The entire space seemed to dim slightly, and countless snowflakes were abruptly drawn toward the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword as if through a giant funnel, then vanished into the sword as the world's origin Qi.

A row of silver runes immediately appeared on the surface of the sword, and a streak of dark green sword Qi swept forth before striking the golden light barrier.

The sword Qi began to glow with scintillating light, almost as if a green sun had appeared to inundate the entire light barrier.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the light barrier's surface, and countless five-colored runes appeared, only to be melted away within the green sun.

Finally, a dull thump rang out, and the entire light barrier was completely eradicated.

Han Li's face was slightly pale as he withdrew the green longsword, then flew into the teleportation formation on the stone platform.

He then pointed a finger at the edge of the formation, casting a white incantation seal, which vanished into thin air in a flash.

A dull burst of dull rumbling rang out from the entire formation, and Han Li disappeared amid a flash of white light.

In the next instant, Han Li re-emerged within a murky grey space, and there was a mountainous stone plaque that extended into the heavens situated up ahead.

The stone plaque was so massive that there was no end to it in sight from the bottom, and it was entirely of a translucent crimson color with countless thick silver runes etched on its surface, presenting a very mysterious sight to behold. Han Li looked at the stone plaque, then inspected the murky grey space around him, and a hint of befuddlement appeared in his eyes.

No matter how he looked at it, this place had nothing to do with the palace cluster he had seen from outside the light barrier.

It seemed that he had been teleported into an unfamiliar place from the restriction in the last area.

At the same time, Xiao Ming's trio also finally emerged from the glacial restriction, and they were greeted by the sight of a golden palace and rows of silver pavilions that resembled an immortal paradise, but all of them wore dark expressions.

"This isn't where the centrum of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is situated. According to the records on the tome I inherited, the teleportation formation that we found earlier should've taken us directly to the centrum area; why were we teleported here instead?" Daoist Qing Ping murmured to himself in a puzzled manner.

"The records on the tome were definitely accurate. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to make it all the way here; some type of unforeseen change must've taken place in the restriction in the last area to result in this," Xiao Ming analyzed.

"What kind of unforeseen change could there have been? Are you saying the restriction can mutate on its own?" Mistress Wan Hua was approaching her wits' end.

"That's hard to say. Daoist Tian Ding's formation mastery is far beyond what we can comprehend, and the Heavenly Cauldron Palace has existed for so many years, so it wouldn't be too surprising if the restrictions within the palace had undergone some type of change. Having said that, the restrictions in all the other areas had remained unchanged, yet this one has been altered; that's too suspicious to be a coincidence. I think this is a result of someone tampering with the restriction in that area," Xiao Min speculated.

"How is that possible? Aside from that human, no one would've been able to enter that area earlier than us. Even if someone had entered that area before all of us, there's no way they could've been able to alter such a complex giant restriction in such a short time," Mistress Wan Hua countered.

"Hehe, you seem to have forgotten about the people who entered the Heavenly Cauldron Palace during its last opening. Those people weren't powerful, but there were quite a few of them who possessed true keys. Back when the Heavenly Cauldron Palace was closed, I don't recall many of them returning alive," Xiao Ming said.

Daoist Qing Ping's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "So you're saying there are still survivors from the last group of people to have entered the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, and that someone among them altered this restriction."

"That should be the case. Otherwise, there's no way to explain all of this," Xiao Ming replied.

"Generally speaking, this wouldn't be possible. Upon closure of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, everyone would be automatically evicted, and those who forcibly stayed behind using secret techniques would be killed by the restrictions in the palace. Having said that, if there were someone even more powerful than Daoist Tian Ding had been, they would've been able to resist the restrictions in the palace. Perhaps they've already entered the centrum area and obtained the Daoist Tian Ding's full inheritance.

"In that case, they'd be able to stay in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, and it would be a simple matter for them to change the exit of a certain area. If that's what we're dealing with here, then that would be very bad news," Daoist Qing Ping said with a concerned expression.

