Chapter 1126: Joining Forces
However, Han Li still underestimated these maze-like paths in the tower. Even though most of the restrictions and puppets had been withdrawn, the restriction on his spiritual sense was still in effect.
After taking countless wrong paths and using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to break through countless illusions, he finally entered the teleportation formation on the next level. It was no wonder that Man Huzi had forcibly restricted everyone's cultivation bases in the past, thereby forcing them to hold back their arrogant tendencies and obediently follow Zenith Yin's duo.
On the way here, Han Li had already put away the Unbroken Cinque Devils and the humanoid puppet. He also broke through several stone gates leading to treasure rooms that were yet to be accessed, but he didn't discover any treasures, nor trigger any restrictions that teleported him out of the tower.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that he didn't use the Heavenvoid map fragment to open the stone gates, or perhaps because the Heavenvoid Hall wasn't open yet. In any case, these treasures had been sealed away elsewhere and even the teleportation restrictions had lost their effect.
Han Li was unwilling to give up as he searched carefully through each and every one of the treasure rooms. However, he had to admit that the formation master who had set up the formations in the Heavenvoid Hall was far more proficient in the art of formations and restrictions than he could imagine. He clearly knew that there were other mysterious restrictions in these places, but his search still proved to be completely fruitless.
As such, he had no choice but to exit the treasure rooms and relinquish his ambition to secure all of the treasures in the Heavenvoid Hall in one fell swoop.
Even though his efforts thus far had proven to be futile, it was often the case that the most important control formation in a building was situated in its core region. In the case of the Heavenvoid Hall, the more important core region in there was naturally the fifth floor. Back when Han Li was last here, Zenith Yin and the others were fearful of the restrictions on that level and only wanted to obtain the Heavenvoid Cauldron anyways, so they didn't dare to explore that level.
However, with his current cultivation base and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, perhaps he could find something useful up there.
As for the tenth grade Ice Phoenix, Han Li didn't know where she had teleported herself to, but he wasn't concerned in the slightest that she would have escaped from the tower or even the Heavenvoid Hall.
This was because he had already found one of the outermost walls of the tower and there, he discovered over ten types of restrictions.
He was unable to identify most of the restrictions but among the few that he did recognize, there just so happened to be a few that restricted spatial powers. Unless she were to use a special teleportation formation within the Heavenvoid Hall, it would be impossible to leave this tower through her spatial teleportation abilities.
Even at his current cultivation base, he could still sense that the other restrictions on the wall were extremely fearsome and unfathomable. Otherwise, he would have been able to blast his way out of the tower through brute force, rather than have to search for some control formation.
After teleporting through two levels, Han Li finally reached the fifth level of the tower, and appeared before the Frozen Dragon’s Terrace, where he had obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron.
When he thought about it, he realized that the past grand elders of the North Night Palace had always been referred to as Master Arctic Dragon. That was another piece of evidence suggesting that there was a connection between the North Night Palace and the Heavenvoid Hall.
However, after the Heavenvoid Cauldron had been taken, the stairs here had already been ruined, completely preserving the signs of the battle between Zenith Yin, Wan Tianming, and the others.
To Han Li's surprise, the silver-robed woman was also standing on the terrace. She was looking at the altar with a contemplative look on her face.
Han Li's arrival had clearly drawn her attention.
She took a cold glance at Han Li before her body suddenly swayed, transforming into a streak of light that flew away from the terrace, disappearing into one of the many bluestone paths in the blink of an eye.
Han Li looked on in silence as she rushed away from the scene. He had no intention of stopping her whatsoever. Only after she had truly disappeared from view did he slowly make his way over to the altar. He took a glance into the cave from which he had obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron before slowly expanding the scope of his search.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that the control formation was hidden extremely well or perhaps Han Li was in the wrong place altogether. In any case, his search proved to be fruitless once again.
Days passed one after the other and Han Li had searched through the entire fifth level. His expression grew darker with each passing day and even after over half a month had flown by, he still hadn't found the control formation.
On that day, Han Li made his way out of a certain corner following another fruitless search. He leaned against a pillar nearby and began to space out.
"Could it be that the control formation of the Heavenvoid Hall isn't on this level, but on one of the other four levels?" Han Li murmured to himself.
Just as he was contemplating this possibility, a white light suddenly flashed nearby as the space there was torn upon, upon which the silver-robed woman emerged.
Han Li turned his gaze toward her, but didn't say anything.
He knew that she wouldn't seek him out for no reason and he was interested in hearing what she had to say.
After all, she hadn't appeared on the fifth level at all during the past few days, so perhaps she had discovered a way out on one of the other levels.
"Have you found a way out yet, Fellow Daoist Han?" the silver-robed woman asked.
