A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 957: Scaled Hou Guardian

All of a sudden, Qin Yuan suddenly let loose a long roar, and his cheeks had taken on a bright red complexion, while an excited gleam had appeared in his eyes, in stark contrast with his usual sickly appearance.

His robes were flapping audibly despite the absence of wind, and a vast number of specks of white light had appeared over his body, over two hundred of which were quite substantial in appearance, while the majority were more illusory and insubstantial.

Immediately thereafter, a similar sight presented itself on the bodies of Chen Yang, Fu Jian, and Sun Tu as well.

As for E Kuai, specks of substantial and insubstantial light had appeared over his body as well, but there were over eight hundred of the former variety.

"Brother Li, those specks of light appear to correspond with the profound acupoints on their bodies. Could it be that these are all the profound acupoints that they've opened?" Shi Chuankong speculated through voice transmission.

"There are far too many of them for all of them to be profound acupoints. If I had to guess, those more substantial specks of light should be the profound acupoints that they've already opened, while the rest are the ones that they're still yet to open. Having said that..."

Han Li's voice trailed off here as a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

"What is it?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"Do you still recall how back when we first met Chen Yang, he mentioned that E Kuai had already opened over a thousand profound acupoints? Why is it that we can only see fewer than nine hundred right now?" Han Li asked.

"Could it be that he intentionally lied to us or was just trying to scare us?" Shi Chuankong speculated.

"I'm not sure, I guess we'll just have to ask Chen Yang about it later," Han Li replied.

Right as the two of them were conversing with each other, the crimson light radiating from the five pentagram arrays on the stone statues suddenly brightened significantly, and the faces of the five city lords instantly became contorted with agony, as if they were in excruciating pain.

Everyone hurriedly turned their attention to the city lords upon seeing this, and they discovered that crimson light had begun to gather in some of the profound acupoints on their bodies that were still yet to be opened, and they were gradually taking on a more and more substantial form.

At the same time, their auras were also rapidly elevating, and it seemed that they really were benefitting immensely from the influx of bloodline power.

Envious looks appeared in everyone's eyes upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, the blood inside the pentagonal pond was churning even more violently, as if it had been brought to a boil, raising up large plumes of crimson mist that were absorbed by the five statues. As the blood in the pond was depleted, the bones submerged within it were gradually revealed, and it really did seem like it was only a matter of time before the set of remains at the bottom of the pond rose to the surface.

Han Li had been carefully observing the array this entire time, but he hadn't noticed anything amiss, and he couldn't help but wonder if his concerns were perhaps unwarranted.

"I'm going to take a look down the back, Brother Shi. You stay here and keep an eye on everything else. If anything happens here, do your best to remain uninvolved until I get back," Han Li said through voice transmission.

Shi Chuankong faltered slightly upon hearing this, then asked, "If you feel like something's going to happen here, then why don't you let me come with you?"

"We don't know what's waiting for us further down this hall, so there's no need for you to come and take the risk with me, and I really do need you to stay here and keep an eye on things. On top of that, we don't want to make it seem like we're very close with each other as that could arouse suspicions from the others," Han Li explained.

Shi Chuankong wasn't entirely convinced by this, but he still nodded in agreement in the end.

With that, Han Li made his way around the light barrier that encompassed the blood pond before making his way toward the three stone arch bridges on the other side of the altar.

However, he had only taken a few steps when Shao Ying suddenly appeared in his path.

"Where are you going, Fellow Daoist Li?"

Shi Chuankong was just about to step forward to back Han Li up, but Han Li urged him to stand down through voice transmission.

"All of the city lords are busy operating the array, and I can't help them in any way, so I thought I'd do some exploring on my own. Is there a problem?" Han Li asked.

"Right now, we're at a crucial juncture of the array's operation, and it's of the utmost importance that nothing goes wrong. Hence, I think it would be best for you to stay here and keep a lookout for your city lord," Shao Ying said in a cold voice.

"Our city lord already has Fellow Daoist Xuanyuan and Fellow Daoist Shi looking out for him, so I'm sure he'll be fine," Han Li countered.

"Even so, I can't allow you to walk around as you please. What if you inadvertently set off some type of trap that impacts the operation of the array?" Shao Ying objected in an unrelenting manner.

