A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1092: The Second Altar

Standing in the air above the black sea, Han Li looked around to discover that the entire sky above was filled with dark clouds.

Gusts of ferocious wind were sweeping toward him from all directions, raising enormous waterspouts that also began to close in on him.

Han Li knew that this was nothing more than an illusion, but the sense of asphyxiation that he was feeling and the freezing sensation of the waves crashing into his body were so realistic that he couldn't help but be stunned.

Bursts of deafening rumbling rang out as several of the surrounding waterspouts collided, forming a giant waterspout that swallowed up Han Li.

As he tumbled up and down with the chaotic currents, bursts of tremendous force were crashing incessantly into his body, striking him with excruciating pain while also threatening to scatter his consciousness.

All of a sudden, a burst of golden lightning erupted out of Han Li's body in all directions amid a resounding thunderclap, instantly tearing the giant waterspout apart, following which he plummeted straight down into the seawater below.

To his surprise, the surrounding seawater didn't seem to have any buoyancy, and despite his attempts to resist, he was sucked down into its depths against his water.

There seemed to be bottom to this vast sea, nor were there living beings inside. Han Li was all on his own as he embarked on what felt like an endless descent...

Meanwhile, everyone else was in much the same situation as Han Li, except they were all experiencing different illusions.

For example, Wyrm 3 was currently trapped in a crimson river that was also devoid of all living beings, but there were countless shadows drifting through the water around her like clumps of errant water weeds.

As these shadows converged toward her, they clung to her body one after another, causing her to become heavier and heavier, thereby making her sink deeper and deeper into the river.

Lei Yuce and the others were also all rooted to the spot with twisted looks on their faces, clearly grappling with illusions of their own.

Right at this moment, a blue symbol lit up on both Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan's arms, and each symbol released a burst of blue light that joined together above their heads.

As soon as the two bursts of blue light came together, they instantly conjured up a blue light barrier that was giving off formidable water law power fluctuations, encompassing the two of them within it.

Immediately thereafter, the two of them each gave a muffled groan as they opened their eyes.

"That was a close call," Lan Yan said as she patted her own chest with a hint of lingering fear in her eyes.

"Thank heavens the Water Elemental Spirit Talismans that Master planted in us took effect here," Lan Yuanzi mused.

"It's also very fortunate that both of us entered that illusory array together, so the talismans were able to fuse with each other. Otherwise, the power of just a single talisman may not have been enough to awaken either one of us from that illusion," Lan Yan said.

"Alright, let's not waste any more time," Lan Yuanzi said as he cast his gaze toward the palace.

"What about them?" Lan Yan asked as she turned her gaze back to everyone else.

"We'll have to leave them to break the illusion on their own," Lan Yuanzi said.

With that, the two of them quickly traversed through the plaza under the protection of the light barrier to arrive at the palace.

Upon reaching the entrance of the palace, Lan Yuanzi inspected the gates momentarily to discover that there were no restrictions on it, and he gently pushed them open.

As soon as the gates were opened, a burst of potent water law power fluctuations immediately swept toward the two of them, making them feel as if they were basking in a warm spring breeze.

As they made their way into the palace, they spotted a blue altar that was identical in size and design to the golden altar that they had previously encountered.

There were two damaged areas on the altar, one on the left, and the other on the right, and hovering above it was a palm-sized, blue cloth pouch that looked as if it had been woven out of silk. Embroidered at the center of the pouch was a design of a wave that was giving off a faint sheen, and it was releasing extremely formidable water law power fluctuations.

Just like on the golden altar, there was also a golden flame hovering beside the blue pouch.

Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan exchanged a glance with each other, then began to make their way toward the altar, and as soon as they did so, a burst of loud rumbling instantly rang out.

Lan Yuanzi immediately grabbed onto Lan Yan's arm, and both of them stopped in their tracks to listen carefully for the source of the sound, upon which they discovered that it was coming from the blue pouch on the altar.

The sound resembled that of a turbulent river forcing its way through narrow floodgates, and the Lan siblings immediately exchanged an elated glance with each other upon hearing this.

