"Yes. Both restrictions are very secure and cannot be lifted by anyone aside from their respective casters. Looks like we won't have to worry about the other person plotting against one another now," Han Li replied with a wry smile. "Hmph, as long as you don't try anything, I have no reason to plot against you." White light flashed behind Han Li, and the silver-robed woman emerged from a spatial rift. "Fellow Daoist Phoenix, I'd advise you not to use your spatial abilities now; you should conserve your magic power so we can better deal with the hazards present within the spatial node." Han Li's brows furrowed.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that both of them had set restrictions on one another, but the Ice Phoenix's enmity toward Han Li seemed to have been curbed slightly, and she replied in a slightly more amicable manner, "Rest assured, I know what I'm doing."
Han Li smiled and didn't offer a response. He stepped forward and stood beside Nangong Wan as they both looked up at the seal being lifted overhead. The silver-robed woman had also fallen silent.
Around 15 minutes later, when the ball of light in the sky had reached its most dazzling point, a dull thunderclap suddenly erupted. The white light receded and the ball of light in the sky suddenly transformed into an inky-black hole. It was like the bottomless gullet of a giant beast with not even a single hint of light to be seen within. Han Li and the silver-robed woman both stirred upon seeing this, and she said, "Let's go, Fellow Daoist Han."
Silver light then surfaced around her body as she slowly hovered toward the black hole.
Han Li's lips twitched as he patted a storage pouch hanging from his waist. Silver light immediately flashed from within as a second "Han Li" emerged. It was none other than the humanoid puppet. Han Li raised his hand and imprinted his palm onto the humanoid puppet's head like lightning. An inky black Nascent Soul emerged from the humanoid puppet's head before disappearing into Han Li's body.
Han Li then pointed toward the puppet, and brilliant silver light abruptly erupted from its body. The puppet shrank rapidly amid the silver light, reducing itself to a tiny little wooden puppet in the blink of an eye.
Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li whipped his other sleeve through the air, and two tiny blue cauldrons emerged along with a ball of three-colored flames. "Wan'er, these treasures won't be very useful to me after I pass through the spatial node. You'll most likely have to face many more tribulations here in this human world, and I can only leave these items behind to assist you, so please accept them." Han Li swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, sending a burst of azure light sweeping forth, which pushed those four treasures toward Nangong Wan.
After that, Han Li rose into the air and flew toward the Ice Phoenix as a streak of azure light.
Nangong Wan gritted her teeth and waved a slender hand through the air, drawing the four treasures into her grasp. She then stood on the spot and looked up at Han Li's departing figure with a set of slightly pale features.
At this moment, the Ice Phoenix stopped in front of the unfathomably deep black hole. After Han Li caught up to her, she asked, "Aren't you going to speak with Fellow Daoist Nangong for a while longer? I'm not in a hurry to enter this spatial node, so you can spend some more time with her if you want."
The Ice Phoenix was putting on a rare display of thoughtfulness.
Han Li took a deep breath before replying in a calm voice, "That won't be necessary. Wan'er and I have already said everything that needs to be said long before this. We just need to focus on passing through the spatial node now."
He then laid a hand over the top of his own head, and azure light flashed as a miniature azure cauldron emerged. He then gently stomped a foot into the air down below, and green light flashed as a green ruler abruptly appeared amid the projection of a silver lotus flower.
Following a nonchalant flap of his sleeve, a silver talisman shot forth and transformed into a tight-fitting suit of three-colored armor that settled over his body. Immediately thereafter, 72 small golden swords short forth from various parts of his body, transforming into fragments of golden light that revolved around him.
At the same time, Han Li flipped his hands over to produce a shiny golden ring and a small jade umbrella that was around several inches in size.
A hint of surprise flashed through the silver-robed woman's eyes upon seeing this before she shrugged her shoulders in an unhurried manner, sending a dozen or so streaks of white light flying through the air, which transformed into a series of long translucent feathers.
The feathers swirled through the air before descending to form a white barrier that shielded the Ice Phoenix within. At the same time, silver spiritual light revolved around her body, manifesting a mystical image of countless birds revering a single phoenix. What was most surprising was that she then opened her mouth to expel a semi-transparent ice ark.
The ark was already several inches in size as soon as it emerged from her mouth, and it swelled drastically thereafter, reaching a length of over 100 feet.
The silver-robed woman's body swayed as she drifted onto the ice ark before turning to Han Li as she said, "This Heaven Puncturing Ark is a top-grade defensive treasure that finally took shape within my body after being nurtured by my glacial essence for over 10,000 years. It should be able to protect us and save us a lot of inconvenience during the initial phase of our journey."
Han Li didn't waste any time with formalities as he also immediately strode onto the ark. He stood beside the silver-robed woman with a calm expression, and said, "Seeing as you have such a potent treasure, allow me to give you a hand."
A large swath of grey light immediately surfaced from Han Li's body as he spoke, following which a dark shadow flashed, and a completely mundane and nondescript miniature mountain appeared.
