Chapter 342: Leaving the Sect

A series of dark clouds emerged, and they quickly came together to obscure the entire sky. Arcs of lightning could be seen occasionally flashing within the clouds amid deafening thunderclaps, and boundless lightning-attribute spiritual qi was converging from all directions before fusing into the clouds.

Daoist Xie made a hand seal as it chanted an incantation, and lightning was flashing over its body before spreading outward to form an enormous lightning array that was several dozen acres in area.

The lightning array was rather peculiar in that it was very thin and long, and there were countless lightning runes drifting through the air within it.

All of a sudden, Daoist Xie opened its eyes before casting an incantation seal up toward the heavens, and bolts of lightning began to crash down from the clouds.

All of the lightning was injected into the lightning array around Daoist Xie, causing it to glow radiantly while giving off bursts of thunderous rumbling.

Han Li was standing in mid-air, and he appeared to have been quite calm and composed, but in reality, he was feeling quite tense.

His battle against the silver-robed young man had been quite brief, but it had caused quite a commotion, and this lightning array was giving off extremely formidable energy fluctuations that were definitely detectable to those at the White Jade Peak.

He could only hope that the battle there was still raging so that he would have enough time to make his escape.

Right at this moment, Daoist Xie let loose a low roar, and the lightning array abruptly rose up from the ground, hovering in mid-air while rapidly shrinking down.

Just a few seconds later, it had shrunk down from its original size of several dozen acres down to a ball of lightning that was only around 200 to 300 feet in size, and it was giving off blinding lightning that was too bright to look directly at.

"Go!"

Daoist Xie abruptly rose to its feet as it made a hand seal, and the ball of lightning shot forth as a streak of white light, striking the indentation in the wall of yellow mist at an incredible speed while revolving rapidly.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and all of the mountains within a radius of several hundred kilometers began to rumble violently. Massive trenches opened up in the earth, and some of the smaller mountains were toppled altogether, presenting a doomsday-like scene to behold.

The yellow mist restriction was also churning violently, and it was as if turbulent waves were rolling over its surface.

Incredibly thick bolts of lightning were erupting out of the ball of lightning before spreading through the yellow mist restriction, peeling it away layer by layer, but at the same time, the surrounding yellow mist was also constantly converging to replenish the mist that was being stripped away, and an impasse had ensued.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I need your help!" Daoist Xie suddenly said.

Han Li immediately sprang up into the air without any hesitation upon hearing this, and after a few flashes of azure light, he appeared no more than 1,000 feet away from the indentation in the yellow mist restriction.

He then swept a sleeve through the air to release 72 streaks of golden light, which circled around him momentarily before instantly forming a giant golden sword that was several hundred feet in length with golden lightning flashing around it.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the giant sword slashed forward at his behest.

All of a sudden, a streak of swordlight that was over 1,000 feet in length with golden lightning flashing over the entirety of its blade struck the indentation in the yellow mist with tremendous might.

A resounding boom rang out, and that sword strike from Han Li proved to be the final straw that broke the camel's back, tearing apart all of the yellow mist that was converging from all directions to significantly slow down the restriction's rate of recovery.

Daoist Xie let loose a loud roar upon seeing this, and the ball of light exploded violently into an incandescent sun as shockwaves that were visible even to the naked eye erupted in all directions. Finally, a huge hole the size of a house had been blown into the yellow mist restriction.

After unleashing that attack, the lightning flashing over Daoist Xie's body quickly faded, and it was looking rather weary.

Han Li immediately swept a hand through the air to cast an incantation seal, and the hundreds of dao warrior beans flew back out of the wall of yellow mist before returning to his gourd. Immediately thereafter, a burst of azure light erupted out of his body, sweeping up both Daoist Xie and the gourd before he flew out of the restriction through the massive hole.

Right after he had flown out through the hole, yellow mist converged from all directions to seal it again in the blink of an eye.

All of the unrest in the wall of yellow mist then quickly subsided, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the sky outside, and he heaved a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he had just escaped from the brink of death.

He then turned to Daoist Xie as he asked, "How are you feeling, Brother Xie?"

"The restriction was far more formidable than I anticipated. It's a good thing that you intervened at the perfect time to break the restriction, but I'm going to have to take a long rest after this, Daoist Xie replied.

Han Li nodded in response, then swept a sleeve through the air to release 12 lengths of Lightning Restraining Wood, then began to chant an incantation.

Arcs of lightning emerged over the Lightning Restraining Wood, quickly forming a lightning array with countless lightning runes flashing within it, causing the nearby space to warp and ripple.

Han Li closed his eyes momentarily to sense something, then quickly reopened them before giving a slight nod and withdrawing his hand seal.

The lightning array immediately ceased operating, and countless arcs of lightning flowed back into the lengths of Lightning Restraining Wood before they were stowed away.

