"I'm up against three of you, so I naturally have to seize the initiative." Han Li made a grabbing motion with both hands as he spoke, and a ball of light immediately appeared in each hand before transforming into a pair of miniature mountains, one of which was azure while the other was black.
Han Li then hurled the mountains viciously through the air, and they transformed into a pair of massive balls of light mid-flight as they hurtled directly toward two of the elderly men.
At the same time, a third miniature mountain appeared above them amid a flash of spiritual light, releasing countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that surged toward the final elderly man.
The three men's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and the projection of a centipede and a giant scorpion appeared behind two of the elderly men as they thrust their palms viciously toward the oncoming mountains.
Their hands seemed to be very ordinary, but in the instant that they were thrust forward, countless blue scales and arcs of flashing lightning immediately appeared over two of them.
As for the other two palms, they suddenly took on a glossy black hue while swelling drastically in size, and sharp green claws that were releasing bursts of foul black Qi sprouted out of their fingertips.
Meanwhile, the third elderly man flipped a hand over to summon a fox-human hybrid statue that was around half a foot tall before tossing it upward.
A clear cry rang out from the statue, and it transformed into a five-tailed red fox puppet amid a flash of light.
The red fox swept its tails through the air to conjure up a crimson light barrier that encompassed the entire space down below.
In the next instant, the four palms struck the two balls of light formed by the pair of extreme mountains, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as violent shockwaves surged throughout the nearby space.
The two balls of light shuddered as they were forced to an abrupt halt before reverting back to their extreme mountain forms.
However, the two elderly men's expressions changed drastically as they were sent flying like a pair of cannonballs.
By the time they managed to steady themselves several hundred feet away, their arms were completely bloodstained, and every single inch of skin on those arms had been torn open, while their fingers had all been snapped.
At the same time, the countless streaks of invisible sword Qi had already rained down upon the crimson light barrier, and within mere moments, a series of thin cracks were beginning to appear on the barrier's surface.
The third elderly man was quite alarmed to see this, and he immediately injected a burst of energy into the statue that he was holding before hurriedly making a hand seal.
A layer of golden light flashed above the red fox puppet, and the light barrier it had conjured up also took on a golden hue, while the cracks on its surface quickly began to mend. As such, it was able to withstand this torrential downpour of sword Qi.
However, even though Han Li was facing three opponents on his own, it was clear that he had gained the upper hand, and this made the three elderly men rather hesitant about how to proceed.
The three of them conversed briefly through voice transmission, then slowly began to approach Han Li again, seemingly determined to target him.
Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal to summon his Provenance True Devil Projection amid a flash of golden light.
The projection then immediately fused as one with his giant ape body, following which two extra arms sprouted out of his ribs, and a pair of additional heads emerged on his shoulders.
Han Li had unleashed both his 12 Awakening Transformations and Provenance True Devil Arts at once, and the power of this form was second only to his Holy Nirvana Physique.
In the face of three Grand Ascension Stage opponents, Han Li didn't dare to be too complacent.
However, right as the battle was about to resume, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted over 1,00 feet away, and three humanoid figures appeared in a flash.
The three elderly men immediately drew to a halt as they cast their eyes toward the three new arrivals, as did Han Li.
The three figures were comprised of an elderly woman, a daoist priest, and a masked man.
As soon as the three of them caught sight of Han Li, they were also quite surprised and immediately exchanged a few bewildered glances.
"What a coincidence that we've arrived in the same area, Brother Xiao," Han Li chuckled as the golden light around him faded, and he quickly reverted back to his human form.
"What a coincidence, indeed; I also didn't think that I would encounter you here, Brother Han," Xiao Ming replied with a slightly forced smile, while Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping's hearts both sank slightly.
As for the three elderly men, they didn't dare to do anything rash in this current situation, and were only appraising the three new arrivals with cold expressions.
Only then did Xiao Ming turn toward the trio before asking, "I don't think we've ever met before, fellow daoists; could it be that you're secluded cultivators of the Black Yan Forest in the northwest?"
