Chapter 495: Hard to Distinguish Truth from Falsehood

"No wonder a spirit spring was placed here; it turns out it was to nourish this wood. I want the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk, but I am equally curious about this Soul-Nourishing Wood." Han Li looked at Yuan Yao and said unhurriedly.

As soon as these words were spoken, Yuan Yao's expression turned icy cold.

"Rest assured, after so many years of nourishment, the size of this wood must be quite large. I only need a small section of the root; I won't compete with Miss Yuan for the most important main trunk." Han Li said with a slight smile when he saw her expression.

"Just the root?" Yuan Yao was stunned at first, then her expression softened, but a hint of suspicion still lingered in her beautiful eyes.

"Of course, as compensation. I still want the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk that Miss Yuan just promised." Han Li said with a straight face.

"Hehe! Fellow Daoist Han is truly calculating. I imagine many sects would be willing to pay a high price to acquire the root of that Soul-Nourishing Wood from you. However, this young lady agrees to this matter." Yuan Yao rolled her eyes, thinking she had guessed Han Li's intentions, and burst into coquettish laughter that made her body tremble.

However, because of this, she seemed to feel relieved instead.

Han Li smiled faintly and didn't explain further.

"Alright, let's break the array. I'll tell you some of my previous insights on breaking the array first." Yuan Yao said with a smile, looking even more anxious than Han Li.

"Don't rush. Miss Yuan, don't you want to take this spirit spring?" Han Li pointed to the pool and asked with a smile.

"Brother Han is joking? This spirit spring was long ago integrated with the entire inner palace by the master of the Heaven Void Palace using profound restrictions. If I had such great divine ability, I would have gone directly to collect the Heaven Void Cauldron. Why would I be holed up here?" Yuan Yao said coquettishly.

Hearing this, Han Li revealed a look of disappointment. But upon second thought, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

He seemed to have become too greedy; the moment he saw a treasure, he immediately had the urge to claim it for himself.

This was not a good sign. He didn't want to end up like the saying, "Man dies for wealth, bird dies for food."

Thinking of this, Han Li secretly warned himself before stopping the mention of this matter and saying in a deep voice:

"Miss Yuan, please hand the spirit milk to me first, then explain the array. If the two of us work together, we will definitely be able to break this array within two or three days."

Yuan Yao smiled brilliantly at Han Li when she heard this, her face radiant and charming!

Two days later, a flash of white light appeared on the sea surface several dozen miles outside the Heaven Void Palace.

Then, the figures of a man and a woman appeared there out of thin air, surrounded by light.

The man had an ordinary appearance, with nothing outstanding except for a pair of relatively clear eyes. The woman had a slender figure, as beautiful as a flower, and her bright eyes flickered with infinite charm.

As soon as the two appeared on the sea surface, they both looked around vigilantly, and only after seeing no other cultivators there did they look relieved.

They were none other than Han Li and Yuan Yao, who had been teleported out after breaking the array in the secret chamber.

"It seems the others are still trapped inside the Heaven Void Palace. They won't be able to come out until the time is up." Yuan Yao glanced in the direction of the Heaven Void Cauldron, strange lights flickering in her beautiful eyes.

"Will those Nascent Soul stage old monsters be teleported out like us after taking the treasure?" Han Li didn't let his guard down and frowned.

"Rest assured. The location where one is teleported out after taking the treasure is random. It's possible to be near the Heaven Void Palace, or hundreds of miles away. No one can monitor such a vast range." Yuan Yao brushed her dark hair inadvertently and said lightly.

"That's good!" Han Li felt relieved in his heart and nodded.

"Why? Did Brother Han offend those old monsters? If so, Fellow Daoist Han really needs to be careful." Yuan Yao's beautiful eyes flickered with autumn waves, asking with a hint of probing in her tone.

"That is not for you to worry about, Fellow Daoist Yuan. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first." Han Li said indifferently, cupping his hands toward Yuan Yao, and then, without waiting for the other party to say anything, he transformed into a cyan rainbow and flew away without the slightest hint of reluctance.

Yuan Yao watched Han Li's departing escape light, a strange expression appearing on her face.

After a long while, she shook her head slightly, and after a flash of black light on her hand, an extra piece of strange wood about a foot long appeared.

The wood was charred black and rough on the outside, pitted and bumpy, truly ugly beyond compare.

However, looking at this wood, a hint of sadness rose on Yuan Yao's face.

"Sister Yan, please endure for a few more days; I will find someone to refine this wood into a Soul-Hiding Box. Let you completely escape the suffering of soul refining." After the woman said these words in a low voice, she didn't hesitate to cover her head with the black robe on her body, concealing her stunning beauty.

Then, Yuan Yao also transformed into a ball of black energy and flew away in another direction.

In the blink of an eye, the sea surface returned to silence.

At the same time, on the high platform on the fifth floor of the inner palace of the Heaven Void Palace, several people stood there with gloomy expressions.

