Chapter 932: First Entry into the Great Ruin

Han Li's ears rang with a chaotic din, as if countless strange sounds were drilling into his head. His entire being spun as if drunk, his five senses lost, darkness before his eyes, and even his thoughts could not move an inch.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly felt his body jolt to a stop, then sink downward.

With a dull thud,

Han Li felt his body slam heavily onto hard ground, half of it throbbing with pain.

Fortunately, his body was extremely resilient; though it hurt, he was not injured, which relieved him.

This fall, however, restored his consciousness and senses, and his vision cleared.

Han Li looked around, slightly startled.

Before him lay a dusky yellow ground covered with countless black-yellow stones of various sizes, scattered haphazardly. In all directions stretched an endless wilderness, resembling a boundless, desolate Gobi desert.

The sky above was an eerie yellowish-brown, as if piled with thick yellow clouds. Occasionally, a thin white flash could be seen within the clouds, resembling white lightning.

The yellow clouds above his head churned, faintly forming a vortex that was rapidly calming, as if he had fallen from there.

Han Li slowly stood up from the ground and looked around.

The surrounding desert was vast and empty, with only him alone; there was no trace of the others.

"Could this be the Great Ruin? It doesn't seem much different from the outside. I wonder where the others have fallen," Han Li murmured to himself.

Just as he was about to leave, a hint of surprise appeared on his face as he looked into the surrounding void.

In this void, there were faint ripples of energy, different from spiritual qi or demonic qi, but very similar to star power, and quite abundant.

Perhaps nourished by this star power, some moss-like white plants grew in the crevices of the ground, making the place not entirely lifeless.

A strange light flickered in Han Li's eyes, and a thought arose in his mind. He silently activated the Heavenly Fiend Prison Suppression Art.

The nearby star power immediately converged and merged into his body.

Moreover, the amount of star power gathered was considerable; the speed of absorption was no slower than when he refined beast cores on ordinary days.

Joy appeared on Han Li's face, and he was seventy to eighty percent sure that this place was indeed within the Great Ruin. Only a secret realm like the Great Ruin could possess such dense star power.

Only such an environment filled with star power could give birth to treasures like the Heavenly Lin Meteorite Crystal and the Sulfur Flame Blood Cloud.

Although his body was not injured, he felt somewhat tired and weak. Since there was no danger here, he did not set off immediately but sat cross-legged on the spot, absorbing star power to regulate his body.

In the blink of an eye, half a day passed.

When Han Li opened his eyes again, he was fully refreshed and completely recovered.

Not only that, but a mysterious aperture on his body that had been difficult to open for days was now stirring, showing signs of opening.

The star power here seemed particularly useful for opening new mysterious apertures; with some more time of cultivation, this aperture would surely be opened.

Nevertheless, Han Li did not intend to continue cultivating here. He stood up and looked around again, his gaze soon settling on a direction to his right.

The surroundings were entirely the same, except in the distant sky to the right, one or two shadows could be faintly seen flashing by, but they were too far away for him to see clearly.

The spatial pressure in the Great Ruin was stronger than in the Ice Fire Mountain Range. His divine sense could only extend about ten miles, not even matching his eyesight.

Though he didn't know what was there, at least it was something different.

Han Li moved and dashed swiftly in that direction.

After a moment, the shadows ahead gradually became clear—dozens of low hills, each several hundred feet tall, connected to form a continuous mountain range stretching to the horizon.

These peaks were entirely pitch-black, faintly emitting black light, as if they were not ordinary rocks. The ground had also changed from Gobi to hard mountainous terrain.

White plants grew on the ground here as well, making the environment less monotonous.

Han Li stopped before the black mountain range, not rashly entering. Instead, he extended his divine sense to probe all movements around him.

Everything in the Great Ruin was unknown, and he dared not be careless.

After careful probing, he found no danger in the mountains ahead and proceeded forward.

He walked for half a day without encountering any danger.

However, the nearby peaks grew taller, some reaching several thousand feet, but the gaps between them widened.

After walking a bit further, Han Li let out a soft exclamation and quickened his pace. Soon, he arrived near an exceptionally tall peak.

This peak was entirely pitch-black, straight and towering into the clouds like a black heavenly pillar. Its top disappeared into the clouds, its summit unseen.

