Chapter 1077: The Sixth Level

"That's the extent of my knowledge about this Tai Sui Immortal Manor, and you're already aware of my objective for coming here, so what do you say about my earlier proposal?" Shi Qinghou asked.

"I can join forces with you, and I can even help you secure that bonded soul tablet, but if I encounter any difficulties from here onward, then I hope that the two of you can help me as well," Han Li replied.

"Deal!"

Both Fox 3 and Shi Qinghou were ecstatic to hear this, while Wyrm 3 remained silent with a contemplative look in her eyes.

"In that case, let's set off right away," Shi Qinghou said as he turned to the azure-robed man.

"Come with me. Don't look around along the way, and don't touch anything. Don't ask me any questions, either," the azure-robed man said, then began flying forward atop Lekima, while Lan Yan and the others trailed along behind him like a group of mindless zombies, and Han Li's trio followed along as well.

They traveled for a day and a night, departing from the gourd-like mountain before passing over the entire desert, following which they crossed a massive swamp, beyond which was an undulating mountain range...

Along the way, Han Li noticed some rather strange things, such as a massive ice sculpture in the middle of the desert, a huge, constantly revolving vortex in a swamp, bursts of dull, rhythmic rumbling coming from beneath a mountain range, and a series of of crimson chains that connected a large forest filled with close to a thousand trees.

The azure-robed man had made it clear that he didn't want to be asked any questions, and it was also very apparent that he didn't want to speak, so Han Li chose to hold his tongue, despite his curiosity.

After traveling for a while longer, the group finally arrived at another black palace situated on a grassland.

This palace was even larger than the previous one, and the interior was illuminated by a series of lit braziers.

At the very back of the palace stood a dark red door of light, and the azure-robed man said, "That's the entrance to the sixth level. This is where we part ways."

He then turned to depart, only to be stopped by Fox 3, who implored, "Would it be possible for you to release these companions of ours, Senior? We don't know what perils await us on the sixth and seventh levels, so the more people we have, the better equipped we'll be to deal with the potential dangers up ahead."

"These people could come in useful. Surely you could spare a few illusion servants," Shi Qinghou chimed in.

The azure-robed man's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he quickly acquiesced, making a hand seal to release seven bursts of gray light that vanished into the bodies of Lan Yan and the others.

Immediately thereafter, a series of gray threads flew out of their bodies before vanishing into the azure-robed man's body.

Right at this moment, Lekima's voice rang out in Han Li's mind.

"If you see my bonded soul tablet on the seventh level, make sure to take it. I'll compensate you handsomely if you can bring it to me."

Han Li cast his gaze toward Lekima upon hearing this, only to discover that it was looking straight ahead, obediently carrying the azure-robed man on its back.

After recovering his law threads from Lan Yan and the others, the azure-robed man and Lekima promptly departed, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye, and it was as if they had never been here at all.

Meanwhile, Lan Yan and the others quickly began to return to their senses, and Han Li hurriedly reverted back to his disguised appearance upon seeing this.

Fox 3 and Wyrm 3 also did the same, and the former simultaneously stowed his Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber away as well.

Before long, all of the gray light in the eyes of Lan Yan and the others had faded away, and they were fully lucid again.

"Where are we right now? I don't remember anything after those gray threads entered my body!" Lei Yuce exclaimed in a panicked manner as he frantically scoured his surroundings.

It seemed that all those who fell under the control of those gray law threads had no recollection of anything that had happened after they were controlled.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Please be at ease, everyone. The enemy is already gone, and we're safe now," Fox 3 reassured.

"Do you know what happened?" Lei Yuce asked.

"I do, a little..."

With that, Fox 3 fabricated a story of how Han Li had put on a stunning display of power to force the enemy into retreat.

Fox 3 was quite a good storyteller to begin with, and he invented a watertight story that was very sound and believable.

Han Li couldn't help but shake his head internally in exasperation, but he didn't say anything.

"So that means Fellow Daoist Shi saved us yet again. Words cannot express my gratitude, Fellow Daoist Shi. Once we leave the Tai Sui Immortal Manor, please come visit our Heavenly Water Sect so that we can show you some hospitality as a display of gratitude," Su Anqian said in an earnest manner.

