Chapter 491: Secret Area
After some observation, Han Li raised an eyebrow as he remarked, "These servants all seem to be puppets."
"That's right, they are indeed all puppets," Daoist Hu Yan confirmed with a nod after some close scrutiny.
As the two of them were speaking, golden light began to converge up above, and a dense golden cloud emerged. The pill tribulation that had already appeared quite some time ago in the outside world had only just begun to make an appearance in this secret area.
Han Li tracked down the exact central point of the golden cloud, then cast his gaze downward to find that there was a resplendent golden palace with a round dome perched atop the tallest point on the mountain summit.
There were two figures on the plaza outside the golden palace, and bright blue light was radiating from their bodies as they cast strings of incantation seals at the gates of the palace.
"Looks like Luo Qinghai is already working on breaking the restriction. We should go as well," Han Li said.
"Fine by me," Daoist Hu Yan replied.
As soon as his voice trailed off, a patch of space over 1,000 feet away began to warp slightly, following which Feng Tiandu and Qi Tianxiao appeared.
Feng Tiandu took a quick glance at Han Li, then immediately turned his attention to the golden palace in the distance as he flew directly toward the plaza with Qi Tianxiao by his side.
"How did they find this place? Could it be that someone among them also possesses Void Spirit Eyes?" Luo Qinghai mused with a perplexed expression at the sight of the approaching Feng Tiandu and Qi Tianxiao.
"What do we do, Palace Master? The restriction is about to be broken soon," Nan Kemeng asked.
"So be it, let's focus on getting into the palace first," Luo Qinghai replied as he thrust his palms forcefully against the palace gates.
A blue leaf that was riddled with silver patterns shot out of the palm of his leading hand before pressing itself against the palace gates.
The palace gates instantly began to glow with radiant blue light, and the leaf melted away before vanishing into the gates, leaving only the silver patterns intertwining with one another to form a series of complex runes that spread over the gates.
All of the silver runes quickly turned into cracks, and before long, the golden gates were shattered amid a crisp crack.
Right as Luo Qinghai and Nan Kemeng were about to rush into the palace, Feng Tiandu's voice rang out from behind them.
"All of us worked together to break the restriction and get to this point, surely you don't intend to reap all the benefits for yourself and leave nothing for everyone else."
"Of course not, Fellow Daoist Feng. I just so happened to get here first, and time is of the essence, so I thought I'd open the palace gates to make things more convenient for everyone," Luo Qinghai replied with a smile.
Right at this moment, Han Li and Daoist Hu Yan also descended in front of the golden palace.
Luo Qinghai and Feng Tiandu both took a glance at Han Li's duo in unison, and a smile appeared on the former's face, while the latter remained completely expressionless.
Before anyone had a chance to say anything, four more streaks of light flashed into the secret area one after another, and the two Southern Dawn Race Golden Immortals and Ouyang Kuishan's duo also arrived before descending in front of the golden palace as well.
Upon landing on the ground, the elderly woman of the Southern Dawn Race immediately gate a cold harrumph to express her displeasure, while Ouyang Kuishan gave Daoist Hu Yan and subtle nod.
They had only been able to enter this place as Daoist Hu Yan had informed them of the location of the entrance through a secret technique.
With that, everyone was once again reunited.
Right at this moment, the golden cloud in the sky above began to churn violently, and in the span of just a few seconds, it encompassed the entire heavens, basking everyone in dazzling golden radiance.
Tremendous energy fluctuations were surging out of the golden cloud, striking even all of the Golden Immortals present with a sense of foreboding.
It was as if the golden cloud had already completely fused as one with the sky, and there was an extremely heavy atmosphere hanging in the air, as if the entire sky were about to come crashing down.
Immediately thereafter, bursts of rumbling began to ring out incessantly from within the cloud, and an enormous golden vortex emerged, revolving rapidly on the spot.
A burst of dazzling silver light began to slowly take shape at the center of the vortex, and it resembled a giant silver water droplet with arcs of lightning constantly flashing over its surface.
With the formation of this silver water droplet, a burst of terrifying spiritual power fluctuations descended from above, encompassing the entirety of the golden palace.
Han Li swept his gaze over the golden palace to find that countless runes had been engraved onto its pillars, doors, and window frames, and at this moment, all of these runes were glowing as radiantly as stars in the night sky.
The ground inside the palace was also etched with rings of circular patterns that resembled circles of guards defending the giant jade-like pill cauldron at the center of the palace.
The cauldron stood at over seven feet tall, and it had three feet and a pair of handles, as was the case with most standard pill refinement cauldrons.
It looked as if the cauldron were forged from jade, but that wasn't actually the case. There were scorching flames surging within the cauldron, but no heat could be felt outside of it, and that was a clear testament to its insulative properties.
On top of that, there were nine coiled dragons engraved around the cauldron amid the masses of spirit patterns, and these dragons were extremely life-like. All of them had their mouths opened upward, aimed at a statue of a three-legged golden crow on top of the cauldron's lid.
