“We’ll follow, but keep your distance,” Lady Mu said, “Fortunately, the mountain’s restrictions limit spiritual sense, or we couldn’t shadow a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.” Then, the two flashed with white light and stealthily flew out from the stone pillars and followed after them with a secret technique.
Not long after, a green light flickered from where the woman was hiding a moment ago to reveal a huge green silhouette. It coldly watched the direction the two women left with a pair of icy crystalline eyes, only to strangely warp from sight a moment later.
When Old Devil Qian and the others arrived in front of the mountain gate, Han Li was already halfway through the path to the enormous palace. He managed to stand up and was slowly walking along the small road, but each step drew enormous strain on his body, enough to make him pause.
At that moment, azure and gold clashed as the lightning and light were coiling around his body along with a layer of beautiful purple flame. He even used the Spirit Subjugation Talisman to partially take the form of a flood dragon. When the others saw him, they were astonished.
A black-robed old man couldn"t help but ask, “What sorcery is that? How could he undergo such a transformation?”
With a harsh expression, Ge Tianhao said, “Regardless, he seems to be under the effect of a restriction. This is a prime opportunity to dispose of him.” Then, he quickly waved his hand and released a fire-red halberd.
He was very bitter over the loss of his bone saber, utterly destroyed by the attack of the Triflame Fan. Now that an opportunity arose, he wasn’t about to easily let it go.
But when his halberd flew thirty meters away, it violently smashed into the floor and left a deep hole in the ground. It was still and incapable of being moved in the slightest.
“What?!” Shocked, he hastily channeled his magic power and willed the halberd to return, but it remained still.
When Lin Yinping saw this, she shouted, “Greater Suppressive Power?”
The Silver-winged Nightfiend glanced at the trees to either side and indifferently said, “Rather, it’s Goldweight Gravity. The Goldweight Spirit Trees lining the path have created a natural restriction. Anyone that steps into it’s range will have an immense force pull down on their body, rendering them immobile.”
“Then how is that youngster Han moving?” Grand Immortal Xu coldly laughed and took a glance at Han Li’s rear figure.
The Silver-winged Nightfiend glanced at him and scoffed, “Are you ignoring his transformation? In his current form, his cultivation is raised by nearly half. With cultivation at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage and the Divine Devilbane Lightning and those purple ice flames, he is displaying great power. If you were to proceed, I suspect you wouldn’t handle the weight nearly as long as him!”
Expressionless, Grand Immortal Xu asked, “Is that so? From your tone, I see that you’re quite familiar with that Youth Han. Do you recognize him?”
“It doesn’t matter, there is no relation between us.” The Silver-winged Nightfiend smiled in response to his probing.
Grand Immortal Xu’s bearing remained indifferent, but the response angered him greatly.
He frowned and said, “Aren’t those Goldweight Spirit Trees? The ancient tree also known as Treasure Fall Trees? They’ve long been extinct in the outside world, and it was said that metal-attribute treasures are completely restrained by them. It is no wonder your halberd had fallen to the ground. Furthermore, the tree has an innate gravitational power that even spiritual sense cannot detect.”
The square-faced cultivator solemnly said, “So it was like that. The trees release a harsh gravitational power that can be superimposed to increase the pressure several-fold. From the sheer number of them and the dense groups, I fear we’ll be under the effects of five simultaneously as we march forward. I don’t know about any of you, but I know my body wouldn’t be able to support such pressure.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure myself, so I’ll be giving it a try.”
When Lin Yinping saw Han Li’s figure slowly treading forward, her expression dropped and she slapped a spirit beast pouch at her waist, releasing a strange lizard.
It was covered in dense scales and had a pair of wings that consisted of thick flesh.
“Go!” Lin Yinping shouted and pointed at Han Li in the distance.
The serpent promptly covered itself in a layer of yellow light before shooting through the mountain gate.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the winged lizard flew for forty meters before cras.h.i.+ng down right next to the halberd.
