Chapter 422: Replicating the Ploy
"If we go three kilometers down this street, there's an old house in an alley, and inside the yard of that house is a well, at the bottom of which is one of the bases of the array..."
Han Li began to lay out the locations of the bases of the array, while Patriarch Cold Flame listened with rapt focus while nodding or shaking his head in response, using his recollection to determine whether these bases were genuine or false.
In the real world, the white stone plaza that they were situated on wasn't very large at all, but this illusion was immeasurably massive. Starting from the well in the old house, the three of them passed through a wine shop and a brothel, and after a series of turns, they arrived in the backyard of a public office.
After that, they stepped onto a millstone to flip over a wall that was less than seven feet tall, arriving in a residential area in a quiet alley.
After emerging from the alley, they passed through seven or more streets before arriving at a school.
During this time, Lu Yuqing was gradually becoming more and more disoriented, as if she were about to lose herself in the array, but thankfully, Han Li was able to snap her back to her senses using a spiritual sense secret technique.
The tender voices of children reading aloud could be heard coming from inside the school, and outside the school gate was an elm tree that was over a century old. It wasn't very tall, but it was extremely thick, and at this moment, Han Li's trio was standing under its shadow.
"Last time, the exit of the array was the remains of a primordial demon beast, and it's completely different this time, so I can't be certain," Patriarch Cold Flame said in a hesitant voice as he looked at the old elm tree.
"The spiritual power fluctuations here are very different from what we've previously encountered, so I think this should be the place," Han Li said while observing the elm tree through his Eye of Truth.
He then cast an incantation seal toward the elm tree, and the Eye of Truth above his head trembled slightly, then released a burst of golden ripples.
The elm tree instantly brightened significantly upon contact with the golden ripples, and a blue vortex emerged within the golden light, through which a long passageway could be seen.
Patriarch Cold Flame approached the blue vortex and inspected it closely for a while, then turned back to Han Li and Lu Yuqing before nodding in confirmation as he said, "This should be the place. The passageway inside is almost identical as the one from last time."
"Alright, then let's go. We've already been delayed significantly here," Han Li said.
The Eye of Truth above his head faded as he spoke, and Patriarch Cold Flame led the way into the blue vortex, followed by Lu Yuqing, while Han Li brought up the rear.
A few minutes later, a burst of peculiar fluctuations spread through the air above the plaza, and Han Li's trio stumbled out into the open.
After taking a moment to steady himself, Patriarch Cold Flame immediately began looking around, but didn't find Xiong Shan.
"Save your energy. He's a master in arrays to begin with, and he's already passed through this array once before, so he's definitely already emerged ahead of us, and he should be on his way to the palaces by now," Han Li said, then turned around to look at plaza again with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.
The mist here was churning violently, and that, coupled with the chaotic spiritual power fluctuations emanating out from within, clearly indicated that Xue Han had also made his way into the array.
"Let's get out of here while Xue Han is still trapped in the array. Take me to where the Great Universe Origin Arts is," Han Li said to Patriarch Cold Flame.
Patriarch Cold Flame nodded in response, then led the way toward the three palaces.
The central palace in the triangular formation was the one that was closest to Han Li's trio, and it was significantly taller than the two behind it.
In front of the palace were 10 golden pillars with countless runes inscribed upon them, and they had an extremely antiquated appearance.
The main gate of the palace was over 100 feet tall and entirely constructed from gold, and it was also riddled with runes. The left half of the gate was slightly ajar, and a section of its surface was charred black.
"This palace is just a trap. There's nothing inside aside from two puppets," Patriarch Cold Flame said, then skirted around the central palace as he made his way toward the palace on the right.
"Was the restriction on that palace destroyed the last time you came here?" Lu Yuqing asked.
"Do you recall how I said that a total of four of us emerged from the illusory array? The other two died in there," Patriarch Cold Flame replied.
Lu Yuqing's face paled slightly upon hearing this, and the three of them remained silent as they made their way to the palace on the right.
This palace was smaller than the other one, but it was constructed using the same materials and in the same style. The only difference was that the gates of this palace were tightly shut, and the runes engraved upon it were also undamaged.
"Fellow Daoist Han, I found the first half of the Great Universe Origin Arts in the rear hall of this palace, and the other half is also in there," Patriarch Cold Flame said.
