Chapter 457: Concerns

The Crab Daoist walked along the weed-choked path until he suddenly stopped beside a strange rock shaped like a hunched old ape, pointing at it and saying, "Fellow Daoist Han, why not take a look and see what this is?"

Han Li frowned slightly, stepped forward quickly, wiped his hand across the strange rock, and examined it carefully for a moment.

"Could this be... a Desolation Stone?" His brow furrowed even more, speaking with some uncertainty.

"Indeed, it is exactly that." The Crab Daoist nodded and said.

"No wonder I couldn't detect any array fluctuations here with my spiritual sense—they were all concealed by this Desolation Stone. But I never imagined its effect of masking array auras could be so powerful?" Han Li said thoughtfully.

"If it were only these Desolation Stones, they would certainly not be enough to elude even Fellow Daoist Han's perception." The Crab Daoist glanced at Han Li and said.

"Is there no other way?" Han Li asked, a flicker of light passing through his eyes.

The Crab Daoist did not speak, but led Han Li deeper into the dense forest, until the two finally arrived at a relatively open clearing.

As Han Li approached, he saw that the ground in the clearing was scorched black, the low shrubs that had originally grown there reduced to ashes by flames, and a circular stone platform the size of a millstone was exposed on the ground.

The surface of the stone platform was also scorched black, and the talisman patterns originally engraved on it had become blurred and difficult to discern.

Han Li waved his sleeve, and a gentle breeze swept through, rolling up the ashes and dust on the stone platform and sweeping them all aside, revealing the full appearance of the entire platform.

"What is this?" Han Li leaned over to look, and his brow furrowed into a knot.

On the stone platform were engraved nine peculiar talisman patterns shaped like petals, which together formed the image of a huge dreamy epiphyllum, and within the veins of the petals were hidden many complex and secret special runes.

"If I am not mistaken, this is a very profound dream-hiding talisman pattern, capable of concealing the aura fluctuations of many magical treasures and formations. When combined with the desolate stone, it can hardly be detected by divine sense," explained the Crab Daoist.

"Daoist Crab, since you recognize the origin of this pattern, you must have a way to break it?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Daoist Han, please look at the center of this epiphyllum pattern..." Faced with Han Li's question, Crab Daoist replied noncommittally.

Han Li shifted his gaze and saw that the area was completely blank, with nothing at all. He couldn't help but frown slightly and looked at Crab Daoist with confusion.

"That was originally where the stamen of the dream epiphyllum was located, but for some reason it has been completely destroyed and can no longer be identified," Crab Daoist said slowly.

Hearing this, Han Li looked more carefully and indeed noticed traces of deliberate damage there.

"Since you have already identified the origin of this pattern, even if it is somewhat damaged, it should not be a problem. We just need to follow the method to break it. Or is there something strange about this pattern?" Han Li pondered briefly and then spoke.

"Daoist Han, have you ever heard of the saying 'The Great Dream of Three Thousand'? This talisman pattern is called Dream Hidden precisely because it has many varieties and is highly changeable. In this blank area, if even one talisman pattern changes, the method to break the entire formation becomes completely different. Even with my memories of it, I do not know all the methods to break it, and I cannot even attempt them one by one," Crab Daoist shook his head and said.

"If that is the case, then the only way is to break it by force and destroy it completely," Han Li said after a moment of deliberation.

"Well... Daoist Han, you might as well give it a try," Crab Daoist said, a flicker of light in his eyes.

Seeing his somewhat peculiar expression, Han Li knew it couldn't be that simple, but he still shifted his thoughts. Golden light flashed around him, and he directly transformed into a mountain giant ape over a hundred feet tall.

The mysterious apertures on his body lit up, and he let out a low shout. Raising a single arm, he clenched a massive fist and slammed it heavily onto the stone platform.

With a thunderous "boom!"

The entire stone platform shook violently. A golden arc of light surged up, turning into a hurricane that swept in all directions.

Wherever it passed, sand and stones flew, trees collapsed, and it spread for hundreds of feet before its momentum gradually subsided.

At the same time, the Dream Hidden talisman patterns on the stone platform suddenly lit up with a golden light. Golden lines like vines spread along the edges of the stone platform, extending into the depths of the dense forest like a spider web.

At this moment, Han Li, transformed into a giant ape, had a broad field of vision and could see far. He noticed that throughout the entire city outside the garden, golden patterns were lighting up. The vine-like patterns covered the entire land of the secret realm, looking dazzling and presenting a unique scenery.

"According to my estimation, to break the restriction here with external force would require at least the strength of the Golden Immortal stage. Even a full-powered strike from me would not suffice." The Crab Daoist said after a moment's deliberation.

