Chapter 2376

The entire heaven and earth seemed to dim slightly, and the countless snowflakes dancing around were suddenly yanked away by a tremendous force, all rushing toward the Severing Spirit Sword like a funnel and vanishing into the sword's body as they were absorbed into the world's vital energy.

The surface of the jade-green long sword immediately flashed with a row of pale silver characters, and after a jade-green sword light swept out, it firmly planted itself onto the golden light shield.

With a "puff" sound.

The sword light instantly blazed brilliantly, almost transforming into a dazzling green radiance like the scorching sun, completely submerging the entire light shield within it.

The surface of the light shield then emitted a loud humming sound, and suddenly five-colored characters flashed into view, swirling chaotically, but ultimately dissolved and decomposed within the jade-green blazing sun.

Finally, with a bang, the entire light shield vanished completely into thin air, not a trace remaining.

Han Li's face turned slightly pale, his wrist trembled, and the long sword in his hand flashed and disappeared; his figure blurred once more, and the next moment he appeared directly in the teleportation array on the stone platform.

A finger pointed at the edge of the array into the void, and a white-colored magic seal shot out, flashing and vanishing into the void.

The entire teleportation array emitted a low transmission hum, and as white light swirled at its center, Han Li's figure blurred and disappeared.

The next moment, when Han Li reappeared from the faint white light, he found himself standing in a hazy gray space, before him looming a towering stone monument like a giant mountain piercing the heavens.

The monument was so immense that looking up from its base gave the feeling that its top could not be seen at all, and its entire surface was crystalline and blood-red, with faint traces of numerous large silver characters appearing and disappearing, deeply mysterious. Han Li gazed at this stone tower, then glanced around at the hazy gray void, and a flicker of surprise crossed his face.

No matter how he looked, this place bore absolutely no relation to the palaces and pavilions he had vaguely seen beyond the light curtain earlier.

It seemed he had actually been transmitted directly from the restriction of the previous region to another unfamiliar place.

At the same time, Xiao Ming and the two others finally broke free from the ice and snow world restriction, gazing upon the golden halls before them that resembled a fairyland and the rows of pale silver pavilions not far away, yet their expressions all turned grim.

"This is not the central hub of the Xu Tian Ding Palace. But according to the records in my inherited texts, the transmission array we found earlier should have been able to send us directly to the central region. How did we end up here?" Qing Ping Daoist muttered in disbelief.

"The records in Daoist Qing Ping's texts are certainly correct; otherwise, we wouldn't have made it this far. This situation must be due to an unforeseen change in the previous region's restriction, causing this error." Xiao Ming stroked his chin and spoke calmly.

"What unforeseen change! Could these restrictions possibly undergo spontaneous transformation!" Wan Hua Lady exclaimed, flustered and angry.

"It's hard to say. The Xu Tian Ding True Person's formation attainments far exceed my expectations, and the Xu Tian Ding Palace has existed for many years. It's not strange for its restrictions to have undergone some change. But while other restrictions remain unchanged, only the one leading into the central hub has changed—this is too much of a coincidence. I suspect someone has tampered with a restriction in this area, causing this to happen." Xiao Ming's eyes flashed as he spoke.

"Tampered with a restriction? How could that be possible? Aside from that human child, no one entered the previous region earlier than we did. And even if someone had, in such a short time, even with the powers of a Golden Immortal, it would be impossible to alter such a complex, massive restriction." Wan Hua Lady shook her head repeatedly.

"Hehe, it seems Daoist Wan Hua has forgotten the people who entered when Xu Tian Ding Palace was last opened. Although their cultivation wasn't particularly high, those who possessed the genuine original keys were indeed several in number. When Xu Tian Ding Palace closed, it seemed they weren't seen alive after transmission." Xiao Ming's eyes flashed as he spoke slowly.

"So Brother Xiao means that some of those who entered Xu Tian Ding Palace last time are still alive, and it was they who altered the restriction." Upon hearing this, Qing Ping Daoist couldn't help but turn pale again.

"That must be the case; otherwise, there's no way to explain all of this." Xiao Ming glanced again at the golden hall ahead and replied.

"Generally speaking, such a thing should be impossible. When Xu Tian Ding Palace closes, everyone is directly transmitted out. If someone secretly stays behind using secret arts, they would be erased outright by this place's restrictions. Unless this person's strength surpasses that of the Xu Tian Ding True Person of old by three parts, enabling direct opposition to these restriction powers, or someone has already entered the central hub and obtained the Xu Tian Ding True Person's legacy. If so, they could remain in Xu Tian Ding Palace unharmed, and altering an exit in one area would be easy. But for us, this outcome would be the worst possible news." Qing Ping Daoist pondered for a moment, then spoke with some concern.

