Chapter 485: Unexpected Turn

Hot on the heels of the crimson vermilion bird and the blue giant wheel, a white great seal, a green jade ring, and a red crystal bead shot over from three directions, transforming into white, green, and red dazzling light clusters that also slammed violently into the white light barrier—the remaining three Golden Immortals of Fúlíng Sect had joined the fray.

At this moment, everyone was clearly going all out, determined to kill Xiāo Jìnhán. The momentum of this wave of attacks was far greater than when they had broken the entrance restriction of the Tàiyǐ Hall earlier.

A series of earth-shattering booms rang out!

The white light barrier twisted and trembled violently, its spiritual light rapidly dimming.

But for some reason, this white light barrier was several times more坚固 than before. Though it shook violently, it showed no signs of cracking.

Not only that, as white light flowed across the barrier's surface, countless white runes emerged.

As these runes flickered, countless spiritual lights from the surrounding spiritual domain converged and merged into the barrier, causing its spiritual light to recover at a remarkable speed.

Seeing this, the assembled Golden Immortals' expressions changed once more.

Qí Tiānxiāo frowned, formed hand seals, pointed, and muttered, "Go."

The gray giant python coiled its body, instantly wrapping around the white light barrier several times.

Countless gray runes appeared on the python's body, and streams of liquid-like gray mist oozed out, enveloping the white light barrier.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The gray mist corroded continuously, causing the white light barrier's glow to flicker and its recovery speed to slow.

But the corrosion rate of the gray mist was far inferior to the recovery speed of the white light barrier, rendering it largely ineffective.

Qí Tiānxiāo grew anxious and was about to rally everyone for another attack when a scene that left them all dumbfounded occurred!

At that moment, with a "boom," a patch of ground below burst open, sending countless ice shards flying, and a golden beetle dozens of zhang in size emerged.

"Could this be..." Qí Tiānxiāo stared at the golden beetle, momentarily stunned.

The golden beetle spread its claws and embraced the white light barrier, its golden talons digging fiercely into it.

The gray giant python was instantly severed into several pieces by the beetle's claws, let out a mournful cry, and its body dissipated into a cloud of gray mist.

Qí Tiānxiāo's expression shifted slightly. Though the gray giant python was formed from gray mist, it contained his law threads, granting it both corrosive power and toughness comparable to ordinary immortal artifacts. Yet the golden beetle had cut it apart so easily.

The others were also stunned, unsure whether this sudden golden beetle was friend or foe. Only Fēng Tiāndū, who was still battling the white domain spirit in midair, brightened slightly.

Ignoring the assembled Golden Immortals, the golden beetle opened its mouth wide.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Two scythe-like fangs shot out from its mouth.

These two fangs were completely different from its other golden teeth—much lighter in color, somewhat translucent, and emitting a hazy golden glow.

The golden beetle bit down hard, and the two scythe fangs struck the white light barrier.

Rip!

The barrier that Qí Tiānxiāo and the others had failed to breach despite their desperate attacks was torn like paper by the beetle's two fangs, leaving two long gashes.

Bang!

The white light emitted by the barrier condensed and then shattered inch by inch, revealing the five stone pillars within.

White patterns now covered the five stone pillars, densely spreading across every part and extending from the base to interweave on the ground, forming an extremely complex white formation.

Xiāo Jìnhán was sitting cross-legged at the center of the formation, his face also filled with shock and confusion.

"Silver Beard, how dare you freeze me!" A young girl's voice came from the golden beetle. Then it twisted its body, turned into a golden light, and lunged straight at Xiāo Jìnhán.

"Golden beetle... Metal Devouring Immortal? Impossible!" Xiāo Jìnhán frowned, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes. He shook his head, and without standing up, he formed hand seals and pointed.

With a hum!

The white formation blazed with light, and a thick white rainbow emerged, instantly transforming into a sharp light sword that shot out with lightning speed, striking the golden light cluster formed by the beetle.

With a crisp sound, the golden light cluster was knocked away, its light scattering to reveal the tumbling golden beetle.

With a flash of golden light around it, it barely steadied itself, a faint white mark visible on its golden carapace.

The next moment, golden light flickered on the beetle's body as it rapidly shrank to the size of a millstone, then blurred and charged at Xiāo Jìnhán again, nearly twice as fast as before.

But as soon as it neared the five stone pillars, the formation within lit up, and another light sword shot out, hitting the golden beetle precisely and sending it flying once more.

Anger flared in the beetle's eyes, and it was about to pounce again.

Just then, its eyes darted around, and it halted, glancing in one direction. It chirped twice, then blurred and vanished from the spot.

Xiāo Jìnhán was taken aback and was about to act.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Qí Tiānxiāo and the others descended from the sky, landing and surrounding the five stone pillars and Xiāo Jìnhán.

