Chapter 745: Final Stand |
Yin Xu's pupils contracted slightly as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a speck of black light that swelled rapidly in size at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye, forming a black mirror that was revolving incessantly while releasing bursts of strange black light in all directions.
A series of projections appeared in the surrounding space in the wake of the black light, and they were either walking or flying around, seemingly belonging to the people who had previously passed through this point.
Some of these projections were quite clear, while others were very indistinct.
Among all of the projections, the ones belonging to Han Li and the others were particularly clear, and they were flying toward one of the paths up ahead.
"After them!"
Yin Xu and Gui Mu immediately set off in that direction.
......
Deep inside the black palace, Han Li and the others were racing along, passing through a seemingly endless expanse of palaces, pavilions, and pergolas, which looked as if they belonged to an imperial city.
They didn't dare to fly too high, so they could only dart along between the buildings close to the ground.
With the eyesight of Fox 3 and the others, visibility was only just over a thousand feet, and even with Han Li's Infernal Devilish Eyes, he was only able to see about three thousand feet.
Aside from that, there was some type of immense spatial pressure hanging in the air, which wasn't enough to harm Han Li and the others, but it was slowing them down significantly.
"What the hell is this place? Why does it feel so strange here? Have you discovered anything, Fellow Daoist Weeping Soul?" Fox 3 asked.
"No, this is my first time here as well," Weeping Soul replied with a shake of her head.
"The fact that battles are prohibited works very much in our favor. How about we make a final stand here?" Fox 3 proposed.
"We can't do that. Even if such a rule is in place, those two may not follow it if it comes down to a battle of life and death, so it would be too risky to bank on that. Even if we're going to make a final stand, we have to make sure that it's at a place that'll give us a definite advantage," Shi Chuankong immediately said, and Fox 3 nodded in response.
All of a sudden, a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face, and he remarked, "The layout of the surrounding palace is quite profound, almost like it's some type of array. Perhaps that has something to do with the spatial pressure in the air."
The layout of the surrounding buildings didn't appear to be remarkable in any way, but in reality, there was some type of pattern to them. On top of that, all of these buildings had many runes engraved upon them, and they seemed to be connected somehow.
"You're right," Baili Yan agreed with a nod. "This place appears to be very important, so it's rather strange that there are no guards stationed here at all."
All of a sudden, an alarmed look appeared on Weeping Soul's face as she exclaimed, "Gui Mu and Yin Xu are catching up to us!"
Everyone immediately sped up upon hearing this, but their cultivation bases were far inferior to those of Gui Mu and Yin Xu, and the spatial pressure in the air certainly wasn't doing them any favors, so the gap between them was rapidly closing.
"There's a passageway up ahead that leads underground, and there's a peculiar aura inside. Should we go in?" Han Li suddenly asked as he turned to a certain direction.
"We may have no choice," Shi Chuankong replied with a grim expression.
"Surely whatever's inside can't spell more trouble than the two chasing after us," Fox 3 chuckled.
"Indeed. At this point, we may as well go in and have a look. At this rate, we'll be dead anyway, and this may be our only chance at survival," Baili Yan agreed.
As for Weeping Soul, she was naturally happy to follow Han Li's lead.
"Come with me," Han Li said as he veered slightly to the left.
Everyone immediately followed along, and they arrived at a fake mountain that was several thousand feet tall, at the foot of which was a cave that was around thirty to forty feet tall.
The sides of the cave were white in color, and they were giving off faint rays of light that illuminated the interior of the cave.
Inside the cave was a long passageway that appeared to lead underground, and Han Li and the others were met with a rush of heat that carried a slightly acrid, sulfurous odor.
The group immediately flew into the passageway without any hesitation, and they had only just vanished into it when Gui Mu and Yin Xu appeared at the entrance.
"How did they know to go in there? Could it be that they know the secret of this place? But that's impossible, even You Luo hasn't ever been allowed to visit this place!" Gui Mu grumbled with tightly furrowed brows.
"Cut the chit-chat, we need to go in and capture them right away," Yin Xu harrumphed coldly as he flew into the tunnel, while a hint of anger flashed through Gui Mu's eyes, but he quickly composed himself after taking a deep breath before following along behind Yin Xu.
