Chapter 1248: Fleeing for Dear Life

"Golden Boy, do you know the way out?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Of course... When I was imprisoned in Ghost Valley, they once brought me here, and I even met a gray-clad old man," Golden Boy said with certainty.

"What gray-clad old man?" Han Li asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I don't know him either, but he seemed to have a high seniority in the Nine Yuan Temple. Ghost Spirit had to bow and pay respects when meeting him. But the old man wasn't bad—he was kind and even instructed Ghost Spirit to treat me well. However, he went into seclusion right after and I never saw him again," Golden Boy said, seeming to have a good impression of that person.

"Do you really know the way?" Han Li asked, half-convinced.

"Hey, Uncle, if you don't believe me, who else can you trust?" Golden Boy puffed out her cheeks, displeased.

Before Han Li could respond, Little White said distrustfully, "Boss, do you really know the way? Last time I followed you, you took the wrong path, and we got blocked by Ghost Spirit and couldn't escape. And before that, you led me..."

"What did you say?" Facing Little White's undermining, Golden Boy raised her fist and gave him a knock on the head, glaring angrily.

"Ouch, nothing, nothing. I'll follow your lead, boss..." Little White rubbed his head and said repeatedly.

"Since Fellow Daoist Lan doesn't know the way either, let Golden Boy lead. We'll sneak through. If we encounter anyone from the Nine Yuan Temple, remember not to get entangled; prioritize escaping quickly," Han Li said after a moment's deliberation.

"Just watch and see. Follow me, and there'll be no problem," Golden Boy said with a hearty laugh, full of confidence.

With that, she looked around, raised a hand, and waved in one direction, saying:

"Come, this way, let's go!"

Thus, Han Li and the others followed Golden Boy, bypassing the rockery on the right and heading into a dense forest.

Within the Nine Yuan Palace, the buildings were not too numerous, nor were there many grand towers, but the layout of every pavilion and terrace was highly structured, connected by winding corridors, with exquisite gardens interspersed in between.

Han Li and the others passed through three gardens in succession without encountering a single cultivator from the Nine Yuan Temple.

When they emerged from the third garden, they saw before them a vast, misty lake filled with spiritual energy.

Across the entire lake, though unable to see, one could still hear faint sounds of explosions, shouts, and killing from the distant opposite shore, where a fierce battle seemed to be raging.

Han Li looked up at the sky above, and saw that above the clouds, a layer of golden barrier light covered the area, trembling slightly with each violent explosion.

"What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Han?" Lan Yan asked hurriedly, her expression also tense upon seeing this.

"Did Big Sister lead us the wrong way?" Xiao Bai also asked quickly.

"Do you want to die!" Jin Tong said without a second thought, smacking Xiao Bai on the head, who quickly lowered his head.

"The path is not wrong. Hearing sounds of killing from the opposite shore means that is the battle zone between the Reincarnation Hall and the Nine Yuan Temple, likely far from the center of the Nine Yuan Palace. So at least our direction is correct," Han Li said slowly.

"See, this fairy said it wouldn't be wrong, right?" Jin Tong said, a smug smile appearing on her face upon hearing this.

"Master, that might not necessarily be true. What if the Reincarnation Hall's attack is too fierce and they've already reached the core area of the Nine Yuan Palace? Wouldn't we be heading straight into the heart of the war?" Xiao Bai suddenly thought of something and raised his head to say.

"I think your skin is itching. Today you're just arguing with me," Jin Tong frowned and scolded angrily.

Xiao Bai quickly shrank his neck and begged for mercy.

"No, although the Reincarnation Hall is well prepared this time, they cannot attack so quickly. Besides, look, the barrier restriction above the Nine Yuan Palace has not been breached yet, so the battle zone is unlikely to be the core area," Han Li shook his head and said.

"Fellow Daoist Han speaks sense. Moreover, the Nine Yuan Palace is the most vital place in our temple. If it were truly breached, the commotion would not be as small as this," Lan Yan thought for a moment and echoed.

"Let's go. After flying across this lake, we'll find a place where no cultivators from either side are fighting, find a way out of the barrier, and then we can perform the Thunder Array technique to leave the Nine Yuan Temple as soon as possible," Han Li said.

Then, one after another, escape light shone on their bodies, and they flew swiftly toward the opposite shore of the lake.

To avoid attracting attention, Han Li and the others did not fly high but controlled their aura fluctuations, skimming almost close to the water's surface, leaving only four shallow traces on the water, spreading layers of faint ripples.

The density of the world's primordial qi above the lake was no less than that of a high-grade spirit gathering formation. The mist condensing on the lake was actually composed of countless tiny liquid droplets crystallized from spiritual power.

As Han Li and the others passed through, without even needing to activate their magic power to absorb these spiritual liquid droplets, they could feel strands of the world's primordial qi gathering toward their bodies.

The feeling was like soaking in hot spring water, with an indescribable comfort permeating their entire bodies.

