Chapter 1716: Balance and Breaking the Gate
Shi Kun's expression suddenly changed slightly upon hearing this, and he smiled as he said, "However, Brother Han is clearly the most powerful among us, so we hope that you can put in some extra effort when we attempt to break the restriction on this main palace."
"I'm the most powerful one among us? I certainly wouldn't dare to agree to that sentiment, but rest assured, I'll be sure to put in my best effort," Han Li replied as he nodded in an expressionless manner.
Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and both of them were feeling rather reassured after securing Han Li's promise.
Both of them were very proud individuals, but after scaling that mountain path and forcibly breaking that illusionary formation, they had expended a significant portion of their magic power.
Without the assistance of an unfathomable being such as Han Li, it really would be quite difficult for them to break the restriction on this main palace.
They didn't have to worry about Han Li suddenly turning on them after they broke this restriction as Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren were still waiting for them back at Cloud City, and those two Body Integration Stage seniors were going to act as their safety nets.
With the vast array of powerful abilities that Han Li had displayed during this trip, the two of them were no longer just envious; they had become quite wary of and defensive toward him.
But then again, if it weren't for Han Li's unfathomable power, they would perhaps be inclined to revoke their original agreement of splitting the treasures aside from the ones requested by Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren.
Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both wary of Han Li's abilities, and they knew that they may not be a match for him even in a two-on-one battle, so they naturally weren't going to turn on him.
In contrast, Han Li was confident in his ability to kill these two, but he didn't want to break their pact as that could potentially affect his mental state, thereby manifesting inner demons. Furthermore, he was also quite wary of Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren as well, so he didn't harbor any ulterior motives.
As such, the three of them were just barely able to maintain a stable balance. However, taking into consideration the fact that there were Jiao Chi beings nearby, it was naturally best to secure the treasures as soon as possible.
This was why Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had immediately attempted to break into the main palace after emerging from the illusionary formation, despite the fact that they knew the restriction on the palace gate would most likely be quite formidable.
In the end, they discovered that the restriction was even more powerful than they'd expected, and it had destroyed Shi Kun's hammers and Liu Shui'er's mirror in virtually the blink of an eye.
Those two treasures weren't the most powerful ones in their repertoires, but they were definitely the treasures that they used the most and were most comfortable with using. As such, they were naturally both feeling quite dejected that the treasures had been destroyed for nothing.
Thus, as soon as Han Li appeared, they decided to try and make him carry the brunt of the load when it came to breaking this restriction.
"I wouldn't mind expending some more effort to break this formation, but I'm sure that Senior Cai and Senior Duan must've prepared many treasures for the two of you to address the potential restrictions that you may encounter. It would be best to break this restriction in one go in order to conserve time and magic power, so if the two of you have any special treasures, then I'd advise you to bring them out now," Han Li said in a serious manner.
Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er both faltered momentarily upon hearing this.
"Of course, Brother Han. Seeing as you've conveyed your point so clearly, I certainly won't be holding back, either. I have a set of treasures that are quite effective when it comes to breaking restrictions, and I'll be sure to assist you with all my power," Liu Shui'er assured with a smile.
After a brief hesitation, Shi Kun also chimed in, "I have no objections, either. The sooner we secure these treasures, the sooner we'll be able to go our separate ways. I'm still hoping to find a good place to go into seclusion so I can break through my bottleneck. As such, I'll also be using a restriction-breaking talisman that my master has bestowed upon me."
A content look appeared on Han Li's face after hearing this, and he didn't say anything further as he strode toward the palace gate.
Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun followed along behind him, one on his left, and the other on his right.
In the end, all three of them stopped over 100 feet away from the gate.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the gate before taking a deep breath. Following his experience in breaking the formation in the medicine garden, he had developed a certain level of confidence toward addressing the purple lightning here.
In the face of the powerful purple lightning, it was quite clear that the first person to attack the gate would be the one to bear the brunt of the restriction's retaliative force.
As long as he could withstand this retaliation, it would become a lot easier for the three of them to break the restriction.
With that in mind, black Qi began to emerge from his body, and his suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor resurfaced. Layers of black runes appeared around the suit of armor, instantly concealing most of his body.
He then let loose a long cry, and brilliant golden light radiated around him as a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind him.
Han Li made a hand seal, and golden light began to swirl around the projection's body. At the same time, the surface of the projection became extremely bright, as if a coat of golden paint had suddenly been applied to it.
"That's a golden body!" Liu Shui'er was quite knowledgeable, and she immediately identified the nature of the projection as a stunned look appeared on her face.
Shi Kun's expression also changed to mirror hers upon hearing her stunned words.
