The piercing spiritual light receded, and when Han Li opened his eyes again, he found himself on a bluestone plaza with a series of buildings of different heights not far up ahead.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and discovered that these buildings were rather familiar. They were none other than the buildings depicted on the small mountain in the Xumi Paradise Scroll. After surveying his surroundings, he heaved a faint sigh of relief.
He was currently situated atop a small green mountain with blue skies and a few white clouds up above.
As expected, he had arrived in a s.p.a.ce that was identical to the image on the Xumi Paradise Scroll. This s.p.a.ce wasn"t very large, looking as if it was only several kilometers in size, but it was surrounded by five-colored walls of light in all directions. The other three people had also arrived in this place not far away from him.
Han Li and the other two men were looking around with curiosity in their eyes, but the shopkeeper was not in the mood for sightseeing as he hovered directly toward the cl.u.s.ter of buildings up ahead.
Han Li"s trio also rose up into the air to follow him.
"Brother Yu, this Xumi s.p.a.ce appears to be completely perfect and intact without anything amiss. What is this flaw you were referring to?" the young man couldn"t help but ask. "Hehe, do you think I"ll disclose that information to you? It seems to have nothing to do with our deal," the shopkeeper said in a brusque voice as he rolled his eyes.
A hint of fury flashed through the young man"s eyes upon hearing the shopkeeper"s blunt response, but he forced a smile onto his face, and said, "Hehe, I was merely curious and I bear no ill will."
The shopkeeper harrumphed coldly, but didn"t follow up with any further insults, presumably because he still had to enlist the young man"s a.s.sistance in their upcoming task. After flas.h.i.+ng through the air several more times, he appeared before a pavilion over 1,000 feet away before stopping in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back. he pavilion was over 1,000 feet tall, and was split into three levels. The building was rather antiquated with a wide bottom that tapered to a point at the top.
"The spirit beast is in this building. Come with me and I"ll show you the beast first," the shopkeeper instructed as Han Li"s trio gathered around him. The shopkeeper then descended first, and Han Li"s trio glanced at one another before following suit.
Rather than landing in front of the entrance on the first floor, the shopkeeper drifted over to a window on the second floor before stopping there. Han Li and the others found this to be rather strange, but they also headed to the same spot.
After looking in through the window, they were greeted by the sight of a murky silver barrier of light. The entire second floor had been sealed by a restriction.
The young man"s eyes flashed, yet before he had a chance to say anything, a loud rumbling boom erupted, following which the silver light barrier tremored along with the entire pavilion.
Immediately thereafter, a string of thunderclaps erupted within the light barrier in rapid succession. Thunderclaps were the only sounds that the four could hear, and they felt as if they were situated in a world of furious lightning, causing their consciousness to drift in an unsettling manner.
Han Li was greatly startled by this development, and he immediately activated his Great Development Technique, thereby reinstating his clarity of mind in the blink of an eye. The shopkeeper and the others were all Spatial Tempering cultivators, so they also quickly recovered after unleas.h.i.+ng their respective abilities. Even so, the young man and the armor-clad man"s faces had paled significantly.
"This is the spirit beast you want to tame, Brother Yu?" the armor-clad man asked as he stared intently at the window.
"That"s right. Rest a.s.sured, fellow Daoists, the spirit beast has been sealed, and you won"t be in any danger before it"s released." The shopkeeper wore a calm expression, but there was excitement s.h.i.+mmering in his eyes. He suddenly flipped over a hand, and a scroll appeared in his grasp following a flash of light. It was none other than that Xumi Paradise Scroll.
On this occasion, he didn"t unfurl the scroll. Instead, he grabbed one end of the scroll while gently tapping the other end toward the light screen.
A peculiar turn of events immediately unfolded.
The light barrier beyond the wind suddenly shattered like gla.s.s before vanis.h.i.+ng.
The shopkeeper then flapped his wings and entered the pavilion, leaving an afterimage in his wake.
The armor-clad man and young man immediately followed suit without any hesitation.
Han Li stroked his chin and contemplated the situation for a while before slowly drifting in through the window.
The entire pavilion tremored once again amid a resounding boom, and a burst of lightning-attribute spiritual pressure swept toward him like a physical wave.
Han Li"s expression changed slightly, and he was almost unable to repress the urge to evade.
However, he remained in the same spot in mid-air and s.h.i.+elded himself using his Divine Essencefused Light in the end.
Only then did he get a chance to glean his surroundings.
The second floor of the pavilion was far more s.p.a.cious than he"d imagined.
It had an area of 2,000 to 3,000 feet, making this place appear as if it were a small plaza. At the center of the cavernous room stood 81 thick copper poles, all of which were s.h.i.+mmering and engraved with all types of demons and monsters. These copper pillars surrounded an area in the center that was over 300 feet wide, and arcs of black lightning were crackling between the bowls amid rumbling thunderclaps, creating a ma.s.sive prison-like restriction. Within the ma.s.sive cage, a ball of black mist that was around 10 feet in size was surging erratically, and resounding thunderclaps rang out incessantly from within. Bolts of silver lightning shot forth occasionally from within the black mist, but they would disappear as soon as they struck the black net of lightning as if they"d met the bane of their existence.