"Wait here for a moment while I retrieve that pouch," Lan Yuanzi said with an excited smile.

"Wait! What if you end up releasing that devilish deity?" Lan Yan asked with a hesitant expression.

"Don't worry about that. Setting aside whether Lei Yuce was even telling the truth about that devilish deity, even if we do release it, there will be other people to deal with it. If worse comes to worst, we'll just have to immediately leave this place and return to the Nine Origins Temple after retrieving the pouch, and nothing that happens from there onward will have anything to do with us," Lan Yuanzi reassured.

Lan Yan was still clearly feeling rather concerned, but before she had a chance to say anything, Lan Yuanzi continued, "Think about it: we've already failed in our mission to capture Han Li, and we've soured our relationship with She Chan as well. If we don't return to the Nine Origins Temple with anything to show for our efforts, what do you think is going to await us?"

Lan Yan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Now only will we be punished, our master will most likely be held culpable as well. However, if we can return with this treasure, perhaps we'll be spared some punishment. At the very least, we should be able to keep our master from being swept up in our mess," Lan Yuanzi continued.

Lan Yan finally relented upon hearing this.

"In that case, we'll do as you say, but do be careful."

Lan Yuanzi smiled as he nodded in response, then began to make his way toward the altar.

However, he had only taken a couple of steps when he turned around to face Lan Yan, then said, "Once the pouch is freed from the restriction on the altar, it'll be sure to release extremely formidable law power fluctuations, so make sure to keep your distance from me and be on your guard."

"In that case, let's try and use our fusion secret technique. That way, even if something goes wrong and we're unable to secure the pouch, at the very least, we'll be able to ensure self-preservation," Lan Yan hurriedly said.

Lan Yuanzi's brows furrowed slightly in indecision upon hearing this.

After some contemplation, Lan Yuanzi decided, "That's a good idea. Truth be told, I'm not very confident in my ability to retrieve the pouch on my own."

Lan Yan was very happy to hear this, and she strode over to the altar by Lan Yuanzi's side.

After taking a moment to examine the altar, Lan Yuanzi swept a sleeve through the air to release numerous array flags and array plates before getting to work around the altar.

......

Inside the illusory array, Han Li and the others were still rooted to the spot with agonized looks on their faces, and not even a single one of them was able to break out of their illusions.

At this moment, Han Li was still sinking ever deeper into the black sea, unable to awaken despite his best efforts to channel his Spirit Refinement Technique.

Could it be that this illusion is built upon a foundation of water law powers rather than spiritual sense?

Even as this thought sprang into Han Li's mind, he still couldn't think of a way to free himself from the illusion.

It was if the black sea really was a bottomless abyss, one that he could sink eternally into without reaching the bottom.

Han Li felt as if he had fallen into a plane where space and time didn't exist, and that he would continue to sink with no end in sight unless he could break the illusion.

......

Around fifteen minutes later.

A circular array had taken shape around the blue altar in the palace.

Lan Yuanzi examined the array momentarily, then gave Lan Yan a nod, and the latter immediately summoned a blue oil paper umbrella.

There was a scenic image of a pond filled with colorful koi fish drawn onto the surface of the umbrella, and it was an extremely vivid and life-like image.

With a gentle twirl of the umbrella, it began to revolve in mid-air, and the pond on the umbrella seemed to have also been stirred up, with ripples running over its surface, but the koi fish within remained stationary and unaffected.

The umbrella drifted higher up into the air at Lan Yan's behest, hovering above the altar like a floating dome.

"Let's begin," Lan Yuanzi declared, and both of them began making hand seals in unison.

A blue light barrier emerged from each of their bodies, forming a two-layered spirit domain that encompassed both themselves and the altar.

After that, they began chanting an incantation, and the array flags around the altar began to unfurl while releasing bursts of formidable water law power fluctuations.

At the same time, the array plates on the ground also lit up, releasing pillars of blue light that rose up to surround the entire altar.