Chapter 662: The Bait

Feng Qingyuan moved with seemingly casual steps, but in reality he had not relaxed his vigilance. His eyes were constantly stealing glances around, and his divine sense had already covered the entire hall.

However, compared to his divine sense, the concealment methods of Han Li and Ren Hao were clearly superior.

After finding nothing unusual, Feng Qingyuan suddenly quickened his pace. With a blur of movement, he arrived before the pool deep in the hall and immediately spotted the blue shield and the blue flute.

His brows were tightly furrowed, and the greed in his eyes was fully exposed, yet like Han Li, he did not act rashly.

Earlier, he had watched the burly man enter this passage and had followed in pursuit. On the second floor of the hall, he had seen clear signs of a struggle, but the third floor was empty, which was clearly abnormal.

“Fellow Daoist Ren, I have already discovered your hiding place. Why not come out and meet me? Let us scheme together for the treasures in this pool?” Feng Qingyuan suddenly withdrew his gaze and said loudly.

Hearing this, Han Li instinctively looked toward the stone pillar in the northwest corner. Seeing that the burly man was still hiding himself thoroughly with no intention of appearing, he knew that Feng Qingyuan’s words were merely a bluff.

The hall fell into silence, with only Feng Qingyuan’s voice echoing faintly before gradually fading away.

Seeing that no one appeared even after this bluff, his frown deepened, and a strange glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.

After a long while, he still could not suppress the surging greed in his heart. With a wave of his hand, a golden light flashed, and he summoned a golden-armored puppet with eight arms beside him. With another hand gesture, he commanded the puppet to lean down and retrieve the two immortal artifacts from the pool.

The puppet moved nimbly, leaping and skimming across the pool’s surface like a spider. Two of its arms dipped like dragonflies touching water, reaching for the blue flute and the blue shield.

Han Li frowned tightly, his eyes fixed on the golden-armored puppet, waiting only for it to succeed before seizing the two immortal artifacts from it with lightning speed.

Just as the golden-armored puppet’s hands touched the two immortal artifacts and success seemed imminent, the pool’s surface, which had been as smooth as a mirror, suddenly rippled violently.

A water-blue figure suddenly shot out from beneath the surface, turning into a streak of light that burst forth, directly carrying the golden-armored puppet out of the pool.

With a loud clang!

The golden-armored puppet’s body was thrown heavily onto the pool’s edge, completely defenseless.

Then, a large blue webbed foot stomped down on its chest with a bang, crushing the chest and destroying the core of the golden-armored puppet, which was made of rare precious metals and comparable to a late-stage True Immortal.

This happened in the blink of an eye. Feng Qingyuan, sensing trouble, had already retreated over a hundred zhang, holding a bright red oilpaper umbrella that spun rapidly, his face full of caution as he looked toward the scene.

The owner of the foot stepping on the puppet’s chest was actually a blue mermaid with a fish head and human body, covered in crystal-like scales. Its aura could not be discerned, but it emitted waves of time law fluctuations so intense that they made one’s heart tremble.

Just looking at it made Feng Qingyuan regret his actions. He quickly glanced at the staircase behind him out of the corner of his eye, his mind racing with thoughts of escape.

But as soon as he made that small move, the blue mermaid suddenly opened its mouth, revealing two rows of dense, sharp teeth, and let out a silent roar.

Then, its figure burst apart with a puff, turning into a patch of blue mist that surged toward Feng Qingyuan like mountain morning mist driven by the wind.

Seeing the danger, Feng Qingyuan quickly opened the red oilpaper umbrella. As it spun, strands of blood-red light emanated from it, enveloping his form. He transformed into a mass of blood light and, with a flash, rushed toward the staircase.

However, the blue mist followed him like a shadow, instantly reaching the staircase and catching up with Feng Qingyuan, who was shrouded in the red light of the umbrella, engulfing him entirely.

“Ah…”

A suppressed, hoarse cry of agony, as if squeezed from the depths of a throat, came from within the blue mist.

Then, the sound of a heavy object falling was heard, and the entire third floor of the hall fell silent again.

After a moment, all the blue mist rolled back and recondensed into the blue mermaid. With a leap, it splashed a spray of blue droplets and plunged back into the pool.

Throughout the entire process, it did not even glance at the blue shield and flute that had served as “bait.”

On the ground at the staircase, only a completely withered and shriveled black-brown corpse remained, along with a tattered, worn-out oilpaper umbrella devoid of any spiritual energy.

Han Li, lying prone on a beam at the top of the hall, had seen everything clearly and was increasingly astonished.

What exactly was this creature that had suddenly appeared, capable of killing a Golden Immortal in an instant?

At that moment, a purple figure silently appeared at the entrance to the third floor. It was Feng Lin.

Han Li’s pupils contracted slightly. He silently recited a spell and shrank his concealed form again.

Feng Lin walked over slowly, glanced at Feng Qingyuan’s corpse, then looked at the blue pool, her expression calm, as if she were not surprised at all.

“Could it be that you two want me to test the mermaid’s abilities again? Unfortunately, I am not Yuan Feng. You don’t need to hide anymore; come out,” she said indifferently, looking in one direction and then toward Han Li’s hiding place.