They glanced at where the golden beetle had been, surprise in their eyes, but quickly turned their attention back to Xiāo Jìnhán.

"Palace Lord Xiāo, it seems man proposes, heaven disposes. Prepare to die!" Qí Tiānxiāo's eyes flashed coldly as he formed hand seals and pointed.

The gray jade ruyi blazed with gray light, and rolling gray mist surged out, centering on the ruyi to form a massive gray dragon that lunged at Xiāo Jìnhán with claws bared.

The others also unleashed their immortal artifacts, transforming them into various colored lights that bombarded Xiāo Jìnhán from all directions.

Xiāo Jìnhán, unable to spare attention for the golden beetle, chanted incantations and flicked his fingers, sending streams of spell seals into the surrounding five stone pillars without even glancing at the incoming attacks.

Hum!

As the attacks of Qí Tiānxiāo and the others neared the five stone pillars, the white formation blazed with light, spinning and flickering rapidly.

With sharp whistles, over a dozen thick white beams shot out from various parts of the formation, heading in different directions.

A series of dense explosions!

The attacks of Qí Tiānxiāo and the others were all deflected and blocked, just like the golden beetle's. Not a single attack could get near the five stone pillars, let alone Xiāo Jìnhán within.

The Golden Immortals' expressions darkened.

They had seen the white formation's effect from midair and initially thought Xiāo Jìnhán was controlling it to fend off the golden beetle.

But now it seemed the white beams were not controlled by Xiāo Jìnhán; rather, the formation automatically sensed external attacks and responded accordingly.

At that moment, the white formation's light suddenly brightened, and the patterns on the five stone pillars also grew brighter rapidly.

Dazzling white light radiated from the five stone pillars, coalescing into a thick white pillar that shot straight into the sky.

Rumble!

The entire ice and snow spiritual domain trembled as countless spiritual lights converged from all directions, making the white pillar even brighter.

Within the white pillar, seven or eight white light clusters appeared and rapidly expanded.

"Stop him! He's about to condense domain spirits again! Destroy those stone pillars!" Fēng Tiāndū, seeing this from midair, changed expression and shouted to those below.

From the current situation, though he could hold his own against the powerful domain spirit within the domain, destroying it completely seemed no easy task. If more domain spirits appeared, with the balance shifting, they might not even escape unscathed, let alone kill Xiāo Jìnhán.

Seeing this and hearing Fēng Tiāndū's words, Qí Tiānxiāo and the others once again unleashed various immortal artifacts and high-grade talismans, transforming them into massive beams of light that bombarded the five stone pillars.

Xiāo Jìnhán smiled contemptuously, formed hand seals, and pointed.

The white formation lit up slightly and shot out dozens of white beams, once again blocking all the immortal artifacts.

A gleam flashed in Qí Tiānxiāo's eyes. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which merged into the gray jade ruyi. He then formed hand seals and pointed rapidly.

Boom!

The gray jade ruyi blazed with light, and the serpent head at its top detached from the ruyi, shooting out to become a massive gray serpent head.

The serpent head opened its bloody maw and swallowed the white beam blocking its path in one gulp.

With no obstruction ahead, the jade ruyi turned into a gray light, blurred, and appeared before the stone pillar.

It spun rapidly, transforming into a gray giant blade. Along its edge, gray runes appeared, exuding a law force with a strong corrosive aura, and it struck the white stone pillar fiercely.

Surprise flickered in Xiāo Jìnhán's eyes, but he did not intervene, continuing to form hand seals to activate the formation.

A loud crash!

The gray giant blade shattered like a wave crashing against a reef.

The gray jade ruyi reappeared, its spiritual light dim, spinning back from the recoil.

The white stone pillar swayed slightly, its surface white light flickering, but it quickly returned to normal.

"What!" Qí Tiānxiāo's expression changed.

Though this transformation of the gray jade ruyi seemed simple, it was the strongest attack form of this precious artifact, yet it couldn't even leave a mark on the stone pillar.

What material were these pillars made of, to be so hard? No wonder Xiāo Jìnhán was so unconcerned.

At the same time, a loud noise came from the other side. The white-haired crone of the Nánlí clan had shot a blade-like slender golden light from her golden staff, somehow bypassing the white formation's defense and striking another stone pillar.

The pillar trembled slightly but also returned to its original state, leaving no trace.

The two exchanged glances, seeing shock in each other's eyes.

Xiāo Jìnhán sneered inwardly, his hands continuing to form seals like spinning wheels.

The white formation grew brighter, and white lights from all parts of the spiritual domain converged, merging into the seven or eight light clusters within the pillar.

The white light clusters in the pillar rapidly changed, slowly growing heads and limbs.

Joy appeared in Xiāo Jìnhán's eyes, and he formed seals even faster.

Just then, a scene Xiāo Jìnhán could never have dreamed of occurred!