Chapter 918: Doubts

“Fellow Daoist Li, you don’t know about the Great Ruins? The Great Ruins is the most special region in the Scale Accumulation Void, a legendary hidden place said to contain vast hidden treasures. It’s said that the two cities, Xuan and Kui, have been searching for it for countless years. I never thought it would actually appear now.” Gu Qianxun was clearly surprised as well, replying via voice transmission.

Han Li listened while speaking, but his gaze still couldn’t help but drift toward Shi Chuankong.

“This journey is long and fraught with unpredictable dangers. If anyone has an unsettled mind, they may withdraw now. Once we leave the city, no wavering will be tolerated, or you will be treated as a deserter.” E Kuai swept his gaze over the crowd and spoke.

Almost everyone below looked utterly captivated, and no one withdrew.

“Very good. It seems you are all resolute individuals. This journey will surely yield great gains. Before we set out, I must remind you of one thing: although Puppet City has temporarily allied with us, we must never let our guard down. I hope you will unite and cooperate fully to seek the secret treasures together.” E Kuai announced loudly.

“We obey the City Lord’s command.” The crowd responded in unison.

About an hour later, the tall main gate of Xuan City slowly opened, and a procession of over a dozen giant scale-beasts filed through the gate, heading out of the city.

The lead scale-beast was over a hundred zhang tall, with a head like a young bull and a body like a giant crocodile. On its back was a black stone hall, with carved door lintels and star-bone decorations, quite ornate—it was one of E Kuai’s mobile palaces.

Following closely were over a dozen huge black-scaled elephants, each also carrying a black stone hall on its back, but simpler and unadorned, incomparable to E Kuai’s.

In the procession, Chen Yang and the Crab Immortal occupied one stone hall alone, while Han Li and his two companions shared another.

The stone hall was spacious; each of the three had their own room, with space to spare.

When the procession left the city, Han Li did not immediately return to rest in the hall. Instead, he came outside and stood on the back of the black-scaled elephant, gazing into the distance. But his vision could not reach far, blocked by the massive Chongxuan Mountains ahead.

After about a quarter of an hour, the entire procession crossed a pass in the mountains, and the view finally opened up.

Han Li looked down from his height and couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation.

On the slope of the other side of the mountains, over a dozen black-scaled elephants lay prone, each covered in scales, with beast cores embedded in their chests, and two sharp spears protruding from their mouths. They seemed utterly lifeless, devoid of any vitality.

“All puppets…” Han Li murmured.

Just then, a figure suddenly flew overhead, hovering directly in front of the crowd.

Han Li’s heart stirred. Looking up, he saw a handsome young man with two bone short halberds crossed on his back, clad in black armor, standing in the void a hundred zhang above the ground.

In the Scale Accumulation Void, where spiritual energy and demonic energy were absent, flying was common knowledge to be impossible. Yet this man could hover in the air, immediately causing a stir among the Xuan City group. Many people came out of their stone halls to watch.

However, none of the city lords made any move.

Zhu Ziqing stood with her brother, gazing at the young man with a lovesick expression, muttering, “Such a handsome young man…”

“Nonsense, that’s an enemy of Xuan City.” Zhu Ziyuan frowned and gave her a rap on the head as a reminder.

“I know…” Zhu Ziqing nodded, not daring to joke further, and spoke seriously.

Han Li looked at the handsome young man with a gentle smile, but felt something was off.

He shifted his gaze upward to the clouds in the sky and noticed that the clouds above the young man’s head were noticeably darker, which seemed unusual.

“Esteemed city lords and fellow daoists of Xuan City, Lord Shaxin has sent me to inform you: to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and conflicts, our two cities’ processions will travel one behind the other, maintaining a distance until we reach our destination.” At that moment, the handsome young man suddenly spoke.

His voice was androgynous, exceptionally pleasant to the ear.

After a moment of silence from Xuan City, Zhu Ziyuan, as if receiving an instruction, spoke: “Please go back and report that our Lord E Kuai shares the same intention.”

The handsome young man glanced at Zhu Ziyuan, smiled slightly, clasped his hands, and turned to leave.

Only then did Han Li see a dark shadow moving deep in the clouds, which revealed its true form when it descended toward the Puppet City procession—it was a huge winged scale-bird.

This bird also had a beast core embedded in its chest, exuding deathly aura, seemingly a puppet as well. It was controlled by the handsome young man via some invisible threads, carrying him through the air.

Soon, a loud horn sounded from the Puppet City procession ahead. The scale-beast puppets lying on the slope stood up one by one and began moving forward slowly.

With a distance of several hundred zhang between the two sides, the Xuan City group also started moving, following the Puppet City procession ahead.

