While the leaders of each sect were discussing the steps to open the forbidden land, Han Li continued to survey the formidable figures from various factions.
For experts whose cultivation had reached the peak of the thirteenth layer, Han Li’s strategy was to avoid them if possible, flee if necessary, and only resort to a sneak attack from behind as a last resort. He absolutely did not want a repeat of the fierce battle with “Senior Martial Brother Lu,” which had left him completely drained of spiritual power.
It was important to remember that the situation here was entirely different from last time. He wasn’t facing just one opponent but a large group of red-eyed cultivators. If he didn’t conserve his strength and maintain the ability to counterattack at all times, he would undoubtedly be among the first to be eliminated.
As he observed and pondered, Han Li suddenly felt as if someone was watching him. Startled, he instinctively turned toward the source of the gaze.
A female disciple from the Spirit Beast Sect was glancing furtively at him. Her delicate and pretty face looked somewhat familiar.
Surprised, Han Li mentally ran through all the women he knew, and a slender figure emerged in his mind.
“It’s her! The girl who sold me the Golden Bamboo Pen at the Tai Nan Fair. How did she end up joining the Spirit Beast Mountain sect and participating in this Bloody Trial?” Han Li finally recognized the girl, who had grown even more beautiful than before, though he felt somewhat puzzled.
He still vividly remembered her tendency to blush easily, and he held a favorable impression of her.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but smile at her.
The girl clearly noticed, and her cheeks instantly flushed crimson—she was still as shy as ever!
A bearded man standing behind the girl seemed to notice the exchange between her and Han Li. His face darkened, and he suddenly snapped at her sharply. The girl immediately turned pale, lowered her head, and dared not glance in Han Li’s direction again.
The man, however, was not satisfied. He shot Han Li a venomous glare, making his warning abundantly clear.
Han Li frowned. It seemed the girl was having a hard time in the Spirit Beast Mountain sect. The bearded man was one of the formidable experts Han Li had noted earlier, with cultivation at the thirteenth layer. If the girl had attracted his attention, she must have suffered quite a bit.
However, Han Li was not a member of the Spirit Beast Mountain sect, and once they entered the forbidden land, everyone would become enemies anyway. He saw no reason to appease the man and cheekily made a face at him.
Han Li’s provocation infuriated the bearded man, but there was nothing he could do. He turned back to the girl and growled a few more words, drawing sidelong glances from other Spirit Beast Mountain disciples nearby, most of whom looked at the girl with contempt.
Han Li felt a surge of anger and pity for the girl. However, they were too far apart for him to hear exactly what the bearded man was saying.
To prevent the girl from suffering further humiliation, Han Li decided not to provoke the brutish man any further. Otherwise, he was confident he had enough tricks up his sleeve to make the man seethe with rage, powerless to retaliate.
At that moment, the sect leaders finished their discussions and returned to their respective groups. They then led their disciples into the air, flying toward the legendary forbidden land.
The journey was short. After flying for just a few hours toward the border of the Yuan Wu Kingdom, they landed before a vast, barren yellow slope. Aside from piles of stones, not a single blade of grass could be seen. The entire area was a desolate expanse of yellow.
“Could this be the place?” Han Li, like the others, was greatly surprised. It didn’t seem like a place that could nurture spiritual treasures of heaven and earth.
The Core Formation experts gathered again and exchanged a few words. Then, the burly expert from the Giant Sword Sect stepped forward alone, walking a dozen steps before stopping.
He extended his left hand, which glowed with yellow light, and grabbed toward the ground. A stream of mud, resembling a yellow dragon, rose and solidified into a massive yellow mud sword in his hand.
With the fingers of his other hand, he gently swept from the hilt to the tip of the sword. A white light followed his fingers, and the mud sword instantly turned ash-gray, transforming into a heavy stone sword.
This intermediate-level spell of turning mud into stone left the disciples of the seven sects in awe, greatly broadening their horizons.
But the expert from the Giant Sword Sect was not done. Gripping the stone sword with both hands, he crouched slightly, let out a loud shout, and hurled the sword like a meteor toward the empty space ahead.
