Once the silver rune completely disintegrated into specks of spiritual light, the surrounding scenery and puppets also disappeared.

The space up ahead twisted and blurred, and a cluster of buildings appeared up ahead.

"The restriction's been broken! Well done, Brother Xiao!" Mistress Wan Hua was ecstatic to see this.

"The restriction here is quite profound, so it might really be the case that no one has visited this place before. If it isn't for the fact that we're short on time, I would definitely search through this area," Xiao Ming sighed.

"Hehe, it's alright, Brother Xiao; even if there are treasures in these outer palace clusters, they won't be of much use to us. Once we get to the center and take control over the palace's centrum, all of the treasures will be ours," Daoist Qing Ping said with a smile.

"I understand, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to be unable to secure treasures that are right there for the taking," Xiao Ming sighed.

Thus, the three of them flew along a small path beside the cluster of buildings toward another light barrier.

......

In another restriction on the outskirts of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, the brocade-robed man was appraising a giant two-headed ape before him with a cold expression.

All of the disciples from his sect had already formed a profound formation to trap the giant ape, and the formation's power had been raised to its maximal extent as it compressed further and further while sending bursts of enormous invisible force surging toward the ape in a frenzy.

A string of cracks and pops would occasionally ring out, and finally, the giant ape was completely immobilized by the formation.

Only then did the brocade-robed man sweep a sleeve through the air, releasing a streak of silver light that revolved around the massive ape before slicing it in half down the middle.

Immediately thereafter, the murky grey space instantly crumbled away.

......

Within a certain swamp-like area, there was a giant centipede with blue lightning flashing all over its body, a massive scorpion that was enshrouded within black Qi, and a huge python with an extremely flat head. The three beasts were currently wreaking havoc within a sea of beasts, and a thin and hideous elderly man sat atop each of their heads.

The sea of beasts was comprised of creatures of all types of different descriptions, and all of them possessed powers equivalent to those of low-grade and mid-grade cultivators. They were attacking the three giant creatures at the center with all their might, but the three elderly men merely sat in a still manner atop the creatures' heads, paying no heed to what was happening around them.

......

Outside the five-colored restriction, five identical young men were seated in mid-air in a completely expressionless manner, seemingly waiting for something.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a giant black hole appeared out of thin air.

A ball of crimson light shot forth out of the black hole, then transformed into a crimson humanoid figure with green light shimmering in his eyes and an indescribably baleful aura emanating from his body.

The five young men immediately rose to their feet, then each summoned 12 white bone flying swords with green flames burning over their surfaces.

The crimson figure seemed to be quite surprised by the sight of the five young men. "You're the Five Xue He Clones! Are you planning to target me?"

"We came here in quite a hurry, so we don't have a key to break this seal. As such, we'll have to take yours. Regardless of who you are, hand over the key, and we'll let you go," one of the young men said in an expressionless manner.

"Haha, how audacious of you! I just so happen to require some blood essence to nurture this body of mine; how about I take yours?" the crimson figure chortled as he transformed into five streaks of crimson light that surged directly toward the Five Xue He Clones.

"Your Blood Shadow Arts are indeed quite formidable, but there's a way to counter it," one of the young men chuckled as white light suddenly erupted from his body before surging toward the oncoming streak of crimson light.

Meanwhile, the other four young men abruptly vanished on the spot in unison.

In the next instant, a string of rumbling booms rang out, and a fierce battle commenced.

......

There were already close to 1,000 high-grade cultivators gathered outside the giant gate, most of whom were at the Body Integration Stage or Spatial Tempering Stage.

There was a group of over 30 of them bombarding the gate with a series of ferocious attacks, but the gate refused to budge, and only the golden and silver runes on its surface were flashing slightly.

Everyone else was looking on from nearby, displaying no intention to assist or disrupt them.

"Useless idiots! You think you have what it takes to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace? Piss off!"

Right at this moment, a thunderous boom suddenly rang out up above, causing everyone's ears to ring incessantly, and some of the weaker cultivators present plummeted straight out of the sky.

A ball of crimson lightning that was around an acre in size then tore its way out of thin air before crashing down upon the giant gate.

Countless bolts of thick crimson lightning began to surge all over the gate, sending scorching heatwaves spreading in all directions.

