Chapter 1147: Returning to the True Word Sect

At the sight, the expression of the Wonderful Dharma Venerable suddenly changed, but when she saw the green light gradually contracting, her brows raised sharply, and a barely restrained look of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"It's... the Vial of Time!" she exclaimed inwardly, and her figure abruptly accelerated, charging downward.

But in the next instant, a golden ring separated from within the green light, and thirty Time Crystal Threads peeled off from it, turning into a crystalline powder that flew into the green mass.

The green light suddenly condensed and rapidly contracted, transforming into a dark green vial, which, along with the golden ring, flew into the crystal wall vortex and disappeared.

"No..." Seeing the treasure her sect had painstakingly sought slip away before her eyes, the Wonderful Dharma Venerable could no longer contain herself and screamed hysterically.

Chi Meng also withdrew her Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover with a grim expression, wanting to examine the crystal wall up close.

But before they could approach, the crystal wall gradually became ethereal and eventually vanished into the air, and the last traces of Time Law fluctuations around them disappeared without a trace.

Seeing this, the Wonderful Dharma Venerable's anger reached its peak, and she glared at Chi Meng with eyes blazing with fury.

If not for this woman's interference, she would have already returned to the sect with Han Li and the Vial of Time. This would have been the greatest achievement of all elders and disciples of the Nine Yuan Temple in nearly ten million years, but it was all ruined by her.

"The target is gone. There's no point in us fighting anymore. Let's stop this pointless struggle..." Seeing her like this, Chi Meng frowned slightly and said.

Before she could finish speaking, a storm of pear-blossom-like bone-chilling ice arrows flew in, freezing the entire surroundings in an instant.

"I tried to reason with you, but you wouldn't listen. Do you really take me for a clay Buddha?" Chi Meng, inherently proud, saw this and her anger flared up. She formed hand seals and actively charged at the Wonderful Dharma Venerable.

This realm once again fell into chaos.

Lan Yan and the Wonderful Dharma Venerable's maidservant were waiting tens of thousands of miles away, watching the earth-shattering commotion from afar, not daring to approach.

"I wonder how Fellow Daoist Han is doing..."

As soon as this thought crossed Lan Yan's mind, she felt somewhat disloyal to her sect and could only sigh inwardly.

...

On the other side, Han Li's figure had already appeared on that desolate plain.

Beneath him, a mighty river flowed from the edge of the sky, stretching for millions of miles without end.

In the river, countless water droplets and light spheres drifted along the current, dense and endless.

Just as Han Li was growing anxious, he saw a golden and a green light flying out from the void, racing toward him.

Within the golden light, a golden ring spun unsteadily. When it drew near, it directly transformed into a golden ring that slipped onto Han Li's finger.

The green light landed in Han Li's hand, turning into the dark green vial.

"Boy, what are you dallying for? Take the Vial of Time and enter here. Your Time Dao Rune power will deplete quickly. Hurry up and choose a Time Water Drop to traverse," the bottle spirit reminded him at that moment.

Unprepared, Han Li hesitated, unsure where to traverse.

After a moment of thought, he suddenly recalled that he felt his understanding of the Great Five Elements Illusion World Art was lacking in some areas, and his recent seclusion had failed to break through, leaving him deeply puzzled.

Since he could now traverse physically, why not go to the True Word Sect again and seek guidance from Maitreya Ancestor?

"Senior Bottle Spirit, can you take me back to the True Word Sect before its destruction?" Han Li asked immediately.

"That is certainly possible, but traversing together with the Vial of Time also requires the support of Time Law power, which means consuming Time Crystal Threads," the bottle spirit said directly.

"More crystal threads?"

Hearing this, Han Li felt his heart bleed. The thirty Time Crystal Threads from before had already pained him, and now he had to consume even more?

"This mainly depends on the time you want to traverse. The further back in time, the more Time Law power is needed. To return to the time before the True Word Sect's destruction, you'll need at least another twenty Time Crystal Threads," the bottle spirit said.

After hesitating for a moment, Han Li gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go!"

"Wait," said the bottle spirit.

As soon as it spoke, a crystalline light flashed on the golden ring on Han Li's hand, and twenty Time Crystal Threads separated from it, flew onto the Vial of Time, and turned into crystalline powder that merged into it.

A flash of light appeared on the Vial of Time, and circles of green ripples continuously emanated from its body.

Soon, on the winding river, a droplet sphere emitting a faint light floated up from the river surface and drifted toward Han Li.

"This is it," said the bottle spirit.

With a thought, Han Li sent a wisp of divine sense onto the droplet, trying to see the image on it.

But then, the droplet sphere suddenly brightened, emitting a tremendous devouring force, and with a "whoosh," it pulled Han Li's entire body over.

