Chapter 999: Crystal Stele

“Huh? The surface of this stele?” Before Han Li could figure out what was happening, the elderly Fu, standing nearby, suddenly pointed at the back of the stone tablet with a look of astonishment.

Han Li raised an eyebrow. If he remembered correctly, the back of the stele was completely blank.

However, the old man wouldn’t act without reason. In a flash, Han Li’s figure blurred, and he appeared eerily behind the stele, facing its back.

After a quick glance, Han Li was also stunned.

The back of the stele was cracking into pieces, but deep within the fissures, a shimmering blue light flickered.

“Spirit Stones?” Han Li’s eyes flickered, though he wasn’t entirely sure.

Suddenly, he flicked his fingers, and over a dozen green sword auras crisscrossed in the air, instantly enveloping the upper half of the stele in a swirling mass of green light.

Stone fragments flew everywhere, and the area was soon shrouded in a dusty haze.

Yet, with the sharpness of Han Li’s sword auras, it took only moments for a blue glow to emerge beneath the sword light, growing increasingly dazzling.

When Han Li finally stopped and the green light dissipated, most of the stele had been carved open, revealing a deep-blue crystal embedded in its center as if it had grown there naturally.

The crystal was several feet long, azure and translucent. Though not fully exposed, it appeared flat and rectangular.

The entire stele seemed to be nothing more than a thick shell encasing this crystal.

“It’s not a Spirit Stone. Though it looks very similar to a water-attribute Spirit Stone, the energy inside isn’t water-attribute spiritual power,” Bai Yaoyi said with certainty, her striking black-and-white eyes blinking twice.

“Indeed, it’s not a Spirit Stone. No one would directly use Spirit Stones to craft something and then inscribe it. This seems to be another stele inscription,” Han Li murmured, exhaling softly as he observed the exposed part of the crystal, where ancient runes shimmered on its surface.

Without hesitation, he gathered his spiritual power and made a grasping motion toward the crystal with one hand.

A green light-hand materialized before the stele, its fingers hooking forward to seize the top of the crystal and pull upward with immense force.

The crystal was astonishingly heavy, but Han Li, prepared this time, used his formidable cultivation to wrench it entirely free from the stele.

A blue crystalline stele now floated before him, covered in flowing runes that glowed with an eerie azure light.

After briefly examining the inscriptions, Han Li’s heart stirred, though his expression remained unchanged. He swiftly formed hand seals and pointed at the crystal stele.

The stele trembled slightly before rapidly shrinking to the size of a half-foot brick, then vanished into Han Li’s sleeve with a *whoosh*.

Though the old man and Bai Yaoyi were equally intrigued by the crystal stele, they tactfully refrained from pressing Han Li to share it. Instead, after a brief discussion, the three decided to ascend the mountain via the stone steps.

By now, they had confirmed that the faint rumbling indeed came from higher up the mountain.

The three concealed their presence once more and took flight.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, the rumbling they heard was the sound of the Ye Clan cultivators breaking through a barrier further up the mountain.

However, the distance between them wasn’t as close as they thought—another barrier lay between them and the Ye Clan’s location.

After all, the cave they had been teleported to was much lower than the Ye Clan’s entry point through the barrier’s fissure.

Meanwhile, the freakish man and the Ye Clan’s Grand Elder, both late-Nascent Soul cultivators, hovered motionlessly above a rocky outcrop.

Below them, the rest of the Ye Clan cultivators stood in a temporary formation, channeling their power into various treasures to assault a massive, barely visible archway on the stone steps ahead.

The ancient demon, disguised among the Ye Clan cultivators, coldly directed an inky-black flying sword in the assault.

The archway itself emitted radiant light, effortlessly deflecting all attacks as if it were a treasure in its own right.

“Third Nephew, how much longer until we breach the Ten Thousand Cultivators’ Gate?” the freakish man asked the white-robed scholar, a trace of impatience in his tone.

“Another day and night should suffice. This archway is far more troublesome than I anticipated. No wonder the Ten Thousand Cultivators’ Gate was so renowned in the past,” the scholar replied calmly.

