Chapter 998

Han Li slowly stood up, one hand reaching out toward a nearby red cloud, and instantly a massive blue hand materialized in midair, grasping the colorful cloud tightly.

A low incantation echoed.

Han Li stared at the giant hand, forming a strange hand seal with both hands, muttering incantations under his breath.

The giant hand trembled, then suddenly clenched its five fingers, squeezing the red cloud firmly in its palm.

Brilliant blue light blazed forth, and within moments the hand transformed into a blinding, radiant orb.

But Han Li immediately spat out a wisp of blue infant fire, which floated gently and wrapped around the orb; swiftly, roaring flames engulfed the orb, enclosing it completely.

Only then did Han Li release his spellhand, his expressionless gaze fixed on the orb, silent.

After an unknown length of time, Han Li’s lips twitched slightly, then he suddenly flicked his sleeve toward the flames above, sending a sheet of rosy light sweeping forward.

The flames instantly extinguished, revealing a pale red spherical bead.

“So it’s truly correct! Such an advanced method of concealing and shaping objects—only ancient cultivators could possess it. Yet even in ancient times, few cultivators understood this kind of array. Fortunately, one of the texts gifted to me by Xin Ruyin long ago described a similar restriction. Otherwise, I’d have had no idea how to break it. I’ll need to further enhance my Spirit Eye’s power—if I can continue using Mingqing Spirit Fluid for another hundred years, I should be able to pierce this top-tier illusionary technique.” Han Li sighed, visibly frustrated that his Spirit Eye could not yet penetrate this array.

He ignored the floating red bead, glanced around, then fixed his gaze on a blue cloud, summoning another giant hand to seize it and spitting another wisp of infant fire toward it.

This time, the mist vanished instantly within the flames.

Han Li’s face showed no change; he immediately reached for another blue cloud.

After two more failures, he finally refined a blue bead.

Thus, after spending half a day, he refined three more beads: yellow, blue, and gold.

Then Han Li solemnly gestured toward the beads; the floating spheres immediately shot toward him.

His ten fingers flicked rapidly, drawing them in a circular motion. The beads began circling him slowly, then faster and faster, gradually forming a five-colored ring, dotted with spiritual light, appearing profoundly mysterious.

“Go!” Han Li raised his brows and uttered a low command.

His fingers halted; the five-colored ring shattered, and the beads shot outward in an exquisitely arcane trajectory.

In an instant, the beads landed at five seemingly unrelated locations, spinning rapidly while simultaneously expanding and contracting in a bizarre rhythm.

As Han Li narrowed his eyes, a series of thunderous booms erupted—the five beads exploded simultaneously, five differently colored orbs emerging, blazing with blinding radiance, as if five monstrous suns had suddenly appeared in space.

Even Han Li involuntarily shut his eyes, unable to bear the piercing glare.

At the very moment the five lights converged and filled the entire space, the surroundings shifted, his vision blurred, and suddenly Han Li stood on a familiar stone staircase. Not far ahead stood the massive rock he had seen before, covered in spiritual herbs.

“Han Daoist!”

“Han Brother!”

A man’s and a woman’s exclamations rang out beside Han Li.

Han Li turned his gaze and saw Bai Yao and the elderly man surnamed Fu standing several zhang away, both looking extremely drained, yet now filled with astonishment and relief.

“You’ve both escaped too!” Han Li said calmly.

“You broke this strange restriction, didn’t you, Han Brother! I’ve never seen such a terrifying array—I truly thought I’d be trapped here until I died!” The elderly man surnamed Fu said, still shaken.

Clearly, this Nine You Sect Elder had suffered greatly under the mysterious restriction; both his spiritual power and spirit had been severely damaged.

“My situation was much the same. I was utterly helpless within that restriction. This time, I owe you a great debt, Han Brother,” Bai Yao said with a bitter smile, a trace of gratitude faintly visible on her jade-like face.

“It’s nothing. I merely happened to have heard of a similar restriction, which allowed me to break this array. Ancient restrictions like this are exceedingly rare. The spiritual herb you took—I suspect it was actually a magic treasure transformed into that form. You were likely deceived,” Han Li chuckled.

“Transformed? No way. I clearly saw… wait, what’s this?” The elderly man surnamed Fu paused, half-skeptical, as he pulled out a jade box from his storage pouch.

Inside was no spiritual herb—only an ordinary jade scepter.

The old man stared, dumbfounded.

