Chapter 417: Pursuers
The teleportation array beneath Han Li and the others continued to operate, but it was getting slower and slower, and the white light that it was releasing was also rapidly fading.
In the meantime, the four of them remained silent and didn't make any further attempts to move. They took this time to inspect their surroundings, but of course, the majority of their attention was focused on that silver mountain.
The longing in Patriarch Cold Flame and Xiong Shan's eyes was becoming more and more intense, while Han Li remained expressionless, and Lu Yuqing's eyes were constantly darting around, occasionally stealing glances at Patriarch Cold Flame and Xiong Shan.
A short while later, the operation of the teleportation array finally completely ceased, and all of the white light also faded, allowing Han Li and the others to emerge from the array.
"Let's go."
Upon stepping out of the array, Patriarch Cold Flame and Xiong Shan made their way down from the stone platform, then rushed toward the long staircase at the foot of the silver mountain, but they refrained from taking flight.
"Let's follow them," Han Li said to Lu Yuqing, then quickly strode down from the stone platform as well.
Not long after the four of them left the teleportation array, the stone platform behind them abruptly shuddered, immediately following which the teleportation array began to radiate dazzling white light once again.
Han Li and the others were all quite startled by this turn of events, and they immediately stopped in their tracks before turning around, right as a group of six or seven figures appeared within the teleportation array.
These people were none other than the black-robed Ghost Wail Sect cultivators, and they were led by their sect master, Chen Pi.
"Xue Han!" Patriarch Cold Flame exclaimed at the sight of Ghost Wail Sect Master.
A hint of befuddlement flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.
The Ghost Wail Sect Master had clearly been introduced as Chen Pi earlier, while Xue Han was the name of one of the Ubiquitous Pavilion's Golden Immortal Stage elders and one of the two Golden Immortals who had attacked the Holy Puppet Sect.
Having just appeared in the teleportation array, Xue Han's expression was a little dazed, but he then immediately returned to his senses.
He took a glance at his surroundings, and his gaze settled momentarily on Han Li and Lu Yuqing before immediately shifting to Xiong Shan and Patriarch Cold Flame.
Meanwhile, Xiong Shan and Patriarch Cold Flame exchanged a bewildered glance with one another.
It didn't take long before Xue Han spotted the purple palace on the mountain summit, and an ecstatic look instantly appeared on his face as he cackled, "I knew it!"
A fearful look flashed through Patriarch Cold Flame's eye as he asked, "Xue Han, why are you here?"
"You thought you managed to shake us off, didn't you? I knew you had an ulterior motive for entering the immortal manor, so I intentionally let you leave, but we've been following you this entire time! Having said that, I didn't think you would lead us to the Light Frost Palace," Xue Han chortled.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.
It was rather disturbing to him that he had completely failed to detect the Ghost Wail Sect cultivators on the way here.
However, given Xue Han's Golden Immortal Stage cultivation base, if he had some special concealment techniques up his sleeve, then it was certainly possible for them to have remained undetected by Han Li this entire time.
Patriarch Cold Flame and Xiong Shan's expressions had darkened significantly at this point.
They had thought that they had been quite sneaky and cautious, but this entire time, they had been followed by two groups of people and remained completely oblivious.
The two of them exchanged a glance, then turned in unison to rush toward the staircase as quickly as they could.
Han Li and Lu Yuqing exchanged a glance, then immediately followed along.
Xue Han remained completely unconcerned upon seeing this, and he chuckled coldly, "You think you can get away! In your dreams!"
There was no way that a group of four True Immortals would be able to escape from a seasoned Golden Immortal like himself, particularly in what was clearly a sealed space with no way out.
With that in mind, he proceeded to pursue Han Li and the others, only to also find himself being held in place by a burst of tremendous force, rendering him immobilized despite his Golden Immortal Stage cultivation base.
He immediately let loose a low roar as he struggled with all his might, but to his surprise, his efforts proved to be futile.
At this point, the other Ghost Wail Sect cultivators were also beginning to regain their consciousness one after another, only to find that they were also unable to move.
Han Li and the others seized this opportunity to rush to the foot of the silver staircase as quickly as they could, following which Patriarch Cold Flame and Xiong Shan immediately led the way up the staircase.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed that the two of them had slowed down significantly upon stepping onto the staircase, and he cautiously set foot onto the first step.
A layer of faint yellow light surfaced over the step beneath his foot, and a burst of tremendous force instantly descended upon him.
Lu Yuqing also stepped onto the staircase, following which her body immediately swayed slightly as an alarmed look appeared on her face.
Her brows furrowed slightly as a layer of azure light appeared over her body, then transformed into a crane projection that spread its wings in an attempt to take flight, but no matter how frantically the azure crane projection flapped its wings, the suction force acting upon Lu Yuqing from the step beneath her foot wasn't diminished in the slightest.
