Chapter 1235: Unexpected

Han Li and the other two were now advancing through a deep, winding corridor. Qu Lin had already taken the lead, with a golden light flickering at his brow as he constantly sensed the position of the Gold Devouring Beetle.

The corridor soon came to an end, and a vast stone chamber opened up before them.

The chamber was enormous, spanning thousands of feet in size. However, it was no longer empty; rows of black stone pillars, each requiring several people to encircle, stood imposingly on both sides.

These pillars were crystal clear, as if made of some kind of crystalline jade, and were inscribed with strange, ghostly patterns that resembled either array markings or some form of writing.

The pillars on both sides extended forward, leaving only a passage about ten feet wide in the middle that led deep into the chamber.

The light here was dim, and one could only faintly see a tightly shut cyan door at the far end of the chamber.

Seeing this, Han Li looked surprised. He stood at the entrance without rashly entering and asked Lan Yan:

“Fellow Daoist Lan, do you know what this place is?”

“I do not know either,” Lan Yan shook her head.

“Looking at the patterns on these pillars, they seem to be the legendary Netherworld Script,” Qu Lin examined the designs on the pillars and judged.

“Netherworld Script?” Han Li frowned slightly.

“The so-called Netherworld Script is said to be the writing of the Nine Netherworld Realm. I only saw it once, long ago, in an ancient tome,” Qu Lin said.

“The Nine Netherworld Realm? Does such a place truly exist?” Han Li’s eyes flickered.

“It does. It is said to be the place where all things in the world undergo reincarnation, but very few can go there, so it has gradually become a legend,” Qu Lin said.

“Fellow Daoist Qu, can you read the Netherworld Script?” Han Li nodded slowly and asked.

He had heard of reincarnation before and was very curious about the legendary Nine Netherworld Realm, but had never found concrete evidence of its existence. He hadn’t expected to find some clues here.

“I only know of the existence of this script but cannot read it. However, these pillars look very much like sealing pillars. They likely seal something inside. As long as we don’t touch them, it should be fine,” Qu Lin said.

Han Li grunted in acknowledgment; he had guessed the same.

But whether it was safe to simply walk past them, he could not be sure.

As he pondered, he silently activated his Nine Nether Demon Eyes and even risked extending his divine sense to probe the pillars, but still found nothing.

“Fellow Daoist Qu, are you certain that the Gold Devouring Beetle is ahead?” Han Li asked after a moment of deliberation.

“Yes, it’s not far now. But since the Netherworld Script has appeared here, it feels rather eerie and strange… In any case, the path ahead is uncertain. Whether to continue forward is for Fellow Daoist Han to decide,” Qu Lin nodded and said.

“Since we’ve come this far, there’s no reason to give up halfway. However, this place is unusual. I will take the lead, Fellow Daoist Qu will provide support in the middle, and Fellow Daoist Lan will follow at the rear,” Han Li said after a moment of silence, glancing at Qu Lin.

Lan Yan naturally had no objection and simply nodded.

“With Fellow Daoist Han leading the way, that’s certainly for the best. Although I am a Gold Devouring Beetle, I admit that apart from my physical body, both my cultivation and abilities are far inferior to yours. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle any trouble,” Qu Lin laughed.

“Then let’s go in. Both of you, be on guard,” Han Li said.

“Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han,” Lan Yan smiled slightly and, from an angle Qu Lin couldn’t see, winked at Han Li.

Han Li smiled faintly and stepped into the hall first.

Qu Lin followed closely, while Lan Yan walked at the very back.

The sound of low footsteps echoed in the chamber. They walked a short distance without any incident.

Han Li did not relax his vigilance and remained on high alert for everything around him.

Just as they reached the central area of the hall, a faint rustling sound came from the stone forest on both sides.

Although the sound was subtle, with their cultivation levels, Han Li and the others heard it immediately.

“Watch out! Something’s happening!” Han Li shouted in a deep voice, and a golden light flared up around him, protecting his entire body.

At that moment, clusters of black shadows suddenly emerged on the stone pillars in the hall, writhing incessantly.

Seeing this, Han Li’s mind raced. He stomped his foot and decisively shot forward like lightning.

Seeing this, Lan Yan quickly followed.

Qu Lin’s eyes flickered, but instead of advancing, he retreated, shooting back like lightning along the path they had come.

Seeing this, Han Li narrowed his eyes, and golden light flickered around him as if he was about to act.

But at that moment, the black light clusters on the pillars flashed violently, and beams of black light shot out from them, like countless crossbow bolts, covering the sky and heading toward Han Li and the others.

The black light emitted a shrill whistling sound that echoed through the hall, making one’s soul tremble and feel nauseous.

Han Li had no time to worry about Qu Lin; he hurriedly activated his Spirit Refining Art to stabilize his soul, while golden lightning arcs appeared all over his body.

With a wave of his hand, these lightning arcs transformed into golden lightning whips that lashed out in all directions, colliding with the black lights.

