A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 724: Splitting Up

Han Li was quite surprised by what he was seeing in these fortresses.

It seemed that these unremarkable-looking fortresses were some type of puppet refinement facility for the Infernal Tribe. This was an extremely inhumane refinement process, so it was no wonder that it had to be kept hidden from the general public.

On top of that, the Infernal Tribe had already become so proficient in this strange puppet refinement process that they were able to produce these puppets in large batches.

Infernal beings were quite rare, but not only were they very powerful, they were also able to control Infernal Servants and mass-produce these puppets, so it was no wonder that they had become the ruling tribe of the Infernal Region.

After some further observation, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense back to the fortress that housed the basin, then released it in another direction, quickly arriving in another giant fortress.

This fortress contained a series of prisons of different sizes that were tightly packed together like a beehive.

Some of these prisons contained different types of gray beasts, while the rest housed different types of Gray Realm beings. All of them were completely nude with soulless looks in their eyes, and these prisons were intentionally designed to be very short, so these people were forced onto all fours, just like the gray beasts.

These were the "raw materials" used for the puppet refinement process, and there were thousands of them, some of which were even at the True Immortal and Golden Immortal Stages.

However, the prisons for these powerful beings were also specially designed to ensure that they wouldn't be able to escape.

Han Li had already spent quite some time inspecting these fortresses, and he quickly withdrew his spiritual sense.

Shi Chuankong and the others were naturally oblivious to what he had just seen, and having taken a brief rest, the group continued onward.

The five of them carefully advanced through the Hundred Treasure Area according to their map, and they quickly arrived at the area's northwestern border.

There was a massive turret hanging above the city wall not far away, and it was identical to the one drawn on the map.

The turret was enshrouded within a glowing black restriction, and there were many armorclad Infernal Servants standing on guard duty nearby.

Han Li's group was observing the city wall from a hidden location, and at this moment, all of them were feeling a little more relaxed.

They had already completed the most difficult segment of the journey, and all they had to do now was employ the same method as before to pass through this city wall.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, we'll have to count on you to get us through again," Han Li said as he turned to Shi Chuankong.

"Not a problem. However, I'll need Brother Fox to get us close to the city wall," Shi Chuankong replied with a nod.

"Leave it to me," Fox 3 declared, then flipped a hand over to produce another one of the round crystal balls from before.

A layer of rainbow light emerged over the crystal ball at his behest, then encompassed everyone in a flash, following which the entire group vanished on the spot.

Under the cover of the rainbow light, the group quickly arrived at the foot of the city wall, where Shi Chuankong began setting up another teleportation array.

With a sweep of his sleeve, a streak of silver light fell upon the teleportation array, while Mo Guang was also releasing plumes of baleful qi out of his sleeve, enshrouding the entire array within a cloud of black mist to conceal all of its aura fluctuations.

However, after the teleportation array lit up, Han Li and the others merely swayed slightly on the spot, but didn't disappear like last time.

Han Li and others all turned to Shi Chuankong with surprised expressions upon seeing this.

At this moment, Shi Chuankong was looking a little pale, and he turned to the city wall with a grim expression.

"What's wrong, Brother Shi?" Fox 3 asked.

"Let's go back first."

Instead of immediately elaborating on why the teleportation had failed, Shi Chuankong swept a sleeve through the air to stow away all of his array tools, then returned to their hiding spot.

Everyone hurriedly followed along, and once they were concealed again, Baili Yan asked, "What happened back there, Fellow Daoist Shi? Why did the teleportation fail?"

"Could it be that there's an additional spatial restriction in the city wall?" Han Li asked.

"Are you familiar with spatial teleportation secret techniques as well, Fellow Daoist Li? That's exactly what's happened. With that spatial restriction in place, my teleportation secret technique has been rendered ineffective," Shi Chuankong replied.

Everyone's expressions darkened slightly upon hearing this.

The Hundred Treasure Area was enshrouded in layers upon layers of restrictions, and aside from Shi Chuankong's teleportation secret technique, there was no other way for them to reach the Rashom Area.

"Are we going to have to give up after coming all this way?" Baili Yan asked with an indignant expression.

"Not necessarily, all we have to do is deactivate the spatial restriction in the city wall," Shi Chuankong said.

"Deactivate the spatial restriction? Surely that's far easier said than done. We don't even know where the core of the spatial restriction is," Baili Yan said with tightly furrowed brows.

"I presume you only raised this option because you already have a rough idea of how to accomplish it, right, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Han Li asked, and everyone immediately turned to Shi Chuankong.

