Chapter 1016: Bronze Lion
Lin Yinping followed after Grand Immortal Xu without any hesitation. As the Endless Sky Saintess, she had to rescue the holy beast incarnation no matter what.
Ge Tianhao and the other two sect elders wore unsure expressions, however.
Those belonging to the Devil Dao often lacked a sense of unity. The reason they had attacked without hesitation was because they had such a perceived advantage. But with Han Li possessing such a powerful treasure, they decided to have the others lead the way for the time being.
Although Grand Immortal Xu a.s.sured them that Han Li was only able to launch such an attack once, the opposite was just as likely. If he was able to use a technique to forcefully draw power and use the fan multiple times in succession, they would not be able to defend themselves.
And from what they’ve just heard, it is possible that he also possesses an even more powerful cauldron, much to their apprehension. Although they wished to acquire their sect’s relic, they weren’t willing to risk their lives.
For a time, the three were hesitant on whether they should follow.
Finally, with a resolute mind, Ge Tianhao softly said, “Let’s go. When we encounter that Han fellow, we’ll just provide support from the side. So long as we are quick and evade the fan, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
The two old black-robed men at his side paused before eventually nodding.
The three then quickly took off.
...
The stairway leading to Kunwu Hall was extremely long. Even with his unrestrained use of lightning movement, it had taken him the time to finish a meal before he could arrive. When he left the stairway, he found himself in front of a forest.
But in truth, it didn’t consist of trees, but ten-meter-tall pillars of various widths. These stone pillars were carved with uncanny precision and a few talisman characters glowed on them with faint flickering light. It was clear they were part of a huge formation.
However, what should’ve been a neat and orderly display was in utter disarray. Many of the pillars had been shattered, leaving the ground littered with rubble along with variously-sized holes.
It was clear to see that someone had used brute strength to breakthrough.
Han Li coldly swept his gaze past the scene and silently entered the forest.
The are wasn’t very large. With several blurs, he arrived at the edge, but only found a sloped wall in front of him.
The wall was constructed from giant boulders with a mess of stone statues carved out from it, each of them holding halberds and other magic tools.
As he examined this, he frowned, suddenly sensing something from above.
On the sloped wall three hundred meters up, he saw flashes of light and the occasional sounds of an eruption as if there was a battle.
“Could it be that Old Devil Qian is fighting against the first group that were before us?”
Han Li felt his heart stir and he quickly ran up using body lightening techniques. Along the way, he hid his presence and his body blurred out of sight.
He arrived in an empty area several times larger than the white jade plaza.
When he had clear sight of it, he was stunned.
A huge light barrier appeared before him where five white, two azure, and one yellow silhouette were viciously battling inside.
Those white silhouettes were Old Devil Qian’s cinque devils, each of them threateningly postured and spouting grey Qi from their mouths.
The yellow silhouette belonged to a middle-aged man who had a huge white bone bracelet revolving around him. Whenever grey Qi struck its surface, it would sweep it away with yellow light as if it didn’t exist. He was also controlling a red-yellow flying sword with both of his hands, blocking the a.s.sault of the five cinque devils with all his strength.
As for the azure silhouettes, they belonged to two bronze lions that were three meters tall. They relentlessly pounced and tangled with the cinque devils and moved with lightning speed. Each time they opened their mouths, a bowl-thick azure beam fired that carried great destructive power.
Although the first two didn’t pay much mind to the bronze lion’s long-range attacks, they both made a great effort to avoid having the lions draw close. But if they weren’t able to avoid them in time, they would temporarily abandon the fight and fiercely strike the statues instead.
However, the bronze lions seemed impervious to damage. Be it the grey Qi or sword strikes, the azure light s.h.i.+mmering from their bodies would resist any attack with impunity.
The barrier of white light surrounding the stage was truly odd. Its surface occasionally flickered with silver lightning, and whenever something approached, it would sound a clap of thunder before releasing a barrage of lightning bolts.
Although the cinque devils and the bone bracelet were more than capable off receiving such strikes, neither of them wanted any avoidable damage and kept clear.
As time went on, the battle within the barrier was even more intense.
When Han Li saw this, he grasped, “Is this an arena?”
At a glance, he saw that the middle-aged man was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator and that the strange bone bracelet he had was the only thing keeping the cinque devils at bay. As for the two bronze lions, they appeared menacing. Despite being two unmanned puppets, they forcibly distracted such powers. If either of them were tangled, they wouldn’t be able to easily escape.
As he muttered to himself, Han Li swept his eyes across the scene.
The light barrier nearly covered the entire area, and light flashed from the gaps on the sides, clearly displaying other fearsome restrictions.
As such, he had no way forward. But he could see a large mountain gate on the other side of the barrier, likely to be the entrance to Kunwu Hall.
Han Li unconsciously frowned as he sank into thought. He couldn"t afford to stop there as Grand Immortal Xu and company would soon arrive.
As such, he summoned the Triflame Fan into his hand with a shake of his sleeve. He planned on using it to temporarily clear away the barrier and use lightning movement to quickly pa.s.s through. Although he was certain to be discovered, it was an acceptable risk as those present weren’t in a position to fight him.
He took a deep breath and was about to proceed when he suddenly turned to look at a huge stone pillar at the side with utter shock, but he ended up seeing nothing. Had he not released his spiritual sense to its fullest extent, he would have missed the faint spiritual fluctuations.
Bewildered, he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes and spotted a pair of red demon eyes above the stone pillar.
‘The Silver-winged Nightfiend!’ In his alarm, he instantly recognized the master of those cursed eyes and immediately channeled spiritual power into his body.
As his spirit eyes grew in strength, he eventually spotted a dark silhouette belonging to the eyes. However, the nightfiend wasn’t looking at him but was rather focused on the battle in the barrier. Because of the mountain’s restrictions and Han Li’s concealment techniques, he had yet to discover him.
However, he wasn’t pleased by this at all and his expression sank.
Besides the Silver-winged Nightfiend, he spotted two others. Even with the full power of his spirit eyes, he wasn’t able to clearly see them, but was able to see the outline of the Lion Hawk and an unfamiliar human-like figure.
‘Since the beasts are concealed together, it seemed they are allies. Could it be their aim was something in Kunwu Hall?’ Han Li thought.
Then, his expression stirred once more and he turned around, spotting light from the stone forest down below. It appeared Grand Immortal Xu and company were in rapid pursuit.
Under such circ.u.mstances, he could no longer afford to hesitate. Foosh. Flame burst forth from his fan and silently cut towards the barrier like a blade.
Although he had limited the power of the fan, when the flames met the barrier, a m.u.f.fled explosion sounded out, followed by an eruption of blinding light.
Be it the three beasts hiding on top of the stone pillar or the cultivators fighting in the barrier, their attention was instantly captured in his direction.
Seeing that his tracks were already revealed, Han Li broke out of concealment and leaped forward, turning into an azure streak as he made his way to the other end of the barrier.
By forcibly using magic power to break free from the restrictions, he traveled immensely fast, arriving over a hundred meters away in an instant.
“Insolence!” Old Devil Qian shouted in fury and had three of his devils blur and disappear from sight.
In a moment, they strangely warped in front of Han Li and glared at him with icy green eyes.
“Get lost!” Han Li fiercely shouted. In a clap of thunder, a dense bolt of golden lightning shot forward, twisting in the air to form a golden flood dragon.
“Divine Devilbane Lightning!” When Old Devil Qian saw this, he shouted with furious alarm.
The black Qi that the three incarnations released to block him had dissolved without resistance.
With the golden flood dragon now clearing the way, Han Li swept through and arrived at the other side of the barrier.