Chapter 426: Mural

After about a quarter of an hour, the door of the third-floor attic suddenly swung open, and Han Li stepped out with a face full of joy.

Once outside, he abruptly turned around, formed a hand seal with one hand, silently chanted for a moment, and then suddenly uttered the word “withdraw.”

A vast golden light suddenly appeared outside the three-story attic, within which countless runes floated and circulated incessantly. As the light flickered, it suddenly contracted toward the center. The three-story attic, originally over ten zhang tall, shrank to the size of a lantern. With a casual wipe of his hand, he stored it into his storage bracelet.

“This treasure is more than enough to trap several mid-stage True Immortal cultivators, and it can barely handle late-stage cultivators who have not cultivated soul-strengthening techniques. As for those at the peak of the True Immortal realm or even Golden Immortal cultivators, it falls somewhat short. However, it can be used in conjunction with other treasures, so it can still serve as a powerful auxiliary treasure,” Han Li mused.

While he was deep in thought, he heard a rumbling sound in the distance. He quickly looked up and saw that the sound came from the location of the three great halls, clearly indicating that Blood Cold and the others were storming the halls.

“Fellow Daoist Han, come here quickly.”

Just then, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind. It was the Crab Immortal using telepathic communication to summon him to a certain place.

So he immediately set off, and in a few swift leaps like a rabbit and a falcon, he landed in a somewhat desolate courtyard overgrown with weeds.

In the side rooms of the courtyard, several Dao soldiers were busily searching for treasures, while the main room's door was wide open, just enough to see the back of Crab Daoist.

Han Li walked into the hall and saw Crab Daoist staring at a wall in front of him.

"We didn't find any noteworthy magical treasures in this courtyard, only these murals on the wall, which look somewhat interesting," Crab Daoist said slowly without turning around.

Han Li swept his gaze around and saw that the walls all around were covered with paintings, vivid in color and rich in imagery.

The content of the murals was extremely diverse, and the scenes depicted were also very chaotic. Everywhere one could see collapsing mountains and splitting earth, heavenly fire and magma intertwining, violent winds and thunderbolts crisscrossing—it was nothing less than an apocalyptic vision.

Han Li stared unblinkingly at the murals, and suddenly felt that the scenes within them came to life. On the earth, magma surged; in the high sky, fireballs fell; amid lightning and thunder, black clouds rolled and storms raged.

Many figures dressed in various attires flashed back and forth within them, some in postures of forming hand seals and chanting spells, some holding horizontal halberds or gripping spears, some acting with bare hands... all kinds, too numerous to list.

Here, a starry sky collapsed, and countless stars fell into the mortal world; there, ten thousand swords flew forth, and countless sword lights churned heaven and earth upside down. One could see heavenly fire descending, burning away the snow covering the land, and also see black water flooding the sky, swallowing countless peaks...

Apart from the conflicts among cultivators, the murals also depicted many monstrous beasts as huge as mountains, each one ferocious and bizarre, spewing fire and thunder, devouring heaven and earth, each with its own unique abilities.

Han Li considered that, thanks to his cultivation of the Twelve Transformations of the Awakening Spring, he knew quite a bit about many ancient monstrous beasts, yet he still could not discern the origins of these ferocious beasts painted on the murals.

What the various scenes on these murals revealed was clearly a grand-scale war among immortals, so brutal that, though merely displayed on the murals, it seemed to unfold right before one's eyes—scene after scene of heart-stopping spectacles that sent a chill down even Han Li's spine.

Startled, Han Li also felt somewhat puzzled.

Looking solely at the depictions on the murals, those clearly outlined human figures all seemed to belong to the same camp, while the opposing side they fought against all had blurred features, as if shrouded in a layer of gray mist.

They looked like cultivators, yet seemed not entirely the same as cultivators.

"Fellow Daoist Han, do you know when and where the battle depicted in these murals took place?" the Crab Immortal suddenly asked.

"I don't know. Does Fellow Daoist Crab know?" Han Li was taken aback and shook his head.

He racked his brains to recall the historical texts and records he had read over the years in the Northern Frost Immortal Domain, but he could not find any war that corresponded to it.

"I don't know either. I just found these murals very strange, so I wanted you to take a look." Crab Taoist shook his head and said.

Han Li felt a little disappointed, having hoped to get some answers from Crab Taoist.

However, this was ultimately an unimportant matter. Since neither of them knew, there was no need to pay it too much heed.

Afterward, together with Crab Taoist, he searched some more buildings. Although they found quite a few treasures one after another, their grades were uneven, and not many were suitable for his current use. However, if taken to the outside world, they could naturally be exchanged for a considerable amount of Immortal Origin Stones.

When the agreed time arrived, Han Li put away Crab Taoist and those Dao soldiers, and returned to the previous place.

Lu Yuqing and Cold Flame Ancestor had long been waiting there. The former's pretty face bore a hint of lingering excitement, while the latter's expression was as usual, appearing to have returned to his previous composure, revealing nothing.