A breathtaking scene then unfolded. The stone sword flew only a few dozen steps before shuddering as if it had triggered something and instantly turned to dust. Immediately after, a vast expanse of blue light emerged from the void, flooding the area and casting a blue hue on everyone’s skin.
As the disciples watched in fear, the blue light churned violently for no reason, howling as it transformed into countless wind blades that swept wildly in all directions, forming an impenetrable wall of wind blades. Looking along the wall to either side, it stretched endlessly into the distance, with no end in sight. The air was filled with the roaring of the blue wind.
Anyone who entered that wall would immediately experience death by a thousand cuts, torn to shreds by the chaotic blades.
This was the restriction of this place. It indeed looked terrifying. One could only wonder what kind of ancient cultivator possessed such divine power to set up such a vast and formidable formation. Compared to this, the Yellow Maple Valley’s sect-protecting formation seemed like child’s play, not worth mentioning. Han Li sighed inwardly.
At this moment, the expert from the Giant Sword Sect shook his head and turned back. The other leaders announced that the time had not yet come and instructed the disciples to rest for a while before opening the forbidden land.
Thus, every hour or so, the expert from the Giant Sword Sect repeated the same test to gauge the strength of the restriction. It wasn’t until the fourth stone sword was thrown that the blue light and wind blades emerging from the forbidden land significantly weakened.
Seeing this, the other six Core Formation experts flew out in unison, standing side by side.
Ancestor Li stretched out his hand, and a ruler-like object slowly emerged from his palm, shooting out with a silver light. The Taoist slapped the back of his head, opened his mouth, and spat out a green light about an inch long. It grew in the wind, transforming into a flying sword several feet long.
The other five experts also summoned dazzling objects: a pink ribbon, a dragon-headed staff, a pitch-black greatsword, a red-glowing long knife, and a yellow-glowing great seal.
The seven individuals and their seven treasures shone brilliantly, arranged in a circular formation, and charged directly toward the wind blade barrier.
These were the magic treasures they had painstakingly refined after reaching the Core Formation stage, each having achieved some degree of success.
The disciples of the various sects did not dare delay. Under the instructions of their Foundation Establishment elders, they all stood behind the seven experts, forming seven lines, ready to enter the forbidden land at any moment.
With a series of deafening roars, the seven magic treasures clashed with the wind blades. Multicolored lights splattered in all directions, accompanied by eerie howls, making the watching disciples extremely nervous.
Ancestor Li’s ruler spun incessantly, its silver light fluctuating in intensity as if it had a spirit of its own, shattering countless wind blades.
The green flying sword transformed into a dozens-of-feet-long flood dragon. Each swing carried a strange cry that shook the soul.
The other five magic treasures also displayed their unique abilities. Particularly impressive was the yellow great seal of the Tianque Fort expert, which swelled to the size of a small mountain each time it struck, accompanied by the sounds of wind and thunder. However, it returned to its original size when recalled, though its movements seemed somewhat clumsy and slow.
Despite the astonishing power of the seven magic treasures, they struggled against the weakened wind blade barrier. Each step forward into the wind wall took considerable effort, and soon, sweat beaded on the foreheads of the seven experts.
After three or four hours of intense battle, the seven experts were drenched in sweat, but their magic treasures finally gained the upper hand. They forcefully opened a circular passage about ten feet high in the wind wall. The passage was pitch-black inside, revealing nothing.
“Hurry in! We can’t hold this for long!” the Taoist shouted first, as his cultivation was the shallowest among the seven, and he was sweating the most.
Hearing this, the disciples of the seven sects did not dare delay. They interwove with one another, flying into the passage in batches.
At this moment, everyone was silent, their expressions grim. They all knew that once they entered the forbidden land, everyone would immediately become life-and-death enemies. Even fellow sect members could no longer be trusted.
Han Li was positioned in the middle-to-rear of the line, with disciples from the Giant Sword Sect ahead and those from the Saber Transformation Cottage behind.
The passage was not long—about twenty zhang. In a flash, Han Li flew out of the exit. Before he could clearly see what was ahead, he felt a dizzying spin, and his vision blurred. In an instant, he vanished without a trace from the exit.
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