Han Li felt a dizzying spin, his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

...

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li's eyes snapped open, and he found himself standing in an ordinary room.

The room was not large, with two small windows. The furnishings were simple: a pinewood table and chairs by the window with a teapot and cups, and three neatly made beds on the other side.

On the wall opposite the beds hung a horizontal scroll with a portrait of a big-eared monk, none other than Maitreya Ancestor.

Han Li looked around; it seemed to be a room shared by several True Word Sect disciples. Sensing no danger, he breathed a sigh of relief.

A blurry golden ring hovered above his head, densely covered with over sixteen hundred Time Dao Runes.

The Vial of Time was now suspended in the center of the golden ring, but the bottle spirit was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps affected by the golden ring, the Vial of Time also appeared blurry.

Seeing this, Han Li raised an eyebrow and then pushed the door open to go out.

Outside was a quadrangle courtyard, with many similar courtyards nearby, numbering in the hundreds.

These courtyards were built against a huge white mountain. Beside the cluster of courtyards stood rows of white jade palaces, stretching to the horizon. Floating peaks in midair also housed palace buildings.

Han Li was no stranger to this place; he had come here once before during his soul traversal, and it was the True Word Sect's mountain gate.

However, when he came last time, the Heavenly Court was attacking the True Word Sect, and the place was filled with smoke and ruin. Now it was clean and orderly, like celestial palaces, displaying the grandeur of a major sect.

In midair, white-robed True Word Sect disciples flew past, appearing prosperous.

Han Li quickly formed hand seals, and a spiritual light flashed over his body, turning him invisible to avoid trouble.

After a moment's hesitation, he risked releasing his divine sense, spreading it outward.

A moment later, a joyful expression appeared on Han Li's face. He soared into the air and flew toward the peak of the white giant mountain, simultaneously using the Ten Thousand Apertures Void Stillness Art to conceal his aura.

In a few breaths, he landed in front of a two-story white pavilion at the mountain's summit.

Beside the pavilion stood a bluish-black stone tablet inscribed with three large characters: "Scripture Pavilion."

The place was quiet and sparsely populated, with only an old, white-haired man sitting cross-legged before the pavilion's gate, apparently the guard.

This man's cultivation was impressive, having reached the mid-stage Tai Yi realm.

Han Li landed silently. The white-haired man seemed to sense something, abruptly opening his eyes and looking around with a puzzled expression.

However, Han Li's Ten Thousand Apertures Void Stillness Art was truly profound, and his invisibility technique was a mysterious method he had learned before, infused with some subtleties of the "Dharma Word Heaven and Earth" art. Thus, even though they were close, the white-haired man could not detect him.

Han Li smiled slightly, formed a hand seal, and pointed. Several crystalline chains shot from his fingertips toward the white-haired man's head.

The chains became visible as soon as they left Han Li's body.

The white-haired man's expression changed, and white light flared up around him as he prepared to leap up.

At the same time, he flipped his hand and produced a white token, causing the restrictions on the Scripture Pavilion behind him to stir.

But the crystalline chains were too fast; before the old man could stand, they had already pierced into his brow.

The white-haired man's movements froze instantly, maintaining a strange half-standing, half-sitting posture.

Han Li subdued the white-haired man in an instant and carefully sensed the surroundings. Nothing unusual happened; apparently, no one had noticed. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Without dispelling his invisibility technique, he took the white token from the old man's hand, sensed it with his immortal spiritual power, and immediately understood its function. He walked to the pavilion's gate, formed hand seals, and activated the token.

A beam of white light shot from the token and entered the pavilion's gate.

A layer of white crystalline light screen appeared on the gate, with countless talisman patterns flashing on it.

Han Li formed hand seals again and urged the token, sending another white light into the light screen.

The talisman patterns on the light screen rapidly faded, and then the white light screen disappeared. With a creak, the pavilion's gate slowly opened.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face. He was about to step inside when he suddenly stopped, raised his hand, and pointed at the stiff white-haired man beside him.

Five slender black lights shot from his fingertips and entered the old man's body.

The white-haired man's dull expression immediately relaxed. Although still somewhat wooden, it was now not much different from a normal person. His body regained movement, and he sat down cross-legged.

This was a puppet secret technique Han Li had learned from Crab Daoist back in the Ji Lin Void Realm. It was far inferior to true puppet laws, but it was more than enough to control the white-haired man, who was already under a divine sense prison, to prevent him from standing there stiffly and revealing a flaw.

After doing this, Han Li straightened his clothes, walked into the pavilion, and casually closed the gate behind him.

White light flickered on the pavilion's gate, once again engulfing it.