Chapter 489: The World Beyond the Gate
Xue Ying's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and she could sense that an invisible light barrier had appeared around herself and Gongshu Jiu.
"Over these past years, Palace Master Xiao's cultivation base has progressed quite significantly, and he was determined to unite the entire Northern Glacial Immortal Region. For this purpose, he's been making many moves, and as a result, the entire immortal region has been stirred up into a state of unrest.
“After what happened to Baili Yan, it appeared on the surface that the Dawn Fall Sect and the Vast Flow Palace became much more subdued, but the reality is that they were merely accumulating power.
“If Palace Master Xiao continues down this reckless path, I fear that an all-out war will eventually be triggered in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, so I had no choice but to supersede his authority and contact you directly," Xue Ying explained with a solemn expression.
"You did the right thing. The Heavenly Court has aleady noticed the unrest that's brewing in this immortal region. The Reincarnation Palace has become more and more active of late, so this isn't the only immortal region that could be under threat. I was late to get here precisely because I was taking care of some matters in another immortal region, and I came here directly after learning about the emergence of the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor," Gongshu Jiu said.
"It's very fortunate that you just so happened to be passing through, Uncle Gongshu. Otherwise, I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know how I would've gotten out of that trap," Xue Ying said as she cupped her fist in a grateful salute.
"This is a very intricate and powerful array that can only be broken by entering the water and destroying the mechanisms inside. The longer you're trapped in the array, the more firmly entrenched in it you'll become, so even if you possessed late-Golden Immortal Stage powers, it would've been very difficult for you to save yourself," Gongshu Jiu said with a smile.
"We all fell for Luo Qinghai's trap," Xue Ying sighed as a hint of dejection flashed through her eyes.
"Where is Xiao Jinhan right now?" Gongshu Jiu suddenly asked.
"I parted ways with him right before coming here. I'll take you to him right away," Xue Ying hurriedly replied.
"Let's go," Gongshu Jiu replied with a nod, then swept a sleeve through the air.
At this point, the giant white Pixiu had already devoured the black millstone, and it suddenly shrank back down into that jade trinket from before, then flew back into Gongshu Jiu's grasp.
The only thing that was different about it was that a small black spot had appeared within its belly.
After that, Gongshu Jiu and the Immortal Palace cultivators flew away into the distance.
......
Unbeknownst to them, there was a black stone passageway that led downward under the ancient tomb at the bottom of the lake, and the walls of the passageway were riddled with irregularly-shaped luminescent white rocks as a light source.
At this moment, there was a figure slowly making their way deeper into the passageway.
Basking in the glow of the luminescent rocks, her skin was as fair as snow, and it was none other than Lu Yuqing.
At this moment, her eyes were as bright as stars, but she was trudging along in a completely expressionless manner.
......
Inside the valley.
All of the mountains and rivers engraved onto the white stone wall were radiating dazzling golden light, and a series of golden runes were flying out of them before surging into the white light barrier.
With the injection of these golden runes, the white light barrier was significantly stabilized, and it had also taken on an extremely viscous quality.
Luo Qinghai's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he switched to a different hand seal as he let loose a low roar.
The lotus platform projection beneath him immediately began to glow brightly while taking on a more substantial form, and at the same time, the sound of a light breeze rang out around the platform as a blue vortex emerged, releasing tremendous suction force.
Han Li's expression instantly changed slightly upon seeing this, and he could feel his own immortal spiritual power surging rapidly into the vortex like floodwaters through a broken dam.
He took a quick glance at everyone else in the array to find that all of them also wore peculiar expressions, indicating that a large amount of their immortal spiritual power had just been taken as well.
"Don't be alarmed, fellow daoists. This restriction is even more formidable than I anticipated, so I'll need all of you to lend me more of your power," Luo Qinghai reassured.
"There's no need to explain anything to us, Fellow Daoist Luo. If you're trying to chip away at our immortal spiritual power, then this is far too crude a method, and I'm sure you wouldn't stoop to something like this," Feng Tiandu said.
"I'm glad I have your trust, Fellow Daoist Feng," Luo Qinghai replied with a smile.
As he was speaking, the lotus platform beneath him had already taken on a completely substantial form, and it looked as if it had been carved out of a piece of blue crystal.
All of a sudden, Luo Qinghai let loose a thunderous roar, and the lotus platform, which had harnessed a vast amount of immortal spiritual power from everyone, shot forth through the air.
Immediately thereafter, all of its petals drifted down from above, spiraling through the air as they passed through the golden light barrier to land upon the white stone wall.
