Chapter 408: Entering the Mansion

A blue orb hovered in midair, spinning slowly. Wispy threads of crystalline, snow-like blue light radiated from it, and faint layers of pale white mist wafted out, making the already hazy landscape and buildings within appear even more ethereal, giving it a somewhat celestial, misty feel.

“The immortal mansion has appeared!”

After a brief silence, someone shouted. Many present drew in a cold breath. Aside from the Golden Immortal cultivators leading the various factions, most others showed expressions of excitement.

“So this is the legendary Minghan Immortal Mansion,” Han Li murmured to himself.

He then sent his divine sense toward the blue orb, only to feel as if thunder had exploded in his ears, causing his soul to tremble violently.

Startled, he showed no sign of it on his face and quickly withdrew his spiritual sense.

Stealing a glance, he noticed that many present wore grim expressions, clearly having also probed the entrance with their divine sense and suffered backlash.

Given that Han Li’s divine sense rivaled that of a Golden Immortal cultivator, even he suffered backlash and could not probe it, let alone ordinary True Immortals. As for the Golden Immortals, though they showed nothing outwardly, they seemed to have made little progress either.

“Fellow Daoist Luo, Fellow Daoist Feng, won’t you two take the lead?” Xiao Jinhan asked with a chuckle.

“Fellow Daoist Xiao, you are mistaken. The Immortal Palace has led everyone here and protected this place so thoroughly that it escaped sabotage by petty villains before the mansion’s appearance. Naturally, the right to enter first belongs to the Immortal Palace. Don’t you agree, Fellow Daoist Feng?” Luo Qinghai said with a smile, his tone teasing.

Feng Tiandu’s stiff face showed little expression; he merely snorted coldly without a word.

“Since you two are so polite, I’ll go first.” Before Xiao Jinhan could speak, Qu Ling wasted no time. She took out a fragment of the Minghan Mountains and Rivers Map, gave it a gentle shake, and a flood of light enveloped her as she flew into the blue glow.

This woman was swift and decisive; from speaking to entering the blue light, only a breath or two passed, leaving everyone around momentarily stunned before they grew restless.

Han Li watched Qu Ling’s figure disappear into the blue light, a barely perceptible dark glint flashing in his eyes.

Seeing this, Xiao Jinhan turned to Xue Ying and the others and said, “You all come with me; the rest stay here.” Then, with a flick of his wrist, he produced his fragment of the Minghan Mountains and Rivers Map.

On the scroll, a layer of azure light surged forth, sweeping in the eight immortals from the Immortal Palace, including Xueying, along with the three Golden Immortals from Candle Dragon Dao, Ouyang Kuishan and his companions.

Then, within the radiance of the scroll, Xiao Jinhan stepped into the blue light mass, his figure blurred, and vanished.

The remaining members of the Immortal Palace and Black Wind Island stayed outside.

After all members of the North Cold Immortal Palace had entered, Luo Qinghai once again spoke a few polite words to Feng Tiandu. Seeing that the other party was unmoved, he then called out to the Cangliu Palace members, swept his sleeve, and wrapped them in the Remnant Map of the Cold Nether Mountains, flying together into the blue light mass.

After the Cangliu Palace group had also fully entered, Feng Tiandu finally glanced at the one-eyed sect master. The latter understood and quickly summoned the Fuling Sect members to enter the blue light mass together.

After the three major forces and Quliang had first entered the secret realm entrance, nearly half of the people present were gone, and the atmosphere was no longer as tense as before. The other forces, naturally unwilling to lag behind, began to stir restlessly.

The pockmarked old man from Ghost Cry Sect first exchanged a few words with the Nanli Clan cultivators, then walked over to Han Li and the others.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, the Nanli Clan will enter first in a moment, and our Ghost Cry Sect will follow closely behind. Once inside, we will wait for you to come in, and then we will join forces and act together," said the pockmarked old man.

"Fellow Daoist Chen speaks truly; I was just thinking the same." The man called Huyan said with a smile.

"Then we shall go ahead." The pockmarked old man, seeing that the Nanli tribe cultivators had already entered the blue light, quickly said and returned to his own sect's group.

"Let us go as well." Seeing that the Ghost Cry Sect members had also entered, Huyan said to the others.

Xuyangzi gestured for the sect members to gather together, all standing in one place. When his gaze swept over Lu Yuqing, who stood beside Han Li, he still looked somewhat displeased.

"Although the Immortal Mansion Secret Realm is rich in spiritual treasures and heavenly materials, it is equally fraught with danger. After entering, everyone should stay as close together as possible and not scatter." Huyan instructed.

With that, he also took out a scroll, performed a simple spell, and spiritual light surged forth, enveloping the twelve of them and flying into the blue light of the entrance.

The moment he entered the blue light sphere, Han Li felt a buzzing in his eardrums, his vision suddenly turned pure white, and almost all five senses were lost. His entire being seemed to be left with only a vague consciousness.

This feeling was indescribable and extremely uncomfortable, but fortunately it did not last long. After only a dozen breaths, everything returned to normal.

