Chapter 244: Judgment
While Han Li was lost in his own thoughts, lights of different colors had begun to emerge from the bodies of many of the cultivators beside him. Some of them had jade pendants with warming effects tucked up their sleeves, some were wearing belts woven from fire-attribute materials, and some were wearing insulating spirit garments.
All of a sudden, a feral roar rang out, and a massive snow rhinoceros with an entirely white body emerged from the dense snowfall, whipping its head from side to side as it gave off a vicious aura.
One of the people in the group jumped onto the snow rhinoceros's back, and as he pressed his legs into the sides of the beast, it immediately began charging away.
A string of loud thumps rang out as the snow rhinoceros plowed its way straight through a series of ice spikes, traveling so quickly that it was as if it were in flight, and it didn't take long before it vanished into the distance.
Everyone else also summoned different types of snow and ice beasts before riding them away, and it didn't take long before Han Li's trio were the only ones left.
Qilin 9 swept his gaze across his surroundings for a moment, then summoned his Golden Veined Spirit Boat again, and the three of them jumped on before setting off toward the Infernal Frost Continent.
……
Around half a month later.
The snowstorm had just ceased in a region of the frozen sea, yet there was still a dense blanket of dark clouds in the sky, while gusts of bone-chilling wind were ravaing the surface of the sea.
The Golden Veined Spirit Boat that Han Li's trio was on was rapidly approaching the area, and inside the pavilion on the first floor, Han Li was seated with his legs crossed on his bed when all of a sudden, he felt a violent jolt run through the boat.
His eyes immediately sprang open as he rushed out of the room, where he saw an enormous black tentacle wrapped around the railing of the boat. The tentacle was stretched completely taut, seemingly doing everything in its power to drag the boat down into the sea below.
The boat was already beginning to tilt slightly, and Han Li looked down along the tentacle to find that a massive hole had opened up in the ice sheet covering the sea down below.
The tentacle belonged to an enormous scaled octopus with half of its body extending out of the hole, and the tentacle was continuing to constrict further and further, causing the entire boat to lurch slowly toward the sea down below.
All of a sudden, a furious roar rang out. "Insolence!"
A figure then shot out of the third-floor pavilion on the louchuan, transforming into a streak of golden light that flashed through the air before returning in an instant.
In the next instant, the tentacle wrapped around the railing of the boat was severed into pieces.
At the same time, the body of the giant black octopus also exploded violently, sending an enormous volume of black blood erupting in all directions, staining large sections of the surrounding ice black.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this. The octopus demon beast only possessed Grand Ascension Stage power and had limited intelligence, so it wasn't all that difficult to kill, but its scales were no ordinary scales, and it was far from a simple matter to bypass the defenses of those scales to instantly slay the beast.
This was a clear indication that Qilin 9 had most likely mastered some type of special law powers that granted him extremely formidable offensive prowess.
……
Over three months passed by in the blink of an eye.
There was an enormous snowy mountain range sprawled across the southern part of the Infernal Frost Continent, and there were countless branches extending out of the mountain range on either side, making it resemble an enormous frost centipede when viewed from above.
Every single branch of the mountain range was filled with enormous mountains that extended all the way up into the clouds, and all of them were almost entirely covered in snow and ice, with only some sections of exposed black rock visible on parts where the ice had slid off.
Above the mountain range was a picturesque blue sky, where the bright sun was hanging like a golden medallion, giving off warm and gentle light. However, the entire place was extremely cold and completely devoid of warmth.
To the east of one of the mountain range's southern branches were two mountains, both of which were over 10,000 feet tall. They were like a pair of silver longswords that were pointed directly up at the heavens, and nestled in between them was an extremely deep valley.
Outside the valley was a vast snowland that extended for tens of thousands of kilometers.
The snowland was riddled with countless massive cedar trees that were over 1,000 feet tall, but they were mostly inundated by a thick layer of snow, leaving only their tips exposed, but those tips were also covered by snow, thereby forming a series of white snowy pagodas.
Right at this moment, a string of dull roars suddenly rang out from within the snowland outside of the valley.
All of a sudden, a pair of furry white ears poked out from beneath the snow in the cedar forest to the northeast, and they swiveled around a few times to listen for surrounding sounds, then began to move toward the entrance of the valley.
A string of loud booms rang out incessantly in their wake as one massive tree after another was felled, sending massive flurries of snow erupting in all directions, and a deep and massive trench also appeared on the ground as a result.
The terrain seemed to have become more elevated closer to the entrance of the valley, and the owner of the pair of furry white ears gradually emerged from beneath the snow.
