Chapter 1058: Prison Pagoda

Valley Master Fu flew over to Han Li, then also pressed his hands against the stone slab as he said, "Leave that to me, Fellow Daoist Shi. You go help Celestial Maiden Su and the others."

Han Li nodded in response, then removed his hands from the stone slab before flying toward the Fire Age Firefly Queen.

The bearded man and the others were attacking the Fire Age Firefly Queen with all their might, but all of their attacks were kept out by its flames of time.

All of a sudden, Han Li appeared directly above the Fire Age Firefly Queen, and right as he was about to do something, the bearded man yelled, "I'll help you, Fellow Daoist Shi!"

At the same time, he also pounced at the Fire Age Firefly Queen while chanting an incantation and making a string of hand seals.

"Get back!" Han Li yelled, but the words had only just left his mouth when the flames of time around the Fire Age Firefly Queen reared up to form a blazing sun.

In the next instant, countless bursts of fire erupted toward Han Li and the bearded man, and the latter hurriedly sprang back in retreat, but it was already too late.

Bursts of fire pierced straight through his body, instantly setting him alight.

A cold gleam flashed through Han Li's eyes as a layer of golden light appeared over his body, and his speed was abruptly enhanced by severalfold. It was as if he no longer even possessed a physical body as he passed through the bursts of fire in a wraith-like manner, appearing before the Fire Age Firefly Queen in the blink of an eye.

A hint of panic flashed through the Fire Age Firefly Queen's eyes, yet before it had a chance to do anything, a cold harrumph rang out beside its ears, followed which a burst of sharp pain speared through its head.

Right at this moment, an Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword with numerous time law threads wrapped around it appeared in Han Li's grasp, and Han Li swung it forcefully through the air.

The time law threads ensured that the sword was able to slice through the flames of time around the Fire Age Firefly Queen with ease, and it was decapitated in one fell swoop.

A look of relief appeared on Jin Liu's face upon seeing this, and he immediately released the chain in his hand before flying toward the three hives below.

Han Li quickly followed suit, stowing his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword away before also pouncing at the hives.

With a sweep of his sleeve, he released a streak of golden light to claim one hive, right as Jin Liu claimed another hive.

Immediately thereafter, the spiritual light released by the two of them latched onto the third hive in unison, and a tug of war ensued.

"You've already taken one hive, isn't it too greedy of you to be going after a second one, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Jin Liu asked in a cold voice.

"What right do you have to say that, Fellow Daoist Jin? You barely made any contribution at all in the battle just now, yet you want to claim two hives for yourself? Have you no shame?" Han Li sneered, displaying no intention of backing down.

Jin Liu was furious to hear this, and he protested, "There's no way you could've slain that Fire Age Firefly Queen if the three of us hadn't trapped it first! Besides, I'm claiming this second hive for Celestial Maiden Su. Surely she's made sufficient contributions to deserve a hive."

"In that case, please get Celestial Maiden Su to claim this hive herself. Who knows if someone as shameless as yourself would actually pass the hive onto Celestial Maiden Su instead of keeping it?" Han Li sneered.

A furious look appeared in Jin Liu's eyes upon hearing this.

"What did you just say?! I..."

"Give the hive to Fellow Daoist Shi," Su Anqian suddenly interjected.

At this moment, she was standing in front of the stone slab at the entrance of the cave, releasing bursts of blue light out of her hands to bolster the stone slab against the swarm of Fire Age Fireflies outside.

"What are you saying, Celestial Maiden Su?" Jin Liu asked with tightly furrowed brows.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Fellow Daoist Shi made the most significant contribution of all during the battle just now, so he's definitely worthy of claiming two hives, and he also saved my life, so I would like to repay the favor," Su Anqian said.

Han Li turned to Su Anqian with a surprised look in his eyes upon hearing this.

"Fine!" Jin Liu snapped as he withdrew his spiritual light from the third hive, and Han Li immediately stowed it away without any hesitation, then rushed over to the entrance of the cave before casting a string of incantation seals into the stone slab.

A thick, golden light barrier quickly took shape, giving off bursts of formidable time law power fluctuations, and the stone slab was stabilized even further, falling completely still as it kept the Fire Age Fireflies outside at bay.

