Chapter 1097: Dividing Forces into Three Groups

Near the square, the white trees, illuminated by the blood light emanating from the Skyfox Blood-Melting Blade, rapidly withered, and the ground instantly turned scorched black, devoid of any sign of life.

The spiritual energy within the white jade stones on the square was also drained in an instant, and they exploded in a series of "bang bang" sounds, turning into countless stone fragments.

In an instant, centered on the white jade square, all vitality within a radius of several hundred li was drained dry!

Immediately after, a deafening sound rang out!

The Heaven-Piercing Sword Formation collapsed with a roar, dozens of flying swords scattering in all directions, and more than ten flying swords were directly cleaved in two.

Lei Yuce's body shook violently, and he staggered back several steps before steadying himself, an unnatural flush spreading across his face.

At that moment, the blood light in the sky flashed and vanished without a trace, while Hu San and Jiao San had already passed Lei Yuce and shot forward.

Lei Yuce's eyes twitched, and he forced himself to take a breath, about to do something.

Fellow Daoist Lei, you cannot stop us. The situation ahead is unclear, and we have no desire to fight you. Please do not force us,” Hu San's voice came from afar.

Lei Yuce froze in his movements, standing there dumbfounded.

Hu San and the other figure shot like lightning, disappearing in an instant at the front of the path.

Just then, Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan also transformed into two blue beams of light, shooting toward the direction of the Wood Spirit Tomb.

“Stay!” Su Quanxi, standing on this path, shouted, her jade hand grasping in the air.

Immediately, blue water light flashed wildly around, and countless blue water spheres about a zhang in diameter materialized out of thin air, each entwined with serpentine blue electric arcs. With Su Quanxi's sharp cry, countless water spheres rumbled like thunder as they hurtled toward Lan Yuanzi and the other.

Seeing this, Lan Yan remained unflustered. Her jade hand formed a seal and waved, and the small blue bag appeared again. The mouth of the bag rolled open, emitting ten thousand beams of blue light.

The incoming water spheres immediately halted, then transformed into streams of blue light, flowing like a hundred rivers returning to the sea into the small blue bag.

The once imposing mass of water spheres in the sky vanished in an instant, as if it were a dream.

"What!" Su Quanxi's face showed an expression of disbelief.

Lan Yan's face turned pale. Although she had only slightly activated the small blue pouch this time, most of her immortal spiritual power had been consumed.

Lan Yuanzi waved his hand and grabbed Lan Yan. The two merged their遁光 into one, their speed suddenly increasing. With a flash, they dodged past Su Quanxi and disappeared ahead.

Han Li, seeing this from the side, flickered his gaze, then transformed into a golden light that shot out, flying toward the Fire Yuan Palace.

Wen Zhong had been watching Han Li's movements closely. Seeing this, he quickly moved to intercept, forming hand seals and pointing. Over a dozen hundred-zhang-long sword beams shot out from his body, slashing down at Han Li.

But the golden light that was Han Li suddenly brightened, its speed increasing severalfold. At a breathtaking pace, it passed Wen Zhong and vanished ahead in an instant.

Wen Zhong frowned at this, but there was nothing he could do.

At that moment, with a "hiss," another golden rainbow shot over—it was Xiong Shan.

Wen Zhong snapped back to attention and was about to cast a spell to block him, but the golden sword rainbow that was Xiong Shan, though not as fast as Han Li's, was still lightning quick. Moreover, Wen Zhong's mind was shaken, so his movements were unavoidably delayed, and he was a step too late again.

The golden rainbow flashed past Wen Zhong's other side like lightning and disappeared ahead in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, only Lei Yuce, Wen Zhong, and Su Quanxi remained on the square.

"These shortsighted fools! They only care about immediate gains and don't consider the consequences at all. When the Black Heaven Demon God breaks free from his seal, they'll regret it!" Wen Zhong cursed angrily, somewhat exasperated.

"None of them are from the Golden Source Immortal Domain, so they don't know how terrifying the Black Heaven Demon God is. Moreover, the immortal artifacts sealed in the array eyes are extremely powerful, so it's no wonder they would go to any lengths to obtain them. The fact that they've managed to hold out this far shows that these people are not simple. It seems we can't stop them. What should we do now?" Su Quanxi, however, was not particularly angry. She looked at Lei Yuce.

"Given the situation, there's no other choice. Let's split up and advance as well, doing our best to persuade them to give up the treasures in the array eyes. But if that's truly impossible, we must at least repair the formations at the array eyes." Lei Yuce formed hand seals to retrieve his set of golden flying swords and spoke unhurriedly.

"Given the situation, we have no choice but to do so. But I never realized before, Fellow Daoist Lei, that you could remain so calm and composed under such pressing circumstances." Su Quanxi nodded, then changed the subject.

"As the saying goes, 'Man proposes, heaven disposes.' The situation is already very bad. If I were to lose my composure as well, wouldn't things be utterly disastrous?" Lei Yuce shook his head and said.

"At a time like this, you're still in the mood to joke. So, what exactly should we do? Tell us." Su Quanxi chuckled, then asked again.

Wen Zhong also turned his gaze to Lei Yuce.

"Wait a moment."

