Chapter 1104: Commencement of the Battle
The monk suddenly raised his hand as he spoke and a ball of blue light came hurtling toward Han Li.
It was none other than that Celestial Blue Cauldron.
"Mo Jiu, what are you doing?" Master Arctic Dragon roared with rage.
Han Li didn't know why the monk would decide to help him, but he certainly wasn't going to refuse a treasure being offered up to him.
Thus, he waved his sleeve through the air and a green light swept forth as he attempted to stow the cauldron away into his sleeve.
Master Arctic Dragon's face darkened upon seeing this and he immediately made a hand seal before abruptly pointing a finger at the miniature cauldron.
A spluttering sound erupted as the cauldron faltered in mid-air, immediately following which its lid flew off as turbulent blue flames erupted from within. Those flames then enveloped the cauldron and forced it to change direction, guiding it toward Master Arctic Dragon.
"So you really did mess with this cauldron already!" the monk exclaimed in a cold voice. He was already prepared for this situation and he reached out with a hand, feigning a grabbing motion. A green hand of light immediately appeared above the cauldron before descending in an attempt to grasp at the cauldron!
Golden light erupted from Master Arctic Dragon's eyes as he roared, "Break!"
A loud rumbling sound then erupted as the back of the huge green hand warped and twisted. An ancient rune that was flashing with golden light appeared from thin air before exploding with a resounding boom. Scintillating golden light erupted with devastating power, reducing the hand to nothingness.
"The Righteous Song Mantra! You cultivating in Buddhist arts?" the monk exclaimed.
Master Arctic Dragon completely ignored him as he continued to draw the cauldron toward himself.
Right at this moment, a series of green threads shot forth from nearby. Green light flashed as the threads wound themselves around the cauldron, dragging it toward Han Li before anyone had a chance to react.
Master Arctic Dragon stirred upon seeing this and he immediately made a hand seal as he uttered the word "break" once again.
Several golden runes exploded upon the green threads in quick succession amid a string of deafening booms. However, the green threads were only scattered slightly before reverting back to their original formation, and continued dragging the cauldron away.
Meanwhile, Han Li produced a small cauldron that was only several inches in size. Runes were hovering around the cauldron and it bore a strong resemblance toward the Celestial Blue Cauldron. Those green threads were shooting forth from none other than that cauldron.
"The Heavenvoid Cauldron!" Master Arctic Dragon murmured upon seeing that.
As the Celestial Blue Cauldron was dragged toward him, he tapped the Heavenvoid Cauldron to produce a light ringing sound, following which the green threads originating from the cauldron completely encapsulated the Celestial Blue Cauldron in a shimmering ball of azure threads. He then stowed the azure ball into his sleeve before turning to Master Arctic Dragon with a cold sneer on his face.
Master Arctic Dragon was not enraged by the fact that the Celestial Blue Cauldron had been wrested away. Instead, he heaved a faint sigh and turned to the monk with a forlorn expression as he said, "It's very impressive that you're already able to use the Heavenvoid Cauldron but at your cultivation base, the most that you're capable of is mastering the first layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique. In that case, you'll only be able to unleash a small fraction of the spirit treasure's power. What I'm more surprised by is you, Mo Jiu; I didn't think that you would make such an unwise decision. You're forcing me to take you down as well."
The monk pulled out a shimmering green wooden knocker from his sleeve with a calm expression as he said, "We've been acquaintances for over a century so I don't want to become your enemy, either, but I must do this for self-preservations. I wouldn't want to see you kill Fellow Daoist Han before silencing me as well. The Divine Spirit Treasure is no laughing matter. I gather that you never planned to let me go from the start, right? I'm merely an itinerant cultivator so I can't compare to the likes of Madam Long."
"What do you mean by that, Mo Jiu?" the old woman asked coldly upon hearing that.
"Don't try to play me for a fool, Madam Long! Other people may not be aware of this, but I know for a fact that your Green Willow Sect is actually just a branch of the North Night Palace's Outer Sect. You're also one of the elders of the North Night Palace's Outer Sect, isn't that right, Madam Long?" the monk interrogated with a grace expression.
Master Arctic Dragon hesitated momentarily before finally deciding to admit to the truth. "I didn't think you would be aware of this. Elder Long, there's no need to keep up pretenses any longer; let's bring them down together!"
"Hehe, I was thinking that I would be able to sit this one out, but looks like I won't be able to, after all. However, you didn't tell me about the Heavenvoid Cauldron in advance, Grand Elder. Are you keeping secrets even from an Outer Sect elder like me now?" A dark expression appeared on the old woman's face as a staff that was roughly 10 feet long appeared in her hand amid a burst of yellow light.
"I was only keeping this a secret as a precautionary measure. In any case, let's take care of these two and recover the cauldron first. The cauldron is an extremely powerful treasure that will ensure our palace is powerful enough to combat any enemies who dare to challenge us," Master Arctic Dragon urged.
"Leave Mo Jiu to me. You three take care of that Han brat and take the Heavenvoid Cauldron from him." The old woman was still rather displeased, but she still decided to comply.
