Chapter 457: Concerns
Daoist Xie made his way down the small path until it arrived at a strange rock that resembled a hunched-over old ape, where it drew to a halt and said, "Come and take a look at what this is, Fellow Daoist Han."
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he hurried over to the strange rock, then wiped a hand over it before conducting a careful examination.
A hesitant look appeared on his face as he asked, "Could this be... a Primordial Form Rock?"
"That's exactly right," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.
"No wonder I wasn't able to detect any array fluctuations when I was examining this place with my spiritual sense. Having said that, I didn't think that the Primordial Form Rock's concealment effect would be this potent," Han Li mused with a contemplative expression.
"These Primordial Form Rocks alone wouldn't have been enough to keep you from detecting this array, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie said.
"Are you saying there's something else here?" Han Li asked with an intrigued expression.
Daoist Xie offered no reply as it led Han Li deeper into the dense forest, and the two of them arrived in an open and spacious area.
Upon entering this area, Han Li discovered that the ground was entirely charred black, and the shrubs that used to grow here had been scorched into ashes, revealing a millstone-sized stone platform.
The surface of the platform had also been scorched black, and as a result, all of the engravings on its surface had become unrecognizable.
Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a gentle breeze that brushed away the dirt and soot on the stone platform to reveal what was underneath, but that only seemed to present more questions than answers for him.
"What is this thing?"
There were nine strange flower-petal-like designs engraved onto the stone platform, and they were assembled together to form what appeared to be a massive flower.
There were also many special and complex runes within the flower petals, and Daoist Xie explained, "If I'm not mistaken, this appears to be an extremely advanced dream concealment restriction that can work in conjunction with Primordial Form Rocks to completely conceal the auras of many treasures and arrays."
"If you're familiar with this type of restriction, then I'm sure you must have a way of unraveling it, right?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Instead of providing a direct answer to Han Li's question, Daoist Xie said, "Please take a look at the center of this restriction, Fellow Daoist Han."
Han Li did as he was instructed, but there didn't appear to be anything there, and his brows furrowed slightly in befuddlement as he turned to Daoist Xie.
"That is where the stamen of the flower is supposed to be, but for some reason, it's already been completely destroyed," Daoist Xie explained.
Han Li conducted a closer examination upon hearing this, and only then did he discover that there were indeed some signs of damage there.
"That shouldn't be an issue, right? We should be able to adapt accordingly to unravel the restriction. Could it be that there's some other problem?" Han Li asked.
"Have you heard of the concept of limitless dreams, Fellow Daoist Han? Dream concealment restrictions of this nature are extremely diverse and varied. Even if the slightest alteration is made to such a restriction, the way to unravel it will become completely different. Even though I'm familiar with this type of restriction, I have no idea how to unravel it in its current state," Daoist Xie explained with a shake of its head.
"In that case, we'll just have to resort to brute force and destroy this restriction," Han Li concluded after some contemplation.
"Well, about that... You can give that a try, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie said.
Han Li could tell from the peculiar look on Daoist Xie's face that this wasn't going to be a simple matter, but he still decided to make an attempt as he adopted his Giant Mountain Ape form amid a flash of golden light.
The profound acupoints on his body then lit up as he let loose a low roar before raising a massive fist and slamming it heavily down onto the stone platform.
The entire stone platform shuddered violently as ferocious shockwaves erupted through the air in all directions, razing everything within a radius of several thousand feet to the ground before gradually subsiding.
At the same time, a burst of golden light also appeared on the inscriptions on the stone platform, and a series of vine-like golden liens spread over the stone platform before extending into the forest like a cobweb.
In his Giant Mountain Ape form, Han Li had a much clearer view of his surroundings thanks to his enormous stature, and he could see similar golden lines spreading over the entire secret area, presenting a spectacular sight to behold.
"By my estimates, one would have to be at least at the Golden Immortal Stage for them to have a chance at breaking this restriction by force. Even an all-out attack from me in my current state won't be enough to get the job done," Daoist Xie said.
"Even if that were possible, we most won't be able to do it. This restriction is connected to this entire secret area, so if we were to destroy it by force, the entire secret area would most likely collapse, and that would be catastrophic for us," Han Li said as he quickly reverted back to his human form.
"That's right," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.
Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed as he walked a lap around the stone platform, and a thought suddenly occurred to him as he summoned his Mantra Treasured Axis.
