Chapter 262: Leaving the Pass

At this moment, the hundred-li expanse of gray clouds in the sky had completely transformed into a riot of five colors. At its center, the cloud mass had twisted into a colossal void, from which a brilliant beam of golden light shot down, enveloping a floating mountain peak below.

The mountain peak, shrouded in a cyan light barrier, was now coated in a layer of gold, looking like a dazzling golden mountain.

Inside the cave dwelling's secret chamber, Han Li sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut. His entire body shimmered with golden light, resembling a golden-armored deity cast from molten gold.

On his chest and abdomen, eleven golden light points blazed brightly, flickering like stars.

Nearby, a fist-sized golden vortex was slowly taking shape.

Boom!

Just then, a thunderous roar suddenly came from the high sky, and the multicolored clouds immediately surged wildly.

The seemingly calm and peaceful golden pillar of light also trembled violently, spinning rapidly, and soon transformed into a colossal golden tornado pillar connecting heaven and earth.

With a loud bang!

The cyan light barrier surrounding the mountain peak was struck fiercely by the giant pillar and shattered directly. The golden pillar of light plunged straight into the cave dwelling atop the peak.

The floating mountain shook violently, sinking slightly as a violent wave of air surged out, sweeping in all directions.

The round-faced youth, who had been flying up from below, was just nearing the mountain when he was struck by this wave of air. The protective light shield that had just appeared on his body collapsed, and he was sent tumbling backward, crashing like a torn sack into a nearby low mountain before finally stabilizing.

His face flushed red, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

However, wiping the blood from his mouth, he cautiously hovered in midair, glanced at the deep abyss below, and then looked toward the mountain peak in the distance.

In his palm, he was tightly clutching a silver secret talisman.

After the golden pillar of light fell onto the mountain peak, it shattered directly, turning into a sky full of golden dust-like light, scattering down brilliantly.

Inside the cave dwelling's secret chamber.

Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, golden light shining from them. The golden vortex on his chest and abdomen then spun wildly, emitting an extremely powerful force of attraction.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Sounds of wind arose. The golden light, carrying the dense primordial energy of the surrounding world, converged toward the vortex on Han Li's chest and abdomen, surging like a mighty river, its momentum astonishing.

The twelfth immortal aperture was condensing into being!

"Elder Li, this..."

The round-faced youth hovering beyond the peak, gazing at the golden river coiling around the mountain, was so astonished he could barely speak. He had witnessed other immortals break through their realms before, but none had displayed such overwhelming might.

Just as he was reeling in shock, another deafening "boom" resounded from the void.

Immediately after, chaotic screams and cries of agony rose unceasingly from the great chasm below.

The battle seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Could they still hold on?

Yet when the youth looked downward, his view was blocked by layer upon layer of mountain peaks, and he could see nothing at all.

The hesitation on his face grew even more pronounced. He clenched his fists again and again, and the sweat seeping from his palms had already soaked the talisman. In the end, he gritted his teeth and infused a strand of magical power into the talisman.

Suddenly, a beam of green light shot out from his palm, whistling sharply as it flew toward the direction of Han Li's cave dwelling.

Then, the round-faced youth turned around and plunged straight down into the great chasm below.

Inside the great chasm at this moment, chaos had already erupted like a boiling pot of porridge.

The green light barrier constructed by the disciples of the Candle Dragon Sect had been breached, now shattered and fragmented, with only a few areas where people were still struggling to sustain it by urging the green banners.

From the surrounding broken areas, mist had already surged out, spreading upward, and it seemed about to engulf more peaks.

The round-faced youth saw ahead that Hu Zhen was leading the disciples of the Zhulong Sect, continuously retreating upward.

Hu Zhen's dark face was full of gloom. The moment he saw the round-faced young man, he immediately flew over and asked, 'Luo Tang, have you informed Elder Li?'

"I've already notified him, but Elder Li is at a critical point in breaking through his cultivation realm, and I don't know when he'll come out..." said the round-faced youth.

"An anomaly that hasn't occurred in nearly ten thousand years has appeared in the Great Chasm, and now Elder Li is the only True Immortal realm elder in the secret realm. If he can't come out soon to take charge, I'm afraid..." Hu Zhen said with worry.

Before he could finish speaking, a strange beast's roar came from below, and densely packed white fiends surged out of the abyss, no longer caring whether the thick fog concealed them, charging straight toward the floating mountain range above.

Along the way, disciples of the Zhulong Sect urged their magical treasures, attacking these white monsters.

For a moment, multicolored lights flashed everywhere above the Great Chasm, flying swords and precious wheels galloped in all directions, flames and frost fell in chaos, instantly slaying nearly a thousand white fiends.

In midair, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and chunks of white fiend corpses fell all around.

As for those white fiends that were not blocked and broke out of the fog, they had not flown far before their skin turned black, as if suffocating, clutching their throats and falling painfully into the abyss.

