With that in mind, Han Li descended several hundred feet into the canyon with blue light flashing through his eyes, and he swept his gaze over the two sides of the canyon. His expression then changed slightly as he focused his gaze on one of the stone faces.
The stone face was of a faint yellow color with several cracks on its surface, and it appeared to be extremely mundane.
However, from a certain angle, Han Li could see that these cracks formed a star diagram.
A hint of elation flashed through his eyes, and he immediately descended directly toward that stone face.
Faint spiritual light flashed from the surface of the stone face, and his body passed through it without any impediment, following which he found himself in an extremely wide and spacious passageway.
There were fist-sized crystals embedded into the walls of the passageway, all of which were shimmering with faint white light.
There was an azure wooden door standing several hundred feet in front of him, and it was slightly ajar.
The door was over 200 feet tall with indentations all over its surface, and it was also missing a corner, so it had clearly been forced open by someone through brute force.
Han Li narrowed his eyes as he appraised the door, and he could see shimmering golden runes carved around the edge of the giant door.
Most of the runes were incomplete, but he was still able to immediately identify that this was golden seal text.
There were two Rong beings seated with their legs crossed and their eyes closed sitting by the sides of the gate, and one of them wore a set of black robes while the other was clothed in white robes.
The two Rong beings also had fur all over their bodies, one of which had fur that was pristine white as snow, while the other had inky-black fur, creating quite a peculiar contrast to behold.
The Rong beings were clearly extremely cautious and had set up lookout posts at multiple locations.
Han Li looked at the gap between the two Rong beings, which was around 30 to 40 feet wide, and his brows furrowed slightly again.
He was very confident in his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, and its concealment abilities had improved significantly now that he had reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, but he would still be incurring some risk if he were to try and pass through between the two Rong beings. He wasn't fully confident in his ability to sneak past these two Rong beings without alerting them.
However, Han Li didn't hesitate for too long before he took a deep breath and drifted silently toward the giant wooden door.
He had already made it to this place, so he couldn't just turn back. If worse came to worst, then he would just have to kill these two and force his way in. That naturally wouldn't be the wisest strategy, but it was the only course of action that was available to him.
There were many Rong beings in this place, but he could whittle them down by adopting guerrilla warfare tactics. His only concern was that the Rong beings could destroy the golden seal text in the cave in a fit of desperation. The damage would be irreparable, and he would've come all this way for nothing.
After all, with True Immortal Realm secret technique like this one, even a few missing golden seal text runes would make it impossible for him to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique. Of course, this was rather unlikely to happen.
If he were to strike quickly enough and even resorted to using his Profound Heavenly blade segment and Gold Devouring Beetles, he was confident that he would be able to kill the Rong beings in the cave before they had a chance to do anything.
Thus, Han Li instantly made up his mind before flying toward the two Rong beings.
300 feet, 200 feet, 100 feet...
Han Li reached the area right between the two Rong beings in the blink of an eye, and right at this moment, the Rong being who was covered in black fur suddenly opened his eyes.
Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately stopped on the spot.
The white-furred Rong being naturally sensed his companion's reaction, and he also opened his eyes before looking around in a perplexed manner. "Did you sense something?"
The black-furred Rong being didn't reply as he released his spiritual sense, which passed over Han Li's body and swept through the entire passageway up ahead before sweeping backward.
"Looks like it was just my imagination. I've been struggling to enter a calm state of mind before I meditate lately, and I don't know why," the black-furred Rong being said.
"I see. That's not really strange; I've also been in the same situation ever since we entered the Vast Glacial Realm. It's most likely because we've been too tense here in this foreign realm," the white-furred Rong being said with a smile.
"Perhaps so," the black-furred Rong being said with his brows furrowed slightly in contemplation.
However, right in the next instant, he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of silver threads hurtling forth, and the silver threads encompassed the entire passageway up ahead.
Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this, but he stood still on the spot and allowed the silver threads to strike him.
A peculiar scene then ensued!
The silver threads merely passed through Han Li's body in a flash before striking the ground and revealing themselves to be a series of hair-thin silver needles that were several inches in length each.
The two Rong beings appraised the empty passageway in an expressionless manner.
Chapter 1742: Spirit Text on the Stone Wall
"Looks like I really have been too tense of late," the black-furred Rong being said as his lips twitched slightly.
"Hehe, we can rest easy now after that," the white-furred Rong being said with a smile, seemingly completely unperturbed by his companion’s abrupt actions.
The black-furred Rong being nodded before closing his eyes, and the white-furred Rong being did the same after sweeping his gaze through the passageway up ahead one final time.
Thus, Han Li passed silently between them, and neither of them opened their eyes as Han Li made his way through the massive azure door.
