Chapter 669: The Dharma of Heaven and Earth

Han Li emerged from the dense forest and felt the surroundings suddenly become much more open.

He swept his gaze around and then continued forward. Before long, he arrived at a vast stone forest formed by all kinds of jagged, grotesque rocks.

In the center of that stone forest stood a circular stone platform, about a thousand zhang in circumference and a hundred zhang high, entirely azure in color. It seemed naturally fused with the mountain peak below, covered with crisscrossing cracks and moss, looking quite old.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that the platform before him looked somewhat familiar.

After a moment's deliberation, he suddenly leaped up and landed on the stone platform.

There were not many furnishings on the platform. The ground was covered with crack patterns, from which many green vines extended, crawling all over the ground in a crisscross manner. However, what was particularly notable was that the entire platform seemed to be filled with a faint layer of Time Law power.

Additionally, at the edge of the platform not far away stood a giant stone tablet a hundred zhang tall, also covered with moss and green vines.

When Han Li approached, he discovered that beneath the vines, there were several dark golden characters inscribed in golden seal script:

"Dharma Speech of Heaven and Earth."

He frowned deeply, then turned to look around. Seeing the boundless sea of clouds surrounding the mountain peak, he suddenly realized:

"So it's here..."

This stone platform was exactly the place where he had once seen through the crystal wall the big-eared monk, that is, Miro老祖, preaching to his disciples.

At that time, having heard only eight and a half profound sentences of Miro老祖's sermon, his own divine abilities had automatically activated, and he had subsequently opened eight immortal apertures in a row, benefiting immensely.

Unfortunately, since then, he had never had the chance to see that scene again through the crystal wall.

But by a twist of fate, he had come here again. Perhaps it was the arrangement of fate, giving him the opportunity to recreate the scene of Miro老祖's sermon from back then.

Thinking this, Han Li immediately formed a hand seal, and behind him, golden light blazed. The True Word Wheel floated out, spinning rapidly.

The next moment, his figure shot into the air and hovered there.

Back then, influenced by the crystal wall, he had been unable to see the full view of the stone platform. Today, he naturally wanted to choose a good vantage point.

He changed his hand seal and silently recited: "Condense."

As soon as the word was uttered, the hundreds of Time Dao patterns on the True Word Wheel behind him lit up. The Eye of Truth suspended in the center suddenly opened, and within it, a huge eyeball, as if cast from molten gold, rotated, emitting a beam of golden light that projected onto the stone platform.

After the azure stone platform was bathed in golden light, its surface also spontaneously emitted a faint golden glow, interweaving in the void to form patches of light and shadow, from which familiar figures emerged.

"Indeed..."

Seeing this, Han Li murmured to himself.

His gaze swept over the yellow-robed wooden man named Mu Yan, with straw-like hair; the five-foot-tall big-headed child he had seen earlier in the Water衍 Palace; and the bare-chested man covered with fire patterns, finally resting on the fat, big-eared monk draped in a red kasaya.

His gaze was kind, and he sat cross-legged casually, gently twirling a string of jade Buddhist beads, his lips slowly opening and closing as he narrated something unhurriedly.

With each opening of his mouth, a string of five-colored runes flew out from between his lips and teeth, turning into streams of five-colored light that rose into the sky, then resonating with heaven and earth, manifesting many strange phenomena.

Even though this was the second time he had seen this scene, Han Li still felt amazed.

However, unlike the previous time, this reproduction showed only illusory phantoms restored by the Eye of Truth, not happening in real time. Thus, it lacked the profound artistic conception he had felt before, and Han Li experienced no unusual phenomena from beginning to end.

Watching the sky churn with wind and clouds, snow falling and frost forming, giving rise to layers of strange changes, he grew increasingly puzzled.

With Miro老祖 possessing such supreme wondrous methods, the True Word Sect could still be destroyed. How powerful must the Time Dao Ancestor who annihilated the True Word Sect be? He could not imagine.

After a while, the yellow-robed tree man began to ask questions, and the big-eared monk answered with a smile, prompting the five disciples to bow in reverence one by one.

The big-eared monk continued his sermon. Halfway through, he suddenly stopped, uttered a sound of surprise, and looked toward a direction in the void.

Han Li immediately looked there, but saw nothing—it was empty.

Just as he was puzzled, he saw the other five disciples awaken from their previous intoxicated state and also look in that direction. Among them, the yellow-robed tree man named Mu Yan even stood up and shouted angrily toward that direction.

Only then did Han Li realize: wasn't this the scene when he had secretly listened to the sermon and been discovered back then?

After a bitter smile, he looked back at Miro老祖, but his peripheral vision caught sight of a plump, glossy rat beside the cushion where Mu Yan had been sitting. It stood upright on two legs, also looking in that direction.

