Chapter 726: No Time to Lose

"That's a good idea. I'll contact them right away..." Shi Chuankong's eyes lit up as he was about to form a hand seal.

"There's no need to trouble you, Fellow Daoist Shi. Let me do it instead. Besides, I have some things to remind them about the situation inside the Puppet Fortress to ensure nothing goes wrong and the Netherworld Domain doesn't see through our ruse." Han Li interrupted Shi Chuankong and said.

"Very well." Shi Chuankong did not insist.

Han Li closed his eyes and, through his spiritual connection with Mo Guang, informed him of the situation here and also conveyed the plan he had just devised.

"The Puppet Refining Grounds? So that's why the defenses around those fortresses are so tight. Stirring up internal chaos isn't difficult—I can use the Heavenly Demon Chaos Heart Art to do it without leaving a trace. But the restrictions there are formidable; infiltrating them will be troublesome." Mo Guang replied via telepathy.

"Don't worry about that. I have a secret technique to break those restrictions." Han Li transmitted the secret technique taught to him by Shi Qinghou to Mo Guang.

"With this technique, there will be no problem. Wait for my good news." Mo Guang replied.

"Once that Ghostwood leaves the city gate, I'll have Shi Chuankong teleport you over. Be extremely careful not to let Ghostwood detect any fluctuations in aura." Han Li warned again solemnly.

"During the teleportation, I will burn the origin power of the Void Fusion Clan to conceal the spatial fluctuations. No aura fluctuations will escape." Mo Guang assured, then cut off the transmission.

Han Li opened his eyes and roughly recounted his conversation with Mo Guang to Shi Chuankong and Hu San.

"Good. We'll make some arrangements here to ensure everything is foolproof." Shi Chuankong said, then formed hand seals and waved his hands.

Four half-foot-long black talismans flew out from his sleeve, covered in black spiritual patterns, each inscribed with the ancient characters "East," "West," "South," and "North."

He pointed with a hand seal, and the four talismans flashed and attached themselves to the four walls of the side hall.

But Shi Chuankong did not activate them further. Instead, he walked to the entrance of the side hall and watched for any movement outside.

Han Li and Hu San also focused their attention on the surroundings, their nerves taut.

Time passed slowly. Half a quarter-hour soon went by, and everything outside remained calm.

"Still no movement. Could something have gone wrong with Mo Guang?" Hu San transmitted anxiously. The effect of the Mustard Seed Heaven Escape Talisman was about to wear off.

"It takes some time for Mo Guang and the others to reach the Puppet Fortress. Let's be patient." Han Li frowned slightly but decided not to send a telepathic inquiry, lest he disturb Mo Guang.

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint dull thud came from afar, as if something had exploded. Before the sound faded, another dull thud followed.

Han Li and the other two were startled, then joy appeared on their faces.

In the distance, lights flashed repeatedly at the Puppet Fortress, a thick column of black smoke rose into the sky, and rumbling explosions echoed over.

The Netherworld slaves near the city gate were greatly alarmed and fell into chaos.

"It's the Puppet Fortress! Go report to Lord Ghostwood!" a Netherworld slave leader shouted, about to rush into the main hall.

Just then, the void outside the main hall flickered, and Ghostwood's figure materialized out of thin air, holding the white civet cat in his arms, his face full of shock and anger.

The next moment, he stomped his foot and transformed into a black rainbow, shooting like lightning toward the Puppet Fortress.

"It worked!" Sensing the situation outside, Shi Chuankong was overjoyed and quickly formed hand seals.

The four talismans on the walls of the side hall immediately emitted streaks of black light, forming a black light barrier within the side hall in a few breaths.

Then he waved his hand, and a silver light flashed before him, revealing a silver octagonal jade disk, identical to the one he had given Mo Guang.

Shi Chuankong opened his mouth and spat out a beam of silver light that shot into the jade disk.

The octagonal jade disk immediately shone brightly, spinning rapidly as countless silver runes surged out, forming a silver array about ten feet in size.

Figures flickered within the array, and Mo Guang and Bai Liyan appeared, both with joyful expressions.

But then they paused, looking around for traces of Han Li and the others.

"We've concealed our traces with a secret technique." Shi Chuankong raised his hand and sent two spell seals into their bodies.

Mo Guang and Bai Liyan then vaguely saw the figures of Han Li and the others and relaxed.

"How did it go?" Han Li asked.

"Smoothly. I used a Heavenly Demon secret art to provoke a Golden Immortal-level Grey Realm beast into going berserk, destroying several major arrays inside the Puppet Fortress without leaving any trace. I guarantee that even a Da Luo existence won't be able to trace it." Mo Guang said somewhat smugly.

"Good. Time is short. Let's go to the spatial restriction core!" Shi Chuankong waved his hand to put away the two silver jade disks, then formed hand seals to retrieve the four talismans from the walls before shooting toward the second floor.

Han Li and the others immediately followed, and in an instant, they all flew to the second floor and appeared at the entrance of the left side hall.

The side hall's door was tightly shut. Hu San pushed it, but it didn't budge. At the same time, a layer of black light flickered on the door.

