Chapter 724: Splitting Up

Han Li looked at the bizarre scenes within the fortress, feeling secretly astonished.

These unremarkable-looking fortresses seemed to be places where the Netherworld Tribe refined some kind of puppet, using creatures from the Gray Realm, and even members of other Gray Realm races. Such actions could never be made public, no wonder they were guarded so tightly.

Moreover, the Netherworld Tribe appeared to have mastered this eerie puppet-refining technique to perfection, allowing mass production.

Although the Netherworld Tribe itself had few members, they were powerful in their own right. On one hand, they could control Nether Slaves, and on the other, they could mass-produce these puppets. No wonder they had become the ruling clan of this Netherworld Domain.

He glanced a few times, then immediately withdrew his divine sense, returning to the pool fortress, and extended it in another direction, soon arriving at a huge fortress.

This place was filled with rows of prisons of varying heights, densely packed together like a beehive.

Some of the prisons held various Gray Realm demon beasts, while others held members of various Gray Realm races, completely naked, with vacant eyes. Because the prisons were deliberately designed to be very low, these people could only crouch on the ground like beasts.

These were the "raw materials" for refining puppets, extremely numerous, amounting to several thousand.

Among them were not a few True Immortal realm, and even Golden Immortal realm, formidable beings.

However, the prisons for these formidable beings were specially made, exceptionally sturdy and equipped with various restrictions, preventing them from escaping.

Han Li had spent quite some time probing the interior of the fortress and soon withdrew his divine sense.

Shi Chuankong, Hu San, and the others were naturally completely unaware of everything Han Li had seen. Having rested enough, the group continued forward.

The five continued to advance cautiously, following the route on the map, and soon arrived at the northwestern border of the Hundred Treasures District.

Not far away, a huge turret hung on the city wall, exactly as depicted on the map.

A faint black light shimmered on the turret, shrouded by a layer of restrictions, and nearby stood many armored Nether Slaves, seemingly guarding the place.

Han Li and the others hid in a concealed spot, looking toward the city wall ahead.

Arriving here, the five all relaxed a bit. The most difficult part had been passed; now they only needed to use the same method once more to get through this section of the city wall.

"Brother Shi, we'll have to trouble you again to use your spatial teleportation technique to take us across," Han Li said, withdrawing his gaze and addressing Shi Chuankong.

"No problem, but Brother Fox, please use your magic to take us near the city wall." Shi Chuankong nodded and said to Hu San.

"Leave it to me." Hu San immediately nodded, then flicked his wrist, and a round crystal sphere appeared in his palm.

He muttered incantations under his breath, pointed at the crystal sphere, and a layer of multicolored crystalline light burst forth from it, enveloping the five of them.

With a slight flicker of the multicolored light, Han Li and the others' figures vanished without a trace.

Hu San waved his hand, and the group of five moved forward, soon arriving at the base of the city wall.

Shi Chuankong made hand seals and pointed repeatedly, while flipping his hand to produce array plates, quickly setting up a teleportation formation on the ground.

He raised his hand and waved, and a silver light fell into the formation, causing it to brighten instantly.

Mo Guang waved his hands at this moment, and streams of black smoke-like baleful aura surged forth, enveloping the teleportation formation and sealing off all fluctuations of energy.

But after the teleportation formation lit up, the figures of the group trembled slightly, then immediately returned to normal without disappearing.

Seeing this, Han Li and the others' expressions changed, and they all looked at Shi Chuankong.

Shi Chuankong's face also turned somewhat pale, but he immediately realized something, looked toward the city wall, and his expression darkened.

"Brother Shi, what's going on?" Hu San asked while urging the crystal sphere to conceal their traces.

"Let's go back first." Without explaining the reason, Shi Chuankong waved his hand to collect the array flags and plates on the ground, then took the lead toward the previous hiding spot.

The group exchanged glances, quickly followed, and soon returned there.

"Daoist Shi, what just happened? Why did the teleportation fail?" Bai Liyan was the first to ask.

"Could it be that spatial restrictions have been added to the city wall's prohibitions?" Han Li suddenly thought of a possibility and said.

"Fellow Daoist Li, are you also versed in spatial teleportation techniques? Indeed, that's the case. A layer of spatial restrictions has been laid within the prohibitions of this city wall, so my teleportation technique cannot penetrate it." Shi Chuankong glanced at Han Li and said.

Upon hearing this, the others' expressions turned somewhat grim.

The Baizang District was completely shrouded by layers of prohibitions, and aside from Shi Chuankong's teleportation technique, there was no other way to enter the Luosheng District below.

"After all the trouble to get here, are we really going to fail at the last moment?" Bai Lianyan asked, unwilling to accept it.

"Not entirely. We only need to stop the spatial restrictions within the city walls," Shi Chuankong said slowly after a moment of thought.

"Stop the spatial restrictions? That's easier said than done. We don't even know where the core of the spatial restriction array is," Bai Lianyan frowned.

