Han Li's expression darkened as he inspected his surroundings, and he could see all types of treasures and balls of light of different colors hurtling through the air around him.
There were thousands of foreign beings engaged in battle with one another, and close to half of them were Jiao Chi beings, while the rest were the guards of the Heavenly Cloud Races that were responsible for protecting the formations.
High up in the air, there were two gargantuan Jiao Chi Race battle arks that resembled small cities hovering at an altitude over hundreds of thousands of feet. There were even more Jiao Chi beings and Heavenly Cloud beings engaged in battle up there.
Most of the restrictions set up around the two giant formations had already been destroyed, and Cloud City had also become a fierce battlefield.
Strangely enough, there were no holy race beings in this battle; even the most powerful participants in this battle were only at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage. Even so, the situation in the city was still extremely chaotic.
The giant formations were buzzing and flashing incessantly, and he seemed to be the only one who had been teleported back thus far, so it was no wonder that he had been attacked first.
Han Li's expression darkened even further, and he looked up at the Jiao Chi being who had just attacked him before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a small azure sword.
The sword flashed with azure light before suddenly vanishing into thin air.
The Jiao Chi being was quite startled by the fact that Han Li's armor had managed to keep his flying sword at bay, and he was immediately struck by a sense of peril at the sight of the small azure sword that had just disappeared. Spiritual light instantly flashed from his body as he attempted to flee into the distance, but it was already too late.
The azure sword appeared right beside the Jiao Chi being before whizzing around his neck, decapitating him in a flash.
The headless body plummeted from the sky, and the unrelenting sword Qi completely destroyed the Nascent Soul hiding inside the body as well.
Only then did Han Li raise a hand in an expressionless manner to withdraw his flying sword.
Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted, and four humanoid figures appeared in the formation one after another amid flashes of spiritual light.
Han Li narrowed his eyes, and he immediately recognized two of them; they were none other than Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun.
The other two consisted of an ordinary-looking middle-aged man and a young man, both of whom had entered the Vast Glacial Realm as part of his group.
Han Li swept his gaze over the middle-aged man, and his pupils abruptly contracted as he detected the early-Body Integration Stage spiritual pressure emanating from his body. This completely mundane-looking middle-aged man had successfully made a breakthrough in the Vast Glacial Realm.
The remaining three displayed no changes in their spiritual pressure, so they had all clearly failed.
At this moment, spiritual light flashed from the other formation, and four more people appeared.
Han Li cast his gaze toward that direction and only recognized one of the people there; it was Fairy Yue. The elderly man with the Xu surname was nowhere to be seen.
Fairy Yue wore a faint smile on her face, and her aura had also completely changed, indicating that she had also succeeded in her breakthrough to the early-Body Integration Stage.
Chapter 1748: Turmoil in Cloud City
Han Li was rather surprised to see this. He knew that the probability of making a breakthrough was significantly higher in the Vast Glacial Realm, but it was still quite astonishing that two of the eight people who had returned thus far had made breakthroughs.
Thankfully, the Vast Glacial Realm only opened once every 10,000 years. Otherwise, there would most likely be more Body Integration Stage beings on the Thunder Continent than the other two continents combined.
However, Han Li was rather perplexed about why his group had returned first. Was it merely a coincidence?
Unbeknownst to Han Li, this was actually related to the Profound Heavenly Fruit in his arm. As a treasure that was imbued with the power of laws of another realm, even though the Profound Heavenly Fruit had been sealed in his arm, it was still rejected more vehemently by the power of laws of the Vast Glacial Realm which was why he had been teleported back first as the owner of the fruit.
All of the Heavenly Cloud beings that had just returned from the Vast Glacial Realm were stunned by the scenes unfolding around them. They had only left for about a year or so; how had the Jiao Chi beings already reached Cloud City?
However, everyone who had managed to return alive from the Vast Glacial realm was very powerful and experienced in battle, and they knew that this wasn't the time to be asking questions. Spiritual light began to flash from the bodies of some of the more short-tempered Heavenly Cloud beings, and they all released their treasures as they prepared to join in on the battle.
However, right at this moment, a ball of red light suddenly descended from above, appearing in the air above the two formations after just a few flashes. This was a benevolent-looking elderly man in a suit of blue armor.
"You're finally back. All of the elders are facing the high-grade beings of the Jiao Chi Race, so none of them are here. However, prior to Senior Weng's departure, he instructed me to tell everyone to head to the sentient fortress of the Myriad Ancient Race as soon as you all return," the elderly man yelled in an urgent manner before tossing a badge down toward them, then rose up into the air again.
Crimson lightning was released by the elderly man toward a Jiao Chi being who was flying toward him, and the Jiao Chi being let loose a loud roar as he also released balls of white flames in retaliation.
Thus, the two became engaged in a fierce battle, and Han Li and the others were left staring at one another, wondering how to proceed.
The badge was drawn into the hand of the middle-aged who had just progressed to the early-Body Integration Stage, and he carefully assessed it using his spiritual sense before tossing it toward Fairy Yue in the other formation.