"If I have, why would I still remain here? By the sounds of it, you seem to have discovered something?" Han Li replied calmly as if there had never been any conflict between them.
"I've searched through this entire place and discovered that it would require the combined powers of at least two or three Deity Transformation cultivators to break through the restrictions here by force. There are only two of us here, so that's clearly not an option," the silver-robed woman said in a slow voice.
"I'm aware of this already." Han Li stirred internally, but still put on an aloof and nonchalant expression.
"Hmph! Are you not looking for the control formation of this place?" The silver-robed woman was clearly growing rather impatiently, and she harrumphed coldly as a frosty look flashed through her eyes.
Han Li's expression changed as he admitted, "I am indeed searching for the control formation. Would you happen to know where it is?"
The silver-robed woman took a deep breath and her expression abruptly darkened as she said, "That's all I need to hear. I've found the control formation, but leaving this place won't be an easy task. Prior to this, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions first; how is this place related to Fairy Ice Soul and is that little cauldron in your hand the Heavenvoid Cauldron?"
"Fairy Ice Soul? Who's that? As for this small cauldron, if you say it's the Heavenvoid Cauldron, then I guess that's what it is!" Han Li was initially slightly taken aback by these questions before deciding to play dumb.
A cold light flashed through the silver-robed woman's eyes upon hearing this and only after a long while did she explain, "Fairy Ice Soul is the ancient cultivator who created the Celestial Ice Flame, and she's also the matriarch of the North Night Palace! It appears that you really do know nothing about this. As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, let me make this clear to you; if you have the Heavenvoid Cauldron, then you'd be able to use it to activate the control formation. If not, then you're completely useless and there's no point for me to tell you anything."
A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes and after a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to come clean. "If you put it that way, then I'll admit that this cauldron is indeed the Heavenvoid Cauldron! Where is the control formation?"
"Good. Seeing as you've admitted to it, you can come with me. If we want to leave this place, then we'll have to join forces this time. Prior to getting out of this place, I suggest we set our differences aside. Otherwise, neither of us would be able to get out of here on our own," the silver-robed women replied calmly, seemingly completely unsurprised by Han Li's admission. Her body then swayed as she flew toward a certain bluestone path as a streak of light.
Han Li's brows furrowed, but he didn't have an opportunity to think too deep into the matter as he transformed into an azure streak of light to follow the silver-robed woman.
However, after only flying for a short while, a surprised look appeared on Han Li's face.
He discovered that the silver-robed woman was clearly leading him to the Frozen Dragon's Terrace. That was a place that he had searched countless times, all to no avail.
However, the silver-robed woman had no intention of stopping, so Han Li could only repress his curiosity as he followed close behind her.
After some time, the silver-robed woman finally descended onto the altar on the terrace.
After also landing on the terrace, Han Li was finally able to voice his query as he asked, "Are you sure this is the right place, Fellow Daoist Phoenix? Is the control formation really here?"
"Is this the right place? Hehe, I can find the control formation here even with my eyes closed!" the silver-robed woman scoffed in a disdainful manner.
"What do you mean by that? Have you been here before?" Han Li's heart jolted with surprise.
"How could I have ever been here? It's just that on the Ice Wave Island where we Ice Phoenixes reside, there's a place that's completely identical to this stone terrace. Come to think of it, the cauldron you have is somewhat connected to our Ice Phoenix race," the silver-robed woman chuckled coldly.
Before Han Li could express his surprise upon hearing this, the silver-robed woman suddenly hovered into the air before abruptly pointing to several spots in the air above the altar.
The crisp sound of cracking chinaware suddenly rang out in mid-air, following which several balls of blinding white light appeared. These balls of light shuddered before expanding drastically, reaching the size of half of a wagon wheel in the blink of an eye. They began to flash in the air like scorching white stars before finally combining as one again, transforming into a huge ball of light that began to slowly rotate on the spot.
Han Li pursed his lips and made no effort to hide the expression of shock on his face.
The silver-robed woman glanced at Han Li out of the corners of her eyes before continuing with what she was doing. Her fingers flashed through the air as she cast one Celestial Technique after another, all of which disappeared into the ball of light.
In the end, a loud boom erupted from the massive ball of light and it transformed into a dozen or so snowy white formation flags.
Each and every one of the flags was roughly five to six feet in length with some ancient runes and mysterious patterns embroidered upon them.
Those formation flags spun in the air before transforming into streaks of dazzling white light that flew outward, disappearing into the ground without a trace.
Han Li's eyes flashed upon seeing this and a hint of enlightenment appeared on his face.
Right at this moment, a loud burst of rumbling erupted from the entire Frozen Dragon's Terrace. A massive formation spell emerged from the center of the altar and the formation almost encompassed the entire stone terrace with lights of all colors flashing incessantly over its surface.