Chapter 1043: Signs of the Enemy

Lei Yuce witnessed this scene, his expression darkening slightly. He then gritted his teeth, and his figure instantly shot forward, appearing before the stone door in a flash. He pressed both hands against the light screen.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

One hundred and eight golden flying needles shot out from his body. Each needle was carved at its tail with a lifelike golden dragon, coiling around the shaft, its scales and claws distinct, its head and tail clearly defined, as if about to ride the clouds and mist—truly a masterpiece of craftsmanship.

Amidst a series of golden flashes, all one hundred and eight flying needles pierced into the crystalline light screen, embedding nearly halfway.

"Golden Light Immortal-Slaying Needles!" someone in the distant crowd exclaimed in shock.

Lei Yuce muttered incantations under his breath, and the golden flying needles burst into dazzling golden light, trembling rapidly.

The crystalline light screen trembled in response, radiating brilliant crystalline light and emitting a piercing shriek, like the clashing of thousands of swords and blades.

"Break!"

A flicker of regret passed through Lei Yuce's eyes, but in the next moment it turned resolute. He formed a hand seal and urged with a fierce shout!

The one hundred and eight golden needles blazed once more, then in a flash, they all sank into the crystalline light curtain and exploded within it.

A series of thunderous booms erupted!

Countless cracks instantly appeared on the crystalline light curtain, which then shattered with a roar, dissolving into flowing light that scattered, revealing the bluish-black stone door beyond, now unobstructed.

Lei Yuce's expression relaxed, and the crowd of cultivators watching from afar burst into cheers once more. The cultivators within the ground formation also let out a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

But at that moment, the lightning patterns atop the giant tower suddenly flared up wildly, and then countless thick gray-black lightning bolts shot out from within, far surpassing the previous ones in both power and number, sweeping in a fan shape in all directions.

The black-and-white whirlwind, already on its last legs, was instantly torn apart by the gray lightning.

The black-and-white dual banners fell from the dispersing whirlwind, shattered into several pieces, devoid of any spiritual nature.

Countless gray lightning bolts shattered the black-and-white whirlwind, raining down toward the area below, blotting out the sky and covering the earth.

Lei Yuce's expression changed drastically. With a flicker of his form, he instantly retreated dozens of miles away, evading the attack.

The cultivators before the tower also fell back in alarm, and Han Li mingled among them, drifting backward.

He had actually noticed the abnormality in the giant tower's restrictions earlier than the others, but he did not retreat immediately; instead, he waited for a moment to avoid drawing attention.

Although the cultivators before the tower were some distance from the giant tower and reacted quickly, a few who had stood too close and were too slow to respond were caught in the blast. Their bodies exploded outright, and even their nascent souls could not escape.

As for the hundred people within the ground formation, still bound by the great array, they had no time to flee and were engulfed by the countless gray-black lightning bolts.

Dazzling arcs of electricity flashed and surged, forming a sea of gray-black lightning. Terrifying laws of lightning churned within, and everything touched by the gray-black lightning—whether trees or stones—instantly turned to ashes.

Piercing screams came from the lightning sea, only to be immediately extinguished and vanish.

Han Li sighed inwardly at the sight, then developed a deep wariness toward this Tower of Time.

If the outer restrictions were already this dangerous, the situation inside was naturally even more so.

But at that moment, his gaze suddenly sharpened. He vaguely saw a flash of blue light within the lightning sea, appearing and disappearing in an instant.

Then, a thunderous explosion erupted from the lightning sea. A large mass of blinding white light burst forth within it, taking on a crescent shape. The light was dazzling and brilliant, tearing a rift through the gray-black lightning sea.

With a series of whooshing sounds, over a dozen streaks of遁光 flew out from the lightning sea, shooting like meteors to a safe area outside, where they revealed the figures of over a dozen cultivators.

These people were all the most accomplished among those who had entered the formation earlier. There were three Taiyi stage cultivators, while the rest were at the Golden Immortal peak or late Golden Immortal stage.

Not one of the dozen was unscathed. Their robes were tattered, their bodies covered in wounds and blackened patches. Some were missing arms or legs, looking both miserable and disheveled.

The gray-black lightning sea flickered a few times and soon dissipated. The ground was charred black and had been scoured away by a layer. The people inside had all vanished, leaving only a few scattered fragments of immortal artifacts and magic treasures.

Seeing this, although the crowd had already braced themselves, their expressions still turned grim.

"Lei Yuce, Wen Zhong, did you two not claim that breaking the restrictions would not be too dangerous? What is the meaning of this?" Among the dozen, a middle-aged man in a white Daoist robe stepped forward, his face livid as he glared at Lei Yuce and the other man, demanding coldly.

A white moon-wheel immortal artifact floated before the middle-aged man, but its light was dim and its spirit had greatly faded.

This man was Tianyue Daoist, the master of Lingyue Hall, whose cultivation had reached the mid-Taiyi stage, the highest among the dozen or so people. He had also been selected into the group of a hundred earlier.

He was not the only one. Lingyue Hall specialized in extreme yin techniques. Besides Tianyue Daoist, most of the Lingyue Hall members who had entered this time had also joined the twin life formation, and now they had all perished. How could he not be furious?

The others who had narrowly escaped also glared at Lei Yuce and his companion.

