Instead of replying to Zhu Guo'er, Han Li turned to Daoist Xie, and asked, "Brother Xie, what do you think of this formation?"
Daoist Xie also opened his eyes upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, he replied in an unhurried manner, "This seems to be an incomplete version of the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation. If I were you, I'd continue on toward the core of the formation. That's where the formation will be most powerful, but also the only point through which we can leave this formation."
After that, Daoist Xie fell silent again.
"Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation? I've never heard of such a formation, but I'm sure you wouldn't falsely identify it. Let's keep going then. Regardless of whether this formation was set up to target us, there's only one way for us to get out of it," Han Li decided after a brief pause.
After that, he gently tapped a foot down onto the flying carriage, and a grey light barrier instantly appeared around it.
After that, it began to fly through the air again, but on this occasion, it was traveling more than twice as fast as it had previously.
Zhu Guo'er looked around frantically with wide eyes, trying to glean any traces of the formation, but was unable to discover anything.
"Don't bother looking; there's no way you'll be able to detect the formation with your current cultivation base," Han Li said.
Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to send a golden sword projection flying out of the carriage.
A resounding boom rang out as the space up ahead was torn apart by the golden sword projection, and a boundless sea of white mist suddenly appeared around them, significantly slowing the flying carriage's progress.
Zhu Guo'er was very alarmed to see this, and Han Li explained, "This is only the beginning. If we had turned back, we would've activated even more powerful restrictions within the formation."
"Even so, the restrictions within this formation will begin to actively attack us soon. Even with your powers, you'll have to be careful, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie cautioned without even opening his eyes.
"Thank you for the words of caution, Fellow Daoist Xie; I'll be sure to be on my guard," Han Li said as he raised both hands up into the air, releasing several tens of balls of spiritual light, all of which instantly vanished into the space surrounding the flying carriage.
Those were all formation treasures, and in the next instant, a series of devilish patterns surged out of the flying carriage, forming a string of formations on its surface.
After that, Han Li clasped his hand behind his back and looked on into the distance in silence.
Blue light flashed within his eyes, and he was able to see some things through the layers of white mist.
All of a sudden, his expression darkened slightly, and he made a hand seal while chanting something.
A series of runes surged out of the black patterns on the walls of the flying carriage, instantly forming a black net of runes outside the grey light barrier.
Moments later, the faint buzz of lightning began to ring out within the peaceful sea of mist.
Initially, the sound wasn't very loud, but it soon escalated to rumbling thunderclaps, and azure lightning began to flash within the sea of mist.
At the same time, a sea of white mist became as viscous as a swamp, slowing the flying carriage even further.
Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, then opened his mouth to release a burst of azure Qi that vanished into the flying carriage in a flash.
At the same time, azure light revolved around his feet as he injected bursts of spiritual power into the carriage.
A faint buzzing sound rang out from the carriage, and the black net of runes outside tremored to disperse the surrounding white mist, allowing the carriage to speed up again.
As the flying carriage accelerated onward, bolts of azure lightning began to appear around it, bombarding it from all sides like countless azure lightning snakes.
Each bolt of lightning that struck the net made it tremor slightly, and with so many bolts of lightning crashing down upon it at once, the net was soon on the verge of falling apart.
However, Han Li paid no heed to this and merely continued to spur the flying carriage onward at an incredible speed.
Finally, the black net was destroyed by the azure lightning, and several tens of bolts of lightning came crashing down toward the flying carriage.
Han Li immediately flicked his fingers upward in retaliation, and bolts of golden lightning erupted out of his fingertips, forming a net of golden lightning that kept the azure lightning at bay.
During this moment of respite, the black patterns on the flying carriage released countless black runes to form another black net.
Thus, despite the fearsome storm of lightning, Han Li was able to keep the flying carriage safe with relative ease using the formation and his Divine Devilbane Lightning.
In the blink of an eye, the flying carriage had traveled for close to 10,000 kilometers, and the mist had begun to thin out, but the concentration of azure lightning was steadily increasing, indicating that they were approaching the center of the formation.
Shortly thereafter, a series of fist-sized balls of azure lightning appeared up ahead, but all of them merely hung in mid-air in a completely stationary manner.
Right at this moment, a female voice suddenly rang out in the distance.
"Sister Bao Hua, you've already exhausted all of your tricks; there's no way you'll be able to get away now! If you surrender now, I can leave a wisp of your soul behind to enter the cycle of reincarnation."
Chapter 2140: Battle Within the Formation (1)
Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, but before he had a chance to do anything, the mist up ahead suddenly dispersed, and they arrived in a world of lightning that spanned an area of over 10,000 acres.
Bolts and balls of azure lightning could be seen everywhere, and a portion of the lightning was currently crashing toward a ball of yellow light situated at the center.
Within the ball of light was a black devilish beast that was several hundred feet in length.
The beast's appearance was similar to that of a crocodile, and it had a strange horn on its head. It was wearing a suit of black scale armor, and was releasing black mist that transformed into a dozen or so giant tentacles, which were frantically lashing out at the azure lightning outside.
