Chapter 995: Crystal Stele

"Eh! The surface of this stele?" Before Han Li could figure out what was happening, the old man surnamed Fu to the side suddenly pointed at the back of the stele with a look of astonishment. (Web)

Han Li raised an eyebrow. If he remembered correctly, the back of the stele was completely empty, with nothing on it.

However, the old man would not act this way without reason, so he swayed slightly, and his figure appeared strangely on the back of the stele. The back faced Han Li.

After sweeping his gaze over it, Han Li was also stunned.

He saw that the back of the stele had actually cracked into pieces, but in some deep crevices, bright blue light was flickering.

"Spirit stones?" Han Li's gaze flickered, feeling somewhat uncertain.

He suddenly flicked his fingers ten times, and over ten green sword qi crossed and intertwined, instantly transforming into a ball of green light that wrapped the upper half of the stele inside.

For a time, stone chips flew everywhere, and the surroundings were gray.

But with the sharpness of Han Li's sword qi, after a moment, blue light appeared under the sword light, becoming increasingly dazzling.

As a result, when Han Li stopped his fingers and the green light dissipated, a large portion of the stele was cut away in front of him. In the middle of the stele, a deep blue crystal was embedded, as if it had originally grown inside the stele.

This crystal was several feet long, deep blue, and exceptionally crystalline. Although not fully exposed, it appeared rectangular and flat.

The entire bluestone stele seemed to be just a thick shell for this crystal.

"It's not a spirit stone. Although it looks very similar to a water-attribute spirit stone, it doesn't contain water-attribute spiritual energy," Bai Bai Yaoyi blinked her beautiful, clear eyes twice and immediately said with certainty.

"It's indeed not a spirit stone. No one would directly use spirit stones to refine things and then engrave things on them. This seems to be a stele inscription," Han Li stared at the exposed part of the crystal, seeing the concave and convex ancient runes flickering on the surface, and let out a sigh of relief.

Afterward, he did not hesitate, gathering his magic power and grabbing toward the crystal in the void with one hand.

Instantly, a green light hand appeared out of thin air in front of the stele, its five fingers like hooks reaching forward, grabbing the top of the crystal and pulling upward with force.

It was indeed incomparably heavy, but having prepared, Han Li this time relied on his formidable magic power to forcibly pull the crystal out of the stele.

A blue, hazy crystal stele appeared in front of Han Li, with runes flowing on it, flickering with a ghostly blue light.

Han Li looked at the characters on it for a moment, his heart suddenly moved, but his expression remained calm. Instead, he pinched a spell with both hands and quickly pointed at the crystal stele.

Instantly, the crystal stele trembled slightly, and its size shrank rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a brick-like object half a foot in size, and with a 'whoosh', it disappeared into Han Li's large sleeve.

The old man and Bai Bai Yaoyi were also very interested in the crystal stele, but seeing that Han Li did not want to take it out for them to observe, they naturally tactfully stopped mentioning it. Instead, after a brief discussion with Han Li, the three decided to follow the staircase up the mountain.

At this moment, they had already confirmed that the faint rumbling sound was indeed coming from above the mountain.

Immediately, the three concealed their figures again and flew up.

Han Li naturally did not know that the rumbling sound they heard was actually the sound of the Ye family cultivators struggling to break the barrier at the mountain waist, an unknown distance up the staircase.

But the distance between the two was not as close as they thought. There was still a barrier separating them from the location of the Ye family cultivators.

After all, the location of the cave where they were teleported by the teleportation array was far lower than the fixed point where the Ye family cultivators came through the crack in the barrier.

Now, the freak and the Ye family's Great Elder, two Nascent Soul late-stage cultivators, were hovering motionless side by side above a mountain rock.

Not far away, below the two, the remaining Ye family cultivators were standing in a temporarily set up magic array according to their positions, using the power of the array to drive various treasures, desperately attacking a huge archway vaguely visible on the stone staircase ahead.

The Ancient Demon was also mixed in with the Ye family cultivators, directing a pitch-black flying sword summoned from an unknown place, attacking with an expressionless face.

This archway could actually release ten thousand rays of light on its own, capable of taking all attacks, as if it were a rare treasure itself.

"Third brat! How much longer do you estimate it will take to break open this Gate of Ten Thousand Cultivators?" The freak looked at the archway wrapped in various colors of spiritual light and turned to ask the white-robed scholar, his expression showing a hint of anxiety.

"Another day and night should be enough. This archway is far more troublesome than I imagined. No wonder the Gate of Ten Thousand Cultivators had such a great reputation in the past," the scholar was exceptionally calm and replied in a deep voice.

"We have spent too much time in front of this archway. If you and I could go down and help them, the time to break the barrier would be reduced by at least half," the big-headed freak muttered in frustration, but his figure did not move at all, without the slightest intention of actually taking action.

"Since ancient fierce birds like the Lion-Fowl Beast have appeared on this mountain, I naturally have to be prepared. I would rather break the array a day or two late than have us not maintain peak magic power at all times. Seventh Uncle, please be patient! We have only entered this mountain for a few days, and there is still plenty of time. Haste makes waste!" the scholar said with a calm and relaxed demeanor.

