Chapter 2368: Meeting Fairy Ice Soul
"It sounds like you've been aware of my presence for quite some time already."
A pleasant voice rang out as spatial fluctuations erupted behind the tree, following which a yellow-robed beauty emerged before appraising Han Li with a wary expression.
This woman was completely identical in appearance to the blood soul, and a faint smile appeared on his face upon seeing this.
However, his expression then changed slightly as he swept his spiritual sense toward the woman.
"I didn't think I would encounter you as soon as I entered this space, Fellow Daoist Ice Soul. On top of that, it looks like you've already progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li said.
Indeed, this woman was also releasing a Grand Ascension Stage aura, but it was still slightly unstable, indicating that she had only made the breakthrough recently.
The yellow-robed woman was quite surprised to hear this, and she asked in a cautious manner, "How do you know of me? Isn't this the first time we've met?"
Even though she was also a Grand Ascension cultivator, her cultivation base hadn't been consolidated yet, so she was naturally quite wary of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings to have entered this Heavenly Cauldron Palace.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I am also a human cultivator, and I was asked to come and rescue you by your blood soul clone. As for how I managed to find you, that's all thanks to this," Han Li replied as he made a grabbing motion to summon a small translucent vial that was flashing with faint crimson light, then tossed it toward the woman.
Fairy Ice Soul caught the small vial before examining its contents, upon which an elated look appeared on her face. "So you're also a human Grand Ascension cultivator and you're carrying a drop of my blood soul clone's blood essence; it's no wonder I was struck by the feeling that you were carrying something familiar to me as soon as you arrived here."
"Have you been trapped here this entire time? Haven't you thought of any ways to leave this place?" Han Li asked as he inspected his surroundings with a contemplative expression.
"Of course I've tried to escape from here, but this is the centrum of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, an independent space that was painstakingly created by Daoist Tian Ding. Aside from the teleportation formation that you just used, there's no other way to get out of here. All of my companions perished in battle on the way here, and the formation outside was also destroyed. At the time, I was only at the Body Integration Stage, so I was trapped here and unable to do anything. Thankfully, I managed to obtain part of Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance here, and after all these years of cultivation, I finally reached the Grand Ascension Stage a few years ago.
"By the way, where is my blood soul clone right now? Ever since you teleported into this space, I've been getting a vague feeling that she should also be in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace," Fairy Ice Soul replied.
"It's quite remarkable that Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance was able to advance you to the Grand Ascension Stage in such a short time; as expected of someone who was on the cusp of ascension at the time. Fellow Daoist Blood Soul is currently searching for you on the outskirts of the palace. It's a good thing that you had the foresight to create a blood soul clone. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been able to find you," Han Li replied with a smile.
"The blood soul has done very well; I'm extremely surprised that she was about to recruit the assistance of such a powerful being in our human race. Initially, I had created her so that she could find some of my good friends from foreign races to help me," Fairy Ice Soul said.
"Hehe, perhaps the blood soul was of the opinion that I was a more reliable option," Han Li chuckled in response.
"It's no surprise that the blood soul would think that considering you're a Grand Ascension Stage being. Back when I left our human race, I recall that only Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli were Grand Ascension Stage beings; you must've only recently reached the Grand Ascension Stage. I'm familiar with some of the other renowned Body Integration Stage fellow daoists of our human race, but you don't seem to be one of them. Could it be that you're one of the cultivators who's constantly been cultivating in seclusion in our race?" Fairy Ice Soul asked with a puzzled expression.
"I did indeed only recently reach the Grand Ascension Stage Stage, and it's no surprise that you don't recognize me. Truth be told, I came from the same human world as you did, and only after your disappearance did I ascend to the Spirit Realm. Come to think of it, we have quite a bit of affinity with one another. Back when I was in the human world, I once entered the Heavenvoid Palace and obtained your Heavenvoid Cauldron, as well as some other treasures," Han Li replied with a faint smile.
"What? You obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron I left in the human world? If you only ascended after my disappearance, wouldn't that mean that it only took you a few thousand years to progress from the Deity Transformation Stage to the Grand Ascension Stage?" Fairy Ice Soul was completely stunned upon hearing this.