Many of the bolts of lightning that were struck by the black tentacles were instantly reduced to nothingness, and meanwhile, there was a woman in a white dress behind the black devilish beast, seated on a pink lotus flower while making a hand seal with one hand.
In her other hand, she was holding a short yellow truncheon, and her eyes were tightly shut.
Bursts of yellow light were constantly surging out of the truncheon in her hand before injecting themselves into the surrounding ball of light to bolster it.
However, the amount of azure lightning in the surrounding area was simply far too staggering, and there were thousands of bolts of lightning crashing down upon the ball of light in unison almost every single moment.
The yellow light was seemingly indestructible and was able to suppress the power of lightning, but in the face of such a fearsome barrage, it clearly wouldn't be able to last much longer.
As soon as Han Li caught sight of the woman in white, his pupils instantly contracted, but he then immediately caught a glimpse of two other people.
One of them was a blue-robed woman, while the other was a slender young woman, and they were standing at the edge of this world of lightning.
The former was standing atop a giant blue turtle with six azure flags hovering before her, while the other was standing on a giant golden wheel, holding a silver buddha statue in her hand.
The one who had just spoken was none other than the young woman on the golden wheel, and Han Li's expression immediately darkened at the sight of them.
He didn't know who the blue-robed woman was, but the young woman was ident
ical to the image of Liu Ji that Violet Spirit had provided him with using a jade slip.
Even though she was only at the late-Body Integration Stage, he naturally wouldn't dare to regard her as a normal late-stage devilish lord.
As for the blue-robed woman, his spiritual sense was unable to ascertain her exact cultivation base, so she was clearly a Sacred Ancestor.
As such, even with Daoist Xie's help, it definitely wouldn't be easy for him to oppose this duo.
However, the arrival of Han Li clearly came as a surprise to the two women as well.
The young woman turned to Han Li with furrowed brows before asking, "What's going on here, Sister Lan? Didn't you say that we definitely wouldn't be disrupted here in the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation? Why didn't your clones stop these people?"
"Do you think it's that easy to set up such a massive formation? All of my clones are preoccupied with keeping the formation up and running. The restrictions elsewhere in the formation naturally won't be as powerful as the ones here, but no ordinary being would be able to pass through them; I'm also curious about how they managed to get all the way here," the blue-robed woman harrumphed coldly in response.
"The root issue lies in the fact that this Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation is incomplete to begin with. Otherwise, there's no way we would've been oblivious to their arrival. It looks like we'll have to deal with some additional trouble now," the young woman sighed.
These two were naturally none other than Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu and the Liu Ji clone.
After deploying many of their subordinates through the nearby area, they finally managed to track down Bao Hua, then spent several days to set up this Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation. With their understanding of Bao Hua, they were able to lure her out of her hiding place and into this super formation.
Not only was the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation extremely powerful, it gave off virtually no energy fluctuations prior to being activated, so even with Bao Hua's immense powers, she had stumbled into it in a completely oblivious manner.
This was why the duo had chosen this formation even though they were aware that it was incomplete.
After that, Bao Hua was able to find the core of the formation, but in her current state, she was no longer able to use her Profound Heavenly Floral Tree. Even though she had summoned several other powerful treasures to defend herself, she was only just barely able to hold her own against Lan Pu and the Liu Ji clone.
Hei'e was also carrying severe injuries, but he had been forced into battle as well.
In this dire situation, Han Li's group had also stumbled into this formation and ended up at the same place as Bao Hua and Hei'e.
Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu chuckled coldly upon hearing this. "What trouble could a mere late-Body Integration Stage being pose to us? I could easily take care of... Hmm? Who's that? He doesn't seem to be a living being, and his aura is slightly familiar!"
Lan Pu's gaze suddenly settled on Daoist Xie as she spoke, and a hint of surprise had crept into her eyes.
"Have you figured it out as well, Sister Lan? If I'm not mistaken, that fellow daoist should be the sacred crab from the Devilish Origin Sea, which means that he must be the Fellow Daoist Han who's been wreaking havoc in our holy realm recently," Liu Ji said.
Lan Pu's expression immediately changed slightly upon hearing this.
Han Li had forged quite a resounding reputation for himself at this point, but he still wasn't a Grand Ascension Stage being, so veteran Sacred Ancestors like Lan Pu didn't think much of him. However, the sacred crab was a Faux Immortal Puppet that had remained in the Devilish Origin Sea for countless years, and all Sacred Ancestors were extremely wary of it.
"It's truly an honor for me to meet the two of you here. However, I'm merely passing through this place, and I hope you can release us from this formation so we can be on our way," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a calm salute.
As for Daoist Xie, he completely disregarded the two women and remained seated in the flying carriage.
Liu Ji and Lan pu exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and they couldn't help but recall the rumors stating that the sacred crab had been tamed by Han Li.
The two of them had been quite skeptical of this rumor, but it was clear that this Daoist Xie was currently following Han Li's lead, thereby lending credibility to the rumor.
