Chapter 1324: Tempering Swords in the Thunder Sea

Han Li felt the changes in the world as the image of the Thunder Kui dissipated, and the boundless might emanating from that heavenly gate filled him with shock beyond measure.

After an unknown length of time, he finally recovered from his shock and murmured to himself:

"That eye... is actually a relic of a Dao Ancestor!"

Even after withdrawing the True Vision Eye and retracting the Truth Dharma Wheel into his body, Han Li's heart could not calm down.

To this day, no one had ever heard of a Dao Ancestor of Lightning existing in the world. This giant Thunder Kui beast was likely the previous Dao Ancestor of Lightning. Born with a lightning body, it could roam freely among the divine thunder of the nine heavens. But as it became more attuned to the lightning laws of heaven and earth, its final归宿 was to be devoured by the Heavenly Dao, becoming a part of this world.

This lightning eye was the last remnant it forcibly left behind in the True Immortal Realm before being devoured by the Heavenly Dao.

Han Li once again fully activated his Spirit Refining Art. Upon careful investigation, he found that the power contained within the lightning eye was even more terrifying than he had estimated. However, it had become pure lightning energy, with no trace of the Thunder Kui's divine will remaining.

After a moment's thought, Han Li felt relieved.

If there were still remnants of divine will within this giant eye, it would have long since begun cultivating again and staged a comeback. How could it remain day after day in this sea region? Moreover, under the devouring of the Heavenly Dao, how could any divine will remain?

He stared at the giant orange eye for a moment, then suddenly snapped his fingers.

A layer of golden light curtain rapidly expanded from his surroundings, enveloping the entire thunderstorm sea.

At the same time, the Grand Five Elements Illusory World Art within Han Li's body began to circulate, and manifestations of time laws such as the Truth Dharma Wheel emerged one after another, transforming into ten-thousand-mile mountain ranges, great rivers, and round moons and stars, surrounding the entire thunderstorm sea.

As soon as these five天人境 domain objects, imbued with powerful time law power, appeared, they immediately provoked a frenzied resistance from the thunderstorm sea. The giant orange eye "gazed" at Han Li, and a great roar erupted from the nine heavens' sea of clouds.

The entire thunderstorm sea became more frenzied than ever before. All the giant lightning pillars descended without pause at that moment, like an unending waterfall, bombarding Han Li's mountains and great rivers.

Han Li paid no heed to this. With a mere thought, time in the surrounding void seemed to freeze. All the descending lightning bolts flickered with sparks and halted in the void, without any fluctuation or sound.

In this small world, only Han Li could move freely.

He waved his hand lightly and strolled through the void. The seventy-two Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords floated behind him, moving slowly along with him.

Han Li walked a full circle around the Thunder Kui Eye, pausing every few steps. With a casual wave of his hand, a Green Bamboo Swarm Cloud Sword flew out and hovered in the void outside the giant eye.

After completing three hundred and sixty steps, all seventy-two Green Bamboo Swarm Cloud Swords had taken their positions, arrayed around the giant eye.

Han Li carefully inspected the positions of all the Swarm Cloud Swords. Confirming no errors, he flipped his palm, and an octagonal jade plate, pure white and凝如凝脂, appeared in his hand.

This object was none other than the formation diagram of the Heaven-Through Sword Formation.

During his years of secluded cultivation, Han Li had not relaxed his study of this formation diagram. As his cultivation steadily increased, he had finally unraveled the mysteries of this sword formation jade plate.

He had originally thought it must have been refined by the founding patriarch of the Heaven-Through Sword Sect, but later discovered its profound mystery—it was beyond human craftsmanship. It should be a Xuantian object manifested by the laws of the sword.

This sword formation originally possessed no attributes of the five elements, wind, or thunder. Only because the flying swords used to set up the formation had different attributes could it unleash powerful effects of different attributes. Thus, it inherently contained the laws of the sword, allowing any attribute to be accommodated and exert its power.

At this moment, the sword formation arranged by all the Green Bamboo Swarm Cloud Swords was a “Great Refinement” formation of immense power within the Heaven-Through Sword Formation. Today, Han Li intended to use this Heaven-Through Sword Formation jade plate to refine the Thunder Kui Eye.

After completing the arrangement, Han Li formed hand seals with both hands, and a chanting sound rose from his mouth.

A soft hum sounded!

The octagonal jade plate trembled slightly, its符文 flowing swiftly like drifting clouds. In an instant, a brilliant emerald light blazed forth, and a resplendent radiance rippled out, transforming into a massive octagonal light disk suspended above the Thunder Kui Eye.

Seeing this, Han Li leaped high into the air, landed in the center of the octagonal light disk, and sat down cross-legged.

His eyes凝神, he formed hand seals before his chest. Instantly, the octagonal light disk beneath him blazed with light, and countless illusory sword shadows shot out, falling like spring rain onto the giant eye below.

The seventy-two Green Bamboo Swarm Cloud Swords also emitted trembling hums. Blinding golden light shone from all the sword bodies, interconnecting with each other, coalescing into a massive phantom of a Bagua alchemy furnace in the void, encompassing the Thunder Kui giant eye.

The octagonal light disk transformed from the sword formation jade plate was like a furnace lid, sealing all the phenomena within the alchemy furnace.

