Chapter 1066: A Battle Destined

Han Li waved his hand to close the light door, then his figure flickered slightly as he flew toward the ruined temple, landing before the only remaining circular archway.

The archway had two dilapidated wooden doors set in its center, their vermilion lacquer severely peeled, looking utterly worn and broken.

In the middle of the two wooden doors was embedded a bronze carving of a beast, resembling a pixiu, somewhat similar to "Xiao Bai," holding a large bronze ring in its mouth, surrounded by dense engraved talismanic patterns.

Judging by the runic patterns, it was not an especially profound prohibition, but the fluctuations emanating from it were identical to the sensation felt when entering the third layer.

Needless to say, the fourth layer was also easy to enter but hard to leave.

Han Li looked for a moment, then set aside his somewhat troubled thoughts and began to arrange the breaking of the formation.

Before long, two beams of light flew over from afar. It was Jin Liu and his companion, who landed behind him.

"Fellow Daoist Shi..." Jin Liu's gaze was somewhat complex. After hesitating for a moment, he cupped his fist and spoke.

Su Quanxi merely studied Han Li's back, neither clasping her fists in salute nor saying anything. In her heart, she felt more wariness and doubt toward this person, who seemed completely different from before.

“Caught up?” Han Li asked casually, not turning his head, continuing with what he was doing.

“Those two ghost generals cost my sect two elders their lives; I couldn't let them go.” Jin Liu showed no displeasure in his eyes at the lack of a turn, only some hesitation.

“I'll go arrange their remains,” Su Quanxi said to Jin Liu, then vanished in a flash.

Jin Liu watched her go, then quickly turned back to stare at Han Li.

He frowned, pondered repeatedly, and finally couldn't help but ask, “Fellow Daoist Shi, your skills are extraordinary, yet you've held back all along. Is there some difficulty you can't speak of?”

“I'm a rogue cultivator, used to being cautious. Fellow Daoist Jin need not be overly wary. I bear you no grudge, and even less do I wish to start one.” Han Li still replied without turning his head.

“Earlier, I failed to recognize your worth and was rude to you, Fellow Daoist Shi. But from how you helped Valley Master Fu and the others, I can see your character is far from petty. So I'm not worried about making an enemy of you; rather, I wish to form an alliance with you.” Hearing this, Jin Liu's eyes flickered slightly, and he spoke with some remorse.

“I'm used to going it alone; an alliance is unnecessary. Besides, under these circumstances, even if I agreed, could we truly trust each other without reservation?” Han Li said with a smile.

"This..." Jin Liu hesitated.

"Traveling together is fate. If there's a chance to lend a hand later, I'll do so, but don't force anything else. When the time is right, we'll part ways and each go our own business." Han Li said slowly.

With that, he set up the deactivation formation, clapped his hands, and straightened up.

As his words fell, a clattering sound came from within the circular archway. The ring in the mouth of the bronze pixiu shrank, and the two wooden doors creaked open slowly outward, revealing a dark red light gate.

"Since you say so, I'll follow your advice." Jin Liu glanced at the light gate, feeling slightly relieved, and nodded.

At that moment, Su Quanxi also flew back. After a few brief words, the three stepped into the light gate together and vanished.

...

Somewhere within the Tower of Time.

On a desolate land strewn with rocks, in the biting wind, stood a solitary black-and-white memorial archway.

Leaning against one of the pillars beneath the archway was a strange figure, with long, broad limbs, fiery red skin, and a head of flaming red hair from which clusters of crimson flames occasionally leaped.

This person was none other than Qimozi, who had just fought a great battle with Han Li.

He sat with his palms pressed together before him, slightly floating in the air, as layers of golden light rippled outward, clearly cultivating some advanced technique.

After a moment, his eyes snapped open, a flash of anger in them.

"Even if I cultivate 'The Collection of Flowing Fire That Breaks Time' for millions of years, it's still useless. Ancestor, oh Ancestor, to whom did you truly pass down 'The Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique'? Could that brat also be your last disciple?" Qimozi ground his teeth and said bitterly.

After a moment of silence, he speculated to himself:

"Or perhaps... that kid, like that gray-haired rat, eavesdropped on a lecture back in the sect?"

But soon, he shook his head, dismissing the thought.

If merely eavesdropping on a lecture could reveal the secrets of 'The Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique,' then he and his fellow disciples would be nothing but utter fools.

"Fortunately, this kid seems to have only scratched the surface. The effects of the Five Elements Illusory World won't last long. Once my cultivation is fully restored, the next time we meet, I'll give him no chance. Even if it means I can't obtain the technique, I'll kill him, or he'll become a great threat later." Qimozi slowly exhaled a breath, calmed his mind, and muttered to himself.

