Chapter 476: Undercurrents

"Without realizing it, I've already collected so many..."

The middle-aged man chuckled softly, leisurely hanging the three masks in his hand on a wooden rack before nodding with satisfaction. Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he put the rack away again.

After putting them away, the middle-aged man did not immediately set off. Instead, he flipped his hand and took out a golden hollow disc, tossing it in front of him.

The disc flew several feet away, immediately shimmered with light, and expanded to the size of a round table. Various intricate runes lit up on it, and a dazzling golden light emerged from the center, shooting straight into the depths of the sky like a towering pillar.

Before long, specks of spiritual light gathered around the golden disc, gradually forming three blurry figures. Golden light flowed over their bodies, making it impossible to see their true forms.

"Gongshu Jiu, weren't you inspecting the Minghan Immortal Palace? Why have you suddenly contacted us?" one of the figures asked, its shoulders trembling slightly.

The other two figures also turned to look at the middle-aged man.

"Gan Jiuzhen is also in this Immortal Palace right now," the middle-aged man named Gongshu Jiu said slowly.

"Are you sure it's her? This woman's identity in the Reincarnation Hall is very mysterious. Even the name Gan Jiuzhen might not be real. Moreover, she frequently changes her masks. How can you confirm it's her?" the figure who had spoken earlier asked, trembling slightly.

"There's no solid evidence, but from the memories of the few Wuchang Alliance members I killed earlier, the 'Jiao San' leading this expedition into the Minghan Immortal Palace has a style of conduct quite similar to Gan Jiuzhen," Gongshu Jiu shook his head and said.

"In that case, we'll trouble Fellow Daoist Gongshu to capture her alive. The secrets she holds are worth our thorough investigation," one of the figures on the left side of the disc leaned forward slightly and said with a smile.

The middle-aged man nodded silently. Just as he was about to put away the golden disc, he suddenly remembered something and added:

"Oh, and earlier I discovered that someone in this Immortal Palace has used the Soul Refining Forbidden Technique, and it seems they have cultivated it to at least the third level."

"Unexpectedly, after so many years of prohibition, there are still those who are not afraid of death and forcibly violate the ban. This person does not need to be captured alive; they can be executed on the spot," a figure who had been silent all along suddenly spoke, saying sternly.

Gongshu Jiu nodded. With a wave of his sleeve, the golden disc's light converged, shrank back to its original size, and flew back into his sleeve.

Then, he mounted the jade-green flying carriage and shot into the sky, speeding off in one direction.

...

In another region, high in the sky, an unknown distance away.

Han Li was speeding along with Gold童 when he suddenly stopped and gazed into the distance in a certain direction.

"What's wrong?" Gold童 asked in confusion.

"I just felt an extremely powerful fluctuation over there, piercing through the sky. Now it seems to have disappeared," Han Li said after looking for a while, shaking his head.

"A powerful fluctuation... why don't we go over and see!" Gold童 said, a hint of excitement on her face, eager to try.

"Let's not create more trouble. We'll inevitably encounter powerful enemies later," Han Li said, shaking his head, knowing full well what she was thinking.

"Boring," Gold童 pouted, disappointed.

Han Li glanced once more in that direction, furrowed his brow slightly, and continued to flee into the distance with Gold童.

...

Within a well-preserved complex of palace buildings, four men and women dressed in Cangliu Palace attire were each activating a treasure, working together to break the禁制 outside a palace.

Just as they were about to succeed, an ancient mirror hanging in the center of the palace's door lintel suddenly flashed with spiritual light, shooting out a beam of pure white light that instantly struck one of them in the chest.

With a miserable cry, the person's chest was pierced through, leaving a round hole, and he fell backward.

With a loud "bang!"

A burst of green light exploded, and the破解法阵 they had jointly set up instantly collapsed.

The leading white-faced scholar flickered and appeared beside the fallen person. He flipped his hand and took out a golden pill, giving it to the person to swallow, and used his own immortal spiritual power to guide the medicine's effects.

Soon, the person's chest regrew bones and flesh, returning to its original state, but he was still gasping heavily.

Seeing this, the others relaxed slightly but still frowned.

"We've lost contact with the Palace Master and the others for over half a month. We can't stay trapped here; we must break the formation and get out immediately. Perhaps the Palace Master and the others have already found that place," the white-faced scholar said with a grave expression.

"Yes," the other three quickly responded.

After resting for a moment, they began to set up the破解法阵 again.

...

In the Minghan Immortal Palace, on a hill covered with scorched earth, white smoke was rising everywhere.

Several dozen feet underground, there was an underground palace deep hall, inside which was a large black stone chair. Sitting on it was a tall man in a gray robe, his face purple and withered, exactly Feng Tiandu, the Great Elder of Fuling Sect.

