Chapter 442: Collapse

Han Li quietly watched the scene before him, his expression somewhat complex.

After this sword strike, the golden lightning on the giant sword also dissipated completely, as if it had exhausted its power.

But the might of this sword strike faintly bore some resemblance to the former Profound Heavenly Spirit-Slaying Sword. If a single flying sword alone possessed such power, how great would the power be if all seventy-two were unleashed simultaneously?

At this thought, his heart surged with excitement.

However, merely controlling this one flying sword had already consumed nearly all of his immortal spiritual power and divine sense; he probably couldn't wield any other flying swords.

Thinking of this, Han Li's just-kindled enthusiasm immediately cooled by half.

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind, recalling how the flying sword had automatically submerged into his dantian earlier, and his brows twitched involuntarily.

Perhaps the situation wasn't as he imagined?

Han Li's mind stirred, and he wrapped his divine sense around the other seventy-one flying swords in his dantian, giving them a slight push.

These flying swords only flickered faintly with green light on their surfaces but remained motionless.

After a moment's deliberation, he mobilized the immortal spiritual power in his dantian and gave another forceful push.

As a result, all the flying swords still flickered with green light on their surfaces, but they seemed rooted in his dantian, still not moving at all.

Seeing this, Han Li sighed inwardly and murmured to himself, "As expected."

The flying swords in his dantian now seemed incredibly heavy; with his current immortal spiritual power, it was like an ant trying to move a mountain—he simply couldn't drive them.

Fortunately, the spiritual connection between the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and him remained. Once his strength improved in the future, he would be able to activate these flying swords.

He let out a soft sigh, no longer insisting on unleashing all the flying swords at once. Instead, he focused his divine sense on one again and summoned another.

A green light flashed several times before him, and a green flying sword materialized.

Han Li took a deep breath, channeling all the immortal spiritual power in his body and the divine sense power in his mind, forming a sword seal with his hand and pointing it out.

The surface of this Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword glowed with bright green light and twitched twice, but it still couldn't shoot out.

Instead, due to the excessive exertion of his immortal spiritual power and divine sense, a sudden dizziness struck his mind. Startled, he quickly stopped.

Han Li waved his hand to put away this flying sword, his eyes flickering.

It seemed that with his current strength, wielding one Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was already his limit.

The green giant sword slowly rotated in midair. Although its surface no longer had violent golden arcs, it still exuded a mountain-like pressure.

But even with only one sword, the power of this Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was now no less than that of the entire set of flying swords before.

Han Li beckoned with his hand, and the green giant sword shot down, rapidly shrinking into a small green sword that flew into his sleeve.

His figure flickered as he descended downward.

A petite figure stood below, none other than Lu Yuqing.

"Congratulations, Brother Han, your flying sword's power has greatly increased." Seeing Han Li fly down, Lu Yuqing stepped forward and smiled.

"It's all a matter of chance. Since you're here, have you dealt with the previous puppets?" Han Li said calmly, speaking vaguely.

Lu Yuqing didn't say much, just nodded.

At this moment, all the celestial phenomena in the sky had completely disappeared. The entire secret realm became extremely quiet, and the white clouds scattered by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword slowly returned to their original state.

"It seems there are no other treasures here. We've been inside for a long time. Although the entrance to this secret realm is hidden, it's hard to guarantee that Xue Han and his group won't chase us in. It's best to leave the Minghan Palace quickly," Han Li said, glancing around.

Hearing this, Lu Yuqing was slightly startled, a hint of hesitation appearing on her face.

"Miss Lu, do you have unfinished business here?" Han Li asked, seeing her expression.

"No, Brother Han is right. We should leave quickly. But please wait for me a moment," Lu Yuqing said, then flew toward the now solitary Daoist temple, landing in front of the ancestral hall.

She waved her hand, emitting a green light that enveloped all the memorial tablets there, collecting them.

After doing this, she immediately turned and flew back.

"Let's go." Han Li naturally saw Lu Yuqing's actions, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes, but he didn't ask further and said indifferently.

With that, his figure shot out, heading down the mountain.

Lu Yuqing's body flickered with green light as she followed.

Perhaps due to the destruction of the white altar in midair, or because all the flying swords in the sword sea had disappeared, the endless sword qi in the sky also vanished.

Without the endless sword qi in the sky, they could now fly freely here.

Just as the two took off, a loud boom came from deep within the secret realm, like a massive thunderclap, and the entire secret realm shook violently.

"What's going on!?" Han Li's expression changed slightly as he halted and looked toward the direction of the loud noise.

A white pillar of light emerged there, shooting straight into the sky.

This white pillar of light was enormous, at least several tens of zhang thick, like a towering giant column.

Vast waves of spiritual power emanated from the pillar, making even Han Li, at his current level, feel somewhat alarmed.