The lightning power within the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had advanced to become Divine Pestilence Lightning, greatly increasing its might. As the golden lightning flashed, the nearby void felt scorching hot.

Where the black lights met the golden lightning whips, they instantly shattered and exploded.

Lan Yan waved his hand and sacrificed over a dozen blue flying knives, which danced around him, forming an exquisite blade formation to block the incoming black lights.

The blade formation was quite powerful; though it trembled continuously under the assault of the black lights, it managed to hold them off.

Qu Lin's entire skin turned pure gold. He did not block the black lights but let them strike his body, continuing to fly backward like lightning.

The black lights struck him with a series of loud bangs, but they caused little damage, leaving only shallow marks, utterly painless and insignificant.

In the blink of an eye, Qu Lin flew out of the range of the black lights and landed at the entrance of the stone chamber. His hands suddenly turned dazzling gold, and he swung them forward.

Two streaks of golden light shot from his palms, vanishing in a flash as they struck a wall of the stone chamber.

On that wall were two shallow protrusions, which were shattered into pieces by the two golden lights with two dull thuds.

The black light erupting from the stone pillars suddenly brightened tenfold, but instead of attacking Han Li and Lan Yan, it turned and shot into the ground, merging into it.

With a hum,

a dense layer of black light emerged on the ground, and one after another, pitch-black ghostly script characters appeared, rolling and intertwining to form a somewhat hazy giant pattern, seemingly some kind of strange formation, emitting a bone-chilling coldness.

Han Li suddenly felt his body tighten, and he plummeted straight down from midair to the ground.

At the same time, countless black light threads rose from the black formation on the ground, enveloping his body.

Han Li's limbs felt as if bound by invisible steel hoops, unable to move, and the spiritual power within him also solidified.

Lan Yan fared even worse; he fell stiffly to the ground before Han Li, trapped by the black formation and unable to move an inch.

"Qu Lin, what is the meaning of this?" Han Li demanded in a deep voice.

Although he had never truly trusted Qu Lin, he had not expected the other to be so familiar with this place, even knowing how to control its restrictions, otherwise he would not have been trapped so easily.

The earlier pretense of using a massive amount of immortal essence stones as a condition to lead them to find Gold Devouring Beetle was clearly a deception; Qu Lin had deliberately lured them here.

"Fellow Daoist Han, thank you for bringing me into the Nine Yuan Temple and near that Gold Devouring Beetle. It saved me a lot of trouble." Qu Lin revealed a smug smile.

"Your goal is also that Gold Devouring Beetle? Have you been here before?" Han Li asked.

"At this point, why pretend to be ignorant? We Gold Devouring Beetles naturally devour each other for true evolution. Moreover, that Gold Devouring Beetle devoured one of my avatars, so I must reclaim the power that belongs to me." Qu Lin showed a cold smile.

"One of your avatars..." Han Li's heart stirred.

Could it be that the Gold Devouring Beetle from the Nine Yuan Temple that Gold Devouring Beetle had devoured was related to Qu Lin?

"Enough chitchat. If we don't leave now, that Ghost Spirit will catch up. You two stay here slowly." Qu Lin had no intention of lingering, and after speaking, he turned to leave.

At that moment, with a loud rumble, the stone door deep in the chamber burst open.

The darkness in the chamber suddenly condensed, and a fierce wind arose. A huge black shadow shot out from the stone door, descending upon Han Li and the others.

Han Li and Lan Yan, already pinned to the ground, were pressed even more immobile by the shadow's immense force; Lan Yan collapsed to the ground.

"Damn! He's here fast!" Qu Lin looked furious and rubbed his hands together.

Instantly, a piercing howl arose as countless crystalline lights like sword qi burst from Qu Lin's body, condensing into a magnificent golden sword shadow that slashed at the black shadow in midair.

With a tearing sound, the terrifying aura emitted by the black shadow was ripped open.

Qu Lin's face lit up with joy, and he immediately transformed into a golden light, flying toward the way they came.

"It's you! You defected from the Nine Yuan Temple back then, and now you dare to return? Then don't even think about leaving!" A harsh voice came from midair.

Before the words faded, a house-sized, hazy black claw appeared before the golden light that Qu Lin had transformed into, and grabbed down fiercely.

The claw was covered in scales, especially the five huge nails, which were full of strange talismans and patterns, exuding an incomparably fierce momentum. Where it passed, the void was easily torn into five neat black marks like a curtain.

With a crisp tearing sound, the golden light that Qu Lin had transformed into exploded, revealing his figure, which had been cut into five or six pieces of mutilated corpse.

But the surface of those mutilated corpses flashed with golden light, turning into six human-head-sized golden beetles that continued to shoot forward, instantly disappearing into the passage they came from.

"Eh!"

The black shadow in midair flickered and withdrew, transforming into a young man in a black robe with a gaunt face and cold eyes, showing a look of surprise.

"Ghost Spirit!" On the ground below, Han Li squinted his eyes and murmured to himself.