"Let's go!" Su Anqian said as she flew toward the passageway above the lava lake.

In the wake of the Fire Age Firefly Queen's demise, the fiery barrier over the entrance of the passageway had also faded away, and everyone rushed into it one after another.

After everyone had come through, Su Anqian swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of blue light, which formed a thick layer of blue ice to seal the entrance of the passageway shut.

Everyone else also cast some restrictions to bolster the seal on the entrance, and only then did they continue onward.

The passageway wasn't very long, so they quickly reached the end, arriving in a small stone chamber, at the very center of which was a dark red door of light.

Beside the door of light was a stone plaque that read "prison gate" and "do not enter".

Everyone exchanged a few glances with one another upon seeing this.

"Prison gate? Could it be that this Eon Pagoda once served as a prison?" Valley Master Fu speculated.

"Does that mean that the metal beasts on the first level and the Fire Age Fireflies on the second level were all prison guards? Now that I think about it, that doesn't seem all that implausible to me," Han Li mused.

Earlier, he had made the observation that the Fire Age Fireflies looked as if they were patrolling the second level of the pagoda, so this would certainly make a lot of sense.

"As opposed to speculating among ourselves, let's just go to the third level and find some answers there," Su Anqian said, and everyone turned to the door of light.

At this moment, the doorway was enshrouded under a red light barrier with rings of rippling golden patterns on its surface.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as his gaze fell upon the door of light, and he was struck by an inexplicable feeling that told him that this was no ordinary light barrier.

Jin Liu's gaze also fell upon the door of light, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything amiss, and he stepped forward to unravel the restriction.

Han Li opened his mouth to say something to stop him, but then decided against it.

"What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Valley Master Fu asked.

"I'm not sure, but I was struck by a sense of foreboding just now," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

Apprehensive looks immediately appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this, and even Jin Liu had stopped what he was doing to turn around and look at Han Li.

However, he then gave a cold harrumph before turning back to face the stone gate, and he began working on the restriction.

Shortly thereafter, a burst of red light flashed over the stone gate, and the golden patterns on the light barrier flashed a few times before fading away.

"Alright, the restriction has been opened, you can all go in now," Jin Liu declared as he turned to Valley Master Fu and the others, but all of them seemed very reluctant to go through.

"Are you going to turn back after coming all this way? Why don't you lead by example, Valley Master Fu?" Jin Liu suggested.

Valley Master Fu's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he offered no response.

A cold sneer appeared on Su Anqian's face as she stepped into the door of light, and Jin Liu could only follow her inside.

Everyone else turned to Valley Master Fu upon seeing this, and after a brief hesitation, he declared, "Let's go. No reward can be reaped without first incurring some risk."

With that, he stepped into the door of light, followed immediately by Han Li.

Upon stepping into the door of light, Han Li felt the entire world spin around him, but thankfully, this sensation only lasted a brief moment before he found himself back on stable footing, having arrived on a giant, black stone plaza.

The sky above the plaza was filled with dark clouds, and the entire surrounding area reeked of rot and decay.

Han Li noticed that all of the people who had already come through the gate were looking back at the gate with tightly furrowed brows, and he heaved a forlorn internal sigh at the realization that his fears had been confirmed.

Behind him was a giant stone gate that was around a thousand feet tall, and engraved onto each side of the gate was a golden armored warrior, while the lintel was riddled with all types of complex runes.

"Why is there such a complex restriction on this gate? Su Anqian asked with a perplexed expression."

"There are a total of seventy-two runes on this gate, of which there are as many as thirty-six varieties. It seems like these runes were inscribed in order to bolster the seal on this place," Jin Liu mused with tightly furrowed brows.

"Why is it that the gate was so easy to pass through, but the restriction on the other side is so much more complex? Is it trying to trap all those who enter?" Valley Master Fu asked.

"I'm thinking that perhaps the restriction on this gate was designed to keep something else in here," Han Li mused as he cast his gaze into the distance.

Valley Master Fu followed the direction of his gaze to discover a cluster of black buildings that were shrouded in black mist on the distant horizon.