Chapter 1050: Tracking

Before the ice sculpture finished speaking, the Essence Flame Firebird let out another clear cry, spread its wings, and surged upward.

The Profound Ice Sword that had already been unleashed was immediately struck hard, all the blue light threads were forced back, and the sword blade receded into the circular runic pattern and vanished.

The Essence Flame Firebird displayed great divine power but refused to stop. Flames surged behind it like a peacock spreading its tail, shooting countless silver fireballs that continuously struck the merged domain light barrier of the Lan siblings.

That domain light barrier immediately became unstable, trembling violently as cracks appeared one after another.

After a moment, sounds of ice crystals shattering rang out. The five statues of indeterminate gender all developed cracks and then shattered with a clatter.

Following that, the domain light barrier also dissipated, but the auras of the Lan siblings vanished along with it.

After breaking free, Han Li still felt a lingering chill all over his body, and his limbs were somewhat numb.

He raised his hand and beckoned, and the Essence Flame Firebird immediately flew back and landed on his shoulder.

Han Li felt a warmth on his shoulder, and a warm current filled his entire body. Visible strands of cold air seeped out from his body surface and eventually dissipated.

He swept his gaze around and saw that all the metal beasts had hidden themselves. The advance team members who had entered with them were all dead, with no survivors.

Deputy Pavilion Master Zhao had been torn in two by a metal beast, while Yu Kuohai, affected by the earlier cold air, was leaning against a golden stone pillar, frozen to death.

Han Li's expression darkened. He patted the Essence Flame Firebird on his shoulder, absorbed it into his body, and then strode swiftly into the depths of the space.

Since the other party was indeed the Lan siblings sent by the Heavenly Court and had discovered his trail here, he had to eliminate them as quickly as possible. If they returned to the Heavenly Court, his situation would become troublesome.

…

The crowd outside the stone gate waited for a long time. Seeing no further movement inside, they looked at each other with strange expressions and peered inside.

“No more waiting. Let’s go in too,” Jin Liu said after a long deliberation.

Upon hearing this, the people from the other sects looked at one another, but none moved.

After all, the commotion inside earlier had been too terrifying, leaving them still somewhat shaken.

“The noise inside has stopped for a while. The advance team has probably already passed through and gone on their own. If we don’t hurry, we might not even get the leftovers,” Jin Liu said with a cold expression.

Hearing this, the crowd’s expressions changed, showing some hesitation.

Jin Liu glanced at Su Quanxi, and the two stepped through the stone gate first.

The others, seeing this, followed suit.

Everyone felt the influence of the golden force field pressing on them, and they all frowned.

But after walking a certain distance, their expressions turned terrified. The ground was littered with debris and broken corpses everywhere, looking like a hellish scene.

“What happened here…” Pavilion Master Fu muttered to himself, pale-faced.

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly looked up in terror toward a golden stone pillar beside him.

With a roar, a metal beast resembling a jackal pounced down from above and pinned him to the ground with lightning speed.

Then, metal beasts appeared one after another from all around, and sounds of fighting and screams rang out once more…

Meanwhile, Han Li had already arrived at a stone gate deep within the space.

The door of that stone gate was half-open, clearly indicating that the Lan siblings had already fled inside.

Han Li swept his divine sense around and then flashed through the door as well.

Beyond the stone gate was a spacious hall with no furnishings, only a wide, dark green stone staircase winding upward.

Han Li ascended the staircase. At the top stood a dark red light gate, which appeared to be a spatial teleportation gate leading somewhere unknown.

He carefully probed it with his divine sense but found that his divine sense could not penetrate it, nor could he discern what was inside.

After a moment’s hesitation, he flashed and entered it.

Han Li’s vision blurred, and he appeared in a crimson world.

This place was completely different from the first level. It was an open area with clusters of red clouds floating in the dark red sky, surrounded by an endless crimson desert, filled with an intense heat.

Behind him stood a tall stone gate abruptly, with a pitch-black light curtain in the middle, rippling slightly.

Beside the stone gate stood a stone tablet with a huge character “二” (two) inscribed on it, the calligraphy bold and flowing, exuding an inexplicable aura.

Han Li subconsciously swept his divine sense around and found that, unlike the first level, although his divine sense was still restricted, it could barely spread out.

Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan were still nowhere to be seen, but their auras lingered in the void, fleeing into the distance.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual in the vicinity, Han Li immediately shot forward, transforming into a golden rainbow, and gave chase.

“Eh!”

As soon as his遁光 (flight light) rose, he immediately sensed a special禁制 (restriction) permeating the surrounding void, emitting fluctuations of time power, which reduced his flight speed to only half of normal.

"This restriction is somewhat similar to my Time Spirit Domain, but my domain does not limit the range of divine sense..." Han Li was surprised, but soon stopped pondering these matters and silently activated the Divine Ability of the Reversed Truth Wheel.

Since the restriction here was related to the laws of time, the Reversed Truth Wheel should be effective.

Whoosh!