With that, he fixed his gaze, once again formed hand seals, and continued to regulate his breathing and cultivate.

……

Meanwhile, Han Li and the other two appeared on an ice field.

The spot where the three stood was a layer of extremely thick ice. Looking around, they could see numerous rugged icebergs towering in the distance, radiating brilliant light.

A fierce wind swept across the ice field, like an enraged dragon roaring, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

Several hundred zhang behind them stood a massive iceberg, with a spatial gate embedded in it, flickering with crimson light.

Beside the spatial gate stood a stone tablet inscribed with the character "Four."

Seeing the scene before them, the three revealed a hint of surprise in their eyes, but they did not relax and carefully surveyed the surroundings.

Han Li raised an eyebrow. The time restrictions in the void here were stronger than on the third floor, and the limitation on divine sense was even greater, allowing it to extend only half as far as on the third floor. The impact on flight speed was likely also greater.

"Let's go, explore the area," Su Qianxi said softly, shooting into the air.

Han Li and Jin Liu also soared into the sky, and the three chose a direction to fly.

As Han Li's遁光 rose, his eyes flickered slightly. As he had expected, the flight speed on this floor was greatly affected, only half of that on the third floor.

Of course, the three were not flying at full speed but were very cautious, constantly alert to their surroundings.

Han Li flew forward, his face calm, but inwardly he felt as if walking on thin ice, his divine sense fully deployed to monitor the surroundings.

Although he had long anticipated that Qi Mozi would be in this secret realm, his appearance still gave him a great shock.

He had thought that with his greatly increased strength, even if he could not defeat Qi Mozi, he should be able to protect himself, but he never expected to be so狼狈.

What was more troublesome was that his True Word Wheel and other abilities were now completely unusable, drastically reducing his power by more than half. Although Qi Mozi had been injured by the mutated "Great Five Elements Illusory World Art," it had not damaged his foundation, and he did not know if the other party would suddenly appear again.

Moreover, even if he did not attack again, as they continued upward in the Tower of Time, the two would eventually meet, and it would likely be a life-or-death battle.

By some twist of fate, he seemed to have executed some secret technique of the Great Five Elements Illusory World Art, and it appeared to have fooled Qi Mozi. But given the other's shrewdness, he had probably already figured it out by now. When they met next time, it would not be a matter of one party fleeing; it would truly be a fight to the death.

Han Li sighed softly, took out two recovery pills, and consumed them, fully focusing on refining them to restore his consumed immortal power.

After a series of fierce battles, his immortal power had been significantly depleted.

As the pills were refined, his consumed immortal power slowly recovered. Unexpectedly, the dormant True Word Wheel and other time law manifestations stirred, showing signs of awakening.

Sensing this, Han Li was overjoyed and felt somewhat relieved, so he focused even more on refining the pills.

Su Qianxi and Jin Liu seemed to be in the same situation as Han Li, slowly advancing while observing their surroundings and accelerating their recovery.

Time passed little by little, and half a day went by in the blink of an eye.

Somewhat unexpectedly, during this period, they encountered nothing—neither treasures nor dangers like metal beasts or Fire-Year Fireflies.

Everything was eerily quiet, yet it felt somewhat strange.

"What's going on? The uneventful journey makes me uneasy," Jin Liu murmured.

Han Li also frowned slightly. This floor was indeed strange; after walking so long, there was not a single special trace, only the ice field, icebergs, and cold wind.

"This place is indeed strange, without any sign of danger. But that's fine; let's find the spatial entrance to the next floor. If we can reach the next floor without conflict, that would be a good thing," Su Qianxi said thoughtfully.

Han Li and Jin Liu naturally had no objection, but they continuously swept their divine sense around, probing for spatial fluctuations.

They searched forward for another half day without any gains until they arrived before a colossal iceberg, where they finally found something different.

At the base of the iceberg stood a group of palaces, also made of a blue material, but it did not emit cold air, seeming to be some kind of jade material.

The layout of the palaces was quite similar to the ancient temple complex on the third floor, but without the eerie ghostly aura.

However, most of the palaces had collapsed, the traces indicating it had happened long ago, with many places frozen over.

Seeing this, the three were first startled, then exchanged glances.

"Judging by the layout, it's very similar to the third floor. According to the Ghost King, each floor of the Tower of Time holds important prisoners, so there should be some fierce monster imprisoned here. We must be careful," Su Qianxi said solemnly.

"Indeed, being careful can't hurt," Jin Liu added.