At that moment, a layer of purple light appeared in Feng Lin’s eyes, filled with countless purple specks that flickered continuously, like a brilliant starry sky being born and dying.

Han Li was startled. This woman’s eyes had also cultivated the Nine Nether Demon Eyes, and her ability seemed superior to his.

Moreover, Feng Lin’s demeanor had changed drastically. Her expression no longer held the previous gentleness and charm; instead, it was cold as ice, as if she were a lofty empress.

His mind raced, and deciding not to hide any longer, he slowly walked out from his hiding place.

Almost at the same time, another spot flickered, and Ren Hao’s figure appeared.

“Hehe, Fellow Daoist Feng, you flatter me. How would I dare? That Yuan Feng seemed shrewd but was actually foolish. He couldn’t even see the danger here and was unworthy of joining forces with us three. His death was well deserved. I greatly admire the profound cultivation of Fellow Daoist Li and Fellow Daoist Feng,” Ren Hao said with a laugh.

Han Li glanced at Ren Hao expressionlessly and said nothing.

“Hmph! Save that talk. To be straightforward, the treasures are right ahead. Let’s join forces to kill that blue mermaid. As for the treasures here, we’ll each rely on our own abilities to seize them. How about it?” Feng Lin snorted, ignoring Ren Hao’s flattery, and said bluntly.

“No problem. That monster may have some skills, but how can it be a match for the three of us together?” Ren Hao immediately nodded and agreed loudly.

Han Li stood there, still silent.

“What? Does Fellow Daoist Li disagree? Or do you have a better plan?” Feng Lin looked at Han Li and said slowly.

“I have no problem with joining forces. However, my knowledge is shallow and cannot compare to the broad experience of you two. I hope you can enlighten me on the origin of that blue mermaid,” Han Li said calmly after stroking his chin.

This blue mermaid had a strange aura, completely different from that of cultivators, as if it were some kind of existence condensed from spiritual power.

“Fellow Daoist Li, you are too modest. But as for that blue mermaid, I am not very clear about it either,” Feng Lin shook her head and said.

Ren Hao glanced at Feng Lin and also shook his head, indicating he did not know.

Seeing this, Han Li felt somewhat disappointed.

Since all three agreed to join forces, they did not delay any further. After discussing tactics through voice transmission, they rushed toward the blue pool from three directions.

Ren Hao was the fastest, reaching the pool in a flash. One of his hands shot out from his sleeve, flipping and grabbing like lightning.

With a tearing sound!

A flash of blue light above the pool, and a house-sized blue beast claw appeared, covered in scales and radiating thousands of blue rays. It looked immensely powerful as it grabbed toward the blue shield in the pool.

The water in the blue pool churned, and the blue mermaid emerged again. With a wave of its delicate hand, a blue staff shadow appeared.

The staff shadow looked ancient and profound, carrying an aura of primeval desolation, like the scepter of an ancient water god, striking the blue beast claw.

With a loud, muffled thud!

The seemingly mighty blue beast claw was shattered by the staff, instantly dissipating into a large patch of water light.

Ren Hao’s eyes flickered, showing no surprise. He formed a hand seal and pointed.

The blue giant sword behind him immediately turned into a blue rainbow shooting into the sky. After spinning in midair, it swelled dramatically with a burst of blue light.

In an instant, a hundred-zhang-tall blue giant sword appeared above Ren Hao’s head, then slashed heavily toward the blue mermaid.

Rustling!

The surrounding void echoed with the sound of surging waves. The air became thick with water vapor and suddenly grew extremely heavy.

On the other side, Feng Lin also launched an attack.

With a wave of her hand, a black light shot out. As it grew in the wind, it transformed into a black giant gate.

The gate was over ten zhang tall and two to three zhang wide, covered with reddish-brown patches that seemed to be bloodstains. Two purple-black door rings hung on it, clinking.

On either side of the gate were carved reliefs of demon gods with green faces, fangs, and blood-red eyes.

Boundless demonic energy emanated from the black gate, terrifying anyone who saw it.

Feng Lin muttered incantations and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which turned into a blood mist and merged into the black gate.

The two ghost-faced reliefs on the black gate glowed brightly in their eyes. Their mouths opened simultaneously, spitting out two beams of blood light that transformed into two blood-colored hands grabbing the purple-black door rings and pulling hard.

The black gate trembled with a buzz and slowly opened.

The sound of wailing evil ghosts rushed out from within the gate, followed by a thick black pillar of light that shot out, heading toward the blue mermaid.

As the black light churned, it condensed into countless ferocious faces—human faces and various animal faces—emitting piercing screams.

An overwhelming sense of suffering emanated from the black pillar of light; it was unclear what kind of divine ability this was.

At this moment, Han Li also arrived at the pool. Feeling the aura of the black pillar of light, his mind felt uncomfortable. He quickly activated the Spirit Refining Technique to recover.

He gave Feng Lin a deep look, then formed a sword seal with one hand.

Three small green swords flew out from his sleeve. With a flash of sword light, they transformed into three green giant swords, with thick golden arcs of electricity appearing on their surfaces, accompanied by rumbling thunder.