Chapter 468: Spirit Domain

At this moment, within the dark chamber, a hazy golden light like mist shrouded the entire room, resembling a rolling golden ocean.

In the center of the room, Han Li sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, bathed in the golden light. His entire body seemed clad in a golden garment, radiant and dazzling, leaving only a blurry silhouette visible.

The vast, ocean-like primordial qi converged from all directions, swirling in the center of the room to form a vortex, emitting waves of fluctuations that caused even the restrictions set by Han Li to sway slightly, unable to settle for a long time.

It was only after several hours that these fluctuations gradually subsided, and the momentum slowly diminished.

At that moment, Han Li suddenly let out a loud shout and abruptly opened his eyes.

Inch-long golden rays shot forth from his pupils, as solid as substance, lingering without dispersing.

After a long while, he exhaled a long breath of turbid qi, then opened his mouth and inhaled. Instantly, the golden light in the room converged toward his mouth like a whale drinking water, and he sucked it all into his abdomen.

Immediately after, a golden light spot emerged below his throat, extremely bright, continuously absorbing the remaining primordial qi around it.

With this, the last immortal aperture for reaching the mid-Golden Immortal stage was finally opened.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

A gust of wind howled as the Wheel of Truth emerged from behind Han Li and circled to his front, hovering steadily in the air, spinning rapidly.

Han Li looked up and saw it gleaming with golden light, with over four hundred translucent time dao patterns swirling on its surface.

A glint flashed in his eyes, and a smile curled at the corners of his mouth. The golden light in his eyes faded as he beckoned with one hand.

Immediately, six golden crystal threads shot out from the Wheel of Truth, flying straight toward his palm like sleeve arrows.

As they neared his palm, the golden crystal threads suddenly halted, softened from their taut state, wrapped around his fingertips once, and then fell into his palm.

These crystal threads were none other than time law threads. In addition to the original three, Han Li had painstakingly cultivated the "True Speech Wheel Sutra" over the years and intermittently condensed three more.

He had originally thought that successfully advancing to the mid-Golden Immortal stage this time would allow him to condense at least one more time crystal thread, but he was disappointed.

In fact, over the past thousand years, he had been immersed in cultivation, waking up only three times during that period.

Almost every time, he had fallen into a state similar to the previous empty-consciousness state during cultivation, and then, as if by chance, he would condense a time crystal thread.

With each additional time crystal thread, his understanding of the power of time laws seemed to deepen. The bottlenecks he had encountered in comprehending the fourth level of the True Speech Wheel Sutra were unexpectedly resolved, and his cultivation became smoother.

A thousand years passed swiftly, and the mortal world went through several cycles.

But for cultivators who had crossed the threshold of the True Immortal realm, it was merely a fleeting moment. It was said that some immortals practicing special techniques could sleep for thousands of years without waking, taking a nap that lasted millennia.

Thus, Han Li was greatly surprised by his rapid advancement to the mid-Golden Immortal stage, and he became increasingly amazed by the unorthodox technique "Mysterious Fiend Nether Spirit Art."

Of course, he still felt somewhat uneasy, as using fiendish qi to accelerate cultivation was fraught with hidden dangers. However, every time he opened an immortal aperture, he would carefully examine it and test it with various methods. Apart from the lingering gray threads on the apertures, he had not yet discovered any other abnormalities.

Under the current circumstances, he could only let it be for now. After all, having finally reached the mid-Golden Immortal stage after so long, he could now hope to leave this place. As for other matters, he could deal with them after leaving.

Once everything had calmed down, Han Li immediately stood up, collected all the formations he had set up around him, and turned to leave the dark chamber.

Arriving at the hall where the old Daoist's remnant soul resided, before even entering, he heard a murmuring voice from inside, indistinct and unclear.

When he reached the hall entrance, Han Li saw the old Daoist's remnant soul floating leisurely in midair, talking to his own statue.

"Alas, in those days, how dashing and elegant was I? Not to mention my status as an Immortal Lord, but even the title of Sword Immortal, Wusheng Daoist, attracted countless beautiful immortals' admiration. Now, trapped here for who knows how many years, I'm sure many fairies are weeping in sorrow, heartbroken..."

Han Li stood for a while, unable to bear listening any longer, and coughed lightly to interrupt the old Daoist: "It seems you have recovered well, your spirit is much stronger than when we first met."

Hearing this, the old Daoist turned abruptly to look at Han Li. First stunned, then startled, then delighted, his facial expressions were extremely varied.

"How... how is this possible? It's only been a short time, and you've actually reached the mid-Golden Immortal stage? Could it be..." The old Daoist raised an eyebrow, counting on his fingers, and said hesitantly.

"Could it be what?" Han Li frowned, thinking something was wrong.

"Could it be that you, like me, are a rare cultivation genius unseen for ages?" The old Daoist said with a serious expression.

Han Li was speechless.