“When all three of us stepped onto that massive rock, we were already ensnared by its illusionary restriction. Picking the herb merely triggered its strongest seal. Why not look over there?” Han Li’s eyes flashed as he casually pointed toward the rock.

The old man and Bai Yao turned to look—on the rock’s surface stood a spiritual herb bearing a string of purple berries.

“Ancient cultivators were truly treacherous! They set up such a sinister trap here! What were they thinking?!” The old man erupted in fury.

Bai Yao’s lips parted slightly, stunned.

“Don’t be surprised. Ancient restrictions like this require a magic treasure to be deliberately touched by someone entering the array to fully activate their power. Naturally, they manifest this way. I’ve only temporarily broken this restriction—I haven’t destroyed it completely,” Han Li said calmly.

“Mount Kunwu doesn’t seem like a fairy mountain—it’s more like a dragon’s den or tiger’s lair!” The old man, having lost the herb he thought he’d claimed, looked bitterly disappointed.

“Be more cautious from now on. This isn’t an ordinary ancient cultivator ruin. If something strange happens, don’t act rashly. You might invite disaster. This time, I happened to break the array—but next time, I won’t be so sure. You understand what I mean, right?” Han Li’s eyes flickered, his voice growing colder.

“Ah… I won’t act rashly again,” the elderly man surnamed Fu chuckled awkwardly. He had indeed been too impulsive in taking the herb.

Bai Yao nodded thoughtfully.

“Since you both understand, let’s go. The sounds from the mountain have stopped. We’ve wasted several days—others may have already reached the summit.” Han Li glanced toward the peak, then led the way forward along the stone steps.

Bai Yao and the other followed closely behind.

This time, they encountered no further trouble. After several hours, the three flew past several massive ridges and finally arrived at the stone pavilion where the Ye family cultivators had entered—the very spot where Xiang Zhili had vanished without a trace.

Seeing the pavilion, the old man and Bai Yao showed no reaction, but Han Li let out a soft “hmm,” suddenly stopping and staring at a spot on the ground near the pavilion.

The other two followed his gaze and immediately noticed something unusual.

On the soft ground lay a faint, shallow footprint. Without close attention, it would have been easily overlooked.

“Other cultivators have clearly been here,” Bai Yao murmured, her teeth slightly bared, her brows furrowed.

“Not just that—look at that rock beside the pavilion,” the old man muttered, glancing at a nearby stone.

On the stone was a long, narrow, deep groove—several zhang in length, unmistakably left by an extremely powerful sword aura. It was the yellow sword aura the Ye family’s Seventh Uncle had accidentally left behind that day.

“This sword mark is fresh. So someone else has been here—and apparently fought something. Could it have been that silver-winged Yecha?” Bai Yao said, her eyes glinting.

“Possibly. It seems those people ascended along these steps. That’s good—we’ve got someone clearing the way for us. We can avoid some trouble,” Han Li said with unusual calm.

The elderly man surnamed Fu smiled, about to speak, when suddenly a flash of white light appeared on a nearby screen, and a pale figure shot out from within.

The figure appeared directly facing Han Li and the others, clearly visible to all three—Han Li and Bai Yao immediately reacted with shock and delight.

They never imagined the exit they sought was right before their eyes.

But the elderly man surnamed Fu’s face turned instantly pale upon seeing the white figure.

“Five Sons’ Heart Demon—this is Qian the Devil’s demonic avatar!” Han Li froze. Though the term “Five Sons’ Heart Demon” sounded familiar, he couldn’t immediately recall who Qian the Devil was. But Bai Yao’s face turned instantly ashen.

At that moment, “puff, puff,” several sounds followed, and four more identical figures emerged from the white screen.

Five faint, pale figures stood shoulder to shoulder, ten blank eyes fixed simultaneously on Han Li and the others.

“Grand Elder of Yinluo Sect!” Seeing their eerie posture, Han Li finally recognized their origin—and his expression darkened instantly.

“So you’re Elder Fu! What a coincidence! No wonder Qian’s men couldn’t find you—I didn’t expect you’d arrived here first. This lady, judging by your attire, must be from the Northern Night Xiaoji Palace. I’m acquainted with Lady Liu of your palace. And this last cultivator… hmm! Could you be Han Brother from Tiannan? Han Brother, you’ve made my sect and the Tianlan Holy Palace search endlessly for you!” Qian the Devil’s voice first expressed surprise, then erupted into wild laughter.

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