Chapter 52: It's My Turn Now
Almost as soon as Han Li and Liu Le'er appeared on the plaza, the earth around the giant plaza began to tremble, and nine black stone pillars rose up out of the soil, encircling a large circular area.
Each pillar was so thick that the average adult human would only just barely be able to wrap their arms around it, and they stood at over 100 feet tall. Countless runes and array patterns were engraved all over the surfaces of the pillars, and there were also many glowing black gemstones embedded into them. These gemstones seemed to be some type of special spirit stone, and they were all shimmering with bright black light.
Aside from that, there was a statue of a different ghostly creature situated at the top of each pillar. All of them were extremely life-like, and even though they were nothing more than statues, just the mere sight of them was enough to send chills running down one's spine.
Dazzling black light rose up from all the ghostly creatures on top of the stone pillars before connecting together in a flash to form a hemispherical black light barrier in the blink of an eye.
The surface of the light barrier was riddled with black runes that were flashing incessantly, and countless indistinct ghostly projections were manifested amid bursts of eerie ghostly wailing, presenting a terrifying sight to behold.
Liu Le'er couldn't help but shudder upon seeing this, and she unconsciously sidled up closer to Han Li.
She was no longer the inexperienced little fox girl that she once was, but this fearsome sight was still enough to strike horror deep into her heart.
Han Li didn't even bother to take a single glance at the black-robed elderly man as he swept a hand through the air, releasing the silver fire raven out of his palm. The fire raven transformed into a silver net of fire at his behest before settling over Liu Le'er as a protective barrier.
"Stay in there, and don't be afraid."
Liu Le'er was greatly reassured by Han Li's calm demeanor.
Right at this moment, countless streaks of light rose up from the surrounding buildings before converging toward the plaza, and they were all black-robed Heavenly Ghost Sect disciples.
It didn't take long before the sky above the plaza was filled with several hundred people, and there were still more people constantly approaching from all directions.
However, Han Li paid no heed to the commotion around him. Instead, he was calmly examining the nine stone pillars and the black light barrier around him with blue light flashing in his eyes.
The Heavenly Ghost Sect disciples converging from all directions were under the impression that the sect had been invaded by powerful enemies, and they were all rather bewildered to see only an ordinary-looking young man who appeared to be in his twenties and a little girl at the center of the plaza.
However, no one dared to ask any questions after catching a glimpse of the dark expression on the black-robed elderly man's face.
The black-robed elderly man made no effort to address the disciples around him as he descended onto one of the black stone pillars, then began to chant an incantation as he released nine array plates out of his sleeves before making a rapid series of hand seals.
The nine array plates flew through the air before each of them descended onto one of the nine giant stone pillars, then vanished into the black light radiating from the giant pillars in a flash.
Even more runes surged out of the black light barrier, and it instantly became significantly thicker, while the rather indistinct ghostly projections also became clearer and more substantial.
Only then did the black-robed elderly man allow himself to heave a faint sigh of relief, but he still continued to make hand seals without pause.
Right at this moment, two particularly bright streaks of light shot forth from the distance before arriving above the plaza in the blink of an eye, revealing a pair of figures, one of which was a white-haired elderly man, while the other was an imposing man with a dark complexion.
Just like the black-robed elderly man, both of them were also Spatial Tempering cultivators.
Once the Heavenly Ghost Sect disciples present on the scene realized that there were three sect elders present at once, all of the commotion and chatter instantly died down.
As soon as the white-haired elderly man and the dark-skinned man arrived, they immediately released their spiritual sense in unison to sweep over Han Li and Liu Le'er while also quickly inspecting the surrounding area.
"What is the meaning of this, Elder Jiang? Why did you use the Minor Spatial Teleportation Plate to bring these two juniors into the sect? On top of that, you've even activated the nine Heavenly Ghost Monarch Pillars! I'm sure you know just as well as I do how much resources have to be expended just to activate this array even once," the white-haired elderly man said with a displeased expression.
The dark-skinned man also turned to the black-robed elderly man with a perplexed expression.
"You've come at just the right time! Help me power the array to refine these two at once!" the black-robed elderly man said in an urgent voice as he continued to make hand seals.
"You activated the array just to refine these two low-grade cultivators? The Heavenly Ghost Monarch Pillars can trap even Body Integration Stage beings! Is this supposed to be a joke, Brother Jiang?" the dark-skinned man chuckled, displaying no intention to cooperate.
The white-haired elderly man also refrained from joining the black-robed elderly man.
A stir ran through the nearby disciples as well, but they didn't dare to say anything for fear of irking the black-robed elderly man.
Many of them had already managed to identify that the two people trapped in the array were only at the Nascent Soul Stage and the Core Formation Stage, and even among the disciples present, there were many who were capable of killing them with ease.
However, the black-robed elderly man was a Spatial Tempering cultivator, and he was proclaiming that it was necessary to activate the nine Heavenly Ghost Monarch Pillars just to take care of such a lowly pair of cultivators. If word of this were to spread to the outside world, he would be made the butt of countless jokes.
"Don't underestimate them! That Nascent Soul Stage brat is an extremely formidable body cultivator with powers far beyond what his cultivation base suggests!" the black-robed elderly man said in an urgent voice.
The dark-skinned man was still unconvinced and shook his head with an amused smile.
The white-haired elderly man lowered his head to look down at Han Li, who was still casually looking around, seemingly completely oblivious to the perilous situation that he was in.
