Chapter 654: First Move

Han Li and the other two had long been waiting off to the side, and upon hearing Shi Chuankong's words, they immediately sprang into action.

The Reheat Immortal Venerable made the first move. He brought his hands together and then parted them, and a golden ancient mirror appeared before him—the same immortal artifact imbued with the power of time that he had used for protection in previous battles.

He rapidly chanted incantations under his breath while rubbing his hands together. Two beams of golden light shot out and vanished into the golden ancient mirror.

The golden ancient mirror spun swiftly, growing to the size of a house as it caught the wind. Crystalline light swirled across its surface, and a vast expanse of golden light surged forth, then condensed into a giant golden rune over ten zhang in size.

The giant rune roiled with golden radiance, and a mighty wave of time law fluctuations erupted from it.

The Reheat Immortal Venerable pushed with both hands through the air, and the golden rune shot forward, slamming heavily into the white light barrier before vanishing into it in a flash.

The white light barrier trembled violently once more, and a thunderous boom sounded from within. Then, a layer of golden crystalline light emerged on the barrier's surface, flickering wildly.

The golden crystalline light fluctuated intensely and quickly dimmed, but in the end, it did not shatter like the previous layer of silver crystalline light.

Almost at the same time, Hu San rapidly chanted incantations.

A silver light flashed on his body, and then his form flickered, splitting into five identical figures.

The five Hu Sans simultaneously grasped at the air with both hands, and a towering blood light erupted from their hands, its fierce radiance flickering wildly, enough to make one's heart pound.

Then, the five Hu Sans opened their mouths and spat out a crystalline silver radiance each, which vanished in a flash into the blood light in their hands.

The towering blood light rapidly shrank, condensing into a ten-zhang-sized crystalline blood-colored giant axe.

Strands of crystalline blood light coiled around the giant axe, crackling like blood-colored lightning, emitting a terrifyingly sharp aura.

With a whoosh, the five blood-colored giant axes hacked down fiercely at the white light barrier.

On the other side, green light flashed repeatedly before Han Li, and nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords stood side by side, radiating dazzling green sword light.

He spat out a stream of green light that merged into the nine flying swords. After the nine Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords blazed with intense light, they fused together into a hundred-zhang-sized giant green sword, with thick golden arcs of electricity coiling around it.

A towering sword aura erupted from the giant green sword, and even the residual waves of the sword aura caused ripples like water in the nearby void.

Having been nurtured in the jade gourd for so many years, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had once again increased in power compared to before.

The azure giant sword flickered, transforming into a blurred sword shadow, and the next moment appeared before the white light barrier, striking down with earth-shattering force.

Although Shi Chuankong's face was pale, he took a deep breath and waved his hand to sacrifice a pitch-black circular wheel immortal artifact, which spun with a whirring sound and slashed toward the white light barrier.

Boom boom boom!

A series of earth-shattering explosions erupted, and the white light barrier flickered wildly.

Under the combined force of so many attacks, the layer of golden crystalline light had been torn open, and as the white light barrier flickered, it rapidly thinned, leaving only a thin layer in the blink of an eye.

But within the remaining light barrier, countless white crystalline threads emerged, densely interwoven like a giant spider web.

This thin layer of light barrier was unexpectedly tough, stubbornly blocking the attacks of the three, taut and unbroken.

Not only that, but at the edges of the white light barrier, golden and silver crystalline light arose and rapidly spread toward the center.

Wherever the golden and silver crystalline light passed, the white light barrier remarkably restored its previous thickness.

"Not good! Everyone, hold back no longer, or all our efforts will be wasted!" Shi Chuankong shouted, flipping his hand to produce a pill the size of a thumb, emitting a faint purple halo.

He hesitated for a moment, then tilted his head back and swallowed the elixir. A brilliant purple light burst forth from his body, and his pale complexion rapidly recovered, as if his vitality had been fully replenished.

He waved his hand to recall the black circular immortal artifact, while muttering incantations under his breath. A flash of purple light flickered behind him, coalescing into the three-headed, six-armed purple dharma image he had manifested earlier, holding six blurry giant weapon phantoms.

He rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, then pointed a finger toward the sky above. A beam of purple light shot upward, flashed once, and vanished into the void above, disappearing without a trace.

In the next moment, a thunderous roar suddenly rang out!

The sky above abruptly stirred up a violent gale. A purple-black hole appeared out of nowhere in the void, and countless streams of purple-black demonic qi surged wildly out of the aperture, cascading down like a waterfall.

Shi Chuankong, without a moment's hesitation, formed a hand seal to guide the energy. The purple-black demonic qi condensed into enormous purple-black runes, which merged into the weapon's phantom within one arm of the purple dharma image.

This weapon phantom was a giant bow. After absorbing the purple-black runes, it rapidly became clearer, nearly solidifying into a physical entity.

Purple scales emerged on the bow's body, inscribed with purple-black runes. Both ends of the bow were shaped like dragon heads, biting the thick bowstring, exuding an overwhelming aura of ferocity.

The other arm of the purple dharma image drew the bowstring, and a massive arrow phantom materialized out of thin air, shooting forth like a falling meteor, striking the white light barrier.

On the other side, Hu San rapidly chanted incantations. With a flicker, the five figures instantly merged into one.

After merging, Hu San's body rapidly expanded, swelling to dozens of zhang in height in the blink of an eye, radiating dazzling silver light.