The dozens of cultivators situated nearby immediately shot back in retreat as their expressions changed drastically.

Several of them acted too late, and they were swept up by the heatwaves amid agonized howls, but their cries of pain quickly drew to an abrupt halt, seemingly indicating that they had already perished.

The giant gate was forced open slightly by the attack, and the bolts of crimson lightning immediately converged to form a ball again, then instantly entered through the gap that had opened up.

The massive gate then slowly swung shut again amid a rumbling boom.

"That was Patriarch Chi Lei! That had to have been him!" someone exclaimed.

In contrast with the previous opening of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, where most of the entrants were Body Integration Stage beings, there were clearly far more Grand Ascension Stage beings who had arrived on this occasion.

It seemed that the keys of the palace had finally attracted all of these formidable beings.

......

Three days later, Han Li was situated in a long corridor in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace with two puppets, one golden and one silver, standing in his way.

The puppets were around 70 to 80 feet tall, and they were each holding two giant hammers of different colors, but their bodies were riddled with wounds, indicating that they had already endured battles in the past.

Han Li only took an indifferent glance at the two puppets before directing his attention toward the red wooden door behind them, and he immediately began to make his way toward that door.

In the instant that Han Li began to approach them, the two puppets raised their hammers before sending them crashing viciously down toward him.

Countless azure threads erupted out of Han Li's body amid a flash of azure light, and the two puppets were instantly reduced to countless scraps along with the hammers they were wielding.

Han Li strode calmly past the remains of the puppets before sweeping a sleeve toward the red door, releasing a burst of invisible force that pushed the door open.

A large hall was revealed beyond the door, and within the hall were rows of rectangular stone platforms that were laden with all types of treasures.

Some of these treasures were glowing brightly, while others were very dim, and there were over 1,000 of them in total.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he strode into the hall.

......

Meanwhile, Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping were hovering in mid-air with dark expressions above a boundless sea.

Not far in front of the two of them was Xiao Ming, who was seated with his legs crossed and his eyes tightly shut.

He was holding a formation plate in one hand, while the fingers on his other hand were trembling incessantly, seemingly calculating something.

"Who would’ve thought that just this second area would have such a formidable illusion? We've already been trapped here for over two days, right?" Mistress Wan Hua asked.

"Indeed, I also didn't think that this area would have such a powerful illusionary restriction that even Brother Xiao can't eradicate in a short time. Having said that, this is only to be expected. This is only the second area to us, but due to the route we chose, we're already quite deep in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. Once we break through this area, we shouldn't be too far away from the center," Daoist Qing Ping replied with slightly furrowed brows.

"I certainly hope that that's the case," Mistress Wan Hua sighed.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ming continued to sit still on the spot, as if he were completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

Seven days later, the blood soul emerged from a hall in a certain area of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, and judging from her brooding expression, it seemed that she hadn't reaped any rewards.

Right at this moment, a ball of crimson lightning suddenly shot forth toward her before transforming into a tall crimson-robed elderly man with golden lightning patterns on his face.

The blood soul was quite alarmed to see this, and she immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing two balls of azure light that transformed into a pair of armored puppets.

One puppet was wearing azure armor while wielding a huge bow that was as tall as a grown man, while the other was clad in black armor, wielding a long blue spear.

The elderly man was rather surprised to see these puppets before a cold look appeared on his face. "Oh? Body Integration Stage puppets? How rare. Who are you and who did you accompany into this palace?"

The blood soul immediately identified the elderly man as a Grand Ascension Stage, and her heart sank upon making this discovery. "I am Blood Soul, and I accompanied a certain Senior Han into this palace. May I ask your name, Senior?"

"I've never heard of a Grand Ascension Stage with the Han surname; is this a fellow daoist who only made his breakthrough recently? That doesn't matter anyway; hand over your key and everything you obtained in there. Don't try to fool me, either; I'll know if you're telling the truth once I use a soul search technique on you," the elderly man said in a menacing manner.

The blood soul was naturally very alarmed to hear this, but she forced a smile onto her own face as she replied, "I didn't manage to find anything in there, and the key is being carried by Senior Han. Isn't it unbecoming of someone of your status to be threatening a junior like me?"

"If you're not going to hand it over, then I'll have to take it by force," the elderly man said as a cold smile appeared on his face.