Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, while Han Li was quietly sitting in his secluded chamber, cultivating his spiritual energy and nurturing his mind, Zhu Guo'er's respectful voice suddenly came from outside: "Senior Han, Lord Bi Ying has sent someone to invite you over. He says the time for the battle of the powerful has arrived."
"Understood. I'll head over now. It's unclear whether this trip will be dangerous, so you and Shi should stay here." Han Li opened his eyes and replied calmly.
Then, a shimmering radiance swept across his body and he transformed into a streak of brilliant light that spiraled upward. In a flash, it pierced through the door and vanished without a trace.
Half an hour later, in the largest building at the heart of the fortress — a structure resembling a grand hall — Han Li finally met Bi Ying, Wen Xinfeng, and a tall, thin man clad in silver armor whose face was etched with frost.
"This is Brother Lei Yuan. He's our alliance's person in charge of the Thundermyst Continent, and his status is identical to mine in the Bloodsky region. As for Fellow Daoist Xue Sha, he encountered a minor delay along the way but will arrive by tomorrow at the latest. However, the rest of us should head out first — I trust no one has any objections?" Upon seeing that Han Li had nothing to say, Bi Ying introduced their fourth teammate for the battle of the powerful and then spoke thus without delay.
"Since you're in charge of this battle of the powerful, Lei won't be making any presumptuous suggestions," said the silver-armored man expressionlessly.
Han Li and Wen Xinfeng naturally had no objections either.
After exchanging a few more brief words, the group walked out of the great hall.
Outside the massive building, row upon row of fully armored soldiers stood packed tightly together.
Above the fortress, over a dozen enormous flat flying artifacts resembling islands hovered in a dark mass in the sky.
At Bi Ying's command, the soldiers immediately soared into the air and disappeared into these "islands."
"Is this the extent of the forces accompanying us to the battle of the powerful?" The silver-armored man frowned slightly as he watched the scene.
"Of course not. These are merely the visible forces. I've already redeployed personnel from other outposts, and they were sent to the designated location half a month ago to set up in advance. If those ghostly creatures don't intend to keep their word or have some other scheme, I'll make certain they never return," Bi Ying replied without hesitation.
The silver-armored man nodded upon hearing this and said nothing more.
Only after all the soldiers had boarded the giant flying artifacts in the sky did the group shoot up in streaks of light and enter the largest "island."
The next moment, these massive flying artifacts rumbled to life and hurtled off into the distance with a thunderous roar.
Half a day later, the fleet of over a dozen "islands" arrived above a range of mountains that looked utterly eerie and unnatural.
The mountain range appeared to be split down the middle by an invisible boundary line — on one side, everything was verdant and lush, alive with birdsong and fragrant blossoms. On the other, rolling black mists churned and sinister winds howled, and faint sounds of ghostly wailing and wolfish howling drifted up from below.
After a slight tremor, the "great island" came to a halt roughly two li from the boundary line. Then streaks of light appeared on its surface as squad after squad of armored soldiers descended, some forming hand seals, others raising a single hand and launching a dizzying array of formation-constructing instruments into the air, immediately beginning to lay out a colossal grand formation below.
Others hurled luminous spheres of various colors high into the sky.
A series of deafening booms rang out!
Section after section of towering walls and buildings of all shapes crashed down from above, and in the blink of an eye, a small fortress materialized out of thin air.
At the same time, rows of armed puppets were pulled from storage bracelets by some of the soldiers, appearing on the battlements before being activated to begin patrolling back and forth.
As for Han Li, Bi Ying, and the others, they flew out from the great island and gathered together, gazing into the distance toward the boundary line on the opposite side.