Xiong Shan, Lan Yan, and Lan Yuanzi also expressed their gratitude toward Han Li, but the Lan siblings were looking at him with renewed wariness in their eyes.

As for Lei Yuce, Jin Liu, and Wen Zhong, the three of them were looking a little dejected.

They had gone to great lengths to break that restriction earlier, but ultimately didn't have anything to show for it. In particular, not only had Jin Liu had his Fire Age Firefly hive taken by Han Li, he had also just been saved by Han Li, so he was feeling very frustrated.

'"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Su. The enemy has temporarily gone into retreat, but they could return at any moment, so let's leave this place and get to the sixth level right away," Han Li said.

"Indeed, time is of the essence," Su Anqian replied with a nod, and everyone immediately began working on breaking the restriction on the spatial door.

The restrictions on all of the spatial doors were largely identical, so everyone had become quite proficient at breaking them, and it didn't take long before they were able to pass through the spatial door.

Han Li felt his vision blur momentarily, following which he was greeted by the sight of a boundless golden desert.

He cast his gaze into the distance, but there was only yellow sand as far as the eyes could see in all directions, and the air was rather dry and abrasive.

Right at this moment, Wyrm 3 and the others appeared beside him one after another, and all of them naturally split up into two groups.

Fox 3 and Wyrm 3 were naturally standing a little closer to Han Li, while the two Heavenly Water Sect cultivators had sided with the two Almighty Sword Sect cultivators, and the Lan siblings were also trailing along behind them.

Strangely enough, for some reason, Xiong Shan had also chosen to stand with Han Li's trio.

From there, everyone began to scour their surroundings, and after observing the area for a while, peculiar looks appeared on everyone's faces.

Wyrm 3 crouched down to pick up some of the sand from the ground, then gave it a close look as she mused, "This doesn't seem like normal sand."

"That's because it's not. Instead, all of this is powderized demon beast bones," Han Li said.

"How is that possible?" Wyrm 3 exclaimed in an incredulous manner.

"Fellow Daoist Shi is right," Lei Yuce said, then pointed in a certain direction, where there was an enormous object on the horizon several dozen kilometers away.

Everyone flew over to the object in question, upon which they discovered that it was a curved horn of some type of massive beast. The horn was golden in color, and it had clearly been severely ravaged by erosion.

Wyrm 3 flew over to the horn before laying a hand onto it, and as soon as she did so, the horn immediately crumbled away into a vast cloud of golden sand that dissipated in all directions.

"Which way do we go?" Fox 3 asked, then looked up at the sky, where a bright sun was hanging up above, but it wasn't giving off any heat, almost as if it were nothing more than an illusion.

Lei Yuce was just about to say something when Han Li suddenly pointed in a certain direction and said, "I think we should go that way."

Everyone turned to that direction, but there was nothing to be seen there aside from more sand.

The spiritual sense restrictions had become even more potent on the sixth level, so no one was able to detect anything beyond what they could see in their field of view.

"What's over there?" Su Anqian asked in a curious manner.

"My spiritual sense is too severely restricted for me to tell, but I can sense a special aura in that direction," Han Li replied.

Wyrm 3 and Fox 3 exchanged a hesitant glance with each other upon hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, it's not been an easy journey to get here, and I'm sure you're aware of how many people have already perished along the way, so I think we should proceed with more caution. Wouldn't it be better to have a thorough discussion before deciding on which way to go?" Lei Yuce proposed after a brief hesitation.

"Fellow Daoist Lei is right. The higher we go in this pagoda, the more perils await us, so we can't afford to be reckless," Jin Liu chimed in.

Su Anqian opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

"Honestly, now that we've reached the sixth level, it doesn't really matter where we go, so if no one wants to come with me, then I'll go by myself," Han Li said with a smile, then cupped his fist in a parting salute as he turned to depart.

"I'll come with you, Fellow Daoist Shi," Xiong Shan suddenly said.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything as he flew away in silence, and Xiong Shan immediately followed along after him without any hesitation.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Wyrm 3 and Fox 3 decided to go after Han Li as well.