Chapter 412: Following

While Han Li was pondering, he saw the snow dove cold beast that had been standing still suddenly spread its wings and fly up, swooping low and gliding smoothly past a snow ape cold beast, its hooked claws reaching fiercely for the neck of the middle-aged man who had just thrown a punch and had not yet withdrawn his momentum.

Its speed was as fast as lightning and flint.

Startled by the sudden attack, the middle-aged man, seemingly experienced in combat, had seven blue star patterns on his chest and abdomen suddenly light up, followed by more than a dozen blue light points on his body surface, including below his neck.

As these light points appeared, a layer of white light like starlight immediately emerged, barely covering his body surface when the snow dove's giant claws had already grabbed down.

Zheng...

A grating sound rang out as the sharp tips of the snow dove's hooked claws scraped across the man's neck and shoulder, causing the white light on his body to tremble violently, but ultimately failing to break through.

After passing by, the snow dove suddenly twisted its head back, opened its mouth, and spat out a silver-white ice-thread arrow that shot forth, carrying a biting chill straight for the middle-aged man's heart.

Hmph!

With a flicker in his eyes, the man's fist, which had been withdrawn to his side, suddenly erupted with a dazzling white light and smashed fiercely toward the ice-thread arrow.

With a loud bang.

The silver arrow and the white light at the man's fist both exploded simultaneously, and a mist of icy cold air spread out, instantly encasing the man's right arm in a layer of blue ice crystals.

Feeling his right arm go numb, before he could remove the ice crystals, the snow ape cold beast he had been fighting earlier charged in from the side and slammed into him, sending him tumbling backward.

With a thunderous crash.

The middle-aged man slammed heavily into a stone wall, embedding himself in it, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading in all directions beneath him, looking quite terrifying.

But soon the man struggled to pull his arm out of the wall, punched the wall behind him, and used the momentum to fly out, apparently not seriously injured.

Fellow Daoist Xiongshan, if you keep hiding your strength and don't show your true skills, I think we should go our separate ways from now on? The middle-aged man said with some anger, shouting at the withered old man.

Hmph, you have the nerve to say that? If it weren't for you, Fellow Daoist Lengyan, causing trouble by insisting on coming down here, would we have fallen into a trap, gained nothing, and have to waste time fighting these cold beasts? The withered old man replied with equal dissatisfaction.

When I suggested coming down, I did some reconnaissance and discussed it with you, and you didn't object. Treasure hunting in a secret realm always comes with risks and opportunities, especially in this once-in-ten-thousand-years Minghan Immortal Mansion! These are just a few cold beasts; once we deal with them, it's done. Why bring this up? The middle-aged man said disdainfully.

I said we should attend to the main business first, but since you were so confident, I naturally didn't want to say much more. The withered old man shook his head.

These two in the cavern were none other than Xiongshan, the deputy sect master of the Candle Dragon Sect, and Han Li's old acquaintance, Cold Flame Ancestor.

Han Li was somewhat puzzled: these two had come under the guise of the Ghost Wailing Sect and hidden among the Nanli Clan cultivators respectively; they shouldn't have ended up together.

Yet not only had they appeared here together, but they also seemed to know each other's backgrounds well and appeared to be partners. Could they be old friends?

Enough, enough, this time it's my fault. At worst, when we get there and find the items, you can pick first. For now, let's quickly deal with the trouble at hand and get out of here. Cold Flame Ancestor, knowing he was in the wrong, hurriedly said.

Xiongshan, disguised as the withered old man, seeing the other had said so, said no more. He turned his wrist, put away the golden halberd, and formed a sword seal with his hand.

Immediately, his aura changed, and the mana fluctuations of a True Immortal late-stage spread out. Behind him, golden ripples began to appear in the void, and layers upon layers of dense golden sword shadows emerged like a peacock spreading its tail, radiating dazzling golden light.

Go!

With his command, the countless golden sword shadows shot forth like a torrent of sword shadows, surging toward the two snow lion cold beasts and engulfing them.

Within the torrent of sword shadows, the clanging sounds of metal striking metal rang out continuously, reflecting flashes of gold and white light.

After a moment, the sword torrent finally passed through completely. The bodies of the snow lion cold beasts had been torn apart and no longer existed, while the cold soul crystals hidden behind their eyes were exposed, floating leisurely in midair, continuously absorbing the scattered snowflakes and cold air.

Xiongshan's small figure flashed across the air, his golden longsword in hand, instantly shattering both cold soul crystals, completely cutting off any possibility of recovery.

