Chapter 1021: Reporting Upward

"Time Spirit Domain!"

Dongfang Bai swept his gaze around and felt a chill in his heart.

The next moment, without a word, he withdrew his cyan spirit domain, grabbed Tao Ji and Lü Yun with both hands, and shot upward into the sky.

The lake water, freed from the domain's confinement, immediately surged back, rushing violently toward the center.

A layer of dazzling cyan light enveloped Dongfang Bai and the other two, fiercely rubbing against the golden spirit domain, canceling out most of the time law power, allowing them to flee with little reduction in speed.

"None of you will leave today!"

Han Li shouted, instantly reversing the true wheel within him. With a flicker, he appeared above the three.

Seeing this, Dongfang Bai's eyes flashed with ruthlessness. He slapped Tao Ji and Lü Yun on their backs, sending them flying toward Han Li above and the Vixen below, respectively.

Tao Ji and Lü Yun were both horrified, realizing they could not move at all, not even to open their mouths and shout.

Seeing Tao Ji hurtling toward him, Han Li raised a palm and struck forward.

The latter, however, was horrified to find his abdomen suddenly swelling violently, and at his navel, a tiny, verdant sprout had quietly grown without his knowledge.

Before Han Li's palm even touched him, a violent explosion rang out.

Tao Ji's abdomen swelled to its limit and burst open with a bang.

Since the Nascent Soul had exploded from within the dantian, the power was unimaginable. Even Han Li, caught off guard, was blasted backward, his outstretched palm mangled and bloody.

But at that moment, he had no time to care, because Lü Yun was hurtling toward the Vixen.

He reversed the true wheel with all his might, activated the power of the Thunder Peng within him, and shot like lightning beneath the lake water. He grabbed the exhausted Vixen and, before he could fly away, heard a boom behind him.

With a thunderous roar,

a deafening explosion shook the Three Rivers Lake. All the peaks and water mansions at the lake bottom shattered, and surging waves rose a thousand zhang, flooding into the adjacent Comb Mountain and sweeping over it.

After a long while, two figures shot out from the lake bottom and hovered in midair.

"Master, that Dongfang Bai is truly treacherous and vicious, sacrificing his companions just to escape!" the Vixen said angrily, her face pale.

"That a ruler of a region is such a scheming person shows how corrupt the天庭 is. But it doesn't matter—he can run for a while, but not forever. Debts must always be repaid." Han Li shook his head and said slowly.

"Master means we now..." the Vixen looked at Han Li and asked.

"I will make arrangements. First, rest and recover." With that, Han Li waved his hand, opened the Flower Branch Cave Heaven, and let the Vixen return to recuperate.

Then, with a flash of遁光, his figure vanished into the horizon.

...

At the western end of the Gold Source Mountain Range, palaces stood one after another in valleys, on peaks, and even suspended in midair, stretching to the horizon.

Rainbow-like bridges connected the various palaces. Auspicious clouds floated in the sky, and cranes danced—a scene of a celestial realm.

This was the Gold Source Immortal Palace.

A green遁光 appeared on the distant horizon, shooting forward at a terrifying speed. In an instant, it drew near. The light converged, and Dongfang Bai's figure emerged, continuing to fly deeper into the palace.

His expression was as gloomy as storm clouds, unspeakably dark. Along the way, the palace staff only dared to bow and dared say nothing else.

Dongfang Bai soon arrived at the deep hall where the golden communication disc array was placed. He flipped his hand and took out the purple token. After hesitating for a long time, he placed the token on the golden disc and made hand seals, pointing repeatedly.

A dazzling purple light radiated from the token, dyeing the surrounding golden array purple, flickering on and off.

After a moment, the array flickered, and a female figure with green hair materialized.

Her face looked like that of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl, slightly pale, like a sickly young lady raised in seclusion, but her eyes radiated boundless authority.

"Dongfang Bai, what urgent matter requires you to use the Nine Yuan Command to activate the Heavenly Net Array to send me a message? If the Celestial Observatory finds out, it will be another trouble." The green-haired young woman said indifferently.

"Greetings, Venerable Miaofa. Your subordinate has just received news concerning the Creation Crystal Particles. Not daring to delay a single moment, I needed to report this to you immediately. In my urgency, I used the Nine Yuan Command. I beg your forgiveness, Venerable." Dongfang Bai said respectfully.

"What? You've found a clue about the Creation Crystal Particles! Quickly, tell me in detail, don't leave out a single word!" Venerable Miaofa's pretty face changed upon hearing this, and she immediately spoke. An immense pressure emanated through the array.

"Yes!"

Dongfang Bai's clothes rustled without wind, and his heart tightened. After calming himself, he hastily recounted the matter of Han Li and the Vial of Heaven and Earth, embellishing it as he went.

The origin of this matter was naturally inseparable from Tao Ji and Tao Yu, father and son. But in his account, he had discovered a clue beforehand and actively sent people to investigate. After all, those two were already dead, leaving no evidence to the contrary.

