Chapter 1257: Merciless
Right as Han Li and the others were immobilized by the golden light, a gray-robed elderly man appeared in the palace.
"Esteemed patriarch!"
Daoist Master Chun Jun's trio was ecstatic to see the new arrival, while Han Li and the others were far from pleased.
There was only one person that Daoist Master Chun Jun would refer to as "patriarch" in the entire Nine Origins Temple, and that was the legendary Nine Origins Dao Ancestor.
The gray-robed elderly man paid no heed to Daoist Master Chun Jun as he made a casual beckoning motion toward Rushuang, and the five-colored vial flew out of her storage ring before drifting toward him.
However, the space above the vial was abruptly torn open mid-flight, and a large, dark red hand shot out of the spatial rift to grab onto the vial.
The gray-robed elderly man's expression remained unchanged as he swept a sleeve through the air, conjuring a large, golden hand to grab down onto its dark red counterpart.
All of a sudden, the dark red hand made a hand seal, and six mysterious runes appeared around it, keeping the golden hand at bay for an instant.
The gray-robed elderly man's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the six runes, while the dark red hand scooped up Wyrm 3's group in a flash.
A vortex then surfaced over the palm of the hand to suck in the group of five, following which the hand began to race toward Han Li in the distance.
A hint of fury finally appeared on the gray-robed elderly man's face upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion to summon a golden, metal whip that was giving off a boundless aura, and the whip lashed against the dark red hand with a flick of his wrist.
A dull thump rang out as the dark red hand exploded into a cloud of misty, red light, and a faint groan rang out from the space that it had previously occupied, seemingly an expression of pain.
The cloud of dark red light that instantly vanished into thin air.
All of this had taken place in the blink of an eye, and even Daoist Master Chun Jun hadn't been able to keep up with the sequence of events at all.
By the time he finally reacted to what had just happened, it was already all over.
The gray-robed elderly man observed the space where the dark red hand had emerged from in a displeased silence, but made no attempt to go after it.
Moments later, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the golden light in the palace rippled momentarily, causing the wall of blue ice to shatter into countless pieces.
The golden light then faded away, freeing everyone in the palace with the exception of Han Li, who remained completely immobilized.
Daoist Master Chun Jun's trio hurriedly flew over to the gray-robed elderly man's side before extending respectful bows, and Chi Meng and Huo Yuan did the same with uneasy looks on their faces.
"Chun Jun, I can see that you've done a fine job of looking after the temple," the gray-robed elderly man said in a clearly facetious remark, and his voice was filled with boundless authority.
"I was a fool to not have detected the Reincarnation Palace's plans earlier. I'm willing to accept any punishment handed down upon me!" Daoist Master Chun Jun said in a trembling voice as he kowtowed to the ground, and Yang Junzi and Daoist Master Lei Jun hurriedly followed suit.
"There are still outsiders present, so I'll address this matter later. The three of you can go now. Make sure to eradicate all of the remaining Reincarnation Palace cultivators in our temple," the gray-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.
"Yes, esteemed patriarch!" Daoist Master Chun Jun's trio answered in unison before immediately departing.
"Sorry to have shown you such an incompetent sight," the gray-robed elderly man said as he turned to Chi Meng and Huo Yuan with a smile.
"Not at all, Senior. The Reincarnation Palace is a formidable entity that even our Heavenly Court must be wary of. With the exception of the Middle Earth Immortal Region, no other immortal region can hope to contend with it.
“It's clear that they've been plotting this invasion for a very long time, so it's already quite impressive that Fellow Daoist Chun Jun was able to organize such a spirited resistance on such short notice," Chi Meng said as he forced a smile onto her face, while Huo Yuan didn't even dare to speak.
"Is that right? In that case, perhaps I should reward him rather than punish him," the gray-robed elderly man chortled, and as his laughter reverberated throughout the palace, it grew louder and louder, resembling booming thunderclaps that caused the entire space to tremble violently.
Chi Meng and Huo Yuan began to tremble involuntarily, as did the souls in their bodies, and they hurriedly conjured up layers of protective spiritual light over their bodies to try and protect themselves, but it was completely futile.
Their souls continued to tremble more and more violently, resembling flickering flames in the wind that could be snuffed out at any moment.
Han Li's body and soul were also trembling violently, and his woes were further compounded by the fact that he was still completely immobilized and unable to adopt any protective measures.
Thankfully, his body and soul were both extremely formidable, so he was in no life-threatening danger for now.
Right at this moment, a burst of red light emerged over Chi Meng's body, instantly enveloping her and Huo Yuan.