As it turned out, it was a massive snow rabbit that was over 100 feet tal, with a pair of slightly red eyes and tall ears.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the valley, it sprang forward forcefully with its hind legs, plunging itself straight into the valley up ahead.
A resounding boom rang out, and the snow rabbit was sent flying back before landing on its backside, as if it had just crashed into an invisible barrier.
After righting itself again, a ferocious look appeared in its eyes, and it let loose a low snarl before sinking back on its haunches to prepare to spring forward again. This time, it did so with several times more force than before, launching itself violently at the entrance of the valley.
All of a sudden, a faint golden light barrier appeared in the air within the entrance of the valley, and the light barrier was riddled with runes. A bolt of golden lightning that was around as thick as a human thumb abruptly sprang forth before striking the snow rabbit, and its entire body was instantly charred black before exploding violently, sending a charred odor wafting through the air.
At this moment, three figures emerged from within the deep trench in the cedar forest, then made their way toward the entrance of the valley.
This was none other than Han Li's trio, and Qilin 9 stopped in front of the entrance of the valley before turning to Han Li and Qilin 17 as he asked, "What do you think, fellow daoists?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the array here should be the Golden Peak Lightning Array that was passed down from ancient times. The bolt of lightning that had struck down that snow rabbit just now was nothing more than a display of but a tiny fraction of the array's power," Qilin 17 replied.
"I'm also of the opinion that this is the Golden Peak Lightning Array. According to my observation just now, the foundations of the array should be situated on the two mountains on either side. There should be at least two metal-attribute treasures at or above the spirit treasure caliber on those mountains, and the area encompassed within the array most likely includes those two mountains and the entire valley," Qilin said with a nod.
Meanwhile, Han Li remained completely silent, seemingly contemplating something.
"Have you noticed something, Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15?" Qilin 9 asked.
"I've never seen this Golden Peak Lightning Array before, but I have heard of it before. The array is renowned for combining resolute defenses with formidable offensive prowess, and once activated, it'll release a storm of golden lightning comparable in power to a small lightning tribulation. The bolt of lightning that the snow rabbit triggered just now was quite powerful, but it was also extremely restrained, which seems uncharacteristic of this array," Han Li said.
"That's just because that snow rabbit was too weak to trigger an all-out retaliation from the array. What's so surprising about that?" Qilin 17 dismissed with a disdainful expression.
"In that case, what do you think this array is?" Qilin 9 asked.
After a moment of contemplation, Han Li shook his head as he replied, "I've never encountered an array like this before, nor have I ever read about it, so I don't know its name, I just have a feeling that it's not as simple as it appears on the surface."
"If you've never even seen the Golden Peak Lightning Array before, then I suggest you keep your mouth shut. You said a bunch of stuff just now, but you may as well have said nothing at all," Qilin 17 scoffed.
Han Li remained unbothered by Qilin 17's rude remarks, paying no heed to him as he continued to focus his attention on the array.
"It seems like you're convinced that this is the Golden Peak Lightning Array, Fellow Daoist Qilin 17. Do you have any way for us to bypass the array without alerting the person inside?" Qilin 9 asked
A thoughtful look appeared on Qilin 17's face as he replied, "Those two mountains are the cores of the array, and 81 lengths of Lightning Restraining Wood are used as the array's foundation. Generally speaking, all that needs to be done is to find a weakness in any of those two things, and the array can be easily unraveled.
“However, if we want to bypass the array without alerting the person inside, then we'll have to think of a way to assimilate ourselves with the array in order to avoid triggering it."
"In order to assimilate ourselves with the array, we must alter our own auras so that it matches the metal attribute of the array cores, or to match the lightning attribute of the array foundation. That'll allow us to enter the array without triggering it," Qilin 9 added.
"This process must be completed instantaneously. Otherwise, there's still a chance that the array could be triggered," Qilin 17 said as he took a glance at Han Li.
"Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15, if you haven't discovered anything else, then let's follow Fellow Daoist Qilin 17's plan," Qilin 9 said as he turned to Han Li.
"The method described by Fellow Daoist Qilin 17 would normally be correct, but what's strange about this array is the manner in which it releases lightning is very different from that of ordinary lightning arrays. The lightning is very concentrated and formidable, and if we were to enter the array without careful consideration, I don't think we'll fare any better than that snow rabbit," Han Li said with furrowed brows.
A hesitant look also flashed through Qilin 9's eyes upon hearing this.
His initial assessment of the lightning array had been quite similar to Qilin 17's, and the only reason he was willing to consider Han Li's input was due to the reputation that Han Li had recently forged for himself in the Transient Guild. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been hesitating at all.
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