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Chapter 677: Remains
Chapter 677: Remains
Chapter 677: Remains
Over half a month later.
Han Li's duo had arrived at a rippling lake, and they were hovering in the sky above it, looking ahead with tightly furrowed brows.
The space there had been severed once again, and the entire area was filled with countless spatial rifts. Even the lake down below had been sliced into two, and on the edge was an invisible barrier that resembled a wall of water.
On the other side of the spatial rifts was a moderate-sized landmass and a series of independent mountains that had dense clusters of white jade palaces on them. However, most of them were displaying signs of damage, and some of the mountains had even mostly crumbled away.
As he gazed upon the floating mountains and the white plaza, a sense of familiarity welled up in his heart, and right as he was trying to figure out where he had seen it before, Immortal Lord Hot Flame's voice suddenly rang out beside him.
"It looks like we won't be able to continue any further, Fellow Daoist Li. We may have to find another path."
"Do you recall what place that landmass used to be, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame?" Han Li asked.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame faltered slightly upon hearing this, then stared at the landmass for a moment before replying in a hesitant voice, "I think that was the Twin Birth Palace of Senior Martial Uncle Mu Yan. It's one of the most important locations in the sect outside of our patriarch's True Mantra Palace. Having said that, this entire space is in a state of complete disarray, so I can't say for sure."
At this point, Han Li was almost completely certain that this was where he had been during the instance of transmigration where he had witnessed the fall of the True Mantra Sect, and it was also where he had hidden Mu Yan's body.
"If it's that important a place, then we should check it out. What if the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra is hidden there?" Han Li said.
"But the problem is that we can't advance any further beyond this point. Let's go somewhere else, and there may be another route that we can take," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied.
Han Li scoured his gaze over the area for a moment, then pointed in a certain direction as he said, "There's no need for that. The spatial rifts here are quite concentrated, but it's not like there's no way through at all. Take a look over there, that's a passageway that leads to the other landmass, is it not?"
Immortal Lord Hot Flame turned his gaze to that direction to discover a pillar of water that was around ten feet in radius extending out of the edge of the lake several thousand feet away, and it resembled a water bridge that led to the landmass close to ten kilometers away.
"Is that supposed to be a joke, Fellow Daoist Li? That pillar of water is surrounded by spatial rifts in all directions, and we could easily get sucked into one of them if we're not careful. On top of that, the other side is also cut off by a spatial barrier, so even if we can make it safely through the pillar of water, we'll only be hitting a deadend anyway. Why take the risk?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame asked with a perplexed expression.
"Risks have to be taken. We may not be able to find an alternative route to that landmass, and even if we can, it would be too much of a delay, so the best course of action is to cross from here," Han Li countered.
He had already used this method to successfully cross landmasses, so he had built up some confidence.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame knew that he wouldn't be able to dissuade Han Li, so after some contemplation, he didn't raise any further objections, but he was clearly still rather hesitant.
"Once we reach the other spatial barrier through the pillar of water, I'll find a way to open the spatial barrier, and we'll burst through in one go," Han Li said.
"Do you really have a way to break open the spatial barrier without impacting the nearby spatial rifts?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame asked as he raised an eyebrow in a skeptical manner.
"The spatial barrier here is far more brittle than spatial barriers you'll find elsewhere, so it won't be difficult to break it. As long as we're fast enough, I'm at least 70% sure that we'll succeed," Han Li reassured with a smile.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame was left a little speechless upon hearing this, but at this point, he could only take a gamble on Han Li.
After completing the required preparations, the two of them darted straight into the lake down below before swimming toward the opposite landmass through the channel of water like a pair of fish.
After entering the channel of water, both of them were extremely anxious, and they advanced extremely slowly while also suppressing their spiritual power fluctuations as much as possible for fear of inadvertently moving one of the nearby spatial rifts.
It took the two of them over two hours to cover the short distance of less than ten kilometers, ans as they drew close to the spatial barrier, Han Li activated his Infernal Devilish Eyes as he summoned his Profound Heavenly Gourd, aiming its mouth up ahead while also turning to Immortal Lord Hot Flame, gesturing for him to get ready.
After that, he thrust the palm of his hand firmly into the underside of the gourd, and a burst of piercing green light erupted out of its mouth amid a thunderous boom.
Immediately thereafter, an Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords shot out of the green vortex within the gourd, then pierced into the spatial barrier up ahead as a blurry sword projection.
A burst of violent rumbling rang out, and before the spatial barrier was shattered, the channel of water began to churn violently from the shockwaves resulting from the force of the impact.
The surrounding space was also affected, and the tenuous balance was instantly broken as all of the surrounding spatial rifts instantly expanded to devour the surrounding water while converging toward Han Li's duo.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he hurriedly summoned his golden mirror before injecting his immortal spiritual power into it with all his might.
A vast expanse of golden light erupted forth, forming a golden area around Han Li's duo, and the rate of expansion of the surrounding spatial rifts slowed down significantly, but they were still expanding ever so slightly.
Right at this moment, a loud crack rang out, and the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword finally pierced through the spatial barrier up ahead to create an opening that was only around half the height of a grown man.