"Xu Tian Ding Palace was built by the Xu Tian Ding True Person before his ascension, surpassing even his divine powers at that time, so this is naturally impossible. But if this person truly controlled the central hub or obtained the Xu Tian Ding True Person's entire legacy, it would also be highly unlikely. Otherwise, why would Xu Tian Ding Palace still appear as scheduled? If someone had taken control, they would have hidden and flown away directly." Xiao Ming suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"In that case, the person remaining in Xu Tian Ding Palace should only be able to control part of its restrictions, not yet fully mastered the central hub or obtained the complete legacy and treasures of the Xu Tian Ding True Person." Wan Hua Lady's eyes brightened, and she immediately guessed the meaning behind Xiao Ming's words.

"Quite likely so." Xiao Ming appeared very confident.

"If that's the case, we still have a good chance. But now the transmission exit recorded in my texts is unreliable; to reach the central hub, we must break through the light curtain on the other side of this region using the crudest method and force our way in. The central hub should be a towering stone monument-like structure." Qing Ping Daoist also showed a hint of joy, finally having revealed some information. "But the restriction in the previous region is so formidable that we spent so long just to get through it once; repeating the process—will we still have time? Won't it take too long?" Wan Hua Lady hesitated.

"We've become somewhat familiar with this restriction; breaking through again should save us considerable time. If necessary, I and the two Daoists will not hesitate to expend our true essence and employ thunderous methods, which should compress the time to the shortest possible." Xiao Ming said thus.

Qing Ping Daoist and Wan Hua Lady, upon hearing this, found it reasonable and immediately nodded.

Thus, the three turned into streaks of light and shot straight toward the faintly visible light curtain in the distance, completely ignoring the nearby golden hall and those silver pavilions within arm's reach.

……

After Han Li flew rapidly around the massive monument in a large circle and found no entrance, he returned to his original position, his brows slightly furrowed. He suddenly flicked his sleeve, and a cluster of white light flew out; after the light condensed, it transformed into a small, crystalline, pale white bottle.

The bottle's surface was extremely smooth, its walls nearly transparent in color, and inside, a faint cluster of blood light flickered indistinctly, alternating between dark and bright.

"I didn't expect that Bing Po Daoist's body would actually be trapped here; if not for the faint reaction I detected earlier outside the previous region, I might have truly missed him."

Han Li murmured two sentences, then immediately held the small bottle in his palm, once again circling the monument and beginning a steady upward ascent, loop by loop.

After several dozen rotations, the drop of spiritual blood in the bottle suddenly emitted a light slightly stronger than before.

Though this change was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, it could not escape Han Li's senses.

Han Li's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately flew straight toward the opposite monument, finally stopping before several silver characters arranged in a peculiar manner, each about a chi in size.

"Silver tadpole script—though it might be troublesome for others, for me..."

Han Li carefully examined these few silver characters, a faint smile appearing on his face, then immediately raised his arm and tapped his finger several times into the void before these characters.

After these few silver characters flickered slightly, they actually moved silently, eventually converging into one, merging into a larger silver-colored character, which then began to spin on its own.

The seemingly hard monument surface suddenly swirled with rosy light, and a dark passage appeared out of thin air.

Han Li's figure shifted, and his entire body slid into it in an instant; the passage entrance then silently closed behind him.

After his feet touched the somewhat smooth ground, Han Li's spirit trembled slightly; he made a grasping motion in the void, then flung it outward, and a milky white light ball shot out, illuminating the somewhat dark passage as brightly as daytime.

He swept his gaze around and saw everything inside the passage with perfect clarity.

The entire passage was semicircular in shape, its walls and floor made of ordinary blue stone slabs, though the surface bore an inscription of an unknown, peculiar spiritual pattern—twisted and abnormal, fresh red as if about to drip, and still faintly emitting a faint scent of blood.

After Han Li withdrew his gaze, he pointed his finger at his brow, releasing his powerful spiritual sense outward.

But only a moment later, he sighed as he had anticipated.

Indeed, the spiritual sense here was subjected to a greater suppressive force than outside, and the strength of the void-restriction ban was such that even he could only lift off the ground by a tiny margin, and the magic power consumption was far beyond that of ordinary void-restriction bans.

The Xu Tian Ding True Person, who successfully ascended to the immortal realm, truly left behind restriction methods that are extraordinary.

After a brief thought, Han Li strode forward; with his physical body's formidable strength, once he ran at full speed, he would not be much slower than ordinary cultivators riding evasion light.

But since no danger had appeared yet, naturally there was no need for this.

However, after walking only a short distance, the passage began to gradually ascend, and the higher he went, the steeper it became.

Not long after, he had already climbed over a hundred zhang in height.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared ahead, and the exit became faintly visible.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, but his steps did not halt in the slightest as he walked straight past it.

But when he stepped out of the passage and appeared in a vast hall, his gaze swept around once, and he couldn't help but be somewhat stunned. (To be continued.)