Han Li's consciousness gradually recovered, and he heard the howling wind in his ears, stinging his eardrums.

Wherever his gaze fell, there was only a vast white world of flying snow, filled with a森然 chill all around. In the far distance, enormous blizzard tornadoes coiled like twisting dragons connecting heaven and earth, a sight that stirred the heart.

A cyan light surged around him, forming a thin light screen an inch thick that kept the swirling snow at bay, yet he could still feel strands of bone-penetrating cold seeping through.

After sweeping his gaze around, he found that the people from the North Cold Immortal Palace and several other factions who had entered earlier were all gone without a trace.

"So cold..." Lu Yuqing beside him had already released her protective spiritual light, but she was still shivering, her beautiful eyes trembling, and a layer of crystalline frost had formed on her eyelashes as she exclaimed softly.

The crimson robes of the True Flame Sect members blazed with light, with faint, ethereal flame patterns rippling on the surface, from which waves of heat radiated.

Yet despite this, they were not much better off. Except for Xu Yangzi and the other three Golden Immortals, who looked slightly more composed, the rest had pale, bluish faces and trembled all over.

"Daoist Gu, I trouble you to activate the Mountains and Rivers Map to protect everyone," Xu Yangzi said, looking at Hu Yan Daoist.

Hu Yan Daoist nodded, flicked his wrist, and the fragmentary Cold Mountains and Rivers Map immediately materialized, spreading out before him.

Immediately after, a deep blue spherical light screen expanded from the scroll, enveloping the dozen or so of them.

Inside the light screen, the surrounding wind noise immediately diminished, and the unbearable bone-piercing cold was also blocked out.

"The people from the Southern Li Tribe and Ghost Wailing Sect are all gone..." Yun Ni stood beside Hu Yan Daoist and spoke.

"They are but ghost path sects and remote barbarian tribes; how could they understand the principle of keeping faith? Most likely, unwilling to fall behind, they have already gone ahead..." Elder Zhenyun said with a sneer.

"Not necessarily. What Chen Pi said when he contacted us earlier was not false. Compared to behemoths like the North Cold Immortal Palace, Cangliu Palace, and Fuling Sect, we are ultimately weak and isolated. It is still necessary to band together. At least in the early stages, alliance outweighs division. They would not break the pact just to seize the initiative," Xu Yangzi held a different opinion and shook his head.

Hu Yan Daoist, hearing this, looked at Han Li with a questioning gaze.

"Uncle-Master, within this blizzard, there seems to be a faint mingling of spatial power. They may have been teleported elsewhere, not in the same place as us," Han Li said after a moment of thought.

"Hmm, I think that's possible. Since we can't find them for now, let's leave this place first. In any case, caution is paramount. You must all stay by my side and never leave the range of the Cold Mountains and Rivers Map's light screen," Hu Yan Daoist said after pondering for a while.

"Yes," everyone promptly responded.

Hu Yan Daoist was about to call everyone to move when Han Li's voice transmission suddenly sounded in his ear:

"Senior, I have fulfilled my promise and entered the Cold Immortal Mansion with you. Can you give me the three later chapters of the 'True Speech Wheel Sutra' now?"

"You boy, do you not trust even me? We've only just entered the Mansion and haven't done anything yet, and you're already asking for payment!" Hu Yan Daoist was taken aback and replied.

"Senior, you said earlier that after entering, you would first give me the fourth chapter," Han Li said with a smile in his voice transmission.

Hu Yan Daoist knew Han Li's temperament well and did not take it too seriously.

While activating the Cold Mountains and Rivers Map with one hand, he took off a storage pouch from his waist and handed it to Han Li.

"The Mansion is fraught with danger. This pouch contains some life-saving items. Keep them well," Hu Yan Daoist said with a serious expression.

Han Li received the pouch with feigned reverence, opened its mouth, and probed it with his divine sense. Then, somewhat excitedly, he thanked him: "Thank you, Uncle."

The others, seeing this, took it as an ordinary gift from an elder to a junior and did not pay much attention.

"Which way should we go now? Everything around looks the same," Han Li asked after putting away the pouch.

He had just used his spiritual eye technique to examine the surroundings, but no matter which direction he looked, he could only see an endless expanse of white, unable to discern distance or direction.

Hu Yan Daoist did not speak, but frowned as he looked at the Cold Mountains and Rivers Map before him, trying to find some clue on it.

"Look over there, there seems to be an exit..." Lu Yuqing suddenly pointed in a direction and called out.

Hearing this, everyone followed her finger and saw, in the distant void, a faint, blurry blue light point the size of a fist. If one did not concentrate and look carefully, it would be impossible to notice.

Han Li knew that Lu Yuqing's spiritual eyes were extraordinary, so he was not surprised. However, he had looked in that direction himself earlier and had not seen any blue light point. It seemed to have just appeared.

Hu Yan Daoist, on the other hand, gave Lu Yuqing a deep look, his eyes showing some surprise, for even with his Golden Immortal-level eyesight, he had not noticed it at first.

Thus, under the protection of the spherical light screen, everyone began to travel toward the direction of the blue light point.