Han Li launched himself and his puppet, along with the fire raven, through the fissure, vanishing in a flash. Without turning, he summoned a reverse gesture, and the Qianlan Ding shot out from behind, swiftly shrinking and vanishing into the sleeve of his robe. A renewed roar echoed, and the crack in the Xuanyu Cave sealed once more. Han Li glanced around. The surroundings were silent, untouched—no figures had appeared, exactly as they had been when he entered. He exhaled in relief, yet his brows furrowed slightly when he turned his gaze toward the dense array of towering ice pillars before the altar. This Ice Spirit Cold-Intense Array was indeed quite challenging! Though he believed the cold aura within the array posed little threat to him personally, breaking it was far from easy. After all, this was no mere temporary seal—it was a genuine ancient marvel of array, its power undiminished. Moreover, Han Li’s deeper concern extended beyond the array itself: he was equally anxious about how to open the grand gates of the Xuling Hall. When he first entered, the cold-lotus master insisted that opening the door from within was a matter of ease. Yet he doubted this claim, believing it to be at least partially false. Even if it were indeed simpler from the inside, there should surely be some special technique involved. Reflecting on this, he did not immediately go to activate the Ice-Soul Cold-Flame Array. Instead, he lightly tapped his storage pouch, and instantly a stack of array banners glowing with various hues appeared in his hands. He then swiftly waved them downward. Seven or eight beams of different colors flashed briefly and vanished, each dissolving into an empty space on the altar. There, a thick, white mist rose up, spreading out to cover a span of over fifteen zhang. Upon witnessing this, he raised his hand, and the sealed vessel containing the cold-lotus master's true embryo floated into his palm. Before taking any further action, he intended to carefully probe the young elder of Xiaoji Gong's spirit essence using the method of spirit-siphoning, in order to gain a clearer understanding of the events at the Huiling Pavilion and avoid falling into an unforeseen trap. Naturally, he would not overlook the news regarding the Sun's refined fire as well. Han Lin sat cross-legged on the ground, his brows tightly furrowed, clearly deep in contemplation, as though struggling with a matter he found difficult to resolve. Beside him, the jade vial containing the Yuan婴 of Han Li's senior was open and empty—its original Yuan婴 completely gone. "I never expected the Sun's Essence Fire to be found in such a place. It seems that until I reach the late Yuan婴 stage, I shouldn't rashly seek it out. As for the Hollow Spirit Hall, there are three entrances, yet only one exit—through the main hall. It appears that Master Han Li never intended to let me leave here. Unless I first extract my soul, I might indeed suffer a serious setback." Finally, a slight relief spread across Han Lin's brow, and he murmured these thoughts to himself. Then he rose to his feet, a cascade of azure light sweeping outward and gathering the surrounding array flags and the empty vial. With a series of hand gestures, he transformed into a streak of azure light and vanished toward a side gate. As the luminous glow faded, Han Li halted at the side gate, glanced at the several sealing talismans affixed to the gate—clearly aged and worn—and turned to look at the Taiyin Fire Phoenix perched upon his shoulder. A spark of awareness stirred within his consciousness. The phoenix, formed from genuine Taiyin fire, emitted a low hum and suddenly flapped its wings, sending out two streaks of crimson flame. With a soft "pffft," the talismans came into contact with the flames and immediately burst into vigorous flames, glowing with various hues of light. Yet these lights flickered only briefly before dimming swiftly, fading into ordinary brightness. In the meantime, all the talismans were swiftly enveloped in a layer of crystalline ice. Han Li smiled slightly, then flicked his finger, sending out several beams of golden light. A series of crisp "thuds" echoed. The talismans, along with the crystalline ice coating them, shattered into fragments, vanishing completely. He stroked his chin, then casually brushed his sleeve, and a strong gust of wind surged toward the stone gate and side gate, gently creaking open with a soft "crack." Han Li stepped inside without hesitation, with the humanoid automaton closely following at his heels. Through this unassuming stone gate, he found himself in a vast courtyard stretching over a hundred zhang in width. A winding path of white stone ran down the center, flanked by statues of various-sized strange beasts. The statues were uniformly translucent and snow-white, as if carved from primordial ice, each exquisitely lifelike and vividly detailed. Han Li passed his gaze over these ice sculptures, his eyes flashing with subtle light, then casually stepped onto the path, walking slowly toward the gate at the far end. At first, everything proceeded normally, but as he reached the central section of the path, dozens of the ice statues suddenly came to life— their eyes blazing red—and surged forward, jaws agape, breaths of cold mist billowing as they charged