Chapter 1000: Outwitted

Accompanying Shi Pokong's cry of "Until we meet again" was a streak of white light that, under the protection of a spatial law force, passed through the great formation and struck him.

Han Li's heart jolted. He only had time to glance down and see that it was a marker jade token, but he was utterly unable to react as an intensely powerful tearing sensation surged toward him from all directions.

He felt the air around him tighten, and then a twisting force rushed over his entire body. It felt as if his whole being were about to be torn to shreds. Even his immensely powerful divine sense began to waver, unable to concentrate in the slightest.

A thunderous boom erupted.

The entire Voidcross Tower shook violently. A silver light burst from its spire high into the sky, rubbing fiercely against the void clouds and leaving a trail of dazzling, multicolored radiance.

At the same time, a ring of silver halo suddenly exploded from the surface of the rhomboid crystals embedded in the tower's outer walls, transforming into an invisible wave of energy that swept in all directions.

After the silver light blazed for several breaths, it abruptly converged and fell silent.

Dust and smoke billowed around the entire Voidcross Tower. Most of the rhomboid crystals on the outer walls were scorched and destroyed by the immense energy impact, while the remaining few were dim and lusterless, their stored energy nearly depleted.

After a moment, Shi Pokong and his group emerged from the tower gate.

His expression was still not very pleasant, his brows slightly furrowed as if lost in thought, but there was a bit more ease in his eyes than before.

…

In the Immortal Realm, amidst a stretch of verdant mountains, stood an ancient Daoist temple built with green bricks and black tiles.

The temple's structures followed the mountain terrain, stretching for dozens of li.

In a slightly lower mountain hollow, there was a white stone formation about a hundred zhang in circumference, surrounded by stone pillars, all densely engraved with runes.

At this moment, around this not-too-large runic formation, nearly a hundred cultivators in two different types of attire were gathered, each with a solemn expression and a face full of gravity.

Among these people, there seemed to be two leaders. One was a middle-aged man in a white robe, not particularly tall but with a formidable presence, clearly someone accustomed to wielding power.

The other was a thin, gaunt old man in his seventies, with sunken cheeks and sparse whiskers, looking quite withered.

"Brother Tao Ji, where did you get this news? Will that person really come today?" the withered old man suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

"Brother Jin Chuan, last night I suddenly received a cross-border message saying that the murderer of Yu'er would appear today on the teleportation platform of Huilong Temple. Time was too tight, and I couldn't verify the truth. I hastily gathered some men I could mobilize and rushed over. Thinking you were not far away, I troubled you to help," said the middle-aged man named Tao Ji.

"No matter. But if I remember correctly, the one who killed Yu'er back then was merely a True Immortal, a nobody you could crush with a finger. Why go to such lengths?" Jin Chuan asked doubtfully.

"This matter is somewhat strange. The messenger said that person's combat power is now considerable and advised me to treat him as a Taiyi realm cultivator..." Tao Ji hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"How is that possible? How many years has it been since Yu'er's death? Even if someone were a genius, they couldn't possibly leap from True Immortal to Taiyi realm in such a short time. Absolutely impossible. If you ask me, someone is setting a trap for you. Over the years in that position, you've made no shortage of enemies," Jin Chuan shook his head vigorously.

"Brother Jin Chuan, you know how much effort I've put into this matter. I don't want to miss even a single chance. Besides, even if someone is plotting against me, with your help, what do I have to fear?" Tao Ji sighed and said solemnly.

"Not to mention my help, even if I hadn't come, with your current setup, as long as it's not a Daluo realm great power, no one would come out unscathed," Jin Chuan glanced around the white stone formation and said with a smile.

"On my side, I only have five Golden Immortal peak cultivators from the Immortal Palace and over forty Golden Immortal mid-to-late stage cultivators. If you hadn't brought your men to supplement and set up this complete Two Extremities Yin-Yang Formation, its power wouldn't be at its best," Tao Ji said with a bitter smile.

"I heard earlier that this person cultivates the law of time. Truly reckless," Jin Chuan suddenly thought of something and said.

"Most likely a grassroots cultivator without a major sect background, unaware of the secrets of law cultivation, and stumbled onto this dead-end path. But back then, he managed to kill Yu'er at the True Immortal level and later killed Gongshu Jiu, which shows he has already made considerable progress in cultivating the law of time," Tao Ji said thoughtfully.

"Haha... Even if he has mastered the law of time, so what? Once he enters this Two Extremities Yin-Yang Formation, he'll be powerless and at our mercy. Don't worry. If he doesn't come today, fine. If he does, he'll find it impossible to escape, and you can avenge Yu'er!" Jin Chuan laughed.

