Chapter 463: Another Hidden World

"It seems that not only has the core pattern of the Dream Concealment Rune appeared, but also the hidden array nodes of the entire great formation have surfaced," said the Crab Immortal, gazing at the golden-glowing stone platform with admiration.

"In that case, Fellow Daoist Crab, let's see how to break it," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"From the fully repaired stamen, it should be the most special kind of Dream Concealment Rune, the Nine-Dream Pattern. It's fortunate we didn't rely solely on brute force; otherwise, once the entire formation was activated, this small secret realm would have turned upside down. But now that we understand its roots, breaking it will be much easier," the Crab Immortal said, staring at the center of the stone platform for a moment before pondering.

After speaking, he borrowed some formation-breaking flags and artifacts from Han Li, then flickered his form, shuttling back and forth through the ruined city, busily setting things up.

Han Li waited quietly in place.

After about a quarter of an hour, the Crab Immortal returned to the stone platform, holding a white jade disc with intricate carvings.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit curious, but didn't ask further.

The Crab Immortal paused before the stone platform, then stepped forward and placed the jade disc onto the blank area at the center of the platform where the dream-epiphyllum stamen had been. It fit perfectly, neither too large nor too small.

"The original pattern was destroyed after all. This is a substitute I made from jade; I hope it works," the Crab Immortal explained.

With that, he formed a hand seal, chanted softly, then raised his palm and struck down toward the center of the stone platform.

A golden light passed through the jade from his palm and entered the stone platform. The entire platform shook violently, then lit up with a dazzling golden radiance.

The Dream Concealment Rune on it shone brightly, and a layer of golden light shadow floated out, rising toward the sky.

It flew higher and higher, its light growing larger and larger, until it transformed into a giant flower shadow large enough to cover the entire ruined city, hovering above the secret realm.

Beneath the nodes where the golden patterns on its nine petals intersected, array nodes were located, and at these positions, the Crab Immortal had already set up formation flags.

When the dream-epiphyllum shadow cast hundreds of golden threads linking to the formation flags at the nodes, its central stamen immediately erupted with golden light, shooting a golden beam down to the center of the stone platform.

A dull rumble sounded.

Illuminated by the golden beam, a network of golden patterns spread like a spiderweb beneath the stone platform, but this time they only flickered a few times before disappearing on their own.

Then, a sound of stone grinding arose. The entire stone platform split in two from the center, opening to both sides, revealing a five-foot-wide hole in the ground.

Han Li stepped forward to look and saw darkness inside, feeling a gust of wind blowing out.

He frowned slightly and waved his hand. Seven or eight fiery red fireballs, each the size of a human head, appeared out of thin air and fell into the hole. They soon hit the ground, bounced a few times, and rolled into the depths.

By the light of the fireball spell, Han Li saw that the vertical depth of the hole was not too great, only a few dozen zhang. At the bottom, stone slabs were laid, suggesting a passage, but it was clearly not the exit from this small secret realm.

"It seems leaving this place will require some trouble," Han Li sighed lightly.

"Since this place is sealed with the Dream Concealment Rune, there must be another hidden world inside. Perhaps there is even a great opportunity awaiting you, Fellow Daoist," the Crab Immortal said slowly.

"I care little about opportunities. The urgent task is to find a way to leave here as soon as possible," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Earlier, while protecting you, I didn't consume much energy, but after lingering in the outside world for over a decade, I need to return and rest for a while. If you need me later, call me out again," the Crab Immortal said.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Crab," Han Li said sincerely.

The Crab Immortal waved his hand, his body glowing brightly, then turned into a wisp of golden light that flew into Han Li's sleeve and disappeared.

Han Li's gaze sharpened, and he leaped into the hole.

After landing, he quickly noticed that the ground beneath his feet and the walls beside him were very smooth. In front of him was a horizontal passage leading into the dark depths, over two zhang high and six feet wide.

A blue light shone in his eyes, and he released his divine sense, probing deep into the passage.

Upon investigation, Han Li discovered that underground there was a massive palace, no smaller in area than the city above.

Previously, it had been concealed by the Dream Concealment Rune, making it impossible to detect, but now it was fully revealed.

Following the passage ahead, Han Li walked several hundred steps until he reached the end, where a bare stone wall stood before him.

He raised his hand, pressed it against the stone wall, and pushed backward with force.

A rumbling sound echoed through the passage as the entire stone wall slowly retreated several feet, revealing a horizontal corridor.