"That"s the lightning-attribute spirit beast in there?" The armor-clad man faltered slightly at the sight of the mundane ball of black mist within the cage. "What? Are you thinking that this spirit beast isn"t so remarkable after all? This Lightning Beasts powers are far beyond what you can imagine," the shopkeeper chuckled coldly as he glanced at the armor-clad man out of the corners of his eyes.
"Lightning Beast?" Han Li murmured to himself with furrowed brows.
"That"s right, that"s the name of this spirit beast. I won"t tell you about this Lightning Beast"s origins, but what I can tell you is that there is most definitely only one of this Lightning Beast in this world." The shopkeeper stared intently at the cloud of black mist within the net of black lightning as a hint of deranged insanity appeared on his face."Really? Its attacks don"t seem to be all that powerful." The young man"s brows furrowed in skepticism.
"Attacks? This Lightning Beast isn"t unleas.h.i.+ng any attacks. The lightning you see is simply something that it was born with. Let me show you the true appearance and power of the Lightning Beast," the shopkeeper said with a derisive sneer on his face.
He suddenly raised a hand to send forth a streak of white light from within his sleeve. The streak of light surged through the air before striking the base of the thickest copper pole before up ahead.
The streak of white light was a snowy white little winged beast with spikes that were several inches long growing all over its body, making it appear as if it were a flying hedgehog.
However, a restriction of some sort had clearly been cast onto it as it was unable to fly at all after landing on the copper pillar, and it merely sprawled down onto the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
"That"s an Inchlight Beast!" The armor-clad man and young man immediately identified this vicious beast that was vastly renowned within the Flying Spirit Race, and they were barely able to believe their eyes.
These little beasts were extremely ferocious, and they dared to engage even Spatial Tempering Stage beings in direct battle. Even though they were pack-dwelling beasts, all of them were extremely vicious. However, the one on the copper pillar was completely timid and docile, and that came as quite a surprise to the two of them.
Just as they were thinking this, a large azure hand suddenly rushed out from within the black mist, reaching toward the Inchlight Beast like lightning. Before the five fingers on the hand had even made contact with the little beast, arcs of silver lightning shot forth through the air. The little beast as completely motionless as it lay on the copper pillar, and as soon as the azure hand struck the black net of lightning, the little beast was sent flying by the force of the impact.
A low roar erupted from within the mist, and it was filled with unbridled fury. All of a sudden, a burst of piercing silver light radiated from within the black mist, following which a ball of rapidly expanded within the mist with something inside it. Moments later, all of the black mist had been completely dispelled by lightning, revealing a humanoid bird-like demon within the net of lightning.
The creature possessed the head of a dove and had azure skin. There was a pair of blue feathered wings on its back, and its upper body was that of a human while its lower body was that of a bird. A hammer and an awl were present on the respective ends of its arms, and its golden eyes were s.h.i.+mmering with a sinister light. Despite the vast knowledge and experience possessed by Han Li"s trio, they still couldn"t help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing the true appearance of this Lightning Beast.
Before they had a chance to recover from their shock, the Lightning Beast suddenly let loose a thunderous roar, following which white light flashed, and countless fist-sized b.a.l.l.s of white lightning erupted forth.
Almost at the exact same moment, the Lightning Beast flapped its wings in unison, and hundreds of blue feathers shot forth at once. All of them then transformed into arcs of blue lightning that were around a foot in length each. The Lightning Beast then brought its hammer and awl together with a resounding boom, an extremely thick bolt of golden lightning hurtled forth from the pointy end of the awl, transforming into a golden lightning wyrm that swept through the air.
The Lightning Beast had unleashed three different types of lightning-attribute abilities in the blink of an eye, and all three of them appeared to be extremely powerful.
Han Li"s trio were all startled to see this as they reflexively retreated. It didn"t seem like the thin net of black lightning would be anywhere near sufficient to keep these three lightning-attribute attacks at bay. Only the shopkeeper remained on the spot with a confident smile on his face.
As soon as the three different types of lightning struck the net of black lightning, the 81 copper pillars suddenly buzzed in unison, and the thin net of lightning suddenly thickened by severalfold.
As such, it really was able to withstand the Lightning Beast"s powerful attack.
The Lightning Beast let loose a thunderous roar of rage as its golden eyes stared intently at the Inchlight Beast, but it seemed to possess some intelligence as it unleashed no further attacks. "Don"t worry, this Lightning Binding Light Formation was something I set up after expending an immense amount of effort, and it can specifically restrict this beast"s lightning-attribute powers. This Lightning Beast may be powerful, but there"s no way that it can struggle free," the shopkeeper chuckled as he suddenly swept a hand toward the Inchlight Beast from afar.
The little beast instantly transformed into a burst of white light and was sent through the black lightning without any impediment, thus landing right before the Lightning Beast.