"A rat... this appearance, could it be..."

Han Li's mind stirred, and he instinctively thought of the giant green rat he had seen in that abyss in the Barbarian Wilderness Realm. Except for the vast difference in size, it was exactly the same as this one.

Just as he was puzzled, the yellow-robed tree man had already returned to his seat. He raised his hand and lightly flicked the fat rat on the head, sending it tumbling thousands of zhang away.

But then, the rat flipped over, got up, and scurried over to Miro老祖, sitting down cross-legged like a human, pressing against the hem of his robe.

Miro老祖 glanced at it with lowered eyes but did not drive it away, continuing his sermon.

Seeing this, the yellow-robed tree man did not bother the rat further.

Although Han Li could not benefit as he had back then, he still watched attentively as Miro老祖 explained doubts for his disciples, and he recorded every move of the老祖 and his disciples.

After an unknown amount of time, when Miro老祖 finished his sermon, a gentle smile appeared on his face. He swept his gaze over all the disciples and waved his hand, dismissing them to go into seclusion and comprehend the Dao on their own.

Han Li stared at Miro老祖, deeply surprised. In a daze, he felt that Miro老祖's gaze seemed to linger on his face for a moment, as if intentionally or not.

Although it was only an instant, the feeling was very subtle, as if his gaze carried some profound meaning.

Could it be that he had not only discovered himself eavesdropping on the sermon back then but also noticed himself recreating the scene now, and wanted to say something to him?

After a moment's thought, Han Li found it unlikely and could only shake his head with a wry smile, thinking he was overthinking.

After all the disciples, including the fat rat, had deeply bowed and left, Miro老祖 still did not rise. He sat cross-legged in silence for a long time before putting away his prayer beads and slowly standing up.

His fat, exaggerated body slowly turned to face the stone wall engraved with "Dharma Speech of Heaven and Earth." After gazing at it quietly for a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and pointed at it with two fingers.

A beam of golden light shot from his fingertip, flashed, and embedded itself into the character "Speech."

Then, the big-eared monk stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky. His figure gradually blurred, as if dissolving into the surrounding heaven and earth, until he disappeared.

For some reason, watching his back, Han Li suddenly felt a sense of loneliness—"Man in heaven and earth, as small as a mustard seed"—and was lost in thought for a long time.

After all the phenomena had completely disappeared, Han Li finally formed a hand seal, put away the True Word Wheel, and swooped down to land before the stone tablet.

He waved his sleeve, and a gentle breeze swept away the moss and vines on the tablet's surface, revealing the large character "Speech" in the middle.

Then, a purple light flashed in Han Li's eyes as he activated the Nine Nether Demon Pupils and carefully examined it.

At the very top point of the character "Speech," there was indeed a layer of hazy golden light flickering, and within it seemed to be another world.

Han Li reached out with one hand, his middle and index fingers together like a blade, and inserted them into the stone wall with ease. His two fingers clamped onto a green jade slip and slowly pulled it out.

He held the jade slip in his palm and looked down, seeing a line of small golden characters inscribed in golden seal script:

"Hearing the Dao at dawn and dusk, the dharma of fate between heaven and earth."

Han Li's mind stirred. He urged his immortal spiritual power to refine the green jade slip, then immersed his divine sense into it, closing his eyes to examine it.

After a moment, his eyes suddenly opened, brimming with surprise and delight.

What was recorded in this jade slip was none other than the nine layers of the True Word Wheel Sutra and a peculiar text called the Sumeru Resonance Chapter.

Han Li was naturally familiar with the True Word Wheel Sutra. After quickly scanning it, he found that some passages had slight differences from what he had learned over the years. He wasn't sure if it was due to differences in wording, but fortunately, the issues were minor and wouldn't affect the cultivation of the technique, let alone lead to qi deviation.

Moreover, within these nine layers of the technique, Han Li also discovered a detailed description of the "Dharma Speech of Heaven and Earth" divine ability, which he had already obtained from Mu Yan. The content also had slight differences, but they were harmless.

As for the Sumeru Resonance Chapter, Han Li could not understand it at all. The text recorded was only a few thousand words, but the content was obscure and difficult to grasp. It didn't seem like a cultivation technique or a divine ability secret art.

After examining it for a long time, Han Li still couldn't figure out what it was, so he had to give up.

He carefully reviewed the nine-layer True Word Wheel Sutra again, suppressed the joy in his heart and the urge to cultivate on the spot, then flew down and landed once more before the stone tablet.

Han Li took a deep look at the large characters "Dharma Speech of Heaven and Earth" on the stone tablet, then bowed deeply and respectfully toward the figure that had long since disappeared. Afterward, his figure drifted up and flew swiftly down the mountain.