Meanwhile, Han Li and the others were forging ahead as quickly as they could. The tunnel had no branches and very few bends, and it became brighter and brighter the deeper they progressed, so they were able to travel very smoothly.
However, this only meant that it would be easier for their pursuers to catch them, so none of them were particularly encouraged by this.
All of a sudden, everyone's expressions changed slightly as they drew to an abrupt halt.
The tunnel up ahead had suddenly expanded into a giant square space that seemed to be an enormous hall, which was around three hundred to four hundred feet in size.
This was also the end of the tunnel, and at the deepest point of the hall was a tightly shut stone gate. The spatial pressure in this area had also escalated to unprecedented levels, and the stone gate was riddled with all types of patterns that were giving off lights of various different colors, all of which were emanating powerful aura fluctuations.
It was clear that these were all extremely powerful restrictions, and the most eye-catching one among them was the silver light, which had formed a barrier over the stone gate.
The silver light barrier was rippling incessantly, presenting a lustrous sight to behold.
The other walls of the hall were also riddled with similar array patterns that were connected to the restrictions on the stone gate, forming a rather special restriction.
Everyone inspected their surroundings momentarily, and it began to dawn on them that they had been backed into a corner.
Fox 3 gritted his teeth as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a conical white immortal treasure that was around a foot in length.
Judging from its aura, it was at least a seventh-grade immortal treasure, and there were arcs of white lightning flashing along the entirety of its length as it shot forth as a blurry white shadow that hurtled directly toward the stone gate.
Right before it was about to make contact with the stone gate, Fox 3 made a hand seal, and a deafening thunderclap rang out as a radiant white sun appeared before exploding violently.
Countless incandescent arcs of white lightning erupted forth in all directions, completely inundating the stone gate in blinding white radiance.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as purple light flashed within his eyes, and the blinding white rapidly faded to reveal the conical white immortal treasure, which had struck the stone gate, but was kept out with ease by all of the restrictions.
Everyone's expressions changed once again upon seeing this.
They had all witnessed the power of the immortal treasure, but it hadn't even been able to leave the slightest mark on the stone gate.
"Sorry for getting us into this mess, everyone. Looks like we're in a world of trouble now," Han Li said with a wry smile.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Fellow Daoist Li. We all made the choice to enter this place, so we have to bear the consequences together. In any case, continuing to run like this isn't going to get us anywhere, and this confrontation was always inevitable, so let's make a final stand," Fox 3 said with a faint smile as the conical white immortal treasure flew back to him at his behest.
"I agree. Those people wouldn't dare to fight all-out here, but we have no such qualms, so our fate is far from sealed," Baili Yan chimed in with a smile of his own.
Weeping Soul remained silent, but she stood firmly by Han Li's side, making her stance clear.
In contrast, Shi Chuankong wasn't standing with everyone else. Instead, he flew over to the stone gate before making a hand seal to summon an antiquated golden mirror, which projected a beam of silver light onto the gate.
The restrictions on the stone gate immediately began to ripple, and in particular, the silver light barrier was trembling incessantly.
"Fellow Daoist Shi, do you have a way to unravel these restrictions?" Baili Yan asked with an elated expression upon seeing this.
"The restrictions here are very advanced, so I can't make any guarantees. I'll need some time to study them carefully," Shi Chuakong replied in a non-committal fashion.
"Alright, then take as much time as you need, Brother Shi, and I'll do my best to hold off our pursuers," Fox 3 promised.
Shi Chuankong nodded in response, then turned his full attention to the restrictions on the stone gate.
Han Li took a glance at Shi Chuankong, then quickly turned his gaze back to the entrance of the tunnel.
"Here they come!" Weeping Soul said in a low voice, and in the next instant, Gui Mu and Yin Xu emerged from the tunnel.
"You sure scurried away quite quickly for a ragtag bunch of rats!" Yin Xu sneered in a cold voice.
A cold sneer also appeared on Gui Mu's face, and he began, "I suggest you lay down..."
Before he had a chance to finish, Fox 3's conical immortal treasure hurtled directly toward him amid an explosive thunderclap.
"If you want to fight, then cut the chit-chat!"