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

Chapter 940: Crimson Key

Right as the white light barrier was conjured up, the puppet's purple staff had already come crashing down with tremendous power.

A resounding boom rang out as the white light barrier trembled violently, and a vast expanse of white lightning erupted out of the staff.

Countless arcs of lightning sprang through the air in all directions, striking the nearby ground to raise large flurries of sparks.

The lightning raged for several seconds before beginning to fade, and at that point, the light barrier released by the shield had been whittled down to the extent that it was only just barely able to encompass Han Li's body.

Right at this moment, the winged puppet knocked Han Li's Star Shield aside its staff, then stepped forward and threw a kick right into Han Li's midsection.

Han Li felt as if an entire mountain had crashed into him, and all of his internal organs churned violently as he was sent flying back through the air, smashing through the broken stone arch bridge before being embedded deeply into the wall of the pond.

However, immediately thereafter, he thrust his palms against the wall behind him and shot forward through the air, right as the wing puppet was flying rapidly in his direction.

In the instant before the two of them were about to clash, a series of profound acupoints lit up over Han Li's legs, and he stomped down onto the air below to elevate himself by several feet, passing over the puppet's head before stomping down with all his might.

At the same time, all of the profound acupoints on his body also lit up, releasing a formidable wave of white light that came crashing down upon the winged puppet.

Two of the halberd-wielding puppets were pouncing at Han Li from different directions, only to be instantly dismantled by this wave of white light.

The winged puppet was far more powerful than its halberd-wielding counterparts, and it didn't even lower its head in the face of the tremendous pressure being exerted upon it by Han Li. However, its wings seemed to be a weak point, and they were torn to shreds by the wave of white light.

Han Li's almighty stomp landed heavily upon the winged puppet's shoulders, instantly causing it to sink into the ground, while a series of massive cracks appeared beneath its feet.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li channeled his Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts with all his might, and numerous profound acupoints lit up over his arms in unison as he swung his fists down upon the puppet's head.

A vast expanse of starpower erupted out of his arms, and the puppet's head was completely flattened like a pancake upon impact, following which the light faded from its eyes, and its body went completely limp.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this, then jumped down from the puppet's shoulders before casting his gaze toward Shi Chuankong.

At this point, only one of the halberd-wielding puppets was still left standing, and it had already been pursued by Shi Chuankong to the entrance of the palace, so it was no longer a threat.

Han Li then turned his gaze to the statue of the woman that remained on the stone platform, and he murmured to himself, "At least one of them decided to stay put..."

His gaze then fell upon the crimson key in the statue's hands, and after a brief hesitation, he began to make his way toward the stone platform.

However, before he had a chance to step onto it, a white light restriction abruptly appeared before him, separating him from the statue of the woman.

Han Li immediately stopped in his tracks before descending out of mid-air, and after some close examination, he discovered that a pillar of white light had risen up around the statue from the stone platform.

"Interesting," Han Li mused to himself.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out from behind him as the final halberd-wielding puppet was destroyed by Shi Chuankong.

Shortly thereafter, Shi Chuankong joined Han Li by the stone platform, picking up Han Li's white scimitar and the purple staff along the way.

"What's going on here, Brother Li?" he asked.

"Take a look at the array patterns down below. Do they look familiar to you?" Han Li asked.

Shi Chuankong did as he was told, and he looked down to discover a set of extremely complex array patterns below the pillar of light, some areas of which did indeed appear somewhat familiar.

"These appear to be runes that were on the Star Falcon Flying Boat," Shi Chuankong said.

"That's right. These array patterns appear to be very complex, but there are some sections that are not entirely alien to me," Han Li replied with a nod.

"Does that mean you can breach this array?" Shi Chuankong asked as a hint of elation flashed through his eyes.

"I'm not fully confident, but I can give it a try," Han Li replied with a smile, following which he pulled out the Star Wave Pen that Mistress Liu Hua had given to him before commencing the process of inscribing a separate array outside of the existing one.

He did so quite slowly, stopping every once in a while to examine his own work, and only after over an hour did he finally complete the array.

