Chapter 656: Dead City

Han Li frowned and pondered on the spot for a moment, then shook his head, his brow relaxing.

Since he couldn't find Hu San and the others for now, he might as well look around on his own. He was also quite curious about this legendary True Word Sect ruins.

From what he knew so far, the two great divine abilities he cultivated, the 'True Word Treasure Wheel Sutra' and 'Dharma Word Heaven and Earth,' originated from here and were incomplete. Perhaps he might find some clues here, who knew.

"Oh, right..." Han Li was about to move when he suddenly remembered something and waved his hand.

A ball of green light shot out from him, transforming in a flash into an emerald green gourd.

Han Li made a hand seal and drew a thread of golden light from the gourd—it was the golden command flag, hovering before him, spinning gently.

He raised his hand and took the golden command flag, examining it closely.

Up close, the golden command flag looked even more extraordinary; the golden star patterns on it flickered like living things, as if they might fly off the flag at any moment.

Moreover, he could feel a powerful fluctuation of time law emanating from within the flag, not inferior to the small golden lock given by Senior Jing Yang, and even slightly surpassing it.

"It truly is a graded immortal artifact!" Han Li rejoiced inwardly, opened his mouth and spat out a stream of golden light, enveloping the golden command flag, and absorbed it into his body to refine it with full force.

Now, in an unfamiliar place with unknown fortunes ahead, any increase in strength was extremely necessary.

Han Li then put away the emerald green gourd, took another look around, and chose a direction to fly off.

Due to the restrictions on divine sense and eyesight here, he flew very slowly, sparing no effort to fully extend his divine sense while also operating the Nine Nether Demon Eyes to their fullest, probing all movements around him.

Although the ruins seemed utterly quiet, they gave him an inexplicable pressure, making him dare not relax at all.

"Fellow Daoist Han, have you already entered the True Word Sect ruins? When I was by Ma Liang's side back then, I vaguely heard of the great name of the True Word Sect. Are you alone now? How about releasing me?" Mo Guang's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Have you finished your seclusion?" Han Li was startled, not expecting Mo Guang to speak up at this moment.

"After so many years of hard work, I've finally become one with this physical body. Hehe, I won't fall back to the Tai Yi realm anymore." Mo Guang chuckled.

"Is that so? Congratulations then." Han Li raised an eyebrow and replied.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Han, when it comes to advancing to the Tai Yi realm, I, Mo, have taken the lead." Mo Guang seemed unable to suppress his excitement and said somewhat smugly.

Han Li smiled faintly, paying no heed to Mo Guang's boasting.

With the time law in hand, his strength could not be determined by cultivation realm alone. Even if Mo Guang had just advanced to the Tai Yi realm, or even reached the mid-Tai Yi stage, he was confident he could handle him.

"Of course, with Fellow Daoist Han's astonishing talent, you will soon advance to the Tai Yi realm." Mo Guang then realized he had been carried away and quickly said.

"Fellow Daoist Mo Guang, although you have successfully stabilized your cultivation, it would be better to consolidate further within the Flower Branch Space. When I need your help later, I will trouble you then." Han Li transmitted his voice.

This True Word Sect ruins were quite peculiar; it was better not to reveal Mo Guang's identity as a Gray Immortal casually.

"Very well." Mo Guang sighed, and his voice fell silent.

Han Li ignored Mo Guang and focused on exploring the surroundings.

Time passed bit by bit, and before long, half a day had gone by. The environment around him still showed little change, remaining desolate.

A hint of fatigue faintly appeared on Han Li's face. Maintaining his divine sense and the Nine Nether Demon Eyes at full capacity for such a long time in this environment was also a considerable burden for him.

He had just taken out a recovery pill and swallowed it when he suddenly raised an eyebrow and stopped, looking down at the ground below. His form flickered and landed on the ground.

In the ground before him was buried something like a large stone, covered with a thick layer of dust, making it unclear what it was.

Han Li made a single-handed hand seal and waved, and a whirlwind several zhang high formed out of thin air.

"Go!" He uttered softly and flicked his sleeve.

The whirlwind howled toward the large stone, sweeping away the dust on it as it passed, revealing the stone's true appearance.

It turned out to be a piece of light blue ruins, seemingly built from some special stone material. Although buried here for who knows how many years, it had not weathered or rotted.

Seeing this, a hint of joy appeared on Han Li's face. He did not linger here long and soon continued forward.

The further he went, the more green vegetation gradually appeared, no longer as barren as before, and more ruins and broken walls appeared on the ground.

After a moment, he landed again.

Ahead lay a huge palace, covering an area of several hundred zhang and standing twenty to thirty zhang tall, built entirely from that light blue material.