Fairy Yue also carefully inspected the badge before concluding, "There's no mistaking it; the badge is real. I also recognize the fellow Daoist who brought the badge to us; that's Fellow Daoist Yu of the Azure Race. He's a guard at the panel of elders."
After a brief moment of hesitation, the middle-aged man said, "Alright, then let's do as we're told. I'm sure Senior Weng has his reasons for issuing this instruction to us."
He was speaking as if he were issuing orders, and it made sense, seeing as he was now a holy race being. Even so, Shi Kun and the others were still rather disgruntled to be ordered around like this, but they didn't have any reason to disagree, so everyone nodded in response.
Thus, everyone in the formations rose up into the air and flew toward a certain part of Cloud City.
Along the way, they occasionally encountered some Jiao Chi beings who attempted to stop them, but this was a group consisting of two early-Body Integration Stage beings and six late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings, so they naturally had no trouble at all brushing aside all of the obstacles in their way.
After flying for a while away from the formations, Cloud City was still in a state of turmoil, and the number of Jiao Chi beings had clearly increased.
There were Jiao Chi Race battle arks, battle beasts, and armored warriors littered throughout the entire city, and Han Li even caught sight of a super puppet that was close to 100,000 feet tall lying on the ground in a completely stationary manner.
Its body was originally smooth and pristine white as jade, but it now resembled a jagged mountain, and there wasn't a single part of it that had been left unscathed.
Han Li was quite startled by the sight of this puppet, and he quickly recalled the 12 massive balls around Cloud City. It was undoubtedly the case that this puppet had been manifested from one of those balls.
These puppets were said to possess early-Body Integration
Stage powers, so the fact that it had been felled was a clear testament to the powers of the Jiao Chi Race army. It was most likely the case that the fall of Cloud City was inevitable. What was even more disconcerting was that they still hadn't seen a single holy-grade being yet. It was as if all beings of that caliber from both sides had vanished from the city.
Could it be that all of them were engaged in battle outside the city?
Han Li silently flew along as these thoughts raced through his mind.
Along the way, neither Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun spoke to him, acting as if Han Li were a complete stranger.
Aside from Fairy Yue, who had verified the authenticity of the badge, no one else had uttered a single word. During this time, she had cast an occasional glance toward Han Li, but she merely smiled and refrained from speaking to him or transmitting her voice to him.
Han Li didn't think much of this; he was much more concerned about the tumultuous state that the city was in.
The Jiao Chi Race army had breached the defenses of Cloud City, and he didn't know if that would impact his plan to use the super teleportation formation here.
The group continued onward without encountering any holy-grade beings, and they quickly arrived at Eight Cloud Mountains, destroying several battle arks and over 100 battle carriages along the way.
When they reached this place, there were no Jiao Chi beings to be seen, and instead, there were many groups of Heavenly Cloud beings, all of whom were wearing suits of armor.
Spiritual Qi was also erupting into the heavens from the Eight Cloud Mountains, forming layers of powerful restrictions.
There were even massive puppets of different colors and azure copper battle carriages that could be seen within the nearby cloud and mist, creating quite a tense atmosphere.
Han Li and the others were all quite surprised to see this, yet before they had a chance to ask any questions, a group of over 100 armored warriors rushed toward them.
They were being led by a burly man with a dark complexion, and he seemed to recognize them. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Welcome back, fellow Daoists; Elder Weng is waiting for you in the sentient fortress. Please come with me."
The burly man's aura was rather peculiar, and even Han Li was unable to ascertain his cultivation base. He could only sense that this man seemed to possess a certain type of special ability that was extremely fearsome.
Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man who had just reached the early-Body Integration Stage were quite startled to see this burly man, and they hurriedly stepped forward before extending respectful salutes. "Greetings, Senior Bing; my sincerest apologies for making you wait for us."
Everyone else's expressions also changed drastically as they extended respectful salutes, and Han Li appeared to be the only one who didn't recognize this man, but he also cupped his fist in a salute.
"There's no need for such formalities, fellow Daoists; the two of you have already reached the holy grade, so you can regard me as an equal. Follow me and I'll take you to Senior Weng," the burly man said with a nonchalant smile.
"Senior Weng is in the fortress?" The middle-aged man was rather taken aback to hear this before an elated look appeared on his face.
Everyone else also heaved sighs of relief.
With this Grand Ascension Stage powerful being present, the situation surely couldn't be all that bad.
The burly man smiled and nodded in response, but didn't say anything further as he flew directly toward a certain mountain.
Han Li and the others naturally followed along, and all of the other armored warriors split up into two groups to escort them on either side.
Moments later, everyone passed over a huge mountain before a fortress that spanned several kilometers appeared before their eyes.
The fortress was enclosed within tall sturdy walls, and there were series of silver statues situated atop those walls. Some of the statues were of beasts while others were humanoid in form. The largest of them were over 1,000 feet in size, while even the smallest ones were around 70 to 80 feet tall. All of them were completely stationary, but there was an indescribable baleful aura emanating from them.
