Chapter 245: Entering the Valley

"Whether my method works or not, we'll know once I give it a try. You can watch from the side, but after we kill the target, I get first pick of the magical artifacts on him." Lin Shiqi said with a snicker.

"Since Fellow Daoist Lin Shiqi is so confident, go ahead and try. But before that, we need to set up a space-prohibition array outside this formation to avoid alarming the person inside and letting him escape." Lin Jiu said, taking the opportunity to speak before Han Li could respond.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this.

After briefly discussing the details, the three of them flew off according to their respective assignments and began setting up the prohibition array outside the two peaks.

More than half a day later, as dusk fell, Han Li and the others reconvened at the valley entrance.

With a soft chant from Lin Jiu, he pointed a finger at a formation flag on the ground before him. A layer of invisible ripples spread out, forming a spherical light barrier barely discernible to the naked eye, enveloping the entire area within nearly a thousand li.

"Alright, the prohibition array is activated. You can try now, Fellow Daoist." Lin Jiu finished his spell and looked at Lin Shiqi beside him, speaking.

Lin Shiqi nodded, stepped forward a few paces to the concealed formation light barrier at the valley entrance, and with a flick of his wrist, a golden talisman appeared between his fingers.

He raised his hand and pressed the talisman against his forehead.

The runes on the talisman immediately lit up and merged directly into his head.

Accompanied by a series of obscure incantations, golden arcs of electricity began to emanate from Lin Shiqi's body, enveloping him completely with a crackling sound.

Then, with a soft utterance of the word "Go!" his figure suddenly blurred, transforming into a thin bolt of lightning that shot straight into the valley entrance.

A faint "pop" sounded at the valley entrance, and then all was silent. Lin Shiqi's figure vanished.

"It seems this method works." Lin Jiu said with a hint of delight in his eyes.

Han Li, however, frowned and looked up into the sky.

Lin Jiu seemed to sense something amiss as well and quickly looked up.

A tearing sound was heard.

A figure wrapped in golden electric light fell rapidly from the sky, crashing straight into the snowy plain.

With a loud "boom!"

A huge crater formed in the snowy plain, and large arcs of golden lightning shot out, scorching the surrounding snow and trees black.

Han Li and Lin Jiu rushed over and saw Lin Shiqi sitting at the bottom of the crater, covered in soot with white smoke rising from his head. He didn't seem seriously injured, but looked both disheveled and somewhat comical.

"Lin Shiqi, what happened?" Lin Jiu asked in confusion.

"This barrier... it's not the Golden Peak Thunder Array, or rather, not entirely..." Lin Shiqi climbed out of the crater, took out a pill, and swallowed it before speaking.

"That explains it..." Han Li suddenly spoke up.

"It seems Fellow Daoist Jiao Shiwu has made a discovery." Lin Jiu's eyes lit up.

"Earlier, when that snow rabbit hit the formation, I sensed some fluctuations in spatial power. Now it appears that what's set up here is a special fusion formation." Han Li said after a moment's thought.

Lin Shiqi flashed over to Han Li's side, his injuries fully healed and his clothes changed.

His expression turned serious, and the provocative look in his eyes toward Han Li was gone. He asked, "So you're saying this formation is a fusion of the Golden Peak Thunder Array and some spatial formation?"

"Exactly. Fellow Daoist Lin Shiqi didn't fail to enter the formation; rather, the moment he successfully entered the Golden Peak Thunder Array, he was teleported out by the spatial barrier." Han Li explained.

"So that's why the lightning from the Golden Peak Thunder Array was compressed so densely—because of the spatial formation's influence?" Lin Jiu mused.

"That must be it. Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Lin Shiqi was fast enough that the spatial formation activated without the thunder array coordinating an attack. Otherwise, with the power of that compressed golden lightning, it would have been hard to escape unscathed." Han Li glanced at Lin Shiqi and said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shiqi's expression finally turned grave.

"It seems the person in this valley is engaged in something extremely important, as if to prevent all interference. Otherwise, they wouldn't use such a strange barrier formation. Once set up, it's hard for outsiders to get in and for those inside to leave." Han Li said thoughtfully.

"Since we can't sneak in, we'll have to break the formation's core and force our way in." Lin Jiu said after a moment of silence, a fierce glint in his eyes.

"Wait, I have another method that might be worth trying." Han Li suddenly said.

"Oh? Please speak freely, Fellow Daoist." Lin Jiu looked at him and said.

"I happen to be well-versed in a thunder-array technique that can combine spatial power with lightning power to achieve instantaneous long-distance escape. This great array here also fuses these two forces. If I can align the fluctuations of my thunder array with those of this great array at the same level, I might be able to penetrate it." Han Li explained thus.

