Chapter 368: You're Awake

Meanwhile, in a certain space within the Immortal Realm.

As far as the eye could see, golden clouds drifted everywhere, one after another, varying in size, layered and stacked, filling the entire space, making it appear resplendent with golden light.

These golden clouds occasionally rose and fell, some continuously transforming into various shapes, seeming neither human nor object, giving a very magical feeling.

Upon a golden cloud stood a towering golden stele ten thousand zhang high, emitting waves of golden light that ceaselessly circulated.

On the stele were rows of golden patterns, appearing to be some kind of script or perhaps runes, densely covering almost the entire stele.

These golden characters varied in size and brightness, though generally, the larger ones were brighter.

The largest was as big as a house, emitting intense golden light; the smallest was only the size of a fist, its golden light very dim.

Some golden characters were motionless, while others flickered incessantly, emitting waves of powerful Time Law force.

At that moment, the stele suddenly blazed with golden light and emitted a sharp whistling sound that soared into the heavens.

At a blank spot at the base of the stele, a spiritual light flashed, and a new line of golden characters appeared, the size of a bowl, also emitting faint golden light, flickering gently.

The dazzling golden light from the stele lasted for a moment, then quickly dimmed, and everything returned to its previous state.

Suddenly, a fluctuation occurred in the void before the giant stele, and specks of golden light materialized, coalescing into a pair of giant golden eyes. The eyes shifted and looked toward the stele.

“Oh, another person has comprehended the Time Law…” A vague voice sounded, indistinguishable as male or female, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

The voice echoed in the space for a while before quickly dissipating.

The giant golden eyes seemed to have only glanced casually; the next moment, they flashed and once again dissolved into specks of golden light, disappearing.

…

Inside the secret chamber of the cave dwelling, Han Li was enveloped in extremely dense golden light, with the True Word Wheel slowly rotating behind him.

Above his head hovered a foot-long golden crystal thread, moving slowly through the void like a spiritual snake.

Though reduced countless times, the Time power emitted by the crystal thread was undiminished, filling the entire chamber and causing everything within to undergo some peculiar change.

It could be said that, except for Han Li and the golden light on him, everything in the chamber was in a seemingly static state.

Han Li slowly opened his eyes, looking at the crystal thread above his head, a trace of excitement flashing in his eyes.

This attempt to comprehend the Time Law had been quite tortuous; merely refining the Dao Pill had taken him several years.

Afterward, using the power of the Dao Pill to impact and comprehend the Time Law took another few years.

During this period, accidents occurred several times, but fortunately, he had prepared relatively thoroughly and possessed many precious elixirs.

Moreover, he had previously attempted comprehension through the True Word Wheel several times, and though unsuccessful, he had accumulated considerable experience. Thus, he managed to resolve the bottlenecks in the comprehension process with peril but no danger, finally mastering the Time Law with the help of the Dao Pill.

Since mastering the Time Law, everything had changed. He felt he had gained a special insight into the mysterious power of time, and his understanding of the True Word Wheel Sutra had also undergone some changes.

The most obvious was that when summoning the True Word Wheel and being within the golden space, he seemed more at ease.

And at the moment he condensed the Time Law, he even vaguely sensed a trace of the passage of time in the entire world.

After a long while, Han Li's mind gradually calmed down.

He looked at the golden crystal thread, his eyes flickering a few times.

Then, he formed a hand seal and pointed, and the surface of the golden crystal thread flashed with light before retracting.

The chamber instantly returned to normal.

Han Li changed his hand seals, and the golden crystal thread immediately began to change continuously, sometimes elongating, sometimes shrinking, sometimes tying into a knot, completely following Han Li's will.

As the crystal thread's form changed, the Time power it emitted also changed accordingly.

Seeing this, Han Li's face showed an expression of great interest.

It seemed this Time Crystal Thread was far more profound than he had imagined, and he couldn't fully comprehend it in a short time.

He smiled faintly.

He had plenty of time; he could slowly comprehend it later.

Han Li changed his hand seal, about to retract the golden crystal thread, since deploying and maintaining it consumed a considerable amount of his immortal spiritual power.

Just then, his eyebrows suddenly lifted, and he recalled something, stopping his movement.

Han Li waved his hand, and a small green bottle appeared in his palm—the Heaven-Devouring Bottle.

Over the years, he had examined this bottle countless times without significant results. Now that he had comprehended the Time Law and condensed this Time Crystal Thread, could he perhaps uncover some secrets of the Heaven-Devouring Bottle?

With this thought, Han Li took a deep breath and was about to form hand seals to activate the golden crystal thread.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

The Heaven-Devouring Bottle suddenly blazed with light, emitting dazzling green radiance like a green sun, and flew out of his hand, hovering in midair.