However, the lizard was extremely tenacious and through sheer force managed to struggle itself off the ground with its legs. At the same time, it flapped its wings with all its might in an attempt to fly.
When she saw this, a trace of happiness was betrayed from her face.
However, this soon disappeared with a m.u.f.fled explosion. The serpent had ruptured; its flesh turned into mincemeat.
Lin Yinping’s complexion paled with disbelief. “How is that possible? Is the pressure truly so fierce? What did he do to withstand a pressure that even my lizard couldn"t endure?”
“Don’t dwell on it,” Old Devil Qian calmly said, “I am able to sense a faint demonic Qi from his body. He used a secret technique of some sort to temporarily possess the strength of a demon beast. That is what caused his body to become unreasonably durable. However, it is clear that his abilities are quite outstanding as well. Without any magic treasures, he is using three different kinds of power, a feat that I am not capable of.”
With his words, Lin Yinping came to a sudden understanding, “With such techniques, he must have much understanding of heretical Daos!”
“Enough gibberish”, the horned woman impatiently chided, “Keep on speaking and he’ll already be inside Kunwu Hall.” Her voice sounded as harsh and unpleasant as a broken gong.
“Don’t worry,” Grand Immortal Xu calmly said, “The hall’s restrictions aren’t limited to the road. There will certainly be more formidable ones waiting for him. Since we know about the tree’s origins, it shouldn’t be very difficult to break through. So long as we use magic treasures void of metal-attribute materials, we should be able to easily break through.”
“Is it so simple?” The horned woman doubtfully said.
“The Goldweight Pressure is only effective on someone who is caught off guard. It shouldn’t matter to us,” Grand Immortal Xu said. He raised his arm and released a small yellow sword, striking at the nearest tree without reservation.
A huge boom sounded out and faint gold flashed from the trees around them. The flying sword left behind a gash, but it was nowhere close to cutting down the tree.
“Yi!” Grand Immortal Xu yelped in surprise.
“It seems that Fellow Daoist Xu has forgotten that the Goldweight Spirit Trees were as hard as metal to begin with, and with countless years of nourishment from Kunwu Mountain’s spiritual Qi, they are beyond what should be expected. I fear that destroying these trees won’t be an easy task and will take us quite a while. Let’s attack them together.” After Old Devil Qian finished, his huge white silhouette opened its mouth and spat out a white crystal orb. As it spun in the air, it smashed against one of the huge trees.
Ge Tianhao and the others exchanged a quick glance before taking out various wood and jade treasures and striking at the trees to either side of them.
For a time, various colored light brilliantly flared, bringing down several trees from either side.
Unbeknownst to them, when the three beasts saw them cutting down the trees, they inwardly rejoiced. Although they spat out their own treasures and joined in, their attacks had minimal effect. However, the great force used managed to cleverly mask this, and the cultivators were none the wiser.
As Han Li strenuously made his way forward, Silvermoon sighed and said, “How foolis.h.!.+ I didn’t expect that these cultivators would chop down the Goldweight Spirit Trees!”
Han Li indifferently replied, “It is no wonder Old Devil Qian is so negligent. After all, they don’t have eyes like mine. I was able to see through the core of each of these trees and noticed the Devilward Talismans inscribed inside. If you hadn’t warned me, I wouldn’t have noticed anything strange. Who would’ve thought that the ancients would’ve carve a talisman inside a tree.”
Silvermoon hesitated for a moment and asked, “In that case, the three demons will be able to make it to the hall without resistance. Shouldn’t we warn them?”
Han Li smiled, “What is there to warn? Apart from the Ye Clan cultivator, the others are just pa.s.sersby, so it’s good that those three have come to impede them. And if it wouldn’t have taken so much time, I would’ve definitely cut down the trees as well.”
Silvermoon chuckled and said, “Is that so? However, Master had best enter the hall as soon as he can. So long as the treasure is yours, you’ll be able to escape without any harm. Afterwards, we can just hide on the mountain for a few days and wait for the opening to clear.”