Han Li focused his gaze on the golden crow statue with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, and he noticed that there were wisps of white light flowing the cauldron from its three legs, which were connected to the cauldron's lid.
All of a sudden, the golden vortex up above brightened significantly, and the massive silver water droplet fell out of the sky before crashing into the top of the golden palace's roof.
A vast expanse of blinding silver light instantly erupted forth, and arcs of silver lightning exploded in all directions, inundating the entire golden palace amid a deafening boom.
Everyone's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this as they darted back in retreat, while the golden palace abruptly sank downward, as if a mountain had crashed down onto it, crushing it into the ground.
However, immediately thereafter, all of the runes on the surface of the entire palace lit up, and a vast wave of golden light swept forth to intertwine with the vast expanse of silver lightning up above.
The entire golden palace resembled a radiant golden sun, and at the same time, golden light spread from the center of its roof along its rafters to alleviate the tremendous force that was crashing down upon it.
Even so, a pillar of silver light was still able to pierce straight through the center of the roof to strike the pill refinement cauldron, and a dull thump rang out as all of the runes engraved onto the ground inside the palace lit up in rapid succession.
Immediately thereafter, layers of golden light barriers rose up from the ground, collecting the wisps of golden light and funneling them into the pill cauldron.
Radiant golden light emerged within the eyes of the nine dragons engraved onto the cauldron, while pillars of white light shot out of their mouths, converging from all directions to clash against the pillar of silver light.
Meanwhile, Han Li was observing all of this from outside the palace with an awestruck expression.
It was extremely impressive that the Infernal Frost Immortal Lord had managed to construct this High Zenith Palace and have the entire thing run by puppets. Not only were these puppets capable of collecting ingredients on their own, they were even able to refine what was clearly a dao pill!
What was most incredible of all was that this golden palace was capable of opposing pill tribulations, and that was unfathomable to Han Li. Could it be that the old daoist priest really was an unmatched genius, as he proclaimed?
Upon emerging from that secret area, Han Li had completely sealed the soul fragment that belonged to the self-proclaimed Infernal Frost Immortal Lord into the soul nurturing burner so that it was completely cut off from the outside world. Right now, he was contemplating undoing the restriction so that he could communicate with the soul fragment.
All of a sudden, Daoist Hu Yan's voice rang out to snap him out of his train of thought. "The pill tribulation is about to come to an end! Prepare yourself!"
Sure enough, the silver lightning that was raging over the ceiling of the palace had gradually begun to subside, and faint plumes of smoke were rising up from the golden palace, while a scorched scent was wafting through the air.
However, the entire palace was glowing even more radiantly than prior to the pill tribulation.
"Let's go!" someone called out, and everyone immediately flew into the palace at once.
At this point, the pillar of silver light inside the palace had already faded, but the golden light barriers were still standing, protecting the pill cauldron from all directions.
Han Li swept his gaze across the interior of the palace to find that there was a series of gray stone statues situated on either of the palace, and all of them were wielding different weapons. They were standing completely still on the spot, but there were spiritual power fluctuations emanating from their bodies, and they were clearly all puppets.
Behind the pill cauldron was a platform that was raised about three feet above the ground, upon which was a large golden chair with dragons and phoenixes engraved upon it, giving it a very grandiose appearance.
Seated atop the chair was a middle-aged man wearing a dark green daoist robe.
His hands were resting on the armrests of the chair, and his eyes were closed. He had one leg crossed over the other while leaning against the back of the chair, giving him a rather lackadaisical appearance that was somewhat of a mismatch with his handsome appearance.
Everyone was greatly startled to see this, and they immediately prepared for battle, only to discover a moment that the middle-aged man seemed to be nothing more than a corpse that was completely devoid of vitality.
However, that wasn't entirely accurate as his chest was rising and falling slightly in a rhythmic fashion as if he were breathing, and it was as if he was a living corpse.
Right at this moment, a small five-colored cloud rose up from the top of the cauldron, and out of the dragons engraved onto the cauldron, the one that was facing the palace gates suddenly flashed momentarily with silver light, following which a longan-sized silver pill flew out of its mouth.
With the emergence of the pill, an incredibly potent medicinal fragrance instantly permeated throughout the entire palace.
Everyone immediately turned their attention to the pill with fervent looks in their eyes.
"Hold on a second, everyone! Those golden rings form a protective array for the cauldron, and if we charge in recklessly, the entire cauldron of pills could be destroyed!" Luo Qinghai yelled.
"The pill has already taken shape, who cares if the cauldron is destroyed?" the elderly woman from the Southern Dawn Race retorted as she prepared to step forward, but a blue light barrier abruptly rose up from the ground to block her path.
"Is it finally time to fight? I've been raring to go this entire time!" the elderly man chuckled.
Han Li and Daoist Hu Yan exchanged a glance, and they immediately channeled their immortal spiritual power as well.
All of a sudden, a very tense atmosphere had descended upon the palace.
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