Chapter 687: Unconvinced

Han Li noticed the minute change in Immortal Lord Hot Flame's expression, and he asked through voice transmission, "Can we trust Fox 3? Is the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra really in that dhvaja?"

Immortal Lord Hot Flame hesitated momentarily, then gritted his teeth as he replied through voice transmission, "That dhvaja was once a prized immortal treasure of Patriarch Miro's, and it does indeed contain the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra. Please help me secure the treasure, and once you do, all I ask for is the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra. You can keep the dhvaja in return."

"I'll do my best," Han Li promised.

The blue-skinned woman was in slightly better condition than Fox 3, and she took a glance at Han Li's duo, but immediately lost interest as soon as she sensed that they were only a pair of Golden Immortals.

"By the way, this is Celestial Maiden Bi She from the Robe Change Order. She's currently fighting alongside us to take on these Heavenly Court cultivators," Fox 3 explained.

Han Li and Immortal Lord Hot Flame both issued greetings to the blue-skinned woman, but she completely ignored them as she took a blue pill.

A slightly awkward look appeared on Fox 3's face at the sight of Bi She's lukewarm reception, and he explained to Han Li's duo through voice transmission, "Please don't be offended, fellow daoists. Celestial Maiden Bi She is from the Sea Demon Race, so she harbors some enmity toward us human cultivators."

The Robe Change Order was a subsidiary organization of the Reincarnation Palace, but that didn't give him any authority over Bi She. On top of that, she was a late-High Zenith cultivator, so he absolutely could not afford to get on her bad side.

Having said that, he had to ensure that Han Li and Immortal Lord Hot Flame were happy as well. In particular, even though Han Li was only a Golden Immortal, Fox 3 couldn't help but feel as if there was something unfathomable about him.

Han Li naturally wouldn't take offense over such a minor transgression, and he assured Fox 3 that he didn't mind.

"Fellow Daoist Li, we were separated as soon as we entered these ruins, so I never got the chance to tell you about your Reincarnation Palace mission. Your mission is to help me secure that dhvaja and the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra inside it," Fox 3 said.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately replied through voice transmission, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Fox, I'll do my best."

At this point, he had promised both Immortal Lord Hot Flame and Fox 3 that he would help them secure the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra. As for exactly who he was ultimately going to help, he would just have to decide depending on the circumstances.

Immortal Lord Hot Flame twitched ever so slightly, and he took a subtle glance at Han Li and Fox 3.

As Han Li and the others were conversing with one another, the three Heavenly Court cultivators were also communicating with each other through voice transmission.

"The longer this drags on, the more likely something goes wrong, so let's not hold back anymore!" Chi Rong said in a grim voice.

"You're one to talk! You're the one who's holding back the most out of the three of us. Don't think that I don't know your true identity," Su Liu sneered.

Chi Rong shuddered slightly upon hearing this, and a hint of cold killing intent surfaced in his eyes, but Su Liu merely continued to look at him in a calm and completely fearless manner.

Gongshu Tian took a curious glance at Chi Rong upon hearing this, but then immediately averted his gaze.

Chi Rong took a deep breath, and the cold look on his face faded as he said, "Now's not the time to be bickering. I say we kill these four before we discuss anything else. Any objections?"

"I concur," Su Liu replied, raising no objections.

"Alright, in that case, I'll take on Bi She. Su Liu, you take on Fox 3, and Gongshu Tian, you go after those two Golden Immortals," Chi Rong instructed.

Once again, Su Liu and Gongshu Tian raised no objections.

Right as they were about to spring into action, Immortal Lord Hot Flame suddenly stepped forward and said, "Hold on, fellow daoists, I'd like to say something."

Chi Rong's trio exchanged a surprised glance with each other, and Han Li and the others were also rather taken aback to see this.

"On the way here, Fellow Daoist Li and I were attacked by Gray Immortals, and their numbers were not insignificant. On top of that, they've also set up an interrealm teleportation array here, and they're most likely also targeting the treasures in here.

“There's a very good chance that they'll be here very soon. Gray Immortals are the sworn enemies of the entire True Immortal Realm, so let's set our differences aside for now and eradicate the Gray Immortals together when they arrive, then fight over these treasures after that," Immortal Lord Hot Flame proposed, offering a truce.

Everyone was very surprised to hear this, with the exception of Han Li.

"Gray Immortals? Is that true?" Fox 3 asked with a bewildered expression.