When intact, this palace must have looked quite magnificent, but now it was riddled with holes, with nearly half collapsed.

The ground around the palace was also full of holes, as if it had experienced an extremely fierce battle.

After a brief deliberation, Han Li spread his divine sense to probe the surroundings.

After a while, he suddenly raised an eyebrow, flickered, and shot over to a large rock, raising his hand to push it aside.

Beneath the large rock lay a corpse, now turned to white bones.

The white bones were clad in a white robe, though most of it had weathered away. Han Li could still tell it was the attire of the True Word Sect, identical to what he had seen on its disciples when he had traveled through time.

He looked at the ruins and the corpses before him and sighed.

Since he had cultivated the True Word Sect's techniques, he felt a certain bond with this sect.

From the Vast Flame Immortal Venerable, he had also heard descriptions of the True Word Sect's former glory.

Yet now, this once-powerful sect had been reduced to ruins, a lamentable sight.

Han Li quickly withdrew his thoughts and swept his divine sense over the corpse. There was no storage device on the body, as if someone had taken it.

He paid it no mind, turned, and walked away, continuing to search other parts of the palace. Soon he found several more corpses, which, judging by their attire, were all disciples of the True Word Sect.

The storage devices on these corpses were also missing.

After a moment, Han Li had thoroughly searched the entire palace ruins but found nothing.

He felt a slight regret but did not linger. His form flickered, transforming into a streak of cyan light as he flew forward.

He had not flown far when his expression changed. With a sudden halt, he stared ahead, his eyes blazing with purple light.

He raised a hand and pointed. A thick cyan sword qi shot forth, striking a patch of empty space ahead.

The void there rippled violently, and a patch of black light emerged. The cyan sword qi struck the black light and vanished instantly, as if devoured.

The black light rippled a few times, then transformed into a half-zhang-sized black arc of light. It twisted like a living thing a few times before slowly fading away.

"Could this be a spatial rift?" Han Li murmured to himself, his eyes flickering.

The black arc of light had vanished into the void, emitting no aura at all. If not for his fully deployed divine sense and his Nine Nether Demon Eyes, he would certainly have missed it.

He pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and pointed again.

A thick, powerful golden arc of lightning shot forth, accompanied by a rumbling thunderclap, and struck the spot where the black arc had been.

The black arc of light emerged, rippled slightly, and once again easily devoured the golden lightning.

Seeing this, Han Li's face showed a hint of surprise. He waved his hand again.

A flash of red light, and a crimson flying sword appeared, rapidly expanding until it became a ten-zhang-long giant crimson sword. With a flicker of red light, it slashed horizontally at the black arc.

With a soft "crack," the giant sword's blade touched the black arc and was instantly severed in two.

Han Li's heart tightened at the sight.

Fortunately, he had detected the black arc in time. Otherwise, even he would have been severely injured, if not killed, had he collided with it—a truly unjust fate.

Thinking this, Han Li casually picked up the two halves of the broken sword from the ground, detoured around the black arc, and continued flying forward.

On the following journey, he grew even more cautious, never daring to retract his divine sense or demon eyes.

The farther he went, the more architectural ruins he encountered, but all of them had been thoroughly destroyed by fierce battles.

Han Li continued his search, and soon another half day had passed.

By now, his expression was somewhat gloomy.

The True Word Sect ruins had been too thoroughly devastated. After searching for so long, aside from a few spirit herbs of decent age, he had found nothing—not even a single living creature.

This vast area was nothing but a dead city.

The ground below was still a plain, though occasionally some mountain peaks began to appear.

Han Li flew forward for a moment, then his expression suddenly shifted.

The ground ahead suddenly sank, forming a huge valley terrain, within which faint shadows of a palace complex appeared, seemingly still intact.

His spirits lifted, and he immediately flew over, landing in the valley.

The valley was vast; even with his current divine sense and vision, he could not see its bounds, only a small part of it.

The valley floor was flat, paved with white jade that extended to the horizon. Buildings of various sizes were scattered about, also stretching to the horizon.

This place seemed to be an important location.

The valley had not escaped the war; traces of battle were everywhere. However, the materials used for the buildings here were much better, and most were relatively intact.

Han Li felt a slight excitement. As he surveyed his surroundings, he headed deeper into the valley, soon reaching its depths.

The deeper he went, the more intense the battle traces became. Many corpses lay here, including not only True Word Sect disciples but also many Celestial Court cultivators.

From what he had observed along the way, this valley resembled a huge city, with many crisscrossing streets and buildings on both sides that looked like shops.

If it had not been destroyed, it would have been a magnificent city.

Along the way, Han Li had found a few decent materials.

He reached the end of a wide street, and the area ahead suddenly opened up. A vast square abruptly appeared before him.