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Chapter 723: Fortresses
Chapter 723: Fortresses
Chapter 723: Fortresses
As Fox 3 chanted an incantation, a layer of rainbow light appeared over the surface of the crystal ball, then swept up everyone in a flash.
All of a sudden, Han Li's group had completely disappeared, and even their auras had been entirely concealed.
"Is this an illusion, Fellow Daoist Fox 3?" Han Li asked.
"You can say that. This layer of light can't come into contact with any sensory restrictions. Otherwise, we'll be exposed right away. Time is of the essence, so let's get moving," Fox 3 replied with a nod, and the group made its way to the foot of the balck city wall under the concealment of the layer of rainbow light.
Sure enough, they attracted no attention at all the entire time, and the armorclad Infernal Servants continued to stand still on the spot, looking out into the distance.
"Are we close enough now?" Fox 3 asked.
"Hold on, I have to prepare some things."
Shi Chuankong began to summon a series of array tools and Baleful Inkstone as he spoke, then arranged them onto the ground.
"You can use those things to set up arrays? I thought you only purcahsed them for that demon core," Han Li said with a slightly surprised expression.
"When it comes to setting up spatial arrays, it's best to use native materials. We have Fellow Daoist Mo Guang with us anyway, and I can teach him how to activate the array," Shi Chuankong replied with a smile, then returned to his work.
Han Li carefully observed the process, and he discovered that the array that Shi Chuankong was setting up was extremely complex. It was similar to a teleportation array, but also clearly different, and he wasn't able to glean much from it.
Some time later, Fox 3 urged, "Is it ready yet, Brother Shi? My Shadow Illusion Crystal won't be able to last much longer."
Shi Chuankong embedded one final array plate into the ground, then wiped the sweat from his forehead as he stood up straight and replied, "It's ready. Everyone, stand in the array."
Everyone immediately stepped into the array upon hearing this. The array wasn't very large, just enough to fit teh five of them.
After learning the activation method from Shi Chuankong, Mo Guang nodded and replied, "The array isn't difficult to activate. Just do your best to restrain your auras, and I'll conceal the aura fluctuations from the array's activation."
He then raised a finger, and a plume of baleful qi instantly began to surge out of the tip of the finger, enveloping everyone like a cloud of black mist.
Immediately thereafter, he began to chant an incantation, and bursts of spatial fluctuations emerged from the array down below, but they were completely contained within the surrounding wall of baleful qi.
"Let's go!" Mo Guang declared, and in the same instant, Fox 3's Shadow Illusion Crystal shattered.
Everyone within the array vanished in a flash, and one of the Infernal Servants on the city wall seemed to have detected something as he looked down at the foot of the city wall, where he saw a gust of wind stir up a cloud of dust.
He hurriedly swept his spiritual sense over the area, but discovered nothing amiss, and there was no reaction from the restrictions placed on the city wall, either, so he shook his head and began to look out into the distance again.
Meanwhile, Han Li's group emerged on a small brick path, then began to rush deeper into the city in a stealthy fashion.
Perhaps it was due to the ongoing Three Region Conference, but the Hundred Treasure Area seemed very quiet and bleak. The buildings in the city were primarily quite short, with the exception of some fortress-like pagodas, stationed atop which were more armorclad Infernal Servants.
Some Infernal Servant patrol groups could be seen traversing through the streets in the city, and the occasional group even had True Immortal Stage leaders.
"Security is clearly tighter here in the Hundred Treasure Area, so we have to be more careful," Shi Chuankong said.
"It seems like the map that we have is rather inaccurate. On the way here, I noticed many watchtowers that weren't marked out on the map," Mo Guang said.
"That's not a surprise. Our map came from before the access restrictions in Asura City came into effect, and any changes that took place after that naturally won't appear on the map. As long as the general layout is correct, we should be fine," Han Li replied.
"It seems like the general layout is quite accurate. There are three routes that we can take to the border of the Rashom Area, two of which lead to the city gate, while the other leads to a turrret in the northwest," Mo Guang said.
"Let's go take a look at the turret. If we go to the city gate, there will most likely be a Great Encompassment cultivator stationed there," Han Li proposed.
No one raised any objections to this, and thus, they began to traverse carefully through the Hundred Treasure Area, making sure to avoid the watchtowers and patrol groups.
As they progressed deeper into the city, they encountered more and more patrol groups, and even with their lofty cultivation bases, they had to be on high alert at all times and proceed with a great deal of caution.