Yet even so, these white fiends still seemed mad, charging upward regardless, paying no heed at all.

"What's going on..." The round-faced youth stared dumbfounded, muttering.

"I think... they look like... like they're fleeing..." A flicker of fear passed through Hu Zhen's eyes as he spoke slowly.

Just then, another beastly roar sounded, this time from very close by.

A massive black figure suddenly burst out of the thick fog, opened a bloody maw, swallowed over a dozen white fiends in one gulp, and then quickly retreated back.

Immediately after, two more black figures shot out from the other side of the fog, dragging dozens of white fiends back into the depths of the mist.

They moved extremely fast and were hidden in the fog; the round-faced youth couldn't even make out the shadow of the monsters.

"What are those things..." he cried out in terror.

The dark-skinned youth shook his head silently, saying nothing.

"What do we do? If we keep retreating like this, we won't be able to hand in any spiritual herbs this year. If the sect blames us, we..." The round-faced youth's face turned ugly, and he couldn't continue.

Hu Zhen frowned deeply, looked up, and felt a trace of resentment toward Elder Li in his heart, but that was all; he dared not harbor any grudge.

"We can't retreat anymore. Forget the white fiends for now; focus on dealing with the monsters in the fog. All disciples, hear my command: gather quickly and prepare to engage the enemy." Hu Zhen gritted his teeth and shouted.

Though many Candlestick Dragon Sect disciples were already panicked, upon hearing this, they still lit up their escape lights and gathered over.

"Form the Ten Thousand Swords Formation!" the dark-skinned youth shouted loudly.

Hearing this, the crowd did not hesitate; they all formed hand seals, controlled their flying swords, and hovered in the air.

Those without flying swords also raised their palms and injected their magic power into the sword formation.

The Ten Thousand Swords Formation was a fairly basic, ordinary sword formation within the Candlestick Dragon Sect. It didn't require complex coordination; as long as enough flying swords were linked together, it could unleash tremendous power.

Between the floating peaks, thousands of flying swords rose into the air, their sword lights merging, emitting a dense, trembling hum.

Hu Zhen's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that the formation he had improvised would have such potential. If so, perhaps they could actually kill the strange beasts in the fog.

"Kill!" Hu Zhen let out a low shout.

As his voice rose, the crowd echoed him, and a thunderous battle cry resounded through the abyss.

In midair, a loud clangor erupted. Thousands of flying swords converged into a torrent, surging down into the thick fog below.

Countless white fiends rushing out of the fog were swept up by the multicolored torrent of swords and perished one after another.

"Roar..."

A deafening roar was heard.

The fog in the great chasm surged upward at ten times its previous speed, swallowing all the flying swords in an instant.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

A series of extremely dense metallic clashes came from within the fog. Hundreds of flying swords were struck by a great force, knocked out of control, and flew back out of the mist.

Some even shattered outright, causing their wielders to be greatly shaken, spitting blood and suffering severe injuries.

From the thick fog, nine black serpent heads, each as large as a mountain peak, emerged. Each had a pair of narrow, dark-golden vertical pupils, staring coldly at the crowd.

Their heads swayed slightly, and long crimson forked tongues flickered in and out, emitting a continuous hissing sound.

Hu Zhen met the gaze of just one of them and felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, all will to resist vanishing.

Though he was above and the giant serpents below, he felt as if he were being looked down upon by them. Only one thought remained in his mind: "We're doomed..."

In fact, he was not the only one with this thought; almost everyone present had fallen into despair, even forgetting to flee.

A moment later, the nine giant heads simultaneously retracted, opened their mouths wide, spewed out a blast of foul wind, and lunged upward to bite.

"How dare you, beast!"

Just then, an extremely authoritative voice suddenly came from above the crowd.

Before the startled crowd could look up, they felt a flash of green light before their eyes, and a figure had already appeared in front of them.

He was tall and straight, with a green robe billowing in the wind. His entire body seemed enveloped in a faint glow, making him look like an immortal.

"Elder Li!" Hu Zhen couldn't help but exclaim.

Seeing this, the crowd also cried out. They felt like drowning men on the verge of death, suddenly pulled out at the last moment. This sense of rebirth made them weep with joy.

Just then, the nine serpent heads opened their bloody maws and lunged toward them.

Han Li waved his sleeve, and a gentle wind surged out, carrying the crowd upward, flying straight out a hundred miles.

Then he pressed down with one hand, and a green light burst forth. Nine green flying swords circled unsteadily, emitting hundreds of green sword beams, forming a green sword curtain that almost covered the entire great chasm.

These green flying swords were the Green Bamboo Swarm Cloud Swords, which had been refined to change their aura and appearance. Normally, they could be transformed into one sword or nine swords, and if unrestrained, they could even split into seventy-two swords.