"Alright, let's do that." Master Arctic Dragon didn't hesitate any longer. He flipped his hand over to produce a blue formation plate while quickly making a series of seals with his other hand.
"He's going to cast a restriction! Stop him!" The monk's expression changed drastically upon seeing what Master Arctic Dragon was doing. He immediately hurled his wooden knocker as he spoke, and it hurtled toward Master Arctic Dragon as a ball of green light.
The gentle sound of wood knocking on wood could then be heard.
The sound made the listener's focus waver slightly, making them feel as if their souls were escaping from their bodies.
However, all of the cultivators present were extremely powerful and the old woman came to her senses before even a second knocking sound had been emitted by the wooden knocker. She harrumphed coldly and pointed her staff at the wooden knocker, sending a massive burst of yellow sword Qi hurtling toward it.
As a result, the monk was forced to relinquish his soundwave attacks as he hurriedly injected his magic power into the wooden knocker. The treasure spun in the air before swelling drastically to around 10 feet in size, hurtling toward the sword Qi like a massive rock. An explosive sound erupted as the wooden knocker and the sword projection clashed.
Meanwhile, Master Arctic Dragon was still making hand seals without pause and his formation disk was beginning to radiate piercing spiritual light.
However, Han Li was not about to let Master Arctic Dragon unleash his restriction as he pleased. He raised a hand and flicked his five fingers in quick successions, upon which around a dozen bursts of azure sword Qi shot forth from his fingertips, all of which were aimed directly at Master Arctic Dragon.
Han Li's azure essence sword Qi transformed into around a dozen azure streaks of light, but were abruptly cut off by several streaks of white sword Qi as well as two black streaks of light, upon which a heated battle ensued.
The ones who had cut off Han Li's attack were none other than Bai Mengxin and the green-robed man.
Han Li's sword Qi was almost all shattered in an instant, and his brows furrowed upon seeing that. He turned his attention away from Master Arctic Dragon and sent several tens of golden flying swords flying out from his sleeve. Those swords subsequently transformed into a barrier of golden light which shielded him as he looked on at Master Arctic Dragon with a cold expression.
A loud rumbling suddenly erupted from down below and Han Li's expression faltered slightly. However, spiritual light then immediately erupted around his body as he rose into the air from the pillar of light upon which he had been standing.
Right at this moment, the purple pillar of light down below disappeared, but was replaced by a shimmering circular formation diagram.
Han Li was suddenly struck by a powerful suction force from down below, which made his body plummet as if it had been injected full of lead. At the same time, flashes of light erupted around him as peculiar fluctuations radiated through the air.
Before he had a chance to do anything, the surrounding scenery suddenly transformed. He found himself standing in mid-air amid a vast expanse of wind and snow.
Countless snowflakes were falling from the sky while the ground below was pristine white. He had somehow appeared in a glacial land.
"An illusion technique! How interesting!"
As soon as Han Li landed on the ground below, he began to chuckle to himself, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of a smile on his face.
At this moment, the effect of the restriction on his body intensified slightly. If it weren't for the fact that he had cultivated the Brightjade Arts, his body really would be struggling to cope with his current situation. Compared to the gravitational force of the Goldweight Spirit Wood, this restriction was nothing.
The golden swords around Han Li circled through the air at his behest and the gravitational force weighing down upon him was instantly severed.
He began to rise into the air within a ball of golden light.
Han Li surveyed his surroundings blue light shimmering within his narrowed eyes.
Everything in sight was a vast expanse of white. There appeared to be no other living person around.
He then looked up into the sky to find that there seemed to be no end to the huge snowflakes falling from above.
All of a sudden, a burst of blue light erupted from his eyes and he let loose a low cry as around a dozen streaks of golden light shot forth from the golden ball around him, all of which were flying toward what appeared to be empty space.
A string of explosions erupted in the air above, following which intertwining white and golden light began to shimmer as a dozen or so small swords emerged.
Those flying swords were only several inches in length, but each and every one of them was extremely translucent, thereby allowing them to camouflage themselves within the wind and snow as they silent hurtled toward Han Li.
However, they were still discovered in the end and Han Li was able to easily keep them at bay.
"Huh?" The surprised voice of Bai Mengxin sounded from an indeterminate location.
Those flying swords whizzed around before disappearing into the wind and snow again.
Han Li raised an eyebrow as he made a hand seal, upon a dozen or so more golden swords flew out from around him, all of which shimmering with golden light and exuding bone-chilling glacial Qi.
Those swords circled through the air and quickly tracked down the translucent flying swords again as the sound of clashing swords ensued.
Golden light erupted from the golden swords at Han Li's behest, and a sharp gleam appeared in his eyes as he began to utter a strange chant.
A muffled groan sounded from somewhere within the wind and snow, following which a ball of white light erupted several hundred feet away. A white-robed woman was then revealed, with her hands grasping at her head and a painful expression on her face.
She was none other than Bai Mengxin, who had been struck by Han Li's Spirit Stun Thorn!