Chapter 2353: Giant Gate
After easily crus.h.i.+ng several groups of people who had been foolish enough to get in his way, Han Li and the blood soul finally arrived in the air above a basin after traveling for around four hours.
The basin was surrounded by a ring of mountains of different sizes, while patches of shrubs were situated at its center.
A five-colored pillar of light with a diameter of around half a kilometer was currently erupting out of a pond that had almost been entirely concealed by the shrubs, and the pillar of light was extending directly into the heavens.
There were already three groups of people who had arrived at the edge of the basin earlier than Han Li, and they were appraising one another with cold expressions.
All of a sudden, Han Li and the blood soul appeared in another direction, and the three groups all turned their attention toward the duo.
The fearsome auras being directed toward the made the blood soul"s expression change slightly, and she was struck by the involuntary urge to take a few backward steps.
Right at this moment, Han Li strode forward and positioned himself in front of the blood soul from an incredible angle while simultaneously releasing some of his own spiritual pressure.
The formidable auras being directed toward the blood soul were instantly scattered, and her expression eased slightly as she cast her gaze toward the three groups of people nearby.
As for Han Li, he took a glance at the five-colored pillar of light first before inspecting everyone else present.
The group with the fewest people was comprised of a middle-aged man and woman, who appeared to be a couple.
The man had thick brows with a dark complexion, and was quite ordinary in appearance.
In contrast, the woman was extremely seductive and was giving off an astonis.h.i.+ng allure.
The two vastly differing figures standing side by side created a very peculiar contrast.
Among the two, the woman was giving off a Grand Ascension Stage aura, while the man"s aura was undetectable even to Han Li.
Furthermore, his body was enshrouded under a layer of invisible energy fluctuations, so it was clear that he was carrying some type of treasure that could keep out the spiritual sense of others.
Han Li was rather surprised by this, but he then cast his gaze toward another group, which was comprised of five young men who were identical in both appearance and attire.
They all appeared to around 20 years of age, and even their expressions and mannerisms were extremely similar.
There were icy cold looks in their eyes that were completely devoid of warmth, and they were all at the late-Body Integration Stage.
A contemplative look appeared on Han Li"s face as he examined the auras of those five young men, but he then cast his gaze toward the final group.
This was the group with the most people, numbering over 100 in total. Most of these people were at the Spatial Tempering Stage with only a few Body Integration Stage beings among them, but they had set a profound formation around an authoritative-looking brocade-robed man.
This man"s aura indicated that he was a Grand Ascension Stage being.
Han Li only took a brief glance at the brocade-robed man before directing his attention to the people beside the man, seemingly rather interested in the formation they had set up.
The other three groups had naturally also already identified Han Li as a Grand Ascension Stage being, and they were all appraising him with different expressions, but no one paid any heed to the blood soul.
It was clear that a Spatial Tempering Stage being like her wasn"t worthy of attention in their eyes.
In contrast, Han Li was completely unfamiliar to all of them, and his aura was quite unfathomable, evoking a sense of wariness in their hearts.
The four groups had each taken up a side of the basin, but they were merely hovering in silence in mid-air, displaying no intention to talk.
All of a sudden, two more groups of people shot forth toward the basin from a distance.
The two groups arrived near the basin at the same time, then drew to an abrupt halt.
Upon identifying one of the groups, Han Li"s expression changed slightly, but quickly reverted back to normal again.
That group of people was comprised of none other than Xiao Ming, Daoist Qing Ping, and Mistress Wan Hua.
As for the other group, it contained three thin and hideous elderly men wearing different expressions.
Their auras were extremely powerful, and they were also all Grand Ascension Stage beings.
Everyone"s expressions aside from that of Han Li changed slightly at the sight of the six new Grand Ascension Stage arrivals.
Xiao Ming swept his gaze over the surrounding area, and he immediately spotted Han Li, upon which his pupils contracted slightly, but he still put on a smile, and said, "What a coincidence that you"re here as well, Fellow Daoist Han. If I had known you were coming here, I would"ve invited you to come with us. Didn"t you say you had other important matters to attend to? Were you referring to this Heavenly Cauldron Palace?"
"That"s right, I didn"t think that we were pursuing the same target. Otherwise, I would"ve also been happy to join you," Han Li replied in a calm manner.
"I"m sure you wouldn"t lie about something like this. What a pity; I felt like we had formed a close bond, and I would"ve loved to have communicated with you further," Xiao Ming sighed as if he really were feeling quite forlorn and disappointed.