Close to two hours flew by in a flash, and the five of them finally arrived in the central region of the Hundred Treasure Area, where they hid behind a tall building to rest.
Han Li inspected his surroundings with slightly furrowed brows, and he could sense that a bone-chilling sensation had suddenly arisen in the air, while layers of frost had emerged on the nearby ground and walls.
At this point in the city, there were no longer any normal buildings. Instead, the streets were lined with massive black fortresses that stretched as far as the eyes could see.
Several giant chimneys were protruding out of the clusters of fortresses, releasing plumes of thick smoke up into the sky, looking much like some type of large factory.
There was a marked increase in the number of patrol groups in this area, and occasionally, streaks of light would fly across the sky, inspecting everything down below.
Fox 3's eyes lit up slightly at the sight of the clusters of fortresses up ahead, and he said through voice transmission, "The fact that there are so many guards indicates that this is no ordinary area. Perhaps some secret of the Infernal Tribe is being concealed here."
"That has nothing to do with us, our top priority is to find the Baleful Cleansing Pond. This is a very seriuos situation, so don't go causing any trouble, Fox 3," Shi Chuankong warned with a stern exrpession.
"I know, I know, I'll behave," Fox 3 replied with a faint smile, but Shi Chuankon remained unconvinced and continued to keep a close eye on Fox 3.
Han Li took a glance at the two of them, then also cast his gaze toward the black fortresses while also releasing a wisp of spiritual sense in that direction.
His spiritual sense had only seeped slightly into the wall of the fortress before it was repelled, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes as he hurriedly withdrew his spiritual sense.
Right at this moment, Shi Qinghou's voice rang out in his mind.
"Do you want to konw what they're doing in there?"
"Can you tell me?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"These walls contain the Infernal Great Concealment Restriction. It's a secret restriction of hte Infernal Tribe, but it's not that difficult to bypass. I'll pass the method onto you, and you can see for yourself," Shi Qinghou replied, following which a profound restriction breaking method was transmitted into Han Li's mind.
Instead of being elated by this development, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Why do you want me to see what's happening in there?"
However, Shi Qinghou had fallen silent again, displaying no intention of answering Han Li's question.
Han Li's expression darkened slightly, but after a brief hesitation, he released a wisp of his spiritual sense toward the wall up ahead once again.
A burst of invisible force instantly emerged within the wall to stop his spiritual sense in its tracks, but as soon as Han Li began to implement the restriction breaking method taught to him by Shi Qinghou, the restriction quickly softened before fusing as one with his spiritual sense.
Immediately thereafter, his spiritual sense was able to seep through with ease, allowing him to see what was on the other side.
Inside the fortress was a massive basin that was around two hundred to three hundred feet in size, and it was filled with bubbling gray liquid that looked as if it were boiling.
Submerged in the basin were four black metal cages, held captive within which were two Gray Realm beasts and a pair of Gray Realm beings with cow horns on their heads.
The two gray beasts were shrieking in agony while struggling with all their might, attempting to break free from the cage, but to no avail.
As for the two Gray Realm beings, they weren't struggling or screaming. Instead, they were laying in their cages as stiff as a pair of boards with extremely wooden expressions, and only the occasional movement of their eyes indicated that they were still alive.
These two Gray Realm beings seemed to have been submerged in the basin for too long, to the point that their skin had turned gray in color, presenting an unsettling sight to behold.
Additionally, there were also two Infernal Servants in the fortress, closely observing the scene that was unfolding within the basin.
Han Li was quite surprised to see this, but he didn't linger for long in this fortress. Instead, he quickly moved on to the next fortress.
This one had no basin in it, but in its place was a huge furnace, beneath which was a raging gray flame, but strangely enough, it was giving off an intense chill rather than any heat.
Hanging within the furnace were several Gray Realm beings and gray beasts, and bursts of gray light were surging out of the furnace before quickly fusing into their bodies, which rapidly swelled in size like balloons, while a series of peculiar patterns emerged over their skin.
Han Li's spiritual sense lingered here briefly before venturing onward, and in the blink of an eye, he had examined around a dozen black fortresses, each of which housed a different body refinement method, including boiling, burning, or exposure to lethal poison.
The Gray Realm beings went through their refinement stations in a set sequence, and their bodies took on all types of different forms.
In the end, these monstrous creations were far more powerful than before, but they had lost all sentience and been reduced to puppets with wooden expressions, all of which were locked up in huge metal cages in the final fortress.