Chapter 683: True Mantra Palace

"Don't let this battle drag on!" the gray skeleton leading from the forefront said in a raspy voice.

At the same time, a bone staff appeared in his grasp amid a flash of gray light, and he swept the staff through the air to release a long streak of gray light, which swept up the four bolts of black lightning unleashed by Shi Chuankong.

As soon as the bolts of lightning came into contact with the streak of gray light, they instantly vanished without a trace, but at the same time, most of the streak of gray light also dissipated.

A stunned look appeared on Shi Chuankong's face upon seeing this, and he held Feng Lin in his arms as he darted away into the distance as a streak of purple light.

The gray skeleton swept his staff through the air once again, and what remained of the streak of gray light immediately shot forth in hot pursuit.

At the same time, the other three Gray Immortals also sprang into action. The gray-haired young man thrust his spear forward, and a thick gray dragon of light shot out of the tip of the spear.

The young woman flipped a hand over to summon a gray whip, using which she released a thick gray whip projection, while the gray-robed elderly man opened his mouth to release a long streak of gray light.

The four bursts of gray light quickly intertwined to form a large gray net that caught up to Shi Chuankong in a flash.

Faint gray flames were drifting over the net as it fell upon Shi Chuankong and Feng Lin at an alarming speed, and in response, Shi Chuankong opened his mouth to release a ball of black light before casting an incantation seal into it.

The ball of black light instantly transformed into a short black halberd that shot forth upward, and engraved onto the front of the halberd was a fearsome-looking dragon's head that was giving off tremendous devilish qi.

A fierce look then appeared on his face, and with a flick of his wrist, the black halberd swelled to around a thousand feet in size while releasing a high-pitched shriek.

Countless bursts of black light erupted out of the giant black halberd, and in particular, the dragon head design on its tip was flashing incessantly as if it were about to spring to life.

The giant halberd was imbued with tremendous power, slicing through the very space in its path as it crashed heavily down upon the gray net, but the net only trembled slightly before withstanding the attack with ease.

However, it had been slowed down slightly in its descent.

Shi Chuankong was astonished to see this. This Devilish Dragon Halberd was a vastly renowned weapon in the Devil Realm, yet it wasn't even able to put a scratch on the gray net!

Right at this moment, the gray skeleton swept his staff through the air a third time, releasing a burst of gray flames that vanished into the gray net.

The gray flames on the net instantly reared up, then transformed into countless thin strands of gray fire that wrapped themselves around the giant halberd.

Ensnared by the gray flames, the black halberd rapidly shrank back down to its original size, and the devilish light emanating from it also quickly faded as if it were being corroded, while the dragon head design engraved upon it let loose an agonized howl.

The gray net shuddered slightly before continuing to descend, and a grim look appeared on Shi Chuankong's face upon seeing this, following which he gritted his teeth as he made a hand seal.

The black halberd immediately began to radiate blinding black light before exploding with a resounding boom, and a massive ball of black light emerged from the explosion.

Numerous black dragon projections erupted out of the ball of black light before flying away in all directions, and the surrounding space warped violently as countless spatial rifts emerged.

Bursts of spatial turbulence seeped in through the rifts, forming gusts of ferocious silver wind that swept through the surrounding area.

The gray net was once again stopped cold in its tracks by the black dragon projections and the gusts of silver wind, following which it was sent flying upward.

The detonation of the black halberd had unleashed devastating power, and many of the black dragon projections and gusts of silver wind were able to force their way through the gray net to strike the four Gray Immortals behind it.

The gray skeleton was unleashing one secret technique after another, and it seemed that he was struggling to withstand the onslaught.

Right at this moment, the gray-haired young man stepped forward, and the purple spear in his hand glowed radiantly before releasing countless spear projections like a peacock spreading its canopy.

A string of dull thumps rang out in rapid succession as most of the oncoming assault was counteracted by the spear projections, and the residual shockwaves were enough to force the four Gray Immortals back a few steps, but all of them remained completely unscathed.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shi Chuankong opened his mouth to release a burst of silver light, which swept up himself and Feng Lin, then transformed into a silver shuttle projection that split up into hundreds of identical versions of itself before flying away in different directions, vanishing out of sight in the blink of an eye.

The four of them chose not to give chase upon seeing this, and the gray demon beasts behind them also drew to a halt.

"He got away so fast!" the gray-robed elderly man exclaimed with a stunned expression.

"He seems to have unleashed a spatial law ability at the end, so it won't be easy to catch him. What do we do now, Mr. Gu?" the gray-haired young man asked as he turned to the gray skeleton.

The skeleton didn't immediately respond. Instead, he swept his staff through the air, and the gray net instantly spread open.

He then flipped a hand over to produce a small gray plate, hovering above which were five gray bone badges, each of which carried a projection of a miniature humanoid figure.

