Chapter 251: Delay

Just as Han Li and the other two were struggling to hold on, the sky full of lightning balls seemed to finally come to an end.

Han Li and the others were first overjoyed, but after exchanging glances, they saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

Because ever since the sky full of azure lightning balls appeared, the azure-armored giant's figure had vanished. Since the azure domain space was still present, it was clear that things would not be so simple.

As the three expected, before they could fully breathe a sigh of relief, another change occurred!

Suddenly, clusters of azure light vortices appeared out of thin air in the high sky, and azure branches flew out from the vortices, crashing down below, hundreds or even thousands of them.

Although they looked like branches, each one was over ten zhang long, comparable to a large tree. With a piercing howl, they tore through the sky and smashed fiercely toward the three like a rainstorm.

A thunderous roar erupted!

But Han Li and the others had adjusted their positions during the brief lull, and now formed a triangular formation, each guarding one side.

The cloud mass above Han Li's head, already not thick, trembled violently under the impact of these branches. Patches of cloud vapor were directly smashed away, but they also blocked nearly a third of the azure branches.

The sword array around Lin Jiu operated, and the sharp sword qi shattered the falling azure branches into pieces.

Among the three, Lin Shiqi seemed the worst off. He had been injured earlier, causing damage to his primordial energy. Now, the golden-yellow sand curtain above his head rolled and surged under the attack of the sky full of azure branches, with sand splashing, and some cracks faintly appearing.

The azure branches seemed inexhaustible, and the immense force transmitted through the air to Han Li and the others, causing them great suffering. But fortunately, the three were now each responsible for one side, so they could barely hold on.

"This can't go on... If I had known, I wouldn't have taken this mission for the reward. Now we've provoked the Immortal Palace, and our lives are at stake," Lin Shiqi said with a bitter face.

"It seems we have been set up. This person spared no expense and carefully plotted to lure us here to ruin this Immortal Palace elder's plan, deliberately provoking conflict between the Wuchang Alliance and the Immortal Palace," Lin Jiu said with a grim expression.

"Fellow Daoists, let's explore these matters after we survive. The current situation seems a bit off," Han Li suddenly spoke.

"What's wrong... Not good!" Lin Jiu was first startled, then after sweeping his gaze around, he was also alarmed.

It was seen that after the azure branches were shattered by them, the azure light specks they turned into sank into the surrounding ground, causing the soil to churn. Then, emerald green saplings burst out of the ground one after another. As the light specks continued to pour in, the saplings began to grow wildly at a visible rate.

In just a few breaths, these saplings turned into trees dozens of zhang tall, and they continued to grow and rise.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li and the other two found themselves surrounded by a lush forest with an extremely thick wood-attribute aura.

Such a bizarre situation immediately made Han Li feel uneasy.

"If this continues, none of us may be able to leave this place alive. Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu, you have the highest cultivation here. Do you have any way?" Lin Shiqi said with great anxiety.

"Although this Golden Immortal is only an incarnation, his methods are extremely strange. Even I can barely hold on now, and escaping is as difficult as ascending to heaven. At this point, perhaps going against the grain might offer a slim chance of survival," Lin Jiu first shook his head, then said.

"Going against the grain?" Lin Shiqi's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was also intrigued.

As Lin Jiu said, the three were now in this azure domain containing law power, which limited their strength. Facing this endless attack, escaping was even more difficult. Even if he summoned the True Word Wheel and the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, though he could hold out for a while, he was not sure he could escape safely.

Moreover, these two treasures were too involved; he would never use them unless his life was at stake.

Lin Jiu, as a late-stage True Immortal, though constrained like himself, remained calm, clearly still having some trump card.

While pondering, Lin Jiu opened his mouth and spat out three objects of different colors. They swelled in the wind and turned into three large banners shimmering with spiritual light, looking very ancient, with eight strange runes embroidered on the banner surfaces, neither painting nor writing.

The three large banners looked identical, appearing to be a set of treasures.

However, the three ancient banners were of different colors: one gold, one silver, and the other black.

Han Li looked at the eight strange runes on the banners, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.

These eight runes were very similar to the runes engraved on the stone tripod he had obtained from the group of apes under the mountain. Could there be a connection between them...

He had studied that stone furnace many times over the years without any clue. He didn't expect to find a lead here today.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but his mind raced with thoughts.

"This treasure is called the 'Three Origin Great Harvest Banner.' It requires three people to activate simultaneously. Its power is considerable, especially good for defense, but it consumes a huge amount of immortal spiritual power. I alone cannot activate it. My idea of going against the grain is that we first stop thinking about escaping and instead focus all our efforts on using this treasure for defense," Lin Jiu said slowly.