It was no wonder that she was so surprised; even if the likes of Daoist Tian Ding had heard about Han Li's insane rate of progression, they would most likely also be rooted to the spot.
"I was quite fortunate and encountered many opportunities that allowed me to progress so quickly. It's a good thing I obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron you left behind in the human world. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for the blood soul and me to enter this Heavenly Cauldron Palace. Speaking of which, I'm not the only Grand Ascension Stage being to have entered this palace, so we should leave this place as soon as possible. I took some measures to conceal the teleportation formation outside, but I can't guarantee that it won't be discovered by others.
"If you still have any questions, I'm sure the blood soul will be able to answer them once we reunited with her," Han Li said with a serious expression.
Much to his surprise, a hesitant look appeared on Fairy Ice Soul's face upon hearing this.
"What is it? Is there still some unfinished business for you here?" Han Li asked.
Fairy Ice Soul hesitated momentarily before revealing, "Seeing as you're a Grand Ascension Stage being from the same race as myself, I won't keep any secrets from you. Even though I obtained Daoist Tian Ding's cultivations and many of the treasures here, there's one place that I haven't been able to access, and several of Daoist Tian Ding's most powerful treasures are situated there. Those treasures have a symbiotic effect with Daoist Tian Ding's cultivation arts, so they're extremely important to me."
It was naturally in her best interest to keep this a secret, but if they were to leave now, there would be no chance for her to obtain those treasures.
"Where is this place? If it won't result in too much of a delay, then I can go and take a look. If it's within my capabilities, I'll be sure to help you secure the treasures," Han Li said.
Fairy Ice Soul was ecstatic to hear this. "Rest assured, Brother Han; it's not far away at all. If you can help me break the restriction, you can have all of the treasures aside from the few that are related to my cultivation arts."
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, but he offered no reply.
Thus, he was quickly led over to a section of the stone wall by Fairy Ice Soul, who reached out to gently press her palm against the wall.
A huge hole instantly appeared on the stone wall amid a flash of light, and the two of them flew into the hole.
Around 15 minutes later, they appeared in a massive hall that was entirely constructed from giant white stone slabs, presenting an antiquated and mysterious appearance.
At the center of the hall stood another statute of Daoist Tian Ding, but this one was shimmering with faint silver light.
This statue also had a sword slung across its back, but it was also holding a miniature shimmering golden pagoda in one hand.
"The treasures are all in that pagoda. Unfortunately, even though I've remained in this place for so many years, I've still been unable to break the restriction on the pagoda. Do take care, Brother Han; the restriction has an extremely powerful reflective ability. I was once struck by my own attack after it was reflected back at me, and it took me over 10 years of recuperation to recover," Fairy Ice Soul said with a solemn expression.
Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and he replied, "Alright, let me give it a try."
He then swept a finger through the air to release a streak of azure sword Qi that slashed directly toward the small golden pagoda.
A burst of light swept over the surface of the pagoda, and it conjured up a translucent light barrier that was as smooth as a mirror.
The sword Qi struck the light barrier before instantly vanishing into, following which an identical streak of azure sword Qi shot out of the light barrier, hurtling directly toward Han Li.
Han Li immediately swept his finger through the air again to unleash another streak of azure sword Qi to nullify the one sweeping toward him.
In the next instant, countless arcs of golden lightning erupted over his body amid a loud thunderclap, then pounced toward the small pagoda as several golden lightning snakes.
As soon as the lightning snakes came into contact with the light barrier, they also vanished before the same number of lightning snakes shot back out of the light barrier toward Han Li.
"This reflective restriction is quite interesting, but generally speaking, restrictions of this nature all have a tolerance limit, so what if I were to use a more powerful attack?"A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he made a grabbing motion to eradicate all of the oncoming lightning snakes, then flipped a hand over to summon a miniature azure mountain.
At the same time, bright golden light erupted from his body, and a layer of golden scales surfaced over his skin, while his arms thickened significantly.
He grabbed onto the miniature azure mountain before hurling it viciously forward, and it disappeared into thin air in a flash.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in front of the small golden pagoda, and the miniature azure mountain reappeared before crashing into the light barrier with a resounding boom, causing the barrier to ripple violently.