Chapter 400 Thirty-Two: The Boundary-Crossing Stele

"The design here is truly exquisite. We didn't detect any spatial fluctuations at all before entering..." Lu Yuqing nodded, offering sincere praise.

"I have a guess: this place might have originally been a one-way passage, with the trigger mechanism on this side, so one could only go from here to the garden. Perhaps due to damage to the archway, it has become the two-way passage it is now." Han Li pondered for a moment, then said suddenly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuqing immediately probed the archway and soon discovered that there were indeed intermittent spatial fluctuations emanating from it.

"Once inside this hidden space, they should find it hard to track us." Lu Yuqing withdrew her gaze and looked at Han Li.

"We can't be careless. Didn't they track us with some secret technique before?" Han Li shook his head.

Lu Yuqing fell silent at his words.

Han Li's gaze sharpened. After a moment of deliberation, he suddenly flicked his sleeve.

A golden light shot out from him, revealing a yellow-robed Daoist—none other than the Crab Immortal.

"Fellow Daoist Han, though I am a puppet and have acknowledged you as master, haven't you been summoning me a bit too frequently these past few days?" As soon as the Crab Immortal appeared, he glanced at Lu Yuqing and transmitted his voice to Han Li.

"With powerful enemies at hand, I have no choice. I called you out this time to give you some immortal essence stones for emergencies... See if they're enough?" Han Li gave a wry smile, flipped his hand, and produced a storage pouch, handing it over.

"Apart from what's needed to activate some secret techniques, the rest is barely enough to repair my previous losses." The Crab Immortal's expression remained unchanged as he took the pouch and inspected it.

"Good, then Fellow Daoist Crab should go back and rest. Once I summon you again, it will likely be a critical moment." Han Li nodded.

The Crab Immortal said nothing more, turned back into a beam of golden light, and flew into Han Li's sleeve.

Lu Yuqing quietly observed this scene. Though inevitably curious about the Crab Immortal's identity, she tactfully refrained from asking.

"Regardless, let's first figure out where this place is..."

Han Li murmured to himself, his gaze drifting into the distance as he released his spiritual sense to probe the mountain range.

After a moment, he withdrew his spiritual sense and said with a slight frown:

"This place is a bit strange. It seems to be an independent space. My spiritual sense hits walls everywhere beyond the mountain range, and I can only explore parts of the mountains."

"What should we do now? Should we go take a look over there?" Lu Yuqing asked.

"If this is a sealed area, there won't be just one exit. Let's first search on that peak over there; we might find a way out of here." Han Li said after a brief consideration.

Lu Yuqing nodded, naturally having no objection to Han Li's judgment.

Having decided, the two immediately set off, transforming into two flying rainbows and heading together toward the depths of the mountain range.

Midair, Han Li realized that the mountain range, previously obscured by the terrain, was not a single continuous line but split into two branches after extending for over ten li.

"Brother Han, which way should we go?" Lu Yuqing asked, looking at the fork below.

Han Li gazed at the two mountain ranges below and once again projected his spiritual sense, trying to glean something, but the result was the same as before—minimal.

"There's no discernible difference between the two sides for now. We'll have to explore both. Let's start with this..."

Before Han Li could lower his raised finger, his mind stirred, and he stopped mid-sentence.

He was astonished to find that the seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords within him had suddenly become inexplicably restless, constantly transmitting an indescribable emotion through their spiritual connection.

This emotion seemed both like excitement and surprise, both like agitation and thrill...

After a brief deliberation, Han Li flipped his hand. A flash of green light, and a Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword appeared, suspended in his palm.

But as soon as the sword appeared, it shot forward, heading toward the mountain range on the lower right. Had Han Li not immediately controlled it with his mind, he would have lost a flying sword on the spot.

"Brother Han, what's this..." Lu Yuqing asked hastily.

"For some reason, my lifebound flying swords seem to be summoned by something, wanting to fly toward that mountain range." Han Li gripped the hilt tightly, looking at the mountains below.

"Since Brother Han's flying swords are quite spiritual, they must have sensed some opportunity. We have to choose a path anyway; since the swords chose this side, why not follow them?" Lu Yuqing thought for a moment and said with a smile.

"Alright." Han Li pondered for a moment and nodded.

With that, the two flew toward the mountain range on the right.

