Chapter 443: Now or Never
"There really is a restriction here! Looks like your spirit eyes are sharper than mine," Han Li said as his eyes lit up.
Lu Yuqing faltered slightly upon hearing this, then forced a smile onto her own face as she replied, "Not at all, I was simply lucky to have stumbled upon this place. I wonder what's behind the restriction."
Han Li noticed that Lu Yuqing's expression was a little unnatural, but there was no time for him to ponder such matters as he replied, "There's only one way to find out."
Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a giant azure sword that was radiating dazzling azure swordlight.
Arcs of thick golden lightning sprang forth from the surface of the giant sword, instantly transforming it into a golden lightning sword that was giving off a terrifying destructive aura.
Han Li made a hand seal, and the golden lightning sword crashed heavily into the mountain face with tremendous force.
The restriction on the mountain face immediately began to radiate dazzling white light, forming a thick white light barrier to protect itself, and balls of white spiritual light were dancing around within it like living creatures to oppose the giant sword.
The white light barrier appeared quite profound, but it was torn apart with ease by the golden lightning sword, dissipating into countless specks of white spiritual light to reveal a small valley.
A large azure hall was situated within the valley, and above the entrance of the hall was a plaque that read "Flying Immortal Pavilion".
The gate of the hall was slightly ajar with several dim specks of white light visible through it, interspersed with faint spatial fluctuations.
Han Li and Lu Yuqing were both ecstatic to detect these spatial fluctuations, and they immediately flew through the entrance of the hall to arrive inside.
Despite its large size, the interior of the hall was actually very empty, with only a stone platform inside that was around three feet tall and over 100 feet in diameter.
On the stone platform was a white array that was giving off faint white light, and Han Li immediately flew onto the platform in a flash, then quickly inspected the white array momentarily before giving a contemplative nod.
This was indeed a teleportation array, and it was most likely the exit of this secret area.
There was an Immortal Origin Stones embedded into each of the nodes on the array, amounting to a total of over 200 Immortal Origin Stones.
However, only a small proportion of these Immortal Origin Stones still hadn't immortal spiritual power left within them, while the rest had already become completely transparent.
Right at this moment, a string of resounding booms rang out overhead, and the four pillars of white light dissipated in a flash.
The entire secret area was finally beginning to truly collapse, and a spatial rift had just extended over the mountain.
The mountain summit exploded violently, sending countless giant rocks tumbling down from above, and the valley was also at risk of being crushed under the avalanche.
"Hurry!" Han Li yelled as he swept a sleeve through the air, and the Seven Bright Star Rings shot out in a flash, then connected together with one another to form a larger ring.
Radiant starlight erupted out of the Seven Bright Star Rings, forming a starry light barrier with countless star designs flashing on its surface to oppose the avalanche that was tumbling down from above.
Meanwhile, Han Li and Lu Yuqing immediately sprang into action, plucking out all of the spent Immortal Origin Stones before replacing them with new ones.
With a set of new Immortal Origin Stones installed, the white light radiating from the teleportation array instantly became several times brighter.
Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he was just about to step into the array when his brows suddenly furrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward a corner of the array.
At this moment, the entire array was radiating resplendent white light with the exception of that corner, and the flow of immortal spiritual power through that area was also rather labored.
Lu Yuqing had also noticed this, and an anxious look appeared on her face as she asked, "Is the teleportation array damaged?"
Han Li offered no response as he cast a series of incantation seals into the dim corner of the array, and the corner immediately lit up slightly, but then turned dark once again.
Han Li hurriedly stopped what he was doing upon seeing this, and he said, "It looks like the teleportation array is about to lose its effectiveness due to prolonged lack of maintenance."
"What do we do then, Brother Han? Do you have a way to repair it?" Lu Yuqing asked in an urgent voice.
At this point, the tremors running through the entire secret area were becoming more and more violent, and a series of giant cracks had also appeared on the mountain.
"This array is too complex for me to repair, and even if I could, we don't have enough time. Having said that, there's no need to be concerned. The array is still just barely functional, and it should be able to work one more time," Han Li replied, then immediately stepped into the array.
Lu Yuqing's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she immediately stepped into the array as well.
Han Li chanted an incantation before casting an incantation seal, and the teleportation array instantly lit up with radiant white light that erupted straight into the heavens.
Meanwhile, Xue Han and the other Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators had only just emerged at the entrance of the secret area at the foot of the mountain amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
There was an enraged look on Xue Han's face, and he seemed to be in the process of scolding the other Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators. "You're all a bunch of useless fools! You can't do anything without me! How has it taken you three whole days just to find an entrance..."
