Chapter 694: Solidification

Han Li's heart leaped at the sight, and a sense of foreboding washed over him once more.

The moment Shi Chuankong's fingertip passed through the formation and touched the silver pipa, the strings of the pipa suddenly vibrated slightly and plucked themselves.

Twang...

A prolonged pipa note rang out, and a silver light wave immediately rippled outward from it, sweeping in all directions.

Shi Chuankong was the first to be hit, struck by the silver light. His eyes flew wide open as if he had taken a heavy blow, and he flew backward into the air, hovering there without falling.

Before the others could finish being astonished, the silver light wave swept across them, and everyone, like Shi Chuankong, involuntarily floated into the air. No matter how they struggled, they could only move in place, unable to advance or land.

Next, the golden compass at the center of the formation seemed to be stirred by this force. Its surrounding tracks spun violently, and a needle in the middle suddenly emitted a beam of golden light that spread out like the earlier silver light wave.

Bitterness filled the hearts of the group as they were struck by the golden light wave without resistance. Their bodies stiffened and froze in midair.

Time seemed to stop flowing in that instant. Even the gray mist outside the hall ceased its churning, standing still like a dirty gray wall.

The eyes of everyone in the hall were glazed, as if their consciousness had been locked away. Only Han Li's eyeballs still trembled slightly, but he could not even move them left or right.

Even so, he was far better off than the others. At least his consciousness was not frozen; he could still think, though very slowly.

This situation was not due to any special trait of Han Li's, but because he had earlier contracted his time domain, wrapping it around himself like an outer garment, which had shielded him from some of the impact of the two earlier fluctuations.

Inside the hall, an eerie stillness prevailed. Everyone hung in midair, completely immobile.

At that moment, the void began to tremble violently. Behind the ugly old man named Guitian, a black spatial rift several zhang long appeared, emitting strong spatial fluctuations.

On the other side, a black rift three chi long suddenly flashed beside Feng Lin's neck, extending just behind her ear and cutting a glaring bloody gash on her earlobe.

But both of them were completely frozen in place, seemingly oblivious to it all.

Watching this, Han Li knew that the spatial balance of the entire relic had likely been shattered, and the whole space would soon collapse completely. His eyes trembled as he desperately urged the True Word Wheel within him.

However, under the suppression of time and space, his consciousness and the flow of his immortal spiritual power had become extremely slow. The True Word Wheel inside him seemed dormant, showing no sign of activity.

Just then, a muffled rumbling sound came from the void. The two spatial rifts that had appeared earlier trembled simultaneously and expanded.

Then he saw the black rift behind Feng Lin's ear suddenly lengthen and widen, becoming a flat, pitch-black hole five chi in diameter, which decapitated her.

Her head hung above the black hole, while her body remained below, separated by a black light curtain. No sound was heard, no blood spilled—a bizarre sight.

On the other side, the black rift behind Guitian also doubled in size, tearing through his chest like a black spear, splitting his heart and ribs, again without any blood spilling.

The tip of the rift that had pierced his body was now pressed against Shi Chuankong's back, just a cun away from tearing through his chest as well.

Han Li was frantic, but he could only force his immortal spiritual power to reverse the True Word Wheel, trying to move. Yet after several attempts, his body remained immobile, though his eyes could now shift left and right, and his consciousness had recovered much speed.

Rumble...

But at that moment, the voice like a demon's whisper sounded again.

Han Li slowly scanned ahead and found that the two spatial rifts had stabilized and were not expanding further, so they posed no immediate threat to him.

But when he slowly lowered his gaze to look beneath himself, cold sweat broke out on his back.

There, he saw a black rift about one zhang wide and over three zhang long, like an open black sack, waiting only to expand once more to swallow him.

Han Li's eyeballs trembled faster and faster as he exerted all his strength to drive the True Word Wheel, but with little effect.

In the past, even when restrained, he could break free with the True Word Wheel, but this time it seemed uncertain.

He was extremely anxious. This disconnection between will and body was rare, and never as severe as now.

