Chapter 1289: Leaving the Mansion

Under the blazing golden light, Han Li's clothes instantly turned to ash. His black hair flew upward, standing on end like needles, and his robust body, as if cast from molten gold, was covered with blood-red runic marks, shocking to behold.

The dark green vial hanging on his chest floated up before his eyes under the force.

At that moment, the leaf patterns on the vial suddenly lit up, emitting a green fluorescence that enveloped his entire body.

"Good lad, you've encountered a stroke of fortune. I'll shield you for a while. Relax your mind and fully absorb this power of time law. Leave the rest... to me," the vial spirit's voice suddenly rang out.

Han Li wanted to curse, "You finally speak," but held back.

Following the vial spirit's advice, he stopped resisting and controlling the influx of time law power, instead opening all his apertures to welcome this mighty force.

A thunderous boom seemed to explode in Han Li's heart.

His divine sense sank into the depths of his sea of consciousness, and he found that he could no longer perceive the changes in his physical body. Instead, his perception of the sea of consciousness became more acute.

With a thought, a brilliant golden light lit up in the void of his sea of consciousness, and golden characters emerged, spreading out like a golden scroll before his eyes.

Han Li focused and found it was the content from the golden jade slip given by Mile Lao Zu, containing Mile's insights into time law and many time secret arts of the Truthful Speech Sect.

Among them were several divine abilities like "Dharma Word Heaven and Earth" and "True Word Great Seal."

Han Li began to examine the scroll's text carefully, unconsciously immersing himself, forgetting external things and time itself.

...

On the isolated island, seasons passed, and over ten years went by.

The once vibrant island, eroded by the marsh miasma, had become barren and desolate.

Ti Hun sat alone in meditation by the broken stele at the island's center. Jin Tong was nowhere to be seen, and the black box containing the ghost witch's remnant soul rested on a rock beside her.

A faint sound arose, and the black box suddenly trembled. A dim light flickered on its surface, and the ghost witch's remnant soul drifted out, hovering in midair, looking at Ti Hun with worried eyes.

"The stele's entrance has been sealed for nearly ten years. Your master is likely trapped and dead inside. Why stubbornly wait here? Listen to me, take me to the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, help you recover your memories and powers, and you'll know what you should do!" the ghost witch urged earnestly.

Ti Hun had clearly heard this spiel before; her expression remained unchanged, and she ignored him.

Suddenly, a whistling wind sounded, and a golden light fell from the sky, crashing heavily beside the ghost witch's remnant soul. The blast made his soul unstable.

Jin Tong's figure emerged from the dust, holding a dark green beast in her hand.

She glanced at the ghost witch's soul with displeasure and asked, "Is he trying to persuade you to go with him again?"

"Same old story, nothing new," Ti Hun opened her eyes and smiled.

"Your soul connection with him is broken, yet why are you still so sure he'll return?" the ghost witch asked loudly, unwilling to give up.

"Because he's Uncle," Jin Tong replied naturally, though it seemed illogical.

"Master will definitely return," Ti Hun said simply, then closed her eyes again.

Jin Tong glared at him, then went to sit on a rock, playing with the dark green beast.

The ghost witch sighed, turned into a wisp of smoke, and retreated into the box.

Meanwhile, inside the Yanluo Mansion secret realm.

Han Li still sat cross-legged in place. The golden light radiating from him had faded, but golden spots still glowed all over his body—all the immortal apertures he had opened.

Counting carefully, there were exactly 1,319 immortal apertures, indicating he had reached the peak of the mid-Daluo stage.

"Before, it came uninvited; now, I seek it but cannot obtain it. This corpse-shedding matter is truly unfathomable," Han Li slowly opened his eyes and sighed helplessly.

Around him, the Time Spiral Grand Formation had long been withdrawn, leaving only the Celestial Being realm domain open.

In fact, he had opened these immortal apertures two years ago. He hadn't emerged because he wanted to seize the opportunity to shed the second corpse in one go.

But last time, the "Corpse-Shedding Talisman" forced him to shed the evil corpse; this time, he tried to trigger the good corpse voluntarily, but there was no reaction—he couldn't sense the opportunity at all.

"Enough, enough. I've cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years in this time formation; outside, at least ten years have passed. Jin Tong and the others must be anxious." With that, Han Li stood up.