Meanwhile, the members of the alliance army also looked toward Lei Yuce and the others, nearly half of them with angry expressions.

One person from Tianshui Sect had also entered the twin life formation but had not fallen inside and escaped. Therefore, Su Quanxi and Jin Liu did not question anything and just stood quietly to the side.

"Everyone, calm your anger. This matter was also beyond my expectations. I originally thought that breaking the禁制 on the stone door would also disperse the Thousand Granule Yin Thunder Array on the tower, but I never expected such a变故 to occur." Lei Yuce's expression darkened slightly as he explained.

Upon hearing this, Tianyue Daoist snorted coldly, his anger undiminished.

"Everyone, such a tragedy has occurred, and the盟主 and I are also deeply pained. However, as I said before, when we venture into immortal mansions and explore secret realms, we inherently bear great risks. No one knows when or where they might die; life and death are left to fate. Moreover, the盟主 destroyed two of his personal treasures to break the禁制 outside the tower, suffering great losses." Wen Zhong, standing beside Lei Yuce, stepped forward and spoke slowly.

"Indeed, such an incident is an unexpected calamity. How can it be blamed on an individual? The盟主 exerted himself to break the禁制 so that all of us could enter this Time Tower to seek treasures. If not for that, the casualties might have been even greater. Everyone, please remain calm." Jin Liu cleared his throat and said.

"For those who unfortunately died, after we finish exploring this immortal mansion, the alliance will provide some compensation. Rest assured, everyone." Wen Zhong said again.

With both Tianshui Sect and Tongtian Sword Sect speaking thus, Tianyue Daoist's expression shifted between阴晴不定. He snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve, and walked away.

The others, cowed by the prestige of the two sects, dared not say anything more.

Han Li stood among the crowd, paying no attention to this dispute. His gaze glanced behind the dozen or so people who had just flown out, where a man and a woman stood quietly—the Lan siblings.

Under the sudden catastrophe just now, others might not have noticed, but his divine sense was extremely powerful. He clearly sensed an unusual and powerful spiritual pressure within the thunder sea, seemingly of a water-attribute technique, not inferior to his own.

It was this spiritual pressure that had truly broken through the thunder sea, not Tianyue Daoist's moon-wheel immortal artifact.

"From the aura of that spiritual pressure, it was these two. They are so secretive; their identities must be unusual. Judging by their clothing and appearance, they cultivate water-attribute techniques, and there are two of them. Could they be the Lan siblings of Jinhan Immortal Palace?" Han Li quickly withdrew his gaze, calculating silently, a thought suddenly flashing through his mind.

"Brother, I'm sorry. In the urgency just now, I slightly intervened to break through the thunder sea. Could I have been discovered?" Lan Yan's eyes flashed with a trace of shame as she transmitted her voice softly.

"The situation was critical just now. Even if you hadn't acted, I would have. Moreover, the yin thunder force in the thunder sea was surging, enough to conceal the aura of your intervention. With the divine sense of these people present, it's impossible for them to notice." Lan Yuanzi comforted her via voice transmission.

Upon hearing this, Lan Yan felt slightly relieved.

Tianshui Sect and Tongtian Sword Sect gathered together and discussed in low voices for a while.

"Now that the禁制 of this Time Tower has been broken, we shouldn't delay outside. Let's enter quickly, lest others get ahead of us. However, the禁制 outside the tower was already so terrifying; the interior must be even more dangerous. The盟主 and vice盟主 have just discussed and decided that fellow daoists with lower cultivation should not enter, to avoid further casualties and resentment." Jin Liu stepped forward and said to everyone.

Upon hearing this, the crowd present forgot their grief and anger.

"Senior Jin, what do you mean by 'lower cultivation'?" a Golden Immortal散修 immediately asked.

"Fellow daoists below the Golden Immortal stage are too weak; their chances of survival inside are truly slim. They should stay outside to keep watch." Jin Liu waved his hand and said.

"How can this be! This is unfair!"

"When breaking the禁制 just now, many True Immortal stage cultivators were called into the formation. Now that the door to the Time Tower has finally been opened, you won't let us in. What kind of logic is that!"

"That's right! We absolutely won't agree!"

The True Immortal cultivators under the sects remained relatively quiet, but those from the散修 immediately started shouting.

"Silence!" Lei Yuce frowned and shouted in a deep voice.

His voice was not loud, but the nearby void hummed and trembled, like an echo in an empty valley, carrying a compelling authority.

Those True Immortal stage cultivators, who had intended to take advantage of the momentum to complain, changed their expressions and fell silent, trembling with fear.

"This decision is made for everyone's safety. How about this: the alliance will later distribute thirty percent of the harvest from the tower to the fellow daoists outside as compensation. At the same time, you don't have to guard the door; just leave a few people here to keep watch. The rest can continue exploring elsewhere. After all, this secret realm is vast, and time is limited. There's no need to focus all on this one place." Lei Yuce continued.

Upon hearing this, those True Immortal散修 looked somewhat appeased.

They silently weighed their own strength against the risks of entering the Time Tower and felt that this arrangement was quite favorable, so they nodded one after another.

As for the sect forces, many had not wanted to bring their True Immortal disciples into the Time Tower anyway. Hearing that there would be compensation afterward, they became even more willing and instructed their True Immortal disciples to stand guard outside.