Chapter 472: Severing the Spirit

"It's time to end this..."

Han Li murmured to himself. His ten fingers swiftly formed hand seals. A dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth from his body. The Truthful Speech Wheel instantly stopped its reverse rotation and began to spin forward.

Hum!

Dense rings of golden ripples erupted from the wheel, instantly spreading over a thousand zhang in all directions, enveloping the five-clawed gray dragon within.

Everything covered by the golden ripples seemed to freeze instantly, becoming motionless.

The five-clawed gray dragon was no exception. Its face held a shocked expression, its mouth slightly open, its body completely still.

Han Li's eyes flickered. He raised his hand and slapped down through the air.

A flash of green light. Three Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords appeared beside the five-clawed gray dragon, their surfaces swirling with green light. They swiftly twisted around the dragon's body like lightning.

Amidst the interweaving green light, the five-clawed gray dragon's body was instantly severed into over a dozen pieces, but they did not separate, and not even a single drop of blood splattered.

At the same time, a Time Crystal Thread emerged from somewhere, flickering as it plunged into the five-clawed gray dragon's mind.

After a moment, a gray light flashed. The Time Crystal Thread flew out, binding a small gray dragon. On its forehead was also a silver pattern—it was Qu Ling's Nascent Soul.

A golden ripple emanated from the crystal thread, enveloping the gray Nascent Soul and firmly imprisoning it.

Han Li quietly exhaled. He waved a hand.

The golden spirit domain flickered, turning into a vast expanse of golden light that surged back like a whale drinking water, vanishing into his body.

The golden ripples around Han Li also flickered slightly, all flying back and merging into the rapidly spinning Truthful Speech Wheel.

The Truthful Speech Wheel flashed twice quickly, then slowly dissipated.

At that moment, Han Li suddenly let out a soft exclamation. With a thought, the Truthful Speech Wheel stopped dissipating and condensed again, rising from behind him to float in front.

On the Truthful Speech Wheel, the time patterns had once again dimmed into more than a dozen clusters, appearing gray and dull, exactly like the previous dimming of the time patterns.

"This is..." Han Li's eyes showed a hint of surprise.

With a thought, a strand of divine sense entered the Nurturing Soul Furnace, informing the old Daoist's remnant soul of this situation.

"Of course. Do you think that activating such a powerful spirit domain only consumes immortal spiritual power? The main consumption of the spirit domain is your time law power. It's perfectly normal for some time patterns to go out." The remnant soul said nonchalantly.

Han Li nodded upon hearing this.

Now that he had condensed a full ten Time Law Threads, restoring these dozen or so time patterns seemed like it wouldn't take long.

With this thought, he relaxed. Then he waved a hand in a summoning gesture.

The three Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords flickered with green light and flew back, stopping before him.

A golden light flashed. The law threads within flew out and merged into his body.

The golden light emitted by the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords immediately vanished, and their vast, overwhelming aura greatly diminished, returning to their previous state.

Seeing this, Han Li's mind stirred.

The Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords contained immense spiritual power. By temporarily integrating a Time Crystal Thread, he could imbue them with a trace of time law power, greatly increasing their might. If in the future these swords contained matching laws, their power would be immeasurable.

At this thought, his heart burned with excitement.

Han Li took a deep breath to calm his emotions. He flicked his sleeve, and the three giant green swords quickly shrank, flying into his sleeve.

In this great battle, although his time spirit domain had shown its prowess and, with the cooperation of the Truthful Speech Wheel, he had killed Qu Ling with little effort, maintaining the domain consumed a considerable amount of immortal spiritual power. Activating the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords also consumed a great deal.

Combined, even though he had now advanced to the mid-Golden Immortal stage, he still found it hard to bear. At this moment, his face was somewhat pale.

From current observations, the spirit domain's advantage was its large range, but its power was relatively limited. Meanwhile, the area released by the Truthful Speech Wheel, though smaller in range, was not weak in power.

He turned his hand and took out a red pill, swallowing it. He was about to circulate his energy to refine it.

But at that moment, the silver 'king' pattern on the forehead of the small gray dragon Nascent Soul on the Time Crystal Thread suddenly flared with silver light. The body struggled violently.

The Time Crystal Thread was even shaken by the struggle, loosening slightly.

It was unclear what divine ability the gray Nascent Soul had used, but even the power of time law seemed unable to affect it.

"Still trying to escape!" Han Li's expression darkened. He pointed a finger.

The Time Crystal Thread immediately brightened, emitting an even more brilliant light, binding the gray Nascent Soul again.

The gray Nascent Soul suddenly let out a piercing shriek. Its body swelled violently, becoming four or five times larger.

Han Li frowned slightly. The Time Crystal Thread was tightly bound around the Nascent Soul, deeply embedded in its body. In this state, it was even more impossible for it to break free.

But this Qu Ling Nascent Soul was strange. He was about to form hand seals to completely imprison it.

In the next moment, the silver pattern on the gray Nascent Soul's forehead flashed again. Then with a 'bang', the gray Nascent Soul suddenly exploded, turning into a gray light that dissipated and vanished.

A blurry dragon shadow shot out from the漫天 gray light. It was Qu Ling's soul. The soul was enveloped in a very faint silver light, moving at an astonishing speed. With a flicker, it disappeared beyond the horizon.

Han Li frowned at this.

Qu Ling's Nascent Soul had been bound by his Time Crystal Thread. In theory, it shouldn't even be able to move a muscle, yet it had found a way to break free and escape.