"The gravitational restriction on this staircase can't be countered through the use of immortal spiritual power or any spirit treasures, so you can only rely on your own physical prowess," Patriarch Cold Flame explained. "Given the urgency of the situation, I'm afraid I'll have to go on ahead. Good luck."
Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, while Lu Yuqing's complexion paled slightly in response.
Meanwhile, Patriarch Cold Flame continued to quickly scale the staircase. Having also cultivated the Great Universe Origin Arts, he had attained immense physical prowess, and at this point, he had already scaled 30 to 40 steps.
Xiong Shan's physical prowess was lacking compared with Patriarch Cold Flame, but he was clearly also prepared, and he was able to keep up with Patriarch Cold Flame just fine.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he turned to take a glance at the Ghost Wail Sect cultivators, who were still trapped in the teleportation array.
The white light radiating from the array was rapidly fading, and it wouldn't be long until they were freed.
"Hurry!" he urged as he began to quickly scale the staircase.
Lu Yuqing swept a sleeve through the air to dispel the azure light around her, then took a deep breath as she also began to climb the staircase.
The gravitational restriction on the staircase was indeed quite formidable, but as an early-True Immortal cultivator, her physical constitution was nothing to be scoffed at, so she was also climbing up the steps at a decent pace.
An agitated look appeared on Xue Han's face as he watched Han Li and the others scaling the staircase.
At this point, he had already realized further struggles would only be futile, so he had resigned himself to waiting.
Finally, the white light radiating from the teleportation array completely faded, and he instantly instructed, "After them!"
Immediately thereafter, he flew toward Han Li and others as quickly as he could, followed by the other Ghost Wail Sect cultivators, but as soon as they flew out of the stone platform, they abruptly began to plummet toward the ground like dead weights.
They slammed into the ground one after another amid a string of resounding booms, smashing several huge craters into the ground in the process.
They hurriedly clambered to their feet, and even though they weren't injured, they had been reduced to a rather disheveled state. A few of them had landed head-first and were a little dazed as a result.
Xue Han was furious at the embarrassment that he had been subjected to, and none of the other Ghost Wail Sect cultivators dared to say anything at the sight of his enraged expression.
"So what if there's a flight restriction here? I'll hunt you all down regardless, and once I do, I'm going to make you regret ever going against me!" Xue Han spat through gritted teeth.
Immediately thereafter, he charged toward the staircase as quickly as he could, followed closely by the other Ghost Wail Sect cultivators.
Before long, all of them arrived at the foot of the silver staircase before immediately embarking on the climb.
As soon as he set foot on the first step, Xue Han's brows instantly furrowed slightly, and he took a deep breath as he cautioned, "There's quite a formidable restriction here, so be on your guard!"
All of the other Ghost Wail Sect cultivators hurriedly gave affirmative responses, while Xue Han took a glance at Han Li and the others before setting off in pursuit of them.
He was able to scale the staircase at a remarkable speed, quickly opening up quite a large gap between himself and the rest of the Ghost Wail Sect cultivators, and it seemed that the gravitational restriction here wasn't affecting him much at all.
At this point, Han Li and the others had already scaled 400 to 500 steps, and Patriarch Cold Flame and Xiong Shan were still leading the way from the forefront, with Han Li and Lu Yuqing progressing up the staircase together a short distance behind them.
Upon noticing what was happening down below, a grim look appeared on Patriarch Cold Flame's face, and a layer of faint starlight appeared over his body as he abruptly accelerated.
Xiong Shan's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and a layer of golden light emerged over his body as he also sped up in an urgent fashion.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuqing was already sweating profusely, and with each step that she took, her body would shudder slightly.
With each successive step, the gravitational restriction would become slightly more formidable, and at this point, the gravitational force was already three to four times stronger than it had been on the first step.
Lu Yuqing turned to glance at Han Li, and she was surprised to find that he didn't appear to be struggling at all.
However, there was a rather peculiar dazed look in his eyes, as if his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
"Brother Liu," Lu Yuqing called out to him through voice transmission.
Han Li immediately snapped back to his senses, then turned to her as he asked, "What is it?"
Lu Yuqing forced a smile onto her own face as she said, "The restriction here is too strong for me to continue. Go ahead without me, Brother Liu. "
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he turned to find Xue Han rapidly scaling the staircase, doing so with such ease that he wasn't even pausing from one step to the next.
At this point, it wasn't going to take long before he caught up to them.
Meanwhile, Patriarch Cold Flame and Xiong Shan were only accelerating further, and they had already left Han Li and Lu Yuqing far behind.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