"I did indeed notice something just now. Given how powerful the restrictions within the city wall are, the core of the array must be nearby. I think it's either in that turret or the city gates there," Shi Chuankong replied.

"In that case, let's split up. Brother Shi, Fellow Daoist Li, and I will go one way, while Fellow Daoist Mo and Fellow Daoist Baili go the other way, and we'll search for the core of the array at the entrance of the city gates and in this turret," Fox 3 proposed.

In terms of concealment abilities, Fox 3 and Mo Guang were the most proficient of the group, so this was a sound plan, and no one raised any objections.

"Fellow Daoist Baili and I should be able to sneak into this turret with no problems, but if you're going to the city gates, you could encounter the Great Encompassment cultivator stationed here, so make sure to be careful," Mo Guang cautioned.

"Rest assured, I've already made some preparations. Just because you're going to the turret doesn't mean you can let your guard down. Also, take this teleportation array plate, it can facilitate teleportation over short distances. Once we've found the spatial restriction, we'll meet back up using these array plates," Shi Chuankong replied with a confident smile, then summoned an octagonal silver jade plate that he handed to Mo Guang.

"The Vast Origin House is certainly never short on resources," Mo Guang remarked with a smile as he accepted the jade plate.

"Hold on a second, even if we manage to find the core of the array, we'll inevitably attract some attention if we try to destroy it. If we draw the attention of the Great Encompassment cultivator here, we'll be in a world of trouble," Han Li suddenly said.

Everyone's expressions darkened slightly as this problem also dawned on them.

"It's fine. As long as we can find the core of the array, I'll have a way to take care of it," Shi Chuankong assured with a faint smile.

Han Li took a surprised glance at Shi Chuankong upon hearing this, but didn't say anything.

"In that case, we'll be counting on you, Fellow Daoist Shi."

After some further discussion, everyone split up and went their separate ways.

Han Li's trio made its way toward the city gates. There weren't many patrolling Infernal Servants near the city walls, so it didn't take them long to arrive at the city gates, which were tightly shut.

Constructed above the city gates was a three-story-tall black palace, on either side of which was a smaller turret, and the three buildings were connected by a stone path that was crawling with armorclad Infernal Servants.

There were also many armorclad Infernal Servants standing on either side of the city gates down below, and a grim look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

They were about to sneak into a palace that was likely to be holding a Great Encompassment cultivator, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

Even Fox 3 had adopted a serious expression as he turned to Shi Chuankong and asked, "Brother Shi, do you really have a way to avoid a Great Encompassment cultivator's detection?"

He had been captured by a Great Encompassment Stage being back at the Ring Shark Tribe, so he had firsthand experience of just how formidable such beings were.

"I can't say for sure, but at the very least, I have a great deal of confidence that it'll work," Shi Chuankong replied with a smile, then pulled three white talismans out of his sleeve.

The talismans were each three inches in length and around an inch wide, and they were riddled with thin black patterns to form an extremely complex design.

The talismans were flashing with black and white light, but they weren't giving off even the faintest of auras, and Han Li and Fox 3 were stunned to discover that they were completely unable to detect the talismans with their spiritual sense.

"These are concealment talismans refined by a Great Encompassment cultivator of our Vast Origin House. As long as there's no Great Encompassment cultivator directly scrutinizing us, these talismans should be sufficient for us to sneak through," Shi Chuankong said as he handed a talisman each to Han Li and Fox 3.

Both Fox 3 and Han Li were stunned to hear this.

"These talismans are far too precious, Fellow Daoist Shi. What would you like in exchange for them?" Han Li asked.

"There's no need to compensate me, Fellow Daoist Li. If it wasn't for you, I would already be dead and buried in the Gray Realm by now, so how can I ask for anything in exchange for a mere talisman? Right now, our top priority is to bypass this spatial restriction and enter the Soul Cleansing Area so we can find the Baleful Cleansing Pond," Shi Chuankong replied with a smile.

"Don't worry about him, Fellow Daoist Li. I've known him for a very long time, and he's ridiculously wealthy, so there's no need to feel guilty at all for taking things from him," Fox 3 said to Han Li as he grabbed a talisman without any hesitation.

"Fellow Daoist Li is a true gentleman. Not everyone is a shameless thief like you," Shi Chuankong scoffed as he glared at Fox 3, who remained completely unfazed.

"In that case, you have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Shi," Han Li said as he also took one of the talismans.