As they neared the fork, Han Li suddenly stopped again and turned to look back at the archway.

"Miss Lu, could you give me a piece of fabric from your dress?" he suddenly asked.

Though a hint of confusion flickered in Lu Yuqing's eyes, she didn't hesitate. She lifted her dress, tore off a strip of hem with a "rip," and handed it to Han Li.

Han Li took it, flicked his wrist, and summoned two giant ape puppets.

He first tied Lu Yuqing's fabric strip around one puppet's finger, then infused a strand of his divine sense into the other puppet, commanding them to fly down toward the left mountain range.

Seeing this, Lu Yuqing's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but praise: "Brother Han is truly thorough. This way, even if those people manage to track us here, they won't necessarily find us immediately."

"If we're lucky enough for them to go that way, whether they trigger some mechanism or fight my puppets, as long as they make a commotion, we'll be alerted in advance." Han Li said slowly.

Hearing this, Lu Yuqing felt a pang of curiosity: what kind of upbringing could make a person's mind so terrifyingly meticulous?

"Alright, let's go."

With that, Han Li continued flying toward the right mountain range, and Lu Yuqing quickly followed.

No sooner had they reached the area above this mountain range than the Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword in Han Li's hand suddenly trembled violently, generating a tremendous force that dragged him downward.

As they neared the forest, green light surged from within Han Li's sleeve, billowing on its own.

Then, his sleeve cuff suddenly opened wide, and green light gushed out as one green flying sword after another shot forth, racing downward as if vying to be first.

Startled, Han Li quickly tightened his sleeve cuff while reaching out with his mind to the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, trying to recall them, but the dozens of swords that had already flown out seemed completely out of control, refusing to obey his commands.

After taking a deep breath, green light flickered around him, and he sped off in the direction of the flying swords.

Lu Yuqing's gaze sharpened, and without much hesitation, she immediately followed.

Upon landing, Han Li's heart tightened.

He suddenly realized that the spiritual connection between him and the swords that had flown away had abruptly severed moments ago; he could no longer sense those swords.

Suppressing his anxiety, he scanned his surroundings and found himself in a desolate, overgrown garden, filled with messy, withered grass and stunted trees.

Beneath his feet, there seemed to have been a path of green bricks, but it was now buried under dead leaves and mud, almost invisible.

Han Li's expression darkened as he swept his spiritual sense around, but found nothing.

Meanwhile, the remaining swords in his hand and sleeve continued to struggle, trying to break free from his restraint.

Han Li glanced down at his still-billowing sleeve, then suddenly released his grip on the sword in his hand.

"Whoosh!"

The green flying sword shot out from his palm and, in a flash, darted deep into the garden.

Light gleamed in Han Li's eyes as he locked his mind tightly onto that sword, his body bursting forward in hot pursuit.

A bizarre scene unfolded!

The flying sword flew straight through layers of obstacles, all the way to the deepest part of the garden, where it plunged into a half-man-tall black tombstone, sinking entirely into it.

The black tombstone was square and upright, bearing only the mottled marks of age and some slippery, dark moss, with no inscriptions.

Behind the tombstone, however, a large mound bulged, looking no different from an ordinary grave.

Blue light surged in Han Li's eyes as he used his Brightclarity Spirit Eyes to examine the black tombstone, noticing faint, barely visible spatial ripples undulating on its surface.

Frowning deeply, he stepped forward and pressed his hand onto the tombstone.

A layer of black light rippled across the tombstone, flickered a few times, and then returned to normal.

Han Li pressed various spots on the tombstone with a furrowed brow, but no matter how he tried, only black light rippled, with no other reaction.

Just then, Lu Yuqing arrived. Her遁光 converged as she stopped beside Han Li. After a quick glance around, her gaze also fell on the tombstone, and she examined it intently.

"This tombstone..." she said hesitantly after a moment.

"What? Do you recognize it?" Han Li turned to look at her.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be a boundary-crossing stele. There's one in our Island Prince's mansion as well." Lu Yuqing said.

"Boundary-crossing stele? What is that?" Han Li was slightly taken aback, looking puzzled.

"Similar to a teleportation array, it's a kind of spatial treasure. But it's one-way; once you go through, you can't return the same way." Lu Yuqing explained.

"Do you know how to activate it?" Han Li's heart stirred, and he quickly asked.