The sky was high and the clouds vast; the ground was fully visible, a scene of utter desolation.

After watching for a while, Han Li found it boring and returned to his room to sit in meditation.

…

Night.

Han Li awoke from his meditative state, left his room, and came outside the stone hall.

Under the clear moonlight, he leaped from the back of the black-scaled elephant, landed on the back of another elephant ahead, and walked a few steps to the stone hall on its back.

Before he could speak, Chen Yang’s voice came from inside: “Fellow Daoist Li, I knew you would come. I’ve been waiting for you…”

Han Li pushed open the stone hall’s door and entered.

Once inside, he saw the Crab Immortal standing by the door with hands clasped. Seeing Han Li, he led him to a room.

Throughout, the Crab Immortal’s face showed little expression, and he exchanged no extra words with Han Li.

Han Li, accustomed to this, pushed open the door and entered.

“Please, sit.” Chen Yang greeted him.

“Fellow Daoist Chen, today…” Han Li began, but Chen Yang gently waved his hand to interrupt.

“Fellow Daoist Li, the current Fellow Daoist Shikong is probably not the same person you knew…” Chen Yang sighed and said.

“What exactly happened?” Han Li frowned and asked.

“Well… back then, Du Qingyang sent Fellow Daoist Shikong to Xuan City in secret. I only found out much later. I have no idea what discord there was. This is the first time I’ve seen him in Xuan City, and he gave me the feeling of… a puppet.” Chen Yang said hesitantly.

Han Li’s expression changed slightly at these words, and his frown deepened.

“But it’s a bit different. I can’t quite describe the feeling. In any case, trying to approach him now is not wise.” Chen Yang added.

“If I were really going to act rashly, I wouldn’t have come to you now.” Han Li’s expression relaxed slightly as he said slowly.

Outwardly calm, his heart was full of doubts.

Before entering the Scale Accumulation Void, Third Prince Shi Pokong had given each of them a leaf-shaped jade token, a marker to determine their location—their greatest reliance for escaping the Scale Accumulation Void.

He had faced danger several times before but never used it, because he hadn’t yet found Zi Ling and didn’t want to give up. But what about Shi Chuankong?

If he was truly on the verge of having his consciousness erased and being turned into a puppet, why hadn’t he used it? Han Li didn’t believe that with his strength, he wouldn’t have had the chance.

“Indeed, Fellow Daoist Li is always thoughtful; how could you be reckless?” Chen Yang laughed.

“It’s inconvenient for me to investigate, so I’ll leave this matter to you, Fellow Daoist Chen.” Han Li then said.

“Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li. I will keep an eye on this and inform you of any news I hear.” Chen Yang’s expression turned serious as he said solemnly.

“Thank you.” Han Li clasped his hands.

“No need for formalities. The journey to the Great Ruins is long, and we don’t know what lies ahead. Brother Li must also rest well to prepare for any contingencies…” Chen Yang waved his hand and sighed.

After a brief conversation, Han Li took his leave.

Returning to his room, he sat quietly for a while, then set aside his distracting thoughts, slowly closed his eyes, and began silently cultivating the Heavenly Fiend Prison Suppression Art.

…

Time passed, and over a month went by.

The two processions of scale-beasts, one ahead and one behind, separated by a thousand zhang, were slowly passing through a narrow mountain pass.

The front procession had not yet exited the pass when the rear one was just entering. Suddenly, a thunderous beast cry rang out from the sky, and a gigantic double-headed scale-hawk soared overhead.

Its body was enormous, covered in dense black scales. When its wings spread, they were like dark clouds, casting a huge black shadow below that nearly covered the entire pass.

As it swooped past, its wings suddenly curled, and two visible white air currents surged downward, slamming violently into the cliffs on both sides.

Two thunderous booms echoed as the cliffs on both sides collapsed, sending billowing dust into the sky.

The scale-beasts at the rear, startled, retreated toward the pass entrance, while the puppet scale-beasts ahead continued slowly forward.

Han Li, who had been meditating in his room, sensed the disturbance and rushed out just in time to see huge rocks tumbling down ahead, quickly filling the entire pass.

The dust filled the sky, obscuring vision.

The Xuan City group rushed out one after another, standing on the backs of the black-scaled elephants, peering ahead.

Just then, a dazzling white light erupted from within the pass ahead, and a powerful surge of star power burst forth, turning into an arc-shaped wave that shot upward from the pass into the sky.

With a thunderous crash!

Large amounts of rock and sand exploded outward, shooting into the sky like a volcanic eruption, then raining down as a shower of gravel.

A powerful spiral of air followed, surging out from the pass, blasting away the piled rock and sand, and clearing the previously blocked narrow pass, reopening it.