A short moment later, all that remained were Master Sable’s group and the Immortal Form Sect.
Lady Mu pondered for a moment and turned around to give a few commands. The female disciples then scattered.
After they departed, Lady Mu turned to her junior martial sister and nodded, “Release the Sun Moon Shuttle!”
“Understood!” The young woman slapped her storage pouch and tossed a dazzling silver shuttle into the air.
During that same time, Lady Mu waved her sleeve and released a golden streak.
Suddenly, the silver and golden streaks flew out and interweaved through the air before fusing as one, turning into a huge three-meter-tall gold-silver shuttle that possessed an astonishing aura.
“Go!” She let out a shout and soon after, the two women streaked forward and disappeared into the huge shuttle.
It then glowed and twirled through the air before shooting into the seal opening.
Master Sable wore an odd expression after seeing them enter and muttered, “Despite what I’ve said, you still insist on entering. Don’t blame me if anything happens to you!”
Soon after, he waved his arm to the two Core Formation cultivators standing behind him, and the three sat down to rest.
With a late-Nascent Soul cultivator guarding the opening, the others in the distance wore an expression of dismay.
...
At the top of Kunwu Mountain in the gloomy air, an incredibly huge object floated motionlessly in the air. There were countless restriction talismans slapped on top of it in addition the dense coils of chains restraining it.
These talismans all glowed with great radiance, revealing themselves to all be vastly powerful. As for the chains, they shined with a black light and faintly seeped traces of blood.
Chapter 1009: Splitting Up
In addition to the talismans and chains, there were over a thousand palm-sized mirrors surrounding this gigantic object. Each one reflected yellow beams to weave together a strange spell formation enveloping it.
All of the surrounding space was filled with endless layers of cascading restrictions, radiating the air with faint light.
The object itself had the shape of a small mountain and showed no signs of change. If it weren't for the faint rise and falls of the surface, one would’ve believed it to be dead.
Contrarily, there was a whole other world right next to it.
This world was verdant and brimming with plants of all kinds, not to mention the choking spiritual Qi.
And at the very center, there was a beautiful palace a kilometer wide. From a distance, it appeared to be completely barren.
But if one looked at it from above, it would discover the palace was actually at the heart of a huge spell formation. There were eighty-one thirty-meter-tall altars erected near the palace, placed in various locations corresponding to the formation.
But most astonishing of all was a ten-meter-tall statue constructed from white jade enshrined at all of the altars.
These stone men were wearing golden armor and their hands were clasping large golden blades facing the palace. Their expressions were all solemn and lifelike.
However, the entire area was completely void of sound, as if this scene remained untouched for millennia.
...
The Sevenstar Myrtle Formation had now been fully activated and explosions sounded out. It was a crucial moment for the formation’s collapse.
The seven pillars of purple light reached for the sky from the vast mist surrounding the area. Faint sounds of thunder and arcs of dense lightning would occasionally fly from the pillars and strike at various parts of the restriction.
The mist had condensed to the point where it completely blocked sight, and it would occasionally cry out with soul-shaking ghostly wails.
Han Li was now enveloped in coils of twisting lightning as he calmly approached a nearby pillar. As this happened, large pythons would condense from the surrounding mist and immediately attack, but the lightning surrounding him easily scattered them.
However, he didn’t appear happy at this in the slightest as the pythons continued their relentlessly assault.
Silver-white lightning would occasionally arc above his head, but he cared not for its frequency or power. Whenever it was about to strike him, he would simply redirect it to his side with the wave of his hand.
Suddenly, two nearly inaudible buzzes cleared from behind him. With a frown, he flicked his hand and two arcs of golden lightning shot out, followed by a scorched scent.
Han Li turned his head and saw two fist-sized wasps. Their bodies were burnt black and had fallen to the ground.
What was most eye-catching about them were the three-inch-long stingers that emerged from its tail.
Nevertheless, he had already killed forty of such insects with ease. At that start, he dealt with them using his nimble flying swords, but now, he resorted to Divine Devilbane Lightning.
But it wasn’t as if he had so much that he could squander it, but that the huge wasps were capable of damaging his swords. Although he didn’t know how venomous the wasp’s sting was, its green blood was extremely corrosive and damaged his sword’s spiritual nature upon contact.
Since he couldn't use them to kill the wasps, he tried low-grade fireball and icicle techniques to no avail. Fortunately, they had little resistance to lightning and were easily exterminated without consuming much at all.
In addition, there were also a few crimson bats that would occasionally attack. They appeared the same as an ordinary bat, but swordlight didn’t have much of an effect on them. He was only able to cleave through them with the actual edge of his swords, and even then, their flesh resisted for a moment before, much to Han Li’s shock.
His Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were incredibly incisive after being infused with Auric Essence. The fact that there was even a delay before his sword could cleave through the bats were a testament to their hardiness.
But in any case, these wasps and bats were rarely seen spirit beasts in the world and were incredibly hard to train. It was clear it took some effort into nurturing them, but without anyone controlling them, not even half of their potential strength was displayed.