Even the fatigue from the previous consecutive battles was dispelled by three-tenths by the dense mist of the lake.

Just as he was beginning to relax a little under the comfort of this feeling, a familiar voice suddenly came from the mist ahead:

"Who are you?"

As the voice fell, a flash of green suddenly appeared in the hazy mist ahead.

Immediately after, the mist in the surrounding void suddenly condensed, and a series of cracking sounds came from within. The entire lake instantly became coated with a layer of white frost, directly freezing into a thick sheet of solid ice.

"Sage Miaofa..." Han Li frowned, somewhat helplessly.

In the void ahead, the frozen mist parted to both sides, revealing a beautiful woman in a green dress. Her face was flawless, but the lack of curves on her chest was somewhat regrettable.

As soon as Lan Yan saw her, she hurriedly lowered her head, her expression turning both fearful and guilty.

Sage Miaofa's gaze swept over Han Li and the others, her shock growing more intense.

"Han Li, you are truly audacious, daring to kidnap a disciple of my Nine Yuan Temple, trespass into the Nine Yuan Palace's forbidden area, and even release the Devouring Gold Immortal?" Sage Miaofa glanced at Lan Yan, her eyes flickering, and rebuked Han Li.

Lan Yan's beautiful eyes flickered, and she found it somewhat amusing that Sage Miaofa mistakenly thought Han Li had kidnapped her.

"This Devouring Gold Immortal is originally my spirit pet. I came here today by way of the Reincarnation Hall merely to retrieve what is rightfully mine. Since my goal is achieved, I have no desire to linger in your Nine Yuan Temple. Fellow Daoist Miaofa, why not make it convenient for us to leave, so you can deal with those from the Reincarnation Hall sooner? It looks like they are about to break through the barrier." Han Li grinned and said.

Upon hearing this, Sage Miaofa imperceptibly glanced at the barrier in the high sky, which was oscillating more and more frequently, and her expression turned somewhat grave.

The next moment, without warning, she suddenly struck out, thrusting a palm toward Han Li.

The cold energy in the void surged. Han Li's eyes flickered as he saw six familiar crystal lights flare up around him, and something seemed to be covering him from above.

His Time Law instantly activated. With a sweep of his sleeves, he pulled Jin Tong, Xiao Bai, and Lan Yan together, and retreated explosively backward, instantly covering a hundred zhang.

At the spot where they had stood, a huge hexagonal snowflake ice crystal descended from above, its blue crystal light shimmering, refracting six blue dazzling lights.

Those six dazzling lights transformed into six familiar white crystal walls around them, but because Han Li reacted in time, they landed on empty space.

"So fast..."

Sage Miaofa's expression changed slightly, and she finally noticed that the aura emanating from Han Li was far beyond what it had been years ago.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice, Han. Since we both have matters to attend to, I'll take my leave." Han Li had no desire to fight her. As he spoke, he pushed the power of the Time Law to its extreme, and his figure blurred before vanishing from the spot.

However, just as when he had first met the Lawful Immortal, she had already sealed off the small lake with a ring of towering ice crystal walls.

Thus, Han Li had barely flown a hundred zhang when he encountered an ice wall head-on.

"Leave it to me..."

The Golden Boy gave a loud shout and shot forward first, his body bathed in golden light as if coated in molten gold, crashing directly into the ice wall.

A thunderous explosion rang out!

The entire ice crystal wall trembled violently, and the center caved inward. Ring-shaped cracks spread from the point of impact to the entire wall in an instant.

The ice crystal wall was not pierced with a large hole but collapsed entirely amid rumbling sounds.

The figures of Han Li and the others passed through the swirling icy crystal powder and shot off in another direction.

"Stop!" the Lawful Immortal roared, her figure darting forward in pursuit.

A huge, thin ice crystal shaped like a six-pointed snowflake appeared beneath her feet, skimming rapidly through the void as she chased after Han Li with remarkable speed.

Han Li had already opened his Time Domain, but he kept it confined to a dozen zhang around him, just enough to envelop his group, using the power of the Time Law to maintain their overall high-speed movement.

"Why run? I say we just kill her and be done with it!" the Golden Boy said, quite puzzled.

"A mid-stage Da Luo cultivator isn't someone you can kill just like that. If she gets us entangled, the commotion of battle will attract others, and things will get even more troublesome," Han Li said.

"So what do we do now? Being chased like this isn't a solution, is it?" the Golden Boy frowned and asked.

"We'll shake her off first, then decide. Get ready," Han Li said, his expression unchanged.

The Golden Boy and Little White hummed in unison, while Lan Yan, somewhat confused, showed a hint of doubt in his eyes.

The next instant, brilliant lightning erupted around them. Silver thunderbolts materialized out of thin air, and strands of silver electric threads wove together to form a silver lightning array.

With a thunderous roar, the silver lightning array flashed intensely, and the figures of Han Li and the others vanished from the spot.