Chapter 342: Leaving the Sect

Patches of dark clouds emerged in midair, rolling and merging, quickly obscuring most of the sky. Arcs of lightning darted through the churning clouds, flickering in and out of sight, accompanied by peals of thunder that shook the heavens.

Endless lightning spiritual energy converged, all merging into the dark clouds.

The Crab Immortal formed hand seals and chanted incantations, his body flickering with lightning radiance that spread outward, forming a massive lightning formation covering dozens of acres.

This lightning formation was quite peculiar, elongated in shape, with countless lightning runes drifting within it.

The Crab Immortal suddenly opened his eyes and cast a spell seal toward the sky.

Rumble!

Bolts of lightning from the thunderclouds all descended, plunging into the lightning formation around the Crab Immortal. The formation blazed with light, rapidly spinning up with a rumbling roar, growing ever more dazzling.

Han Li stood in the void, his expression calm, but inwardly he was far from relaxed.

Though the clash with the young man in fine robes had not lasted long, the commotion it caused was considerable. Now, the fluctuations from the Crab Immortal's strike were extraordinary, impossible to conceal from White Jade Peak, tens of thousands of li away.

But that place was also in the midst of a monumental battle, and they might not have the leisure to attend to matters here.

Just then, with a low shout from the Crab Daoist, the lightning formation suddenly rose from the ground, floated in midair, and began to shrink rapidly at a visible speed.

In the span of just a few breaths, the lightning formation, originally covering dozens of acres, shrank into a lightning ball about twenty or thirty zhang in size, its surface emitting dazzling, blinding lightning that made it impossible to look directly at.

"Go!"

The Crab Daoist abruptly stood up and formed a hand seal with one hand.

The lightning ball instantly turned into a streak of white light, striking the depression in the yellow mist barrier with lightning speed, and began to spin wildly on the spot.

Rumble!

A deafening explosion rang out, shaking the ground and mountains within a thousand li. The earth split open with countless fissures, the mountains trembled violently, and the smaller ones collapsed outright, presenting a scene of apocalyptic upheaval everywhere.

The yellow mist barrier also churned violently, the mist rolling like surging waves.

Thick bolts of lightning shot out from the lightning ball, spreading outward along the yellow mist barrier, tearing through the yellow mist layer by layer like unraveling silk, but the surrounding yellow mist also converged like rivers flowing into the sea, surging in endlessly.

The two sides were momentarily locked in a stalemate!

"Fellow Daoist Han, lend me a hand!" the Crab Daoist suddenly spoke.

Han Li, upon hearing this, rose into the air without hesitation. After a few flashes of green light, his entire person appeared in the void less than a hundred zhang from the depression in the yellow mist restriction.

With a flick of his sleeves, seventy-two streaks of golden light surged forth, swirling briefly before him before instantly coalescing into a golden giant sword several tens of zhang long, its surface coiled with golden electric light.

As Han Li urged the sword art with his hand seal, the giant sword trembled and swept forward.

In an instant, a hundred-zhang-long sword light wreathed in golden lightning slashed down, striking the depression in the yellow mist with a roar of wind and thunder.

With a thunderous boom!

Although that area, torn apart by the Crab Immortal's thunderball, could still recover automatically, Han Li's sword was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The surrounding yellow mist that surged in was torn and sent flying like scraps of paper, its recovery speed greatly reduced.

"Explode for me!"

The Crab Immortal shouted, urging his hand seal. The thunderball exploded with a bang, and immediately a blazing sun emerged, with visible waves of energy rolling out wildly in all directions. At last, the depression in the yellow mist was pierced through, creating a hole the size of a house.

After this strike, the lightning on the Crab Immortal's body dimmed, and his expression showed some fatigue.

"Go!"

Han Li said in a low voice, waving his hand to cast a spell. A yellow light flashed on the mist wall, and hundreds of bean soldiers flew back, falling into the gourd. Then a green glow rolled out from his body, wrapping around the Crab Immortal and the gourd, and they passed through the large hole to the outside.

Just as he barely flew out, the yellow mist behind him rolled and churned on the restriction, and the large hole that had been blasted open quickly closed up, restoring itself to its original state in the blink of an eye.

The nearby yellow mist fluctuated for a moment, but soon calmed down again, as if nothing had happened.

Han Li looked at the blue sky and white clouds outside, let out a long breath, feeling as if he had narrowly escaped death and was in a different world. Then he glanced at the Crab Immortal and asked:

"Fellow Daoist Crab, how are you?"

"This restriction is far more powerful than I imagined. Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Han seized the best moment to strike, so we didn't fail in the end. Next, I will need to rest for a good while," said the Crab Immortal.

Han Li nodded, waved a hand, and twelve Thunder Arrest Rods shot out, suspending themselves around him as he muttered incantations.

Golden lightning emerged upon them, quickly forming a lightning formation with countless lightning runes flickering and tumbling, causing the surrounding void to warp and twist.

