Chapter 261: The Floating Mountain Anomaly

Han Li's pupils were tinged with a golden light. After exhaling lightly, he activated his spirit refinement technique, releasing his vast divine sense. It passed through the light curtain and suddenly split into seventy-two strands, directly piercing into the golden lightning to fully control the seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

Under his mental manipulation, the seventy-two flying swords trembled in unison, their radiance gradually receding. The golden arcs of electricity that had been leaping out also retracted inch by inch, merging into the swords bit by bit until they completely disappeared.

Han Li formed a hand seal with both hands. The formation on the fire altar flashed a few times, and the golden beam of light shooting out from it gradually vanished, leaving only the flying swords suspended within the flames.

He opened his mouth and inhaled sharply. The Nascent Flame that had merged with the silver flames immediately rolled back and was swallowed into his abdomen.

With the withdrawal of the Nascent Flame, the temperature within the flames dropped slightly. The transparent, crystal-like Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords began to glow with a green light, gradually reverting to their verdant hue.

On the edges of the swords, faint golden specks of light shimmered, naturally forming golden patterns resembling thunderclouds. They appeared both seamlessly integrated and imbued with an ancient charm.

Han Li's hands moved through the air, leaving trails of golden afterimages. All the flying swords, as if imbued with spirit, broke free from the silver flames and slowly swept over to him.

He pressed two fingers together and drew them across his palm, causing a mass of pale golden essence blood to emerge. It condensed into a golden blood mass the size of an egg, which he dispersed with a slap, precisely dividing it into seventy-two drops that scattered into each flying sword.

As soon as the essence blood touched the flying swords, it immediately merged into them, vanishing without a trace.

At the same time, Han Li felt a closer connection with the flying swords. The discomfort he had felt due to the change in the swords' aura instantly dissipated.

He waved his hand again, and the seventy-two flying swords flashed with green light, flying lightly into the flames like summer fireflies, continuing to be tempered.

After a moment, Han Li stepped forward, closed his eyes slightly, and began to use his divine sense to inscribe the miniature formations recorded in the ancient beast-hide tome onto the flying swords.

…

Half a year later.

The Azure Light Formation outside the Floating Mountain was withdrawn. Han Li walked out of the mansion's main gate, his face betraying no emotion, but inwardly he was quite pleased.

At this point, all seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had been fully refined. Their appearance and released aura were completely renewed, and the impure sword essence that had not been fully refined earlier was now completely absorbed. The quality of each flying sword had been significantly improved.

What pleased him most was that after the re-refinement, the seventy-two flying swords, having once again integrated with his essence blood, had become more closely connected to him. He could clearly sense the astonishing spiritual nature contained within these swords.

This feeling was as if these seventy-two flying swords were not his magic treasures, but objects connected to him by blood.

Being in the secret realm, he had not yet tested the power of the flying swords, but he knew without thinking that they were certainly not what they used to be.

On the square outside the mansion, Hu Zhen and the others had been waiting for a long time. Han Li inquired about some matters within the secret realm, rewarded these people with some spirit stones, and told them to continue doing their work well.

Afterward, Han Li casually asked about some matters within the Candle Dragon Sect, but since most of these people had been staying in the secret realm, they knew little.

Only one newly arrived disciple mentioned some things about the Candle Dragon Sect, but they were all trivial matters. Still, it showed that no major disturbances had occurred within the sect.

This relieved Han Li somewhat.

Thus, under relative calm, time passed.

A few years later, Han Li finally obtained definite news from the Wuchang Alliance by chance, learning that Gu Jie had been turned away by a high-ranking member of the alliance. Only then did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Not long after, the Floating Mountain where he resided was once again sealed off by a restrictive formation.

…

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, two hundred years had passed.

Within the Floating Mountain secret realm, outside a floating peak shrouded in green light, seven or eight young men dressed in Candle Dragon Sect disciple robes stood in midair, their faces tense and anxious.

"What do we do, Brother Hu? This time, the mist rising from the Great Chasm is unusual. In previous years, it would recede within a month at most, but this time it has been over three months and still hasn't dissipated. In the past few days, it has even shown signs of spreading upward..." a round-faced young man asked, looking at the dark-skinned youth named Hu Zhen.

"Elder Li instructed before his seclusion that this retreat is of utmost importance, and we must not disturb him unless it is absolutely necessary. If we rashly send him a message and affect his cultivation, who will bear the responsibility?" Hu Zhen replied.

"But Elder Li has been in seclusion for nearly a hundred years now. No one knows when he will come out. If something truly goes wrong in the Great Chasm and affects the harvest of spiritual herbs, we won't be able to explain that either," the round-faced young man said anxiously.

The others nodded in agreement, looking deeply concerned.