"Is it done?" Shi Chuankong asked.

Han Li offered no response. Instead, he stowed the Star Wave Pen away, then began to chant an incantation.

Moments later, he channeled the starpower within his own body before flicking a finger through the air, and a burst of white light shot out of his fingertip and into the array on the ground.

Immediately thereafter, the array that he had engraved onto the ground began to buzz and function, releasing rays of white light that fused into the pillar of white light on the stone platform.

The pillar of white light immediately began to melt away rapidly, and a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he strode over to the statue of the woman before plucking the crimson key out of her hands.

To his surprise, the key was slightly warm to the touch, as if he had just taken it out of a pair of actual, human hands, but aside from that, there was nothing remarkable about it.

"So we did all that just for a single key, and we don't even know what it's used for," Shi Chuankong said with a wry smile.

"Given how tightly guarded this key is, I'm sure it's very important. I wonder if it has anything to do with the holy remains that you mentioned," Han Li said as he handed the key to Shi Chuankong.

"It doesn't seem to be special in any way. I think it'll be safer if you keep it in your possession," Shi Chuankong said as he handed the key back to Han Li after a brief examination.

Han Li accepted the key from him before placing it down the front of his own robe, but as soon as he did this, he felt a change in the crimson key.

Rays of faint crimson light had emerged over its surface, and it was beginning to pulse gently like the beating of a heart.

At the same time, a burst of heat surged out of the key before entering his body, striking him with a comforting sensation, like bathing in hot springs.

All of the pores on his body had opened, and his circulation had sped up significantly.

On top of that, he could sense that the latest profound acupoint that he had been working on had opened up just a little further.

"Are you alright, Brother Li?" Shi Chuankong asked upon spotting the change in Han Li's expression.

"I'm fine," Han Li replied, and he was just about to say something else when the entire palace suddenly began to tremble violently.

The tremors were quickly becoming more and more violent, and it was as if an earthquake had suddenly struck.

"What's going on?"

Han Li and Shi Chuankong were both very alarmed by this abrupt turn of events.

Widening cracks were beginning to appear on the surrounding walls, and loose rocks were already tumbling down from above.

"This place is about to collapse! We have to get out of here!" Han Li exclaimed as he grabbed onto Shi Chuankong's arm.

Immediately thereafter, all of the profound acupoints on his body lit up, with the ones on his legs glowing particularly radiantly, resonating with the many star acupoints on his Star Moon Boots.

Han Li pushed off against the ground with both feet, launching himself up into the air with Shi Chuankong.

In the instant that he rose up from the ground, he suddenly noticed that there were rays of blue light emanating from the large cracks on the ground, indicating that there seemed to be something underground.

However, this wasn't the time to be focusing on what was underground, and Han Li quickly turned his attention back to the task at hand, darting back and forth through the air in an agile fashion to evade the falling rubble.

Shi Chuankong was also doing his part, swinging the purple staff to deflect or shatter some of the falling rocks.

On the ground below, an area with a radius of close to ten kilometers around the black altar had begun trembling, and a series of massive rifts appeared over the ground, following which that entire area collapsed violently to form a massive crater.

In the instant that the ground collapsed, two figures flew out before landing on a building that hadn't been affected.

Both of them were covered in dust and looking rather disheveled, but neither of them paid any heed to their own physical appearance as they looked into the giant crater with surprised expressions.

"Why did the ground suddenly collapse?" Shi Chuankong asked with tightly furrowed brows.

Han Li offered no response.

He was still thinking about the rays of blue light that he had spotted underground.

"Could it be that you already have a rough idea of what happened, Brother Li?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"That disturbance was most likely caused by us taking that crimson key. Otherwise, it would be far too much of a coincidence," Han Li said.

"If that's the case, then there must be far more to this key than meets the eye," Shi Chuankong mused.

"I think we should get out of this place as soon as possible. For some reason, I have a bad feeling," Han Li said in a grim voice.

"You're right, we should..."

All of a sudden, Shi Chuankong's voice cut off mid-sentence as Han Li grabbed onto him once again before darting away into the distance.