The instant Han Li's figure shot through the hall's doorway, a heaven-shaking boom erupted from behind him. Startled, he immediately glanced back over his shoulder.
He saw that the Jade Pavilion behind him had suddenly detonated in its entirety. A golden sun roughly ten feet in diameter then rose from the ruins, and within its blazing center, a faint silhouette flickered — it appeared to be none other than Marquis Nanlong himself, though what secret technique he had unleashed was impossible to tell.
Han Li's heart clenched at the sight.
The Jade Pavilion was no ordinary structure; otherwise, he would have blasted straight through the walls and fled when he'd had the chance. Yet now it had crumbled under a single blow from Marquis Nanlong.
It seemed that when these Nascent Soul monsters truly fought with their lives on the line, each one was no ordinary force to be reckoned with.
By the time this thought crossed his mind, Han Li had already arrived at the center of the main hall from which they had entered. He glanced at the walls that had sealed themselves shut once more and, without a moment's hesitation, raised a hand and flicked a finger. A beam of green light several feet long shot forward and struck the stone wall directly opposite.
With a muffled "pfft," the wall was pierced clean through, producing a hole the size of a bowl's mouth. But in the next instant, a flash of white light flickered and the hole vanished without a trace.
Han Li furrowed his brow at this. He was about to try something else when his expression suddenly shifted, and he whipped around to face behind him.
His movement was so fast it was almost ghostly.
There, barely a dozen feet away, Marquis Nanlong stood silently, his entire body wreathed in dazzling golden light. His face, however, was ashen-grey, and he looked utterly drained.
Han Li expressionlessly glanced past him toward the pavilion. He could see a massive golden bowl hovering upside-down in midair, its underside casting a shimmering golden mist over the area below. Within that radiance, flashes of black light and white energy flickered ceaselessly, accompanied by the faint rumble of thunder and explosive booms.
A trace of surprise crossed Han Li's face.
Marquis Nanlong had somehow used some heaven-defying ability to temporarily trap Wang Tiangu, the old man surnamed Yun, and the others inside — and had broken free on his own.
"The outer restriction must be undone with the Mountain-Opening Flag to open quickly. Fellow Daoist Han, I only have a single Mountain-Opening Flag, so it will take some time. I'll need you to buy me a delay. My ancient treasure is powerful, but it can't hold them for long. In the blink of an eye, they could break free." Marquis Nanlong forced a thin smile, flipped a hand to produce a small yellow flag that spun ceaselessly in his palm, and began chanting an incantation — as though he had already assumed Han Li would comply without question.
After his gaze flickered several times, Han Li hesitated no further. He slapped a hand against his storage pouch, and a jade-green array plate appeared in his palm.
It was the very same artifact he had used to dismantle the Mystic Divine Restriction before.
Without a word, he swiftly traced several cyan runes in the air and blew softly on them. The runes drifted gently down onto the array plate, and at once the plate blazed with brilliant green light.
"Rise!" Han Li pressed his hands together in a seal and spoke the command in a cold voice.
All at once, the blue crystal wall that had vanished earlier reappeared once more — sealing the great hall's entrance shut once again, leaving only the wall facing Marquis Nanlong untouched.
"You can command the Mystic Divine Restriction?" Marquis Nanlong's chanting faltered for a moment, and he looked both startled and pleased.
"What I can bring out is less than a tenth of its original power. It won't hold them long either. Brother Nanlong had best open the way out before they break through." Han Li showed no trace of pride on his face; instead, his expression was grave.
Hearing this, Marquis Nanlong finally noticed that the crystal wall was indeed far dimmer than before. The delight vanished from his face, and he flung the small flag forward. It transformed into a streak of yellow light that burrowed into the wall and disappeared. Then his chanting resumed.
At that very moment, a thunderous crash boomed from within, and the crystal wall Han Li had erected flickered erratically with blue light as the rumble of explosive force echoed clearly from the other side.
It seemed that Wang Tiangu and the others had already destroyed Marquis Nanlong's ancient treasure and had begun furiously attacking the crystal wall.