Chapter 662: Bait

Feng Qingyuan appeared to be moving in a casual fashion, but in reality, he was on high alert, covertly scanning his surroundings while also releasing his spiritual sense to encompass the entire hall.

However, Han Li and Ren Hao were too well-concealed for him to detect anything.

All of a sudden, Feng Qingyuan sped up in his footsteps, rushing over to the pond in the deepest part of the hall in a flash, and from there, he immediately spotted teh blue shield and the blue flute.

A hint of greed flashed through his eyes at the sight of the two immortal treasures, but just like Han Li, he also refrained from taking them.

He had seen Ren Hao make his way down this path, and on the way here, he had noticed some clear signs of battle on the second floor, so it clearly didn't make sense for there to be no one on the third floor.

"I can see where you are, Fellow Daoist Ren. Why don't you come out to meet me?" Feng Qingyuan suddenly declared.

Han Li reflexively cast his gaze toward the stone pillar that Ren Hao was concealed in upon hearing this, and he could see that Ren Hao had no intention of revealing himself, so he knew that Feng Qingyuan had to have been merely bluffing.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

As Feng Qingyuan's voice trailed off, the hall fell into silence once again.

Feng Qingyuan's brows furrowed slightly in the wake of his failed bluff, and after some extensive contemplation, he was unable to suppress the greed in his heart as he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a golden eight-armed puppet.

The puppet sprang onto the surface of the pond at his behest, darting over the water like an agile spider as it reached out for the pair of blue immortal treasures.

Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed as he intently scrutinized the golden puppet, preparing to take the immortal treasures from the puppet as soon as they fell into its grasp.

However, right as the golden puppet was about to grab onto the pair of immortal treasures, the still surface of the pond suddenly began to ripple violently, following which a blue figure shot out of the water, sending the golden puppet flying.

A resounding clang rang out as the golden puppet fell heavily onto the edge of the pond.

Immediately thereafter, a large blue foot stomped down onto its chest. The golden puppet was comparable in power to a late-True Immortal cultivator, yet it was unable to pose any resistance as its core crumbled under the foot of its assailant.

All of this had taken place in the blink of an eye, and Feng Qingyuan had already shot back to over a thousand feet away in retreat. At the same time, a red oil paper umbrella had appeared in his grasp as he cast a wary gaze forward.

The foot that had stomped down onto the puppet's chest belonged to a creature with the head of a fish, but the body of a man, and its skin was covered in shimmering scales. Its aura was undetectable, but it was giving off extremely formidable time law power fluctuations.

A hint of remorse appeared in Feng Qingyuan's eyes at the sight of the creature, and he took a glance at the stairwell out of the corner of his eyes as he planned his escape.

However, before he had a chance to do anything, the humanoid fish creature opened its mouth to reveal two rows of sharp teeth, then let loose a silent roar.

Immediately thereafter, its body disintegrated into a cloud of blue mist, which surged directly toward Feng Qingyuan, who instantly opened his oil paper umbrella for protection.

Wisps of crimson light emerged from the umbrella, encompassing his entire body to form a ball of crimson light, which sped away toward the stairwell.

However, the cloud of blue mist was able to keep up with him with ease, and it reached the stairwell in the blink of an eye before completely inundating the ball of red light.

A strangled cry of agony rang out from within the blue cloud, followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground, which was, in turn, followed by complete silence.

Shortly thereafter, the blue cloud reverted back into the humanoid fish creature, and it jumped back into the pond, paying no heed to the pair of immortal treasures in the process.

All that remained at the stairwell was a body that resembled a shriveled prune, and a tattered oil paper umbrella that was completely devoid of spiritual qi.

Han Li was astonished to see this.

Right at this moment, a purple figure emerged at the entrance of the third floor, and it was none other than Feng Lin.

Han Li hurriedly concealed himself once again upon seeing this, and Feng Lin slowly made her way into the hall, then took an indifferent glance at Feng Qingyuan's body, seemingly completely unsurprised by what she was seeing.

