Chapter 1384: Variable

After muttering to himself, Gu Huojin suddenly recalled the half-hexagram that Chen Tuan had cast for him earlier, and a shadow of gloom passed over his heart.

"You truly are the greatest variable today. This time, I will eliminate you at any cost! No one, no matter who, can obstruct my grand plan!" Gu Huojin roared.

As his words fell, spiral runes lit up around him, and the chaotic vortex behind him, which had been expanding, churned violently. A massive gray orb detached from it and shot toward Han Li at extreme speed.

Han Li had long been prepared for this. With a slight raise of his eyes, he suddenly parted his hands, which had been clasped before him, and thrust both palms forward.

He felt a gentle breeze brush past his ears, yet countless golden lights emerged from the void, surging toward the enormous gray orb.

Where the golden lights converged, the outline of a River of Time gradually became clear. The originally calm current instantly swelled, rushing like a mountain flood, colliding with the gray orb.

The two colors of light clashed, stirring up monstrous waves.

The gray orb continuously absorbed the surrounding golden rays, growing larger and larger, but its forward speed became slower and slower.

By the time it had swelled to over a hundred thousand zhang in size, it had almost come to a halt.

But then, a thunderous roar suddenly exploded!

A dazzling golden light flashed in the center of the immense chaotic orb, and with a deafening boom, it split in two, then flashed and exploded.

"Boom, rumble..."

A series of continuous explosions followed. The void within a million li first expanded rapidly, and all celestial energy, dust, and light turned into nothingness.

An instant later, the aftermath of the explosion began to contract rapidly, leaving only a collapsed black void that continuously absorbed matter from the surrounding void to fill it.

Gu Huojin watched the scene before him, his brow slightly furrowed.

Several hundred thousand li in front of him, a River of Time suddenly emerged. Han Li's figure moved along it, illusory yet real. With each step, he seemed to cross a hundred years, and with a flicker, he arrived ten thousand li away.

Gu Huojin looked at the tall young man surrounded by five manifestations of time law, about to say something, but saw the man already throwing a punch at him.

As Han Li threw the punch, the five manifestations of time law around him instantly shot out and merged into the river beneath him.

The surging River of Time immediately transformed into a colossal golden fist shadow, surrounded by blazing golden flames, hurtling straight toward Gu Huojin.

Without traversing the void or spatial barriers, this Great Five Elements Annihilation Fist, imbued with the true essence of time law, landed on Gu Huojin the moment it was thrown.

"Boom..."

A thunderous explosion shook the heavens. The golden fist shadow burst apart, and blinding golden light filled the entire void. The shockwave from the explosion directly shattered the two giant arms extending from the chaotic vortex.

The Demon Lord and the Wheel of Reincarnation Lord felt the pressure ease and immediately retreated hundreds of thousands of li without a word.

Shocked, they both glanced at Han Li and saw rolling torrents of time law swirling around him, blurring the void in that area.

"Using time law so recklessly, isn't he afraid of being assimilated by the Heavenly Dao?" the Demon Lord asked through divine thought, frowning.

The Wheel of Reincarnation Lord only shook his head silently, saying nothing.

After a moment, the golden light of the fist shadow finally dissipated, and the five manifestations of time law flew back and merged into Han Li's body.

He stared at Gu Huojin, his brows tightly knit.

As the light faded, Gu Huojin's figure reappeared. Not only was there no trace of injury on him, but his aura had actually increased.

"The Chaos Method can devour all things. I am already in an invincible position. How much more time law power do you have? Send it all over, haha..." Gu Huojin laughed heartily, sweeping his gaze over Han Li.

Han Li was about to speak when he felt a burning pain in his chest.

He looked down and saw the dark green vial on his chest glowing red, an unprecedented sight.

"Boy, what are you staring at? Now that you've attained the Dao Ancestor position, you are qualified to try refining the Vial of Time. Hurry up and try," a familiar voice rang out in his sea of consciousness.

"Senior Vial Spirit, what do you mean by refining the Vial of Time?" Han Li hesitated.

"Boy, why do you think the Vial of Time is named 'Vial of Time'? This object accompanied the birth of the Heavenly Dao and is the first Xuantian object born from chaos. It contains not only all the laws of the Heavenly Dao but also remnants of chaos. Now that Gu Huojin has absorbed the chaos law and is trying to become a Chaos Dao Ancestor to recreate the world, if you don't try to refine this vial, what chance do you have?" the Vial Spirit said urgently, somewhat angrily.

