Chapter 666: Crystal Lotus

Han Li hovered in midair, carefully observing the lotus pond below for a moment. He noticed that the pink lotuses, seemingly scattered randomly across the pond, were actually arranged in a unique pattern, forming a large-scale spell formation.

After a brief deliberation, he suddenly swooped down. As he neared the water's surface, a purple crystalline light flashed in his eyes as he swept his gaze around.

Under the vision of the Netherworld Devil Eye, the distribution of plants in the lotus pond became even clearer.

Seeing this, a smile curled at the corner of Han Li's mouth. He waved his hand casually, and a streak of silver flames shot out, transforming into a silver firebird. With a flap of its wings, it flew like a silver shadow around the lotus pond, scattering a vast expanse of silver flames like heavenly fire across the entire pond, instantly igniting all the lotus leaves.

Amidst the blazing silver flames came crackling sounds. The green lotus leaves, burned by the Essence Flame Firebird, turned to ashes. The entire lotus pond lost its vitality and became lifeless.

Yet even so, the milky white mist lingering over the pond did not dissipate, and the pink lotuses remained.

Han Li nodded inwardly at this sight and raised his hand, beckoning lightly.

A clear cry rang out from the lotus pond. All the silver flames rolled back, forming a silver flame firebird that flew toward Han Li. As it approached, it suddenly contracted into a small silver flame figure, hopping onto his shoulder.

The small silver flame figure looked around, a puzzled expression on its face, as if wondering why Han Li had it burn the lotus leaves but not completely destroy the lotuses.

It seemed that with just a bit more time, those pink lotuses would have turned to ashes as well.

Just as it was puzzled, a change occurred in the lotus pond.

Tiny green crystalline lights flickered around each pink lotus, and from them sprouted tiny buds. The surrounding milky white mist churned violently.

Soon, verdant green leaves visibly grew from the buds, expanding rapidly.

In an instant, the entire pond was once again filled with green lotus leaves.

These were not illusions; the water-attribute spiritual energy in the pond was so abundant, aided by the spell formation, that the leaves could regenerate in an instant.

Seeing this, the small silver flame figure widened its eyes, seemingly displeased that the lotus pond dared to revive under its flames. Its body blazed with intense heat, poised to dive down and burn everything clean.

But Han Li raised his hand and patted the small figure's head, signaling it not to bother. The latter then retracted its flames and returned to his body.

Han Li glanced around, his eyes flickering.

After this test, he had figured out the layout of the lotus pond. He swept several hundred zhang to a pink lotus, raised his hand, and plunged it downward.

As he grabbed, a large azure hand materialized in the void, its five fingers closing to uproot the pink lotus.

At its roots, blue crystalline light shimmered, and hanging from them was a translucent blue crystal lotus.

As soon as the blue crystal lotus emerged from the water, the other pink lotuses in the pond withered and dried up.

The lotus leaves remained standing, not immediately wilting, but they had lost their green luster, as if devoid of life.

At the same time, the milky white mist that had shrouded the pond began to dissipate under the gentle breeze.

Han Li paid no attention to the changes in the pond. His gaze was fixed on the blue crystal lotus in his hand, feeling the intense water-attribute law fluctuations emanating from it, a smile curling at his lips.

A glow appeared on the two fingers of his right hand, and a silver light gate about ten feet high materialized before him.

He stepped through and arrived at the golden lotus pond outside the bamboo tower in the Flower Branch Cave Heaven. He raised his hand and planted the blue crystal lotus, along with the pink lotus attached to it, into the pond.

The blue crystal lotus took root, and soon six pink lotuses sprouted in the small pond, with water vapor rising around.

Thin white mist began to rise from the water's surface, and a gentle breeze seemed to blow through the cave heaven, carrying the mist to all corners, causing the spiritual energy in the Flower Branch Cave Heaven to surge once again.

Mo Guang, who had been cultivating with closed eyes on the second floor of the bamboo tower, was startled by the sudden change in spiritual energy and abruptly opened his eyes.

But he only briefly examined the changes in the cave heaven, glanced toward Han Li's location, and then nonchalantly closed his eyes again.

At the spirit medicine garden, on a newly built bamboo tower, the Crab Immortal leaned against the railing, looking in this direction with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Han Li hovered in midair with his hands behind his back, a faint smile on his lips, letting the breeze ruffle his clothes.

After a while, seeing nothing unusual, he nodded in satisfaction.

With this item, along with the previous golden lotus and spell formation, the circulation of spiritual energy within this cave heaven would become more active, greatly reducing the consumption of mid-grade immortal spirit stones.