Right at this moment, Han Li's gaze suddenly settled on something, and he murmured to himself, "Seeing as I'm already here, why don't I kill two birds with one stone?"
As soon as his voice trailed off, he sped over to one side of the light barrier, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake, then casually tapped a certain spot on the light barrier with a single finger.
An incredible scene immediately unfolded.
The entire black light barrier began to tremble violently, while the light radiating from its surface flashed erratically, and the ghostly projections within it suddenly erupted into a chaotic frenzy as if they had gone insane.
The dark-skinned man's smile immediately stiffened upon seeing this, and his eyes widened with shock.
The black-robed elderly man shuddered as he threw up a mouthful of blood, and he made a rapid series of hand seals, doing everything in his power to stabilize the array.
"We need to stabilize the array! We can't let him break free!" the white-haired elderly man yelled in an alarmed voice as he flew through the air before landing on top of one of the stone pillars.
The dark-skinned man also returned to his senses and flew toward another one of the stone pillars with a stunned expression, but it was already too late.
With one final flash of light from the surface of the light barrier, all of the ghostly projections instantly vanished. Immediately thereafter, nine giant ghostly faces appeared in unison on the surface of the light barrier corresponding with the locations of the nine stone pillars, and all of the ghostly faces wore agonized expressions as they let loose ear-piercing shrieks.
Their voices were extremely sharp and abrasive, and all of the disciples on the plaza immediately screamed as they threw their hands over their heads, while some of the weaker ones among them began to bleed out of their ears and nostrils.
After letting loose those horrific screams, countless black runes surged out of the nine giant ghostly faces in a frenzy before abruptly crumbling away.
The entire light barrier also shattered like glass, disintegrating into countless specks of black light.
Not only that but countless cracks also appeared on the statues of the ghostly creatures on top of the nine stone pillars before they exploded in rapid succession.
At this point, Han Li had already withdrawn his finger, and his hands were clasped behind his back as he made his way toward Liu Le'er amid the countless specks of black light drifting through the air.
Liu Le'er was ecstatic as she stood under the silver net of fire, and if it weren't for the fact that they were still completely surrounded by enemies, she would've already erupted into jubilant cheers.
The three Spatial Tempering Stage elders of the Heavenly Ghost Sect were astonished to see that the array had been destroyed so easily, and all three of them felt as if they had been dealt a heavy blow.
The hundreds of Heavenly Ghost Sect disciples present were also completely rooted to the spot, looking on with dazed expressions.
"How dare you destroy our sect's precious array!" the black-robed elderly man roared with fury as he opened his mouth to release a burst of white light, which transformed into a white bone blade with nine large silver rings on its back.
At the same time, he made a rapid series of hand seals, releasing five or six incantation seals in quick succession.
The nine silver rings on the bone blade clattered together to produce a disorienting sound, while countless crimson runes abruptly appeared on the surface of the blade, releasing a dazzling blade projection that was close to 1,000 feet in length, which came crashing down directly upon Han Li.
At the same time, the white-haired elderly man reached out to summon an antiquated black cane, at the tip of which was an ornate black dragon's head.
The cane circled around in mid-air before swelling drastically in size, transforming into a black wyrm with a pair of wings on its back.
The wyrm opened its cavernous mouth to release a vast expanse of black flames, while the dark-skinned man also flipped a hand over to produce a gray feather fan without any hesitation.
The fan seemed to have been made from the feathers of some type of spirit bird, and he injected his magic power into the fan in a frenzy before sweeping it vigorously through the air.
The sky instantly darkened as gusts of fierce gray wind swept through the air, transforming into seven or eight gray wind dragons that pounced toward Han Li.
With the three Spatial Tempering Stage elders springing into action, the surrounding Heavenly Ghost Sect disciples also quickly joined the fray, summoning all types of treasures while chanting different incantations.
All of a sudden, spiritual light of all types of different colors appeared all around the plaza.
Han Li immediately swept an enormous burst of spiritual sense over the entire plaza upon seeing this, sending an indescribably powerful burst of spiritual pressure crashing down upon the entire area.
All of the people in the plaza felt as if they had received a blow to the head.
Stars instantly began to dance in front of the eyes of the nearby Heavenly Ghost Sect disciples, and they immediately fell unconscious before plummeting out of the sky, falling onto the plaza in a limp and immobile state.
All of the treasures summoned by the disciples also clattered down onto the ground as a result.
In contrast, the three Spatial Tempering Stage elders possessed considerably more powerful souls than the disciples at the scene, so they were able to quickly shrug off the effects of the spiritual sense attack.
The three of them continued to unleash attacks at Han Li without skipping a beat, and in the blink of an eye, a blade projection, a wave of black flames, and the thunder of wind dragons descended upon Han Li.
Han Li remained completely still on the spot, displaying no intention to take evasive measures.
A string of resounding booms rang out, and the crimson blade projections were the first to strike Han Li's body, only to be completely shattered and revert back to a white bone blade that was repelled back through the air.
The black flames and the wind dragons also disintegrated upon making contact with Han Li's body, unable to inflict any harm upon him. In fact, even his azure robes remained completely unscathed.
As for Liu Le'er, she was also safe and sound under the silver net of fire as all of the attacks had been withstood by Han Li.
The three Spatial Tempering Stage elders drew a sharp breath in unison, unable to believe what they were seeing.
"It's my turn now!" Han Li declared in an indifferent voice as he raised his head.
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