"Even if it were possible, we probably shouldn't do it. The runes here are connected to the entire secret realm's space. If we destroy them by force, it might cause the whole secret realm to collapse. What would happen then, none of us can predict." Han Li's body flashed with light, shrank back to its original form, and said.

"Exactly so." The Crab Daoist nodded and said.

Han Li frowned and walked around the stone platform. Seeing that the golden light on it had dissipated, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

He formed a hand seal, and golden light immediately surged from his back as the Truth Dharma Wheel materialized.

He shifted his gaze, and the large golden eyeball on the Truth Dharma Wheel slowly turned, casting a beam of golden light, as solid as substance, onto the stone platform.

As the golden light fell, the entire stone platform flashed, and the layer of scorched marks on its surface instantly dissipated, leaving it clean and new.

At its center, the blank area also lit up with a hazy glow, and strands of intricate patterns gradually emerged, resembling flower stamens, extremely complex.

Just as Han Li was about to examine it closely, the light and shadow in the blank area trembled rapidly, becoming very unstable.

After watching for a moment, Han Li felt dizzy and startled. He had no choice but to reluctantly retract the Truth Dharma Wheel into his body.

"What do you think?" The Crab Daoist asked.

"This space is truly strange. Many ordinary objects contain traces of time law power, but they are extremely weak. Every time I use the Eye of Truth to examine them, the result is blurry and useless. This stone platform is no exception." Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Your Truth Dharma Wheel is not at its peak. Perhaps when its power is fully restored, you will be able to see the complete Dream Concealment Rune..." The Crab Daoist thought for a moment and said.

"What you said has already occurred to me. But it would take too much time. The opening time of the Minghan Immortal Mansion secret realm is limited. Once the passage to the North Cold Immortal Domain closes, who knows how many years it will be before it opens again?" Han Li said thoughtfully.

His only concern at the moment was how to escape this predicament. Of course, once he found a way out, he wouldn't mind staying here for a while longer. After all, he had no idea what had happened outside in the past few days, but he assumed Qu Ling wouldn't waste too much time waiting for him here.

"With your immortal body, your lifespan is nearly infinite. Why worry about time? The density of heaven and earth qi here is no less than anywhere else in the North Cold Immortal Domain. You could cultivate here in peace until the next opening of the secret realm." The Crab Daoist suddenly said.

Hearing this, Han Li's eyes flickered, and he fell into deep thought.

Having provoked a behemoth like the North Cold Immortal Palace, his situation was already precarious. Now that Qu Ling had taken notice of him, and with the chilling Feng Tandu, he was surrounded by dangers in the North Cold Immortal Domain.

In comparison, staying in this secret realm was actually safer.

"Even so, once the Minghan Immortal Mansion closes, no one can predict what changes will occur in the secret realm. If the environment deteriorates, the situation might be worse than facing Qu Ling..." After much deliberation, Han Li still expressed concern.

What he didn't say was that if he were trapped here for hundreds of thousands of years, while he himself might be fine, the outside world would undergo earth-shattering changes. Gold Devouring Beetle was currently under threat from Qu Ling, and there were many others he couldn't bear to leave behind.

"Regardless, there's no way to leave here for now. Fellow Daoist might as well try to restore the Dharma Wheel's power. Perhaps it won't take too long to see the Dream Concealment Rune clearly." The Crab Daoist nodded and said.

"For now, that's all we can do." Han Li nodded.

...

Time passed, and several more days went by.

In the center of this ruined small city, a vast square spanning several hundred zhang in radius had abruptly appeared.

Its central area was paved with white stone slabs, while the periphery was covered with freshly turned reddish-brown soil, mixed with many fragments of rubble, tiles, window frames, and doors—clearly just leveled.

On the square, deep trenches crisscrossed, interconnecting to form an enormous, extremely intricate array.

This array, named the "All-Week Star-Gathering Grand Array," was appended at the end of the second half of the Great Cycle Star Source Art. It was an orthodox array for assisting in the cultivation of this technique, far beyond the likes of the "Star-Gathering Array" of old. Even the series of star arrays that Han Li later improved upon paled in comparison.

The All-Week Star-Gathering Grand Array had a total of eighty-one star positions, evenly distributed around the array, each capable of embedding a Celestial Star Stone to help the cultivator absorb star power more quickly.

Han Li estimated that if he had used this array from the very beginning, the progress time for his Great Cycle Star Source Art would have been reduced by at least half. However, it would also require a sufficient number of Celestial Star Stones, and the pain endured during cultivation would be at least twice as much as before.