"This..." Lu Yuqing stared at the distant white pillar, her face full of shock.

Rumble!

Another thunderous boom came from another direction, and the entire secret realm shook violently once more.

Another thick white pillar of light emerged there, shooting into the sky as well.

Han Li and the other turned to look, their faces showing surprise again.

The two pillars of light seemed to resonate with each other, and the entire secret realm began to tremble, the intensity growing.

The entire giant peak also rumbled and shook, countless fragments of rock tumbling down its slopes like a rain of stones.

"Not good, this secret realm might collapse. Let's go!" Han Li's expression changed, and he suddenly shouted. A brilliant green light burst from his body as he shot down the mountain like lightning.

Lu Yuqing's pretty face also changed upon hearing this, and she quickly followed.

As he flew, thoughts churned in Han Li's mind: Why was this happening?

Was it the collapse of the white altar that triggered the realm's destruction, or had his earlier void-splitting sword strike damaged some crucial hub of this secret realm?

He shook his head. There was no point in pondering the cause now; it was better to leave this place as soon as possible.

Han Li's green light intensified again, and his speed increased slightly.

Given their speed, they soon reached the foot of the peak, arriving at the place where they had first entered the secret realm.

At that moment, a third white pillar of light rose from another direction of the secret realm, and the trembling of the entire space intensified considerably.

Han Li released his spiritual sense to sweep over this area and its surroundings, his expression darkening.

The space here was extremely stable, with no sign of any spatial passage or teleportation array that could serve as an exit.

He had previously assumed this was the entrance and exit of the secret realm, but it seemed he had been mistaken.

Lu Yuqing sensed the situation here, and her face also turned grim.

"Miss Lu, I noticed you've been walking around the peak these past three days. Have you found any other exits or anything unusual?" Han Li suddenly turned to Lu Yuqing and asked.

"No. It seems this secret realm was thoroughly explored by that Xiong Shan. I only saw some broken structures here and there, with almost all the restrictions already dismantled, and nothing unusual inside." Lu Yuqing shook her head and said.

Hearing this, Han Li turned his head to look at the void before him.

With his current abilities, it was still unlikely for him to tear open the void here and create a spatial passage.

The space in the Immortal Realm was extremely stable, unlike the lower realm of Linghuan.

And even if he could break the space here, it might not necessarily lead to the outside; he could be swept into an endless void turbulence and die without a burial place.

At that moment, with a loud "boom," a fourth white pillar of light appeared in another direction of the secret realm.

The four thick pillars of light resonated with each other, and the entire secret realm shook violently.

A harsh grating sound came from overhead, and white cracks suddenly appeared in the void, spreading rapidly outward like fissures in a mirror.

Seeing this, Lu Yuqing's face instantly turned pale.

"Since this space is used for sword forging, there must be an exit. We should split up and search around without delay," Han Li said in a deep voice.

As his words fell, he shot off in one direction.

Lu Yuqing nodded and immediately flew off in another direction.

After flying only a short distance, she suddenly stopped, a hint of doubt appearing on her face as she looked toward a spot on the mountainside.

After a moment's hesitation, she radiated a burst of green light and shot toward that spot.

Meanwhile, Han Li flew along one side of the giant peak toward its summit.

His divine sense spread out, and a brilliant blue light shone from his eyes, emitting two blue beams as he looked downward.

Not only that, but he muttered incantations under his breath, and a golden light flashed before him as he activated his True Vision to examine everything around him.

With his speed, he quickly surveyed most of the mountain, then suddenly came to a halt.

Further up, all the vegetation had been uprooted by the earlier blast, leaving bare rock walls that could be seen through at a glance—nothing was there.

Han Li looked upward.

No new white pillars of light appeared for the moment, but the white cracks in the void spread rapidly and grew thicker.

The entire secret realm trembled more violently, and storms began to stir in various places.

Han Li, growing anxious, immediately changed direction to probe the other side of the giant peak.

"Brother Han, come here quickly." Just then, a voice sounded in his mind—it was Lu Yuqing.

Han Li was startled, then turned to look downward. His form flickered and shot down as a streak of green light.

Lu Yuqing stood at a certain spot on the mountainside of the giant peak, black light flickering in her eyes as she gazed at a cliff face ahead.

With a flash of green light, Han Li's figure materialized.

"Miss Lu, have you found something?" He looked in the direction of her gaze, blue light flickering in his eyes, but saw nothing.

A golden light flashed before him as the Wheel of True Words emerged, the Eye of Truth at its center sparkling with countless golden specks as it stared at the cliff face.

The next moment, a hint of joy suddenly appeared on his face. He flicked a finger.

With a "whoosh!"

A streak of green sword qi shot out and struck the cliff face.

The sword qi vanished into it in a flash, disappearing, but then a faint white light rippled on the surface of the cliff, only to flicker and vanish again eerily.