Chapter 1245: Conflict of Two Golds

Han Li pondered briefly, then pressed two fingers together and gently brushed them over the gap in the wall. He placed them against his brow and sensed, his eyes immediately brightening.

The residual aura at the gap was very familiar to him—it belonged to Gold Boy.

After escaping the Ghost Valley, Gold Boy had indeed come here, though Han Li wondered what she was doing here.

Of course, the cave also held the aura of Qu Lin, who had clearly pursued her.

A flicker of light passed through Han Li's eyes. He muttered an incantation, transformed into a shadow, and flew into the cave, threading through it like a snake until he quickly reached the other side of the wall.

On the other side of the wall was a great hall, square in shape, spanning several hundred zhang. It was entirely golden, built completely from Absolute Metal Gold Rock, including the floor. The void was filled with extremely intense fluctuations of the Gold Law.

Though the hall was still empty, perhaps because it was constructed entirely of Absolute Metal Gold Rock, it gave an extraordinarily majestic impression.

"An entire palace built from Absolute Metal Gold Rock—what a grand gesture!" Han Li couldn't help but admire.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I recall now. Within the Nine Elements Temple, there is a legendary sacred hall called the Nine Elements Palace, the foundation of the temple. It is said to have been forged by the Nine Elements Ancestor from a massive piece of metal-attribute law material. This could very well be it," Lan Yan's voice sounded in Han Li's mind.

"The Nine Elements Palace! What is it used for?" Han Li asked, startled.

"I'm not sure about that. I only know it's a sacred site of the Nine Elements Temple, perhaps a place for secluded cultivation. After all, the metal-attribute law power here is extremely dense, and many in the Nine Elements Temple cultivate the metal-attribute law. Regardless, Fellow Daoist Han, if you act here, you must be extremely careful," Lan Yan's voice echoed again in his mind.

Han Li nodded slowly, activated his Netherworld Pupils, and continued to trace Qu Lin's spiritual power traces.

The dense metal-attribute law power here greatly interfered with Han Li, but he pushed the power of his Netherworld Pupils to the limit and finally detected Qu Lin's spiritual power traces, leading to the deepest part of the hall.

There was a side door there. Han Li pulled it open, revealing a garden outside.

The garden floor was also made of Absolute Metal Gold Rock, but the flower beds were filled with various spiritual soils, planted with exotic flowers and spiritual herbs, most of which were metal-attribute.

Han Li paid no attention to these spiritual herbs and continued tracking along the residual spiritual power traces in the void.

The Nine Elements Temple was quite large, but the view was not open, and he could not extend his divine sense very far, making exploration inconvenient.

He passed through two gardens and four or five palaces without seeing any end in sight or finding any trace of Gold Boy.

Han Li's brow furrowed slightly. This place was hardly safe. Where had Gold Boy and Qu Lin gone? Continuing to wander here recklessly could easily lead to danger.

After passing another palace, Han Li's eyes finally brightened, and he shot forward rapidly.

From there came the fluctuations of two auras colliding violently, along with rumbling sounds—clearly someone was fighting.

Those two auras belonged to Gold Boy and Qu Lin.

Han Li flew past a corridor, and the view ahead opened up. A massive square appeared before him, covering forty to fifty mu.

Around the square stood huge golden stone pillars inscribed with array patterns and restrictions, seemingly forming a formation, though it was not activated.

In the air above the square, two giant beetles radiating myriad golden lights were swiftly intertwined, forming two golden phantoms that spiraled and danced, locked in battle—they were Gold Boy and Qu Lin.

Beams of golden light shot out from their battle circle from time to time, striking the ground with thunderous roars.

The square floor was also made of Absolute Metal Gold Rock, but the attacks of the two were so fierce that large pits were blasted into the ground, and several of the golden pillars around the square were broken.

As Gold Boy and Qu Lin fought fiercely, the golden light radiating from their bodies seemed like two giant mouths, biting and devouring each other.

After years apart, Gold Boy's Gold Devouring Beetle form had become even more majestic and ferocious, and her aura had reached the early Daluo stage, approaching the peak of early Daluo.

However, Qu Lin's aura was even more immense, having fully reached the peak of early Daluo, only one step away from the mid-stage, and he firmly suppressed Gold Boy.

"Haha! As long as I devour you, I can fully reach the mid-Daluo stage, or even break through to the late Daluo stage! Become part of my body obediently—we are originally one!" Qu Lin laughed heartily.

"Dream on!" Gold Boy gritted her teeth and struggled to hold on.

Qu Lin chuckled, and the golden light on his body flared again, then suddenly condensed into a substantial golden domain covering twenty to thirty mu, enveloping nearly half the square.

Huge golden sabers and swords appeared within the domain, forming a world of blades and spears.

Gold Boy was instantly trapped in the domain, and giant golden sabers and swords formed a cage of blades and swords around her body.

The sabers and swords struck Gold Boy's body, sending golden sparks flying.

