Chapter 201: An Anomaly Appears

The two semi-transparent rune patterns on the True Word Dharma Wheel, according to the True Word Dharma Wheel Sutra, were called Time Dao Patterns, an external manifestation of the law of time.

The more Time Dao Patterns there were, the more powerful the divine ability of the True Word Dharma Wheel became.

Under normal circumstances, each time a person who had condensed the True Word Dharma Wheel opened an immortal aperture, they had a chance to condense a Time Dao Pattern, but it was only a chance, with a success rate of about half.

When one opened twelve immortal apertures, that is, advanced to the mid-stage of True Immortal realm, only those who had condensed six Time Dao Patterns could be considered to have truly cultivated the first level of the True Word Dharma Wheel Sutra. A True Word Dharma Wheel with six Time Dao Patterns could achieve a slowing effect of double.

If the cultivator was unlucky and had fewer than six Time Dao Patterns on the True Word Dharma Wheel, they would never have the opportunity to cultivate the second level of the True Word Dharma Wheel Sutra.

In the Candle Dragon Sect, those who had luckily condensed the True Word Dharma Wheel were already extremely few, and those who could cultivate the True Word Dharma Wheel Sutra to the second level were probably even rarer. It was not that they did not want to, but they were truly incapable.

Moreover, the Time Dao Patterns on the True Word Dharma Wheel were based on six. If the Time Dao Patterns did not reach six, even if there were five, the slowing effect was negligible.

As for those who took shortcuts and used magical artifacts to replace the True Word Dharma Wheel, after opening immortal apertures, the chance of condensing Time Dao Patterns on the pseudo wheel was greatly reduced. Generally, after cultivating the first level, that is, opening twelve immortal apertures, many people only condensed two or three Time Dao Patterns on the pseudo wheel.

However, by relying on the law power of the pseudo wheel's material itself, it was possible to add Dao Patterns of other laws. But how many other Dao Patterns appeared depended on the material used for the pseudo wheel and luck.

Some were lucky enough to add seven or eight Dao Patterns of other laws to the pseudo wheel at once, making its power not inferior to a post-natal immortal artifact. Others were unlucky, only able to add one or two, making the pseudo wheel as useless as a chicken rib.

Han Li looked at the two Time Dao Patterns on the True Word Dharma Wheel, feeling both surprise and disbelief.

Logically, even if he was lucky enough to condense a Time Dao Pattern when opening the first immortal aperture, it should only be one, but on his true wheel, there were actually two.

But in any case, being able to condense two Time Dao Patterns at once was a good thing. This way, the pressure on his subsequent cultivation would be much less.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li suddenly urged the spell.

The True Word Dharma Wheel behind him immediately buzzed and spun faster. A pale golden ripple spread from his body, instantly covering an area of ten zhang around him.

Within the range covered by the golden ripple, the void trembled slightly, then returned to normal. From the outside, there seemed to be nothing unusual.

Han Li closed his eyes and sensed the changes around him. It seemed that within this range, everything became slightly slower—the flow of air, the transmission of sound, and even the movement of heaven and earth spiritual energy were somewhat sluggish.

At first glance, it seemed quite similar to the slowing effects of some speed laws or gravity laws.

"So this is the law of time? Truly miraculous!" he couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.

Unfortunately, the slowing effect was currently negligible, almost insignificant. Therefore, in terms of combat, it seemed inferior to the pseudo wheel. This was probably another main reason why other cultivators were willing to condense pseudo wheels.

Han Li smiled. The golden light on his body flickered and dissipated, and the True Word Dharma Wheel behind him also disappeared.

He stood up, walked out of the secret chamber, and entered a nearby room.

On the table in this room lay a green communication array disk, buzzing and emitting a watery green light that condensed into a green light shield.

Inside the light shield, two white communication talismans were darting around like headless flies.

Han Li waved his hand. The green light shield dissipated, and the two communication talismans flew into his hand. His divine sense entered them.

During these three years, except for the last year or so when he was fully focused on seclusion to break through bottlenecks, he had also walked around the various peaks of the sect to investigate the whereabouts of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Additionally, he had tried using the Eight Spirit Vat to sense them.

Unfortunately, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords seemed to have completely disappeared, and he could not sense any trace of them.

Although he had not achieved his goal, he had managed to become somewhat familiar with the sect, getting to know many True Immortals of similar status. In particular, he had developed good relations with a few executive elders who were originally also loose cultivators.

His divine sense quickly withdrew. The two communication talismans were sent by two inner sect elders, inviting him to join them in carrying out a mission. But without a second thought, he took out two blank communication talismans, explained his situation, and politely declined.

At this moment, he was not in the mood to carry out any missions.

Before long, Han Li appeared in the medicine garden within his cave residence. He held the Bottle Gourd in his hand, bringing it close to his eyes to examine it. Beside him stood a giant ape about a zhang tall, its eyes somewhat dull, clearly a puppet.

