Chapter 1032: Sensational

Han Li was overjoyed. He raised his hand and beckoned, and the seven golden pills spun and flew out of the furnace in a string, then were drawn into a palm-sized white jade bottle.

After putting away the jade bottle, he let out a long breath and turned to leave the hall.

Outside the hall, Han Li swept his gaze around, then waved his hand. Silver light flickered beside him, and a silver light door slowly opened, from which the Soul-Devouring Beast walked out.

"Master, this is..." the Soul-Devouring Beast said, looking around.

"We are now in an unknown immortal mansion secret realm, temporarily safe. I plan to go into seclusion here for a while. If I can make further progress in cultivation, I'll have more means to protect myself when facing pursuit by the Immortal Palace," Han Li said.

"Our great disturbance at the Gold Origin Immortal Palace and the killing of its palace master have probably spread throughout the immortal domain by now. The Heavenly Court will not let this go, regardless of their considerations. Those sent after us will inevitably include Da Luo existences like Qi Mozi. Staying here is indeed the safest option. Master, you can rest assured in your seclusion; I will guard you," the Soul-Devouring Beast nodded and said.

"The entrance to this immortal mansion secret realm is over there, surrounded by the original restrictions of the mansion. You only need to focus on that area; there's no need to stay there all the time," Han Li said, pointing to a faint crack in the distant sky, hidden among the clouds.

"Alright, I'll guard the square over there, cultivating while keeping watch," the Soul-Devouring Beast replied.

"Speaking of which, your aura seems to have grown considerably," Han Li suddenly noticed a change in the Soul-Devouring Beast and said with a slight change in expression.

"You have sharp eyes, Master. Since waking up earlier, I've felt a faint trace of law power within me, constantly recovering and growing. But accompanying it is a persistent hunger that is hard to satisfy," the Soul-Devouring Beast smiled and said.

"Hunger?" Han Li asked in confusion.

"I can't explain it clearly. I just feel a constant emptiness in my stomach. It improved a bit after I devoured many ghostly beings earlier. If I encounter any ghost cultivators in the future, I can try again," the Soul-Devouring Beast thought for a moment and said.

"Good. I'll go into seclusion in the front hall. Leave the rest to you," Han Li said with a smile.

With that, the two crossed the flower garden and arrived at the front hall.

The Soul-Devouring Beast went straight to the sundial in the center of the square and sat down cross-legged, while Han Li turned and entered the hall.

The furnishings inside the hall were as before, except for the screen covering the entrance to the five-colored fire pool, leaving only the three white jade cushions.

Han Li walked to the central cushion and sat down cross-legged.

After quietly regulating his breath for a moment, he opened his eyes, turned his wrist, took out the white jade bottle, poured out a golden pill, and tossed it into his mouth.

As the pill entered his abdomen, a rich law power immediately began to spread from his stomach, first permeating his dantian, then flowing toward his limbs and bones.

Han Li closed his eyes slightly, focused his mind, and quickly began to circulate the Grand Five Elements Illusory World Art, guiding this time law power toward specific acupoints in his body.

After a moment, he frowned slightly and opened his eyes, a flash of surprise in them.

He saw that on the white jade cushion beneath him, ring-shaped patterns like water ripples were lighting up with layers of golden light, slowly spreading outward from under him. Then the other two empty cushions also began to glow with golden light.

The entire hall seemed to be coated with a layer of golden liquid, rippling with waves of golden light.

Han Li, sitting in the midst of it, felt surrounded by a peculiar fluctuation of time law, and he fell into an indescribably strange state.

Delighted, he quickly focused his mind, formed hand seals, and resumed circulating the Grand Five Elements Illusory World Art.

As the technique operated, five golden lights appeared around him, spinning unsteadily—these were the manifestations of the five time laws: the True Word Wheel, the Time Vase, the Eastern Yi Divine Wood, and others.

On these law manifestations, over sixteen hundred patterns of dao marks flickered, emitting powerful fluctuations of time law that were deeply unsettling.

After the manifestations like the True Word Wheel appeared, all the golden light enveloping the golden hall began to close in like petals, one after another, surrounding Han Li and eventually forming a large golden bud.

Feeling the strands of time law power flowing into his body, Han Li was immensely surprised and delighted.

He knew that this secret realm must hold hidden secrets, but cultivation was the most urgent matter now; everything else would have to wait until he emerged from seclusion.

...

Time passed, and over two hundred years went by.

On the white jade square in the immortal mansion secret realm, a black-clad girl sat cross-legged beside the sundial, her eyes fixed on the distant void rift, her gaze slightly heavy, lost in thought.