After his Five Elements Illusory World fully materialized, the time difference power of the Time Spiral Grand Formation increased severalfold. Now, one year outside equaled thirty thousand years inside the formation.

Han Li waved his hand, and the mountains, rivers, stars, and moon of the Five Elements Illusory World shone with golden light, transforming back into five time law manifestations. They glittered with golden light, entwined with countless time crystal threads—exactly 1,800 strands.

For some reason, after reaching 1,800, the crystal threads could no longer increase.

This seclusion had brought him great gains: he had successfully opened immortal apertures, reached the peak of mid-Daluo, doubled his time crystal threads, deepened his understanding of time law, and mastered several powerful divine abilities of the Truthful Speech Sect.

Though he hadn't advanced to late-Daluo as Mile Lao Zu had hoped, he had become substantially stronger.

With a thought, Han Li waved his hand, and a golden vortex appeared before him. He stepped into it.

On the isolated island, the long-silent stele suddenly lit up, and Han Li's figure emerged from it.

Ti Hun opened her eyes immediately.

"Uncle, you're finally out!" Jin Tong dropped the dark green beast in her hand, her face full of surprise.

A dim light flickered on the black box, and the ghost witch's figure appeared again.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Han, on your great advancement," the ghost witch said, a flash of surprise in his eyes quickly replaced by composure.

"Who said my uncle had fallen in there?" Jin Tong pouted.

"Fellow Daoist Han is blessed by fortune; how could he fall? You must have misheard, young lady," the ghost witch said without changing expression.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," Han Li said casually.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I've brought you to the Yanluo Mansion as promised. Now it's your turn to take me to the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk," the ghost witch said.

"Since I promised, I will do it," Han Li said flatly.

Under Han Li's gaze, the ghost witch's heart skipped a beat, and his playful expression froze.

"What adventures did you have inside, Fellow Daoist Han? Your strength has grown so much in such a short time—truly congratulations," he quickly smiled again.

Ti Hun and Jin Tong exchanged surprised glances, scrutinizing Han Li but seeing nothing special.

"You flatter me, Fellow Daoist Ghost Witch. Let's head to the Yellow Spring Marsh first. You lead the way," Han Li said calmly with a slight smile.

"That place is at the intersection of the Black River, Diming, and Yanluo domains. To get there, we must pass through the territories of various tribes in the Yanluo domain. Moreover, King Zhuanlun himself often cultivates near the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, and his subordinates guard the vicinity of the Yellow Spring Marsh. It's not easy to just go there," the ghost witch said.

"Then how do we get there? King Zhuanlun has unified the three domains; his forces must be formidable. How can the three of us contend with his army? And what level has King Zhuanlun reached?" Han Li frowned and asked seriously.

"King Zhuanlun is extremely powerful. He was already at late-Daluo back then; now he's likely at peak cultivation. But he definitely hasn't become a Dao Ancestor, or I would have sensed it," the ghost witch said.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"A King Zhuanlun at peak Daluo—you want us to take you there? That's sending us to our deaths!" Ti Hun said darkly.

"Don't worry. Once we reach the Yellow Spring Marsh, I have a way to sneak us in," the ghost witch said soothingly.

"What way?" Jin Tong asked.

"It's too early to say. Let me keep a little suspense. When we get to the Yellow Spring Marsh, I'll explain in detail," the ghost witch said with a grin.

Jin Tong and Ti Hun's expressions darkened at his frivolous demeanor.

"Ghost Witch, this is no time for jokes. Tell us your plan, or they'll get angry, and you know the consequences," Han Li said sternly.

"Well... fine. The place where the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk resides is a site involving reincarnation. Every so often, a blast of forward-reverse whirlwind erupts there—a six-path gale that even Dao Ancestors dare not touch. At that time, King Zhuanlun and his subordinates will leave the Yellow Spring Marsh, and we can sneak in," the ghost witch said.

"If it's as you say, we can indeed enter. But if the forward-reverse whirlwind is so fierce, how can we get close?" Han Li pondered and then asked.

"I wasn't in charge of the Yanluo domain for nothing all those years. I've studied the forward-reverse whirlwind for a long time and know some loopholes. The time is limited, but enough for us to make a round trip," the ghost witch said with a smug smile.