During his final seclusion, he naturally did not continue to condense crystal grains, but he did not let the green liquid go to waste. He had arranged for this giant ape puppet to use the green liquid to water and cultivate several ten-thousand-year spirit herbs, to be used as needed.

Han Li, lost in thought, crouched down and dripped the green liquid onto a spirit herb in front of him.

But at that moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

A pale golden light suddenly appeared on his body. Then, behind him, a golden light flashed, and the True Word Dharma Wheel emerged on its own without any warning.

In the medicine garden, a ten-thousand-year spirit herb closest to him trembled slightly, and a layer of crystalline light appeared on its surface, seeming to resonate faintly with the True Word Dharma Wheel.

Han Li was startled and stood up.

The golden light on his body flickered and disappeared, and the True Word Dharma Wheel behind him also vanished. The ten-thousand-year spirit herb immediately returned to calm.

Seeing this, Han Li was somewhat astonished. After a moment's thought, he crouched down again and tried to approach the ten-thousand-year spirit herb.

Hum!

The spirit herb trembled slightly again, and a faint crystalline light appeared on its surface.

A pale golden light also appeared on his body again, and the True Word Dharma Wheel emerged once more. The two seemed to resonate with each other.

"What is going on?"

Han Li frowned deeply and moved his body closer to the medicine garden.

The next moment, several spirit herbs over ten thousand years old all began to tremble, and the older they were, the more violently they trembled. As for the thousand-year spirit herbs, they showed no reaction.

After a moment of thought, he suddenly thought of something. He stood up, turned his hand, and took out two jade boxes, opening their lids directly.

Inside the boxes were two spirit herbs, each emitting an extremely rich spiritual energy, both clearly over ten thousand years old.

The dark green spirit herb in the left jade box buzzed and trembled, while the pale red spirit herb in the right box showed no movement.

The dark green spirit herb had been ripened using green liquid, while the pale red spirit herb was obtained from Fang Pan's storage bracelet.

"Could it be that my smooth cultivation of the True Word Dharma Wheel Sutra and the condensation of two Time Dao Patterns on the true wheel at once are related to this?" Han Li muttered to himself as he put away the two spirit herbs.

One year later, at Red Cloud Peak.

The setting sun was dipping westward, its orange-red afterglow slanting down, covering the entire peak with a warm and gentle feeling.

A spacious courtyard was mostly hidden in the elongated shadows of the sunset, appearing somewhat dim and very quiet.

Beside a set of stone tables and stools in the courtyard, a delicate young girl in red was lying prone on the stone table, her two jade-like slender hands overlapping to support her delicate, immature face, looking somewhat listless.

Half a day ago, she had just come out of seclusion, having successfully condensed her golden core and become a Core Formation stage cultivator.

She had wanted to share this good news with her brother, but found that almost everyone in the mansion was busy with cultivation, leaving her somewhat disappointed.

"I wonder what Elder Li is doing..." The girl turned her head to look toward the cave residence and murmured to herself.

Besides her brother Meng Yungui, the person she most wanted to share the news of her cultivation advancement with was this Elder Li.

For some reason, everyone in the mansion, including her brother Meng Yungui, was in awe of this Elder Li. Only she felt, from the bottom of her heart, that this young Elder Li was not as aloof and cold as the other elders in the sect, but rather like an elder brother at home.

...

At this moment, in the secret chamber of Han Li's cave residence.

White round pearls embedded in the walls emitted a bright white light, illuminating the entire secret chamber very clearly.

Han Li, dressed in elder's robes, was sitting cross-legged on a cushion.

In front of him, a bluish-black square array disk was floating steadily in midair. The two Star Shift Stones embedded in it shone brightly, and a blue light array condensed from within.

Soon, white light flickered on the light array, and strange fluctuations emanated from it.

The void at the center of the blue light array moved slightly, and a fist-sized mass of black heavy water was teleported over.

Seeing this, Han Li reached out and drew the heavy water into his palm, then put away the Northern Dipper Starry Sky Disk.

Although the mass of heavy water before him was not large in volume, it was different from the heavy water previously teleported. It contained a trace of water law power that Han Li had specifically asked his Earthly Incarnation to send.

What he wanted to do now was to use this heavy water containing law power to refine a counterfeit True Word Dharma Wheel.

In fact, as early as when he discovered the anomalies in condensing the True Word Dharma Wheel and Time Dao Patterns, he had already decided to refine a pseudo true wheel.

After all, although it was not yet certain whether this matter was related to the ripening ability of the Bottle Gourd, in any case, he could not let outsiders discover any clues; otherwise, his troubles would be great.

With this thought, Han Li held the heavy water with one hand and waved his other hand in front of him.

Several streaks of light flashed in succession: a palm-sized piece of black meteorite, a water-blue crystalline pearl, a drop of blue liquid resembling a strange beast's demon blood, and a piece of water film ore reflecting a dark light appeared one after another, all falling in front of him.