After the three gathered, they continued hurrying toward the spirit medicine garden at the back of the mountain.

Before long, Han Li and the other two landed on a flat area, where there sat a square garden covering about a dozen mu in size.

Around the garden stood a courtyard wall about four or five zhang high, built entirely of pale blue crystal stones.

These crystals emitted a layer of blue crystalline light like rippling water, interspersed with starlike specks, presenting a pleasing sight and appearing quite extraordinary.

Han Li swept his gaze over it, and a flicker of surprise crossed his face.

He recognized the blue crystals as a rather precious material called Heavenly Crystal Stone, used for refining spirit treasures. Though not impossible to find in the outside world, such a vast quantity was truly astonishing, and now it was being used as bricks for a courtyard wall—the original owner was exceedingly extravagant.

At the four corners of the wall stood thick stone pillars, covered with intricate array patterns.

Dazzling starlight emanated from the four pillars, forming a thick layer of starry light screen in midair that enveloped the entire courtyard.

Countless star river patterns flashed across the light screen, as if evolving the myriad changes of the vast starry sky, profoundly mysterious.

From outside, one could vaguely see various spirit herbs planted in the courtyard, and a faint fragrance of spirit herbs wafted out, refreshing and fragrant, which even the restrictions could not fully block.

Delight flickered in Han Li's eyes, but after carefully examining the starry light screen, his brow furrowed again.

This starry light screen bore some resemblance to the starlight restriction he had broken before entering the Youhan Palace, and the restriction here seemed even more profound, likely difficult to break.

"This starry restriction is quite extraordinary; ordinary methods may not break it. However, the Great Five Elements Spirit Absorption True Light technique that Fellow Daoist Lengyan and Fellow Daoist Xiong used earlier is exceptionally subtle and just right for breaking restrictions," Han Li said, glancing at the restriction before speaking to Lengyan Laozu beside him.

Lengyan Laozu looked troubled and said, "Fellow Daoist Han, though I know the incantation for the Great Five Elements Spirit Absorption True Light, to perform it requires five extremely pure five-element spirit treasures. I currently only have fire and earth attribute treasures, so I'm afraid..."

"That's no problem; I happen to have three spirit treasures of metal, wood, and water attributes, which are fairly pure and should suffice for this technique," Han Li said, then raised one hand and spread five fingers.

Three lights—gold, green, and blue—alternately emerged, and as the light faded, they revealed a golden ring, a green wooden knife, and a blue token.

All three spirit treasures emitted pure and bright spiritual light, no less than the five treasures Lengyan Laozu and Xiong Shan had used earlier.

Over the years, Han Li had slain countless cultivators, most of whom were True Immortal realm beings; a few spirit treasures were nothing to him.

"Fellow Daoist Han is indeed wealthy. In that case, there is no problem. Here is the incantation for the Great Five Elements Spirit Absorption True Light. It is somewhat obscure, but with your intelligence, it should be no issue," Lengyan Laozu said with a sigh of admiration.

With that, he flipped his hand and produced a jade slip, handing it over with both hands.

Han Li took the jade slip with one hand and released his divine sense into it.

The incantation recorded in the jade slip was not long, but as Lengyan Laozu had said, it was quite profound and obscure.

He quickly finished reading and memorized it all, then sat down cross-legged on the spot, closing his eyes to comprehend it.

"Senior Lengyan, let us stand guard for Brother Han," Lu Yuqing said to Lengyan Laozu.

"That is only proper," the latter nodded.

Then both retreated some distance, clearing an area for Han Li, while scanning their surroundings.

After about half an hour, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes and stood up.

Seeing this, Lu Yuqing and Lengyan Laozu, not far away, both turned their gazes toward him.

Han Li began to mutter incantations, then pointed a finger at the three spirit treasures before him.

The three treasures shot up into the air, each bursting into a dazzling ball of light.

Han Li formed hand seals, and the three colored light spheres seemed to combine, as if about to merge into one.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you have comprehended it so quickly!" Lengyan Laozu was somewhat dumbfounded.

"Han once cultivated a technique that simultaneously employs the five elements, so I comprehended it a bit faster," Han Li said with a chuckle.

He was referring to the Magnetic Divine Light; the five-element related secret arts were profound and extensive, with endless interactions and transformations, and this Great Five Elements Spirit Absorption True Light was especially complex and difficult to understand. However, the cultivation incantation of the Magnetic Divine Light was quite similar, with many points of analogy, allowing him to comprehend it so quickly.

"Fellow Daoist Han truly has a knack for inspiring awe," Lengyan Laozu said with a light laugh, seemingly accustomed to Han Li's occasional surprising performances.

He then said no more, flipped his hand to produce the red bowl and yellow seal, and began chanting and forming hand seals.

The two treasures also shot forth, their spirit patterns swirling as they emitted dazzling spiritual light, flying into the light spheres of Han Li's three treasures.