abcnovels
Chapter 651: Return to a Place of Old
Chapter 651: Return to a Place of Old
Chapter 651: Return to a Place of Old
"Don't get complacent, everyone. There's no telling what other manners of strange creatures we could encounter in this place."
As soon as Shi Chuankong's voice trailed off, a giant twin-headed crocodile rushed out of the swamp with mud all over its body, opening one of its mouths in an attempt to swallow the entire flying boat whole.
"You spoke it into existence, Brother Shi," Fox 3 said with an amused smile.
Shi Chuankong paid no heed to him as he made a hand seal, conjuring up a seemingly extremely thin silver light barrier around the flying boat.
The twin-headed crocodile crashed into the silver light barrier, both of its heads were instantly pulverized upon impact, as if a gargantuan mountain had fallen upon them.
"This thing's not very smart, but it certainly has strength to spare," Immortal Lord Hot Flame remarked.
"There's something else up ahead," Han Li suddenly said, an Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword appeared in his grasp, following which he sprang up into the air before slashing his sword forward.
A streak of azure swordlight was released, vanishing into the swamp up ahead in a flash before exploding violently.
An agonized roar rang out as a huge volume of blood gushed into the water, and immediately thereafter, a creature that was identical in appearance to the strange fish from earlier, except enlarged by tenfold, rose up to the surface with its body already sliced into two.
The silver flying boat was able to fly straight down the middle between two halves of its body, and Fox 3 chuckled, "With the two of you standing on guard duty, I don't have to worry about anything aside from piloting the boat!"
As the flying boat rushed into the illusory smoke, the latter was also surging toward the former, and it didn't take long before the two made contact hundreds of kilometers away from Serene Floating Island.
As soon as the flying boat entered the pink smoke, it immediately slowed , and everyone released their spiritual sense to scour the surrounding area.
"As expected, spiritual sense is severely restricted within the illusory mist, so we won't even be able to discern our location," Fox 3 said.
"In that case, let's be a bit more careful, and we'll each focus on one direction," Shi Chuankong suggested with a cautious expression.
As for Han Li, his brows were slightly furrowed, and there was a hint of surprise in his heart. Even with his immense spiritual sense, his sensory range within the illusory mist was only around a dozen kilometers.
"It's fine, I'll be able to sense it if the sect ruins emerge," Immortal Lord Hot Flame assured.
He flipped a hand over as he spoke to produce a longan-sized pink bead, which appeared to be no different from a normal clam pearl, except it was riddled with tiny golden runes that were flashing incessantly.
"What's that?" Shi Chuankong asked.
"This is a True Mantra Bead that was given to me by my master. Originally, it was only meant as something to facilitate convenient travel for me within the sect, allowing me to use the teleportation arrays in the sect as I please, but in the wake of the sect's destruction, this is perhaps the only bead of its kind left in the outside world," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied with a reminiscent expression.
"So you're saying this True Mantra Bead can help us find the ruins?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"This bead can establish a connection with all of the teleportation arrays in the sect, of which there are over three hundred. However, due to the presence of this illusory mist, I'm guessing that its sensory range will be severely limited to no more than a few dozen kilometers," Immortal Lord Hot Flame explained.
"That's better than nothing. If we can find an intact teleportation array, perhaps we'll be able to teleport straight into the True Mantra Sect," Fox 3 said.
Han Li cast his gaze into the distance as he listened to the ongoing conversation, and he spotted a corner of a building's roof jutting out of the mist up ahead.
Immediately thereafter, a three-story archway that was around a thousand feet tall came into view. It was extremely dilapidated, and it looked as if it wasn't all that far away from toppling over entirely.
"This is the Black Beam Archway, one of the ten archways on the merchant street in the sect!" Immortal Lord Hot Flame exclaimed upon catching sight of the archway.
"Looks like we're in luck," Fox 3 said with an elated expression, and the flying boat began traveling in that direction at his behest.
"Hold on, Fellow Daoist Fox 3, you're running into an illusion!" Han Li suddenly declared.
The flying boat drew to a sharp halt over a thousand feet away from the archway, and everyone turned to discover a peculiar purple light glowing in Han Li's eyes.
"Those are Infernal Devilish Eyes! Fellow Daoist Li, how did you master this spirit eye ability of our Devil Race?" Shi Chuankong asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
"I came across the secret technique by chance, and I just so happened to have dabbled in a devilish cultivation art in the past, so things worked out quite well for me," Han Li explained in an ambiguous fashion.
