Chapter 489 The World Behind the Door

Upon hearing Gongshu Jiu's words, Xue Ying's heart stirred slightly, feeling as if there was an intangible, faint light curtain around them, enveloping the two.

"Palace Master Xiao has greatly increased his cultivation in recent years, bent on unifying all forces in the Northern Frost Immortal Domain. He has done many things openly and covertly, so the domain has been quite unsettled for the past millennium. Since the last siege of Baili Yan, Fuling Sect and Cangliu Palace have appeared much more docile on the surface, but in reality, they are merely lying low and gathering strength. If Palace Master Xiao continues to act so willfully, I fear the Northern Frost Immortal Domain will soon face upheaval. I, as a junior, had no choice but to take this presumptuous step..." Xue Ying said slowly, her expression solemn.

"Don't think that way. Even if you hadn't contacted me, the Heavenly Court had already noticed the unrest here. In fact, in recent years, the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall has been increasingly active, and the Northern Frost Domain is not the only one in turmoil. I was delayed in arriving here because I had to deal with matters in another domain. As it happened, the Minghan Immortal Mansion emerged, so I came directly here." Gongshu Jiu waved his hand and said.

"I was fortunate to encounter you, Uncle Gongshu, or I don't know how long it would have taken to escape. I'm embarrassed to have you see me like this." Xue Ying said, clasping her hands in another bow.

"This is a Xuanwu Water Mechanism Array. It can only be broken by entering the water from outside and destroying the mechanisms. All of you were trapped in the array, and the more you struggle, the tighter it binds. Even with late-stage Golden Immortal strength, it's hard to save yourselves." Gongshu Jiu said with a smile.

"We fell for that old fox Luo Qinghai's trick." Xue Ying's eyes flashed with gloom as she sighed.

"Where is Xiao Jinhan now?" Gongshu Jiu changed the subject and asked.

"I parted ways with him just before coming here. I'll take you to him now." Xue Ying was momentarily startled, then quickly said.

"Let's go." Gongshu Jiu nodded and casually beckoned to the void.

The huge snow-white Pixiu had already swallowed the black millstone into its belly and was opening its mouth to belch. Suddenly, its light converged, its size rapidly shrank, and it turned back into a white jade trinket, flying back into Gongshu Jiu's hand.

Only a small black dot appeared in its belly, and it still held the posture of belching with its mouth open.

Then, the two, along with those True Immortals, flew out of the lake area together and sped off into the distance.

...

None of them knew that beneath the ruins of the ancient tomb by the lake, there was a black stone passage extending downward, inlaid with irregularly shaped white fluorescent stones that illuminated the entire corridor brightly.

Inside the passage, a graceful figure was walking slowly, step by step, deeper into the tunnel.

Under the fluorescent light, her skin was as white as snow, her features like a painting, appearing about twenty years old. It was Lu Yuqing.

But at this moment, although her eyes were bright as stars, her face was expressionless as she walked step by step, heading underground.

...

In the valley.

The peaks and rivers carved on the white stone wall glowed with golden light. From the sharply defined layers of rugged cliffs and the winding, meandering rivers, golden runes flew out, reaching the white light curtain.

Their light suddenly scattered, then melted into the light curtain.

The originally violently surging light curtain instantly became thick, as if mixed with a large amount of golden liquid, and also became stable again.

Seeing this, Luo Qinghai frowned slightly, changed his hand seals, and uttered a low shout.

"Rise!"

With this sound, the lotus platform shadow beneath him suddenly blazed with light, becoming more solid.

At the same time, faint winds sounded around the lotus platform, and a blue vortex condensed, emitting a powerful suction force from within.

Han Li's expression changed abruptly. He felt his immortal spiritual power, like floodwaters from an opened sluice, madly pouring into the lotus platform vortex.

He shifted his gaze to the others in the formation and saw that they all looked different, clearly also being drained of a large amount of immortal spiritual power.

"Don't panic, everyone. This stone wall's restriction is stronger than anticipated; it will take some effort." At this moment, Luo Qinghai suddenly spoke, his voice coming from midair.

"Fellow Daoist Luo, focus on breaking the restriction. If you intend to drain others' immortal spiritual power by this means, it's too crude, and I doubt you'd stoop to it." Feng Tiandu said in a hoarse voice.

"I'm relieved that Fellow Daoist Feng thinks so." Luo Qinghai replied with a smile.

As he spoke, the lotus platform beneath him had completely materialized, looking like it was carved from blue crystal, translucent and refracting rays of light.

"Open..."

Seeing this, a smile curled at the corner of Luo Qinghai's mouth, and he shouted.