On her shoulder sat a silver figure, about five inches tall, enveloped in silver flames, with seven colorful flames standing upright on its head, looking like a head of multicolored fiery hair.

The girl was the Soul-Devouring Beast, and the little one on her shoulder was the Essence Flame Firebird, who had already emerged from seclusion.

After completely refining the multicolored fire cinnabar, the firebird's humanoid form had grown significantly, and the seven highly recognizable strands of multicolored flame had appeared on its head.

Unlike the girl, who faced the distant void rift, the silver flame figure sat facing the opposite direction, toward the golden hall behind, dangling its slender legs and swaying, looking somewhat dejected.

"Little Jingjing, are you also hoping for the master to come out soon?" the Soul-Devouring Beast sensed the Essence Flame Firebird's mood and asked with a smile.

The latter nodded heavily, and the multicolored flames on its head jumped abruptly a few times.

The Soul-Devouring Beast knew that this fellow was eager to show Han Li the power it had gained after devouring and absorbing the multicolored fire cinnabar, so she shook her head helplessly.

A few days ago, when it first emerged from seclusion, its silver flames, mixed with strands of multicolored fire, surged outward, almost uncontrollably burning down all the trees in the secret realm.

Fortunately, the Soul-Devouring Beast intervened in time to prevent the flames from spreading to the buildings, but the original forest ahead had been completely burned, and half of the white jade square had turned black.

Just then, the entire square suddenly shook violently, and the whole secret realm began to tremble.

The Soul-Devouring Beast's gaze sharpened, and she leaped into the air.

The Essence Flame Firebird on her shoulder seemed startled, stumbling and nearly falling off.

Flying into the sky, the Soul-Devouring Beast looked down and saw the gray mist surrounding the edge of the secret realm churning violently, seemingly retreating.

As the gray mist receded, the area of the immortal mansion secret realm gradually expanded.

"This is the third time since the beginning of the month..." the Soul-Devouring Beast murmured to herself.

This was not the first time she had seen such a scene, but each time the mist churned more intensely, and the exposed area grew larger.

After about ten breaths, the ground shaking completely stopped, and the surrounding gray mist gradually ceased churning.

The Soul-Devouring Beast looked toward the golden hall where Han Li was in seclusion, a hint of worry in her eyes.

Eighty years ago, Han Li had already broken through to the late Tai Yi stage, causing a considerable celestial phenomenon in the secret realm. But for some reason, he did not choose to emerge then and continued in seclusion until now.

...

At night.

Inside the golden hall, light overflowed, and a translucent golden bud stood in the center.

Inside the bud, Han Li could be seen sitting cross-legged, his skin translucent like fine jade, almost transparent. Through his skin, one could even see his pale golden bones and clear meridians and vessels.

On his body surface, immortal apertures shimmered with golden light, numbering as many as three hundred and fifty-nine.

Han Li's cultivation had now reached the peak of the Tai Yi stage!

Beneath him, the ring patterns on the three white jade cushions had become quite dim, and no more golden ripples emanated from them, indicating that the time law power contained within was nearly exhausted.

Just then, Han Li's tightly closed eyes suddenly trembled slightly and slowly opened. In his eyes, it seemed as if substantial golden light surged out, extending three inches.

"Whoosh..."

He suddenly opened his mouth, and a wisp of white mist slowly exhaled.

After a moment, Han Li's expression calmed, and he blinked slowly. All the phenomena around him began to dissipate like mist, and even the golden light in his eyes disappeared.

At this moment, his spirit, energy, and vitality were complete; his divine light was inwardly gathered, with no sharpness exposed.

At first glance, one might not notice anything unusual, but after gazing for a moment, one would feel that his body seemed to be shrouded in a faint, elusive divine light—a sign that the Tai Yi Jade Immortal body had reached complete transparency.

"It seems I can only go this far. Breaking through to the Da Luo stage in one go is impossible..." Han Li muttered to himself.

After saying this, he smiled self-deprecatingly, feeling that he had been somewhat greedy.

In just over two hundred years, he had gone from the mid-Tai Yi stage directly to the peak of Tai Yi, only a step away from achieving Da Luo.

Even with the support of this peculiar environment, the assistance of seven time-law pills, and the foundation of over nine hundred profound apertures opened throughout his body, such a speed of breakthrough was still sensational.

If this were told, most cultivators would simply not believe it.

Thinking of this, Han Li was overjoyed.

After sitting quietly for a moment, he slowly stood up and stretched, his body emitting a series of crackling sounds like popping beans.

Just as he was about to walk out of the hall, a soft "crack" sound suddenly reached his ears.