One of the bone badges was already broken and had fallen onto the plate.

"What? Fang Jin is already dead?! How is that possible? As arrogant as he may be, he's at the mid-High Zenith Stage and has two silver lizards at his disposal! How could he have been killed?" the young woman exclaimed with an incredulous expression.

"All of the people who've entered the True Mantra Sect ruins are powerful figures of the True Immortal Realm. We just encountered someone capable of wielding spatial law powers, did we not? Fang Jin is indeed quite powerful, but he's always been very arrogant. He insisted on acting alone in this mission, and his decision has caught up with him," the gray-robed elderly man sneered.

"How could you say that, Gui Tian? Fang Jin was our ally, yet here you are, all but celebrating his death!" the young woman accused in an appalled voice.

The gray-robed elderly man made no attempt to defend himself. Instead, he merely took a glance at the young woman, particularly making it a point out of having his gaze linger on her voluptuous breasts.

The young woman was furious to see this, yet before she had a chance to say anything, the gray skeleton said, "That's enough! We're carrying out a mission right now, so we can't afford to get distracted."

"Your right, Mr. Gu," the gray-robed elderly man hurriedly replied with a nod, but there was still a sly grin playing on his lips.

The gray-haired young man made a calming gesture at the young woman, and she took a deep breath to suppress her fury.

"Seeing as Fang Jin is dead, the array where he is has most likely been destroyed as well. How do we proceed from here, Mr. Gu?" the gray-haired young man asked.

The gray skeleton considered the question for a moment, then turned to look behind himself before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a burst of gray light, which quickly carried the bodies of Zhao Zhen and Lu Wuliang back to him.

He examined the two bodies momentarily, then stowed them away before swinging his staff through the air.

The gray mist behind him instantly began to churn violently as it swept forward in a frenzy, swallowing up all of the gray demon beasts.

After that, the gray mist continued onward without pause, encompassing the four Gray Immortals as well, then sped forward as an all-devouring gray wave, seemingly in pursuit of Shi Chuankong's duo.

......

Elsewhere in the True Mantra Sect ruins, Han Li and Immortal Lord Hot Flame were flying through the air over a swamp as two streaks of light.

There were numerous pools and puddles littered throughout the swamp, and occasionally, plumes of purple mist would rise up from within it, similar to the illusory smoke of the Illusory Smoke Swamp, except this mist was only a normal miasma with no illusory qualities.

"The True Mantra Palace is not far up ahead. It was another place where our patriarch often went into seclusion," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said.

"That means that it could be where the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra is hidden, right?" Han Li asked.

"Yes, but it's only a possibility. Having said that, even if the cultivation art isn't hidden there, there should be some other treasures inside. I hope they haven't been destroyed," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied.

"Many powers have made their way into these ruins. Right now, even the Gray Immortals have shown up here to complicate things even further, so we should speed up a little more to avoid trouble as much as possible," Han Li said.

"I agree, but just because this place looks safe doesn't mean that there aren't any hidden spatial rifts nearby. If we recklessly speed up without discretion, we could be subjecting ourselves to a great deal of risk," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied in a concerned manner.

"It's fine, my spirit eyes can see through those hidden spatial rifts," Han Li said as he made a hand seal, and a series of purple patterns emerged over his body, giving off formidable devilish qi.

Immortal Lord Hot Flame's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but Han Li paid no heed to his reaction as bright purple light emerged within his eyes before projecting outward to form two beams of purple light that were around a foot in length.

Countless purple runes were flashing within the beams of purple light, and there were also countless specks of purple radiance dancing within his eyes, presenting a profound sight to behold.

"Alright, let's go," Han Li said as he sped up significantly, and Immortal Lord Hot Flame hurriedly followed along.

The two of them flew for close to another two hours, and the swamp down below gradually faded, replaced by a vast sea.

This area of the sea was quite cold, and occasionally, snow could be seen falling from the sky. Large chunks of ice had also taken shape on the surface of the sea, reflecting the light of the sun in beautiful ways.

Upon arriving at the sea, Immortal Lord Hot Flame pulled out a plate treasure, seemingly to ascertain their current location, then flew away in a certain direction.

The two of them flew onward for a while longer when an island that was close to ten thousand kilometers in size suddenly appeared up ahead.

From afar, one could see a huge mountain at the center of the island. The mountain was as straight and sharp as a giant white sword, and on the mountain summit was a huge palace that was as pristine white as jade.

The palace seemed to have been constructed out of some type of white jade material, and rays of white light were occasionally rising up from it, presenting a majestic sight to behold.

In contrast with the destroyed palaces that Han Li's duo had encountered up to this point, this palace was completely unscathed.

There was a huge plaque hanging up the entrance of the palace that read "True Mantra Palace" in large, golden characters that were glowing radiantly under the light of the sun.