Chapter 1109: Dao Soldier Formation

Han Li stepped onto the final stone stair and arrived before the great hall. As he looked it up and down, his brow involuntarily furrowed.

On every brick of the hall before him was carved a talisman pattern, and on every pillar was inscribed a talisman pattern, densely packed and interlinked, forming a massive talisman array among themselves.

The talisman patterns were not too difficult to recognize; they were mostly used to reinforce the hall, making the entire Hall of Time itself resemble a magic treasure, its sturdiness far surpassing even some high-grade treasures.

However, no further restrictive formations were set at the hall's entrance.

Han Li raised his hand and pushed, and the two heavy doors swung inward.

He stepped over the threshold and entered the hall, his gaze sweeping around.

The interior space of the hall was much larger than he had imagined. Directly ahead, he could see a massive five-sided stone platform, wide at the base and narrow at the top, resembling an inverted square bucket.

The stone platform had five sides, each seemingly made of a different material, displaying the five colors: gold, green, blue, red, and yellow. In the center of each side was carved a strange talisman pattern, suggesting it was also an altar.

Han Li looked into the distance and saw on the top platform of the five-colored altar a golden oil lamp of ancient design.

The lamp stem of the golden oil lamp was slightly bent, somewhat like the stem of a lotus plant, while the lamp bowl resembled a lotus bud with petals spread out loosely. In the center stood a lotus-like wick, radiating dazzling golden light.

The golden light from the divine lamp formed a hemispherical golden light barrier, covering the entire altar.

Although Han Li was still some distance from the altar, he could still feel the waves of time law fluctuations emanating from the golden lamp. The rolling waves, like tides crashing against the shore, stirred his mind.

“Is this the Lamp of Time? Such powerful law fluctuations…”

At that moment, a voice of admiration sounded from the side. It was Jiao San and the others, who had also caught up and entered the hall.

Qi Mozi, leading Xiong Shan and the five demons, was the last to enter the hall.

As soon as he entered the Hall of Time, Qi Mozi's eyes immediately fell on the Lamp of Time, staring fixedly at it.

As for the eagle-nosed demon and the others, after entering the hall, they paid little attention to the Lamp of Time but instead looked at the five-colored altar, a trace of fear flashing across their faces.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to the interior, a black-and-white light emerged from the ground outside the hall door, flew in silently, and merged into the floor inside, disappearing without a trace.

Han Li withdrew his gaze from the Lamp of Time, glanced at Qi Mozi and the others, and his expression darkened slightly.

“Fellow Daoist Han, I have a proposal. How about we temporarily set aside our disputes in this Hall of Time?” At that moment, Qi Mozi suddenly transmitted his voice.

“I was thinking the same,” Han Li replied without hesitation.

He did not take Qi Mozi's proposal too seriously, but he had made up his mind not to act first as long as the other party did not make a move. After all, the hall was now a mix of dragons and fishes, each with their own thoughts. If he were to clash with Qi Mozi first, it would only bring harm without any benefit.

For Han Li, whether it was his grudge with Qi Mozi or his desire for the Lamp of Time, both came after his own safety. In any situation, survival was the top priority.

“The life tablets are there too,” Hu San said, coming to Han Li's side.

Han Li shifted his gaze and saw, in the shadow beneath the golden light of the Lamp of Time, three palm-sized blood-red tokens neatly arranged, from which emanated powerful life auras.

Without much thought, those should be the life tablets of Li Qima, Qu Lin, and the others.

Beside the three life tablets lay a triangular black iron token, seemingly inscribed with some talisman patterns, but they appeared unusually blurry and hard to discern.

Han Li noticed that Jiao San's gaze lingered on the Lamp of Time for a while, but more often fell on this object.

He wanted to ask about it but, after a moment's thought, held back.

On the top platform of the altar, besides these items, there was also a golden scroll rolled up and loosely tied with a golden thread, making it impossible to see if there was any title on it.

When Lei Yuce saw the golden scroll, a clear flash of excitement passed through his eyes. He exchanged a glance with Wen Zhong, who nodded with joy, suggesting it was something quite important to their Tongtian Sword Sect.

Han Li's gaze swept over the crowd, and a question suddenly arose in his mind: where was Qu Lin, who had entered first?