With this thought, he stepped out of the Flower Branch Cave Heaven, shot forward, flew over the thousand-zhang lotus pond, and continued inward.

…

Meanwhile, somewhere in the ruins of the Truthful Speech Sect, there was a dense cluster of building ruins.

The ruins were devastated, with collapsed palace walls and broken beams everywhere, interspersed with numerous skeletal remains of Truthful Speech Sect disciples and Celestial Court personnel. Among them were many cultivators of considerable cultivation in life, their bones still gleaming with a lustrous sheen even after countless years of death.

In addition, at the center of these ruins stood a relatively intact massive palace with a peculiar shape, resembling a凝固 unmoving crimson flame. Above its front lintel hung a large plaque inscribed vertically with three characters: "Flowing Fire Palace."

Whether due to the special material of the palace itself or the presence of alchemy or artifact-refining furnaces inside, even now, waves of heat emanated from the walls, one after another, distorting and blurring the void wherever they passed.

At this moment, outside the main gate of the palace, booming sounds rang out continuously.

A purple spirit domain and a yellow spirit domain overlapped. Inside, a seductive woman in a purple palace dress with a voluptuous chest was engaged in fierce combat with a sallow-faced, hunched old man who looked like a consumptive.

The seductive woman was none other than Yan Ziyan, the City Lord of Illusory Smoke City.

Her brows were furrowed with anger, pushing the red mole on her forehead into a prominent bulge. She held a purple jade pipa in her arms, plucking the strings rapidly.

"Zheng, zheng, zheng."

With sounds like clashing metal and stone, beautiful women formed of illusory smoke materialized, each holding a purple curved blade, drifting gracefully as they attacked the consumptive old man.

The consumptive old man darted back and forth across the square before the palace, easily evading the attacks of these smoke women.

His cultivation level far surpassed his opponent's, so his face showed no fear, only a playful and appreciative expression, as if he enjoyed being surrounded by the crowd of smoke beauties.

His slightly cloudy eyes roved around, lecherously scanning Yan Ziyan's chest and hips, a lewd smile on his lips as he chuckled:

"Hehe, City Lord Ziyan, here in this desolate ruin, it's just the two of us, a man and a woman alone. Wouldn't it be more interesting to engage in some romantic affairs rather than fighting and killing?"

"You know me?" Yan Ziyan asked coldly.

"Aren't you just the mistress of Grand Palace Lord Fu? What's so hard to know? What, do you still want to use Fu Yuanhai's name to intimidate me here in the Truthful Speech Sect ruins?" The consumptive old man laughed nonchalantly.

"You're nothing but a foul-mouthed scoundrel. If you've got the guts, take off that Yi Hui Society disguise and show me your true face. I swear that once we leave the Truthful Speech Sect ruins, I'll have my lover visit all eighteen generations of your ancestors." Yan Ziyan spat and cursed loudly.

Though she spoke boldly, she dared not underestimate her opponent. This man's cultivation was far above hers; if he hadn't been toying with her, she wouldn't have lasted this long unscathed.

"Ahem, since the beauty requests, how could I refuse?" The consumptive old man suddenly straightened up, coughed pretentiously, and said with a smile.

Then, grabbing the back of his collar, he yanked forward, tearing off his clothes and a layer of skin, as if performing a trick, revealing a handsome young man in snow-white robes.

"Well? Does this humble appearance meet the lady's approval?" His appearance and demeanor had completely changed, his way of speaking entirely different from the consumptive old man.

A flicker of surprise passed through Yan Ziyan's eyes. She sensed no trace of concealment on him, as if he truly showed his real face. Her expression changed, and a bad premonition arose in her heart.

This meant he was confident that his true appearance would not be revealed, and also that he intended to kill her.

Seeing Yan Ziyan's expression change and her silence, the handsome white-robed young man licked his crimson lips and laughed heartily: "Don't worry, how could I bear to kill such a tempting beauty? I'll make you into a human puppet and treasure you properly."

Hearing this, Yan Ziyan felt a chill run through her body. Gripping the purple jade pipa tightly, she pulled the strings like drawing a bow and suddenly plucked them toward the white-robed young man.

With a heavy "hum," a purple beam shot from the pipa, transforming into a massive purple-winged bat that emitted sharp shrieks as it charged forward.

Within Yan Ziyan's purple spirit domain, the bat's shrieks produced sound waves invisible to the naked eye, layer upon layer expanding and surging forward, pressing down on everything ahead.