Chapter 802: Traitor?

Han Li took a quick glance at Shi Chuankong to discover that he was also looking slightly concerned, but he maintained a calm expression as he drank and chatted with the dark-skinned elderly man.

Han Li subtly withdrew his gaze, then resumed his discussion with the rotund middle-aged man.

The cultivation arts used by the rotund man were more geared toward body refinement, so they were rather similar to the Provenance True Devil Arts, and as a result, the two of them had much common ground to discuss.

Time continued to pass, and before long, it had already turned dark outside, but the reinforcements sent by Shi Pokong still hadn't shown up, and at this point, no one was in the mood to be chatting anymore.

"My brother's subordinates are extremely well-disciplined, so there's no way they would be intentionally tardy. Looks like something must've happened," Shi Chuankong said with furrowed brows.

Han Li turned his gaze to Shi Chuankong in silence.

"Could it be that something went wrong on their way here, Young Master?" Elder Qi asked with furrowed brows.

"Elder Qi, report this matter to my brother and ask him if he knows what's going on," Shi Chuankong instructed.

"The last time I attempted to contact His Highness, he seemed to have been busy with something, so he won't be able to get back to me until later," Elder Qi replied in a hesitant voice.

A hint of surprise appeared on Shi Chuankong's face upon hearing this, and he said, "Is that right? In any case, you should still go and ask him."

"Yes, Young Master," Elder Qi replied before quickly departing.

Following Elder Qi's departure, Shi Chuankong leaned back against his chair and fell into deep thought with his brows tightly furrowed, and everyone fell silent.

Time began to slowly pass once again, and around fifteen minutes later, Elder Qi returned.

"How did it go?" Shi Chuankong immediately asked.

"There's still been no response," Elder Qi replied with a shake of his head.

Shi Chuankong's expression darkened a little further upon hearing this, and everyone in the room was looking at him, clearly waiting for him to make a decision.

"We'll wait for another half-day. If the reinforcements still haven't arrived, then we won't wait any longer," Shi Chuankong declared as he took a glance at Elder Qi, and the latter immediately departed once again.

Han Li took a glance at Elder Qi's parting figure, then lowered his gaze, and the room fell back into a tense silence.

As a result, time began to pass agonizingly slowly.

The three High Zenith cultivators were also beginning to grow a little uneasy, and they would exchange glances with each other from time to time, while Shi Chuankong and Han Li's expressions remained unchanged.

Half a day quickly passed by, yet there was still no further news.

Right at this moment, Shi Chuankong sprang to his feet, and Han Li and the others stood up as well.

"Please come with me, everyone," Shi Chuankong instructed before making his way out of the room, and everyone immediately followed along.

The group quickly arrived in a hall deep within the manor. The hall was cylindrical in shape, looking much like a round altar, and it was entirely black without any connective seams visible, as if it had been entirely carved out of a giant piece of black crystal.

The hall was around an acre in area and over a hundred feet tall, towering over all of the surrounding buildings.

At this moment, Elder Qi was standing at the closed entrance of the hall, and he immediately approached Shi Chuankong upon catching sight of him.

"Are the preparations complete?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"Rest assured, Young Master, everything is ready to go," Elder Qi immediately replied with a nod, following which a streak of black light flew out of his hand before vanishing into the door of the hall.

A layer of black light emerged over the door, following which it parted down the center to reveal the hall inside.

It was a circular hall that was completely empty, making it appear particularly spacious.

Embedded onto the walls at set intervals were head-sized chunks of white jade that were giving off a bright white radiance, making the interior of the hall as bright as day.

On the ground at the very center of the hall was a silver teleportation array that was around seventy to eighty feet in diameter. It was entirely filled with silver array patterns, and there were also close to a hundred black crystals embedded into it, every single one of which was giving off formidable devilish qi.

At this moment, there were eight gray-robed devilish beings seated around the array, all of whom were at the Golden Immortal Stage, and they immediately stood up at the sight of Shi Chuankong before extending respectful bows.

"Where does this teleportation lead to, Fellow Daiost Shi?" Han Li asked.

"The array leads to Chuyu City hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. At the moment, it's safe to assume that the reinforcements sent by my brother have been held up somewhere, so continuing to wait here will only put us in an even more passive position," Shi Chuankong replied, and Han Li nodded in agreement.

