Chapter 466: An Unorthodox Method

With a crackling sound!

The black iron needle on the stone disk trembled slightly, and then a black electric arc like a venomous snake shot out, striking Han Li's fingertip.

A sharp pain pierced straight to his soul, causing him to gasp in pain. His brow twitched as he withdrew his hand.

Hearing the commotion, the remnant soul of the old Taoist, who had regained some strength in the Soul-Nurturing Furnace, couldn't help but let out a series of gloating, cackling laughs.

But before his laughter ended, a green light swept over the Soul-Nurturing Furnace and pulled it into the hall.

"Ouch! I say, you little..." The golden light on the ground enveloped him again, and the old Taoist immediately let out a miserable cry.

Han Li casually waved his hand, and a circular arc of light immediately covered the entire Soul-Nurturing Furnace, silencing the old Taoist's eerie screams.

"You... you little brat, you're ruthless. Back in the day, I, the Taoist..." the old Taoist said weakly, his expression bleak.

"Tell me, what's the deal with this thing?" Han Li asked, holding the incense burner and raising an eyebrow at the sundial on the stone platform, interrupting the old Taoist.

"How would I know... Hey, let's talk nicely, don't..."

Before he could finish, seeing Han Li raise his hand to remove the light arc, he immediately begged for mercy.

"...This is the Lunar Sundial, the core of this secret realm. Only by completely destroying it can we leave this place," the old Taoist said weakly.

"Just destroying it will do?" Han Li's eyes flickered with eagerness.

"I advise you, with your current strength, trying to smash this thing is like throwing an egg against a rock. If its yin lightning backlashes, you might end up with your soul scattered," the old Taoist suddenly sneered, his tone grave.

"You said earlier that mastering time or space laws would greatly help in破解 the secret realm's core, right?" Han Li asked thoughtfully.

"Of course. Time and space laws are among the three supreme laws of this realm, not comparable to ordinary laws! Space law is the fundamental basis of all spatial barriers and restrictions;破解 it is tracing back to the source. As for time law, it's because this Lunar Sundial is a semi-immortal artifact imbued with time power..." the old Taoist explained eloquently.

Han Li frowned deeply upon hearing this.

His earlier probing had not detected any time law power from it.

"Senior, let's be frank. I happen to cultivate time law. Why didn't I sense any time power on this sundial when I probed it?" Han Li interrupted the old Taoist's rambling and asked solemnly.

"What? You're not joking, are you? You really cultivate time law? Don't try to fool me. Tell me, have you condensed any time threads? How many?" The old Taoist was overjoyed and stood up in the furnace, but then looked suspicious.

"Senior, please answer my question first," Han Li said expressionlessly.

"Alright, I'll trust you for now! But come to think of it, I've long seen that you have an extraordinary bone structure and an unusual appearance, so you must be no ordinary person... As for not noticing the oddity of the Lunar Sundial, it seems you have at most five time threads; otherwise, you would have detected it," the old Taoist chuckled, rambling before finally getting to the point.

"Are you saying my mastery of time law is insufficient?" Han Li raised an eyebrow.

"Let's put it this way: even if you cultivate time law techniques, to destroy this core, you need at least mid-stage Golden Immortal cultivation and at least... at least six time law threads to have a chance," the old Taoist continued.

"Mid-stage Golden Immortal... To be honest, Senior, my early-stage Golden Immortal cultivation isn't even stable. To reach mid-stage, it would take at least ten thousand years," Han Li said with a frown.

"Good boy, you're quite ambitious! Ten thousand years to advance to mid-stage? In my opinion, cultivating one of the three supreme laws, without a million years, don't even think about crossing that threshold! And that's a conservative estimate," the old Taoist scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Han Li fell silent. The old Taoist's words were not alarmist; without suitable Golden Immortal pills, he indeed had no confidence in advancing to mid-stage within tens of thousands of years.

"But don't be discouraged. You're lucky to have met me. I have a method that might help you, but I wonder if you dare to use it?" the old Taoist said, looking Han Li up and down with a slightly provocative tone.

"What method?" Han Li asked, looking at the remnant soul.

"The difficulty of advancing to mid-stage Golden Immortal lies in opening the twenty-four immortal acupoints. These twenty-four acupoints are far harder than the thirty-six of the True Immortal realm. I have a technique that uses baleful qi to冲击 immortal acupoints, greatly shortening your cultivation time," the old Taoist said, shaking his head.