"We're also quite surprised to see you here, Fellow Daoist. We have no intention of attracting any further trouble, and seeing as you're just passing through, we'd be happy to let you go. What do you think, Sister Lan?" Liu Ji said with a smile.
Lan Pu glowered at Han Li for a while before finally gritting her teeth as she said in a resentful manner, "Hmph, if it weren't for Fellow Daoist Xie, I definitely wouldn't let this human brat leave this place alive. If you run into me again, consider your life forfeit!"
It was clear that Lan Pu was very reluctant to let Han Li leave, but they were preoccupied with their battle against Bao Hua, so she had no choice but to agree.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he heaved an internal sigh of relief. "Thank you, Seniors."
Lan Pu harrumphed coldly once again before pointing at one of the six azure flags before her, and the flag instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall as azure lightning began to surge over its surface.
"Open!" Lan Pu yelled, and the giant flag shuddered as a thick bolt of azure lightning erupted out of the top of the flag amid a rumbling thunderclap.
The bolt of lightning then transformed into a pavilion-sized azure rune over 1,000 feet up in the air, and the rune vanished into thin air in a flash, following which a hole that was around 10 feet in size appeared, revealing the blue sky outside.
At the same time, the azure lightning in front of Han Li also parted to open up a safe path for him to pass through.
Even though Lan Pu was very reluctant to let him go, once she made her decision, she acted upon it in a very quick and decisive manner.
Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this, and he immediately spurred on his flying carriage into the passageway that had been opened.
However, right in this instant, Bao Hua suddenly opened her eyes and said something that made Han Li's expression change drastically, "Fellow Daoist Han, are you still interested in finding the Small Spirit Sky? If I were to perish here, I'm sure there wouldn't be a second person in the Spirit Realm or Elder Devil Realm that can accurately track down the Small Spirit Sky."
Han Li's flying carriage drew to an abrupt halt upon hearing this, and he turned to scrutinize Bao Hua with an intense look in his eyes. "How do you know I'm searching for the Small Spirit Sky?"
"Have you forgotten that the little girl by your side has stayed with me for a while? How could I not know about your interest in the Small Spirit Sky? I don't know what you're searching for in that realm, but I'm sure it's extremely important to you," Bao Hua replied in an unhurried manner.
Chapter 2141: Battle in the Formation (2)
Han Li turned toward Zhu Guo'er with furrowed brows upon hearing this, and Zhu Guo'er immediately began to panic as she hurriedly said, "I don't know what she did to me, Senior; I was unconscious the entire time I was with her!"
"With her powers, it's a simple matter for her to glean your memories, so I have no intention of blaming you for anything," Han Li consoled with a shake of his head, then turned toward Bao Hua with a cold expression.
"How do I know you're telling the truth? You can't expect me to lend you my assistance in such a dire situation without providing any evidence. Otherwise, I'd rather search for the Small Spirit Sky on my own than take such a massive risk."
After that, Han Li cast a glance toward Lan Pu and Liu Ji, and as expected, they were far from pleased by this sudden development.
However, both of them knew that Han Li hadn't yet made a decision about whether he was going to help Bao Hua, so they didn't do anything rash and merely appraised the unfolding situation with dark expressions.
"Of c
ourse I have some evidence that I can show you." Bao Hua's lips were moving, but she wasn't making any sounds. Instead, she was transmitting her voice directly toward Han Li.
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead, and a ball of pink light emerged before flying directly toward him.
He swept his spiritual sense toward the ball of light to find that it was carrying an item, and he raised a hand to draw the item into his grasp before focusing his gaze onto it.
In doing so, he discovered that this was a short inky-black stick that was giving off a faint golden luster.
Han Li's mind quickly scrambled to identify the stick, but he was at a complete loss for what it could be.
"Ah, that's a piece of Profound Astral Wood!" Zhu Guo'er suddenly exclaimed at the sight of the short stick.
"You recognize this thing?" Han Li asked.
"Yes, Senior; Profound Astral Wood is a type of spirit wood that can only be found in our Small Spirit Sky. It takes 100 years for it to grow half an inch, 1,000 years for it to grow a single leaf, and 10,000 years for it to flower. It's the most precious wood-attribute tool refinement material in our Small Spirit Sky, and it even has a nickname of divine wood. The largest piece I've ever seen is only a pea-sized section; I've never seen or even heard of such a large piece of Profound Astral Wood!" Zhu Guo'er said with wide astonished eyes.
"Are you sure that this spirit wood can't be found outside of the Small Spirit Sky? Alternatively, is it possible that you've falsely identified it, and this is actually another type of material?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.
"According to the human seniors of our Small Spirit Sky, Profound Astral Wood is something that only came into existence by chance through cross-breeding of several types of spirit wood in our Small Spirit Sky, so it definitely can't be found in any other realms. Many battles have been waged between our human race and other foreign races over this spirit wood, so there's no way I could mistaken it for something else," Zhu Guo'er said in an earnest manner.
"I see." Han Li turned his gaze back to the piece of spirit wood as a contemplative look appeared on his face.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1230