Standing at the center of the corridor, Han Li looked both ways and then turned right.

The right passage was also short, only a hundred steps to the end. This time, there was no fork, but a small chamber the size of an ordinary guest room.

Han Li pushed open the stone door of the chamber and entered.

Unlike the dark passage outside, the ceiling of the chamber was embedded with over a dozen palm-sized fluorescent stones, casting a cold white light that illuminated the entire room brightly.

Han Li swept his gaze around, taking in all the furnishings.

In a corner of the chamber stood a black wooden rack, already decayed beyond recognition. The bottles and jars stored on it had fallen to the floor, mixing with wood shavings and emitting an indescribable odor.

Han Li waved his hand casually, and a black porcelain bottle flew out from the muddy decayed wood, hovering before him.

He lifted his finger, and the bottle cork flew off, releasing a strange medicinal fragrance.

Han Li frowned, sniffed it, then sighed lightly, withdrawing his hand into his sleeve.

The black porcelain bottle fell straight to the ground with a crisp sound, rolling away to the side.

The medicine originally stored inside was a pill usable even by True Immortal stage cultivators, but due to the extremely long time, the originally contained fragrance had now leaked out, indicating that the medicinal power had dissipated and was useless.

After carefully scanning the room and finding nothing useful, Han Li turned and left the chamber, heading toward the other end of the passage.

After walking for about half an hour, he arrived at another stone door. Upon inspection, he saw that it was engraved with an ancient and complex sealing rune.

He hesitated briefly, then light gathered on his hand. Five-colored light clusters appeared on his fingertips as he pressed them against the door.

As the five-colored spiritual light entered the door, the rune pattern that almost covered the entire stone door began to shrink toward the center, eventually forming a peculiar circular ancient mark.

Han Li pressed his palm against the ancient mark, and the stone door rumbled as it lifted upward.

As the stone door rose, a glimmer of light shone through from inside.

Han Li instinctively turned his wrist, and a stream of green light flowed from his palm, producing a Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.

When the stone door was fully raised, he saw that inside was still a narrow passage, but on both sides of the walls, stone grooves had been cut, apparently containing some kind of fish oil that burned slowly, emitting dim light.

A faint fishy smell hung in the air. Han Li wrinkled his nose and continued forward.

From here on, the branching paths increased, and the scattered chambers and side halls also multiplied. However, most were sparsely furnished, containing almost nothing useful.

At first, Han Li would personally investigate, but later he only scanned with his divine sense. If there was no special fluctuation, he ignored them and moved on to the next place.

Several hours later, Han Li emerged from a stone door into a straight passage three zhang wide.

At the end of the passage stood a tall hall door, its two leaves tightly closed. The door was split in half, each side carved with half of a ferocious beast's head in relief. Twisted patterns extended from the carvings, covering the entire door.

Han Li did not recognize the beast, but he could tell it was no simple restriction rune.

He formed a hand seal, and a brilliant golden light blazed behind him, directly activating his True Eye to investigate.

After a moment, he withdrew the Truth Dharma Wheel, furrowed his brow in thought, and began to dismantle the restriction.

As streams of spell seals flew out and struck the stone door, the runes on the door lit up with a dark yellow light, and the two eyes of the beast head also brightened like pearls.

A faint, low roar came from within, and a beast shadow pounced down from the stone door. Han Li quickly sidestepped to avoid it.

The beast shadow flew a few feet outward, then its light scattered and disappeared.

The light of the runes on the stone door then faded, and the beast's eyes dimmed again.

Han Li stepped forward, pressed one palm against one leaf of the stone door, and pushed with force, sliding it inward to open a gap several feet wide.

Through the gap, Han Li saw dim light emanating from inside the hall, casting blurry shadows on the ground before him.

He frowned deeply, probing with his divine sense into the hall, but found nothing unusual.

However, when he flickered and entered the hall, he was somewhat stunned.

Inside the hall, gray stone statues, almost as tall as a person, were placed everywhere. By the light of the fire basins on the walls, Han Li roughly counted seven or eight of them.

What he had seen outside the door were the shadows of the two statues near the hall entrance.

As Han Li walked toward the center of the hall, he carefully examined these statues. Upon closer inspection, he found that they seemed to be supporting pillars of the hall.

They were not carved as gods, monsters, or ferocious beasts, but as lifelike human figures, both male and female, almost all standing in solemn posture.