Chapter 1304: A Road of No Return

"You've monopolized this Six Paths Reincarnation Disk for far too long. It's time for a new owner! Since I've come, I've already prepared for everything!" Bone Sovereign snorted coldly.

As his words fell, his two bone arms first extended flat to the sides, then rotated up and down respectively, his fingers forming some strange hand seals.

The soul fire in his eyes suddenly blazed brightly, like two raging flames, and the aura he emitted rose steadily. His white bones became even more snowy and translucent, but for some reason, a web of fine cracks appeared on the surface.

Behind him, white light flickered in the void, and a colossal bone domain materialized, instantly spreading in all directions and vanishing into the distant horizon.

In the next instant, the domain had already covered an area of millions of miles, and it continued to expand.

The domain was so vast that it directly enveloped the three realms of Black River, Earth Prison, and Yama, and was still expanding rapidly, as if it intended to cover the entire Netherworld!

The sky now tore apart completely, and beams of light in the shape of bone joints emerged, radiating an immensely heavy law force, as if the laws of heaven were descending.

Wherever the bone domain passed, ghosts with higher cultivation could barely resist with various means, while those of lower cultivation had their flesh and bones separated, their skeletons shooting out and merging into the domain.

Not only that, but the bone domain also penetrated the void, spreading toward some lower realms.

In those realms, at that moment, it was as if a natural disaster had struck!

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of millions of living beings burst apart and died instantly. Countless bones shot out, forming great rivers of bone that merged into a vortex in midair.

Countless bones converged from all directions, merging into the bone domain Bone Sovereign had manifested, forming a colossal bone mountain before him that radiated endless bone-white light, pressing down from above.

Clearly, only now had Bone Sovereign truly revealed the might of a Dao Ancestor!

Inside the Reincarnation Grand Formation, Zi Ling's vision went black, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted, but Han Li caught her.

Meanwhile, Shi Chuankong and Ti Hun's faces turned deathly pale, and with a thud, they sat down on the ground.

Jin Tong was slightly better off, but a layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on his face, and his body swayed unsteadily.

Han Li's mind and soul also shook violently, and he felt dizzy. He quickly activated the Time Law and the Art of Refining the Spirit to steady himself.

A flicker of shock passed through his eyes. So this was the terrifying power of a Dao Ancestor going all out!

But at that moment, the Reincarnation Palace Master smiled slightly and raised his hand, reaching forward.

The void before him stirred, and a colossal hexagonal wheel phantom materialized.

On the wheel's surface corresponding to the six corners, a flow of light and color surged, and densely packed figures emerged rapidly, varying in shape and form, each flickering in and out of existence. Gazing upon them, one felt an indescribably vast aura rushing toward them.

This wheel was under the Reincarnation Palace Master's control, as if everything within it moved with his heart and turned with his will.

It was as if he had mastered all the realms, all the cycles of life and death.

All humans, demons, and ghosts could not escape its control, could not escape the fate of reincarnation!

The hexagonal wheel rotated slowly, just a slight turn.

The bone mountain immediately halted, then with a bang, it shattered and disintegrated, as easily as crushing an egg, turning into a sky full of bone fragments.

Bone Sovereign's figure emerged. From his chest and abdomen down, along with one arm, most of his body had shattered. He let out a terrified scream, turned to flee, but could not move an inch.

"You've also heard that those Dao Ancestors who once challenged me either entered reincarnation or submitted to me. But now, you have no chance to take either path." The Reincarnation Palace Master shook his head with a sigh and flicked his sleeve.

A tremendous suction force emanated from the hexagonal wheel, and Bone Sovereign was sucked into it with a whoosh, vanishing into reincarnation.

The countless bones were also absorbed entirely by the hexagonal wheel and disappeared.

Then the hexagonal wheel flickered faintly, merged into the void, and vanished.

The seething void soon calmed, the space restored itself, and everything returned to peace.

"Among the three thousand great paths, another has now returned to dust. Who knows when it will reappear?" the Reincarnation Palace Master murmured, gazing at the tranquil void.

Seeing Bone Sovereign die in an instant, Xue Li and the others were terrified to the extreme.

They never imagined that the Wheel of Reincarnation King who had once driven a wedge between them was not only scheming but also possessed such astonishing cultivation and means—such a fearsome existence.

"My clone once spared your lives, and now that you've been freed, you should have lived quietly. Why are you so foolish as to come here and throw away your lives?" The Reincarnation Palace Master looked at Xue Li and the others and shook his head.

"Spare us, Wheel of Reincarnation King..." Xue Li and the others, already terrified, knelt and kowtowed repeatedly.