"That particle is indeed very likely the Creation Crystal Particle! Good, very good! The Vial of Heaven and Earth has finally reappeared in the True Immortal Realm!" Venerable Miaofa's face lit up with surprise and delight upon hearing this.

Before Dongfang Bai could breathe a sigh of relief, a cold gleam flashed in Venerable Miaofa's eyes, and she said coldly:

"But since you discovered this matter long ago, why didn't you report it earlier?"

"Your subordinate admits guilt! It was my greed for merit. I originally wanted to capture Han Li and seize the Vial of Heaven and Earth to present to you, Venerable. But I never expected his strength to be so formidable. Even with all the power of my Gold Source Immortal Palace, I was no match. I beg your punishment!" Dongfang Bai fell to his knees with a thud, his face full of panic, but a glimmer of calm flashed deep in his eyes.

He did not try to cover up his fault. Matters concerning Han Li had probably already spread; trying to conceal them would be futile. It was better to confess frankly.

Thereupon, he recounted how Han Li had disregarded the Celestial Court's Immortal Palace and acted arrogantly, mixing truth with falsehood, which made Venerable Miaofa's face show anger.

After all, in his view, Han Li was still in the Gold Source Immortal Domain. To capture him, he himself was still of great use, so he thought Venerable Miaofa would not impose too severe a punishment.

"Where is that Han Li now?" Venerable Miaofa's eyes flickered, her expression softened slightly, and she asked.

"Your subordinate has sent people to investigate that villain's whereabouts over the past few days, but has not yet received any news. However, I have ordered the closure of all teleportation arrays in the Gold Source Immortal Domain. That villain must still be near the Gold Source Mountain Range." Dongfang Bai's heart relaxed, and he quickly said.

"Hmm, well done. You discovered news of the Creation Crystal Particles, which is a great merit. But you concealed this matter and failed to report it in time, and you acted rashly to capture him, alerting the enemy. That is no small crime. Now, merit and fault cancel each other out. How I deal with you will depend on your future performance. If you can capture Han Li and recover the Vial of Heaven and Earth, your previous transgressions will naturally be wiped clean, and I will personally petition the Observatory Master to reward you. But if you let him escape the Gold Source Immortal Domain, I need not elaborate on what awaits you." Venerable Miaofa nodded upon hearing this, then said sternly.

"Yes, your subordinate will henceforth strictly follow your instructions and capture Han Li. However, given his strength, relying solely on my Gold Source Immortal Palace may be insufficient..." Dongfang Bai's expression tightened, and he immediately said.

"Rest assured, I will have the Lan siblings from the Gold Han Immortal Palace bring people to assist you. Immediately send people to track Han Li's movements. Remember, this time be more careful and do not alert the enemy again." Venerable Miaofa said solemnly.

"Yes! Your subordinate understands." Dongfang Bai's face showed great joy.

The Lan siblings of the Gold Han Immortal Palace were renowned, and he had long heard of them.

Although both were only at the Taiyi late stage, they possessed a joint secret technique that could briefly merge their cultivation into one, reaching the Da Luo realm. The two had once fought a Da Luo cultivator from the Reincarnation Hall for three days and three nights without defeat, earning great fame.

No matter how formidable Han Li was, with these two assisting him, it would be equivalent to facing two Da Luo cultivators. Even if Han Li had three heads and six arms, he would be no match.

With this thought, Dongfang Bai felt greatly relieved.

The green-haired young woman gave a few more instructions, then ended the conversation and vanished from the array with a flicker.

Dongfang Bai's expression relaxed, and he let out a long breath. Then he formed hand seals to stop the array, retrieved the purple token, and the array returned to its original state.

...

In a certain pink palace within the Celestial Court.

Everywhere here was filled with a soft pink glow, giving off a fragrant, intimate atmosphere of a woman's boudoir.

Deep within the palace, on an exquisite ivory bed draped with pink gauze curtains, sat a young woman—none other than Venerable Miaofa, who had just finished her conversation with Dongfang Bai.

Beside the ivory bed crouched a yellow toad. This beast was enormous, much larger than the bed. Its yellow skin was covered in coarse bumps. Peculiarly, it had six eyes the size of bronze bells, arranged on both sides of its face, giving it a somewhat ferocious appearance.

Although the yellow toad lay still, the aura it emitted was exceptionally vast. Though not as strong as Venerable Miaofa's, it was not far behind.

"Congratulations, Master, on finding a clue to the Creation Crystal Particles. As long as you recover the Vial of Heaven and Earth, Patriarch Nine Yuan will surely regard you with newfound respect. The long-vacant position of Deputy Observatory Master will be within your grasp." The yellow toad squinted its six eyes, its wide mouth splitting open as if smiling, and spoke in human tongue.

"I don't care much for the position of Deputy Observatory Master. I only hope that with this merit, the Observatory Master will give me some guidance to help me successfully sever the Second Corpse." Venerable Miaofa said indifferently.

"Master is right. No matter what, strength is the most important thing." The yellow toad was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said.

"She Chan, deliver my orders to the Gold Han Immortal Palace. At the same time, you also make a trip to the Gold Source Immortal Domain." Venerable Miaofa was silent for a moment, then gave the order.