Chapter 459: The Third Decline

Three days later, the sun had climbed high into the sky.

Han Li's figure reappeared on the white stone square.

At this moment, his eyes flickered with a hidden divine light, exceptionally clear, and both the immortal spiritual power in his dantian and the soul force in his divine sea had been adjusted to their peak states.

He first swept his gaze around, then raised a single hand and flicked his sleeve. A golden lightning bolt flashed out, coalescing not far in front of him, revealing the figure of Crab Immortal.

“Fellow Daoist Han, you radiate a brilliant aura; it seems your cultivation has advanced again. Congratulations,” Crab Immortal said, a faint smile appearing on his face as he looked at Han Li.

“Indeed, there has been some progress. Unknowingly, several hundred years have passed since I arrived here. I wonder how things are outside. Today, I plan to attempt a breakthrough to the Golden Immortal realm and see if there is a chance to leave this place earlier. Although this space is sealed, breaking through still carries many unknown risks. I must trouble you, Fellow Daoist Crab, to protect me once more,” Han Li said with a smile.

“Rest assured, focus on your breakthrough,” Crab Immortal nodded.

As soon as he spoke, golden electric light flickered around him, and his figure blurred as he merged into the void, vanishing from sight.

Seeing this, Han Li’s expression turned serious as he sat down cross-legged.

He turned his wrist, and a green light scattered before him, revealing three or four white jade bottles and an exquisite jade box.

He waved his hand through the air, and the stopper of one jade bottle flew off by itself. A pale golden pill the size of a dragon’s eye flew out and landed directly in his palm.

This pill was none other than the Ten Thousand Rotation Pill he had refined earlier to assist late-stage True Immortal cultivators in enhancing their cultivation.

Han Li picked it up, placed it in his mouth, and swallowed it.

Once the pill entered his abdomen, its medicinal power immediately dissolved, turning into a stream of heat that surged into the eight extraordinary meridians in his body. However, compared to the intense impact when he first took it, it had become much gentler.

This was partly because he had taken too many of these pills, leading to some drug resistance in his body, and partly because after cultivating the Great Cycle Star Origin Art to completion, his physique had changed significantly, with his flesh, blood, bones, and tendons strengthened to a degree far beyond before.

Han Li frowned slightly, then flicked his fingers one after another, causing two more Ten Thousand Rotation Pills to fly out, which he swallowed in one breath.

After that, he closed his eyes, formed hand seals, and began to cultivate silently.

As the sound of chanting incantations arose, a layer of soft golden light emanated from his body surface, enveloping his entire being.

Time passed drop by drop, and unknowingly, another ten-plus years went by.

Whether it was the five hundred years Han Li had spent painstakingly cultivating the Great Cycle Star Origin Art or the ten-plus years now, no matter how time changed, this ruined small city seemed to have always maintained its original appearance, much like when Han Li first entered.

Though it experienced the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, and the flow of wind and clouds, it never saw the alternation of seasons or the withering and flourishing of plants. Even the slippery moss visible everywhere in the city remained a deep, dark green hue.

At the edge of the city, atop a three-story green bamboo pavilion, Crab Immortal, clad in a yellow robe, stood on the flying eaves of the roof. His clothes rustled loudly in the strong wind, but he kept facing the city center, unmoving, like a statue.

“Finally…” he suddenly spoke, saying slowly.

Boom!

As his words fell, a loud noise came from the city center, and the entire ruined city shook violently.

A golden pillar of light suddenly shot up into the sky, piercing straight into the clouds.

Above the square, layers of dark clouds gathered from all directions, rolling and surging wildly like ten thousand galloping horses.

Before long, these dark clouds transformed into a vortex of dark clouds dozens of miles in diameter, swirling outward layer by layer. Lightning flashed within continuously, as if countless ferocious beasts were imprisoned inside, emitting muffled roars.

Han Li sat upright within the golden pillar of light, his clothes long since torn. His lean but not exaggerated muscles seemed coated with a layer of golden film. His black hair stood on end, pointing straight up, making him look like an angry Vajra from Buddhism.

The thirty-five immortal apertures he had opened earlier now shone brightly. At the center of his chest, a golden vortex was forming at the thirty-sixth immortal aperture, just a hair's breadth away from being fully opened.

“Ha…”

At that moment, Han Li’s tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open, and he let out a thunderous roar.

The vortex on his chest immediately burst with golden light, spinning violently. Visible strands of heaven and earth spiritual energy from the surroundings quickly surged toward the aperture, gathering within.