As Lei Yuce spoke, he flipped his hand and produced two sets of array-laying instruments, one fiery red and one earthy yellow, along with two jade slips, which he handed to Wen Zhong and Su Qianxi respectively.

"Although the formation at the array eye is complex and exquisite, making it difficult to repair, the jade slips contain detailed records of the array-laying method. If you follow the methods recorded in the jade slips, you will surely be able to repair it. If it really doesn't work, just send me a message." Lei Yuce took out a communication array disk and handed it to Su Qianxi.

He and Wen Zhong apparently had another way to communicate.

Wen Zhong and Su Qianxi probed the jade slips with their divine sense and soon nodded in understanding.

"Then I'll take my leave first." Wen Zhong glanced at the two, clasped his fists, then turned and transformed into a streak of golden light, speeding toward the Fire Element Palace.

"Then I'll go too." Su Qianxi turned and was about to leave.

"Fairy Su, the Lan siblings are powerful, and now that they have obtained that blue pouch, they are even more formidable. Don't come into conflict with them. If it really doesn't work, just let them seize the treasures. Your personal safety is the most important." Lei Yuce suddenly called out to Su Qianxi and cautioned her.

"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Lei. I understand." Su Qianxi paused briefly, then agreed, and flew toward the Wood Spirit Tomb.

Lei Yuce stared blankly until Su Qianxi's figure completely disappeared from sight, then shook his head, activated his escape light, and flew toward the Qian Earth Hall.

Not long after the three left, three streaks of light flew in from behind and landed on the square, revealing the figures of Qi Mozi, the White Bone Demon, and the Bronze Lion Demon.

"Those people have already arrived here, and it seems a fight has occurred. Now they should have split into three groups, heading toward the three array eyes respectively." The White Bone Demon's eyes shot out two beams of white light as he surveyed the surroundings and said.

"It seems nothing escapes Brother White Bone's eyes." Qi Mozi laughed.

"Just a minor trick. Now that those people have split into three groups, it would be easy to wipe out one group. Should we make a move?" The White Bone Demon smiled casually and added.

"Not so fast. Most of those people are now intent on seizing treasures, which can help us break the array eye restrictions and release your three brothers. Let's just sit back and watch. Why not enjoy the show?" Qi Mozi shook his head and said.

"That's true." The White Bone Demon nodded slightly.

"Since they have split into three groups, we should also act separately. There are also heavy treasures at these three array eyes, and we must not let those people get them." Qi Mozi then added.

Recalling the power of the Great Desolate Ancient Sword and the blue pouch, the White Bone Demon and the Bronze Lion Demon felt a chill in their hearts and immediately nodded, then flew toward the Qian Earth Hall and the Wood Spirit Tomb respectively.

Qi Mozi looked at their retreating figures, a cold smile flickering at the corner of his mouth. Then, with a flicker of his form, he vanished from the spot.

...

Han Li flew rapidly along the staircase. After flying for a while, he found that Lei Yuce and the others had not pursued him, and his expression relaxed slightly.

Although he was not afraid of Lei Yuce and the others, as Hu San had said earlier, the situation ahead was unclear, and Lei Yuce and the others bore him no ill will. Unless necessary, he did not wish to fight them at this moment.

Han Li looked ahead, a hint of eagerness flashing in his eyes, and his escape speed increased slightly.

Although he was unwilling to fight Lei Yuce and the others, he did not want to let go of the supreme treasure at the array eye ahead. As for the Black Heaven Demon God that Lei Yuce had mentioned, he did not care much about it.

With his current divine abilities, as long as he did not face a Dao Ancestor directly, he believed he had some means to protect himself.

After all, the gains from entering this tower this time were already considerable. If something unexpected happened, he could simply turn and leave. Even if he couldn't find a way out for now, he could at least flee downward.

As for the Time Lamp that suppressed this tower, although he had some thoughts about it, it was not something he absolutely had to obtain. After all, safety came first.

The staircase was unexpectedly long. He flew forward for a full quarter of an hour without any sign of an end.

Meanwhile, in the air nearby, patches of white mist began to appear, drifting and dancing with the wind.

This white mist was no ordinary mist; it contained strands of spiritual power within. Although it was harmless, it greatly obstructed vision.

Han Li frowned slightly, slowed his escape speed a little, and at the same time spread his divine sense to probe the surroundings.

After advancing for a while longer, his eyes lit up, and his golden light intensified as he shot forward.

The scenery ahead opened up, and another square appeared on the mountain wall, with the surrounding mist disappearing without a trace.

Han Li swept his gaze and saw that the entire square was paved with black volcanic stone, densely covered with tiny pores from which wisps of smoke continuously rose.

Behind the square stood a fiery red double-eaved hall, with vermilion doors and red pillars, eaves curving like flying, and the roof covered with red glazed tiles. A layer of hot air seemed to hang over it, making the void somewhat blurry.

Although separated by a square several hundred zhang wide, Han Li could still feel a scorching heat wave, like water ripples, surging out wave after wave, spreading in all directions.

This time, he did not rush to step into the square. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, a purple light flashing within, and used his Nine Nether Demon Eyes to scan the square.

After looking for a while, he detected nothing unusual and felt no similarity to the blue hall he had encountered earlier.

His mind eased slightly, and he descended toward the black square.