At the foot of the peak lay a cluster of gray-black palace buildings, covering a vast area that stretched to the horizon, though most had collapsed.

From the towering palace ridges and exquisite murals and reliefs, one could faintly imagine the grandeur and beauty of these palaces in their prime.

Han Li glanced at the palace complex, activated the Ten-Thousand Aperture Void Silence Art to conceal his aura, and cautiously stepped inside, extending his divine sense to probe the surroundings.

After walking a bit further, Han Li raised an eyebrow and dodged behind a long palace wall. He moved along the wall to its end and cautiously peered ahead.

A dull sound of footsteps came from ahead. Not far away in the ruins, a yellow puppet several dozen feet tall walked slowly, occasionally turning its head to look around as if on patrol.

This puppet resembled a long-armed ape, wearing heavy armor that was mostly damaged. The body beneath the armor was covered with decayed cracks. In its hand, it held a rusty serrated battle blade, as if it had weathered countless ages in the river of time.

Though the armor and blade were weathered and damaged, they still faintly emitted white light and traces of star power fluctuations.

"Star artifacts?" Han Li's eyes flickered as he looked at the ape puppet's armor and blade.

He pondered for a moment, then stopped the Ten-Thousand Aperture Void Silence Art, shot out from behind the wall, and in a flash appeared behind the ape puppet.

The ape puppet whirled around, let out a low roar, and raised its blade to strike down at Han Li.

But before its arm could descend, a white flash passed, and the puppet's head flew into the air, severed from its body. Its raised arm froze in place.

With a loud crash, the puppet's massive body fell to the ground.

Han Li's figure lightly descended from midair and landed beside the ape puppet.

This puppet, despite being so damaged, could still sense his attack and react. In its prime, it must have been quite powerful.

He picked up the serrated battle blade. The blade was made of a white material, heavily weathered, with faint runes visible on the edge, shimmering with light.

"Oh!" Han Li showed a surprised expression.

These runes on the blade were very similar to the star runes taught to him by Lady Sixflower.

"Didn't she say her star prohibition was her own creation? Could it be a coincidence?" Han Li mused.

His gaze then shifted to the puppet's armor and soon stopped on a star rune.

This star rune was identical to a 'Linked Star Rune' taught by Lady Sixflower, down to the subtle variations. It could not be a coincidence.

Han Li chuckled to himself. This puppet seemed to have existed for countless millennia, far longer than the time Lady Sixflower created her star runes.

Perhaps Lady Sixflower's star prohibition was obtained from this Great Ruin, though how she got it was unknown.

He tossed away the blade. Though it still emitted some star power fluctuations, it was on the verge of collapse and unusable.

Han Li did not linger and continued forward, soon reaching the depths of the palace complex.

The deeper palace buildings were relatively well-preserved, but unfortunately, they seemed to have been looted, with no valuable treasures left.

He searched along the way and found nothing but a few ordinary ore materials.

However, he encountered quite a few more puppets along the way.

He did not engage them unnecessarily, avoiding them when possible and fighting only when unavoidable. These puppets were all weathered and damaged, their strength greatly diminished, so they did not cost him much effort.

After walking a bit further, Han Li stopped.

The view ahead suddenly opened up. A tall silver-gray building appeared before him, resembling an altar, surrounded by other buildings like stars around the moon.

The altar was built from rough, massive silver-gray stones, appearing exceptionally sturdy. Indeed, while nearby buildings had weathered and collapsed, this altar only had some mottled walls, otherwise intact.

Han Li looked at the building ahead, his gaze falling on a plaque hanging at the altar's entrance, inscribed with three ancient characters: 'Ye Sha Hall'.

The altar's main door was wide open, revealing only a few dozen feet inside. Deeper areas were shrouded in darkness, the door like a giant mouth devouring all who entered.

On the walls inside the altar, star runes could be faintly seen, emitting a prohibition force that prevented his divine sense from probing inside.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes brightened.

This altar was so well-preserved and still had prohibitions; there must be something inside, not just an empty shell.

But he could not rush in recklessly. He extended his divine sense to carefully examine the surroundings, found nothing unusual, and felt slightly reassured. He then flickered to the entrance of the altar hall.

A cool breeze blew from within, brushing against his body. The wind carried a hint of chill, not strong, but it seemed to seep into his bones.

Han Li frowned slightly but did not retreat. He stepped forward into the hall.