Bursts of blue light appeared over the stone wall on the spots where the petals had descended, and a series of lotus flowers instantly bloomed to cover the entire stone wall.
Han Li was amazed to see this, but also a little apprehensive.
It had become apparent that Luo Qinghai had only asked them to adopt the Nine Palaces Array Shattering Formation and use the Nine True Spirits Technique so that he could draw upon their immortal spiritual power, while what he was actually using to break this restriction was the blue lotus flower.
Before he had a chance to think about anything, Luo Qinghai thrust both palms forward in a slow and casual motion, looking as if he were pushing open the door of his own home.
As he thrust his palms forward, then parted them down the sides, the golden light barrier over the white stone wall instantly shattered, and a golden line also appeared directly down the center of the stone wall before parting like doors.
The stone wall slowly opened inward without making a sound, and everyone in the valley was also completely silent as they stared at the radiant white light beyond the stone wall with tense and nervous expressions.
After the stone wall completely parted, all everyone could see was a vast expanse of blinding white light. No objects flew out from within, nor were there any formidable energy fluctuations.
Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a regenerative pill, which he promptly devoured, and he was also holding a pair of Immortal Origin Stones to replenish his immortal spiritual power reserves. At the same time, he peered into the white light with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.
However, even with his spirit eye ability activated, all he could was still just a vast expanse of white light, and his spiritual sense wasn't able to enter the white light at all.
"The restriction has already been opened. Please abide by our agreement and only send in two people per side. Otherwise, I'll be forced to close the restriction again, and only the heavens know what'll happen after that," Luo Qinghai said in a warm but implacable voice.
Feng Tiandu turned to Qi Tianxiao with a nod upon hearing this, and the two of them flew into the white light before vanishing on the spot, while all of the other Dawn Fall Sect cultivators remained outside.
Immediately thereafter, the two Southern Dawn Race cultivators flew into the white light, and Daoist Hu Yan spoke briefly to Yun Ni through voice transmission before also entering the white light with Han Li.
In the instant that he flew into the white light, Han Li felt a burst of sharp pain in his eyes, and he reflexively closed them.
In the next instant, as he reopened his eyes, he discovered that he was already situated in another strange world.
The entire surrounding area was filled with white mist that wasn't very dense, and he was able to discern between mist and space in the nearby vicinity, but the two had completely fused into one further away.
After conducting a brief inspection, Han Li discovered that not only was his visibility obstructed here, he wasn't able to release his spiritual sense very far, either.
The other people who had entered this space ahead of him were also hovering within the white mist, and they had all distanced themselves from one another as they inspected their surroundings with cautious expressions.
Having just entered this place, everyone was feeling quite tense, and no one dared to charge recklessly into the mist.
Shortly thereafter, Ouyang Kuishan and another Golden Immortal from the Blaze Dragon Dao appeared in the mist, and they took a glance at Daoist Hu Yan, but only drew a little closer instead of flying directly to Daoist Hu Yan's side.
Before long, Luo Qinghai and his disciple, Nan Kemeng, had also entered this place.
"Why are you all still here, fellow daoists? Could it be that you were all waiting for me? I am truly honored," he said with a warm smile as he also began inspecting his surroundnigs.
No one offered a response, and everyone was still trying to find the best way forward.
Looking at the surrounding mist, a hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face. His Brightsight Spirit Eyes were completely useless here, but perhaps he would be able to see something with his Eye of Truth.
However, this was still far too early to be exposing the fact that he was using a time-attribute cultivation art, and showing his hand too early was definitely not a good idea.
Right as he was hesitating about how to proceed, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that a cloud of white mist seemed to have risen up in the eyes of Nan Kemeng, and he was staring into the distance in a certain direction with a dazed look on his face.
Meanwhile, Luo Qinghai was pretending to search the place in an aimless fashion, but in reality, his attention had been focused on this disciple of his the entire time.
Han Li also cast his gaze in that direction in a subtle fashion, but he wasn't able to see anything there aside from white mist, and he couldn't help but wonder if Nan Kemeng possessed some type of special spirit eye ability.
With that in mind, Han Li decided to keep some tabs on him.
Moments later, Luo Qinghai suddenly said, "We can't just stand around here forever. How about we each choose a direction and do some exploring?"
"This white mist is able to keep out spiritual sense, who knows what could be lurking inside? What if we fly in straight to our deaths?" the elderly woman from the Southern Dawn Race harrumphed coldly.
"If none of you are willing to take a risk, then I'll be going on ahead," Luo Qinghai said with a smile, then latched onto the arm of his disciple before flying away.
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