"The Heavenly Cauldron Palace was constructed directly prior to Daoist Tian Ding's ascension, so it's next to impossible that an entrant to the palace would be even more powerful than Daoist Tian Ding himself, and it's also very unlikely that someone has already seized control of the centrum or taken Daoist Tian Ding's full inheritance. Otherwise, the entire palace would've already been taken rather than appearing here on schedule as it did," Xiao Ming analyzed.

Mistress Wan Hua's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. "In that case, the person who remained in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace should only be able to control part of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace's restrictions, and they haven't gained complete control over the centrum, nor Daoist Tian Ding's full inheritance."

"That's most likely the case," Xiao Ming replied in a confident manner.

"In that case, we still have great chances. However, seeing as the route detailed in the tome is no longer reliable, we'll have to use the brute-force method to access the centrum by forcing our way through another light barrier in this area. According to the records, the centrum should be situated in a tall pagoda that resembles a giant stone plaque," Daoist Qing Ping revealed as a hint of elation appeared on his face.

"The restriction in the last area already took us so long to break through; will we have enough time to go through it again? Won't the delay be too significant?" Mistress Wan Hua asked in a hesitant manner.

"We're already familiar with the restriction, so it should take us far less time to traverse through it the second time around. If worse comes to worst, we'll just have to employ some special methods to conserve as much time as possible," Xiao Ming said.

Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping both nodded in agreement.

Thus, the three of them set off toward the light barrier that was barely visible in the distance, paying no heed to the golden palace and silver pavilions right before their eyes.

......

Han Li flew a lap around the giant stone plaque, but was unable to find any entrance, and he returned to his starting point with his brows slightly furrowed. All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a small white vial within a ball of white light.

The surface of the vial was extremely smooth, and it was close to completely transparent with a ball of crimson light flashing incessantly within it.

"Who would've thought that Fellow Daoist Ice Soul's true body would actually be trapped here? If it weren't for the slight reaction displayed by this vial in the last area, I would've missed her," Han Li murmured to himself, then began to fly up along the side of the stone plaque while continuing to make laps around it.

After flying for close to 20 laps, the ball of crimson light within the small vial suddenly brightened ever so slightly.

This change was almost undetectable to the naked eye, but Han Li was able to notice it right away.

Thus, he immediately drew to a halt before flying directly toward the stone plaque before stopping again in front of several lines of huge silver runes.

"Beveled silver text, eh? This might stump someone else, but to me, hehe."

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he carefully inspected the lines of runes, then pointed a finger toward them a few times.

The silver runes flashed slightly before converging and fusing as one to form an even larger silver rune, which began to revolve on the spot on its own.

A black passageway was then suddenly opened up on the seemingly solid surface of the plaque.

Han Li immediately flew into the passageway, upon which it quickly closed again.

After landing on a patch of smooth ground, Han Li made a grabbing motion before hurling a white ball of light through the air, instantly illuminating the dark passageway so that it was as bright as day.

He quickly inspected his surroundings to discover that this was a semi-circular passageway, and the floor and walls were all lined with ordinary slabs of bluestone.

However, there were some unidentifiable bright red spirit patterns etched onto the surface of this material, and those patterns were giving off a faint bloody odor.

Han Li withdrew his gaze before releasing his enormous spiritual sense, and after just a brief moment, he heaved a slightly resigned sigh.

As expected, spiritual sense was significantly more restricted in here than outside, and the flight restriction in this passageway was so powerful that even he could only hover a small distance above the ground.

On top of that, the amount of magic power expenditure required to maintain flight also far exceeded that of normal flight restrictions.

As expected of someone who had successfully ascended, the restrictions left behind by Daoist Tian Ding were truly remarkable.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li strode forward and began to run at full speed.

With his incredibly powerful physical body, his running speed was no slower than the flight speed of average Grand Ascension cultivators.

There were no immediate dangers here, so there was naturally no need for him to maintain flight.

However, after only advancing for a short distance, the passageway began to gradually slope upward.

A short while later, Han Li was already situated over 1,000 feet higher than his starting point.

All of a sudden, a bright light appeared up ahead, indicating the presence of an exit.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he didn't pause even for a moment as he continued onward.

However, as soon as he emerged into the giant hall beyond the passageway, he was rooted to the spot by what he saw.