Rumble...

Amidst violent roars, a golden light lit up on the Thunder Kui Eye, which had remained still, and the lightning churning in the sea of clouds outside suddenly ceased.

In the next instant, phantoms of Thunder Kui condensed from within the eyeball, their bodies wrapped in the purest golden thunder of heaven and earth, charging wildly toward the surroundings of the alchemy furnace phantom, with purple smoke swirling around them, presenting a magnificent spectacle.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

After each Thunder Kui struck, a deafening roar erupted, and the entire Thunderstorm Ocean trembled violently.

Han Li sat steadily on the octagonal light disk, his body shaking violently as well, while strands of numbing electric currents shot out and struck him.

But at this moment, he could not afford any distraction; he had to strictly control all the flying swords and the formation diagram. Otherwise, once the Thunder Kui broke through, not only would the Eight-Trigram Cauldron explode, but the entire Thunderstorm Ocean and the two adjacent continents would be swept by an unprecedented thunderstorm, erased from the map of the Northern Cold Immortal Domain forever.

"Swords guard as offense, great refinement of the void..." Han Li murmured softly.

The seventy-two flying swords and the formation diagram activated simultaneously, pouring countless sword qi and sword shadows into the cauldron, refining the Thunder Kui's eye like furnace fire.

...

Meanwhile, at the edge of the Barren Continent.

Tens of thousands of Gray Realm creatures, like a swarm of locusts, crowded densely at the continent's edge, gazing across the sea at the Thunderstorm Ocean.

In front of these Gray Realm creatures stood several hundred Gray Realm cultivators, led by a tall man in a black robe, wearing a suit of armor covered in green rust, his skin pale and bluish, his expression solemn.

"Lord Moshi, should we go investigate?" asked an old man standing behind him, also in a black robe but thin and small, his voice hoarse.

"No need. Whatever is there is beyond our ability to handle. As long as it doesn't provoke us, don't create unnecessary trouble. Just keep it under close surveillance," said the tall man called Moshi, shaking his head.

"Yes," the thin old man immediately replied.

"Keep these creatures in check and don't provoke them. There are still some cities on the Barren Continent that haven't been conquered; we need to speed up," Moshi instructed.

This time, including the thin old man, several Gray Realm cultivators responded in unison: "As you command."

...

Time passed, and several months had gone by.

The Thunderstorm Ocean had undergone earth-shaking changes. The originally boundless thunderstorm sea area had vanished, leaving only a thundercloud region less than a hundred miles in diameter.

Within that thundercloud region, a figure was pacing back and forth around a cauldron about ten feet high, frowning, looking quite troubled. Naturally, it was Han Li.

"It's clearly been refined, so why can't it be split?" Han Li murmured to himself, stroking his chin.

Inside the cauldron, one could see an orange-yellow eyeball the size of a dragon's eye, covered in a layer of golden electric threads, constantly emitting a crackling sound.

Around the eyeball, seventy-two Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, reduced to half their size, hovered in the void, trembling up and down, connected by electric threads, appearing as a single entity at a glance.

According to Han Li's original plan, with the aid of the Heaven-Piercing Sword Formation diagram, the Great Refinement Sword Formation would refine all the power of the Thunder Kui's eye into the seventy-two Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, elevating their quality to the level of fourth-grade immortal artifacts.

But for some reason, although the refinement had been completed smoothly, the Thunder Kui's eye simply could not split, and thus could not be fully absorbed into the seventy-two swords.

"Where is the problem? How can I break it..." Han Li muttered to himself.

Just then, a flash of inspiration struck him, and joy appeared in his eyes. He turned his wrist, and a burst of light flashed in his palm.

When the light faded, a green Xuantian Gourd appeared in his hand.

This Xuantian Gourd had absorbed the remnant law power of the Xuantian Heaven-Slaying Sword long ago, and the gourd nurtured the law of destruction. Wouldn't it be perfect to use it to help split the Thunder Kui's eye?

With this thought, Han Li hesitated. Although the Thunder Kui's eye had been refined, it was ultimately a relic of a Dao Ancestor, containing extraordinary lightning power. This Xuantian Gourd was still too low in grade and might not withstand its might.

"It seems there's no better way. I'll send the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in as well to help suppress the Thunder Kui's eye," Han Li murmured, thinking of a makeshift solution.

Having said that, he no longer hesitated. He made a hand seal and pointed, and the Eight-Trigram Cauldron dissipated into smoke, exposing the Thunder Kui's eye and the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in the void.

Instantly, the remaining thunderclouds covering a hundred miles surged wildly, with lightning spewing and thunder roaring.

Seeing this, Han Li quickly raised the Xuantian Gourd, chanted a few incantations, and slapped the bottom of the gourd.

A light flashed on the Xuantian Gourd, and a mass of green mist spewed from the gourd's mouth, forming a misty vortex that spun violently.

With a whistling wind, a powerful pulling force emanated from the vortex.

Holding the gourd in one hand, Han Li used the other to beckon, guiding the Thunder Kui's eye and the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords into the green vortex, drawing them into the Xuantian Gourd.

As soon as the eye and the swords entered the Xuantian Gourd, the strange sounds and momentum of the surrounding thunderclouds immediately subsided.