"How confident are you in this method?" Lin Jiu asked.

"Controlling the thunder-array technique is not easy; I have only about fifty percent confidence." Han Li pondered briefly and said.

"Only half? That means we have a fifty percent chance of being attacked by the great array's lightning?" Lin Shiqi said hesitantly.

After a moment of deliberation, Lin Jiu decided, "Let's go with Fellow Daoist Jiao Shiwu's method. If it fails, I will find a way to block the great array's attack, and then we'll have no choice but to force our way through."

Upon hearing this, Lin Shiqi slowly nodded.

Once the three had settled on the plan, Han Li went to the mouth of the valley, closed his eyes, and released his spiritual sense to carefully perceive the spiritual power fluctuations of the valley's formation.

After a long while, his eyes suddenly snapped open, and his body crackled with electricity as countless silver lightning threads emerged.

Immediately after, a thunderclap sounded.

The lightning around him shot out, intertwining and weaving together in midair to form a lightning array over ten zhang in diameter, which directly enveloped Lin Jiu and the other.

"Both of you, come closer to me." Han Li said with a focused gaze.

A flicker of surprise passed through Lin Jiu's eyes as he took two steps closer to Han Li, and Lin Shiqi immediately followed suit.

The next moment, Han Li pressed his hands together in front of his chest, and the lightning array surrounding the three shrank to less than a zhang, while the violently discharging arcs also contracted and diminished, as if the whole array had been suppressed tenfold.

"Let's go." Han Li said softly.

The lightning array enveloping the three flashed with electric light and vanished from the spot.

Almost simultaneously, in the void at the valley mouth, the invisible light curtain suddenly flashed, and dozens of thumb-thick golden lightning bolts appeared and then silently disappeared, as if nothing had happened.

Inside the valley, a tearing sound suddenly came from high in the air, and a patch of silver lightning burst open, carrying the three uncontrollably crashing heavily toward a black cliff face.

Han Li quickly withdrew the lightning, tapped the cliff with his toes, flipped his body, and flew backward, landing steadily on the ground.

Lin Jiu and the other also twisted sharply, stabilized themselves, and flew down.

"The spatial power of this great array is stronger than I anticipated; I almost lost control of the lightning array." Han Li let out a long breath and said.

"No matter. It's enough that we managed to enter the valley smoothly." Lin Jiu waved his hand and said.

Han Li swept his gaze around and saw that the valley was strewn with rocks, completely devoid of snow, with only a black stone hall built of rocks standing alone in the center of the valley, looking quite empty.

To his slight surprise, the natural spiritual energy in this valley was extremely rich, even much stronger than in most parts of the Zhongming Mountain Range. Above the black stone hall, rolling mist rose and condensed into a cloud cluster emitting five-colored light.

After exchanging glances, the three of them simultaneously leaped up and shot toward the stone hall.

At that moment, flames blazed inside the stone hall, and rolling waves of heat continuously steamed out from the skylight above.

In the center of the hall, a golden cauldron about three chi high, with two handles and three legs, floated leisurely in midair.

On the ground beneath the cauldron, an octagonal array diagram was engraved, filled with dense flame runes, from which eight blazing fire dragons extended, holding up the golden cauldron and constantly shaking it.

From their bodies and mouths, intensely fierce flames continuously spewed forth, releasing vast fiery power to bake the alchemy cauldron.

On the golden alchemy cauldron, ancient runes flashed continuously, not only completely sealing in the fragrance of the medicinal herbs inside but also drawing the spiritual power from the surrounding natural world into the cauldron.

Outside the flames, a white-haired old man in a purple-gold Daoist robe and a lotus flower crown was forming hand seals, controlling the eight fire dragons beneath the cauldron.

This man had prominent cheekbones, a gaunt face, and sunken eyes. His eyes were fixed on the changes in the runes on the cauldron, a fanatical gleam shining in his pupils, completely immersed in the act, as if nothing else in the world mattered except the alchemy before him.

Suddenly, the runes that had been flashing on the cauldron blazed with brilliant light.

Almost simultaneously, the golden cauldron also flashed with light, changing from pure gold to five colors, like porcelain being fired in a kiln, beginning to undergo a dazzling transformation.

Seeing this, the white-haired old man's excitement grew, and he kept muttering, "Almost there, almost there..."

Just then, two beams of golden light penetrated through the stone door, which was sealed by restrictions.

Two clanging sounds rang out.

The heavy stone door was instantly cut into four sections, toppling inward into the hall.