“We’ve already wasted too much time here. If we joined them, we could cut the time in half,” the big-headed freak muttered irritably, though he made no move to act.

“Given that we’ve encountered ancient beasts like the Lion Hawk, we must remain vigilant. I’d rather take an extra day or two than risk exhausting our power. Patience, Uncle Seven. We’ve only been here a few days—there’s still plenty of time. Haste makes waste,” the scholar said lightly.

“True enough. Even if other sects’ Nascent Soul cultivators move quickly, it’ll take them time to find the barrier’s fissure and enter. But if even the Ten Thousand Cultivators’ Gate is this troublesome, I fear the remaining barriers will be worse,” the freak sighed.

“Uncle Seven, don’t worry. Our clan has prepared for this for years. We’ve collected several treasures specifically for breaking barriers—we’re just saving them for later,” the scholar said with a confident smile.

“Ah, I see. That puts my mind at ease,” the big-headed freak said, visibly relaxing.

The two then silently observed the barrier-breaking efforts.

But before long, the freak’s nose twitched, and his expression darkened. Without warning, he flicked his fingers toward a distant tree, sending several yellow sword auras shooting toward it.

A green-furred, silver-winged monster suddenly appeared beneath the tree, effortlessly deflecting the sword auras with a flap of its wings.

The sharp-eared creature coldly surveyed the Ye Clan cultivators before glancing at the scholar and the freak. Without a word, it spread its wings and vanished into the wind.

“Am I seeing things? Such refined wind escape technique—it can conceal itself in the breeze. That thing resembles the legendary Silver-Winged Corpse. If not for the faint corpse aura, I might’ve missed it entirely,” the freak muttered gravely.

“Corpse energy? I didn’t sense any. Only your Blood Chariot True Art could detect it. But more than that, this Silver-Winged Corpse appears to be highly intelligent,” the scholar said grimly, staring at the spot where the creature had vanished.

“Wasn’t Kunwu Mountain supposed to be a sacred land? Why are we running into evil creatures like the Lion Hawk and flying corpses? Thank heavens we came together—if I were alone, this would be far more dangerous,” the freak grumbled, shaking his head.

“The title of ‘sacred land’ is a thing of the past. Kunwu Mountain was sealed for a reason. Odd occurrences are hardly surprising. But it doesn’t matter—we’re here for the Heaven-reaching Spiritual Treasure. Everything else is irrelevant,” the scholar said after a pause.

“True, but mindless beasts, no matter how powerful, aren’t a concern. That Silver-Winged Corpse, though… we’ll need to watch out for it,” the freak said coldly.

“Thank you for the warning, Uncle Seven. I’ll keep an eye on it,” the scholar said solemnly.

—

At the same time, high above the stone pavilion where the Ye Clan had rested earlier, a seemingly ordinary barrier suddenly shimmered. A white-haired head poked through, looking around comically.

Seeing no one, the figure squeezed through the barrier, revealing a silver-clad old man standing on a giant disc. He floated down to the pavilion’s roof and steadied himself.

Lifting his head, he revealed a wrinkled face with beady eyes—none other than the mysterious Xiang Zhili!

“So this is Kunwu Mountain. Tsk tsk! The spiritual energy here is extraordinary. But who in their right mind would unseal this place? If that thing gets out, the entire Great Jin will pay the price! And of course, I had to be nearby—couldn’t even pretend not to know,” Xiang Zhili grumbled, hopping angrily on the pavilion when he heard distant rumbling.

“If you knew it was bad luck to come, I admire your courage for showing up,” a sweet, melodious voice suddenly cooed in his ear.

Xiang Zhili froze, his blood running cold.

“Senior… y-you’re out?!” he stammered, gulping.

“Out? I’ve been out for tens of thousands of years. But the final barrier the Kunwu Three Elders set with ten thousand cultivators’ power isn’t something I can break alone. Otherwise, I’d have left long ago,” the woman’s voice remained gentle, but Xiang Zhili’s face turned ashen.