The Grand Ascension Stage middle-aged woman suddenly chuckled, "Hehe, since when did the vastly renowned deranged devil of the Blood Bone Sect become so mellow? Did you undergo a drastic personality change as you were in seclusion for too long?"
"It"s a pleasure to meet you here, Patriarch Wu Gou and Fairy Hua Xi. I heard Brother Wu Gou sustained some injuries in a battle against a sin dragon some years ago; have you already recovered?" Xiao Ming"s question was directed toward the man accompanying the seductive woman.
"Thank you for your concern, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Not only has my dao companion already recovered, he encountered some opportunities recently, and his powers have been even further enhanced compared to before," Fairy Hua Xi replied before the man could say anything.
Patriarch Wu Gou merely gave a faint smile, displaying no intention to say anything. Xiao Ming"s brows furrowed slightly as he appraised this renowned Grand Ascension Stage couple with a slightly peculiar look, but then directed his attention toward the brocade-robed man instead.
"Brother Feng, I didn"t think that a sect master like you would venture into such a perilous place with so many of your sect"s disciples. Aren"t you afraid that all of the elite members of your sect will perish here, leaving your sect to fall into complete decline?" A hint of enmity crept into Xiao Ming"s voice as he spoke, and it was clear that they weren"t on good terms.
"Hmph, you came here, so why couldn"t I come? Did Daoist Tian Ding hail from your Blood Bone Sect? Besides, our sect was founded on the foundation of the art of formations; if I want to secure the treasures in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, I naturally have to bring enough subordinates to set up my formations. As for the condition of our sect, that"s not something that warrants your concern, Brother Xiao," the brocade-robed man harrumphed coldly in response.
A cold look flashed through Xiao Ming"s eyes upon seeing this, and he didn"t say anything further as he turned toward the five identical young men.
"The Five Xue He Clones pay their respects to Fellow Daoist Xiao." The five young men greeted Xiao Ming as they each cupped a fist in a salute, and their actions were completely synchronized.
Even though the five young men were only at the late-Body Integration Stage, a wary look flashed through Xiao Ming"s eyes as he returned the salute in a polite manner. "I"ve heard much about you, Fellow Daoist Xue He. It"s very remarkable that you were willing to sacrifice your Grand Ascension Stage cultivation base to split your Nascent Soul up into five clones to cultivate all of them to the Grand Ascension Stage. I must concede that my willpower is inferior to yours."
"You"re far too kind, Fellow Daoist Xiao; we had no choice but to do this in a bid for survival," the five young men replied in a cold and wooden manner, as if they really had lost all emotions.
A faint smile appeared on Xiao Ming"s face, and he was just about to say something further when his expression changed drastically, and he immediately cast his gaze toward the five-colored pillar of light.
In the next instant, the ma.s.sive pillar of light began to emit a loud buzzing sound while expanding outward at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.
In the blink of an eye, the pillar of light had formed a bright five-colored light barrier that enshrouded the entire basin.
Han Li and the others didn"t require any instructions as they sprang back to retreat out of the basin as they looked on with serious expressions.
A burst of loud rumbling rang out within the five-colored light barrier, following which violent spatial fluctuations surged through the entire area in a radius of hundreds of kilometers.
A white spatial rift appeared up above, and it was rapidly torn open further and further, revealing a series of intricate palatial projections.
The rumbling suddenly ceased, and the five-colored light barrier began to surge toward the rift as countless rays of light, instantly sealing the entire rift.
Immediately thereafter, the air above the basin began to tremor violently, and a ma.s.sive five-colored gate that was over 100,000 feet tall suddenly appeared.
Its surface was riddled with countless golden and silver runes, giving it an otherworldly appearance.
Han Li"s pupils immediately contracted slightly at the sight of these runes.
These were none other than beveled silver text and golden sealed text of the True Immortal Realm.
As expected of someone who had successfully ascended; this Daoist Tian Ding was a master in these two types of immortal spirit texts.
"This is the gate of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. Anyone who can open it will be able to use a key to break through the seal beyond it in order to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace," Fairy Hua Xi said as she stared at the giant gate with a slightly entranced look in her eyes.
"Hmph, now that this gate has appeared, everyone else is going to arrive soon, so I"m going to take the initiative and enter it first," the brocade-robed man said as a hint of greed flashed through his eyes.