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Chapter 1043: Identifying the Enemy
Chapter 1043: Identifying the Enemy
Chapter 1043: Identifying the Enemy
Lei Yuce's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, following which he gritted his teeth and shot forward through the air, instantly arriving in front of the stone gate before pressing his hands against the light barrier.
One hundred and eight golden flying needles shot out of his body, and there was an extremely life-like golden dragon engraved onto the tailend of each one, presenting a display of exceptional craftsmanship.
In the blink of an eye, all one hundred and eight flying needles pierced almost halfway into the light barrier.
"Those are Golden Immortal Slaying Needles!" someone exclaimed from within the crowd.
Immediately thereafter, Lei Yuce began to chant an incantation, and all of the golden needles began to glow radiantly while vibrating at a rapid frequency.
The translucent light barrier began to tremble while giving off bright translucent light, and it was also giving off a piercing shriek, akin to the sound of countless swords and sabers scraping against each other.
A pained look flashed through Lei Yuce's eyes, but it was then instantly replaced by a look of resolve as he let loose a thunderous roar, upon which all of the Golden Immortal Slaying Needles glowed even brighter as they pierced fully into the translucent light barrier before exploding inside.
A string of resounding explosions rang out, and countless cracks instantly appeared over the translucent light barrier, following which it shattered and disintegrated into countless specks of light, exposing the stone gate within.
A relieved look appeared on Lei Yuce's face upon seeing this, while all of the cultivators observing from afar let loose a collective celebratory cheer.
However, right at this moment, the lightning patterns on the pagoda suddenly began to glow brighter than ever while flashing erratically. Immediately thereafter, countless thick arcs of gray lightning that were far more powerful erupted forth, lashing out in all directions.
The black and white whirlwind was already close to a spent force, and it was instantly torn apart by the flailing arcs of gray lightning.
The black and white flags fell out of the air, having already been torn into shreds that were completely devoid of spiritual nature.
After eradicating the black and white whirlwind, the arcs of gray lightning continued to rain down from above.
Lei Yuce's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately shot back in retreat to several dozen kilometers away.
All of the other cultivators in front of the pagoda also sprang back in an alarmed manner, and Han Li was among them.
He had actually anticipated the retaliation from the lightning restriction ahead of everyone else, but he hadn't retreated right away, instead delaying his retreat in order to avoid attracting attention.
Even though the crowds of cultivators were situated some distance away from the pagoda, and all of them had reacted quite quickly, there were still some who were unable to get away in time, and they were struck by the formidable arcs of gray lightning, instantly eradicating both their bodies and their nascent souls.
As for the cultivators inside the Bipolar Yin Yang Array, they were still bound to the spot, and the wave of gray lightning instantly washed over them.
The radiant arcs of lightning had formed a gray sea with astonishingly destructive lightning law power fluctuations churning within, and everything that came into contact with the gray lightning was instantly blown to smithereens.
A string of bloodcurdling howls rang out from within the sea of lightning, only to instantly fade into silence.
Han Li heaved a forlorn internal sigh upon seeing this, and at the same time, he became even more apprehensive of this Eon Pagoda.
If the restriction outside the pagoda was already this dangerous, then the interior of the pagoda surely had to be fraught with peril as well.
Right at this moment, he suddenly spotted a streak of blue light flying out of the sea of lightning.
Immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering explosion rang out within the sea of lightning, and an enormous ball of blinding white light erupted out from within, tearing a huge opening into the sea of lightning.
Around a dozen streaks of light flew out of the opening in the blink of an eye, then faded to reveal a group of around a dozen cultivators.
These people were the most powerful cultivators in the array, and three of them were High Zenith cultivators, while the rest were all at the late and peak-Golden Immortal Stages.
Despite their lofty cultivation bases, all of them were looking very much worse for wear. Their clothes were in tatters, their bodies were riddled with wounds, and some of them were even missing appendages.
The sea of gray lightning flashed momentarily before quickly dissipating, revealing the charred earth underneath. All of the cultivators in the Bipolar Yin Yang Array were already nowhere to be seen, and all that was left behind were some scattered immortal treasure fragments.
Even though all of the bystanders had already anticipated this outcome, it was still a very sobering sight to behold.
Among the dozen or so survivors, a white-robed middle-aged man stepped forward with a furious expression as he yelled, "Lei Yuce, Wen Zhong, didn't you two say that breaking the restriction wasn't going to be a very risky endeavor? How do you explain this?"
There was a white immortal treasure that resembled a round moon hovering before the middle-aged man, but the light that was emanating from it had dimmed significantly, indicating that it had lost much of its spiritual nature.
The man was Daoist Master Sky Moon, the pavilion master of the Rising Moon Pavilion. He was at the mid-High Zenith Stage, possessing the loftiest cultivation base among the dozen or so survivors.
The cultivators of the Rising Moon Pavilion excelled in yin-attribute cultivation arts, so most of the Rising Moon Pavilion cultivators had also been chosen alongside him to enter the array, and they had all met their demise, so he was understandably furious.
All of the other survivors were also glowering intently at Lei Yuce and Wen Zhong, and it was clear from the expressions on the faces of the other cultivators in the alliance that they were also feeling very disgruntled.
