures, numerous puppets, and Yin-armored ghost soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, these things occupied most of the sky at the passage exit, hovering densely everywhere.

"Brother Liu Zu, how is it? Have the restrictions in the Nether River changed from before?" One of the blood-robed figures stepped on the purple-blood puppet beneath his feet and flew straight toward Han Li and the others, while the other blood-robed figure asked loudly.

"No, it is exactly the same as when we first entered!" Liu Zu withdrew his gaze from the water surface and replied calmly.

"So, this time when breaking the restrictions, we will have to go through the same things as last time." The blood-robed figure's voice sank.

"I'm afraid so! But we have made so many preparations this time that there won't be such heavy casualties as last time," the white-haired beautiful woman also flew over and said confidently.

"Mm, the most important thing is for us to join forces to break the restrictions and divide this river. As for other dangers, there is no need to worry. Alright, let us prepare and begin breaking the restrictions. Fellow Daoist Han, it is time for you to release your Divine Lightning to help us disperse the demonic Qi in the Nether water. Once the demonic Qi is dispersed, it will be no problem for us to divide the Nether water," Liu Zu's gaze turned to stare at Han Li, saying without a hint of emotion.

"Seniors, rest assured. This junior has practiced the Lightning Sacrifice Technique until proficient and will definitely not delay your great plans," Han Li bowed slightly and said calmly.

"Hehe, having your word is enough," one of the blood-robed figures laughed loudly.

The white-haired beautiful woman and the others also nodded!

Immediately, under the beckoning of the four Demon Kings, the group of high-tier demonic creatures swarmed out, taking out strange artifacts from their bodies and beginning to set up some kind of magic array.

The eight black shadows and over a dozen metallic puppets with pitch-black luster were also gathered together by the beautiful woman and Di Xue, also preparing something.

Han Li hovered in mid-air, and with a shake of his sleeves, eight small green flags of the same color flew out from his hands. After circling for a while, they formed a lightning-attribute magic array flickering with green arcs.

It happened to surround Han Li at the center of the array.

"Fellow Daoist Han, what are you doing!" The Golden Ape, having returned to Han Li's side and watching his actions, was stunned and couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing. This is an auxiliary magic array I researched myself. It can not only stabilize the Lightning Sacrifice Technique I perform but also slightly increase its power," Han Li said lightly.

Ever since he learned that performing the Lightning Sacrifice Technique might lead to a backlash from the Evil-Warding Divine Lightning, Han Li had been very uneasy and had painstakingly sought a way to break it.

This small magic array was a solution he had thought of while in seclusion.

He used lightning talismans to condense the array flags, which had the miraculous effect of absorbing and releasing lightning power. By using this original Eight-Gate Lightning-Attracting Array, he could amplify this function several times over. Once the Evil-Warding Divine Lightning truly backlashed during the spell, he could use this array to temporarily divert the power of the Evil-Warding Divine Lightning to the array, thereby avoiding personal injury.

Of course, whether this method was truly effective and how much effect it would have, Han Li hadn't been backlashed by the Evil-Warding Divine Lightning yet, so he naturally didn't know for sure.

But setting up this array while performing the Lightning Sacrifice Technique could at least make him feel a little more at ease. As for the amplification he mentioned, it was naturally just a casual remark.

Sure enough, hearing Han Li say this, the Golden Ape nodded and said nothing more.

Mu Qing and the others took a look but couldn't see anything at a glance.

After all, the uniqueness of this set of magic arrays lay entirely in the array flags, and the Dao of lightning talismans on the flags was something Han Li had painstakingly mastered himself. Even if these Demon Kings had great divine abilities, they couldn't see through it just like that.

The other demonic creatures had obviously practiced more than once; in just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a giant magic array with a diameter of several dozen *zhang* had appeared in mid-air.

This magic array was composed of dozens of utensils of different styles, mostly bowl-sized black discs, with a small portion being strange things like rulers, rings, and crystal balls.

But the astonishing aura emitted by these things was integrated into the magic array, no longer distinguishable from one another.

And at the center of the magic array, Liu Zu and Mu Qing stood side by side.

On the other side, the eight black shadows stood in a row, each person's hands resting on the shoulders of the person in front, strung together like *tanghulu*.

The white-haired beautiful woman stood in front of all the black shadows, her expression exceptionally calm.

On the blood-robed figure's side, not only had the purple-blood puppet grown a hundred times taller, but the dozen or so metallic puppets gathered in the middle, condensing into a giant iron puppet several dozen *zhang* tall, holding a shimmering giant blade in its hand.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1504 =====