Within the rosy glow, the faint silhouette of a massive silver fox could be seen, raising its head and howling at the sky.

The five blood-colored giant axes also merged with each other, growing larger in the process, transforming into a single hundred-zhang-sized blood-colored giant axe.

With a series of hissing sounds, clusters of blood-colored flames emerged on the blood-colored giant axe. As they blazed fiercely, the nearby void seemed to corrode and rapidly melt away.

Hu San let out a loud shout, and the giant axe in his hand transformed into a blood-red rainbow that slashed down, striking the white light barrier.

At the same time, the Revered Flame Immortal flipped his hand and put away the golden ancient mirror, chanting archaic incantations with a solemn and dignified expression.

Countless crimson flames surged out from his body, coalescing behind him into a gigantic fiery figure. It wore a crown of flames and held a scepter of fire. Though its face was indistinct, it radiated boundless majesty, as if it were the emperor of all flames.

The Revered Flame Immortal rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, then abruptly stopped and pointed a finger at the white light barrier in the void.

The fiery figure behind him raised its flame scepter and pointed it into the void.

With a piercing screech, a slender streak of fire shot out from the tip of the flame scepter, flashing into the void and vanishing without a trace.

The next moment, in front of the white light barrier, the void flickered, and the slender streak of fire appeared out of nowhere, striking the white light barrier with great force.

Han Li narrowed his eyes. A flash of emerald light on his body, and a ball of emerald light shot out, transforming into a jade-green gourd.

The gourd emitted a dazzling emerald radiance, with countless tiny runes flickering on its surface, causing the surrounding natural spiritual energy to leap and churn.

He rapidly formed hand seals to urge it on. The emerald gourd quickly expanded, the runes on its surface suddenly flared brightly, and the mouth of the gourd burst forth with a towering green light. A muffled explosion came from within the emerald gourd, as if it contained a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"Go!" Han Li pointed with his fingers together and waved.

The emerald gourd shook violently, causing the nearby void to tremble as well. A blurry green-gold shadow shot out from the gourd's mouth, vaguely visible as a green blade shadow, striking the white light barrier.

The green giant sword retreated slightly, then its blade radiance and lightning intensified as it slashed down again.

Boom!

Four suns—purple, blood-red, crimson, and green—emerged, intertwining with each other. A terrifying aura capable of destroying heaven and earth surged upward.

Among the four suns, the purple and green ones were the largest. Countless purple and green runes tumbled within them, causing the surrounding natural spiritual energy to surge wildly and slam violently against the white light barrier.

The white light barrier fluctuated violently, countless cracks appearing on its surface. Then, with a loud bang, it was finally torn apart.

The entire white light barrier shattered inch by inch, vanishing completely, transforming into a vast expanse of thick white clouds that churned endlessly.

Within the white clouds, golden and silver light flickered, and two command flags flew out, spinning rapidly within the clouds.

Both command flags were embroidered with countless star patterns, one gold and the other silver, each emitting strong fluctuations of the laws of time and space.

Han Li's eyes suddenly brightened. He raised his arm, formed a hand seal, and pointed at the emerald gourd.

A flash of green light on the emerald gourd's surface, and a beam of emerald radiance shot out from within, instantly crossing several tens of zhang to coil around the golden command flag.

Almost at the same time, a large purple hand shot over and grabbed the silver command flag—it was one of the hands of the purple dharma form behind Shi Chuankong.

Han Li inwardly lamented the missed opportunity, but he formed a hand seal to guide the green radiance, which coiled around the golden command flag and shot back, disappearing into the emerald gourd.

The large purple hand, clutching the silver command flag, also shot back.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong's act of retrieving the treasures was extremely swift. By the time Hu San and the Revered Flame Immortal reacted, the two command flags had already fallen into Han Li and Shi Chuankong's hands.

Hu San and the Revered Flame Immortal exchanged glances, both showing a trace of regret on their faces.

Given their experience, they could naturally tell that the two command flags were likely the treasures anchoring the mountain gate's禁制, and they were immortal artifacts refined using the two supreme laws of time and space, of no ordinary grade.

However, Hu San and the others did not harbor much resentment. Exploring ruins was always a matter of personal ability and fortune; they could only blame themselves for being too slow.

"Congratulations to you two for acquiring two treasures before even entering the ruins," Hu San said with a smile, forming hand seals and flickering as he restored his original form.

"Haha, Brother Li and I have taken the lead this time. There are bound to be many treasures deeper in the ruins, so Brother Hu and Brother Revered Flame will surely have great gains as well," Shi Chuankong laughed heartily as the purple dharma form behind him rapidly shrank and merged into his body.

The purple-black hole above his head also rapidly shrank and soon disappeared.

Han Li glanced at the hole in the air, a faint purple light flickering in his eyes.

Inside the hole, demonic energy churned, and it was profoundly deep. Even with his Nine Nether Demon Eyes, he could not see the bottom. It seemed like a spatial passage, leading to an unknown destination.

While these thoughts turned in his mind, he made a single-handed gesture.

The green light on the emerald gourd's surface quickly receded, and its size rapidly shrank as it descended from midair.

With a single flicker, the gourd vanished into Han Li's sleeve.

The green giant sword also shot back. Amidst a flash of green light, it split apart into nine Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, which, with successive flashes of green light, all disappeared into his sleeve.