"Since this treasure consumes immortal spiritual power, the three of us will eventually exhaust our strength. If we continue like this, won't we become trapped beasts?" Lin Shiqi said with some disappointment.

"As far as I know, incarnations formed from such talismans generally have certain limitations and cannot exist for long. Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu's intention should be to delay as much as possible until this incarnation can no longer hold on," Han Li said.

"Fellow Daoist Jiao Fifteen is correct. That is exactly my intention," Lin Jiu nodded.

"But I see that this set of Three Origin Great Harvest Banners is somewhat different from ordinary treasures, especially the eight runes on them, which are quite peculiar. May I ask what mysteries they hold? We are in danger now and cannot afford any mistakes. I hope you can enlighten us," Han Li said calmly.

"This treasure is indeed special. I obtained it by chance, but after more than a hundred years of exploration, I have figured out some methods of refinement. Time is short; please familiarize yourselves with it as soon as possible," Lin Jiu said unhurriedly.

After speaking, he suddenly urged his sword technique, expanding the sword array to block nearly half of the azure branches' attacks. With his other hand, he tossed two jade slips toward Han Li and Lin Shiqi.

Han Li reached out and caught the jade slip. While marveling, he secretly guessed that Lin Jiu probably knew something about the eight mysterious runes, but judging by his demeanor, he was naturally unwilling to say.

As he pondered, his divine sense had already entered the jade slip in his hand.

The jade slip recorded a mantra for refining treasures, which seemed somewhat peculiar and was very different from any refinement method he knew.

While quickly comprehending it, Han Li recalled the insights he had gained from studying the stone furnace over the years. The two mutually corroborated each other, and he couldn't help but feel secretly delighted.

If his guess was correct, this refinement technique should also be useful for the stone furnace.

Not long after, the azure branches falling from the sky suddenly stopped without warning. However, the hundred or so giant trees around them had already grown to two or three hundred zhang tall, with intertwined branches almost blocking the sky above.

"There's no time! Quickly familiarize yourselves with this banner," Lin Jiu frowned slightly, then handed the silver and black banners to Han Li and Lin Shiqi.

Then he suddenly raised his hand and shot several spells in succession, which disappeared into the golden banner in front of him, causing golden light dots to appear on its surface.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li immediately formed a peculiar hand seal and directed it into the silver banner in front of him.

The silver banner slowly rose, and dots of silver light emerged, twinkling like stars in the night sky, brilliant and mysterious, emitting a crisp, tinkling sound.

Lin Shiqi also closed his eyes and began to form hand seals.

On the surface of the black banner, dots of black light appeared, interweaving into a layer of dark light, and it slowly floated up.

At that moment, a fluctuation arose above their heads, and the Golden Immortal incarnation appeared, his body having returned to normal human size.

"I didn't expect a few low-level immortals to have quite a few tricks. But it's time to end this!"

The Golden Immortal incarnation said, raising his hand. A cluster of azure spiritual light appeared, within which countless green runes flickered, then disappeared into a towering tree below.

This large tree immediately uprooted itself, seemingly unconstrained by the soil. Its entire body flashed with dazzling green light, and it rapidly transformed, growing thick limbs and an ugly head.

In just one breath, this giant tree turned into a tree man hundreds of zhang tall.

As soon as the tree man took shape, without a word, it raised a huge, green-glowing fist and smashed it fiercely toward the golden sword array where Lin Jiu was.

With a loud bang, the azure space in the void trembled, and the golden sword array shook violently but quickly returned to calm.

As azure spiritual light flew from the Golden Immortal incarnation's hand, in the blink of an eye, half of the large trees turned into tree men. However, the azure light on the incarnation's body also dimmed slightly.

All the tree men swung their huge fists, and countless azure, hazy fist shadows surged wildly toward Han Li and the others.

Boom, boom, boom!

After enduring several rounds of storm-like attacks, the black water cloud, golden-yellow sand curtain, and golden sword array, which had been tightly defended, gradually became scattered, and their light dimmed considerably, but they did not shatter.

Seeing this, the Golden Immortal incarnation's expression darkened, seeming somewhat impatient.

He opened his mouth and spat out a plume of azure mist. It rolled back and enveloped all the remaining large trees below.

These giant trees immediately emitted emerald green light, uprooted themselves, but did not immediately turn into tree men. Instead, they merged with each other. Amidst the flickering emerald light, they transformed into a giant tree man two to three thousand zhang tall.

Green light flowed continuously all over its body. It raised one arm, and the void rippled.

With a "bang" sound!

The surrounding tree men burst apart one after another, turning into clusters of azure light that rolled back and formed an azure wooden knife as long as the giant tree man's body.

The blade was engraved with green runes, flickering with a cold light.