The miniature mountain was only around 10 feet in size, and before the Ice Phoenix was able to figure out what it was, it had already emerged from the expanse of grey light and landed securely on the ice ark.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal, and a vast expanse of grey light erupted from the mountain, enclosing the entire ice ark within.
The silver-robed woman didn't know what this grey light was, but she could tell that it possessed extraordinary properties. As such, she summoned a silver light barrier from the ice ark which combined with and fortified the grey light emanating from the miniature mountain.
The ark then shot forth into the black hole, and disappeared in a flash. Everyone down below looked on with wide eyes, staring intently up at the spatial node with unblinking gazes.
However, everyone was soon disappointed. Following Han Li and the Ice Phoenix's entry into the spatial node, the condition of the black hole remained completely unchanged, as if nothing had ever happened. Nangong Wan finally withdrew her gaze as she issued a calm instruction to Tian Qin'er. "Qin'er, station a couple of disciples here, and get everyone else to go back. There's no point in having too many people remain here."
"Yes!" Tian Qin'er extended a respectful salute and organized for two Core Formation disciples to remain here before returning to the island with Nangong Wan and the others.
After a month, no changes to the entrance of the spatial node were observed, and Nangong Wan instructed Tian Qin'er to seal the entrance with a formation spell again. She then left several disciples behind to guard the entrance while everyone else returned to the Scattered Star Seas with her.
Han Li didn't leave a soul lamp for everyone, so no one knew whether Han Li had already passed through the spatial node and emerged on the other side, or had followed in the footsteps of Xiang Zhili and the others, perishing to spatial storm and the power of the boundary between realms present within the spatial node.
This was exactly why Han Li was unwilling to leave a soul lamp behind. After all, it was always better to have some hope rather than be plunged into complete despair.
Chapter 1266: An Unfamiliar Place
Han Li lay on the ground in a completely still manner, experiencing the uncomfortable heat rising
up from the ground while calculating the time in his heart.
If he wasn't mistaken, he had already been lying here for three months based on the timing conventions of the human world.
There were currently three suns and four moons in the sky, and Han Li knew that during the night, all of those suns would also convert themselves into moons. When daytime arrived, all of those moons would then transform into scorching suns one by one, until there were seven suns hanging in the sky.
This meant that there were constantly seven celestial bodies of light hanging in the sky. The difference was that temperatures were unbearably hot during the day, and freezing cold during the night.
From his observations, it appeared that the days and nights in this place were extremely long; roughly three times the length of the days and the nights in the human world. The temperature difference between daytime and nighttime was also absolutely staggering, and he would most likely already be dead if not for his special constitution.
This place was naturally no longer part of the human world, but was it the Spirit Realm? Han Li couldn't be sure.
The spiritual Qi here wasn't very abundant, seemingly not too different from the amount of spiritual Qi produced by a normal spirit vein in the human world, and furthermore, he had arrived here completely by accident. As such, he had no idea whether he had actually reached the Spirit Realm.
Thinking back to the events that had taken place within the spatial node, an expression of lingering fear appeared in Han Li's eyes.
But then again, if it weren't for the accident that had taken place on the final stretch of the journey, Han Li had no confidence at all in his ability to withstand the relentless waves of spatial storms that had appeared in the end. After all, most of his protective treasures had been destroyed, including even his Eight Spirit Ruler. If it weren't for the fact that his Spiritform Talisman had activated in the nick of time, he would've most likely been reduced to nothingness in the spatial node already.
However, his current situation wasn't very optimistic, either.
When he had just exited the spatial node and appeared in this place, he had been forcibly separated from the Ice Phoenix, and the restrictions that they had set up in each other's bodies were beginning to take effect. Thankfully, he had mastered a vast array of secret techniques, and one of them allowed him to forcibly repress this restriction. Otherwise, he would already be dead from magic power backlash.
Even so, the residual power of the restriction was still wreaking havoc within his body, relentlessly destroying his meridians and bodily structures. If it weren't for the fact that the Wood Birth Bead's immortal body ability was constantly repairing his bodily structures, his body would've been reduced to a pile of mush already.
At present, there was one burst of power constantly destroying his body while another burst of power was relentlessly repairing the damage that was being done. This was naturally an extremely painful process. During this time, not only was he unable to draw upon any magic power, he was also unable to move even in the slightest. Furthermore, the destructive power was inflicting damage at a slightly faster rate than the regenerative power.
As such, his body would still be destroyed eventually if things continued like this.
In this dire situation, Han Li was forced to expel all of his treasures and store them into a storage pouch, then use a secret technique to dispel his Nascent Soul. In doing so, the enormous amount of power created by the dissipating Nascent Soul would inject itself into his body, thereby enhancing his regenerative ability.
However, the price he had to pay for this was that he wouldn't have so much as a single shred of magic power within his body for over 100 years, and nor would he be able to use any spiritual power or spiritual sense.
