As the ground fiercely trembled, a fine crack spread from the top of the mountain down the base of the mountain. White light began to shine from the crack as if the mountain were split into two.

Han Li and company felt their breathes turn cold. Their hearts felt complete awe at the sight of Marquis Nanlong and Fellow Daoist Yun splitting open the mountain. Despite their shock, they still managed to appear calm as they observed what was happening.

The two with the lowest cultivation, Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan, stood behind Wang Tiangu in complete silence. 

After Han Li coldly glanced at the two, he turned his sights back on the mountain. It seemed he wouldn’t have an opportunity to slay Wang Chan before they acquired the treasure.

As Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man continued their incantations for a moment more, the mountain eventually split into two, creating a huge crevice that was over thirty meters wide. A limestone stairway laid within.

“Let’s go.” With a trace of excitement on the old man’s face, he led the way. As for the other founder of the party, Marquis Nanlong remained behind with a smile.

Han Li felt his heart stir. It seems that this white-clothed old man was quite the character to have Marquis Nanlong actually guard the rear.

The others saw this and glanced at each other, but they all tactfully kept silent on the matter. Instead, they calmly walked inside.

The stairs lasted for quite a while. White moonstones were embedded in each side, but the further they descended, the colder it became. Not long after, they were already three hundred meters deep into the mountain, and the moonlight stone’s faint white light had soon turned into a faint green for some unknown reason. This caused the descending passage to appear ominous.

When Han Li saw this, he frowned and unconsciously pulled away from the tan cultivator ahead of it. If anything happened, the distance would give him enough time to react. Han Li wasn’t the only one to do this. Apart from Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man, the other cultivators began to keep a distance of about thirty meters from each other.

Marquis Nanlong and the old man surnamed Yun clearly knew that the other cultivators were actually taking precautions against them. However, they deliberately ignored this and continued forward without a trace of dissatisfaction.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li and company had arrived in a large mysterious hall. The reason why it was mysterious was because it appeared as if the entire hall appeared was created from a giant hollowed boulder of jade. Its sparkling and translucent blue light appeared extremely beautiful. 

Now that they stood within the hundred meter wide hall, everyone wore a face of amazement. This material obviously couldn’t have been true jade. Once they swept their spiritual sense past the walls, they were promptly repelled. It was incapable of seeing past them.

Han Li wasn’t alarmed by this. He used his spiritual sense to probe the other parts of the hall only to find that they were all the same.

Han Li inwardly pondered with a sense of apprehension and turned his gaze to the other cultivators in the room. Wang Tiangu and the others also frowned. It was clear that they also found this to be troublesome.

Could this be where the Wondrous Soul Restriction was located? It seemed Marquis Nanlong wasn’t exaggerating. Just as Han Li’s mind began to wonder, the entire hall began to violently shake and they heard a series of huge tremors from behind them.

The old woman and the others hastily turned their heads in alarm. They discovered the the stairway had unknowingly disappeared and was replaced with walls of sparkling blue light.

A moment later, the entire hall became deathly quiet.

“Fellow Daoist Nanlong, what is the meaning of this?” The tan cultivator asked with a sullen expression. The other cultivators also became vigilant as they glanced at Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man; their eyes flickering around the room.

Marquis Nanlong didn’t display the slightest surprise and calmly said, “Be at ease, Fellow Daoists! The outside restrictions were merely reactivated, causing the mountain to close once more. The last time we came here, this also happened. We merely had to wait three days until the restrictions’ strength was at its weakest before leaving the mountain. We won’t be trapped here. Moreover, with the outer restrictions shut, we have no fear of spell warriors discovering us.”

While the others were somewhat skeptical of that explanation, they appeared visibly relieved. So long as Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man were in the hall with them, they had no fear of any trap being set or any malicious planning.

The tan cultivator saluted and said, “So it was like that! It seems I was being rash.”

Fellow Daoist Nanlong chuckled and casually said, “It’s nothing! Let’s hurry to break the restriction. Last time, Fellow Daoist Yun and I returned dejected from failure. This Wondrous Soul Formation isn’t easy to break.”

The old woman’s wrinkly face broke into a smile and she said, “Is the formation truly that difficult to break? I’ve acquired a treasure in the past that was specialized in breaking many restrictions and barriers. Perhaps we can save ourselves the trouble and simply use this treasure to break the restriction?”

A trace of joy flickered from the white-clothed old man’s expression and he immediately replied, “Yi? If Lady Tai possesses such an exceptional treasure, please give it a try. Our method of using spiritual sense to dissolve the restriction isn’t guaranteed to be successful.” 

Revealing a trace of delight, Marquis Nanlong said, “That’s right. Fellow Daoist Tai, please go ahead.”

The old woman chuckled and a trace of spirit flickered from her dull eyes, “Since you Fellow Daoists have both agreed, I’ll be blunt. If this somehow manages to luckily break the restrictions, will I have first pick alongside you two as well?”

The other cultivators had slightly changed expressions after hearing this.

Marquis Nanlong revealed slight surprise, but after glancing at the white-clothed old man, he suddenly said to the others, “Regardless of whether it be Lady Tai or anyone else, so long as you succeed in breaking the formation, they will have priority selection for a treasure after us two. What does everyone think?” Once that was said, Marquis Nanlong swept his gaze past the party.

Han Li and Wang Tiangu both appeared indifferent to this, but the tan man and the stern-faced cultivator appeared displeased. Regardless, no objections were raised.

Marquis Nanlong smiled and decisively said, “The others have no objections. Lady Tai, you may take action.”

“Since that’s the case, I will be making an attempt.” The old woman was inwardly delighted. She held quite some confidence in her treasure. So long as it wasn’t an intangible formation like an illusion formation, she had a large chance of success. Why else would she take the risk of angering the rest of the party?

Lady Tai flung out her sleeve and took out an object that was only several inches long. This fire-red object was narrow at the front and thick at the back, resembling something like a spike.

The old man paid no attention to the others and spat a mist of blinding light onto the spike. A short moment later, the spike flickered with red light and began to emit waves of heat that quickly spread throughout the hall.

As experienced as they were, the Marquis and the white-clothed old man immediately knew that this object was unordinary and unconsciously took a few steps away from the woman as they glanced at her spike.

Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan revealed shock upon contacting the heat wave and hastily enveloped themselves in a crimson barrier. They felt their bodies scorch. As late Core Formation cultivators, they were unable to endure such temperatures.

With a flash of white light, the spike began to crackle.

Han Li and the others began to keenly gaze at the spike, discovering that the spike’s flames faintly pulsed with white lightning.

This was an ancient treasure with the dual attributes of lightning and fire! The cultivators looked upon the old woman with varied emotions.

The woman ignored this and deeply glanced at the blue wall in front of her. Her wrist shook and she thrust the Lightning Fire Spike into it. Fiery light flourished and muffled booms sounded out. The spike began to swiftly revolve above her head and soon its speed increased to the point where it became a blur.

The faint red-white blur quickly flew throughout the hall, barely able to be seen. The cultivators in the hall all watched with amazement.

Han Li was particularly alarmed at the sight. This was the first time he had seen such a swift ancient treasure. Even Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to defend against it. If he were to fight against such a treasure, he would have no way of dealing with it apart from the Thunderstorm Wings.