Hearing this, Tao Ji's expression relaxed a bit. Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed.

"He's here..." Jin Chuan's expression shifted, and he smiled.

As his words fell, the void above their heads suddenly churned violently as clouds gathered over the mountain hollow, obscuring half the sky.

In the mountain hollow, the daylight suddenly dimmed, and a howling sound arose. Everyone looked up toward the high sky.

"Formation." Tao Ji's expression turned stern as he gave a low command.

The nine leading Golden Immortal peak cultivators immediately responded, each leading nine Golden Immortal mid-to-late stage cultivators to move around the teleportation platform, each seeking the formation pivot they were to guard, interweaving to set up a complex grand formation.

These ninety people all formed hand seals and chanted incantations. On the ground and the surrounding stone pillars, streaks of talisman patterns lit up, and a layer of black-and-white halo slowly surrounded them from all sides, like a wide-open bag waiting for the prey to appear before snapping it shut.

With a thunderous roar!

Amid the gathered dark clouds high above, a bolt of lightning suddenly burst forth, and an extremely intense spatial fluctuation emanated from it. Then a silver pillar of light tore through the void, emitting multicolored dazzling radiance, and crashed straight down.

The teleportation platform shook violently. Where the silver light landed, a cyan figure appeared—it was Han Li.

As soon as the silver light and colors vanished, a buzzing tremor came from the high sky. The black-and-white halo closed in an instant, like an overturned cauldron, covering the entire teleportation platform beneath it.

The spatial tearing force accompanying a cross-realm teleportation was extremely terrifying. Normally, only Taiyi cultivators dared attempt it. If a Golden Immortal forcibly used it, they would most likely suffer bodily tearing, and even if they survived, they would be severely injured.

Han Li's physique was extraordinarily strong, so naturally he had no fear of tearing or injury. But even so, he felt dizzy and sore all over, and it was somewhat difficult for him to stand up immediately.

Within his sea of consciousness, the Art of Refining the Spirit had already begun to operate on its own, and in just a moment, it calmed down.

When he straightened up again, a crisp "crack" sounded at his feet as a thumb-sized jade pendant fell off.

Han Li shook his head, bent down to pick up the jade pendant, and looked around. Seeing that half of those setting up the formation wore garments bearing the mark of the Immortal Palace, he couldn't help but sigh:

"Shi Pokong, Shi Pokong, it seems you've set me up again..."

On the other side, Jin Chuan glanced at Han Li and found the tall young man before him rather ordinary. He couldn't help asking:

"Is it him?"

"It's him, no mistake." Tao Ji stared fixedly at Han Li and nodded affirmatively.

Although he had never seen Han Li's face before, for some reason, the moment he laid eyes on Han Li and sensed the aura about him, he instinctively knew that this was the one who had killed his child.

"Should I call you Li Feiyu, or Han Li?" Tao Ji asked coldly.

When Han Li heard the words Shi Pokong had said at parting, he had already guessed that something might go wrong here, but he hadn't expected it to be like this.

"Have we met before?" Han Li frowned and asked.

"You haven't seen me, but you have seen Yu'er, and you killed him." Tao Ji said coldly.

Han Li carefully examined the middle-aged man, finding a vague familiarity in his features. After a moment's thought, he suddenly realized: "You are Tao Yu's father, the Elder Tao that Gongshu Jiu mentioned?"

"As long as I've found the right person. Today is the day you pay with blood. Move." Tao Ji nodded and said.

At his command, the teleportation platform shook violently, and the air tightened as if suddenly drained.

Han Li frowned, suddenly noticing that the celestial spiritual energy in the surrounding air had vanished in an instant, as if he had abruptly returned to the Scale Abyss.

At the thought of this, Han Li found it somewhat amusing and frustrating, and a helpless expression appeared on his face.

"Activate the Yin-Yang Polar Stones." Seeing no panic on Han Li's face, Tao Ji frowned and commanded.

As soon as he spoke, all the Golden Immortal cultivators changed their hand seals, pushing both hands forward simultaneously.

On both sides of the formation's light barrier, circles of strange talisman patterns emerged out of thin air. The surrounding black-and-white halo suddenly seemed attracted by something, separating distinctly.

White light went left, black light went right, each condensing on those circles of talisman patterns, gradually turning from virtual to solid, forming two huge black-and-white millstones that spun violently and squeezed inward from both sides.

Han Li stood at the center of the millstones. Though he had not yet touched them, he already felt a powerful squeezing force from both sides, compressing the void layer by layer into two invisible air walls that locked him in the middle, unable to move.