"People often fail to understand the hardships of life. Why are you ghostly beings of the underworld so stubborn? Only when disaster strikes do you repent, but often it's too late. As they say, one reaps what one sows..." The Reincarnation Palace Master said in a detached tone, his gaze inadvertently falling on Han Li.

With that, he waved his sleeve, and a wave of blood-colored qi rolled forth, spreading like dust.

Xue Li and the others were engulfed, their flesh and blood reduced to ashes, leaving only skeletons still kneeling, maintaining their previous posture.

But after a breath, those skeletons also turned into white crystalline powder, scattering on the ground.

Han Li stood aside, his mind shaken. The Reincarnation Palace Master's power far exceeded his imagination.

At that moment, the Reincarnation Palace Master suddenly turned to Han Li and said, "It was time to meet you anyway. Since you came on your own, it saves me the trouble of sending for you. Come into the hall with me."

Hearing this, Han Li's eyes flickered with a strange expression.

But he did not hesitate. Carrying Zi Ling horizontally, he led Ti Hun and the others toward the great hall.

"You and Jiao San will enter the hall with me. The rest will wait outside." The Reincarnation Palace Master then turned and walked into the hall.

Han Li was taken aback. He handed Zi Ling to Ti Hun, then nodded at Shi Chuankong and the others, signaling that he would be fine, and strode forward.

Jiao San followed behind Han Li, glancing at his back with a complex look in her eyes, and entered as well.

The heavy doors slowly closed, and the light inside the hall dimmed.

Han Li glanced around and found the hall quite empty, with only a large black stele standing at the back, inscribed with two ancient seal-script characters in vermilion: "Reincarnation."

Han Li's gaze swept over it, and his heart stirred.

It seemed that the most hidden force in the True Immortal Realm, which dared to oppose the Heavenly Court until now, had survived by hiding in this Netherworld.

And this mysterious Reincarnation Palace Master, though his cultivation appeared not yet at the Dao Ancestor level, his true strength had long surpassed the ordinary Dao Ancestor realm.

All of this made Han Li even more curious about the Palace Master before him.

For some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity with this person, and his intuition told him that the other party had no intention of harming him.

Just then, light flickered on the Reincarnation Palace Master's body, and a dark red domain spread from within him, enveloping the entire hall.

Though Han Li felt no discomfort within it, he could clearly sense that all his connections to the outside world had been severed in an instant, including his link with Ti Hun and the others.

"Han Li, you have participated in many affairs of the Reincarnation Palace before, have a close relationship with Jiao San, and have now helped her. I should acknowledge this debt of gratitude." The Reincarnation Palace Master spoke.

"Jiao San has also helped me greatly. There's no need to dwell on this matter," Han Li replied.

"Your Art of Refining the Spirit has reached the fifth level's great completion—a remarkable feat. But when Jiao San passed on the earlier volumes to you, did she mention the pros and cons of this technique?" the Reincarnation Palace Master asked.

"I am aware of some of its advantages and disadvantages, and I have benefited greatly from it. However, once cultivated, it cannot be stopped, lest one risk mental derangement," Han Li answered.

"Indeed, in practical terms, that is true. But you probably don't know why this technique is like this. Let me be frank with you now." The Reincarnation Palace Master said.

Han Li nodded and waited for the Reincarnation Palace Master to explain.

"The Art of Refining the Spirit is a secret technique I created based on reincarnation mysteries to rapidly enhance soul power. The source of the enhanced soul power does not come from outside but from the cultivator themselves—it is an overdraft of the spiritual power from their future reincarnations. Once started, it cannot stop. The higher the cultivation level, the more soul power is overdrawn, and naturally, the greater the power." The Reincarnation Palace Master said.

"Isn't that like robbing Peter to pay Paul? Won't there be endless consequences?" Han Li asked, startled.

"Overdrawing soul power prevents reaching perfection, and naturally, one will suffer backlash from the fragmented souls of future reincarnations, leading to madness... But if one can cultivate to perfection and reunify the scattered soul forces into a new balance, one can avoid the backlash." The Reincarnation Palace Master nodded and said.

"So, if cultivated to perfection, this technique is not only harmless but rather heaven-defying?" Han Li blurted out.

"To some extent, that can be said. However, because too much spiritual power from future reincarnations is overdrawn, once one re-enters reincarnation, in every subsequent life, they will lack spiritual power, have no aptitude for cultivation, and will likely be born as idiots or fools." The Reincarnation Palace Master added.

"So it's truly a road of no return." Han Li fell into thought upon hearing this, and after a long while, he smiled bitterly.