It seems the cultivators ahead of them were paying great costs in order to delay them.
As these thoughts appeared through his mind, he arrived about thirty meters away from the pillar of purple light and could soon destroy it.
But then, a huge purple bamboo at the entrance of the spell formation suddenly made a reappearance around the pillar. They rapidly grew all around him, engulfing him in a dense bamboo forest.
The pillar of light that was closeby had completely disappeared.
Han Li couldn't help but smile at the appearance of the illusion restrictions.
So long as he didn’t encounter a top-grade illusion like earlier, it wouldn’t be enough to stop him.
Blue light flashed from his eyes and the purple bamboo faded away to reveal the pillar of light that was originally there.
Then with a wave of his sleeve, eight flying swords shot out and circled in the air before letting out a clear ring. In a flash of light, a dense swordstreak cleaved through the bottom of the pillar.
With a huge explosion, the base of it disappeared.
At nearly the same time, the purple bamboo forest surrounding him had completely disappeared, exposing over four hundred meters of white jade brick floor.
Han Li took a glance at it and unconsciously raised his brow. He looked at the rest of the purple mist in the distance, seeing that only three pillars still shined. It appeared that three others had been one step ahead of him.
After a moment of thought, he took out a spirit stone and sat down, showing absolutely no interest in the other pillars.
As he recovered his magic power, he took this opportunity to properly collect what he would do when he encountered the Elder Devil.
Currently, there were many powerful cultivators gathered here with just as many monsters lurking
nearby. Even with the grand puppet and Triflame Fan, he could lose his life in a single moment of carelessness.
After some thought, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took out a rectangular brick that glowed with blue light. It was a reduced form of the crystalline slab he found in the stone stele earlier.
The item was impeccably concealed. He had examined the stele for a long while and hadn’t discovered what laid inside. If it weren’t for the Armored Earth Dragon’s innate ability to find treasures, he would’ve completely missed it.
The crystal slab’s body was strange enough and clearly refined from a single kind of unknown stone. Without spiritual power, it was incredibly heavy, but with, it was as light as a feather.
But what most attracted his attention was the unknown ancient characters inscribed on the surface. Despite the many records Han Li read in the past, these letters were something he had yet to encounter.
Even so, he was able to recognize from the strokes and form that they came from an age even before what was commonly known as “ancient times”. It was an almost prehistoric treasure.
After examining the crystal brick for a while longer, he sighed and put it away.
At that moment, there were two explosions that came from the distance. Two more had been destroyed.
As for the last one, it faded away on its own without any intervention.
After the purple mist completely disappeared, the others came into view. Old Devil Qian’s furious voice then sounded out, “Where are those Sacred Poison Sect Elders? They actually dared slip past us!”
Han Li swept his gaze around and confirmed that they had all disappeared.
The large man from the group of vagrants angrily shouted, “Not only them, but that scoundrel Scatterwind disappeared as well. I knew he was planning to con us ever since he urged us to come inside!”
Bai Yaoyi sighed and pointed forward, “It is no wonder they shook us off. Take a look at our front.”
The others looked around and discovered the dozen of staircases that all led in differing directions.
Old Man Fu frowned and said, “It seems that these cultivators felt they could handle themselves and slipped away, intending to monopolize something.”
Old Devil Qian rapidly calmed himself and snorted, “So it was like that. Then I will be acting alone. Anyone who dares to stop me will meet with death.”
Afterwards, the cinque devils blurred and revolved around the jade tablets marking the destinations of the stairs. After reading it once through, they combined together and rushed up the stairs towards Kunwu Hall.
Chapter 1010: Spirit Metal Hall
When they saw Old Devil Qian take off, the four vagrant cultivators betrayed shock from their faces and began to apprehensively whisper amongst themselves.
Meanwhile, Han Li heard Old Man Fu’s voice transmission, “It seems our alliance is now broken. What does Brother Han plan on doing?”
Han Li glanced at the old man and muttered to himself for a moment before sending back a reply, “There are many paths ahead, and I plan on going alone. So long as you don’t take any of the locations with particularly impressive names, there shouldn’t be any danger of meeting the others.”
After a moment of silence, the old man wryly smiled, “I see. However, I wouldn’t dare to go alone and will be travelling with Fellow Daoist Bai. I have no hope of surviving an ambush against the Silver-winged Nightfiend or the Lion Hawk.”
Old Man Fu had no complaints. After all, with so many searching for treasure, there wouldn’t be enough for those who took the same path.
As Han Li’s abilities were far beyond theirs, it was better for him to act alone.
As they deliberated on what to do, the large man from the vagrant cultivator called out from the side and shouted, “Fellow Daoist’s! We’re going first.” The four vagrants split in two and traveled up different stairways before fading into the fog.
Soon, Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi finished discussions and bid Han Li a word of farewell. The two then picked a stone stairway and sped up it with body lightening techniques.
Han Li was now the sole person remaining behind.