Han Li closed his eyes to sense briefly; when he opened them again, he gave a slight nod and withdrew his hand seals.

The lightning formation immediately ceased operation, and the dazzling lightning was reabsorbed into the Thunder Arrest Rods like a whale drinking water, which he then put away.

The teleportation lightning formation was functioning normally, and there were no more spatial restrictions ahead.

"Even for the Immortal Palace, setting up this layer of restriction is already quite an achievement; it's impossible to have a second layer of greater scope," said the Crab Immortal.

"That may be, but things could change at Bai Yufeng's place at any moment. Let's leave here first." Han Li turned to glance at the yellow mist restriction, then formed hand seals with both hands. Countless golden lightning bolts emerged and coalesced into a smaller lightning formation around him.

The Crab Immortal transformed into a mass of golden light and flew into Han Li's hand.

A dazzling golden electric light flared up, and Han Li's figure vanished from within.

…

An hour later.

Above Red Cloud Peak, the void flickered as streaks of golden lightning emerged and condensed into a lightning formation.

A figure flashed, and Han Li appeared within, his complexion slightly pale.

Spending immortal jade stones without restraint, he had continuously used lightning teleportation to race here in the shortest possible time, and his immortal spiritual power was nearly depleted.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li shot downward.

The thunderous roar in midair had already alerted the cave abode's servants, who hurriedly came to greet him.

With the lecture assembly underway, many servants from various peaks had gone to listen, and Red Cloud Peak was no exception. Only three remained on duty, as such a large peak could not be left unguarded.

The three were about to bow respectfully when Han Li waved his hand and stopped them, saying:

"No need for formalities. Wait here; I have something to discuss with you shortly."

Having said this, without another glance at them, Han Li flickered and flew into the cave abode, heading straight to the spirit medicine garden within.

He was accustomed to carrying important items with him, but these spirit medicines were inconvenient to handle that way. Now that Candlestick Dragon Sect had encountered upheaval, he had risked returning precisely for this matter.

After all, over the years, he had spared no expense in collecting many spirit medicines for refining pills and even Dao pills, and he was unwilling to simply abandon them.

Han Li waved his hand, emitting a beam of green light that instantly enveloped the entire spirit medicine garden.

The next moment, clumps of spirit herbs and medicines, along with the surrounding spirit soil, rose from the ground and flew toward Han Li's hand. He skillfully packed them one by one into suitable containers and carefully stored them in his storage bracelet.

After a moment, the entire cave abode on Red Cloud Peak rumbled. The restrictions laid around the cave abode all dissipated, and sets of array instruments flew up from various places, vanishing into the cave.

Outside the cave, the three servants, including Meng Xiong, looked at each other in bewilderment at the sight before them.

"What's happening? Elder Li is going to..." murmured a square-faced youth who appeared to be in his twenties.

"I don't know. Judging by Elder Li's expression, something major must have occurred, possibly related to that tremendous tremor not long ago..." Meng Xiong shook his head and said.

At that moment, a flash of green light appeared before the three of them, and Han Li's figure silently materialized.

Before the three could bow, Han Li spoke:

"Time is pressing, so I won't say much more. The sect has suffered internal turmoil, even involving the Northern Frost Immortal Palace. I'm afraid there will be considerable upheaval in the sect from now on. I intend to leave this place of trouble. Now you have two choices: follow me, or stay and fend for yourselves. Since we've known each other, for those who stay, I will still give some benefits."

Upon hearing this, the three's expressions changed repeatedly.

Clearly, Han Li's words were too sudden for them, and they were momentarily at a loss.

"I'll give you ten breaths to think it over carefully," Han Li said slowly, standing with his hands behind his back.

But as soon as his words fell, a somewhat burly figure stepped forward—it was the round-faced fat man, Meng Xiong.

"Elder Li, this disciple has ordinary talent. Without your support, reaching my current cultivation level would have been a luxury, let alone advancing further. I am willing to continue following you," he said respectfully, cupping his hands.

Han Li nodded and gestured for him to stand beside him.

Next, the square-faced young man also stepped forward, indicating his willingness to follow.

This man was named Meng Guang, usually a man of few words.

In the end, the man stood with his head lowered, saying nothing, though his meaning was perfectly clear.

Han Li said nothing more, instead flipping his hand to produce a storage pouch and tossing it to the man.

"Thank you, Elder Li." The man caught the pouch and quickly bowed in salute.

"Let's go." Han Li said, and without further hesitation, he waved his hand, enveloping Meng Xiong and the other, and flew outward.

Before long, on the peak of another mountain not far from Chixia Peak, a dozen or so Thunderwood poles surrounded Han Li and the other two in a circle.

As Han Li urged the spell with his hand seals,

Boom!

dazzling golden lightning emerged, coalescing into a large lightning array that enveloped the three.

As the golden lightning crackled, the void itself rippled, spreading outwards like watery ripples.

This sight startled Meng Xiong and the other within the array, and they couldn't help but close their eyes.

With a thunderous crash, the three figures vanished in the lightning.