Chapter 408: Entering the Immortal Manor
The ball of blue light was slowly revolving while hovering in mid-air, and rays of translucent blue light were emanating from within alongside a cloud of faint white mist. The scene within the ball of light was already rather indistinct, and it was made even more obscure by the layer of faint mist.
After a brief silence, someone yelled in an excited voice, "There it is!"
Their excitement was contagious, and everyone else's eyes immediately lit up.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the ball of blue light, and his soul immediately shuddered violently. It was as if a rumbling thunderclap had rung out directly beside his ears, and his expression remained unchanged, but he hurriedly withdrew his spiritual sense in alarm.
At the same time, he could see that the complexions of many of the people present had also paled slightly, clearly indicating that they had also suffered some backlash after extending their spiritual sense toward the ball of blue light.
Han Li's spiritual sense was comparable to a Golden Immortal, yet even he had suffered some minor degree of backlash, so the other True Immortals were naturally only going to fare worse. As for the Golden Immortals present, they were able to avoid substantial backlash, but it seemed that they weren't able to make much inroads with their spiritual sense, either.
"'Fellow Daoist Luo, Fellow Daoist Feng, why don't you two go on ahead?" Xiao Jinhan offered with a smile.
"We couldn't do that, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Your Immortal Palace has done such a good job of protecting the entrance up to this point, the right to enter the immortal manor first should be reserved for you. Wouldn't you agree, Fellow Daoist Feng?" Luo Qinghai jibed.
Feng Tiandu's expression remained unchanged, and he merely gave a cold harrumph in response.
Before Xiao Jinhan had a chance to respond, Qu Ling interjected, "If the three of you are unable to reach a consensus, then I'll go first."
She then pulled out her Infernal Frost Scenic Painting and gave a gentle shake, upon which a vast expanse of light surged out from within to envelop her entire body before carrying her into the ball of blue light.
Everyone faltered slightly upon seeing this, following which a hint of agitation began to spread through the crowd.
Han Li looked on with a contemplative expression as Qu Ling vanished into the ball of blue light.
Xiao Jinhan turned to Xue Ying and the others, then instructed, "All of you, come with me. The rest will stay here."
He then summoned his Infernal Frost Scenic Painting, and a burst of blue light surged forth to envelop himself, as well as eight Immortal Palace cultivators and the three dao lords of the Blaze Dragon Dao.
Immediately thereafter, the group flew into the ball of blue light, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Immortal Palace cultivators and the Black Wind Island cultivators remained outside.
After all of the Immortal Palace cultivators had entered the immortal manor, Luo Qinghai offered for Feng Tiandu to go ahead, but the latter remained unmoved. Hence, Luo Qinghai called upon the cultivators of the Vast Flow Palace before summoning his Infernal Frost Scenic Painting, and before long, they had also flown into the ball of blue light.
Only then did Feng Tiandu take a glance at Qi Tianxiao, and the latter instructed the Dawn Fall Sect's cultivators to assemble before flying into the ball of blue light as well.
At this point, the number of cultivators present had been reduced by around half, and the remaining factions were naturally all raring to go.
Chen Pi spoke briefly with the Southern Dawn beings, then made his way toward Han Li's group again.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, I think we should let the Southern Dawn beings go in first, and our Ghost Wail Sect will go in after them. Once we're in there, we'll wait for your group to come in so all of us can explore the immortal manor together," Chen Pi said.
"That sounds like a good plan, Fellow Daoist Chen," Daoist Hu Yan replied with a smile.
Chen Pi could see that the Southern Dawn beings had already entered the ball of blue light, and he hurriedly said, "Alright, then we'll be going ahead."
Following the departure of the Ghost Wail Sect cultivators, Daoist Hu Yan said to Han Li and the others, "Looks like it's our turn."
Xu Yangzi gestured for everyone to gather together, and there was still a hint of displeasure in his eyes as his gaze swept over Han Li and Lu Yuqing.
"The immortal manor is filled with treasures, but also fraught with peril, so after we get in there, let's do our best to stay together and not get separated," Daoist Hu Yan cautioned.
He then pulled out an Infernal Frost Scenic Painting of his own, and it released a burst of blue light that swept up everyone before flying into the blue entrance.
In the instant that they entered the ball of blue light, Han Li felt a burst of buzzing ring out beside his ears, immediately following which all of his senses virtually completely faded, leaving only a hazy consciousness behind.
It was an indescribable sensation that was very disconcerting, but thankfully, everything returned to normal after less than 20 seconds.
As Han Li's senses gradually recovered, he heard the sound of howling wind blowing past his ears.