"Senior, why did you only tell me now?" Han Li pressed.

"You're so full of questions! Though I am the Vial Spirit, I was actually born from the previous you—the Wheel of Reincarnation Lord—when he poured all his time law power into the vial. I'm not truly the vial's spirit; I'm just a dweller inside it. Over these endless years, I've been cultivating, trying to glimpse the true secrets of the Vial of Time," the Vial Spirit explained rapidly.

"So when I called you and got no response, you were cultivating?" Han Li asked in surprise.

"Yes. This time, Gu Huojin is disrupting the Heavenly Dao, trying to return the world to chaos so he can recreate heaven and earth and establish new rules. The vial, born with the creation of the world, sensed this and revealed everything to me... Enough, stop wasting time. Refine the Vial of Time quickly, and I'll help you," the Vial Spirit urged again.

Han Li was about to speak when a thunderous roar sounded above him. A gray cloud condensed, and a chaotic lightning pillar entwined with cyan and purple lightning suddenly descended from the sky, striking straight at him.

Without his mental command, the seventy-two sword spirit children flew out and quickly formed a massive sword formation in the air, from which countless Du Tian Divine Thunders surged to meet the chaotic lightning pillar.

"Boom!" A thunderous crash!

The two lightning bolts exploded simultaneously, and the resulting storm instantly swept across millions of li. The surrounding void, as fragile as paper, was torn open with enormous gashes. Various spatial storms churned chaotically, and most of the Central Immortal Realm was completely destroyed.

The sword formation formed by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords collapsed under the immense impact, scattering back into the form of children and flying back to Han Li.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, Lord of the Wheel, I ask you two to protect me for a while. I have a method that might give us a chance in this situation," Han Li transmitted.

The Demon Lord hesitated slightly, but the Wheel of Reincarnation Lord agreed immediately.

"If you have no way to stop Gu Huojin, then trust him," the Wheel of Reincarnation Lord transmitted to the Demon Lord, then flew toward Han Li.

The Demon Lord frowned but did not hesitate and followed closely.

The two flew to Han Li's left and right, standing like two gate gods in front of him.

Han Li sat cross-legged in the void, pulled off the Vial of Time hanging around his neck, and clasped it in his hands.

A moment later, a dazzling crimson light burst from between his palms. The light seemed to penetrate his body, illuminating his bones and meridians, all glowing red.

Both the Wheel of Reincarnation Lord and the Demon Lord sensed it and turned to look at Han Li, both astonished.

The Vial of Time had long been under the Wheel of Reincarnation Lord's control, and he had used it in countless battles, but he had never felt such an aura from the vial.

"Han Li, I will never let you become a variable!" Gu Huojin, now aware of the anomaly, roared.

As his words fell, he formed hand seals before him and struck down toward Han Li.

The next moment, the entire chaotic vortex trembled violently. With a rumbling roar, an eerie light lit up at its center, and a blinding white pillar of light, so intense it could cause blindness, gushed out, instantly transforming into a vast sea of dazzling light hundreds of li wide, surging toward Han Li and the other two.

Where the light passed, space was no longer torn; instead, the void for millions of li was annihilated inch by inch. Nothing could exist except this terrifying light and its spreading aftermath.

"Enough. At this point, I'll go all out..."

The Wheel of Reincarnation Lord murmured, then waved his hand. A dark red light blazed as the Six Paths Wheel of Reincarnation flew a hundred zhang in front of them, its surface patterns lighting up and rapidly expanding.

A thousand zhang, ten thousand zhang, a hundred thousand zhang... In an instant, the Six Paths Wheel of Reincarnation stood like a giant wall blocking the three of them.

"Boom!" A thunderous crash.

The massive Six Paths Wheel of Reincarnation shook violently, its six corners flashing with light as it spun rapidly in the void.

The seemingly overwhelming power was forcibly blocked by the wheel, but the light that was not blocked shot into the distant void. After this strike, the entire Central Immortal Realm was completely annihilated.

Han Li was oblivious to all this.

At that moment, he was fully operating the Great Five Elements Illusory World Art. His time law power condensed into countless threads of light, connecting with the vial in his palm. His mind had completely sunk into the vial.

This was the first time he had truly entered the space inside the vial.

Inside the vial, there seemed to be an infinite expanse. Han Li entered and became a mustard seed, a speck of dust, infinitesimally small.

Han Li looked around. Apart from vast darkness, he saw only clusters of light of various colors, some as large as nebulae, some as small as bonfires, each radiating different fluctuations of law power.