Before he had a chance to finish, his voice abruptly cut off at the sight of the collapsing secret area before him, and everyone else was also instantly rooted to the spot.
"Get back! This space is about to collapse!" Xue Han roared as he immediately turned back the same way he had come from.
However, the spatial fluctuations at the entrance had already subsided, and the space was completely stable, meaning that there was no way back.
A layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on Xue Han's forehead.
He was well aware of just how terrifying a collapsing space could be, and even he wouldn't be able to survive such a disaster.
"Look over there, Master Xue Han!" Layman Bone Flame yelled as he pointed at a burst of dazzling white light that had appeared halfway up the mountain.
Xue Han immediately released his spiritual sense in that direction seeing this, and an ecstatic look appeared on his face as he yelled, "It's them! They're trying to leave using the teleportation array!"
He then immediately set off in that direction as a streak of black light, and everyone else hurriedly followed along.
Inside the hall, the teleportation array was glowing brighter and brighter, but Han Li didn't dare to speed up the process too much for fear of exacerbating the existing damage in the array.
As time passed, the entire array glowed brighter and brighter, with the exception of the one damaged corner, which was only dimming with each passing second.
Droplets of cold sweat were beginning to bead up on Han Li's forehead, and Lu Yuqing was also staring intently at that corner of the array with a tense expression.
All of a sudden, she turned toward the foot of the mountain with an alarmed expression, where several streaks of light were rapidly approaching.
"Brother Han, Xue Han and the others are here!" she immediately yelled in an urgent voice.
Han Li's attention was entirely focused on the array, so he wasn't keeping tabs on what was happening around him, and he immediately raised his head upon hearing this.
At this point, the streak of black light that contained Xue Han had already arrived outside the hall, and it was rapidly approaching.
Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal, upon which the starlight barrier above the valley abruptly disappeared.
The Seven Bright Star Rings emerged out of thin air, then vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye, and in the next instant, they reappeared in front of the hall before flying into the streak of black light formed by Xue Han.
A furious roar rang out as Xue Han was stopped cold in his tracks, and a ring had appeared around each of his four limbs, his chest, his lower abdomen, and his neck, digging deep into his skin.
"What the hell is this!" he roared in a furious voice as he struggled with all his might, while black light surged over his body.
The black light quickly spread over the Seven Bright Star Rings like ink, overpowering the starlight radiating from them, but they remained resolute around Xue Han's body.
Meanwhile, Han Li opened his mouth to release a ball of azure light into the array, and the white light radiating from the array brightened even further, seemingly having reached a certain threshold.
Bursts of spatial power surged out of the array to envelop Han Li and Lu Yuqing, and in the next instant, both of them vanished into thin air.
At the same time, the damaged corner of the teleportation array also reached its limits, and a series of cracks appeared over its surface.
The white light radiating from the array flashed one final time before fading away as well, and Xue Han was still immobilized outside the hall.
At this moment, there was radiant black light erupting out of his body, and the Seven Bright Star Rings were finally unable to hold on any longer, shattering into countless pieces that flew away in all directions.
Xue Han immediately stormed into the hall, and an extremely grim look appeared on his face at the sight of the damaged teleportation array.
At this point, Layman Bone Flame and the others also arrived on the scene, and their hearts immediately sank at the sight that they were greeted by.
Right at this moment, the secret area finally completely collapsed, and powerful bursts of spatial turbulence erupted out of the spatial rifts.
The entire mountain collapsed violently, sending countless giant rocks crashing down to inundate the small valley.
......
In a certain dim space, there was a boundless black desert down below, and the ground was riddled with black rocks of different sizes. Vegetation was extremely sparse here, and the entire area looked extremely bleak and desolate.
The sky was a dark yellow color, and all of a sudden, a rumbling thunderclap rang out.
Immediately thereafter, bursts of black light emerged before forming a ball of black light that was several dozen feet in size, and arcs of black light were flashing incessantly over its surface.
The ball of black light warped and twisted before suddenly elongating to form a spatial rift that was several dozen feet in length, and a pair of figures, one male and one female, stumbled out from within.
The two were none other than Han Li and Lu Yuqing, who had arrived here through the teleportation array, and at this moment, both of them were looking rather worse for wear. In particular, Lu Yuqing was as pale as a sheet, and there was a thin trail of blood running down from the corner of her lips.
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