He was greeted by the sight of a pristine white world that was covered in snow, and the entire surrounding area was filled with glacial qi. On the distant horizon were countless giant tornadoes that stood like pillars between heaven and earth, presenting an awe-inspiring sight to behold.
A layer of azure light appeared over his body to keep the wind and snow at bay, but he could still feel a bone-chilling sensation seeping into his body.
He looked around to find that the factions that had previously entered the immortal manor were already nowhere to be seen.
Lu Yuqing had conjured up a layer of protective spiritual light as well, but a layer of frost had already appeared over her eyelashes, and she exclaimed, "It's so cold..."
The crimson robes being worn by the True Flame Sect cultivators were glowing brightly, and waves of heat were surging out from within, but even so, they weren't faring much better.
Xu Yangzi and the other Golden Immortals were doing just fine, but the other True Flame Sect cultivators were all shivering uncontrollably.
"Please use your scenic painting to shelter everyone, Fellow Daoist Gu," Xu Yangzi said as he turned to Daoist Hu Yan.
Daoist Hu Yan nodded in response, then flipped a hand over to produce his Infernal Frost Scenic Painting, which unfurled in front of him.
Immediately thereafter, a spherical light barrier emerged from the painting to encompass everyone.
As soon as the light barrier appeared, the sound of the howling wind instantly subsided, while the unbearing bone-chilling sensation was also kept at bay.
"The Southern Dawn beings and the Ghost Wail Sect cultivators are nowhere to be seen," Yun Ni remarked.
"There's no integrity or reliability to speak of when it comes to a bunch of ghostly cultivators and foreign race beings. They most likely already departed on their own as they didn't want to fall behind everyone else," Elder Zhen Yun sneered.
"I don't think that's the case. Chen Pi took the initiative to approach us earlier, and I think he was earnest about forging an alliance. Compared with the likes of the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace, the Vast Flow Palace, and the Dawn Fall Sect, our individual factions are far too vulnerable, so it's necessary for us to band together. Hence, I don't think they would've gone back on their word just to get ahead of us," Xu Yangzi said with a shake of his head.
Han Li turned to Daoist Hu Yan as he said, "I can sense some traces of spatial power in the snowstorm here. Perhaps they were teleported elsewhere against their will."
"I also think that's a possibility," Daoist Hu Yan replied. "Seeing as we can't find them for now, let's leave this area first. In any case, we must proceed with caution. Make sure to stay by my side and do not leave this light barrier from the Infernal Frost Scenic Painting."
Everyone immediately gave affirmative responses to this.
Right as Daoist Hu Yan was about to set off, Han Li's voice suddenly rang out beside his ears through voice transmission.
"Senior Hu Yan, I've already entered the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor with you, so would you be able to give me the next three levels of the Mantra Axis Scripture now?"
Daoist Hu Yan faltered slightly upon hearing this, then grumbled, "Isn't it too early to be asking for compensation? We've only just entered the immortal manor and haven't even done anything yet!"
"But you promised that you would give me the fourth level of the cultivation art upon entering the immortal manor," Han Li replied with a smile.
Daoist Hu Yan was familiar with Han Li's personality, so he wasn't bothered by this, and he removed a storage pouch strapped to his waist before handing it to Han Li as he said, "The immortal manor is a very dangerous place, so here are some life-saving treasures. Make sure you don't lose them."
Han Li hurriedly accepted the storage pouch, then briefly examined its contents with his spiritual sense before putting on a facade of gratitude and excitement as he said, "Thank you, Uncle."
No one was suspicious of this, thinking that this was just a routine precautionary measure.
"Which direction should we go in? Everything looks the same here," Han Li said as he stowed the storage pouch away.
He had just tried to examine the surrounding area with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, but no matter where he looked, he saw nothing but a vast expanse of snow and ice.
Daoist Hu Yan's brows furrowed slightly as he turned his gaze to his Infernal Frost Scenic Painting, trying to find the right way forward when all of a sudden, Lu Yuqing pointed in a certain direction and said, "There seems to be an exit over there."
Everyone turned to the direction that she was pointing in, and sure enough, there was an indistinct ball of blue light in the extremely far distance, something that would've been impossible to spot unless one were to look very closely.
Han Li knew that Lu Yuqing possessed a special ocular ability, so he wasn't all that surprised. However, he had previously looked in that direction, but hadn't seen any speck of blue light, so it seemed that it had only just appeared.
A hint of bewilderment appeared in Daoist Hu Yan's eyes as he took a glance at Lu Yuqing. After all, even with his eyesight as a Golden Immortal, he had failed to notice the speck of blue light.
Hence, everyone began to travel in that direction under the protection of the spherical light barrier.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