Chapter 2355: Entering

“The Void Emperor Cauldron? Fellow Daoist Xuepo, by bringing this out, do you mean it can easily break the seal?” Han Li asked in surprise.

“Of course not. The shortcut I mentioned still requires Senior to take the lead in breaking the seal with the Void Heaven Cauldron. I can only assist from the side with the Void Emperor Cauldron using a certain secret technique. This cauldron was personally refined by my original body back then, so it contains a drop of my essence blood, allowing it to unleash some mystical effects that ordinary keys cannot possess,” Xuepo replied respectfully.

“Since you’re so confident that using both cauldrons together can break the seal, let’s give it a try. If it doesn’t work, I’ll attempt to shatter the seal with brute force,” Han Li said decisively after stroking his chin.

Xuepo naturally had no objections and immediately nodded in agreement.

Without another word, Han Li tossed the small cauldron high into the air. With a flick of his sleeve, a pillar of azure light shot out and vanished into the cauldron in a flash.

In the next moment, the Void Heaven Cauldron expanded rapidly with the wind, transforming into a colossal object over ten zhang tall. The reliefs of flowers, birds, insects, and fish on its surface buzzed to life, swirling and dancing around the giant cauldron.

Seeing this, Xuepo acted without hesitation.

She raised the small cauldron in her hand and spat out several globes of bright red essence blood.

With a series of “puff” sounds, the essence blood exploded into mist upon contact with the wind, enveloping the small cauldron as if it had a life of its own.

Xuepo then began chanting incantations in mid-air, her body twisting before transforming into a blurry blood shadow that shot directly into the blood mist.

The Void Emperor Cauldron emitted a clear chime, spinning rapidly as it absorbed all the surrounding blood mist. With a shake in the wind, countless blood-colored runes sprayed from its mouth, coalescing into an eerily beautiful woman’s face—identical to Xuepo’s but devoid of expression and shrouded in a faint blood glow.

“Senior Han, I only have one strike. You must seize the right moment to act,” the woman’s face uttered woodenly before opening its mouth to release a spray of crystalline blood threads.

The threads dispersed with a hissing sound, piercing through the five-colored light curtain with unbelievable ease.

The woman’s face let out a shrill scream.

The blood threads burst apart one after another, the dense blood mist condensing once more into blood-colored runes embedded in the five-colored light curtain, creating an incredibly bizarre sight.

Witnessing this, Han Li’s eyes lit up. In a flash, he appeared beside the colossal Void Spirit Cauldron and pressed a palm against it.

A muffled “clang,” reminiscent of a bell, rang out.

The giant azure cauldron radiated countless beams of green light, and the illusory projections of flowers, birds, insects, and fish swelled in size before lunging at the five-colored light curtain.

A series of “puff” sounds erupted.

The projections passed through the seal as if it were nothing, slipping directly into the blood-colored runes.

In the next moment, the giant cauldron’s surface flickered wildly, and the five-colored light curtain within a several-li radius buzzed loudly. Wisps of white vapor emerged from the blood-colored runes, dispersing into the void as waves of peculiar fluctuations.

Han Li’s face brightened with joy—it seemed their combined efforts might indeed break the seal.

But just then, a muffled groan came from beside him. The blood glow on the woman’s face had faded without warning, and she spat out a mouthful of black blood. Her entire face twisted before becoming indistinct.

“Backlash! Never mind, leave the rest to me. Disperse your secret technique,” Han Li said with a frown, flicking his sleeve to send a streak of azure light shooting into the woman’s forehead.

With a low cry, the woman’s face shattered into fragments, reverting to countless blood runes that flew back into the Void Emperor Cauldron.

A flash of blood light erupted from the cauldron as a shadowy figure emerged, solidifying into Xuepo’s form behind Han Li.

However, her face was now deathly pale, and she cast a complex glance at Han Li’s back.

Han Li paid no attention to what was happening behind him. With one hand forming a seal, a golden Dharma Form with three heads and six arms materialized behind him.

As the Dharma Form’s six eyes slowly opened, its arms blurred, each pressing a palm against the giant cauldron.

The cauldron roared, its surface glowing with blinding azure light, almost transforming into a green sun.

