Chapter 502: Arrival
The elderly woman took a glance at the golden light barrier, and a hint of elation and approval flashed through her eyes.
The elderly man didn't say anything, but his gaze was firmly focused on the living corpse inside the golden light barrier, and it was unclear what he was thinking.
All of a sudden, Luo Qinghai flew through the air before also descending in front of the golden light barrier.
"What are you trying to do, Grand Palace Master Luo?" the elderly man asked in a cold voice.
"What am I trying to do? Most of the High Zenith Pills are in that thing's body right now! Are you trying to claim all of those pills for yourselves?" Luo Qinghai sneered as he began to chant an incantation, and a burst of radiant blue light appeared over his body.
The elderly man's expression darkened slightly, and he was just about to do something when the elderly woman raised a hand to stop him.
"It's fine, let him do as he pleases."
The elderly man's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he still did as he was told in the end.
A layer of fiery blue light appeared over Luo Qinghai's body, and he began to give off an enormous High Zenith Stage as he swept a sleeve through the air.
The blue staff projection appeared once again, and it was giving off a terrifying aura as it struck the golden light barrier.
The entire palace shuddered violently, as did the golden light barrier, but once again, it was able to remain firm.
Luo Qinghai's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and everyone else was also quite stunned by how resilient the light barrier was proving to be.
All of a sudden, the entire palace had fallen silent, and the only sound came from the scorching white flame beneath the pill cauldron.
"What's the deal with that soul fragment in that Soul Nurturing Burner, Fellow Daoist Li?" Daoist Hu Yan asked as he made his way over to Han Li.
Everyone else was also quite interested to hear the answer to this question, and all of a sudden, everyone's attention was focused on Han Li again.
Han Li was silent for a moment, then explained, "I discovered the burner in a set of ruins, and I thought it was rather special, so I decided to take it with me. I didn't know there was a soul fragment residing in it."
This was clearly not the truth, but Daoist Hu Yan merely nodded in response and didn't ask any further questions.
As for everyone else, they were clearly also unconvinced, but just like Daoist Hu Yan, no one raised any further questions.
Luo Qinghai returned his gaze to the golden light barrier, then suddenly gave a cold harrumph before walking away.
The other Vast Flow Palace cultivators hurriedly approached him, and they began to converse with one another through voice transmission.
Meanwhile, Han Li was staring at the living corpse inside the golden light barrier with a contemplative look on his face.
How exactly were that soul fragment and the living corpse related? Had the soul fragment asked him to take it out of that secret area so that it could come here?
Also, Wyrm 3 had requested him to refine this Origin Void Pill well in advance, so was she already aware that this living corpse was inside the High Zenith Palace? If so, what was her objective?
All of these questions were flashing through his mind, but he didn't have answers for any of them.
Jin Tong was chewing on that chunk of the cauldron as she replied in a muffled voice, "I'm starving after so much exercise! I've had to hold myself back this entire time because you told me to wait until all of the pills were ready!"
"Fine, but there's no time for you to eat the cauldron now," Han Li replied with a resigned sigh, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that enveloped the entire cauldron.
Regardless of how exceptional the cauldron was, there was no changing the fact that a chunk had already been bitten out of it, and there was no point in scolding Jin Tong. Furthermore, he didn't possess the ability to repair a treasure of such a high caliber, so it would just have to serve as a snack for Jin Tong later.
Everyone else took a glance in Han Li's direction, then quickly averted their eyes.
All of the High Zenith Pills had already emerged, while the cauldron itself had already been damaged, thereby significantly lowering its value, so it wasn't worth fighting for, particularly if it meant having to oppose a Golden Immortal who had mastered the laws of time.
With another sweep of Han Li's sleeve, the burst of azure light raised the cauldron upward, and the entire palace shuddered violently as the cauldron's deep-rooted legs were forcibly wrenched out of the ground.
The residual green light flashing over its surface instantly faded, and Han Li stowed both Jin Tong and the cauldron away into a spirit beast pouch.
In the same instant that the cauldron flew into the spirit beast pouch, a white shadow shot out from within, then vanished into Han Li's body in the blink of an eye.
Daoist Xie was currently seated with its legs crossed somewhere in Han Li's body, and a burst of white light suddenly flashed nearby, then transformed into none other than the Flame of Essence.
At this moment, the Flame of Essence was in its humanoid form, and not only had it grown up significantly, its facial features had become even more detailed and intricate.
Most importantly, the aura that it was giving off was several times more formidable than before, and waves of scorching heat were sweeping out of the white flames around its body.
Daoist Xie opened his eyes, and its brows furrowed slightly as it distanced itself slightly from the tiny fiery figure.
The Flame of Essence opened its mouth, and a High Zenith Pill flew out from within.
However, this pill was different from the other High Zenith Pills in that it was riddled with a series of silver patterns, which formed the visage of a three-legged golden crow, and it was also giving off a far more formidable aura than the other pills.
The tiny fiery figure tossed the High Zenith Pill upward, and it vanished into thin air amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
Inside the palace, a barely detectable hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes as he made his way toward Daoist Hu Yan and the others.
Right at this moment, two streaks of light suddenly descended from above, then faded to reveal a pair of figures.
They were none other than Xue Ying and Gongshu Jiu, and as soon as they arrived in the palace, they immediately took in the chaotic scenes around them.
Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to the duo, and a benevolent smile appeared on Gongshu Jiu's face as he remarked, "Well, well, well, it looks like there's quite a bit going on here."
His voice wasn't very loud, but it was clearly audible to everyone inside the palace.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of Gongshu Jiu. He didn't know who this man was, but a sense of foreboding had welled up in his heart nonetheless as he was completely unable to glean the man's cultivation base.
Meanwhile, Luo Qinghai was observing Xue Ying with his brows furrowed slightly in befuddlement.
Gongshu Jiu swept his gaze across everyone in the hall, and his smile grew even wider as he mused, "Looks like it's my lucky day today! Not only have I run into so many Reincarnation Palace cultivators in one place, there are quite a few big fish among you! I really did make the right decision to come here."
As soon as his voice trailed off, a near-transparent light barrier slowly unfurled around him, instantly enveloping the entire golden palace.