Chapter 1268: The Bottleneck of Severing the Corpse

At this moment, Han Li did not immediately begin cultivation. Instead, he first put up for sale in the Reincarnation Hall the precious materials he had obtained from Ghost Spirit's cave dwelling.

He currently had few immortal essence stones on hand and needed to quickly stockpile some for future use.

Fortunately, he had acquired these materials from Ghost Spirit's cave, so he did not have to worry about spending immortal essence stones for the time being.

After finishing these trivial matters, Han Li sat down with his eyes closed, activated the *Great Five Elements Illusion World Art*, and began cultivating, aiming to break through the remaining immortal apertures.

“Eh!”

Just as Han Li started to break through the apertures, he suddenly felt a stir in his heart and opened his eyes.

The breakthrough of the immortal apertures was unusually smooth, without any obstruction, and the sensation was completely different from when he had opened immortal apertures before.

At this rate, it would take only a few years to open one immortal aperture, which was almost negligible in this time-difference space.

“Could it be related to my having stimulated the evil corpse, leaving the remaining immortal apertures half-open?” Han Li wondered in surprise, making a guess.

However, he soon stopped thinking about these matters and focused on breaking through the immortal apertures.

In the blink of an eye, over ten years passed. A golden light flashed at Han Li's shoulder, and one immortal aperture opened completely.

He felt a surge of joy, but the next moment, his brow furrowed.

As the immortal aperture opened and his strength increased slightly, the power of the evil corpse sealed in his mind also increased a bit.

The seal of the Soul Severing Chain on the evil corpse seemed to have been stretched open a little, and the baleful aura surrounding it intensified accordingly.

“Heh heh, don’t struggle. The more your power increases, the stronger I become. One day, I will completely break free from this seal, and then your body will be mine!” The evil corpse’s sinister laughter echoed in Han Li’s mind.

Han Li paid no heed to the evil corpse’s clamor. After pondering for a moment, he closed his eyes again and continued to break through the immortal apertures.

Time passed bit by bit, and thirty thousand years flew by in the blink of an eye.

Han Li’s entire body was wreathed in golden light, densely dotted with golden specks, numbering as many as eight hundred and thirty-nine.

His aura had also nearly doubled, rivaling that of mid-stage Great Encompassment cultivators like Wondrous Dharma Immortal Venerable and Ghost Spirit.

However, the fierce baleful aura around Han Li had also thickened considerably. At his brow, black qi swirled, vaguely coalescing into a peculiar rune.

This rune looked very much like a ferocious, malevolent face, flickering with black light as if it might emerge from Han Li’s brow at any moment.

The golden light on Han Li’s body flashed and then withdrew. He opened his eyes.

In his eyes, streaks of blood light flickered, occupying nearly half of his pupils. The dark red pupils revealed a hint of madness, yet his normal eyes remained calm, presenting a highly contradictory appearance.

Han Li looked at the golden specks flickering on his body, a trace of joy appearing on his face.

This time, breaking through the immortal apertures had gone beyond his expectations. In just over ten thousand years, all the remaining immortal apertures needed to advance to mid-stage Great Encompassment had been opened, leaving only the last one untouched.

He was not yet ready to sever the corpse.

However, he could no longer delay. At this moment, evil thoughts arose within him, and the wild laughter of the evil corpse echoed incessantly in his mind.

If not for his strong soul and firm will, he would have long been unable to endure.

Gold Child and Soul-Devouring Beast, sensing Han Li’s awakening, also stopped their cultivation.

For the two of them, given their current cultivation levels, this thirty-thousand-year seclusion was not particularly long. Moreover, they had been constantly worried about Han Li’s safety, which naturally distracted them from cultivation. Thus, although both had improved to varying degrees, the progress was not significant.

“Uncle, are you alright? Over the years, as your immortal apertures increased, it seems… it seems…” Gold Child looked at Han Li’s half-red pupils and the overwhelming baleful aura缠绕 around him, speaking with some concern.

“I can still hold on. Don’t worry,” Han Li said.

“Master, you have opened all the remaining immortal apertures. Are you going to start severing the corpse next?” Soul-Devouring Beast looked at the specks of light on Han Li and asked.

“More or less, but I need to make some preparations first.”

As Han Li spoke, he fell silent, as if contemplating something.

Soul-Devouring Beast and Gold Child exchanged a glance and did not disturb him.

After a moment of silence, Han Li formed hand seals and cast a spell, retracting his spiritual domain. He looked at Gold Child and the others and said:

“Gold Child, Soul-Devouring Beast, I am going to start preparing for the corpse severance. You two stay outside and guard for me.”

Gold Child and Soul-Devouring Beast nodded, stood up, and flew outside.

After the two left, Han Li sat quietly for a while, then took out the black mask of the Reincarnation Hall and put it on, opening the trading interface.

He pointed with a hand seal, and a bounty task appeared on it. The content was a request for methods or insights on severing the evil corpse at the early Great Encompassment stage.

This was a task he had posted in the Reincarnation Hall during his seclusion.

The task promised extremely high rewards in immortal essence stones and various treasures, including Time Dao Pills, various divine abilities and secret techniques, and even the *True Scripture of the Five Thunders*.

Although Han Li had promised these extremely precious rewards, unfortunately, no one had shown interest so far.

Seeing this, he sighed but was not surprised.

Severing the corpse was the key to advancing for Great Encompassment cultivators. In the past, cultivators advancing to Golden Immortal, Tai Yi, or even Great Encompassment had patterns to follow—essentially changes in immortal spiritual power, soul power, and law power.