"That is true. Even if the Nascent Soul cultivators of other sects are fast, it will still take them some time to find the sealed crack and enter this mountain after arriving here. However, just this one Gate of Ten Thousand Cultivators has cost us so much time; I am afraid the barriers we encounter later will be even more troublesome," the freak sighed.

"Seventh Uncle, do not worry. Our Ye family has planned for this operation for a long time, so we naturally considered the breaking of barriers. Over these years, the clan has long collected several secret treasures specifically for breaking barriers. It is just that it is not yet time to use them," the scholar smiled slightly, appearing exceptionally confident.

"So that's how it is. Then this old man can rest easy," the big-headed freak's expression relaxed upon hearing this.

Afterward, the two watched the progress of breaking the barrier in the air without saying anything more. But not long after, the freak's nose twitched slightly, and his expression suddenly sank. Without a word, he flicked his fingers toward a certain direction in the void. Instantly, several yellow sword qi shot out without warning, enveloping a large tree several tens of zhang away.

As a result, a light breeze rose under the tree, and a monster covered in green fur with silver wings on its back suddenly appeared there.

The monster didn't even move its hands, just flapping its wings, and easily knocked the several sword lights away.

Afterward, this sharp-eared, monkey-cheeked monster looked at the Ye family cultivators below with cold eyes, then looked at the scholar and the big-headed freak, and actually spread its wings without a word, shooting backward. After a few flashes, this silver-winged monster transformed into a breeze again and disappeared.

"I didn't see wrong, did I! Such a brilliant Wind Escape Technique, actually able to hide its form by borrowing the wind. This thing seems to be the legendary Silver-Winged Winged Yecha. If it weren't for the faint corpse aura on its body, I would have been deceived as well," the big-headed freak did not pursue, but his expression became solemn.

"Corpse aura? I didn't sense it. Only Seventh Uncle's Blood Chariot True Art can cultivate such sensitive senses. However, besides that, this Silver-Winged Winged Yecha seems to have quite high intelligence," the scholar stared in the direction where the Silver-Winged Winged Yecha disappeared, his expression also somewhat ugly.

"Isn't Mount Mount Kunwu known as a fairy land? Why are we encountering nothing but fierce and evil things like Lion-Fowl Beasts and Flying Sky Corpses! It is fortunate that we two came together; if only one of us had come, I am afraid it would have been extremely dangerous," the big-headed freak shook his large head, his brows furrowing tightly.

"Fairy land is just a saying from the past. The current Mount Mount Kunwu has been sealed for unknown reasons. It is not strange to have some strange things. But these don't matter to us. Our trip is only for the Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasure. There is no need to ask about other things," the scholar was silent for a while before speaking slowly.

"That is true. But if they were mindless monsters, no matter how high their cultivation was, there would be nothing to worry about. But that Silver-Winged Winged Yecha actually has high intelligence; we must be careful of this monster. Don't let it ruin our great cause," the big-headed freak said with a cold gaze.

"Thank you, Seventh Uncle, for the reminder. I will pay more attention to this monster," the scholar nodded, his tone becoming more solemn.

Just as the Ye family's Great Elder encountered the Silver-Winged Winged Yecha and scared it away, at the high altitude where the stone pavilion that the Ye family cultivators had rested in was located, at a seemingly ordinary, thick barrier, light flashed suddenly, and a head full of white hair poked in, looking around, appearing somewhat comical.

Discovering that there was no one here, this person immediately rushed out of the barrier with silver light flashing all over his body, then stepped on a huge disc of light, slowly flew toward the stone pavilion, and landed on top of it, standing firmly.

Only then did this person raise his head, revealing a smooth, round face full of wrinkles but with small eyes.

It was none other than that mysterious little old man, Xiang Xiang Zhili!

"So this is Mount Mount Kunwu. Tsk tsk! The spiritual energy is indeed extraordinary. But who was full and had nothing to do, actually daring to open this seal? If that thing is released, does he want the entire Great Jin to be buried with him? I am also unlucky, happening to be in the vicinity, and I can't even pretend not to know," Xiang Xiang Zhili looked around, heard the faint rumbling sound, and immediately couldn't help but jump up and curse on the stone pavilion, looking full of bad luck.

"Since you know it's bad luck to come here, yet you still dare to come, I admire your courage," just as Xiang Xiang Zhili's cursing stopped, a sweet woman's voice suddenly came into his ears, the voice tender and soft, like a lover's whisper.

But upon hearing this voice, Xiang Xiang Zhili suddenly felt his entire body turn cold, and all his blood seemed to freeze.

"Senior, you... you have come out!" The little old man swallowed dryly, actually stuttering.

"Come out? I came out countless tens of thousands of years ago. It's just that the final barrier set up by the three elders of Mount Kunwu back then with the power of ten thousand people is truly not something I can tear open with my own power alone. Otherwise, I would have left long ago. Would I have waited until now?" The woman's voice remained incomparably gentle, but Xiang Xiang Zhili's face turned instantly ash-white.

(Web) ===== CHAPTER 996 =====