Chapter 1098: Solo Venture

As soon as he set foot onto the plaza, his brows immediately furrowed slightly. There was intense heat rising up from underfoot, as if he were stepping barefoot over hot coals.

However, after walking a few steps, he quickly acclimated himself to the sensation, and it didn't take long before he reached the end of the plaza.

He stepped onto the stone staircase leading up to the fiery red palace, then looked up to discover a plaque that read "Origin Fire Palace" in antiquated characters, above which was a copper tablet with a strange-looking flame symbol engraved onto it.

Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly upon seeing this, and he hurriedly sprang to the side as if he were trying to evade something.

Immediately thereafter, the flame symbol on the tablet flashed momentarily, and a beam of crimson fire that was around the same thickness as a finger shot out of the tablet toward Han Li's glabella.

Even though he had already anticipated this, he was still unable to evade in time, and the beam of fire struck his glabella, sending intense pain spearing into his head.

Despite his incredible physical constitution, the beam of fire was able to instantly burn through his skin and flesh to reveal the bone underneath.

Han Li felt as if his skull were about to melt, and the pain was utterly excruciating.

In this dire situation, a silver flame erupted out of his glabella to clash against the beam of crimson fire.

Han Li's pain was eased significantly with the emergence of the Essence Fire Raven, and his skin and flesh began to quickly heal.

The Essence Fire Raven let loose a loud cry as it rose up toward the copper tablet, devouring the beam of fire before pouncing onto the tablet itself.

Within mere seconds, the copper tablet was melted away, while the fiery power within was completely devoured by the Essence Fire Raven.

The Essence Fire Raven flew back to Han Li's side, then flew in a triumphant circle around him, as if it were looking for praise.

Han Li smiled as he made a beckoning motion to stow it away, following which he raised a hand to massage his own glabella.

The skin and flesh there had already healed, but there was still a small, red mark lingering there.

He swept his gaze over the palace gates, then pressed his hands against them, and they opened inward without much resistance.

After stepping into the palace, Han Li looked around to discover that the furnishings inside were very simple.

There were two rows of wooden shelves on either side of the palace, all of which were laden with lotus flower lamps that each had a pea-sized flame burning inside.

At the center of the palace was a round altar that was identical to the two previous ones, except this one was crimson in color, and as was the case with the previous altars, there were two items hovering above this one.

Hovering above the left side of the altar was a longan-sized white bead that was enshrouded in a layer of near-transparent white flames, giving off incredibly potent fire law power fluctuations.

As usual, there was a golden flame hovering beside it.

Han Li channeled his Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release his time spirit domain upon seeing this, and time law power fluctuations began to emanate from his body as he made a beckoning motion toward the golden flame from afar.

The golden flame swayed slightly, as if it were tempted to fly to his side, but it then quickly fell still again.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

It looks like I won't be able to get anything before I unravel the array on the altar.

With that in mind, he began to carefully examine the altar while walking in a circle around it.

Moments later, he stopped in his tracks with tightly furrowed brows as he fell into deep thought.

However, it didn't take long before he decided on a course of action, and he flipped a hand over to produce a stack of array flags and array plates, which he began setting up around the altar.

Before long, an octagonal array had taken shape around the altar.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

After carefully examining the array to ensure that there was nothing missing, he made a hand seal to activate it.

A faint buzzing sound rang out as all of the array flags and array plates on the ground lit up, and a burst of radiant golden light erupted out of the octagonal array, forming a set of octagonal golden walls around the entire altar.

As soon as the array commenced operation, the altar instantly shuddered violently, and the near-transparent flame around the white bead hovering above it reared up before surging into the altar below.

Countless fiery runes instantly lit up over the altar, and a burst of crimson fire erupted toward Han Li in a frenzy from within.

However, the flame had only just arisen when it was contained by the golden walls. With nowhere to go, the flames erupted upward, blasting through the ceiling of the palace with a resounding boom.

Han Li was very pleased as he looked up at the giant hole that had appeared in the ceiling above.

The array that he had set up allowed him to contain the power of the altar, and once all of its power had been expended, he would be able to enter the array to secure the treasures inside much more safely.

However, right at this moment, a series of strange, fiery runes suddenly appeared over the walls on either side of the palace, giving off bursts of peculiar aura fluctuations.

The restriction in this place isn't on the altar!

An alarmed look appeared on Han Li's face at this realization, and before he had a chance to do anything, a pair of monstrous creatures with deer antlers on their ox-like heads and long, serpentine bodies slithered out of the walls.

As the two creatures burst out of the walls, they just so happened to fly over the rows of wooden shelves, and the flames in the lotus flower lamps on the shelves instantly rose up before converging toward them.

In the blink of an eye, the two monstrous creatures erupted into flames, and they opened their cavernous mouths as they swooped down upon Han Li like a pair of fiery serpents.

Han Li hurriedly sprang up into the air to evade the pair of fiery serpents, which immediately circled back around to form an encirclement around him with their bodies.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. Just as he had constructed a wall around the altar, the pair of fiery serpents had now formed a wall around him.

The two monstrous serpents glowered down Han Li as they each let loose a thunderous roar, and scorching, crimson flames surged out of their gaping mouths.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li was inundated by the crimson flames, and the ground beneath his feet quickly shattered into countless pieces, unable to stand the overwhelming heat.

Immediately thereafter, a loud thump rang out as all of the ground beneath Han Li's feet disintegrated into molten lava that rippled up and down like the surface of a disturbed lake.

Han Li was swaying unsteadily atop the undulating, molten lake, and he had conjured up a golden light barrier around himself as he fought to prevent himself from being swallowed up by the lava.

The entire surrounding area was completely filled with scorching fire, and he was struck by a sense of asphyxiation, as if he had been thrown into a pill refinement cauldron.

He gritted his teeth against the intense heat as he channeled his Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts before spinning around in circles while swinging his hands through the air over and over again, sweeping up gusts of fierce wind that forced back the surrounding flames.

As he spun faster and faster, the wind generated by his hands became stronger and stronger, but the gusts of wind didn't spread very far, only filling an area within several dozen feet around him.

Furthermore, the violent air currents were contained by the surrounding flames, forming a vacuum wall around Han Li.

Right at this moment, Han Li channeled his Reversal True Axis ability, and he sped up even further in his revolution while also swinging his hands through the air at a far higher frequency.

The pressure around Han Li continued to increase until it became too much to contain, at which point the vacuum wall exploded, sending countless palm projections sweeping through the air in all directions.

It was as if a tornado had suddenly risen up from the ground, and all of the molten lava was flung up into the air.

The crimson flames surging out of the mouths of the fiery serpents were sucked into the rising tornado, following which the serpents themselves were swept up as well, and their bodies were shattered into pieces by the flurry of palm projections, forming an enormous, fiery vortex.

Han Li flew out of the fiery vortex, then threw a punch to both his left and his right, destroying the walls on either side of the palace, as well as the wooden shelves that were laden with lotus flower lamps.

After that, he turned his attention to the altar, upon which he discovered that fire was still rising up from it, but at a far slower rate than before, clearly indicating that the array he had set up was serving its intended purpose.