Just as he was puzzled, Qi Mozi suddenly spoke to everyone:

“Everyone…”

No sooner had he spoken than the entire hall shook violently, and the previously opened doors closed on their own.

At the same time, dazzling golden light rippled around the hall, and waves of powerful time law fluctuations enveloped the surroundings, causing the void to begin distorting.

Everyone felt as if they were wrapped in a golden space, and the flow of time around them suddenly became extremely slow. Their thoughts and divine sense were greatly restricted, and they became somewhat sluggish.

Without a word, Han Li formed a hand seal, and golden light radiated from his body, spreading rapidly around to envelop everyone, including Lei Yuce.

Almost simultaneously, Qi Mozi had already expanded his domain, enveloping Xiong Shan and the five demons.

Once inside the time domain, everyone's thoughts gradually returned to normal, but their movement speed was still suppressed, making them less agile than before.

Just then, a huge circular light ring suddenly appeared on the ground before them. Light surged within, and one after another, blurry figures emerged from it.

Han Li looked closely and saw that the figures emerging from the ground were all tall and thin, like bamboo poles, clad in ill-fitting golden armor that clanked as they walked. They were all dao soldiers.

These dao soldiers looked thin and weak, but in reality, the aura emanating from each of them was not weak.

What was most surprising was that after climbing out of the ground, these dao soldiers did not swarm toward them in a chaotic manner but instead formed orderly ranks, surrounding them layer by layer.

“What are they doing…” Lan Yuanzi frowned and asked in confusion.

“Forming a formation,” Han Li said slowly.

As everyone marveled, the dao soldiers charged forward in a special formation, encircling them in the center.

Once the dao soldier formation was complete, the golden armor on each soldier lit up with a blinding golden light.

Han Li felt a sharp pain in his eyes from the light and quickly squinted, activating his Nine Nether Demon Eye technique.

As purple light glowed from the depths of his pupils, the dazzling light that was hard to look at directly seemed to be filtered through a purple curtain, becoming less harsh.

The others also activated their own methods—some using spiritual eye techniques, others using treasures to block the light—and looked into the golden radiance around them.

As Han Li's gaze swept over, he saw that in the golden light, the armor plates of the thin, pole-like golden-armored dao soldiers began to emit talismans of various colors. These talismans flew off their bodies and turned into light of different colors, flowing back into the dao soldiers.

As the strange light entered their bodies, the dao soldiers underwent remarkable changes. One group, infused with green light, swelled up like inflated balloons, doubling in size, and a green longsword condensed in their hands.

An adjacent group, infused with yellow light, grew three times larger, and where the yellow light enveloped them, chunks of金刚 rock formed, turning them into sturdy stone men, each holding a giant stone hammer as tall as themselves.

Those infused with blue light had their golden armor melt like hot metal, turning into liquid gold that flowed down their bodies, trailing on the ground.

As for those infused with red light, flames burst from the gaps in their armor, turning them into fiery golden-armored figures, each wielding a long-handled broadsword wreathed in flames.

Only the dao soldiers infused with golden light showed no change in form, but each held a golden spear inscribed with intricate patterns, with a spiral of golden light coiled at the tip.

“What’s going on? Forming a formation is one thing, but how can there be so many dao soldiers of different attributes at once?” Jiao San’s eyes also glowed with strange light, and she asked in disbelief.

“These dao soldiers are already not weak in aura; each one’s individual strength is comparable to a Golden Immortal. There must be at least five hundred of them here, right? And each one is empowered by the law of the five elements. How is this possible?” Jiao San exclaimed.

“Heh, it seems I’ve underestimated that old bastard Wen Taisui before…” On the other side, Qi Mozi seemed to be the first to see through the trick, praising.

“Fellow Daoist Lei, what is this all about?” Lan Yuanzi looked at Lei Yuce and asked.

“What formation this is… I… I don’t know either,” Lei Yuce said, also somewhat surprised.

Although he should be the one most familiar with the Tower of Time, the constant surprises along the way showed that his understanding of the tower was not comprehensive.

“The dao soldiers are all of the same type. The reason for the different attribute changes is that the formation they set up resonates with the five-element altar, with countless connections between them,” Han Li, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

“You mean… the attribute changes in these dao soldiers are caused by the influence of the five-element altar?” Jiao San frowned and asked.