"I have come to bid you farewell, Senior. Now that I have become a mid-stage Golden Immortal cultivator, I can leave this place. As for the Soul-Nurturing Furnace, it is nothing rare, so I leave it to you as a parting gift." Han Li clasped his hands slightly toward the remnant soul of the old Daoist and turned to leave.

But before he could turn around and lift his foot, the old Daoist's urgent shout came from behind.

Hearing this, Han Li stopped and turned back to look.

"Hey... you brat, aren't you taking me with you?" the old Daoist cried out, floating in front of Han Li in an instant.

"When did I ever say I would take you with me, Senior?" Han Li asked, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Heh, you ungrateful..." The old Daoist stopped mid-sentence.

Han Li, looking completely unconcerned, raised an eyebrow as if encouraging the old Daoist to continue.

"Hehe, I at least pointed out the way out for you. You can't just leave me here, can you? Besides, once you destroy the core of the secret realm, this underground palace will likely cease to exist. How could this wisp of my remnant soul remain?" The old Daoist's tone changed, becoming pitiful.

Hearing this, Han Li deliberately assumed a thoughtful expression, looking somewhat troubled.

"What you say seems reasonable, Senior, but after all, we are chance acquaintances. It's hard to say whether this is a good or bad fate... How about this: you teach me the method to condense a spirit domain, and I will take you away from here. What do you say?" After a long pause, he spoke slowly.

The old Daoist wished he could slap himself in the face.

He only regretted showing off earlier by mentioning that he had taught Mo Yu to condense a spirit domain. This kid must have already been planning to corner him like this.

"I can teach you the method to condense a spirit domain, but what if you go back on your word?" the old Daoist said, his expression turning serious.

"I merely proposed a feasible plan. Since you have concerns, Senior, forget it. I am not one to force others..." Han Li said with a casual smile, speaking calmly.

"You... you... ah... As the old saying goes, circumstances are stronger than people, and one must act accordingly. Let's do it your way." The old Daoist's eyes widened, and he made a decisive decision.

"You are indeed a straightforward person, Senior." Han Li then said seriously.

"What do you know about spirit domains?" the old Daoist asked sullenly, full of resentment.

"Well... I know very little. Please just tell me directly, Senior." Han Li shook his head and said.

Upon hearing this, the old Daoist rolled his eyes and continued,

"I need not elaborate on the function of a spiritual domain, as you must have seen many by now. As for its essence, it is simply a range within which a cultivator, upon mastering some law power, influences the surrounding environment when releasing it. The size of this range and the strength of its influence are both related to the cultivator's degree of mastery over the law power."

"Senior, is it necessary to master law power before one can manifest a spiritual domain?" Han Li asked, frowning slightly.

He suddenly recalled that back in the Spirit Realm, Bao Hua had been able to manifest a spiritual domain without having mastered law power.

"Indeed, whether one has mastered law power is a prerequisite for manifesting a spiritual domain. However, it is not absolute. Some cultivators who have not mastered law power can still manifest a spiritual domain through certain special treasures combined with special techniques. But such spiritual domains are merely inferior imitations with many fatal flaws, not worthy of this Daoist's attention." The old Daoist thought for a moment and said slowly.

"I see. Since the spiritual domain is closely related to law power, does it also rely on law power to maintain itself when manifested?" Han Li nodded and asked.

"Indeed, and whether the spiritual domain is stable and its power is strong also depends on the cultivator's degree of mastery over law power. If you have more law threads, it can also enhance the power of the spiritual domain to some extent." The old Daoist continued.

One after another, the old Daoist imparted some basic knowledge about spiritual domains to Han Li.

As Han Li listened, he compared it with what he had seen in the past, and many of his previous doubts were finally resolved.

Finally, the old Daoist looked at Han Li and said slowly,

"The technique I am teaching you has no special name; it is the most common method for condensing a spiritual domain in the Immortal Realm. Its merit lies in being the most widespread and the least erroneous. Listen carefully."

With that, he began to recite the oral formula of that technique for Han Li to hear.

In his words, he described the technique as very ordinary, saying it was the most common, as if it were something ubiquitous, but that was relative to his original level as a Taiyi Jade Immortal. For Han Li's current realm, it was not common at all.

In fact, when he was cultivating in the Candle Dragon Sect, he had also searched for related techniques. Although the sect had collections, they could only be exchanged by cultivators above the Golden Immortal level. Later, when he searched in the Wuchang Alliance, the price was also extremely high.

"So, have you memorized it all?" The old Daoist glanced at him and asked.

"I have memorized it. It doesn't seem too difficult to cultivate, but I'll need to verify it later." Han Li nodded and said.

"I knew you would only believe it after practicing it yourself." The old Daoist said with irritation.

"It shouldn't take long, so please wait a little longer, Senior." Han Li said with a smile.

With that, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave the hall on his own, leaving the old Daoist muttering incessantly behind him.