"Are you two hoping that I would also provoke that creature on my own? I'm afraid I'm not quite as foolish as Yuan Feng. Come out now, I know where you are," Feng Lin said as she glanced at the spots where Han Li and Ren Hao were hiding.

At this moment, there was a layer of purple light flashing over Feng Lin's eyes, and Han Li was very surprised to see that not only was she also cultivating the Infernal Devilish Eyes, her level of mastery in the ocular technique was superior even to his.

Furthermore, her disposition had changed drastically. Gone was her former gentle and seductive demeanor, and in its place was the cold and regal aura of a detached queen.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li emerged from his hiding spot, and Ren Hao also followed suit.

"That was not our intention at all, Fellow Daoist Feng. That Feng Lin was nothing more than a reckless fool who's unworthy of traveling with us. In contrast, I hold a great deal of admiration for you and Fellow Daoist Li," Ren Hao said with a smile.

Han Li took an expressionless glance at Ren Hao and didn't say anything.

"Speak up! The treasures are right in front of us, so how about we join forces to kill that thing? As for who gets the treasures, that'll be decided by our abilities," Feng Lin harrumphed coldly.

"I'm fine with that. That fish thing has some tricks up its sleeve, but it's definitely no match for all three of us," Ren Hao agreed with a nod, while Han Li continued to remain silent.

"Do you not agree to this proposal, or do you have a better way to proceed, Fellow Daoist Li?" Feng Lin asked as she turned to Han Li.

"I have no objections with joining forces, but before that, would the two of you be able to enlighten me on exactly what that creature is? I'm afraid I'm not very knowledgeable in such matters," Han Li said.

The humanoid fish creature was completely different from the average cultivator in that it seemed to be some type of being formed by spiritual power.

"I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that," Feng Lin said with a shake of her head, while Ren Hao also shook his head, expressing the same sentiment.

Han Li was a little disappointed to hear this.

With the plan established, Han Li's trio briefly discussed some strategy, then collectively darted toward the blue pond from three different directions.

Ren Hao was the fastest of the three, reaching the pond in a flash before reaching out to make a grabbing motion with one hand.

A blue beastly claw the size of house instantly appeared above the pond, and the claw aws brimming with immense power as it made a grab for the blue shield in the pond.

The blue fish creature emerged from the pond once again, and it raised a hand to summon a blue staff, which struck the beastly claw with a resounding thump.

The beastly claw was instantly destroyed upon contact, but Ren Hao didn't appear all that surprised to see this as he quickly made a hand seal.

The giant blue sword behind him instantly rose up into the sky as a streak of blue light at his behest, and it swelled drastically to over a thousand feet in size before crashing down upon the blue fish creature.

The sound of turbulent waves rang out in the nearby space, and the air became incredibly heavy.

Meanwhile, Feng Lin had also sprung into action, raising a hand to release a burst of black light, which transformed into a giant black gate.

The gate was over a hundred feet tall and twenty to thirty feet wide, and it seemed to be covered in dried blood.

There was a pair of dark purple rings on the gate, and a pair of fearsome devilish deities were engraved onto its surface.

Boundless devilish qi was surging out of the giant gate, and Feng Lin chanted an incantation before opening her mouth to release a ball of blood essence that fused into the gate.

The eyes of the devilish deities engraved onto the gate instantly began to glow red, and they opened their mouths in unison to release two bursts of crimson light, which transformed into a pair of large crimson hands that grabbed onto the purple rings before wrenching the gate open.

The sound of ghostly howls instantly rang out from beyond the gate, and a thick pillar of black light erupted out from within, hurtling directly toward the blue fish creature.

The black light churned as it took on the form of a series of human and beastly faces, all of which were twisted in agony and howling in torment.

Meanwhile, Han Li had also arrived at the pond, and he was instantly struck by a sense of discomfort in the face of the pillar of black light, forcing him to channel his Spirit Refinement Technique to clear his own mind.

He took a brief glance at Feng Lin, then swept a sleeve through the air to release three small, azure swords, all of which instantly swelled drastically in size as thick arcs of golden lightning emerged over them.