The dark-skinned youth frowned deeply. After pondering for a moment, he said:

"Sending a message to Elder Li now is certainly not appropriate. We must first find out what is happening in the Great Chasm before making a decision. For now, let's closely monitor the changes in the mist. Have everyone keep watch to prevent large-scale incursions of White Ghosts. I'll find a way to investigate the situation inside. If it really comes to it, we'll have no choice but to disturb Elder Li."

"That's all we can do..." the round-faced young man nodded and said.

But before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked up toward the top of the floating mountain shrouded in green light.

In the high sky, it seemed that a fierce wind had suddenly arisen, blowing wisps of cloud toward this area, quickly gathering into a massive gray cloud stretching for a hundred miles.

Within the cloud, faint streams of light flickered, at first shimmering like shooting stars, then gradually brightening and stabilizing, finally radiating brilliant multicolored light.

"Is this... Elder Li breaking through to a new realm?" murmured the round-faced young man.

"It should be..." said the dark-skinned young man as well.

Before his words faded, the cloud vapor in the sky began to spin wildly, and a beam of five-colored light condensed from the world's primal energy descended from the high sky, enveloping the entire mountain.

Everyone felt the air around them tighten, as if an invisible restriction had suddenly emerged in the void, causing them some discomfort.

Just then, a rapid and piercing buzzing sound came from the abyss below.

"Not good, something's wrong! Let's go!"

Hearing this sound, the dark-skinned young man's expression changed, and he quickly shouted.

With that, his figure flickered and he swooped down, heading straight for the great chasm below.

Seeing this, the round-faced young man and the others did not hesitate; they all activated their escape lights and followed him down.

As they descended, passing hundreds of floating mountains, disciples of the Candle Dragon Sect continuously joined them, gradually forming an army of over a thousand cultivators.

Among these people, aside from the few leaders who were at the peak of the Void Refinement stage, most were at the early Void Refinement stage, having been stationed here for varying lengths of time, but at least several hundred years.

Everyone understood that the buzzing sound meant the range of the rising mist had exceeded the historical maximum, and more than a dozen additional mountains would be engulfed by the mist, with the rare spiritual herbs growing on them being devoured by the white ghosts.

After flying nearly a thousand miles downward, the dark-skinned young man and the others finally saw the thick mist, as heavy as storm clouds.

Mountains that in previous years would never have entered the mist's range were now more than half swallowed by it, with indistinct shadows within, as if a large number of living creatures were running and leaping, occasionally emitting hoarse roars.

"How could this be?" said the round-faced young man, his face full of disbelief.

"Junior Brother Luo, you have the secret transmission talisman from Elder Li. Go quickly and wait outside the peak. Once we can't hold on here, you immediately release the talisman to inform Elder Li." Hu Zhen frowned deeply and spoke rapidly.

"Alright." The round-faced young man immediately replied.

"Remember, Elder Li is at a critical moment of breaking through. You must not use the talisman before we are defeated here." The dark-skinned young man cautioned.

"Rest assured, Senior Brother, I remember." The round-faced young man nodded solemnly.

With that, he turned and shot upward.

"All disciples, hear my command: immediately set up the Green Light Void-Sealing Array." Hu Zhen, with a worried expression, turned to the others and shouted loudly.

"Yes!" The crowd responded in unison, their voices echoing back and forth in the chasm.

The cultivators at the peak of Void Refinement surrounding him immediately flickered and dispersed, each leading several hundred disciples to various positions above the mist.

They waved their hands, as if rehearsed countless times, skillfully and uniformly producing a large green banner, tossing it into the void before them, forming hand seals and chanting secret incantations.

As the chanting sounded, the runes on the thousand-plus green banners blazed brightly, releasing beams of green light that interconnected, forming a vast, hazy green light screen that shielded the area above the mist.

In the great chasm, the thick mist churned like boiling water, rising rapidly at a speed several times faster than before, soon reaching the green light screen.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh"

A sound like a howling wind or surging waves came from the depths of the chasm, as the surging mist crashed against the green light screen, causing it to shake violently and sway.

Above the light screen, the Candle Dragon Sect disciples gripped the poles of their banners tightly, their bodies radiating intense light as they struggled to stabilize the great array. Some of the lower-cultivation disciples swayed like lone willow leaves in a storm.

Just then, humanoid figures continuously swarmed out from within the thick mist, shooting upward from below and violently slamming into the green light screen, producing a series of dull thuds.

The Candle Dragon Sect disciples looked down and saw, beneath the green light screen, ugly white ghosts, as if maddened, leaping high from the floating mountains and constantly crashing upward.

The behavior of these white ghosts was extremely strange, almost incomprehensible, as if they had completely lost all regard for their lives.

Some even smashed their own heads open, splattering unknown white fluids.

"What is going on..." Hu Zhen muttered to himself, his expression growing even darker as he watched this scene.