"Damn, there are restrictions!" Hu San's expression changed, and the others' faces also darkened.

"No problem. Let me handle it!" Han Li stepped forward, his eyes blazing with purple light as he released his spiritual sense to probe the black restriction.

This black restriction was quite similar to the Netherworld Great Hidden Profound Restriction at the Puppet Fortress, and it was not impossible to break.

Mo Guang waved his hands, releasing a black light barrier that enveloped both Han Li and the door, preventing any aura from leaking out.

Han Li's hands moved like wheels, sending out streams of spell seals that shot into the black restriction.

The black restriction flickered rapidly, with countless black runes dancing within it like boiling water.

His eyes flashed with purple light as he observed all the changes and restrictions within the black barrier.

"Found it!" Joy flashed in Han Li's eyes. He quickly formed hand seals, and two beams of black light emerged from his palms, entering the black restriction.

The black restriction flashed once, then rapidly dimmed, and the door creaked open.

Shi Chuankong and the others were overjoyed and immediately flew into the side hall.

Han Li gently closed the stone door, and the black restriction on it quickly restored itself to its original state.

Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief and then looked around the side hall.

The side hall was quite spacious, even larger than the two below. Inside, eight stone platforms were arranged in a certain pattern, each covered with array flags and plates—these were the cores of the various restrictions.

Thick beams of light shot up from the stone platforms into the ceiling of the side hall.

The ceiling was inscribed with extremely complex array patterns, which were now flickering rapidly, transmitting the light rising from the stone platforms outward.

Shi Chuankong and the others were now standing beside the deepest stone platform. The array flags and plates on that platform were all silver-white, emitting a thick silver pillar of light that radiated strong spatial fluctuations—it was the spatial restriction.

"Heh, the protective restrictions of Netherworld City have reached eight layers. Not bad progress." Shi Qinghou's voice sounded in Han Li's mind, with a hint of admiration.

"Earlier, when I had something to ask you, you were completely unresponsive. Now why do you suddenly show up?" Han Li flickered and landed beside Shi Chuankong and the others, snorting through telepathy.

Shi Qinghou chuckled but did not answer Han Li's question.

"When you taught me the Netherworld Great Hidden Profound Restriction earlier, did you already foresee that we would need to cause trouble at the Puppet Fortress to lure away that Ghostwood?" Han Li's eyes flickered as he asked again.

Shi Qinghou chuckled again but still did not answer.

"I don't care why you've suddenly taken an interest in Netherworld City, but we're in a dangerous situation now. Don't cause any trouble. If we're discovered, we'll all die here, and no one will escape." Han Li narrowed his eyes and warned via telepathy.

"Youngster Li, you don't need to be so wary of me. Our fates are tightly intertwined now. I would never harm you." Shi Qinghou sighed and said.

"You hide everything. How can I trust you?" Han Li snorted coldly.

"You'll know in the future." Shi Qinghou chuckled lightly, then fell silent again.

Han Li frowned slightly, clenched his fist, and took a deep breath to calm himself before looking at the stone platform before him.

Countless silver lines crisscrossed the stone platform, forming an extremely complex array. At the nodes of the array were inserted rows of silver array flags and dozens of fist-sized silver-white crystals.

These silver crystals resembled spirit stones but were inscribed with strange spiral patterns, emitting bright silver light and spatial fluctuations.

"Silver Fetal Stones." Han Li's eyes flickered as he recognized the origin of these silver crystals.

This crystal was a material imbued with spatial power, a rare treasure even in the True Immortal Realm. He hadn't expected to find it in the Grey Realm.

Standing beside the stone platform, Shi Chuankong waved his hand, and a silver light flashed in his palm, revealing a silver jade bottle.

With a serious expression, he quickly chanted an incantation and then flicked his finger with a hand seal.

The jade bottle trembled slightly, and a fist-sized mass of silver liquid shot out from it.

He formed hand seals and waved, causing the silver liquid to split into dozens of droplets that landed on the Silver Fetal Stones, immediately merging into them.

The Silver Fetal Stones were instantly covered with a layer of silver fluorescence, and the silver light emanating from them suddenly ceased, as if the spatial power within had been frozen. The silver pillar shooting into the sky vanished instantly.

"It's done! Come quickly, time is running out!" Shi Chuankong rejoiced and immediately formed hand seals again, waving his hands.

Streams of silver light flew from his hands and landed on the surrounding ground, forming a silver array in just a few breaths.

Han Li and the others immediately walked over and stood within the array.

Mo Guang waved his hands, and billowing black Qi surged out, engulfing the silver array.

Silver light flashed, and the figures of the group suddenly flickered and vanished without a trace.

After Han Li and the others disappeared, the residual black Qi and silver light in the side hall quickly dissipated, soon vanishing completely.

At that moment, the fluorescence on the Silver Fetal Stones rapidly faded and disappeared entirely after a few breaths.

With a soft "boom," the light emitted by the Silver Fetal Stones returned to normal, and the spatial restriction resumed operation, exactly as before.