Seeing this, the snow dove turned in midair, flapped its wings, and swooped down at him again.

On the other side, Cold Flame Ancestor's body radiated brilliant light, and the blue light points on his acupoints lit up one after another, seemingly more than when Han Li had last seen him.

He took a step forward, star power condensing at his fist, and smashed it toward a snow ape cold beast charging at him; the latter met it with a giant fist.

A large fist and a small one, wrapped in howling gales, collided.

A thunderous boom rang out.

An extremely fierce gust of wind burst from Cold Flame Ancestor's fist, transforming into a mighty surge of energy that rushed in all directions.

The passage where Han Li and the others stood was not very wide, and it was suddenly filled with the gale, producing a series of explosive sounds, causing Lu Yuqing's delicate figure to stumble, nearly crying out.

Fortunately, Han Li was right beside her; he grabbed her sleeve with one hand and covered her mouth with the other, while a faint, barely visible light emerged, shielding the two of them.

Only after all the wind had passed did Han Li gently shake his head at her and slowly release his hand.

Lu Yuqing pressed her lips tightly, leaning against the stone wall of the passage, making no more sound.

Han Li turned back and looked toward Cold Flame Ancestor again, his mind racing with thoughts.

There, the gale had just subsided and the dust was gradually clearing; the snow ape's thick arm had completely burst, and at the break, a blue vortex was spinning rapidly, absorbing the surrounding cold air to reform.

Cold Flame Ancestor naturally would not give it a chance; dodging the attack of another snow ape cold beast, he leaped high into the air, arriving above its head, and raised a foot to stomp heavily down on its skull.

White light burst from the sole of his foot, star power condensed as if solid, and upon touching the snow ape's head, it immediately radiated dazzling light.

Another thunderous boom was heard.

The snow ape's head instantly exploded, and a glittering translucent cold soul crystal shot out, which Cold Flame Ancestor grabbed firmly in his palm.

With a flash of light in his other hand, he deftly took out a purple talisman and stuck it on the cold soul, hastily stowing it into his storage ring, then his figure burst into motion again, darting toward the other snow ape cold beast.

Clang.

Just then, a sharp sword cry came from the top of the cavern, followed by a colossal golden sword light that swept across the air. The snow pigeon had just turned back and hovered above the cavern when it was struck by this sword light, its body torn in two from the middle.

The golden sword light did not diminish in momentum; the cavern ceiling shattered with a roar, and huge millstone-sized rocks fell like rain, splitting open a crack several zhang wide.

A loud whooshing sound arose!

A ray of sky light leaked through the fissure, and under the howling wind, a flurry of snow wildly poured down into the crack.

Xiong Shan stood on the collapsed rubble, slowly sheathing his longsword, and turned his head to look towards Grandmaster Leng Yan.

The battle there had also concluded. The snow ape he had fought, like the previous one, had its head blown off by a punch imbued with star power, turning even the Hanpo Crystal into dust.

"This time the Immortal Mansion has opened, and the palace masters of first-rate powers like the North Han Immortal Palace and the Cangliu Palace have personally come to the secret realm. The situation is far more complicated than last time. On the road ahead, we absolutely cannot afford any more trouble." Looking at Grandmaster Leng Yan walking back, Xiong Shan said in a displeased tone.

"There's no help for it. After the last opening of the Immortal Mansion, everyone realized that the areas explored in the past were all within the Youhan Realm, merely the outermost part of this Minghan Immortal Mansion. Further into the core of the mansion, there might be another hidden world. Heh, with so many treasures outside, who can say what rare wonders lie inside? How could those first-rate powers not covet them?" Grandmaster Leng Yan sighed.

"This time we sneaked in under the guise of the Wuchang Alliance and the Shifang Tower. I don't need to remind you of the risks involved, do I?" Xiong Shan looked at him solemnly and asked.

"Of course I understand. But you don't need to worry too much. That place is so secluded, and the others who discovered it with us back then are all dead, so no one will find it before us," Grandmaster Leng Yan said.

Hearing this, Xiong Shan's expression eased slightly, and he spoke:

"Alright, regardless, let's go there first. After we get what we each want, we'll go our separate ways."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Grandmaster Leng Yan nodded.

After saying this, the two lingered for a moment, then flew up one after the other, passing through the fissure to the ground above, and with a flicker, vanished into the vast snowstorm.

"Let's go. We'll follow them."

Han Li watched the departing figures of the two, called out to Lu Yuqing, and then flew out of the passage first, heading towards the crack in the ceiling.

After a moment's hesitation, Lu Yuqing still quickly followed.