Chapter 548: Three Great Techniques

Han Li pressed the jade slip containing the Water Seasonal Cycle Technique to his forehead, eyes tightly shut, his body motionless like an old monk in meditation.

At first, his brow furrowed slightly, as if puzzled, but soon relaxed again, as if he had understood some key point. However, before long, his brow furrowed once more, then relaxed again, and so it repeated.

As time passed, Han Li's frown deepened and remained unrelaxed, as if thoroughly stumped by some difficulty, and sweat gradually seeped from his temples.

This single examination lasted a full three days and three nights.

When Han Li opened his eyes, his back was soaked with sweat, and his eyes were bloodshot, as if he had expended immense mental effort.

"How could this be..." He removed the blue jade slip from his forehead and murmured to himself.

The Water Seasonal Cycle Technique contained a total of seven volumes.

At the beginning of its cultivation, one also needed to condense a Dharma treasure like the Truth Dharma Wheel, called the "Vial of Time," which could absorb the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon to condense drops of time.

When the technique reached the fourth volume, one could begin to refine the collected drops of time, extracting from them threads of time imbued with the power of the law of time.

Han Li was not unfamiliar with these threads of time; back in the Spirit Realm, he had seen them from the Rakshasa Spiders, known as a rare treasure of the nine heavens, born only in the River of Time that contained the law of time. They could extend the lifespan of mortals or low-level cultivators and delay the arrival of heavenly tribulations for high-level cultivators.

According to the technique's description, the threads of time refined through the Water Seasonal Cycle Technique contained purer power of the law of time, thus their effects were more pronounced, even able to help True Immortals delay the arrival of the three declines.

However, the condensation of the Vial of Time, like that of the Truth Dharma Wheel, required not only objects containing the law of time but also many other rare treasures, posing a major obstacle for most cultivators. It was likely for this reason that many cultivators of the Cangliu Sect shied away from this time technique.

Unlike the True Speech Wheel Sutra, which simultaneously condensed immortal apertures and enhanced cultivation as the technique progressed, this technique focused more on increasing the speed of condensing drops of time.

It was said that when the accumulated drops of time reached the level of a river, countless indescribable divine abilities could be unleashed. However, the condensation speed was extremely slow; at the initial stage, each drop of time took a hundred years to condense. To accumulate enough to form a river would require who knows how much time, likely impossible even for a Golden Immortal.

After this comparison, Han Li found that the Water Seasonal Cycle Technique was slightly inferior in function and power to the True Speech Wheel Sutra, but it had its own unique merits.

He had only browsed through it a few times and had not cultivated it continuously like the True Speech Wheel Sutra, so his understanding was naturally limited.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li temporarily suppressed his doubts and opened the Illusionary Time Codex, slowly flipping through it.

The inner chamber was silent, with only the rustling sound of pages turning.

In the blink of an eye, another day passed.

Han Li slowly closed the wax-yellow book, rubbed his aching brow, but a smile gradually appeared on his lips.

The Illusionary Time Codex was even more peculiar than the previous two time techniques. Although it was called a time technique, it was actually more like a treasure-refining manual.

Han Li thought this because, after cultivating this technique to a certain level, one could decompose objects containing the power of the law of time to extract a substance called "Illusionary Time Sand."

This Illusionary Time Sand, when refined through special methods, could create a sealed small space with the sand grains, called an Illusionary Time Sand Realm, such as an Illusionary Time Sand Box or Illusionary Time Sand Vase.

Within the internal space of these sand boxes or vases, the flow of time would change.

"If there were enough Illusionary Time Sand, could it..." A thought suddenly arose in Han Li's mind, and his brow involuntarily lifted.

After a moment, his expression quickly returned to normal, and he laughed self-deprecatingly: "Not to mention whether it could actually be done, where would I get that much Illusionary Time Sand? Objects of the law of time... are not so easy to come by."

After speaking, his gaze wandered back and forth between the two jade slips and the ancient book, showing a contemplative expression.

These three techniques all cultivated the power of the law of time, but each seemed to have a different focus. Apart from the True Speech Wheel Sutra, which could be cultivated as a main technique, the other two were related to treasures of the law of time.

Moreover, after comparing and pondering the three techniques together, Han Li vaguely felt that there seemed to be some connection among them.

Of course, since all three were related to the law of time, some similarities were inevitable. However, as Han Li delved deeper, he found that things might not be so simple. Yet when he tried to cross-reference them, some aspects did not align.

...

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed.