After looking around and observing the vast emptiness, he smirked and swept his eyes towards the stone tablets.
Apart from the areas with important names such as the Devil Suppressing Pagoda and Kunwu Hall, the other paths shouldn’t have been chosen.
He stood in front of the stone tablet naming the locations each stairway led and muttered, “Bright Mind Pavilion, Fortune Cloud Hall, Jadehook Pond... and Spirit Metal Hall. Hmm, are all these locations related to tool refinement?”
Although he knew that Kunwu Hall and Spirit Treasure Pavilion wereas likely to have important treasures, he wasn’t interested in risking his life in contention with other powers.
Since he’s already acquired the Nascent Cultivating Pill, it’d be best to take the safest route.
With that in mind, he felt that the Spirit Metal Hall should most likely be left alone and blurred up the stone steps at the very back.
Not long after he disappeared, yellow light glowed from the center of the plaza to reveal the Silver-winged Nightfiend, the horned woman, and the Lion Hawk.
The Nightfiend turned to look at the stairways and slowly said, “We can only use earth movement techniques up to here. We will activate the underground restrictions otherwise.”
With her arms at her waist, the horned woman noted, “The remaining spiritual Qi fluctuations here are quite strong. It appears those cultivators had recently destroyed a spell formation.”
Then, the Lion Hawk let out two roars and unfolded its wings, taking to the air and flying around the stone tablets.
After a pause, the nightfiend smiled and said, “So these are the places where the cultivators have went! Tch tch, Brother Lion Hawk has such a keen sense of smell.”
“Good, they split apart. It will be far easier to seize our restriction medallions this way,” the horned woman frowned and worriedly said, “However, if those who approach Kunwu Hall aren’t capable enough, we will have no way of getting past.”
The nightfiend snorted, “It is no matter. If those humans are incapable, we will secretly lend a hand. So long as we don’t activate the specific restrictions aimed at us, we should be able to destroy the other ones.”
The horned woman cried out, “In that case, let’s go see which cultivators climbed that stairway. Brother Nightfiend, you possess the greatest concealment techniques among us. Can you help hide us?”
“Of course,” the nightfiend promptly replied.
With a flap of his wings, silver mist rushed out and wrapped around them. Then, the beasts disappeared in a bright flash.
As this all happened, a rainbow peacock appeared from the screen of white light next to the stone pavilion halfway up Kunwu Mountain.
...
Using the tip of his feet, Han Li blurred ten steps forward with each bound. After turning a few corners on the stairway, the white jade plaza soon disappeared from sight.
There were a few huge trees at the side of the steps. Since he hadn’t seen such trees before, he looked at them with interest.
They had been growing from Kunwu Mountain for countless years. Even ordinary spiritual trees would become high-quality refinement materials, given enough time.
However, he wasn’t about to slow down for something like that. After walking for a short while, his eyes lit up and he saw a large complex in the distance.
Joy rushed his face and he quickened his pace. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the top before coming to a stop.
A screen of white mist blocked his front and when he looked past it, he found a twenty-meter-tall grey wall, concealing mostly everything from view, and had the name ‘Spirit Metal Hall’ written in argent glory. However, he was able to see a large building crest the top of the wall.
Han Li looked to his sides and saw that the screen was actually a barrier that completely enveloped the hall.
&nbs
p; It appeared the ancient cultivators had activated all of the mountain’s restrictions before they sealed it. Perhaps they intended on protecting the mountain in hopes of one day returning.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he waved his sleeve and released a golden streak at the gate.
With a strange buzz, the swordlight sank a half-foot into the barrier before eventually coming to a stop. Soon after, the damage began to brightly glow and mend itself.
Han Li frowned and pointed at the light barrier, having his sword immediately return. The injury was quickly healed.
Seeing that the barrier was about three meters thick, he began to ponder if the combined might of his swords would even have an effect. After all, if he couldn't dispose of the formation in a single strike, it would recover from any damage that was inflicted.
Of course, if he had the time, he could release his Gold Devouring Beetles to slowly consume the barrier’s spiritual power. He reckoned this would take several days but the restriction could be destroyed, an unacceptable result under the circumstances.
As such, he immediately came to a decision and slapped a storage pouch, producing a fist-sized ball of light. It revolved once around him to revealing a feather fan that glowed golden, silver, and red.
As he beckoned to it, the fan released a phoenix cry and dropped into his grasp. He unfolded it, having it expand to the size of a meter in a blaze. With it now clasped, he coldly looked at the light barrier in front of him and waved.
This time, he meticulously controlled the output, preventing a flame-born phoenix from making another appearance. Instead, the fan simply released a tri-colored stream of flame towards the barrier, quickly melting it away like ice to a hot flame and creating a large opening in the blink of an eye.
As soon as he saw this, he put the fan away and quickly charged inside. With the wall now towering in front of him, he turned around and saw that the barrier soon mended the opening.
Han Li bitterly smiled. He would have to exert himself once more when leaving.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 546