Sure enough, as soon as he activated the Reversed Truth Wheel, the golden rainbow he had transformed into suddenly increased in speed, nearly returning to its usual pace as it shot forward in pursuit.

Before long, the fleeing lights of Lan Yuanzi and the other appeared within Han Li's divine sense range.

The two had torn robes and多处焦黑, as if they had been scorched by flames, and their auras were much weaker than before.

Lan Yuanzi and the other were currently fleeing into the distance, but their speed was also much slower than usual, seemingly halved.

The golden rainbow that Han Li had transformed into flared up again, chasing after them like lightning, the distance between them rapidly shrinking.

"Not good, that kid Han is catching up!" Lan Yuanzi and the other sensed the situation behind them and were both startled.

"Brother!" Lan Yan immediately looked at Lan Yuanzi.

Lan Yuanzi did not hesitate either; the two clasped hands together and both began to chant incantations.

A strand of law power flew out from each of their bodies, merging together.

The fleeing light they had transformed into also intertwined and blazed brightly, taking the shape of a giant blue bird several hundred zhang in size, its wings flapping rapidly, increasing their speed by more than half.

Although Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan had used a secret technique to boost their speed, they were still far slower than Han Li behind them.

The distance between them rapidly closed, soon narrowing to just over ten li.

"This guy is too fast!" Lan Yan looked at Han Li, who was rapidly approaching, and turned to Lan Yuanzi in panic.

"I'll hold him off; you go first!" Lan Yuanzi's eyes flickered, then he gritted his teeth and gave Lan Yan a heavy push, sending her far ahead, while he turned and charged at Han Li.

"Brother!" Lan Yan cried out, and with a flash of light, she immediately steadied herself, about to turn back.

"Fool, do you want all our years of hard work to go to waste? Go! Don't worry about me; I have my own ways to survive!" Lan Yuanzi roared via voice transmission.

As he spoke, he raised both hands; in one hand appeared a small white banner embroidered with a blue dragon, and in the other a blue alms bowl with flickering blue flames inside.

He swung his hands fiercely, and the two objects shot out immediately.

The small white banner flashed with blue light and transformed into a hundred-zhang-long blue-and-white dragon, spewing a vast blue breath at Han Li.

The breath was mixed with white ice crystals that collided violently, producing a dense roar, and even the void trembled. Its destructive power was astonishing; anything caught in it would likely be torn to shreds instantly.

The alms bowl spun with a whoosh, and a blue ice flame shot out from within, turning into a vast blue fire curtain that swept down toward Han Li, freezing the void in its path.

The breath and ice flame covered a vast area, nearly blocking half the sky ahead.

The originally dry and scorching environment instantly plunged into an extreme ice plain, the surrounding temperature plummeting.

Lan Yan stood frozen, tears seeming to well in her eyes, her lips trembling, but in the end, she turned and fled forward.

Seeing the surging breath and ice flame, Han Li halted his flight and raised a hand.

A emerald light flew out from his sleeve, rapidly enlarging and splitting into two emerald giant hands that plunged like lightning into the dragon's breath and blue ice flame.

The dragon's breath and blue ice flame stopped ten zhang before Han Li, then dissipated like foam.

A hundred zhang in front of Han Li, the small white banner and blue alms bowl were grasped by the emerald giant hands, struggling fiercely with flashing light but unable to break free.

But Lan Yuanzi's figure had vanished ahead.

Han Li frowned, formed a hand seal, and pointed.

The emerald light brightened sharply, wrapping the two immortal artifacts as they flew back, disappearing into his sleeve with a flash. Then, with a golden light on his body, he chased after Lan Yan, who had not yet disappeared on the horizon ahead.

At that moment, the void ahead suddenly trembled, emitting a rumbling sound like thunder.

Blue marks like cracks appeared densely in the void, and then countless blue lights surged out from within, flooding toward Han Li.

Struck by these blue lights, Han Li felt as if he were in rolling torrents.

His flying form was forcibly halted and even sent hurtling backward. He frowned, and a dazzling golden light burst from his body, stopping him like a nail.

But before Han Li could take other countermeasures, the nearby blue lights rapidly converged on him, forming a blue orb several hundred zhang in size.

Inside the orb, blue light churned, and waves of law fluctuations rippled, pressing in on Han Li from all directions.

The spatial force nearby was also carried by the blue light, pressing down together. Even with Han Li's powerful physical body, he could barely move for a moment.

However, Han Li's physical body was extremely powerful; after a few breaths, he adapted to the surrounding pressure and regained mobility. With a flash of purple light in his eyes, he immediately formed a hand seal.

A crystalline chain shot out from his brow, half-solid and half-illusory, unaffected by the surrounding pressure, and swiftly plunged into a certain void ahead.

With a crash!

A figure was dragged out of the void, bound by the crystalline chain—it was Lan Yuanzi.

At this moment, his body was flickering with exceptionally dazzling blue light, as if burning, and within it rolled unusually powerful law fluctuations.