"There must be some reason why you didn't secure both halves of the cultivation art at once last time, right?" Han Li asked.
"That's right. The cultivation art is being guarded by an early-Golden Immortal Stage puppet," Patriarch Cold Flame replied with a nod.
A hint of suspicion appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.
"Forgive me for being blunt, but if there's a Golden Immortal Stage puppet in there, then I don't see how it was possible for you to have stolen the first half of the cultivation art, particularly considering this was back before you cultivated the Great Universe Origin Arts."
"I understand your skepticism, Fellow Daoist Han. At the time, it was indeed true that I wasn't even able to withstand a single attack from the puppet. Hence, I didn't engage it in a direct battle. Instead, I released a few of my puppets to divert its attention, then used a concealment treasure to mask my aura before sneaking into the rear hall, and that was how I managed to obtain the first half of the cultivation art," Patriarch Cold Flame explained.
An enlightened look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.
Aside from some special puppets that possessed high levels of intelligence, like Daoist Xie, puppets were generally rather lackluster at sensing auras, so if Patriarch Cold Flame had an aura concealment treasure, then there was indeed a chance that he could've snuck past the puppet.
"However, as soon as I secured the stone slab that contained the first half of the Great Universe Origin Arts, the puppet immediately detected my presence, and I was severely injured after taking just a single punch from it. Fortunately, for some reason, it didn't chase me out of the hall, and that's the only reason I managed to survive," Patriarch Cold Flame recounted with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.
"What level of intelligence did the puppet possess?" Han Li asked.
"Even though I only had a very brief clash against it, I could tell that it didn't possess much intelligence at all. Otherwise, there's no way that it would've fallen for my crude ploy at distraction," Patriarch Cold Flame replied.
"In that case, it most likely didn't chase you out of the hall as its former owner restricted the area that it could move around in, thereby mandating it to remain in the hall to protect the cultivation art. Hence, it should be a simple task for us to secure the second half of the cultivation art," Han Li said.
"Are you suggesting that we use the same ploy again?" Patriarch Cold Flame asked in a rather hesitant voice.
"That's correct. However, I'll need your help in the execution," Han Li replied.
"Please tell me what you need me to do," Patriarch Cold Flame prompted.
Han Li gave Patriarch Cold Flame a rundown of his plan, and after listening to what Han Li had to say, Patriarch Cold Flame nodded in response to express his approval.
Lu Yuqing had also heard Han Li's plan in its entirety, and after a brief hesitation, she asked, "Why have you not involved me in your plan at all, Brother Han? Is it because you think I'm too weak to be of help?"
"That's not the case. Our plan is to infiltrate and steal, rather than confront and rob, so the fewer the number of people we can involve, the better. On top of that, the treasure that we're going after will only benefit Fellow Daoist Cold Flame and myself, so there's no reason for you to take the risk," Han Li explained.
"In that case, I'll just focus on staying out of your way," Lu Yuqing replied with a nod.
Han Li and Patriarch Cold Flame took a pill each, then took a moment to rest before making their way up the stone steps in front of the palace.
The runes on the palace gates were still completely intact, and the spiritual power fluctuations emanating from them indicated that the seal on the gates were still in operation. Han Li examined the runes momentarily to find that it wasn't a very advanced restriction, and he raised a hand to conjure up five balls of silver lightning, one on each fingertip, then abruptly thrust his palm toward the palace gates.
A loud thump rang out, and the gates of the palace instantly swung inward. A deep indentation had appeared on the spot on the gates where Han Li's palm had struck, and the runes there had all been scorched black by the balls of silver lightning.
At the center of the palace sat a copper humanoid puppet that was around 10 feet tall, and its eyes suddenly sprang open as a furious look appeared on its chiseled face as it bellowed in a thunderous voice, "All intruders must die!"
At the same time, its feet clanged against the ground as it rushed toward the palace gates.
Han Li took a glance inside the palace, then flicked his fingers through the air several times in succession, and streaks of yellow and azure light flew out of his fingertips before transforming into seven or eight giant ape puppets in a flash.
However, instead of attacking the copper puppet, all of the giant ape puppets split up and darted away in different directions as quickly as they could.
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