A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality (Web Novel)

Chapter 698: Taking Action

The old woman pointed at the faint blur of light in the air and solemnly shouted, “Go!” Suddenly, red and white light flickered and the Lightning Fire Spike fiercely struck the blue crystal wall in front of the old woman.

With a muffled bang, lightning and flames ruptured and enveloped the side of the wall. The resulting light made the scene blinding to the eye.

Han Li’s pupils contracted. Although he wasn’t able to see it, the spike’s spiritual Qi fluctuations were quite powerful. It was no wonder why Lady Tai held such confidence in it.

‘But against the Wondrous Soul Restriction, this power isn’t...” Before Han Li finished his thoughts, the lightning fire had already faded away.

The spike was gently floating several inches away from the wall, but the wall appeared completely unscathed.

Marquis Nanlong revealed a trace of disappointment, but then he chuckled and said, “While the might of this magic treasure is quite powerful, it still lacks the strength to break through the Wondrous Soul Restriction. Thank you for your trouble, Fellow Daoist Tai! Are there any other Fellow Daoists that wish to make an attempt to break the restriction?”

Unresigned, the woman snorted and said, “When did I say that this was my treasure’s true power? It was merely a probing strike. It seems anything less than its complete stress won’t do.”

Marquis Nanlong’s eyes brightened and he happily said, “Oh! If Fellow Daoist Tai still wishes to continue her attempt, please don’t hesitate to do so.”

The old woman didn’t reply and promptly held her hands in an incantation gesture. The floating Lightning Fire Spike returned above the old woman’s head. Then under the influence of the old woman’s incantation gestures, it began to revolve in place. Its speed began to quickly increase, slowly merging lightning and blazing fire as one as it emitted a strange hum.

The others’ spirits were shaken as they stared at the scene.

A short moment later, the Lightning Fire Spike appeared to have truly fused together its lightning and flames. Bizzare scarlet lightning continuously arced from its surface.

This scene caused Han Li’s heart to stir. He made a faint connection in his mind and he sunk into thought. The others were also amazed by this scene. They began to think higher of the Lightning Fire Spike.

“Break,” the old woman muttered. With the sound of tearing wind, the Lightning Fire Spike brimming with scarlet lightning disappeared from sight and struck the crystal wall once more.

This time, there was no eruption of lightning or fire. There was only a light pop. With assistance from its high speed rotations and scarlet lightning, it was able to drill into the crystal wall with only a moment of resistance.

Once the drill bore into the wall, its speed greatly decreased, but under the influence of the old woman’s incantation gestures, it slowly pulled forward and drilled with all its might.

A short moment later, the white-clothed old man and Marquis Nanlong revealed delight. Wang Tiangu and the others watched the scene with spirited gazes and nervousness. It was unknown whether they hoped the old woman would succeed or fail.

Han Li inwardly scoffed and wore a faint smirk on his face.

No one else noticed Han Li’s change of expression, except for Yan Ruyan who had unintentionally glanced in Han Li’s direction. The woman was startled for a moment and revealed a trace of bewilderment.

When the Lightning Fire Spike drilled about a foot into the crystal wall, it met calamity. The originally still crystal wall had suddenly shined with blue radiance. Countless threads of scorching white light emerged from the wall and tightly wrapped around the Lightning Fire Spike in a profuse glimmering display.

With a huge boom, the Lightning Fire Spike exploded and the resulting light faded away, revealing the wall to be completely restored.

The old woman’s face paled, but soon, furious alarm could be seen from her face. The Fire Lightning Spike was an ancient treasure she had expended vast effort into acquiring. It was impossible for her to not feel distress over having it so easily destroyed. For a time, she felt a burning sensation at the pit of her stomach as if she were about to spit up blood.

The others were dumbstruck by the sight and were quite alarmed. As for Yan Ruyan, she glanced at Han Li with astonishment and wore a pensive expression.

Fortunately, the old woman was an exceptional character. After a moment of tense rage, she took a deep breathe and was able to calm down her raging blood.

She turned her heads to the other and bitterly smiled, “It seems I’ve made quite a fool of myself. The Wondrous Soul Restriction is truly worthy of its name as one of the top ten ancient formations. I have no method of destroying it. However, you Fellow Daoists possess vast abilities. Perhaps one of you may be able to break the restriction!” Once that was said, she took several steps back in a gesture of resignation.

Marquis Nanlong’s smile had long disappeared and he could only sigh, “Despite Fellow Daoist Tai’s efforts, she failed. A truly unfortunate matter indeed. Are there any other Fellow Daoists that are willing to give it a try?” Once that was said, Marquis Nanlong glanced at Wang Tiangu in particular. After all, he was a spell formation grandmaster renowned throughout the cultivation world.

But since the others witnessed the destruction of the old woman’s ancient treasure, any interest in making an attempt had been thoroughly extinguished. With their attempts only ending in tremendous failure, who would dare to risk their treasures?

Wang Tiangu remained silent as he stood at the corner of the hall. Although he did possess some understanding of ancient spell formations, he had yet to encounter something on the level of the ten great ancient restrictions, let alone have a method to dissolve it. As such, he wasn’t about to volunteer and make a fool of himself.

Han Li, who had remained silent throughout this, suddenly spoke, “As untalented as I am, I would like to make an attempt. How about it?” He had spoke about the topic rather lightly.

These words had greatly surprised the rest of the party. Marquis Nanlong was particularly surprised, but he said, “Of course. Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han!”

Han Li promptly took several steps forward and approached a side of the wall that hadn’t been struck.

When Wang Chan saw this, a trace of derision could be seen from his face once he recovered from his shock. He uttered a few sound transmissions to Yan Ruyan, but she hardly gave any reaction. As for Wang Tiangu, he maintained a calm exterior, but he was filled with bewilderment at the idea of Han Li breaking the formation.

Han Li stood in front of the stone wall and didn’t immediately take action. Instead, he raised his hand and extended his finger. He circulated spiritual power throughout his body and emitted a streak of light from his fingertip that was several inches long. In a pulse of light, he swept the azure streak past the surface of the crystal wall to no effect.

Han Li wasn’t discouraged by this and simply enveloped his hand in a layer of azure spirit Qi. He then extended his five fingers and placed his palm against the wall. He was completely motionless as if he were sensing something.

Han Li’s strange actions were completely unfathomable to the cultivators watching him, but none stepped forward to bother him.

Completely unbeknownst to the party, Han Li’s eyes were faintly glowing with blue light as he deeply peered into the crystal wall. He seemed to be examining it with all his ability.

After a quarter hour passed in this regard, the others didn’t reveal any impatience or take the initiative to act. Han Li then sighed. The blue light disappeared from his eyes and he reached towards his storage pouch without any hesitation and took out a pile of over ten various-colored formation flags.

The white-clothed old man quickly recovered from his surprise and excitedly asked, “So Fellow Daoist Han was also proficient in the art of spell formations. Could it be you’re thinking for breaking a formation with a formation? Could it be you understand the mysteries of the Wondrous Soul Restriction?”

Han Li nonchalantly replied, “Understand what mystery? I’m merely studied in a few ancient formations of a similar type and want to give it a try!”

He soon spat a breath of azure Qi onto the flags, causing them to brightly shine. Under Han Li’s command, they flew out from his hand and pointed their flags in the direction of the crystal wall, then floated motionlessly in the air.