“Whoosh, whoosh…”

As if a whistling wind were pouring in, the aperture seemed like a vast ocean trench, impossible to fill, continuously absorbing spiritual energy from all directions to consolidate itself.

Han Li’s expression was grave, showing no sign of relaxation. He continuously formed hand seals, guiding the flow of spiritual energy while carefully controlling the absorption speed of the immortal aperture to prevent it from being damaged due to an unstable foundation.

After about an hour, the influx of heaven and earth spiritual energy gradually slowed. The light on the aperture grew brighter and brighter, gradually stabilizing.

By now, Han Li was drenched in sweat, but his hands forming seals remained tense, always cautious to prevent any unexpected变故.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling came from high in the sky.

The long-suppressed dark clouds and lightning finally erupted. A black lightning pillar, straight as a spear, pierced through the clouds and crashed down toward Han Li.

Alerted, Han Li raised a single hand, and a fist wrapped in starlight punched fiercely toward the sky.

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Seven consecutive punches!

Seven starlight fist shadows, each several zhang in size, flew upward like lightning, radiating rings of star brilliance that connected the seven fist shadows into a silver light screen shimmering with stars.

The black lightning pillar shot straight down, slamming into the silver light screen with a earth-shaking roar.

The silver light screen trembled violently, countless stars shattered and annihilated, and the overall silver light scattered. The area directly impacted by the lightning pillar was blasted open into a large hole.

At the same time, an even louder roar came from the dark cloud vortex high in the sky, as if enraged. A black lightning pillar twice as thick as before tore through the clouds again and fell vertically.

Crab Immortal watched from afar, a golden electric thread flickering in his eyes, and his figure vanished in a flash.

In the next instant, his form appeared in the void between Han Li and the lightning pillar. Golden electric light swirled around him as he raised an arm and struck directly at the golden lightning pillar.

A layer of golden electric light suddenly appeared on his arm, and his entire hand transformed into a giant golden crab claw, snapping fiercely at the black lightning pillar.

“Crack!”

A startling thunderclap sounded. Golden electric light burst forth, and the black lightning pillar split in two, abruptly shattering.

Where it shattered, a spherical electric cage formed, enveloping Crab Immortal entirely.

“Not good…”

Trapped within the lightning, Crab Immortal cried out in alarm and waved his hand again, reaching out of the spherical electric cage.

But it was too late.

Black light erupted outside the spherical electric cage. Thick, arm-like black electric chains shot out, sweeping wildly in all directions, causing the surrounding void to tremble and crackle.

This process seemed slow but was fast. One of the black electric chains, like a whip, slashed down and struck Han Li solidly on the back.

“Zzzt…”

A burst of black sparks flew out, and Han Li’s back was scorched black.

He frowned and immediately looked toward his chest.

In the newly formed immortal aperture, a black light as thin as a hair suddenly shot out, spreading like a spider web, dyeing most of the aperture pitch black.

Han Li’s heart tightened, and his pupils contracted.

Though he had never experienced it, from what he saw, the “aperture decline” among the three declines had finally arrived!

Although Han Li had anticipated this, he still experienced a brief moment of distraction when it actually happened.

Throughout history, countless brilliant cultivators, after enduring hardships, cutting through thorns, and encountering various opportunities, had finally broken through bottlenecks step by step, defying heaven to transcend tribulations and become immortals. Then, after countless eons of tempering, they emerged from among ten thousand immortals and reached the peak of the True Immortal realm.

Just as they were about to take this leap forward and become Golden Immortals, admired by all, the aperture decline descended. All the hard work of cultivation might turn to nothing in an instant.

According to legend, the aperture decline was unlike the first two declines. It came swiftly, like a wildfire spreading. Once one aperture declined, it would quickly spread, infecting and corrupting all the thirty-plus immortal apertures a True Immortal had painstakingly opened.

Once all immortal apertures decayed, the True Immortal body would follow suit, all immortal spiritual power would dissipate, all cultivation efforts would be in vain, and the cultivator would ultimately become a useless person, with no chance of making a comeback.

Han Li’s entire mind was drawn to that aperture, and he couldn’t help feeling anxious, fearing that his immortal apertures would be infected one by one by the black threads and decline one after another.

This was a very peculiar feeling, impossible to fully understand without personal experience.

It was as if one had painstakingly grown a green lotus, only to have a drop of deadly poison dropped into it just as the bud was about to bloom. The entire lotus, from the core, petals, to roots, would be infected by the poison and rapidly decay.

Just as he was about to use the power of the law of time to counter it, he realized something was wrong.

That half-stained black aperture remained half-black and half-white, not spreading as rapidly as described in ancient texts.

What was going on?