A hint of befuddlement flashed through Shi Chuankong's eyes upon hearing this, but he didn't pry any further. As for Immortal Lord Hot Flame, he couldn't help but turn to Han Li with an intrigued look on his face. They were both late-Golden Immortal cultivators, but Han Li struck him as someone completely unfathomable.
"Looks like Fellow Daoist Li was the perfect final member to round out our group!" Fox 3 praised, then swept a sleeve through the air, sending a streak of light hurtling toward the archway.
In the instant that the streak of light struck the archway, a vast expanse of silver radiance erupted forth, forming a giant silver vortex with a radius of over a thousand feet. The vortex was releasing a burst of terrifying spatial power that twisted the entire archway into a ball before devouring it, and in the end, all that remained was a fist-sized black hole that also slowly disappeared.
Fox 3's smile instantly stiffened slightly upon seeing this.
"Thank heavens Fellow Daoist Li was able to see through the illusion. Otherwise, we would've most likely already been sucked into a spatial rift by now," Shi Chuankong said with a hint of lingering fear in his voice.
Right as his voice trailed off, an intoxicating aroma began to spread through the area, and everyone looked around to discover that a large area of palatial structures had appeared within the mist.
Their silver flying boat was no longer traveling over the swamp. Instead, it was traversing through a lush sea of flowers, sending countless flower petals drifting down in all directions.
Around the sea of flowers was a series of intricate pavilions and pagodas that connected to the palatial structures in the distance, and there was a group of gorgeous celestial maidens in palace dresses standing on a covered bridge.
Some were holding delectable spirit fruits, some were holding flagons of fine wine, and some were carrying palace lanterns as they made their way gracefully toward the nearby pavilions.
There were many immortals seated in these pavilions, sharing wine, reciting poetry, or playing go, and it seemed that Han Li's group had unwittingly stumbled its way into a banquet.
The flying boat immediately drew to a halt at Fox 3's behest, and he turned to Shi Chuankong as he said, "Your Divine Spirit Pills don't seem to be working, Brother Shi. Why are these illusions only becoming more and more potent?"
"The Divine Spirit Pills are working as intended, it's just that this illusion is too powerful. If we hadn't taken those pills, we would've most likely already become completely immersed in the illusion and be unable to discern it from real life," Han Li explained in Shi Chuankong's stead.
He hadn't taken his Divine Spirit Pill, so he was aware of just how powerful this illusion was. If he hadn't already channeled his Spirit Refinement Technique to protect his own consciousness, even he would've most likely already fallen prey to it.
"Fellow Daoist Li, can you dispel this illusion with your spirit eye ability?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame asked.
"My spirit eyes can only help us avoid danger, but it can't dispel illusions. However, I think Fellow Daoist Shi can perhaps dispel part of the illusion by using his spatial law powers to force back some of the nearby illusory mist," Han Li replied.
"Theoretically, that's possible, but it would be far too taxing, and I won't be able to dispel any illusions that encompass large areas, so I'm afraid that's not a very feasible solution," Shi Chuankong said as his brows furrowed slightly.
"How about this? We'll have Fellow Daoist Li use his spirit eyes to help us avoid danger, while Fellow Daoist Hot Flame uses his True Mantra Bead to detect for teleportation arrays. Once we discover something, we'll get Brother Shi to dispel the illusion in that area. As for myself, I'll continue to pilot the boat," Fox 3 proposed.
Han Li and Shi Chuankong exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and both of them nodded in approval of this proposal.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame naturally had no reason to object, and with that, the flying boat slowly continued onward.
"Turn left once we emerge from this field of flowers," Han Li instructed as he scoured his surroundings with his Infernal Devilish Eyes.
"You want me to crash straight into that bridge?" Fox 3 asked in a hesitant manner.
"Trust me," Han Li insisted, and Fox duly obliged, guiding the boat in that direction.
After emerging from the field of flowers, the boat turned left and crashed straight into the covered bridge, only for it to completely disintegrate upon contact, and Han Li's group passed straight through the bodies of the celestial maidens on the bridge.
"From here, go straight for about seven hundred feet, then turn right..."
Under Han Li's guidance, the flying boat was able to traverse through one illusion after another, and around an hour later, the boat was passing through an illusory pond when Immortal Lord Hot Flame suddenly exclaimed, "I've found it!"