As long as there were patterns, corresponding methods could be found to assist.

But severing the corpse was different. It involved one’s own obsessions, which were ethereal, invisible, and intangible. Moreover, Great Encompassment cultivators were extremely rare, making it extremely difficult to summarize a set of methods or effective insights.

However, the True Immortal Realm had existed for countless eons, and the major sects and forces had explored methods over generations, eventually developing some techniques, known as “Corpse Severing Arts.”

These Corpse Severing Arts were extremely precious, forming the true core of a sect. It was only natural that no one would exchange them.

Han Li had posted this task only on the off chance. Now it seemed that seeking a corpse severing method in the Reincarnation Hall was ultimately unrealistic.

At this point, only one method remained in his mind.

Han Li took out an object—the Vial of the Time Dao.

With no other choice, he could only risk consuming Time Law Threads to try traveling back to the past again, hoping to consult with Maitreya Ancestor.

Han Li activated the *Great Five Elements Illusion World Art*, channeled power into the Vial of the Time Dao, and called out to the bottle spirit.

But no matter how he called, the bottle spirit did not respond.

“What’s going on?” Han Li frowned.

Last time at the Nine Yuan Temple, the bottle spirit had lost contact with him, and now, after so long, there was still no response.

Unwilling to give up, he continued to call the bottle spirit, but still received no reply.

Han Li’s heart slowly sank. Without the bottle spirit’s help, accurately traveling back to the True Word Sect was impossible.

Without the aid of a corpse severing technique, he could only rely on his own strength to forcibly sever the corpse, greatly reducing the chances of success.

Just then, a white light flew in from the entrance of the Flower Branch Space—a sound transmission talisman.

Han Li was startled, then immediately grabbed it with a void grasp, pulling the talisman into his hand and crushing it.

The talisman turned into a white ball of light, and Soul-Devouring Beast’s voice came from within: “Master, a person named Liu Le’er has come to visit, claiming to be an old acquaintance of yours. Do you know such a person?”

“Le’er… let her into the cave dwelling,” Han Li raised an eyebrow and then said loudly.

“Yes.” Soul-Devouring Beast agreed, and the white light dissipated.

Han Li stood up, calmed his thoughts, and flew out of the Flower Branch Space, arriving at the main hall of the cave dwelling.

In the hall, besides Gold Child and Soul-Devouring Beast, there was a young woman in a green robe—it was Liu Le’er.

Liu Le’er’s aura was surging, and her cultivation had improved significantly since their last meeting, approaching mid-stage Great Encompassment like him.

“Le’er has finally waited for you to return, big brother! It’s so great to see you safe and sound!” Liu Le’er was slightly stunned when she saw Han Li’s current appearance, then rushed over.

Before Han Li could speak, he felt a delicate body throw itself into his arms.

The next moment, he immediately felt two burning gazes fixed on him, and he couldn’t help but touch his nose.

Gold Child and Soul-Devouring Beast exchanged a glance and silently left the hall, leaving the space to Han Li and Liu Le’er.

“Le’er, how did you come here?” Han Li gently rubbed Liu Le’er’s head and asked.

“I happened to be cultivating at the Eight Wasteland Mountain. King Bai Ze told me you were here, so I came immediately,” Liu Le’er said with a smile.

Han Li felt a warmth in his heart, and the turbulent evil thoughts in his mind seemed to be somewhat dispelled.

“Big brother, since you’ve come to the Barbarian Wasteland this time, don’t leave. There are abundant cultivation resources here, and no one from the Heavenly Court will try to harm you,” Liu Le’er looked at Han Li expectantly and said.

“Good Le’er, I appreciate your kindness, but I still have many matters to attend to outside. I cannot stay long in the Barbarian Wasteland this time and will have to leave again soon,” Han Li said.

“Alright… I know you have big things to do, big brother. I won’t force you to stay, but you must come back to see me often,” Liu Le’er’s expression dimmed for a moment, but she quickly recovered and smiled.

“Alright, if I have time, I will definitely come to the Barbarian Wasteland more often,” Han Li said.

Seeing Liu Le’er, he was naturally quite happy. He asked about her recent situation and learned that she, along with other elites from various Barbarian Wasteland tribes, had gathered again at the Eight Wasteland Mountain, cultivating in a mysterious space jointly set up by Bai Ze and Yue Mian.

“Big brother, what’s wrong with your eyes? And why is such strong evil intent缠绕 around you?” Liu Le’er looked at Han Li with concern and asked.

“I am currently trying to sever the evil corpse to advance to mid-stage Great Encompassment, but I ran into some trouble and got entangled by some evil thoughts. Don’t worry, once I completely sever the evil corpse, everything will be fine,” Han Li said lightly, not wanting Liu Le’er to worry about him.

“Sever the evil corpse? Your cultivation is advancing very fast. But I heard from King Bai Ze that if one’s cultivation advances too quickly, one’s understanding of each realm will be insufficient, which is detrimental to subsequent cultivation. Especially after advancing to Great Encompassment, one must carefully comprehend the improvement of each immortal aperture; otherwise, one cannot smoothly sever the corpse and advance,” Liu Le’er said.

“That is indeed true,” Han Li nodded in deep agreement.

“I remember that you have always cultivated alone, big brother, without any sect inheritance. When you sever the corpse this time, do you have a suitable ‘Corpse Severing Art’ to assist you?” Liu Le’er hesitated for a moment and then asked.