Chapter 2373: Gathering and Coincidence

What does it mean? Naturally, it's about striking first with force. The giant ape said with a humming sound, and with a grasp in empty air, two masses of cyan-black rosy light instantly condensed in its hands, forming two small mountains several zhang high.

The giant ape swung its two arms, hurling the mountain peaks violently outward, and amidst explosive sounds, they transformed into two massive light balls that smashed fiercely toward the two elderly men.

At the same time, a crystal light flashed atop its head, and a third small mountain appeared out of thin air.

With a "hiss-hiss" sound, countless invisible sword qi instantly materialized around the last elderly man, and simultaneously a sweeping slash came.

The faces of the three gaunt elderly men changed drastically, but two of them shouted loudly, each revealing a centipede and a giant scorpion phantom behind them, and with a movement of their four arms, each extended two palms to strike fiercely at the mountain peak.

At the moment the four seemingly ordinary palms extended, two of them immediately displayed countless blue scales, while streaks of dazzling electric arcs coiled around them.

The other two palms suddenly turned dark and lustrous, then swelled wildly like a puff of air, with ten green sharp claws sprouting from the fingertips and emitting rolling black gas of extreme foulness.

As for the third elderly man, upon seeing himself surrounded by invisible sword qi, he flipped his hand over, producing a half-foot-tall statue with a fox's head and human body, which he tossed upward toward his head.

Upon a clear chime, the statue radiated light all over, then transformed into a five-tailed red fox puppet.

The red fox merely swept its several tails suddenly, and it transformed into a layer of crimson light curtain, covering the space below entirely.

Next moment, the four palms struck solidly against the two light balls formed from the extreme mountains.

Two earth-shaking booms—nearby space underwent a violent fluctuation and blurred.

The two light balls trembled and actually came to a halt, revealing the true form of the extreme mountains.

However, the two gaunt elderly men who struck out suddenly changed expression, their bodies trembled simultaneously, and they flew backward.

When the two stabilized their forms tens of zhang away with faces full of shock and anger, after raising their four arms, their surfaces were already bloody and torn, as if their skin had completely shattered, with not an inch remaining intact, and their ten fingers appeared directly broken.

At the same time, the invisible sword qi had already rolled and slashed against the third elderly man's red light curtain.

Instantly, this light curtain flickered wildly, and in a moment, fine cracks appeared on its surface.

The third elderly man startled, immediately spat out a mass of jing qi into the statue in his hand, then fiercely activated the hand seal.

Above his head, the red fox puppet's body flashed with a layer of golden light, the light curtain formed from its five long tails also changed color to pale gold, and the cracks appearing on its surface quickly healed as before, firmly blocking this wave of invisible sword qi.

But Han Li, having just fought three opponents alone, still held a slight advantage.

This made the three elderly men, who had come with overwhelming momentum, hesitate slightly and stop in place.

However, after exchanging a few words with gloomy expressions, the three slowly approached the giant ape formed by Han Li.

It seems these three Nascent Soul old monsters truly intend to bully the few with their numbers and fight him.

Seeing this, Han Li let out a cold snort in his heart, the giant ape he formed pounded its chest violently, raised its head, and let out a long roar that shot straight to the nine heavens.

Then, behind him, a vast heavenly sage dharma aspect flashed into existence, and suddenly lunged onto the giant ape, merging completely with it in one body.

Instantly, purple-gold light blazed across the giant ape's body as it slightly bowed, golden light blazed from under the ribs on both sides of its shoulders, and simultaneously two additional giant ape heads and four long, furry golden arms grew out.

Han Li actually deployed the Awakening of Insects Technique and the Heavenly Sage True Demon Art simultaneously.

At this moment, the strength of his physical body was nearly comparable to that of the Nirvana Sacred Body.

It can be seen that even when facing three opponents of the same level, Han Li did not dare to be too careless.

Just as the four were about to unleash great divine powers and begin fighting, suddenly, in the void over a hundred zhang away, a fluctuation occurred, and another hazy light formation appeared out of thin air, inside which rosy light swirled, and three figures of varying heights instantly flashed into view.

The three elderly men who had been planning to approach Han Li's side immediately felt a jolt in their hearts and simultaneously halted their movements.

Han Li's formed three-headed six-armed giant ape turned its three heads at once, six eyes like lightning sweeping toward the same direction.

These three figures are an old woman, a Daoist priest, and a masked man—namely, Lady Wan Hua of Xiao Ming and company.

After these three finished teleportation, seeing clearly the three elderly men and Han Li's illusory three-headed six-armed giant ape, they were equally startled, unable to help but exchange glances.

"So it's Brother Xiao. What a coincidence—we actually gathered at the same place as planned." The giant ape let out a loud laugh from its mouth, then its body's golden light retracted, its body rapidly shrank, and in a moment it returned to human form.

"I also didn't expect to meet Daoist Han here—it's truly a coincidence." Xiao Ming, upon clearly seeing Han Li's restored appearance, his eyes flashed, and he forced a smile.