"Hmph, you have quite a keen eye, Fellow Daoist. That's right, we're the Three Witch Spirit Saints of the Black Yan Forest," the elderly man who was controlling the red fox puppet harrumphed coldly in response with undisguised animosity in his voice.
"The Three Witch Spirit Saints? That means you must be witchcraft cultivators. May I ask why you've decided to target Brother Han here?" Xiao Ming asked.
He hadn't witnessed the earlier clash between Han Li and the trio, but the residual spiritual Qi fluctuations in the air and the confrontational stances they had adopted were clear indications of what had just happened.
"There are only a limited number of treasures in this Heavenly Cauldron Palace, so everyone in here is our enemy; why do we need a reason to target anyone?" the elderly man replied.
A cold look appeared on Xiao Ming's face upon hearing this. "In that case, you must also view the three of us as enemies. What do you think, Brother Han?"
"I don't mind either way; if it's a battle they want, then I'd be glad to entertain them," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.
Xiao Ming's wariness toward Han Li only grew more pronounced upon seeing this.
He then turned toward the Three Witch Spirit Saints with slightly furrowed brows.
According to his original plan, he should've already reached the center of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace or found the centrum of the restrictions here.
However, the restriction in the second area they had entered was far more profound than they had expected, and they had only just managed to break out of it.
As soon as they had emerged, they were met by Han Li and the Three Witch Spirit Saints, both of which were formidable foes, thereby further compounding their woes.
If it were possible, he would naturally be happy to see Han Li and the Three Witch Spirit Saints engage in a fight to the death while he and his companions continued on toward the final area.
However, in this current situation, there was no way that Han Li and the Three Witch Spirit Saints would be foolish enough to do something like that.
Having said that, being delayed in an impasse here wouldn't benefit any of them.
They weren't the only Grand Ascension Stage beings to have entered the Heavenly Cauldron Palace; what if more people were to find this place during this delay?
With that in mind, Xiao Ming said, "Fellow daoists, I'm sure all of us ventured into this palace in search for treasures, so engaging in conflict prior to finding any valuable treasures would be completely senseless. The most precious treasures are clearly in the areas beyond here, so why don't we all save our energy to search through those areas? The restrictions leading up to this point have already been very difficult to break through; even if we use up all of our remaining time, we still may not be able to obtain the treasures we want, so we can't afford to be wasting time here."
"I don't care either way. As long as no one gets in my way, I have no intention of engaging in any conflict," Han Li replied with a hint of a smile.
The elderly man wielding the red fox puppet contemplated the situation momentarily before also nodding in response. "Alright, in that case, let's end things here."
Immediately thereafter, the three elderly men exchanged some words through voice transmission before flying toward a certain area.
Xiao Ming faltered slightly upon seeing the area they had chosen, but his expression then quickly returned to normal as he turned to Han Li with a smile. "Have you also already decided on a target, Brother Han? If not, then we'll be going on ahead."
"I think I'll go to… that area." Han Li shook his head in a nonchalant manner before beginning to point a finger toward a certain direction, but he suddenly seemed to change his mind, and redirected his finger toward the area neighboring the one he was originally pointing toward.
Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this.
However, before they had a chance to say anything, Han Li had already plunged into the blue light barrier encompassing that area as a streak of azure light.
"What do we do? He just chose the area that we were going to choose! Could it be that he also knows where the centrum of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is?" Mistress Wan Hua exclaimed in an urgent manner.
"I don't think so. I was the only one to have received 's inheritance, so there's no way anyone else aside from me will know the exact location and method to control the palace's centrum," Daoist Qing Ping said with tightly furrowed brows.
"Does that mean it was a coincidence that he chose that area? That doesn't seem to be the case, either." Xiao Ming's expression darkened significantly as he recalled back to how Han Li had changed his mind at the last moment.
"What do we do then? Choose another area?" Mistress Wan Hua asked in a frustrated manner.