It seemed that even these Golden Immortals, reduced to only their Nascent Souls, possessed no small divine abilities. Today had taught him a lesson.

He shook his head, raised his hand, and waved. That Time Crystal Thread also flew into his body.

Even if the opponent was a true spirit, now only a mere soul remained. Escaping was nothing. After all, this was not the outside world. Even if there were future troubles, he had no time to worry about them now.

At this, the three-colored spirit domain that Qu Ling had released earlier trembled a few times, then quickly dissipated and vanished.

The corpse of the five-clawed gray dragon inside immediately disintegrated, falling from midair.

Han Li waved a hand. A green bowl-like vessel shot out, expanding to the size of a mu in a flash, catching all the pieces of the five-clawed gray dragon's corpse without missing a single piece.

He beckoned with his hand. The green bowl flew back, shrinking to its original size on the way, and landed in his hand.

Han Li glanced into the bowl, showing a hint of satisfaction. He turned his hand and put the green bowl away.

Next, he waved his hand, sending out a green glow that wrapped around the gray throne, which had lost control but still hung in midair, and retrieved it.

After a brief inspection, he turned his hand and put it away.

At that moment, a golden light flashed. The figure of Gold Devouring Beetle appeared beside Han Li. The copper gong from before was nowhere to be seen.

"Han Li, you couldn't even watch over a mere Nascent Soul and let it self-destruct. What a waste!" Gold Devouring Beetle frowned, muttering with great dissatisfaction.

"What, do you want a Golden Immortal Nascent Soul?" Han Li looked at Gold Devouring Beetle, asking somewhat curiously.

"Do you even need to ask? A Golden Immortal Nascent Soul is full of abundant vitality and contains rich soul power. To this fairy, it's naturally a fine tonic!" Gold Devouring Beetle curled her lips.

Han Li didn't say much. He turned his hand, and a white jade box appeared in his palm. Opening the lid, inside were a black and a white Nascent Soul, belonging to the white giant python and the black strange fish he had killed earlier.

Gold Devouring Beetle was about to say something more, but seeing this, her eyes immediately lit up, staring fixedly at the two Nascent Souls.

"I originally had other uses for these two Nascent Souls. Since you contributed greatly to helping me kill Qu Ling this time, I'll give them to you to restore your vitality." Han Li said, handing over the jade box.

"You have a conscience! Since you're being so sincere, this fairy will reluctantly accept them." Gold Devouring Beetle showed no intention of being polite with Han Li. Beaming with joy, she grabbed the jade box.

She took a deep breath, then opened her mouth, emitting a golden light that instantly wrapped around the two Nascent Souls, sucking them into her mouth and chewing them loudly.

Gold Devouring Beetle's round little face showed an expression of satisfaction and happiness.

The two Golden Immortal-stage beast Nascent Souls, impervious to water and fire, immune to swords and spears, were like a delicious feast in her mouth. This left Han Li speechless, but deep in his eyes, a hint of fondness flickered.

At this moment, streaks of flowing golden light appeared on Gold Devouring Beetle's body, shimmering like water waves, finally converging towards her arms.

Her two originally semi-transparent arms quickly became solid.

After a few breaths, Gold Devouring Beetle suddenly tilted her head back, swallowing the contents of her mouth. She wiped her mouth with her newly formed arm and even let out a burp.

The golden light on her body soon stopped flickering, and her arms almost returned to their original state.

"It seems that Golden Immortal-level Nascent Souls are indeed a good tonic for you. Speaking of which, after so many years without seeing you, I didn't expect you to have become like this." Han Li nodded and said.

"What, don't you like this fairy's appearance? Speaking of which, if there were one more, this fairy's injuries would be fully healed. It's all your fault! Otherwise, there would have been three whole Nascent Souls." Gold Devouring Beetle raised her little eyebrows, glared at Han Li, and said with some dissatisfaction.

"What's the hurry? Now that the Immortal Mansion is teeming with Golden Immortals, even if I don't go looking for them, someone will probably come knocking." Han Li turned his gaze to a certain direction and said calmly.

"Are there more? That's great! With this fairy here, plus your spirit domain, I guarantee they'll come but never return." Gold Devouring Beetle giggled, stretched lazily, revealing a row of white teeth, and said grandly.

"Let's set that aside for now. Gold Devouring Beetle, there's something I want to ask you first." Han Li looked at Gold Devouring Beetle, his expression suddenly turning serious, and asked.

"Oh, what question?" Gold Devouring Beetle was slightly startled by Han Li's sudden question, and her little face also became somewhat tense as she replied.

"Back then, I ascended to the Immortal Realm. Later, I encountered a powerful enemy and was knocked down to the lower realm. Due to the enemy's laws, I lost a lot of memories. Do you remember how we spent our time in the Immortal Realm before encountering that powerful enemy?" Han Li asked in a deep voice.

Although he had learned some information from Tao Yu and Fang Pan, he still hadn't fully clarified the events after his ascension to the Immortal Realm. Now that the inkstone had shattered, the last clues might be lost.

For some reason, Han Li was very concerned about this period of memory.

"I can't remember either. My memories of the Immortal Realm seem to start from encountering that person named Fang Pan. After that, I used a little trick to kill one of Fang Pan's spirit pets. When I returned, I couldn't find your trace. Later, I encountered that Qu Ling and was captured by her. Speaking of which, that woman was good at raising various spirit pets. I always had food, drink, and upgrades, so this fairy temporarily went along with her and stayed." Gold Devouring Beetle thought for a moment, then frowned and said.