"Get out of my way, Shao Ying! Some of the other people here may be afraid of you, but that doesn't apply to me. If it's a fight that you want, then I'll gladly oblige!" Han Li sneered.

Shao Ying was naturally not afraid to face Han Li in battle, but if a battle were to ensue between the two, Xuanyuan Xing and Shi Chuankong would undoubtedly also get involved, as would Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing. There was no telling what the cultivators of the other three cities would do, and if they were to be swept up in the battle too, then the situation would truly descend into complete chaos.

While he was confident in his own ability to kill all of the cultivators from the other cities with the help of Zhu Ziyuan, there was no guarantee that such a battle wouldn't affect the operation of the blood array, and the consequences of that would be far too much for him to bear.

"You better not cause any trouble. Otherwise..."

Han Li sped past Shao Ying in a flash before the latter had a chance to articulate his threat, and in that instant, Han Li displayed such incredible speed that even Shao Ying had failed to react.

He hurriedly darted back in retreat to open up some distance between himself and Han Li, and an apprehensive look had appeared in his eyes.

Han Li paid no heed to Shao Ying as he made his way toward the three stone arch bridges.

Everyone's attention was focused on the five city lords within the blood array, so the minor altercation that had just taken place between Han Li and Shao Ying hadn't attracted much attention.

Zhu Ziqing was standing beside her brother, watching Han Li's departing figure with a curious look in her eyes, while Mistress Liu Hua was also looking at Han Li with a perplexed look in his eyes.

However, he still had to stay here to observe the changes in the blood array, so he naturally couldn't follow Han Li.

......

The three stone arch bridges in the back were completely identical in style, material, and construction to the ones in the front.

Once again, Han Li made his way over the middle bridge, and he quickly reached the other side.

On the other side of the stone bridge was another flat plaza that wasn't particularly large, and there were two giant stone gates up ahead.

There were no flames on the walls here, so the entire area was very dark, but Han Li was able to make out a carving of a beastly head engraved onto the stone gates thanks to his exceptional eyesight.

It was a lion-like head that was covered in scales, and it also had a single sharp horn.

There was a line that ran down the center of the head, splitting it down the middle lengthwise, with one half of the head on each gate.

Han Li's brows were slightly furrowed in contemplation as he recalled back to the contents of the jade slip that Daoist Xie had given to him.

Some time later, he murmured to himself, "There's a Scaled Hou Beast guardian engraved onto these gates, so this should be the place..."

With that, Han Li strode over to the gates, but attempting instead of pushing them open, he laid his palms flat against two of the beastly carving's protruding fangs before pressing on each of them a few times.

A faint click rang out as rest of the fangs in the carving's mouth slid away in unison to reveal a pitch-black opening.

Han Li inspected his surroundings briefly, then made his way inside.

Immediately thereafter, another faint crack rang out as the fangs of the beastly carving slid back into place to block the opening again.

Upon entering through the opening, Han Li found himself in an area that was completely shrouded in darkness, and even with his eyesight, he was unable to see anything.

All of a sudden, the faint yet audible sound of a water droplet splashing onto the ground rang out from directly up ahead.

Han Li channeled his Titan Vajra Arts, and the profound acupoints on his arms began to radiate white light that illuminated the surrounding area.

Only then did it become clear to him that he was currently standing at the top of a stone staircase.

The light radiating from his profound acupoints was rather limited, so he was only able to see about five to six steps ahead.

After a brief hesitation, he began to make his way down the staircase step by step.

After descending close to twenty steps, the ground up ahead suddenly flattened out. It seemed that he had arrived on a level platform, and the sound of the falling water droplets had become even more pronounced here.

Han Li walked a few steps toward his perceived source of the sound, arriving before a stone pillar that was around three feet tall, with a stone basin that was around a foot in diameter at the top. The basin was filled with some type of black liquid that was giving off a faint, rank odor, and it seemed to be some type of beast fat.

Another faint splash rang out as a drop of liquid fell into the basin, sending faint ripples proliferating over the surface of the liquid that was already inside.

Han Li rubbed his fingers together, and a burst of starpower erupted out of his fingertips as a speck of white light, which fell into the stone basin.

A flame was instantly ignited within the basin, immediately following which two lines of fire surged out of the basin, spreading along the indentations that branched out from either side of the stone pillar.