As if in response, the five-colored light curtain’s blood runes shone brilliantly, and the white vapor pouring out grew denser and more numerous. Finally, with a muffled boom, the entire seal shattered, revealing a dark passage.

“Let’s go!”

Delighted, Han Li issued the command, retracting his Dharma Form and pointing at the giant cauldron.

With a “puff,” two streaks of light shot from the azure cauldron, enveloping Han Li and Xuepo before the cauldron let out a long chime and vanished into the black hole as a streak of azure light.

“Boom!”

Almost as soon as the azure light entered the black hole, five-colored runes surged at the entrance, and the seal began to mend.

When the azure light shot out from the black hole, Han Li found himself bathed in warm sunlight on a lush green meadow.

Alert, Han Li flicked his sleeve, and the azure light around him condensed back into the small cauldron, which he grabbed.

Xuepo appeared beside him, looking around in astonishment.

This space seemed no different from the outside world, with distant mountain ranges and verdant forests stretching as far as the eye could see.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, a faint crystalline light flashing between his brows as he released his immense spiritual sense. Moments later, his expression turned understanding.

“So it’s just an illusion. Tsk tsk, such a masterful illusion—it almost fooled me at first. That’s rare,” Han Li praised, raising a finger to slash through the void ahead.

A streak of azure sword Qi shot out, elongating to several hundred zhang before cleaving down effortlessly.

The void several li ahead twisted and warped, the scenery abruptly transforming to reveal a sprawling complex of palaces and pavilions.

Strangely, towering pillars of light stood densely among the buildings, each supporting a thick light curtain that enclosed nearby structures, dividing the palace complex into over a hundred distinct zones.

With a flash of blue light in his eyes, Han Li discerned the general layout within these zones.

Each zone contained a main hall accompanied by a dozen or so smaller buildings. However, when he probed them with his spiritual sense, it was unceremoniously repelled.

Clearly, these structures were protected by barriers against spiritual probing.

A quick sweep revealed that the closer a zone was to the center, the thicker its supporting pillar and the harder it was to probe.

At the very center, the largest zones’ light curtains were so dense that Han Li could only vaguely sense the outlines of the buildings within.

This was already remarkable given his superior spiritual sense; an ordinary Mahayana cultivator might not even penetrate some of the outer zones.

“It seems the most valuable treasures are in those inner zones,” Han Li murmured thoughtfully, withdrawing his spiritual sense.

“Indeed. But judging by the restrictions here, the deeper we go, the greater the danger,” Xuepo said, her face still pale. She had barely touched the invisible restrictions above the zones and looked worried.

“Since we’re here, we can’t leave empty-handed. The outer zones have likely been picked clean, and their treasures wouldn’t interest me anyway. We’ll have to head inward. By the way, Fellow Daoist Xuepo, have you sensed your original body’s location?” Han Li turned to ask.

“I’ve tried, but the Heavenly Cauldron Palace has too many restrictions. Beyond a certain distance, my senses are ineffective,” Xuepo replied with a bitter smile.

“I see. That complicates things. You might have to search every zone to locate Fellow Daoist Bingpo. The Heavenly Cauldron Palace only opens for a month—I can’t guarantee we’ll cover every restriction in time,” Han Li said, his expression grave.

“My original body was quite powerful back then and possessed several rare treasures. Even against a Mahayana cultivator, she had a chance to escape. If she’s trapped, it’s likely in the inner zones. But to be safe, perhaps I should start searching the outer zones first. Senior, you could take a drop of my essence blood enhanced with a secret technique and head straight for the inner zones. If my original body is nearby, you’ll be alerted. This way, you won’t miss out on treasures, and we can cover more ground in less time,” Xuepo suggested after some thought.

“That’s a good plan. But if it were just the two of us, it might work. Alone, you’d be vulnerable if you encountered hostile Mahayana cultivators,” Han Li shook his head.

“Senior, don’t worry. With the combined-body puppets you gave me, I can hold my own against a Mahayana cultivator for a while,” Xuepo replied respectfully, though her face paled slightly.

“Against an average Mahayana, those puppets might help. But those who enter here are no ordinary foes. Very well, I’ll have Jin’er accompany you,” Han Li said after a moment’s consideration.