At this moment, on the ground before him, black stone fragments were scattered everywhere, seemingly the remains of the puppet guards of this hall.

Feng Tiandu stared gloomily at the remains on the ground, his face covered with wrinkles and muscles prominent, making him look even more like a ferocious zombie.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the hall. A thin man also in a gray robe entered from outside, his single remaining eye looking at the man on the stone chair, bowing respectfully.

"Senior Brother, the people we brought in have been dispersed. Two teams are temporarily out of contact. The rest are still searching, but haven't found the Taiyi Hall yet," Qi Tianxiao said.

"Any news from the Immortal Palace and Cangliu Palace?" Feng Tiandu looked up at him and asked.

"Some news, but it was only gathered yesterday and transmitted today. The Immortal Palace and Cangliu Palace are similar to us, having dispersed their people. It seems they have no leads either," Qi Tianxiao replied.

"According to estimates, there's still some time before the Heavenly Furnace opens. If we can find its location first, we can set up measures in advance and gain the upper hand," Feng Tiandu said solemnly.

"Rest assured, Senior Brother, I will keep an eye on the movements of all parties," Qi Tianxiao said with a cupped fist salute.

...

On a desolate red-earth wilderness with no living creatures in sight, two tall men dressed in Nanli tribe attire, holding golden staffs, were flying rapidly at high altitude.

Behind them closely followed three men and women dressed in Guiqizong attire, who were actually Shifanglou cultivators.

For some reason, the two sides had not clashed; instead, it seemed the three were following the two ahead.

The two tall men flying at the front had sallow faces and wooden expressions, looking like puppets. They did not speak a word along the way, only burying their heads in travel.

After the group flew for half a quarter of an hour, they saw a red-earth ruin resembling a city at the edge of their vision. They quickly accelerated and rushed toward it.

...

In a hilly area of the Minghan Immortal Palace, there were valleys of varying depths interspersed among the mountains.

Some were lush with verdant forests, some had rivers and rugged rocks, some were narrow and cramped like a thread of sky, some were filled with miasma like a poisonous fire valley... varied in form, each different.

Among them, in the middle of the mountain range, there was a small, unremarkable valley. It had neither strange rocks nor miasma, nor dense forests or rivers, and its height was even a third lower than the adjacent valleys on either side.

Inside the valley, three figures were gathered together, whispering something.

At this moment, the expressions on each of their faces were somewhat grave.

Among the three, the leader was a middle-aged man in a purple robe with a square face and thin eyebrows. His demeanor was unique, combining elegance with authority. He was Ouyang Kuishan, the Golden Immortal Dao Lord of Zhulong Dao.

"Fellow Daoist Ouyang, earlier we spread the location of the Minghan Immortal Palace's entrance, which has already aroused the Immortal Palace's suspicion. If we inform Hu Yan and the others in advance this time, I'm afraid the Immortal Palace will confirm our crime of rebellion," one of them said.

"What does it matter now whether we have this crime or not? How many of the promises the Immortal Palace made to us have they kept? Now we are openly ridiculed by the entire Northern Cold Immortal Domain as 'turncoats,' and secretly constrained by the Northern Cold Immortal Palace at every turn. We might as well have fought to the death back then," Ouyang Kuishan said, a trace of sadness flashing across his face.

"At that time, we betrayed Dao Lord Baili for the sake of Zhulong Dao's survival, after all, it was the sect we had poured half our lives into developing. Now that we've ended up like this, we can't blame others for mocking us behind our backs," another person said with a bitter smile.

"After this experience, I've completely come to understand. In this Northern Cold Immortal Domain, only when one's own strength is sufficient can one avoid having one's fate controlled by others. This is also an opportunity. The major forces of the Immortal Domain are all mixed up here. We don't need to be the bird that sticks its head out. We just need to muddy the waters and let the Northern Cold Immortal Palace suffer some losses in this murky water. As long as their strength is diminished by one point, their restraint on us will also weaken by one point," Ouyang Kuishan said, a glint of light in his eyes.

"That's right. We're just telling Hu Yan and the others. The Immortal Palace won't find evidence that it was us who leaked the information," another person chimed in.

After deciding, the three simultaneously took out an octagonal bronze formation plate and pieced them together in the center. The Zhulong pattern engraved on them lit up with red light.

Deep in the valley, a water-like light film covered the void inside, rippling with layers of ripples, blurring the view and making it impossible to see clearly what was behind the light film.

...

Beneath a sky covered with leaden clouds, a thousand-zhang-tall bluish-black peak stood.

Near the summit, there was a spacious open cliff. Xiao Jinhan, dressed in a white robe, stood at the edge of the cliff, letting the mountain wind blow his robes, looking into the distance with a complex expression.

At this moment, the only person by his side was a beautiful woman in a blue palace dress, naturally Xue Ying, the Vice Palace Master of the Northern Cold Immortal Palace.