The lightning teleportation array was functioning as normal, which meant that there were no further spatial restrictions up ahead.

"Even for the Immortal Palace, setting up this one restriction would've already been quite difficult, so there's no way that there could be a second, even larger restriction outside of it," Daoist Xie remarked.

"That may be the case, but the situation over at the White Jade Peak could take a turn at any moment, so let's get out of here for now," Han Li said as he took a glance back at the yellow mist restriction, then made a hand seal to conjure up a smaller lightning array around himself.

Daoist Xie flew into Han Li's grasp as a streak of golden light, following which both of them were teleported away.

……

Around two hours later.

Arcs of golden lightning sprang out of the space above the Crimson Dawn Peak to form a lightning array, and Han Li emerged inside it, looking a little pale and weary.

He had unleashed his lightning teleportation array consecutively in order to reach the Crimson Dawn Peak as quickly as he could, and even with the support of Immortal Origin Stones, his immortal spiritual power reserves were still severely depleted.

Han Li took a deep breath before descending out of the sky.

All of the servants had already been alerted by the thunderclap that had just rung out, and they hurriedly rushed forward to greet Han Li.

Many of the servants of True Immortal Stage elders had gone to attend the preaching ceremony as well, and at this moment, there were only three servants left on the mountain. After all, the mountain couldn't just be left completely unattended.

The three servants were just about to extend bows to Han Li when he raised a hand and said, "No need for formalities. Wait here for a moment, I have something to speak to all of you about."

After that, Han Li immediately flew into his cave abode in a flash, arriving directly at the spirit medicine garden inside.

He had a habit of carrying important items on his body, but he couldn't constantly carry these spirit medicines with him, and that was why he had taken the risk to come back here despite the urgency of the situation.

He had expended a huge amount of time, energy, and resources gathering these spirit medicines, and he certainly couldn't just leave them behind.

He swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, which instantly encompassed the entire spirit medicine garden.

In the next instant, all of the spirit medicines rose up out of the ground alongside the surrounding plots of spirit soil before flying into Han Li's grasp one after another. He then quickly stored them into suitable containers before stowing them away in his storage bracelet.

Moments later, the entire cave abode shuddered as all of the restrictions were removed, and a series of array tools flew out of all parts of the cave abode before also being stowed away.

Outside the cave abode, the three servants were exchanging puzzled glances with one another.

"What's going on?" a square-faced young man murmured in an uncertain voice.

Meng Xiong was one of the three servants, and he shook his head in response. "I don't know, but judging from Elder Li's expression, something very important must've happened. Perhaps it has something to do with those violent tremors we felt earlier."

Right at this moment, Han Li appeared before them in a wraith-like manner amid a flash of azure light, and before the three servants had a chance to do anything, he said, "Time is of the essence, so I'll keep it brief. The sect has encountered a major crisis concerning the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, and there will most likely be very far-reaching consequences.

“I'm planning to leave this place right away, and you have two options right now: come with me, or stay here to fend for yourself. You've all been serving me for many years, so even if you choose to stay, I'll leave you with some treasures and resources."

The expressions of the three servants changed drastically upon hearing this.

This was far too abrupt a turn of events, and they had no idea what to do.

"I'll give you 10 seconds to make your decision," Han Li said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

As soon as his voice trailed off, Meng Xiong stepped forward as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.

"Elder Li, my aptitude is quite mediocre, and without everything you've given me, there's no way I would've made it to my current cultivation base. I'm willing to continue to follow you."

Han Li nodded in response, then gestured for Meng Xiong to stand beside him.

Immediately thereafter, the square-faced young man also stepped forward, expressing a desire to follow Han Li.

The young man's name was Meng Guang, and he was a man of few words.

The final servant remained standing on the spot with his head lowered, and he wasn't saying anything, but his decision was clear.

Han Li didn't say anything, either, flipping a hand over to produce a storage pouch that he tossed at the servant.

"Thank you, Elder Li," the servant said as he caught the storage pouch before hurriedly extending a respectful bow.

"Let's go," Han Li said, then swept a sleeve through the air without delay, releasing a burst of azure light that swept up Meng Xiong and Meng Guang before flying away.

Shortly thereafter, on a mountaintop not far away from the Crimson Dawn Peak, Han Li's trio was surrounded by a circle of Lightning Restraining Wood.

Han Li made a hand seal, and arcs of golden lightning sprang out of the Lightning Restraining Wood to form a huge lightning array around them.

The surrounding space began to ripple like water, and the ripples spread outward in all directions.

Meng Xiong and Meng Guang were quite alarmed to see this, and both of them reflexively closed their eyes.

Immediately thereafter, the three of them vanished amid a flash of lightning and a rumbling thunderclap.