Even if a cultivator of a higher caliber than Han Li were to make a rough examination of his body using their spiritual sense, they would only regard him as a mere mortal, and they wouldn't be able to detect that anything was amiss unless they conducted a more thorough examination.
The consequences were quite dire, but the effects of unleashing this secret technique were also very potent.
During the past three months, the remaining power of the restriction had finally completely disappeared, and most of his meridians had been healed.
According to his estimation, it would only take him a month or so before he would be able to walk again.
With that in mind, he turned his head to the side with great difficulty, only to be greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of barren grey sand stretching as far as the eyes could see, with not even a single blade of grass in sight.
He was currently situated in a bleak desert, and most of his body had been covered by this strange type of sand, making him appear as if he were a deceased corpse.
The suns in the sky were gradually reduced from three to two, then to one, and it finally appeared as if dusk was approaching.
However, as opposed to closing his eyes and settling in for another freezing night, Han Li's eyes abruptly widened as a faint blue light flashed through his pupils.
A short while later, a series of sharp cries suddenly erupted from the sky above. Immediately thereafter, one black spot after another appeared in the air, amounting to a total of over 20 dark shadows, all of which came swooping down rapidly toward Han Li.
Even though Han Li was unable to inject any magic power into his eyes, he was still able to clearly make out the appearances of these black spots with his astonishing eyesight.
They were a group of strange black birds with falcon heads and bat bodies. Each and every one of them was around four to five feet in size. They all had a pair of sharp claws growing from their respective abdomens, and their black fleshy wings were fully spread to create a sinister sight to behold.
These birds flew extremely quickly, and had plummeted to an altitude of just over 300 feet in the blink of an eye. It appeared they were targeting Han Li as prey for their next meal.
A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes and his four limbs remained completely still, but he suddenly turned his head and inhaled sharply.
A small clump of grey sand abruptly materialized into a ball before flying toward Han Li.
Just as the ball of sand was about to fly into his mouth, Han Li blew out a gentle gust of wind, upon which the ball of sand began to hover beside his mouth as if it were completley weightless, rotating on the spot without traveling any further downward.
At this moment, the flock of birds was only just over 100 feet away, and Han Li felt as if he could already catch a whiff of the putrid nauseating scent of rotten blood and gore wafting out from within their beaks.
Han Li's face remained expressionless, but his depressed chest suddenly bulged as he blasted out a gust of strong wind into the ball of sand.
The ball of sand was immediately dispersed into countless specks of azure light that shot forth into the air, striking the first few birds among the flock amid a series of dull thumps.
The birds that had been struck let loose shrill cries of agony before fleeing away into the distance. However, they only managed to fly for about 100 feet before collapsing to the ground with blood gushing from their bodies, clearly having been severely wounded by Han Li's innovative attack.
An incredible turn of events then unfolded.
Upon catching sight of their wounded companions, the rest of the birds completely lost interest in Han Li, flying toward their injured companions instead before tearing them into shreds in the blink of an eye. After that, all of them flew away in contentment with a chunk of their companions' flesh caught between their beaks.
Thus, Han Li was all alone in this vast desert once again.
His expression remained unchanged, as if he were already accustomed to such occurrences. However, the contemplative look in his eyes suggested that he was in deep thought about something.
A while later, the final sun in the sky also gradually darkened as it transformed into a moon.
Han Li ha
d witnessed this spectacle countless times already, yet he was still struck by a sense of awe and wonder at the sight of the seven moons in the sky.
All of a sudden, a slightly bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face, but unfortunately, he was unable to do anything aside from turning his head slightly to the side.
After a short while, a faint rumbling intermingled with the sound of thundering horse hooves erupted in the distance. It appeared that there seemed to be a large group of travelers approaching.
Han Li's brows furrowed, and a hesitant look appeared on his face as he tried to decide whether he should act to intentionally catch their attention.
If he didn't make a sound, it wouldn't be easy for them to discover him, given the fact that most of his body was obscured by the sand of the desert.
However, Han Li didn't have to grapple with this dilemma for very long as a crimson fist-sized bird had appeared about three hundred to four hundred feet above Han Li, letting loose a clear cry that was audible for several kilometers.
It was clearly sending a message to the group of travelers.
Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this. The bird was at too high of an altitude for him to try and replicate his sand attack, so he could only wait in silence.
As expected, only a short while had passed before the ground beneath him began to tremor, seemingly as if something were traveling toward him.
Following a burst of low roars, a few knights riding on a type of strange beast stopped far away from Han Li, looking at him from afar with cold expressions.
Han Li turned his gaze toward these "people".
They were dressed in a rather strange way, but they definitely were humans.
Han Li was quite relieved to see this.
The group of knights was comprised entirely of men who appeared to be between 20 to 40 years of age. Some of them wore full suits of shiny armor while others were wearing nothing aside from a few faintly shimmering slabs of bones that covered their vital regions. However, all of them were holding an extremely heavy-looking club-like weapon each. These weapons were much thicker on the end than they were in the hilts, and there were many sharp spikes protruding from them, giving them a very sinister and dangerous appearance.
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