A long ringing sound erupted from the bowl in response, and black light began to emanate from it as it swelled drastically in size.
In the blink of an eye, it had expanded to over 100 feet, and it was hovering in mid-air like a house. The lid on the treasure was then lifted, and boundless inky-black Qi poured forth from within, spreading in all directions in a frenzy.
It was as if night had suddenly descended, obscuring the entire sky, making it impossible for Han Li and Liu Shui'er to see anything using the Projection Crystal aside from a vast expanse of darkness.
Their expressions both changed slightly in unison, yet before either of them had a chance to say anything, black light flashed from the crystal, and everything returned to normal.
The image on the crystal appeared to be identical compared to what it had been, yet all of the Jiao Chi beings had abruptly vanished.
Liu Shui'er pointed a finger at the crystal, and spiritual light flashed as the image on the surface of the treasure changed into that of the ground down below.
However, even from that perspective, they were still greeted by nothing but the sight of yellow sand without a single Jiao Chi being to be seen.
"It looks like they've unleashed an illusionary technique to conceal themselves. We won't be able to see anything unless I force the Projection Crystal to project the scenes inside the restriction, but doing so would blow our cover for sure, so it's not really worth it," Liu Shu'er sighed in a resigned manner.
She then swept a sleeve over the crystal, and the image on it vanished like an illusion amid a flash of spiritual light. In the end, it reverted back to the appearance of a normal white crystal before being stowed away up her sleeve.
"So be it. These Jiao Chi beings are clearly quite cautious, and it would be unwise for us to alert them to our presence. From the looks of it, their target seems to be in this nearby area. I wonder if what they're doing will affect us," Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner.
Liu Shui'er's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and she said, "That is indeed a valid concern. Do you have any good ideas, Brother Han?"
"These Jiao Chi beings significantly outnumber us, and all of them seem to be quite powerful, so I don't really have any good ideas to offer. All we can do is set up a few more formations to mask the fluctuations when we break the restriction of the restricted ruins. On top of that, even though the Jiao Chi beings have set up an illusionary technique to conceal what they're doing, that doesn't stop us from deploying some puppets or spirit beasts to the nearby area to keep an eye on them. That way, if something does happen, we'll be alerted and can adopt measures to prepare ourselves," Han Li replied after a brief pause.
Liu Shui'er was also silent for a moment before nodding in a resigned manner. "Looks like that's all we can do."
"Seeing as that's the case, why don't we begin setting things up right away? This is not a place we should stay at for much longer, so let's head to the restricted ruins now," Han Li immediately suggested.
"Of course. I'm just concerned about Fellow Daoist Shi. Hopefully, nothing has happened to him on the way here," Liu Shui'er replied with a concerned nod.
"The two of us were able to make it here unscathed, so I'm sure Brother Shi would be more than capable of doing the same. Besides, two months have only just passed since we split up; perhaps Fellow Daoist Shi merely took a slightly longer route, in which case it would only be normal for him to be late by a few days," Han Li said in a confident manner.
"I hope that's the case." Liu Shui'er could only heave a faint sigh in response.
At this moment, Han Li suddenly rustled a sleeve, and a white shadow shot forth from within before revealing itself to be a completely expressionless white-robed woman amid a flash of white light.
It was none other than his sentient puppet, Doll.
"Go and keep an eye on those Jiao Chi beings. Don't engage them in battle, just observe them from afar," Han Li instructed.
Doll bowed slightly upon hearing this before rising up into the air. However, just as she was about to depart, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he said, "Hold on, take these two things with you. Your top priority is to not be discovered."
Han Li flipped a hand over as he spoke, and a black veil suddenly appeared in his grasp along with a purple talisman.
The latter was none other than a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.
Doll remained completely expressionless upon hearing this, but it made a grabbing motion to draw the two items into its grasp in an obedient manner, then flew away as a streak of white light.
"You seem to cherish that puppet a lot, Brother Han. But then again, that's no surprise; even I'm very envious that you possess a sentient puppet of such a high caliber," Liu Shui' sai with an amused smile.
"Hehe, surely you jest, Fairy Liu. With your wealth, I'm sure it's not a difficult task to purchase a sentient puppet. Come to think of it, these types of puppets are kind of gimmicky and most of the time, they're not even as useful as a spirit beast of the same power level. Even this puppet of mine was a present from someone else," Han Li replied with a faint smile.
Seeing as Han Li clearly didn't want to speak too much about his sentient puppet, Liu Shui'er changed the subject, and said, "That's true. Just the amount of top-grade spirit stones required to use such puppets poses quite a headache. Seeing as you've deployed a sentient puppet, I'll also send out a spirit beast to keep an eye on those Jiao Chi beings as well."
Thus, she patted a certain item hanging from her waist, and a burst of five-colored light suddenly erupted forth before vanishing into thin air in a flash.
Even through the use of his spirit eye ability, Han Li could only catch a very brief glimpse of what appeared to be a small winged mink with five-colored light emanating from its body.