"It is. As I said, Fellow Daoist Li was with me, and he also fought against the Gray Immortals," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied as he turned to Han Li.

"I can vouch for Fellow Daoist Hot Flame," Han Li confirmed with a nod.

Despite this, he was feeling a little perplexed, wondering why Immortal Lord Hot Flame had suddenly mentioned this. Did he really think that this would be enough to culminate in a ceasefire?

A grim look appeared on Fox 3's face, and he seemed to have fallen into deep thought, while Bi She's brows also furrowed slightly.

Chi Rong, Su Liu, and Gongshu Tian exchanged a glance with one another, following which the three of them pounced collectively at Han Li and the others.

"Surely you could've come up with a better excuse to stall for time!" Gongshu Tian sneered as scorching flames erupted out of his giant sword, giving it the resemblance of a fiery dragon, and it came crashing down upon Han Li and Immortal Lord Hot Flame with far more power than before.

Su Liu also raised a hand as incredibly thick bolts of five-colored lightning erupted out of his body, then converged to form two five-colored lightning pythons, each of which was over a hundred feet in length.

The lightning pythons sprang up into the air, then swooped down toward Fox 3.

At the same time, Chi Rong opened his mouth to release a fiery crimson cloud, which was rumbling and churning incessantly.

Countless balls of fire came raining down upon Bi She out of the fiery cloud, and it was clear the the three of them didn't believe Immortal Lord Hot Flame at all.

Han Li and the others hurriedly sprang into action as well, with Immortal Lord Hot Flame darting back in retreat as he summoned his crimson fan before sweeping it forcefully through the air.

A crimson pillar of fire erupted out of the fan before rising up into the air, and at the same time, he opened his mouth to release a glowing azure talisman that vanished into the pillar of fire in a flash.

The talisman was instantly shattered, transforming into an azure tornado that fused as one with the pillar of crimson flames, which instantly swelled to over a hundred feet thick as it rumbled toward the giant fiery sword.

A cold sneer appeared on Gongshu Tian's face as he made a hand seal, and the flames around his giant sword took on the form of a fiery dragon's head before inhaling sharply.

The giant pillar of fire was instantly sucked into the dragon's mouth, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Immortal Lord Hot Flame's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, but before he had a chance to do anything else, the giant fiery sword up above had already crashed down upon him, enveloping his entire body in a burst of scorching heat.

He felt as if he were being crushed under a giant mountain, and all of his movements had become extremely slow and sluggish.

His face instantly turned bright red under the sweltering heat, and he felt as if he were about to burst into flames.

Right at this moment, a giant azure sword appeared in front of Gongshu Tian's fiery sword, and the two swords clashed with a deafening clang, with the fiery sword once again stopped cold in its tracks.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of azure light shot forth from behind, sweeping up Immortal Lord Hot Flame's body before dragging him back by over a thousand feet in the blink of an eye.

Han Li then appeared in front of Immortal Lord Hot Flame, but not only was Gongshu Tian not infuriated to see his attack foiled, a faint smile appeared on his face, as if some sinister plot of his had just been realized.

The dragon's head on the fiery sword opened its mouth to blast forth ten bursts of crimson flamees, each of which contained a large crimson flag. All of the flags had flames swirling around them, forming countless fire ravens, fire pythons, fiery tigers, and other flaming projections, all of which were giving off incredible heat.

The ten fiery flags instantly formed a fiery cage that trapped the giant azure sword within it, and Han Li's connection to his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords was instantly weakened significantly.

His expression changed slightly as he hurriedly attempted to summon the sword back to himself, but despite its violent struggles, the giant azure sword was unable to break free from its fiery cage.

"Let's see how you'll fare without that little sword of yours!" Gongshu Tian sneered as a vast expanse of crimson flames erupted out of his head and into the giant fiery sword up above.

The flames around the fiery sword reared up even further, but instead of crashing down again, a ball of blinding white light began to appear on its surface.

The ball of white light shot out of the tip of the sword, and initially, it was only the size of a bowl, but it then rapidly swelled to several dozen feet in diameter before crashing down toward Han Li like an asteroid.

Extremely pure and translucent white flames were swirling around the fireball, and all of the space in its wake warped and twisted violently.

These white flames were capable of incinerating the very space itself, and what was even more alarming was that six or seven more of them had shot out of the fiery sword at Gongshu Tian's behest, with all of them crashing down toward Han Li one after another.

All of a sudden, Han Li found himself surrounded with nowhere to run.