Han Li immediately grabbed onto Immortal Lord Hot Flame's collar before rushing through the opening, and after that, he summoned his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword back to himself and flew forward for over ten thousand more feet before turning back around.
The spatial passageway that they had opened up was still open, but the channel of water had already been completely destroyed by the spatial rifts, and there were tiny black cracks entering through the opening on the spatial barrier.
However, thankfully, the cracks were all extremely small, and they didn't expand the opening any further.
Moments later, the opening slowly closed, and Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
"Thanks for holding off those spatial rifts back there, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame," Han Li said with a smile as he stowed his Profound Heavenly Gourd away.
At this moment, there was still a hint of lingering fear in Immortal Lord Hot Flame's eyes, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he sighed, "I now understand how you became so powerful, Fellow Daoist Li. Fortune truly does favor the brave."
"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame. I have been very fortunate in the past, but I'm far from brave," Han Li replied with a smile.
After a brief rest, the two of them began to make their way over the white plaza that was littered with scattered rocks, and they soon spotted an enormous set of palatial ruins.
In contrast with the ruins from before, this palace had clearly been severely burned. Many of the remaining palace walls were displaying signs of melting under intense heat, but there wasn't a single body to be seen, as if they had all been incinerated into nothingness.
"I was right, this is indeed the Twin Birth Palace of old. In the past, Senior Martial Uncle Mu Yan was responsible for taking care of most of the sect's affairs, so his Twin Birth Palace was the busiest place in the sect, but it appears that it's also the most severely damaged place in the sect," Immortal Lord Hot Flame sighed.
During the battle that he had witnessed, Han Li recalled that the attack unleashed by the Time Dao Ancestor had landed not far away from here. The center of the battlefield couldn't have been far from this place, so it was no wonder that it was so severely damaged.
Upon arriving near the palace, Han Li began to examine it while recollecting his memories of the area.
Some time later, his gaze fell upon a tall pile of rubble, and he stopped in his tracks, then began to inspect the pile of rubble with his Infernal Devilish Eyes.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame also stopped in his tracks upon seeing this, and Han Li feigned an uncertain expression as he said, "Fellow Daoist Hot Flame, there seems to be something under that pile of rubble over there."
"Is there? Could it be a hidden underground palace?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think so, but there's only one way to find out," Han Li replied.
With that, the two of them flew over to the pile of rubble before digging into the ground beneath it, and a long while later, they emerged with a body carried on Immortal Lord Hot Flame's back.
The body was wearing a tattered yellow robe, and it had a head of limp, yellow hair that resembled withered straw. It was none other than Mu Yan!
His body was virtually completely unchanged from when Han Li had last seen it during his transmigration, except his complexion had grown a little darker, and his yellow robe had also become severely decomposed.
"That spirit eye ability of yours is truly incredible, Fellow Daoist Li. It's amazing that you were able to detect Senior Martial Uncle Mu Yan's body when it was buried so deep," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said as he smoothed down Mu Yan's yellow robe.
In reality, given the spiritual sense restrictions in these ruins, there was no way that Han Li would've known that there was a body here if he wasn't the one that had buried it in the first place.
"I don't know what compelled me, but as soon as I got here, I had an instinctive feeling that there was something under here," Han Li explained as he feigned an oblivious expression.
"In that case, it sounds like it was fate at work," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said.
"Is Senior Mu Yan carrying the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra?" Han Li asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"No, but there's a chance that it could be hidden in his Twin Birth Palace," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied as he cast his gaze toward the completely collapsed palace in the distance.
After that, he hoisted Mu Yan's body back onto his own back, then made his way toward the palace with Han Li in accompaniment.
Nothing remained of the wooden structures in the palace, and the brick walls that were still standing had been melted into a completely unrecognizable state.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame strode over to a half-standing brick wall at the rear of the palace, then swept away the soot and dust on it with his hand to reveal a set of strange patterns that resembled the rings of a tree, upon which he exclaimed in an ecstatic voice, "I knew it!"
In response to Han Li's perplexed expression, he explained, "This is a secret chamber symboL. There was one in my master's Flowing Fire Palace in the past, and there's one here as well, in the exact same location, at that."
"Were they on good terms with each other?" Han Li asked in a seemingly casual manner.
"Well... Senior Martial Uncle Mu Yan had a very short temper, so they got along worst out of Patriarch Miro's five disciples, but overall, my master and my senior martial uncles were very close," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied.
Han Li nodded in response and didn't speak any further on this matter.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame picked up one of Mu Yan's hands before pressing it down upon the secret chamber symbol. He then injected some of his immortal spiritual power into Mu Yan's body, and a layer of azure light appeared over the palm of Mu Yan's wizened hand, much like a dead tree recovering some of its vitality with the arrival of spring.
The secret chamber symbol flashed with azure light, and an azure doorway of light that was around as tall as a grown man emerged from it.
Immortal Lord Hot Flame ceased his injection of immortal spiritual power upon seeing this, and Mu Yan's hand returned to its original lifeless, gray color.
He then took a glance at Han Li, indicating for him to follow along before stepping into the door of light with Mu Yan's body on his back.
Han Li hesitated momentarily before stepping into the door of light as well, and in the next instant, the two of them appeared in a giant underground palace.