Many high-grade cultivation arts could manifest projections when cultivated to a certain degree, but it was extremely rare for a projection to be cultivated into a golden body.
Not only was this due to the fact that relevant cultivation arts were extremely rare, the materials required to manifest golden bodies were always extremely rare and difficult to gather.
If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had been extremely fortunate and secured several of the main ingredients in quick succession, he wouldn't have been able to achieve this.
As such, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both quite astonished, and they looked on with bated breath as they waited for Han Li to take the lead.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li flipped a hand over, and a miniature black mountain appeared over his palm before it was hurled through the air.
Grey light flashed from the mountain, and it abruptly swelled to over 100 feet in size before crashing viciously toward the palace gate.
A loud rumbling boom rang out, and as soon as the mountain struck the gate, countless arcs of purple lightning erupted forth before intertwining to form a lightning net.
Even with the Extreme Essencefused Mountain's extraordinary weight, it was stopped cold in its tracks by the lightning net and unable to advance any further.
Almost at the exact same time, a resounding thunderclap rang out, and several lightning snakes erupted from the gate before hurtling toward Han Li in a flash.
Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, and he only narrowed his eyes slightly as golden light flashed before him. His golden body abruptly appeared in front of him, and its six arms blurred as it waved its shimmering golden hands through the air at once to oppose the purple lightning snakes.
Golden and purple light flashed, and the golden hands remained completely unscathed. They then grabbed onto the purple lightning snakes in unison, only for more purple arcs of lightning to erupt from the door in the next instant.
However, those arcs of lightning were also caught by the golden body, and Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both stunned and ecstatic to see this. The two of them glanced at one another before taking this opportunity to strike without any hesitation. Shi Kun opened his mouth to expel a shimmering silver talisman, which transformed into a silver ball of light that shot forth toward the palace gate in a flash.
Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er swept a sleeve through the air, and three shimmering golden short halberds instantly shot forth at once before also hurtling toward the gate amid a peculiar shrieking sound.
The silver ball of light and three streaks of golden light struck the purple lightning on the palace gate almost at the exact same time, and spiritual light flashed as the silver talisman vanished without a trace into the lightning.
In contrast, the three streaks of golden light struck the palace gate amid a resounding boom, and the three golden halberds were revealed to have pinned themselves tightly to the purple lightning net in a triangular formation.
The rumbling thunderclaps from the lightning net instantly receded, and most of its power was absorbed by the three golden halberds, thereby significantly diminishing its effect.
At this moment, Shi Kun began to chant something before pointing a finger at the gate with a serious look on his face.
A muffled thump rang out, and white light flashed before a pristine light lotus that was as white as snow suddenly blossomed on the palace gate.
Initially, it was only around the size of a human fist, but in the next instant, it swelled to as large as a human head.
The purple arcs of lightning from the palace gate were still flashing violently, but they couldn't do anything to the illusionary spirit flower and were powerless to halt its growth.
In the end, close to half of the entire palace gate was enshrouded within the white lotus projection.
"Explode!"
A vicious look appeared on Shi Kun's face as he cast one final incantation seal, and the light lotus projection immediately shuddered before exploding amid an earth-shattering boom at his behest.
A scorching white ball of light that resembled a scintillating sun appeared on the palace gate, and the white light instantly inundated the entire gate along with the purple lightning net in an extremely emphatic manner.
When the white light finally dissipated, the palace gate reappeared, and it was revealed that there were now countless craters indentations on its surface.
The gate was in an extremely sorry state, but it hadn't been completely destroyed, and as purple light flashed over its surface, it quickly began to repair itself at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.
However, all of the purple arcs of lightning had been wiped out, and the Extreme Essencefused Mountain was free again as a result.
Han Li immediately took advantage of this, and the Extreme Essencefused Mountain abruptly circled around at his behest before releasing a burst of bright greyish-white light, then swelled drastically to around twice its original size before crashing toward the palace gate once again.
On this occasion, there was nothing to impede it, and the black mountain struck the palace gate amid a deafening boom.
As the power of the restriction had been severely debilitated, the palace gate was finally shattered by the enormous force behind the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.
Thus, the black mountain flew directly into the main palace, and Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this. He swept a sleeve through the air, and the projection golden body before him abruptly vanished as if it had never even been there in the first place.
Both Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun then rushed forward from behind him in a bid to enter the palace first, and both of them simultaneously appeared at the entrance to the palace in a wraith-like manner after just a few flashes.
Immediately thereafter, they paused on the spot before looking on ahead with peculiar looks on their faces.
"Brother Shi, my master's instructions to me were very clear; I have to secure the Spiritvoid Pill within the main palace. As for everything else, you can choose the treasures that Senior Duan stipulated from among them," Liu Shui'er said after a brief pause.