Han Li was quite startled by this small beast's incredible speed, and he couldn't help but cast a meaningful glance toward Liu Shui'er.
However, she merely disregarded Han Li's reaction and rose to her feet as she said, "Let's go and wait for Fellow Daoist Shi near the restricted ruins."
Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and thus, both of them rose up into the air before flying away from the Jiao Chi beings as streaks of light.
Along the way, the scenery down below remained completely the same with nothing but yellow sand stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions.
Han Li had arrived at this place a few days in advance, and he'd taken the opportunity to inspect the ruins here for himself.
During the process, he'd discovered that these ruins stretched for over 1,000,000 kilometers, and there were many places in those ruins where restrictions still existed, so it appeared to be quite a dangerous place.
Thankfully, Han Li had been warned by Cai Liuying and the others about this place prior to entering the Vast Glacial realm, so he knew to stay far away from those areas. Otherwise, he would've definitely triggered traps in those ruins such as the Lightning Bird puppet from earlier.
As for the restricted ruins that Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren were referring to, that appeared to be situated in one of the perilous places in this area.
After flying for several tens of thousands of kilometers, the two of them finally stopped, and Han Li narrowed his eyes as he cast his gaze downward.
There, he discovered a ball of white light that had a diameter of around 1,000 feet slowly rotating within the wind and sand down below. Despite the fierce winds blowing around it, the ball of light remained completely unmoved, and as soon as the gusts of sandy winds came into contact with this light, they would disappear in a flash as if they'd been devoured.
What was even more unsettling was that there were piles of beastly bones littered all around the ball of light, most of which had been buried by the surrounding yellow sands already. However, among the bones that were protruding from the sand, some had already been blackened by age, so they'd clearly been there for an extremely long time, while others were
pristine and new, clearly belonging to beasts that had only died here relatively recently.
At this moment, Liu Shui'er was holding a palm-sized formation plate and was staring at it with rapt focus.
After a while, Liu Shui'er exhaled, and confirmed, "This is the place; this is the restricted ruins that master and Senior Duan were referring to."
Han Li glanced at the bones littered down below in a calm manner as he replied, "It looks like this place is indeed quite perilous, but seeing as the two seniors expended so much effort to gather the three of us, there has to be a good chance that we'll be able to break this restriction."
Liu Shui'er clearly knew a lot more about this restriction than Han Li did, and she said, "I certainly hope so. According to my master, this restriction was formed by High Zenith Azure Light, which ranked alongside Divine Essencefused Light in ancient times, and it can only be broken using Divine Essencefused Light. As such, the three of us should be able to break this restriction with our combined powers."
A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "High Zenith Azure Light!"
Liu Shui'er had naturally noticed Han Li's reaction, and she asked, "Are you interested in this light, Brother Han?"
Han Li's expression instantly reverted back to normal as he replied, "I possess the Divine Essencefused Light, so I'm naturally quite interested in the lights that rank alongside it. From what I've heard, this High Zenith Azure Light is extremely lethal and can conjure up devastating invisible sword Qi that can kill unsuspecting enemies in an instant. I wonder if this light really is as extraordinary as the rumors proclaim it to be."
"Looks like you've done quite a lot of research into this High Zenith Azure Light, Brother Han. According to my master, this light is indeed quite fearsome, but it's not as lethal as the legends suggest. However, restrictions created using this light are extremely difficult to break through. Otherwise, my master would've most definitely tried to force her way into the restriction and obtain the treasures in there, even though doing so would incur a massive risk. On top of that, High Zenith Azure Light can't be acquired, and can only be naturally formed by the power of heaven and earth. As such, beings who have cultivated this light are far rarer than even those who possess the Divine Essencefused Light. In fact, it's said that no one has been successfully able to cultivate this light since ancient times," Liu Shui'er explained.
"In that case, there must be an extremely powerful treasure that can emit High Zenith Azure Light under that restriction!" Han Li immediately deduced.
Chapter 1702: Snow Roar Race
"My master didn't elaborate on that before this trip, but that's most likely the case," Liu Shui'er replied with a nod.
"That's great! I didn't think that I'd be able to witness the vastly renowned High Zenith Azure Light during this trip. Even if I don't obtain any other treasures, this journey will have been a worthwhile one," Han Li said with a faint smile.
Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er looked down at the ball of white light, and a contemplative look appeared on her face.
All of a sudden, she flipped a hand over to produce a crimson blade before hurling it through the air.
The blade transformed into a streak of crimson light as it sped downward, reaching the white light in a flash.
However, just as it appeared that the crimson blade was about to pierce through the white light, it abruptly shuddered before separating into seven or eight segments amid an anguished wail.
It was as if several extraordinarily sharp weapons had struck it at the same time, thereby slicing through it with ease.
The segments of the blade then continued to plummet downward, only to be sliced into more and more pieces before finally vanishing as specks of crimson light.
The smile on Han Li's face faded upon seeing this, and a slightly solemn look appeared in his eyes. He was unable to detect the form of the High Zenith Azure Light using his spiritual sense, but thankfully, he'd activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes in advance, and in the instant that the crimson blade was reduced to specks of light, he managed to catch a brief glimpse of several tens of thin projections striking it from all directions.