Only then did he truly heave a sigh of relief. It was very fortunate that the Rong being had unleashed a physical attack that was ineffective against his current body. If he had used a magic attack instead, even the simplest of fireballs would've forced him to reveal himself.
After passing through the azure door, Han Li traversed through the passageway before disappearing around a corner.
This secret cave truly was an architectural masterpiece!
There were countless passageways of different sizes that fanned out like a cobweb, and most of these passageways had been formed naturally.
As such, this place was like a befuddling maze to those exploring it for the first time. Thankfully, Han Li had the map of the secret cave that the elderly man had given him, so he knew exactly what route to take. After a short while, he finally arrived before a natural cave.
This was a cave that was over 300 feet in size with a faint white stone wall on one side. There were rows of golden runes carved over the stone wall, all of which were shimmering with mysterious spiritual light.
Han Li's heart abruptly jolted upon seeing this, and he swept his gaze through the cave to discover that there was a Rong being wearing a conical bamboo hat sitting in front of the stone face.
He wore a contemplative look on his face, and he seemed to be inspecting the text on the stone wall.
This was rather troublesome to Han Li. The text on the stone wall was undoubtedly the objective for his trip, but if he wanted to use a secret technique to replicate this text, there was no way for him not to alert this Rong being.
Han Li stood silently at the entrance of the cave with his brows tightly furrowed in contemplation.
Meanwhile, the Rong being was appraising the stone wall intently while making a hand gesture from time to time, seemingly completely immersed in attempting to decipher the text on the wall.
Han Li finally
made a decision upon seeing this.
He slowly drifted toward this Rong being, and in the blink of an eye, he was only 40 to 50 feet away and continued to close in.
However, the Rong being was still completely oblivious to his presence, clearly immersed in the text on the wall.
Han Li was quite elated to see this, and when he was less than 20 feet away from this Rong being, he finally sprang into action.
Golden light flashed from his body, and he abruptly revealed himself before raising a hand to launch a small black mountain that was enshrouded within grey light. At the same time, his golden body appeared behind him in a flash, and all six of its golden arms were thrust toward the Rong being in unison.
The Rong being was instantly jerked out of his immersive state, and green light flashed from his body as he attempted to unleash some kind of secret technique to flee the scene.
However, almost in the exact same instant, golden light abruptly flashed from the six golden hands, and a burst of invisible enormous force erupted from each of them.
The Rong being felt the air tighten around him, and he was completely immobilized, unable to move so much as a single finger. Even the circulation of magic power within his body had become extremely sluggish.
Meanwhile, the small black mountain expanded above his head before releasing a vast expanse of grey light, as well as countless silver runes.
An expression of shock and fury appeared on the Rong being's face, and he immediately made a decision, taking a deep breath before letting loose a long cry. He was disregarding his own safety to alert all of his other brethren in the cave.
However, the soundwaves were unable to escape beyond the grey light around him, and his heart immediately sank upon seeing this. Before he had a chance to do anything else, a golden thread suddenly erupted from each of the six golden palms, and the threads quickly bound him into a tight cocoon.
At the same time, the silver runes erupting from the Extreme Essencefused Mountain formed a shimmering silver light formation that descended from above.
A dull thump rang out, and the light formation vanished along with the Rong being, as if he had never even been here in the first place.
If someone were to unleash a powerful eye ability that allowed them to see into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, they'd discover that the Rong being was lying unconscious in the belly of the mountain. Not only had his body been bound tightly by golden threads, a layer of silver runes had been plastered all over the Nascent Soul within his body, and it had also been forced into an unconscious state.
From the instant that Han Li revealed himself to the moment that the Rong being was drawn into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, only the span of a few breaths had passed.
Both the golden body and Extreme Essencefused Mountain had attacked in a completely silent manner and also had their spiritual pressure fluctuations minimized to its lowest possible point. As such, as long as there wasn't a third person in the cave, no one would be able to discover that a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage had just been captured alive.
Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon successfully pacifying this Rong being. It was a good thing that he was the only Rong being here, and his attention was entirely focused on the golden seal text on the wall. Otherwise, it definitely wouldn't have been so easy for him to succeed.
If those two Rong beings outside had detected his presence, there was no way that he would've been able to capture them alive; he would've been forced to kill them.
As long as this Rong being wasn't killed, his companions most likely wouldn't be able to detect that anything was amiss.
This spatial ability to draw in beings was something that the Divine Essencefused Mountain had attained after being refined into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.
If he were to completely refine all five extreme mountains, this ability would become unfathomably powerful, and the mountain would even be able to draw in entire seas.
Even though he currently only had one extreme mountain, it was still very powerful, and it would virtually be impossible for that Rong being to escape.
Han Li didn't hesitate any longer after this, stowing away the golden body and black mountain before immediately sweeping a sleeve through the air.