fiercely at Han Li. Han Li appeared well-prepared, his expression calm. He merely flicked his hand, and a small crimson cauldron materialized. With a single gesture toward the cauldron, he then calmly raised his fingers and began to chant a series of incantations. The fire cauldron immediately emitted a resonant hum, and then the lid shot upward on its own, crashing with a thunderous roar as a column of flame surged out, reaching over ten zhang in height. The entire space instantly became scorching, causing the ice beasts that had rushed forward to pause and hesitate, their movements stiffened by the intense heat. Though the ice beasts moved slowly, Han Li never ceased his actions. With a single incantation, the towering flame column roared and dispersed. Hundreds of fiery phoenixes, shaped like fists of flame, materialized from the fire, sweeping through the sky with billowing plumes of flame and charging directly at the ice beasts. In an instant, the temperature around surged another several times, enveloping the entire courtyard in a vast expanse of crimson flame. Even though these ice beasts possessed the body of pure ice, the phoenixes—formed over countless years through refinement within the cauldron—were far more potent. Despite the ice beasts exhaling cold breaths and desperately resisting, they gradually began to melt and disintegrate, one by one, under the relentless waves of flame. In a matter of moments, all the ice beasts in the courtyard had vanished. Han Li nodded contentedly and lightly flicked his finger at the fire cauldron. A clear, resonant sound followed, and the fire cranes spiraled upward before gracefully returning to the cauldron. After the lid settled back into place, the cauldron resumed its calm. At the same time, the fiery sea in the courtyard disappeared completely, as if the entire scene had merely been a fleeting illusion. The fire crane that had been perched on Han Li's shoulder, observing its own kind—those similar to itself—showed no curiosity, merely preening its feathers with a dismissive air. Han Li then closed the cauldron and vanished behind the courtyard gate. Not long after, he appeared in a modest hall. At the heart of this seemingly simple hall, a small, quiet teleportation array remained still. Han Li did not display any surprise, as if he had known all along that there was such a teleportation array here. He simply arched his hands behind his back, seemingly intending to walk over and examine the array closely. But at that moment, the white light of the array suddenly flashed, as though it had been activated and something was about to be transmitted. "Hmm," Han Li's expression changed slightly. With his current capabilities, even if a late-stage cultivator from Xiaoji Palace—perhaps even the Palace Master himself—were to teleport here, he would not have been the least intimidated. So, instead of moving, he calmly watched the array. To be safe, the humanoid automaton behind him instantly vanished from sight, blending into the background. The array was relatively small and could typically transport no more than two or three people at a time. Yet, a bright white glow spread out, and three slender figures tumbled out, stumbling from within. Han Li narrowed his eyes! To their surprise, three young women in the attire of Xiao Jigong stood before the spatial array. All of them were at the Jianji period of cultivation, with the eldest among them having already reached the stage of False Dan. Yet their expressions were filled with alarm, and their garments were disheveled—on one of them, bloodstains marred the shoulder, indicating a recent battle. Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he gently inquired. Though the other two women did not know who this "Senior Han" was, since their sister recognized him, their tone was far from hostile—thus, they relaxed slightly. After briefly scanning Han Li's cultivation level with their spiritual senses, both women were instantly both astonished and delighted. However, before either of them could step forward to pay their respects, the transmission array behind them flashed once more with a bright white light, and then a faint fishy odor began to emanate. Suddenly, a large creature emerged within the array—a rare beast with two horns, a horse-like face, standing upright on its two legs, and wielding a slender, pale green steel spear in one hand, with long black manes flowing behind it. "Senior, be careful—these are the beasts attacking our palace! They were chasing us just a moment ago," the three women exclaimed in alarm, quickly retreating. The woman with the surname Hua hurriedly added this to Han Li. As soon as the spirit beast emerged from the spell array, it immediately fixed the three girls with a fierce, grim smile, raising its steel fork to surge out of the array. But at that moment, a flash of red light suddenly burst from behind the beast, followed by a tremendous explosion. Then, a green silhouette flashed and vanished instantly. The spirit beast let out a piercing, agonized cry, and suddenly a hole the size of a clenched fist appeared in its chest—surrounded by a scorched, blackened area. Shaking slightly, it dropped its steel fork and, with a heavy fall, its towering form was carried into the spell array. (Second chapter!