The Eye of Truth at the center of the axis slowly opened, then cast its gaze toward the stone platform, releasing a beam of golden light out of its pupil.
As the beam of golden light shone down upon the stone platform, all of the remaining char and soot on its surface instantly receded, restoring it to a pristine state.
A burst of murky light also appeared at the center of the restriction, and a series of lines began to gradually emerge, forming an extremely complex stamen design.
Right as Han Li was about to take a closer look, the projection of the stamen suddenly began to vibrate rapidly in an extremely unstable manner.
Han Li was struck by a rush of dizziness from the jarring sight, and he had no choice but to avert his gaze and withdraw his Mantra Treasured Axis.
"Did you see anything?" Daoist Xie asked.
"This secret area is truly a very strange place. Many of the ordinary-looking things here are imbued with time law powers, but only to an extremely faint degree. Whenever I try to examine them with my Eye of Truth, all I end up seeing is a jumbled blur, and this stone platform is no exception," Han Li replied with a wry smile.
"Your Mantra Treasured Axis isn't in its peak condition right now. Perhaps once it recovers all of its Time Dao Runes, you'll be able to see the restriction more clearly," Daoist Xie suggested.
"I've already considered that, but the problem is that it would take too much time to wait for the Mantra Treasured Axis to return to the peak of its powers. The Infernal Frost Immortal Manor is only open for a limited time, and once the exit closes, who knows when the immortal manor will be open again?"
Han Li's top priority at the moment was to find a way to get out of this place. Of course, if he did manage to find a way out, then he would also be open to the idea of staying here for some time. After all, he didn't know what had happened outside during the few days that he had been trapped in this place, but he presumed that Qu Ling wouldn’t waste much time waiting for him.
"You have a near-limitless lifespan, so why concern yourself with such matters? The world's origin qi here is no less abundant than anywhere else in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, so you could easily just cultivate here and wait for the next time the immortal manor is opened," Daoist Xie said.
Han Li fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
Having made an enemy out of the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace, he was not in a very good situation. Furthermore, he was now being targeted by Qu Ling as well, and there was also a chance that Feng Tiandu would come after him eventually, so for him, the Northern Glacial Immortal Region was fraught with peril.
In comparison, it was indeed safer to stay in this secret area.
However, Han Li's concerns still lingered as he said, "That may be true, but there's no telling what could happen in this secret area once the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor closes. If things take a turn for the worse, we may end up in an even worse situation than having to face Qu Ling again."
What he didn't mention was that if he were to be trapped in this secret area, even for hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps nothing would happen to him, but drastic changes would be taking place in the outside world. At the moment, Jin Tong was in direct peril of being struck down by Qu Ling, and there were many more people important to Han Li that Qu Ling could potentially go after.
"In any case, we won't be able to leave this place right away, so I suggest you give it some time so that your Mantra Treasured Axis can recover. Perhap it won't take too long before you'll be able to get a clearer look at this restriction," Daoist Xie said.
"I suppose that's all we can do for now," Han Li replied with a nod.
......
Several more days passed by in the blink of an eye.
A giant plaza with a radius of several thousand feet had appeared at the center of the ruined city.
The central area of the plaza was paved with white stone slabs, while the edges were covered in newly unearthed reddish-brown mud that was interspersed with many fragments of broken tiles, rocks, and wooden frames.
It was clear that the plaza had only been recently constructed, and it was riddled with a series of extremely deep rifts that were connected together to form a very complex array.
The array was called the Great Universe Star Gathering Array, and it had been included at the end of the second half of the Great Universe Origin Arts. It was an array that could assist one in cultivating the Great Universe Origin Arts, and it was far superior to the Star Gathering Array that Han Li had used in the past. Even the new and improved Star Gathering Array that Han Li had personally modified couldn't hold a candle to this array.
The Great Universe Star Gathering Array had a total of 81 star points distributed evenly around the array, and each star point could fit a Starheaven Stone, which could help a cultivator absorb starpower at a faster rate.
By Han Li's estimates, if he had access to this array from the very beginning, then the time it would've taken him to get to this point in the Great Universe Origin Arts would've been reduced by at least half. However, he would also require a sufficient number of Starheaven Stones, and the pain he would've had to endure would've also been at least twice as excruciating.
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