At the same time, the True Word Wheel behind Han Li also brightened and began to spin rapidly.

With a “whoosh,” the golden crystal thread suddenly straightened, then shot out and vanished into the True Word Wheel in a flash.

Hum!

The True Word Wheel blazed with light, ten times brighter than usual, and all its Time Dao patterns fully bloomed.

Golden light converged at the center of the wheel, quickly forming the Eye of Truth.

The eye had not yet opened, but it was already dazzling with golden light, countless golden runes flickering around it, writhing like living creatures.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, but he just stood there without taking any other action.

From just now, he had sensed that both the Heaven-Devouring Bottle and the True Word Wheel, even the Time Crystal Thread, had slipped out of his control, just like before.

While surprised, Han Li also felt some anticipation deep inside.

The Heaven-Devouring Bottle had undergone several changes before, each bringing him considerable surprises. He wondered what would happen this time.

As he pondered, the Heaven-Devouring Bottle and the True Word Wheel resonated with each other, their emitted light growing brighter and brighter, waves of powerful fluctuations spreading out, causing the entire cave dwelling to tremble.

At that moment, the Eye of Truth suddenly opened wide, and a crystal thread shot out from within—it was the Time Crystal Thread.

The crystal thread flashed and vanished into the Heaven-Devouring Bottle.

With a “hum,”

The surface of the Heaven-Devouring Bottle blazed with green light, its size rapidly expanding, turning into the size of a millstone in an instant.

Countless green runes emerged on the bottle's surface, swimming rapidly and flickering like stars in the night sky.

These green runes suddenly flashed, flew off the bottle's surface, converged inside the bottle, and coalesced into a mass of green clouds, churning endlessly.

Within the green clouds, a vortex-shaped pattern faintly appeared.

A special aura emanated from the green clouds, not intense, but the void near the Heaven-Devouring Bottle fluctuated violently, ripples visible to the naked eye appearing.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, his pupils slightly constricting.

At that moment, the light from the Heaven-Devouring Bottle flashed, and the green cloud inside transformed into a thick green beam of light, directly plunging into the void, tearing it apart.

Rumble!

Countless crystalline lights emerged from the torn void, coalescing into the previous crystal wall.

Han Li frowned, a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

He had already seen this crystal wall; it was indeed powerful and had many wonderful uses.

But he had high expectations for the Heaven-Devouring Bottle this time, hoping it would display some other divine ability, but it turned out to be this crystal wall again.

However, his mind stirred.

Although the crystal wall was the same as before, a green vortex pattern had appeared on it, exactly the one that had appeared inside the bottle.

Rumble!

The crystal wall trembled and shook, countless crystalline lights flowing on it, with scenes occasionally flashing by.

The green vortex on the crystal wall suddenly began to flicker, and the countless flowing lights on the wall were devoured by it like a tide, the vortex rapidly growing larger.

At first, it was only the size of a washbasin, but in a few breaths, it had become as large as a house, spinning rapidly.

Boom!

A vast and peculiar suction force suddenly emanated from the vortex, enveloping Han Li's body.

Han Li's expression changed.

At that moment, he felt that his body was completely unaffected by the suction, but the power of his soul in his mind was irresistibly drawn out, flashing into the vortex.

But before he could do anything, a sharp pain struck his mind, then darkness fell before his eyes, and he lost consciousness.

In a daze, he did not know how long passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years.

Han Li's consciousness slowly recovered, and he opened his eyes.

What met his eyes was a dilapidated roof, with cobwebs hanging from the beams, and several large holes in the roof through which the sky could be seen.

There seemed to be some sound in his ears, sometimes near, sometimes far, intermittent, and quite noisy.

Han Li was in pain all over, and even moving a finger was very difficult.

He turned his head with difficulty to look around, quickly understanding his current situation.

He was lying on a bed, surrounded by what seemed to be a dilapidated temple. As for the sound in his ears, it came from a rather sturdy-looking youth in yellow clothes, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, his skin faintly tinged with gold, kneeling by the bed, weeping with his head down.

Seeing this, Han Li was stunned.

Where was this? Wasn't he in his cave dwelling examining the Heaven-Devouring Bottle? Why had he come to this unfamiliar place?

Han Li tried hard to recall, but at that moment, his mind shook, and a splitting headache struck him, causing him to involuntarily clutch his head and let out a muffled groan.

Fortunately, the stabbing pain lasted only a moment.

He had just breathed a sigh of relief when his expression froze, and a trace of bewilderment flashed in his eyes.

Just then, a jumble of unfamiliar memories suddenly appeared and flooded into his mind.

These memories were incomplete, seeming to be fragments.

The youth by the bed heard the sound from Han Li and suddenly looked up, tears still on his face, but surprise shining in his eyes. His voice trembling, he said:

“M-master, you're awake?”