The pained looks on their faces were instantly eased, and they began gasping for air with horrified looks in their eyes.
A projection of a red-robed elderly woman emerged from the red light.
"What's gotten you so worked up, Fellow Daoist Nine Origins?"
The elderly woman had a head of red hair that was no less vibrant than Chi Meng's, and despite her wizened, elderly appearance, it was clear that she commanded unfathomable power.
The gray-robed elderly man's laughter slowly subsided at the sight of the red-haired elderly woman.
This came as quite a relief, but at the same time, he was stunned to see the red-haired elderly woman.
Could she be another Dao Ancestor? She does bear a resemblance to Chi Meng... Could it be that she's Dao Ancestor Chi Rong?
"Chi Rong, may I ask who it was that instructed this granddaughter of yours to infiltrate my territory and steal from my Nine Origins Temple?" the gray-robed elderly man asked in a cold voice, confirming Han Li's suspicions on the woman's identity.
"It's all a misunderstanding, Fellow Daoist Nine Origins. Little Meng'er was instructed by the Heavenly Court to capture Han Li and a Gold Devouring Immortal, and she inadvertently stumbled into this place in the process. She had no intention of stealing that vial, she was merely curious about it. Surely you wouldn't be so petty as to get angry at a junior like her," the red-haired elderly woman replied with a faint smile.
"You think you can talk your way out of this? What do you take my Nine Origins Temple for?" the gray-robed elderly man snapped in a cold voice.
The red-haired elderly woman bristled slightly at the gray-robed elderly man's cold and unyielding demeanor, and she conceded, "I'll admit that Little Meng'er is at fault here. How do you want to settle this, Fellow Daoist Nine Origins?"
The gray-robed elderly man offered no response as he cast his gaze toward Chi Meng and Huo Yuan, and two beams of golden light suddenly shot out of his pupils toward the pair without any warning.
The red-haired elderly woman was furious, and she raised her cane to strike the beam of golden light that was hurtling toward Chi Meng.
The beam of golden light pierced through the cane in a flash, but it was whittled down significantly in the process, then vanished into Chi Meng's glabella.
Chi Meng immediately began howling in agony as she threw hands over her head, while the other beam of golden light shot into Huo Yuan's glabella before he had a chance to react at all.
His entire body shuddered violently, following which his head exploded like an overripe watermelon, and his headless body slumped to the ground.
The red-haired elderly woman hurriedly swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of red light to envelop Chi Meng, and her agonized cries quickly died down.
The red-haired elderly woman was quite relieved to see this, following which she turned to the gray-robed elderly man with a furious expression.
"I'll spare her this time, but if she dares to try and cause trouble in my Nine Origins Temple again, then she won't get away with it so easily," the gray-robed elderly man sneered, then swept a sleeve through the air, and Chi Meng and Huo Yuan's headless body were instantly evicted from the palace, vanishing out of sight.
All the while, Han Li was looking on in complete astonishment.
The gray-robed elderly man appeared very easygoing and benevolent, yet his actions certainly belied that kindly appearance. Not only had he killed the master of the Hundred Creations Mountain, he had even taught Chi Meng a stern lesson in the presence of Dao Ancestor Chi Rong.
It quickly dawned on him that he was most likely going to follow in Huo Yuan's footsteps if he couldn't get away, and with that in mind, he began frantically thinking of ways to escape, but it seemed that his situation was simply hopeless.
Right at this moment, the Nine Origins Dao Ancestor slowly strode over to him with his hands clasped behind his back, and it was unclear what he was thinking.
Looking into his eyes, Han Li felt as if he were peering into a pair of bottomless wells.
The elderly man was in no hurry to speak, and he walked a lap around Han Li, seemingly sizing him up.
Han Li was feeling very uneasy under his probing gaze, and he felt as if the elderly man could easily glean all of his secrets if he so pleased.
Thankfully, the elderly man quickly averted his gaze, then casually swept a sleeve through the air, conjuring up a golden light barrier that encompassed the entire palace.
Han Li had seen many spirit domains in the past, but never had he witnessed one that had given him such a tremendous sense of pressure.
He was no longer able to see the surrounding wreckage as the entire space had transformed into a giant, opaque, golden ball that completely isolated the surrounding area.
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Han Li quickly discovered that his connection to the outside world had been completely severed, and what was even more surprising to him was that even his connection with Jin Tong, Weeping Soul, Xiaobai, and even his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had also been severed by this spirit domain.
As for the unreliable vial spirit, it had gone mute once again, so Han Li's hopes of escaping this place via transmigration were completely dashed.