"Fellow Daoist Shi seems so confident; you must have some clue, right?" Han Li said, glancing at Shi Chuankong.

Bai Lianyan, Hu San, and the others turned their gazes to Shi Chuankong upon hearing this.

"I just investigated and did find some clues. The restrictions within the city walls are powerful, so the array core must be nearby—either in this turret or at the city gate," Shi Chuankong said, looking toward the city gate.

"In that case, let's split into two groups. Fellow Daoist Shi, Fellow Daoist Li, and I will go to the city gate, while Fellow Daoist Mo and Fellow Daoist Bai will infiltrate this turret to find the core of the spatial restrictions," Hu San proposed.

In terms of stealth and concealment techniques, Hu San and Mo Guang were the best among those present, so splitting them up was indeed appropriate.

No one raised any objections.

"Fellow Daoist Bai and I infiltrating this turret is no problem, but if you go to the city gate, you might encounter a Da Luo guarding this place. Be extremely careful," Mo Guang warned, glancing at Han Li and the other two.

"Don't worry, I've prepared for that. You must not be careless when entering the turret either. Also, take this Small Teleportation Wheel; it can perform short-distance spatial transfers. Once we find the spatial restriction array, we'll use it to rendezvous," Shi Chuankong said with a confident smile, then took out an octagonal silver jade plate about a foot in size and handed it to Mo Guang.

"Fellow Daoist Shi truly lives up to being from the Guangyuan Pavilion—such wealth. We won't stand on ceremony then," Mo Guang chuckled and accepted the plate without hesitation.

"Wait a moment. Even if we find the core of the spatial restriction array, once we destroy it, someone will surely notice and realize someone has infiltrated. That will bring Da Luo from the Nine Nether Region to search for us, and we might not be able to evade them," Han Li suddenly spoke up.

The others, hearing Han Li's words, immediately thought of this problem and their expressions darkened.

"No matter. Once we find the spatial restriction core, I have a way to handle it," Shi Chuankong said with a faint smile.

Han Li looked at Shi Chuankong in surprise but said nothing.

"In that case, we'll leave it to Fellow Daoist Shi," Hu San, Mo Guang, and the others exchanged glances and nodded.

After discussing some details of the separate actions, they immediately dispersed.

Han Li and the other two crept toward the city gate. There were not many patrolling Nether Slaves near the city walls, so the three of them silently reached the vicinity of the city gate without spending much time.

Inside the huge gate, the two heavy doors were tightly shut.

Above the city gate stood a three-story black hall, with a smaller turret on each side. The three buildings were connected by a stone path.

The stone path was lined with armored Nether Slaves holding weapons, patrolling back and forth.

Below, on both sides of the city gate, Nether Slave soldiers were also densely packed, forming an impenetrable blockade.

The situation here was almost identical to that at the city gate.

Han Li looked at the hall and turrets above the city wall with a grave expression.

This time was different from the previous time in the Taming Region. Infiltrating a hall that might contain a Da Luo existence made him sweat in his palms despite his many skills.

"Brother Shi, do you really have a way to avoid detection by a Da Luo?" Hu San, having dropped his joking demeanor, asked Shi Chuankong.

When he was caught stealing treasures from the Jie Sha clan, his captor was a Da Luo. He had deeply understood the terror of a Da Luo back then.

"Though not a hundred percent certain, I'm seventy to eighty percent confident," Shi Chuankong said with a slight smile, taking out three white talismans from his sleeve.

The talismans were three inches long and two fingers wide, covered with extremely fine black patterns forming an intricate design. In the design, two ancient small characters could be faintly seen: "Escape Heaven."

The talismans shimmered with black and white light but emitted no aura. When Han Li and Hu San probed with their divine sense, they could detect nothing, startling them greatly.

"These are Mustard Seed Escape Heaven Immortal Talismans refined by a Da Luo from the Guangyuan Pavilion. They are extremely subtle. As long as the Da Luo isn't using full-force detection, these talismans can fool them," Shi Chuankong said, handing two talismans to Han Li and Hu San.

"Immortal talismans refined by a Da Luo!" Hu San and Han Li were astonished.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, this talisman is too precious. We can't just take it for nothing. What should we exchange for it?" Han Li did not reach out to take it but spoke instead.

"Fellow Daoist Li, what are you saying? If it weren't for your help earlier, I would have been buried in the Grey Realm. A mere talisman is nothing. The most important thing now is to break the spatial restrictions here, enter the Soul-Washing Region, and find the Soul-Washing Pool," Shi Chuankong said with a laugh.

"Fellow Daoist Li, don't stand on ceremony with him. I've known this kid for a long time. He's so wealthy that even a single hair from him is thicker than our waists. If he offers something, take it without hesitation," Hu San said, taking the talisman without any modesty and speaking to Han Li.

"Fellow Daoist Li is a true gentleman. Do you think everyone is as thick-skinned as you?" Shi Chuankong glared at Hu San and snorted.

Hu San chuckled, not bothered by the remark.

"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony either," Han Li nodded and finally reached out to take the talisman.