A black ring flew out from within before releasing a burst of azure light that swept downward.
Spiritual light flashed, and faint golden light emanated from the stone wall. However, it remained completely stationary and refused to be drawn into the storage bracelet.
Han Li heaved a faint sigh, but he wasn't all that surprised to see this. If it were that easy to take this item, then it wouldn't have remained here for so long. He had only attempted to draw it into the storage bracelet just in case it worked.
White light flashed, and a palm-sized jade slip sprang out of the black bracelet before hovering in front of the stone wall.
He made a hand seal before quickly pointing a finger at the jade slip, and it immediately released a burst of silver light that encompassed the entire stone wall.
In the next instant, the golden runes on the stone wall warped and twisted, and it was if they had sprung to life within the silver light. Immediately thereafter, balls of golden light flew out of the stone wall before vanishing into the jade slip.
Moments later, all of the golden balls of light had disappeared into the jade slip, and Han Li abruptly withdrew his hand seal.
Silver light immediately flashed from the jade slip, and it fell into his grasp as a ball of white light.
Han Li held the jade slip and injected his spiritual sense into it, upon which a faint smile appeared on his face.
The contents of the jade slip were indeed identical to the golden runes on the stone wall.
He carefully stowed away the storage bracelet and the jade slip before flipping a hand over to reveal a purple talisman, which he adhered to his own body again.
Purple light flashed, and Han Li's body entered an insubstantial state again.
Thus, Han Li continued to traverse through the secret cave and found three more stone walls with golden seal text inscribed upon them. Only one of those stone walls was being guarded by a Rong being, while the other two were left unguarded.
This made Han Li's job a lot easier, and he snuck up on the other Rong being before drawing him into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain as well. Thus, three more sections of the cultivation art were replicated into the same jade slip, and according to the annotations on the map that had been given to him by the elderly man, there was only one part of the cultivation art left.
However, Han Li became even more cautious here rather than allowing himself to grow complacent. He hadn't encountered many Rong beings yet, so they were most likely all gathered in the final cave.
According to the information that he'd eavesdropped earlier, only the restriction guarding the final part of the cultivation art was yet to be broken, so it was no wonder that everyone was gathered there.
With that in mind, Han Li found himself at a crossroads. This was an area that he had to pass through en route to that final cave.
Han Li looked around as he stroked his chin, then suddenly raised a hand, and over 100 formation flags surged out of his sleeve in a frenzy.
This was his most powerful set of formation tools, and it was capable of even trapping Spatial Tempering Stage beings for a while.
On top of that, he also brought out one of his Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, and a massive palatial projection appeared for an instant before vanishing above the formation.
The materials required to refine this talisman were extremely rare, but he managed to purchase some in Cloud City, and was thus able to refine two more of those talismans.
Thus, even if the Rong beings outside were alerted to what was happening in the cave, they would be trapped by these two restrictions for a while before they could reach Han Li.
After doing all of this, Han Li nodded with a pleased look on his face before layin
g a hand on top of his own head, upon which golden light flashed, and the golden body appeared behind him.
He then opened his mouth to expel a ball of black Qi that vanished into the golden body.
"Go!" Han Li instructed without any hesitation.
A ferocious look appeared on one of the golden body's body's faces, and it suddenly vanished into thin air in a wraith-like manner.
Han Li then flicked his fingers to send a ball of silver flames and a pair of silver talismans flying out of his sleeves.
They transformed into a silver Fire Raven and two faint silver figures, respectively, then also vanished into the ground in front of him.
Chapter 1743: Fierce Battle Against a Powerful Opponent
After that, Han Li made a hand seal to summon a white figure, which transformed into a woman in white that also disappeared into the nearby space.
Finally, he brought out his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman again, and silver runes flashed as he faded into nothingness.
His insubstantial body quickly flew toward a certain passageway in a completely expressionless manner, and after taking several turns, a white stone cave finally appeared up ahead.
There were four faint auras emanating from within the cave, and Han Li narrowed his eyes as he continued to drift forward.
Moments later, he reached the entrance to the cave and swept his gaze through its interior. This cave was over 1,000 feet in size, which was far larger than all of the other caves, and it resembled a small plaza.
At the center of the plaza was a semi-spherical silver light barrier, within which was another stone wall that had golden seal text inscribed on its surface.
There was a Rong being seated with their legs crossed at each corner of the plaza, and some of them had their heads lowered in contemplation, while others were staring intently at the silver light barrier.
However, what drew Han Li's attention the most was a tall and broad Rong being with his eyes closed and his hands resting on his knees.
This Rong being wore a set of ordinary grey robes, but there was a huge blade strapped to his back. The entire blade was wrapped in yellow beast hide, with only its thick and long black handle ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) revealed.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1001