Lady Wan Hua and Daoist Qingping likewise couldn't help but wryly smile in their hearts…

As for the three gaunt elderly men, upon seeing this situation, they dared not act rashly, only observing the newly appeared three with gloomy eyes.

At this moment, Xiao Ming glanced at the three gaunt elderly men, then, as if thinking, asked:

"You three look unfamiliar—could you be Daoist friends hiding in the Northwestern Black Yan Forest Sea?"

"Hmph, you are quite well-informed, able to discern our origin at a glance. Not bad—we, the Three Saints of Wu Ling, have indeed always dwelled in Black Yan." The elderly man who drove the red fox puppet snorted and replied, his words clearly carrying a hint of hostility.

"Wu Ling Three Saints? So you three are Daoist friends cultivating Wu Dao divine powers, but I don't know what grudge you have with Han Brother, or why you're making such a big move here." Xiao Ming's eyes flickered as he asked.

Although he had not personally witnessed Han Li and others' fight, the lingering spiritual qi fluctuations in the air and the standoff between the two sides naturally revealed what had just happened.

"Heavenly treasures originally belong to the strong—since we entered this Tian Ding Palace, naturally anyone is our opponent; what need is there for reason?" The speaking elderly man replied without hesitation.

"In that case, you three Daoist friends also regard us three as opponents. Han Brother, what do you think?" Xiao Ming's voice suddenly turned colder by three points, but after turning his head, he asked Han Li: "Just do as you please—want to fight? Then fight." Han Li raised his head and laughed heartily, appearing as if he didn't care either way.

Seeing this, Xiao Ming's inner apprehension increased by another two points, and after glancing at the Wu Ling Three Saints, his brow furrowed slightly.

Originally, according to his plan, he should have already entered the center of the Tian Ding Palace by now, or at least found the core of the restriction.

But he never expected that the restriction in the second area he had entered beforehand would be far more profound and abnormal than they anticipated, actually trapping them until now, only just managing to break through.

And as soon as they came out, they encountered Han Li and the Wu Ling Three Saints—two forces both formidable—naturally making things even more troublesome.

If possible, he would naturally wish for them to fight each other to the death, so he could reap the benefits and directly enter the final area of the route.

But after their appearance, if Han Li and the Wu Ling Three Saints truly had no brains at all, then naturally it would be impossible.

And if they were to just stalemate here like this, for him it would naturally not be a good thing.

Those who enter the Tian Ding Palace are not only these Nascent Soul cultivators—who knows if delaying a bit might bring others who also found this place?

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming's expression turned solemn again as he spoke:

"Friends, we entered this place only to seek treasures—why contend before the true treasure is even in hand? The true treasure clearly lies ahead in these areas. The energy spent on fighting would be better used to search these rear zones. The front restrictions are already this hard to break—we might exhaust all our time behind and still not necessarily return with treasure."

"I don't care either way, as long as others don't provoke first, naturally I'm too lazy to act." Han Li blinked his eyes, then replied with a half-smile.

"Good, since Brother Xiao said so, let's put this fight aside for now. Let's go!" Upon hearing this, the elderly man who drove the red fox puppet thought briefly, then a flash of killing intent appeared in his eyes as he nodded.

Then the three elderly men transmitted sound to each other two or three times, and with a movement of their forms, they truly turned and flew toward a certain nearby area.

Xiao Ming, upon seeing the area the three had chosen, seemed slightly startled, but immediately recovered and smiled at Han Li:

"Han Brother, do you also already have a target? If you haven't chosen well yet, we three will go ahead first."

"What choice do I have? Han will go… go to that place and take a look." Han Li casually shook his head, then pointed a finger in a certain direction, but as he was on his way, his pupils suddenly contracted, and after slightly shifting his fingertip, he abruptly pointed to another area adjacent to the original direction.

The silent Lady Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping, upon seeing the area Han Li had chosen, immediately changed their expressions.

At that moment, Han Li had already transformed into a streak of rainbow light, piercing through the sky; after a few flashes, he plunged headfirst into the pale blue light curtain, whereupon light and shadow flickered within, and faint sounds of wind and thunder could be heard from inside.

"What should we do? This Wind Continent brat actually chose the area we originally intended to select. Could he also know the location of the Xu Tian Ding Palace's central hub?" Lady Wan Hua exclaimed anxiously.

"It shouldn't be. The robe and bowl passed down by the Xu Tian Ding Ancestral Master were inherited only by our lineage; previously, aside from me, it was impossible for anyone else in the world to know its exact location and control method." Daoist Qing Ping said with a grim expression.

"So he just happened to pick this area by chance. But judging from his earlier demeanor, he doesn't seem too likely to have done so." Xiao Ming's gaze also turned gloomy, and he couldn't help but recall the scene where Han Li's finger had suddenly changed direction.

"Then what should we do? Should we choose another area instead?" Lady Wan Hua asked resentfully.