The blue crystal lotus platform, which had gathered the vast immortal spiritual power of everyone, immediately shot out from under his feet, flashed in midair, and all its petals drifted down, spinning into the golden light curtain and landing on various parts of the white stone wall.

Then, a wondrous scene appeared on the stone wall.

Where the lotus petals fell, blue light gushed forth, and in the midst, dark blue lotuses bloomed, covering the entire stone wall.

Seeing this, Han Li felt both admiration and caution.

Luo Qinghai had them set up the Nine Palace Array Diagram and use the Nine Spirits Absorption Technique, which merely borrowed everyone's immortal spiritual power. The true means to break the restriction here should be these blue crystal lotuses.

Just as he was worried about unexpected changes, Luo Qinghai's palms had already pushed forward, his movements slow and casual, as if he were simply pushing open the door of his own courtyard.

However, as his palms pushed forward and then parted to the sides, the golden light curtain covering the white stone wall, now covered with lotuses, suddenly shattered with a bang. A golden line split open in the center of the stone wall, opening to both sides like a door.

The stone wall slowly opened inward, with no sound. The valley was also silent. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the dazzling white light behind the door, their expressions extremely tense.

But when the two stone doors fully opened, behind them was still only a bright white light, blinding to the eyes. No foreign objects flew out, nor did any strong fluctuations emanate.

Han Li took out a pill to restore immortal spiritual power and swallowed it. While holding an immortal essence stone to absorb spiritual power, he used his spiritual eye technique to probe into the white light.

But soon, he found it was of little use. What he saw was still a vast expanse of whiteness, and even his divine sense could not penetrate at all.

"Everyone, the restriction is open. Please enter according to the previously agreed number of people. Otherwise, I, Luo, will have no choice but to withdraw my means and close the restriction again. What happens then, only heaven knows." Luo Qinghai said with a smile, his tone gentle but with an unmistakable authority.

Hearing this, Feng Tiandu merely nodded to Qi Tianxiao, and the two took the lead, flying into the white light, their figures disappearing instantly. The others from Fuling Sect stayed put, none following.

Next, the two cultivators from the Nanli Tribe also flew into the white light together.

Hu Yan Daoren whispered a few words to Yun Ni, nodded to Han Li, and the two soared up and entered the white light.

The moment he entered, Han Li felt a sharp pain in his eyes and instinctively closed them.

The next moment, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in another strange world.

All around was a vast expanse of white, filled with endless white mist. It didn't seem thick; up close, one could distinguish the mist from the void, but a few hundred zhang away, the two had completely merged.

After a brief investigation, Han Li found that not only was vision obstructed here, but divine sense also couldn't see far.

He noticed that the few who had entered earlier were also hovering in the vast white mist, keeping some distance from each other, all looking around with solemn expressions.

Clearly, after entering, everyone's mind was tense, and no one dared to rush into the thick mist.

Soon, Ouyang Kuishan and another Golden Immortal from Candao Sect also flashed and appeared in the white mist void. They glanced at Hu Yan Daoren but only moved closer to him, not gathering together.

Soon, Luo Qinghai also entered with his disciple Nan Kemeng.

"Oh, why are all fellow Daoists still here? Are you waiting for me? That would be an honor." He asked with a warm smile, but his eyes unceremoniously scanned the entire surroundings.

No one present responded; they were all using their own abilities to explore directions.

Han Li looked at the surrounding mist, a hesitant expression on his face. His spiritual eye technique was useless here; if he used his true eye, he might gain something.

But doing so would prematurely expose his cultivation of the Time Law, which would definitely not be good for the situation he might face next.

Just as he was hesitating, the corner of his eye caught sight of the man standing with Luo Qinghai—the one with a handsome, almost effeminate face. There seemed to be white mist rising in his eyes as he stared blankly at a distant void.

And Luo Qinghai, beside him, appeared to be searching aimlessly, but his attention was always on this disciple.

Han Li shifted his gaze and also looked in that direction without moving, but all he saw was still the vast white mist; he could detect nothing.

Could that person have some special spiritual eye ability?

Puzzled, Han Li diverted part of his attention to keep an eye on him.

"Waiting like this won't do. Why don't we each choose a direction and investigate personally?" After a moment, Luo Qinghai suddenly said loudly.

"Hmph, this white mist can block divine sense. Who knows what oddities are hidden inside? Flying in recklessly would be asking for death." The white-haired old woman from the Nanli Tribe, leaning on a golden staff, said coldly.

"Since no one is willing to take the risk, I'll go first." Luo Qinghai said with a smile.

With that, he took his disciple's arm and headed straight up into the sky.