"Baleful qi? Such an unorthodox method will surely have endless consequences, won't it?" Han Li sneered.

"Who says otherwise? That's why I asked if you dare. Listen to me first; whether to cultivate it is your own business. Actually, baleful qi, like mana, exists within you, but it usually doesn't manifest. As for consequences, baleful qi will remain in the immortal acupoints you open. The specific effects vary from person to person; I can't explain clearly," the old Taoist explained with a chuckle.

After speaking, the old Taoist suddenly remembered something and quickly added, "Oh, one more drawback: this technique, like the Divine Refining Art, is forbidden by the Heavenly Court. If discovered, it might attract巡察仙使, which would be very troublesome."

Han Li habitually rubbed his nose and fell into deep thought.

This technique sounded so sinister that its drawbacks must be more than what the old Taoist mentioned. As for being forbidden by the Heavenly Court, he didn't care; he already cultivated the Divine Refining Art, so one forbidden art or two made no difference.

"If I use this method to open immortal acupoints, how much time can I save?" Han Li asked after a long while.

"Well, it varies. Those with dense baleful qi—in other words, those who have killed many immortals—will find it easier to open acupoints. Those with sparse baleful qi will be slower. But judging by your appearance, your baleful qi probably isn't dense. At best, it might double your speed. But don't underestimate that; even顶级 elixirs might not achieve that effect!" the old Taoist said, glancing at Han Li with a light laugh.

"How do I check the density of my baleful qi?" Han Li ignored the old Taoist's words and asked.

"That's easy. I'll teach you a baleful qi manifestation technique. Listen carefully." With that, the old Taoist recited a strange incantation.

Following the old Taoist's instructions, Han Li formed a strange hand seal and began chanting the incantation:

"One qi divides into yin and yang; dark yin has three baleful... fierce baleful gathers at Yongquan; blood baleful resides at Neiguan... baleful rises from the crown; manifestation like dark spirit!"

"Manifest!"

With Han Li's command, he stomped his foot, shaking the entire hall.

Black qi like smoke rose from his head, spreading like dark clouds, covering the entire hall ceiling. His body was also entwined with thick, ink-like, tangible black smoke.

This black qi continuously emerged from his body, intertwining and churning, thick as ink.

Han Li's entire aura changed, his baleful qi soaring to the heavens.

The old Taoist's remnant soul, staying in the incense burner, stared at Han Li, who looked like a baleful god, with his mouth wide open, unable to close for a long time. If he had a physical body, his jaw would have dropped.

"This, this... truly spectacular, spectacular... How many people have you killed to get this?" he muttered to himself.

Han Li didn't feel much different, only that after the black mist emerged, he felt lighter, but at the same time, an indescribable ferocity arose in his heart.

"How is my baleful qi?" Han Li suppressed the anomaly in his heart and looked at the old Taoist.

"I've seen many with dense baleful qi like yours, but most have a strong bloody aura, appearing dark red. Yours is different—so purely black. You're teachable, truly teachable. With this, the drawbacks of my technique should be reduced by at least half," the old Taoist praised.

Han Li didn't feel pleased. He withdrew his hand seal, and the rolling black qi that was still emitting immediately retracted into his body, disappearing completely.

"Why withdraw so quickly? It hadn't fully manifested yet..." the old Taoist complained.

"Teach me your technique," Han Li said.

"Decided to use it? Think it over, hehe..." the old Taoist asked with a smile.

Han Li didn't answer. He hadn't decided to use it immediately; he just wanted to obtain the technique first. Whether to use it or not would depend on his cultivation progress later.

After obtaining the baleful qi technique called "Mysterious Baleful Dark Spirit Art" from the old Taoist, he sent the remnant soul back to the underground hall where he had originally been.

To help stabilize his soul, Han Li temporarily left the Soul-Nurturing Furnace there.

Although he still didn't know how much of the old Taoist's words were true, this person must know a lot about the Minghan Immortal Palace. A remnant soul posed no threat to him, so it was better to keep him for now.

After doing all this, Han Li went to another underground chamber of considerable size, closed the stone door, and began taking out sets of禁制法阵, busily setting them up.