Maybe I could try the Spirit Refining Art...

The thought arose in Han Li's mind, and he began silently reciting the incantation of the Spirit Refining Art in his sea of consciousness. But every word and phrase reacted extremely slowly, making it very difficult to activate the art.

Just then, the low rumbling like thunder in the void sounded again. The space beside Rehe Xianzun trembled violently, and a black crack appeared.

Han Li's heart tightened. With great willpower, he pushed his divine sense to the limit. A flash of brightness appeared in his eyes, and the Spirit Refining Art finally began to operate slowly.

With the aid of the Spirit Refining Art, his thinking and consciousness returned to normal, and the efficiency of the True Word Wheel Sutra's operation greatly improved. He could finally clearly sense the True Word Wheel within him.

Boom...

This time, the void shook violently. The spatial rift beneath Han Li immediately tore open, expanding several chi upward, ripping a corner of his robe into it.

Han Li's heart chilled. Holding nothing back, he pushed with all his might, and finally, a patch of golden light burst forth from behind him, breaking through the dual suppression of time and space laws.

The True Word Wheel finally emerged, hovering behind him, spinning rapidly.

Once this treasure appeared, it was like a golden sun, emitting countless golden rays that, together with Han Li's domain, propped up a small area of golden light around him, resisting the suppression of the laws in this space.

Han Li's stiff body finally felt a slight loosening. The ten fingers of his hand that had been holding the sword could now lift a little.

However, this tiny bit of mobility was far from enough to free him from his current predicament.

With a thought, two of the time crystal threads wrapped around the True Word Wheel behind him began to glow with golden light on their surfaces.

At first, the golden light was like scattered fireflies, but soon the fireflies gathered together, growing brighter, like a burning golden flame.

In fact, Han Li was indeed burning the time crystal threads to release the time law power contained within them.

As the two golden flames burned, the time patterns on the True Word Wheel began to light up one after another, shining brighter than ever before. Waves of intense time fluctuations emanated from it, constantly impacting the surrounding void.

Han Li tried to move his body and found that the surrounding void was still like solid ice. Even the slightest movement of his arm felt as if a thousand-jun boulder were attached to it, incredibly difficult.

He glanced down at the spatial rift almost touching his feet, gritted his teeth, and urged the True Word Wheel again.

Another golden flame rose on the wheel, and a third time crystal thread began to burn.

As the time law power within it was released, the golden rays around the True Word Wheel became more solid. As it spun slowly, it tore at the surrounding void like a golden saw blade.

Seeing this, a hint of joy finally appeared on Han Li's face. He began to drive the True Word Wheel to move sideways with difficulty.

Wherever the True Word Wheel passed, the invisible barriers formed by time and space laws were stirred like a newly frozen mud pond. Han Li struggled forward in the mud, each step extremely arduous.

After finally leaving the range of the spatial rift, Han Li did not stop. Despite the massive consumption of his immortal spiritual power, he moved toward the three treasures in the hall.

Rumble...

The rumbling in the surrounding void grew more frequent. Han Li frowned, his face showing worry, but his gaze was firm.

The reason he did not immediately flee after gaining mobility, but instead went deeper into the hall, was partly because the three immortal artifacts were too tempting, but also because he had no choice.

He had no way to determine how large the area of spatial confinement was. Blindly fleeing would be suicide. It was better to try to obtain the three immortal artifacts and thus lift the restrictions here.

Even if the relic completely collapsed, he could still try to find a chance to escape from the spatial crevices.

When he finally reached Rehe Xianzun's side, after a moment's hesitation, he paused briefly, grabbed the man by the shoulders, and moved him a few chi away, avoiding the black rift that threatened his life.

Under the influence of the True Word Wheel, Rehe Xianzun's consciousness briefly unfroze while Han Li was near, but his body remained immobile, unable to speak a word.

When Han Li left him and moved forward, his consciousness froze again.

In the time-stopped hall, Han Li had no idea how long it took him to finally reach the location of the three immortal artifacts.