In the inner chamber of the cave, Han Li stood tall, holding an ancient book and a jade slip in his hands, a bitter smile on his face.

After days of hard thinking, he was still at a loss.

"Forget it, forget it. If I keep obsessing like this, I might form a mental knot and hinder future cultivation." He sighed, then turned his wrist and put away the ancient book and jade slip.

Since the law of time was hailed as one of the three supreme laws of the Immortal Realm, its related techniques were naturally different from ordinary techniques. Without understanding the relationship among them, Han Li did not intend to rashly cultivate the other two time techniques.

Of course, the main reason was that his current situation was unstable, and he didn't have that much time.

Thinking this, he sat down cross-legged again, turned his wrist, and took out a white porcelain bottle. He poured out a jade-like translucent pill and swallowed it.

This pill, called the Snow Soul Pill, was one of the Golden Immortal-level pills obtained from Xiao Jinhan. It had the effect of consolidating the foundation and promoting cultivation, making it suitable for him to take now.

After a moment, Han Li's expression returned to calm. He sat cross-legged and began to close his eyes and regulate his breathing.

Once his mind was at peace, he pressed the remaining snow-white jade slip engraved with golden patterns against his forehead.

This jade slip recorded the fifth level of the True Speech Wheel Sutra.

Layers of golden ripples spread from the jade slip, turning into a soft glow that enveloped Han Li.

Compared to the difficulty of initially practicing the fourth level, the fifth level seemed less challenging. After memorizing all the incantations, Han Li put away the jade slip.

He crossed his hands in front of his chest, forming a hand seal, and immediately golden light rippled behind him. The Truth Dharma Wheel slowly emerged and hovered in the air.

Due to the barrier of the restriction array, the fluctuations of the Truth Dharma Wheel did not leak out at all. However, Gold Boy and Little White, through their unique connection with Han Li, sensed something unusual and turned to look inside.

On the Truth Dharma Wheel, clusters of dao patterns shone brightly, like small golden suns, gleaming brilliantly.

Time passed quickly in meditation; soon, more than three months had gone by.

During this period, the Dark Star Gorge became increasingly lively. Apart from the few largest tribes, nearly half of the other medium and small tribes had migrated to the Youchen Tribe.

The Youchen Tribe was bustling and busy. Noyfan came twice in the first month but was told that Han Li was in seclusion, so she never visited this cliff again. It seemed everyone had forgotten that a human lived here.

One day, in the cliff cave, a little girl in red and a white Pixiu both stared with wide, curious eyes through the restriction light curtain that divided the inner and outer chambers, peering inside.

Half an hour earlier, after Han Li swallowed a round fruit covered with dense golden spots, the Truth Dharma Wheel behind him had become increasingly bright.

On the outside of his thigh, a small golden vortex appeared, around which layers of dense golden light continuously gathered and surged into the vortex. This was his sixty-first immortal aperture!

With the formation of this immortal aperture, two more clusters of time dao patterns appeared on the Truth Dharma Wheel.

After a moment, as the surrounding fluctuations gradually subsided, Han Li slowly opened his eyes. There was little joy in his gaze; instead, he looked somewhat troubled.

"With the help of a fruit containing the power of the law of time, I barely managed to open one immortal aperture. Who knows how many resources it will take to reach the Taiyi realm..." He couldn't help but smile bitterly.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, green light shone on his chest, and the small dark green bottle suddenly flew up on its own.

Han Li raised an eyebrow and quickly looked at the Truth Dharma Wheel. To his surprise, he found eleven golden threads缠绕 on it, shimmering with crystalline light—these were threads of time.

The fruit obtained from Gongsun Jiu, whose identity was still unknown, had unexpectedly given him an extra time crystal thread without him noticing. This was a pleasant surprise.

But judging by the current posture of the Celestial Bottle, it seemed he was about to travel through time again.

Sure enough, with a rumbling sound, the small dark green bottle, now as large as a millstone, emitted a thick green light that struck the restriction separating the inner and outer chambers, directly tearing the void and forming the strange crystal wall.

Gold Boy and Little White, their view blocked by the crystal wall and restriction, could neither see the scene inside nor detect any changes inside, so they had to return to the stone table somewhat bored.

Han Li looked at the green vortex gradually emerging in the crystal wall and slowly closed his eyes.

Immediately after, a vast and peculiar suction force suddenly arose, enveloping him entirely. His soul power, like a wild horse breaking free, left his body and flashed into the crystal vortex.