There were rows of halberd-wielding azure armored warriors situated on top of the city walls, yet all of them were completely devoid of life force fluctuations, clearly indicating that they were nothing more than humanoid puppets.
There were a dozen or so metal puppets that were thousands of feet tall near the fortress, and all of them were also standing completely still with different weapons in their hands.
In the air above the fortress were five or six strange light formations, each of which was over 100 feet in size and flashing with spiritual light. Han Li couldn't help but wonder what purpose they were meant to serve.
This was none other than the Myriad Ancient Race fortress that Han Li had visited once before, and it was also where the Myriad Ancient Race's Cloud City headquarters was situated. However, there were currently many streaks of light flying in and out of the fortress, and these were beings of all races, so the fortress had clearly become a temporary command base.
Han Li and the others descended in front of the Sentient Hall behind the burly man, and they then entered the hall under the scrutiny of the two white-robed guards at the entrance.
There were only three people in the hall, one of whom was sitting on a chair in a calm and collected manner. This was none other than the Grand Ascension Stage being, the young man with the Weng surname.
The two people standing beside him were only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and they were both listening to instructions from him in a respectful manner.
"We pay our respects to the grand elder!"
Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man immediately led everyone else over to him to extend respectful salutes.
"Welcome back. Looks like two of you have ascended to the holy race; that's not bad at all. You may all rise," the young man said with a faint smile on his face.
Fairy Yue and the others naturally complied and rose to their feet.
Only then did the young man cast his gaze over everyone, and Han Li didn't know if it was just a figment of his imagination, but he felt as if the young man's smile had widened further at the sight of him than in response to Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man's breakthroughs.
He then thought back to how the young man had bestowed that Heavenly Astral Seal upon him for no reason, and he was left feeling a little uneasy.
Thankfully, the young man's gaze only lingered on Han Li for an instant before he waved a hand toward the other two Spatial Tempering Stage beings present, and they immediately exited the hall.
Chapter 1749: Spiritvoid Cauldron
“The situation is rather special right now, so I'll keep this short. As I'm sure you've all seen, this is the current state of Cloud City. It's quite simple; we fell into a trap sprung by the Jiao Chi Race. They lured our main frontline forces to a certain perilous place and temporarily trapped them in there. The Jiao Chi Race army took advantage of this to conquer 13 cities in succession, and they're now at Cloud City. Our city's main formation diagram has also been stolen by them, so we can't even use the formation to oppose their army. Hence, we'll have to abandon this city soon. All of you should also retreat to the nearest Concealed Wyrm City," the young man said in a calm manner.
"The situation's that horrible already? Surely with you here, the situation wouldn't warrant abandoning Cloud City, Senior." Fairy Yue was quite stunned to hear this, as was everyone else.
"Hehe, do you think the Jiao Chi Race didn't send any Grand Ascension Stage beings themselves? There are two grand elders of the Jiao Chi Race in this invading army, and they notified me in advance that if I don't participate in this battle, they won't do anything, either. Otherwise, the consequences would be very catastrophic. I won't be a match for two beings of the same caliber, but at the same time, they're not confident in their ability to kill me even after joining forces, which is why they gave me notification in advan
ce at all," the young man explained.
"But there are several tens of holy-grade beings in the city; if all of them join in on the battle, surely we'll be able to turn the tables. On the way here, we didn't see a single holy-grade being. Could it be..." The middle-aged man's voice trailed off as the worst-case scenario sprang into his mind.
"Don't worry, they're not in the city because they're attending to other matters. I'm sure that you've also noticed that there are no holy-grade beings among the invading Jiao Chi beings, either, and that's all thanks to them. However, this situation won't last too long; the Jiao Chi beings will most likely react very quickly and directly send their holy-grade beings to participate in this battle. Seeing as my hands are tied, this city will inevitably fall, and that's why I've issued the order to abandon this city, so leave with Fellow Daoist Bing right away," the young man instructed as he waved a dismissive hand.
Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man exchanged a glance before accepting these orders, and everyone else also did the same. Only Han Li's brows were slightly furrowed in a display of hesitation.
"By the way, please stay behind, Fellow Daoist Han; I have something I need to discuss with you alone," the young man suddenly said as his gaze settled on Han Li.
Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he didn't dare to turn down the young man.
Everyone else was internally rather perplexed about this, but they were all ushered out of the hall by the burly man who had led them here.
Only then did the young man turn to Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face.
In the face of a Grand Ascension Stage being who seemed to harbor ulterior motives, Han Li was naturally feeling a little uneasy, but he still asked in a respectful manner, "What are your instructions, Senior? If there's something you need me to do, I'll be sure to complete your assigned tasks to the best of my abilities."
"I asked you to remain behind naturally because I want you to do something for me. Fellow Daoist Han, you hail from the human race of the Tian Yuan Continent, right?" The young man immediately asked a question that gave Han Li quite a fright.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1005