But the Gold Devouring Beetle's body was extremely hard; only white marks were left on Gold Boy's body, and she was not injured. However, her flying form was halted, trapped within the blade-and-sword cage.

A fierce light flashed in Gold Boy's eyes, and golden light burst from her body, forming a golden domain.

Countless golden beetle phantoms appeared in the domain, similar to Gold Devouring Beetles but with enormous mouths that took up most of their heads, filled with tiny, razor-sharp teeth.

As soon as these golden insect shadows appeared, they rushed toward the golden swords and began devouring them rapidly. Around Jintong in particular, the insect shadows were especially dense.

With crisp cracking sounds, the cage of swords around Jintong was quickly bitten apart, and in the blink of an eye nearly half was consumed. It seemed she would soon break free.

But at that moment, a golden flash appeared above Jintong's head, and Qulin's figure materialized out of thin air. His two front claws swept downward through the air.

The golden swords within Qulin's spirit domain instantly converged swiftly toward one spot, and with a flash they condensed into two hundred-zhang golden giant swords.

The giant swords had three faces, appearing like a prism, exuding a soul-shattering killing intent, as if they could drain the life from all things and annihilate everything.

"Chop!"

Qulin uttered softly, and the two prismatic giant swords shot forth like lightning, slashing toward Jintong.

A flicker of fear passed through Jintong's eyes, and she let out a sharp shriek.

The golden insect shadows around her flew up like lightning, pouncing on the two golden giant swords, but before they could even touch them, they were annihilated by the terrifying sword aura emanating from the prismatic giant swords, like moths flying into a flame, utterly useless.

The two golden giant swords blurred and appeared three feet above Jintong's head, crossing as they slashed down.

A look of determination flashed in Jintong's eyes. Golden light flickered on her body, as if she was about to use some technique.

But at that moment, a golden light wave spread out with extreme speed, enveloping Jintong and Qulin. It was yet another golden spirit domain, but this one was filled with a powerful law of time.

The two prismatic giant swords, caught in the time domain, immediately slowed down more than tenfold in their descent.

Then a rumbling hum came from the nearby void, and a golden giant hand the size of a small mountain appeared out of thin air, covered in countless golden runes, and grabbed the two prismatic giant swords in its grasp.

"What!" Qulin's expression changed, and he quickly formed hand seals.

But his movements were also slowed tenfold, far too slow to keep up.

The five fingers of the golden giant hand suddenly clenched with force, and an extremely powerful spiritual pressure erupted from it, surpassing even Qulin and Jintong.

With a "bang!"

The two prismatic giant swords were crushed to pieces!

Then the void above Jintong's head blurred, and Han Li's figure materialized.

"Uncle!" Jintong's eyes lit up with surprise when she saw Han Li.

"You! How could you have escaped from Gui Lingzi!" Qulin's face showed disbelief at the sight of Han Li.

"Hmph!" When Han Li heard Qulin mention Gui Lingzi, the anger from being framed earlier surged up. His figure flickered and vanished from the spot.

Qulin's expression changed slightly. He shot a hateful glance at Jintong, then his massive body rapidly shrank, turning into a golden blur that shot into the distance—he was fleeing.

Jintong and Han Li seemed to be on the same side.

Jintong alone was already troublesome; with Han Li added, he was no match.

But Qulin hadn't flown far when the figure ahead blurred, and Han Li's figure appeared like a ghost, blocking his path, far faster than Qulin.

Qulin was greatly startled, then let out a furious roar. His two front claws turned into streaks of golden light, slashing down at Han Li's head.

Han Li's expression turned cold. His figure flickered and vanished again, reappearing beside Qulin the next moment. His right fist, wreathed in golden lightning, shot out like lightning, striking Qulin's ribs.

With a loud "bang," Qulin was sent flying.

At that moment, Qulin's two front claws were still in the motion of striking down, having moved less than half a foot—compared to Han Li's movements, they were as slow as an ox crawling.

Han Li was now activating the Reversal True Wheel technique.

In his spare time over the years, he had been continuously refining this technique. Though not yet perfected, he could accelerate by twenty to thirty times, and combined with his time domain, it was enough to overwhelm all enemies in speed.

Although Qulin had been sent flying, a deep fist imprint appeared on his ribs, but the golden carapace on his body had not broken.

"Tough indeed!" Han Li muttered, then his figure flickered and vanished again, reappearing at Qulin's side, throwing another punch.

Another loud "bang," and Qulin was knocked back.

Han Li now transformed into hundreds of afterimages, swirling around Qulin like the wind. Countless golden fist shadows, accompanied by thunderous roars, tore through the air and pounded heavily onto Qulin's body.

Punch after punch rained down!

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Qulin's body was knocked back and forth in midair, spinning and tumbling, with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. In his heart, he was utterly terrified.

Although his body was extremely hard, it had its limits. Han Li's fists were astonishingly heavy; if he kept taking hits, his body would not be able to withstand it.