Their expressions were all ugly; they were none other than the Nascent Soul stage cultivators of the righteous and demonic paths, such as Ancestor Ji Yin, and Man Man Huzi also stood coldly among them.

Having reached some kind of agreement, no one attacked anyone else.

"We have searched every corner of the third to fifth floors of the inner palace together. The number of restrictions broken and puppets destroyed is countless, yet we still haven't found them. Ji Yin! Two of the three missing people have a lot to do with you. Are you sure it wasn't you who ordered them to take the treasure and flee?" Wan Wan Tianming said with an ashen face.

"Hmph! Sect Master Wan, you have asked this question several times. I have already told you that my beloved grandson has met with misfortune; this is something I personally detected with my secret technique. There will be no mistake. If it weren't for this 'Heavenly Dipper Shield' blocking all my senses, I should have known the moment my grandson died. I wouldn't have let those two brats take the opportunity to flee with the treasure." Ancestor Ji Yin's facial skin twitched, his face twisted as he spoke.

"Speaking of which, I think Brother Man is the most suspicious. Why was the Heaven Void Cauldron taken during the time Brother Man lured us all out? Brother Man has been unwilling to explain the origin of that junior clearly; could it be that you colluded with that brat beforehand?" Ancestor Ji Yin changed the subject, staring at Man Man Huzi and speaking in a sinister voice.

"Ridiculous, what do I have to explain to you? Even if the Heaven Void Cauldron being taken has something to do with that brat, what does it have to do with me? I was being chased by you all at the time, so it's not like the treasure cauldron fell into my hands! You claim that brat Wu Chou is dead, but who knows if it's true or false? Perhaps you are secretly overjoyed!" Man Man Huzi glared, retorting unceremoniously.

"You..." Ancestor Ji Yin was so angry he was fuming when he heard this.

His beloved grandson had died and met with misfortune! And he had to bear such a huge scapegoat; this was something Ancestor Ji Yin could not accept no matter what.

Immediately, his face showed anger, and he opened his mouth, about to argue further.

But the old man in the Confucian robe on the side spoke up to mediate at this moment.

"Brother Man and Brother Wu, there is no need for any dispute. Whoever took the treasure is not the point. As for which of them it is, what does it have to do with us? These are all secondary. The most important thing now is that no matter whether these three are alive or dead, we must find them. When we were chasing Brother Man, we chased all the way to the entrance of the third floor. No matter how fast they are, it is impossible for them to escape below the third floor. And now, we have laid out several arrays at the entrance of the third floor together; it is impossible for them to escape by taking the opportunity. As for teleporting out from the secret chamber, that is even more impossible. You must know that they are only cultivators at the early Core Formation stage; even if the three of them joined forces, they could never pass through any secret chamber above the third floor. Unless they have truly lost their minds and want to 'commit suicide', that is the exception." The old man in the Confucian robe analyzed calmly.

"But we have searched everywhere from the third to the fifth floors. We haven't found any trace of them at all." Wan Wan Tianming said coldly, his face full of suspicion.

In fact, it wasn't just him; the three righteous path members were all half-believing.

They had long secretly discussed it several times through sound transmission, and they all felt it was very likely that the three old demons had joined forces to perform a good show. They deliberately lured them away, and then let the juniors take out the Heaven Void Cauldron.

Therefore, Wan Wan Tianming and the other two were regretful on one hand, and on the other, they watched the actions of Ji Yin and the others like tigers watching their prey, absolutely refusing to leave the old demons for even half a step in the Heaven Void Palace.

Ji Yin and the old man in the Confucian robe naturally saw the thoughts of Wan Wan Tianming and the righteous path people. But they were equally anxious and couldn't care about this matter.

They just wanted to find Han Li and the others quickly and take back the Heaven Void Cauldron.

A group of Nascent Soul stage cultivators fought fiercely in the inner palace, but the treasure was stolen by Core Formation stage cultivators who fished in troubled waters. If this spread, the joke would be on them!

Moreover, how could they be willing to let the Heaven Void Cauldron truly fall into the hands of Han Li and the others.

Man Man Huzi was also surprised in his heart, because Xuan Gu's actions seemed somewhat different from what they had agreed upon beforehand.

Could it be that he really took the cauldron and fled!

If it were an ordinary Core Formation stage cultivator, perhaps they couldn't pass the restrictions of the third-floor secret chamber, but if it were Xuan Gu who had switched to the ghost path, this was really hard to say.

Although his heart was full of doubts, Man Man Huzi didn't reveal half of it on his face. Instead, because of other thoughts, he harbored the idea of making the water muddy.

Thus, Man Man Huzi also said coldly:

"You say, could it be that the two old guys from the Star Palace didn't leave and have been hiding nearby all along. Seeing that we all chased out, they came out again, killed those three, and then took the Heaven Void Cauldron!"

Hearing Man Man Huzi's words, the others looked at each other, but then revealed a few thoughtful expressions.

===== CHAPTER 496 =====