"Activate the array, Elder Qi," Shi Chuankong instructed.

Elder Qi nodded in response, then took a step forward as he summoned a silver badge. However, right as he was about to use the badge, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong, Elder Qi?" Shi Chuankong asked.

Han Li also turned his gaze to Elder Qi, who crouched down to pluck a black crystal out of the array on the ground, then examined it momentarily before stowing it away.

At the same time, another black crystal appeared in his other hand, and he deposited it into the vacant slot.

"I just noticed that one of the Devilish Origin Stones in the array was a little impure, so it's best to get it replaced," Elder Qi explained with a smile, then took a step back before making a hand seal, and the silver badge instantly rose up into the air while glowing radiantly.

The eight Golden Immortals nearby also each summoned a silver badge, and the silver light radiating from their badges connected together with that of Elder Qi's badge.

The array on the ground instantly also began to glow and buzz, and Shi Chuankong was just about to step into the teleportation array when a burst of black light suddenly flew out of Elder Qi's hand before striking Shi Chuankong on the back at an astonishing speed.

A bewildered look appeared on Shi Chuankong's face as the black light pierced through the layer of protective light around him with ease, following which a purple jade pendant hanging from his waist abruptly exploded to form a light barrier that kept the streak of black light at bay.

Shi Chuankong immediately snapped back to his senses and let loose a furious roar as he dodged to the side.

A loud crack rang out as the purple light barrier was breached by the streak of black light before glancing past Shi Chuankong's body, slicing a deep gash into his waist that instantly began spewing blood.

Right as the streak of black light flew out of Elder Qi's hand, a giant golden claw, a thin pink sword, and a black wheel appeared around Han Li without any warning, then hurtled directly toward him, piercing into his body in unison.

Immediately thereafter, the dark-skinned elderly man, the rotund middle-aged man, and the woman in the red dress surrounded him in an instant with cold killing intent etched on their faces.

However, much to their surprise, Han Li's body suddenly dissipated, revealing it to have been nothing more than an afterimage.

On the other side, the gash on Shi Chuankong's waist was bleeding profusely, and the skin around the wound was quickly turning black while spreading over the rest of his body. His entire body quickly became numb, and as a result, his movements were inhibited.

"Die!" Elder Qi roared with a fierce look on his face as he made a grabbing motion with one hand.

Three azure vortexes instantly appeared above Shi Chuankong out of thin air, and countless streaks of incredibly sharp azure light came raining down upon him.

At the same time, the eight Golden Immortals around the array also pounced at him in unison, unleashing attacks of their own.

"Elder Qi, how could you?"

Shi Chuankong's face was distorted with fury and grief as a vast expanse of purple light surged out of his body, then transformed into a purple shield that was several dozen feet in size.

Layers of intricate patterns were etched onto the surface of the shield, and countless dazzling purple runes could also be seen interspersed among them.

The shield had only just taken shape when the barrage of oncoming attacks arrived, and an earth-shattering boom rang out alongside an eruption of blinding light as the shield shuddered violently.

Countless cracks instantly appeared on the shield's surface, following which it exploded violently, and Shi Chuankong was dashed to the ground as if he had just been dealt a heavy blow.

Before he had a chance to get up, he was overwhelmed by the barrage of fierce attacks, and he was completely powerless to resist.

Right at this moment, he abruptly vanished from the spot amid a flash of golden light.

All of the attacks directed at him struck the ground instead, and a string of resounding explosions rang out as a series of giant craters were smashed into the ground.

The shockwaves from the explosions erupted outward in all directions, causing the entire hall to tremble violently as cracks appeared over its walls, but a layer of bright black light had emerged from the walls, resiliently keeping the hall intact.

Right at this moment, a streak of golden light flashed through the air before piercing into one of the walls, running through the black restriction on the wall with ease, following which a large hole was blasted into the wall itself.

A blurry golden shadow then flew out from within, and at the same time, the black restriction in the entire hall lit up in an erratic fashion before collapsing violently.

Without the fortification provided by the restriction, the entire hall instantly collapsed as well, burying everyone within it.

Several thousand feet away from the hall, Han Li appeared in mid-air amid a flash of golden light with Shi Chuankong clutched in one hand, and a rapidly revolving golden wheel could just barely be seen in his body.