A cultivator from the Heavenly Water Sect had also been selected to enter the Bipolar Yin Yang Array, but he had managed to survive, so neither Su Anqian nor Jin Liu said anything as they stood silently off to the side.
"I understand that all of you must be very angry right now. This was a completely unexpected development for me. I had thought that after the restriction on the stone gate was broken, the lightning array on the pagoda would also be disabled, but it's clear that I was too complacent," Lei Yuce explained.
Daoist Master Sky Moon gave a cold harrumph upon hearing this, and the fury on his face didn't abate in the slightest.
"Everyone, Alliance Leader Lei and I are also very saddened in the wake of this tragic incident. Having said that, I made it clear from the beginning that the exploration of a secret area will always come with a major element of risk. No one knows who's going to die where, so we can only leave things in the hands of fate.
“On top of that, Alliance Leader Lei had to sacrifice two of his most powerful treasures to dispel the restriction outside the pagoda, so he's sustained some significant losses as well," Wen Zhong declared.
"Indeed, this was a completely unforeseen accident, so the blame can't be placed on any single person. Without Alliance Leader Lei's Bipolar Yin Yang Array, we would've most likely suffered even more casualties in the process of breaking this restriction, so I suggest that we calm down a little," Jin Liu said.
"Rest assured, once we've completed our exploration of this immortal manor, the alliance will issue compensation for all those who perished here," Wen Zhong reassured.
Daoist Master Sky Moon was clearly not satisfied with this outcome, but seeing as both the Heavenly Water Sect and the Almighty Sword Sect had already spoken, he had no choice but to cut his losses and storm away with a cold harrumph.
Meanwhile, Han Li's attention was focused on the two people who had flown out of the Bipolar Yin Yang Array within that streak of blue light. Those two were none other than the Lan siblings.
No one else had noticed this amid all of the chaos, but thanks to Han Li's tremendous spiritual sense, he was able to detect a burst of tremendous spiritual pressure within the sea of lightning that was not inferior to his own.
As opposed to Daoist Master Sky Moon's immortal treasure, it was this burst of spiritual pressure that had actually torn the sea of lightning apart.
It was abundantly clear to Han Li that those two were concealing their true cultivation bases, and the fact that it was a duo consisting of a man and a woman made him strongly suspect that they could be the Lan siblings of the Vast Golden Immortal Palace.
"I'm sorry, Brother. I panicked a little just now and used my powers to tear open the sea of lightning. Do you think we've already been exposed?" Lan Yan asked through voice transmission as a hint of guilt flashed through her eyes.
"The situation was very urgent just now, so I would've done something even if you hadn't. On top of that, the power of the yin lightning just now would've been enough to conceal your aura from everyone present. At the very least, there shouldn't be anyone present with sufficiently powerful spiritual sense to have detected anything," Lan Yuanzi consoled.
A relieved look appeared on Lan Yan's face upon hearing this.
Meanwhile, a discussion was being held between the cultivators of the Heavenly Water Sect and the Almighty Sword Sect.
Following the conclusion of the discussion, Jin Liu stepped forward as he declared, "Now that the restriction has been undone, we should enter the pagoda right away, but given how formidable the restriction outside the pagoda is, the interior of the pagoda is almost certainly going to be even more perilous.
“Hence, after some discussion, we've decided that those of us with lower cultivation bases should stay outside in order to avoid excessive casualties."
"Senior Jin, what is the cultivation base cutoff that you propose?" an itinerant Golden Immortal immediately asked.
"My proposal is that all fellow daoists below the Golden Immortal Stage stay outside the pagoda, both to keep a lookout and for your own safety," Jin Liu replied.
"That's not fair!"
"Just now, there were so many True Immortals called upon to break the restriction, yet now that the restriction has been undone, you're asking us to stay outside? How does that make any sense?"
"This is a completely unacceptable arrangement!"
The True Immortals that belonged to sects didn't raise much objections to this proposal, but all of the itinerant True Immortals were very much opposed to this arrangement.
"Quiet!" Lei Yuce yelled in an authoritative voice.
His voice wasn't very loud, but it caused the entire surrounding area to tremble and buzz, instantly silencing all of the dissenting True Immortals.
"This decision was made for the sake of everyone's safety. How about this? 30% of the spoils that the alliance reaps will be offered up to be split among all of the fellow daoists that remain outside the pagoda. On top of that, there's no need for all of you to stay here.
“Only a small number of you need to stay here on lookout duty, while the rest can go elsewhere to explore. This secret area is an enormous place, and we only have a limited amount of time, so it would be more efficient for all of you to split up anyway," Lei Yuce said.
All of the dissenting True Immortals immediately began weighing up their options upon hearing this.
In the end, the vast majority of people decided that this was the best arrangement for them when it came to balancing risk and reward, so this course of action was the one that was ultimately agreed upon.
Many of the sects present were reluctant to send their True Immortal Stage disciples into the Eon Tower to begin with, so they were ecstatic to hear that they were going to be compensated for something that they were going to do anyway, and they eagerly instructed their True Immortal Stage disciples to stay outside the pagoda on lookout duty.