Those thin projections were clearly the true form of the High Zenith Azure Light.
Liu Shui'er seemed to have also caught sight of those projections somehow, and she heaved a faint sigh as she mused, "This High Zenith Azure Light really is quite extraordinary."
At this moment, Han Li raised an eyebrow before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and a streak of azure light shot forth from within before hurtling downward.
This was an azure flying sword that was around a foot in length.
The sword descended at an astonishing speed, and after a single flash, it was only just over 100 feet away from the white light.
Meanwhile, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he looked on with an intense unblinking gaze.
All of a sudden, several tens of thin projections appeared out of thin air before striking the flying sword in a flash.
A sharp screeching sound rang out as azure light flashed erratically around the flying sword, and it managed to continue downward despite the attacks from the surrounding projections.
However, in the instant before it came into contact with the white light, countless thin projections emerged all around the flying sword before hurtling toward it in unison.
The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was finally unable to withstand the barrage of attacks any longer, and it shattered into specks of azure light amid a low cry.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion, upon which the specks of azure light converged before him to form a complete flying sword again.
A peculiar light flashed through Liu Shui'er's eyes in response to this, while Han Li shook his head and stowed his flying sword away.
He had other treasures with far superior defensive properties compared to his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but if those were to be destroyed, there would be no way to recover them, so he naturally wasn't going to take that risk.
However, even though Han Li was doing his best to maintain a calm expression, he was filled with excitement internally.
The High Zenith Azure Light most likely stemmed from a High Zenith Azure Mountain, which was one of the main materials required to refine the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain.
Even though there were other treasures aside from High Zenith Azure Mountains that possessed High Zenith Azure Light, Han Li was convinced that the treasure beneath this restriction was most likely a High Zenith Azure Mountain.
There was a good chance that this restriction was left behind by a true immortal, and it had been able to maintain itself since ancient times. As such, it seemed plausible that only a High Zenith Azure Mountain could provide such a limitless source of High Zenith Azure Light.
If he were to obtain this mountain, he'd be able to refine it into a second extreme mountain alongside his Divine Essencefused Mountain.
As these thoughts were running through his mind, Han Li turned to Liu Shui'er, and said, "As expected, this High Zenith Azure Light restriction is not something that the two of us can break. We'll have to wait for Fellow Daoist Shi to get here before we make a concerted attempt to break this restriction together."
"My thoughts exactly, Brother Han. Let's find a place nearby to settle and meditate so we can recover to our peak condition," Liu Shui'er agreed with a nod of her head.
Thus, after a brief discussion, the two of them rose up into the air before flying toward a certain direction.
A short while later, their duo descended somewhere around 500 kilometers away from the ball of white light.
The winds were still quite fierce here, but Liu Shui'er had already summoned a yellow bead that was producing a yellow light barrier around them, which was keeping the wind and sand at bay.
Thus, Han Li and Liu Shui'er found themselves in a dilapidated hall, most of which had already co
llapsed, leaving only a small portion of the building still intact.
Half a month later, a burst of light flashed in the distance, and a streak of yellow light came flying toward them.
After just a few flashes, the streak of light appeared in the air above Han Li and Liu Shui'er before revealing a tall and broad humanoid figure.
It was none other than Shi Kun.
However, his face was slightly pale, and his eyes were also rather dull, seemingly indicating that he was far from his peak condition.
After appearing in the air over this area, Shi Kun didn't immediately make his descent. Instead, he inspected his surroundings in a cautious manner, and only after ascertaining that there were no potential hazards nearby did he flip his hand over to produce a formation plate.
He carefully inspected the formation plate for a short while before descending as a streak of yellow light.
The grains of sand intermingled with the gusts of fierce winds scraped against the layer of protective spiritual light around his body, creating a sound that was akin to metal grating on metal, but the layer of light remained completely unscathed.
When Shi Kun descended in front of the ruined hall, Han Li and Liu Shui'er were also waiting at the entrance.
Liu Shui'er was quite surprised to see the sorry state that Shi Kun was in, and she immediately asked, "Brother Shi, you don't look very well at all. Did you encounter some trouble on your way here?"
Shi Kun's expression eased slightly at the sight of Han Li and Liu Shui'er, but a wry smile then appeared on his face as he replied, "I certainly did; I almost lost my life along the way."
His body swayed, and he abruptly appeared before Han Li and Liu Shui'er, upon which Han Li asked, "Could it be that you were unable to shake off the insects that were pursuing you?"
He recalled quite clearly that Shi Kun had been pursued by a group of Silver Swarm Insects, and from personal experience, he knew that it was very difficult to get away from these insects unless they were killed.
"Those insects were indeed quite troublesome to deal with, but I know a secret technique that allowed me to escape from them relatively easily. However, after that, I encountered a group of Snow Roar beings, and I only managed to barely escape from them after being hunted for over a month," Shi Kun spat through gritted teeth.
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