Chapter 467: Harnessing Baleful Qi
Close to an hour later, Han Li returned to the center of the secret chamber, then set down a cushion before taking a seat with his legs crossed.
After that, he pulled the storage pouch that had been given to him by Daoist Hu Yan out of a pocket of his robes.
Inside the storage pouch was a white jade slip with golden patterns engraved onto it, and Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the jade slip to inspect its contents.
The jade slip contained the fourth level of the Mantra Axis Scripture.
In contrast with the second and third levels of the cultivation art, which had led Han Li down a deep rabbit hole searching for that mysterious valley, the fourth level of the cultivation art had been obtained so easily that it almost felt a little surreal to Han Li.
However, it then occurred to him that the broken monument in White Finch Valley was most likely something that Dao Lord Baili had placed there as a red herring to convince people that the Blaze Dragon Dao only had the first three levels of the cultivation art.
As for the jade slip in his hand, just like the first level of the cultivation art that he had received, it was only a replica.
The fourth level of the Mantra Axis Scripture was longer and also more complex than the third level, and it took Han Li over a month of arduous reading to finally read through the entire thing once.
Even after mastering the first three levels of the cultivation art, he had only developed a rough understanding of how the cultivation art worked, but there were still some key points that were outside of his realm of comprehension for now.
However, there was one discovery that he had made that had been very encouraging for him.
Apparently, due to the fact that those who had already mastered the first three levels of the Mantra Axis Scripture had already accumulated a great deal of time law power in their body, once they began cultivating the fourth level, they would be able to actively manifest time law threads.
As for how many time law threads one could attain, that was dependent on how much time law power one had accumulated and how deep their understanding of the laws of time was.
Over the next three months, Han Li didn't immediately begin cultivating the Mantra Axis Scripture. Instead, he carefully revised the first three levels, then compared them with the fourth level of the cultivation art.
This was quite a time-consuming process, but it barely yielded any benefits, and Han Li's understanding of the cultivation art on a fundamental level wasn't really deepened at all.
However, this was no surprise to him, and he was already prepared for such an outcome. Seeing as he couldn't' leave this place for now anyway, he may as well work on his cultivation while examining the entire cultivation art again. Perhaps that would reap him some unexpected rewards.
On this day, Han Li meditated for half a day in the secret chamber, then took a cultivation enhancement pill before commencing his cultivation of the Mantra Axis Scripture.
His Mantra Treasured Axis emerged in front of him amid a flash of golden light, and as soon as he caught sight of the axis, a surprised look instantly appeared on his face.
As it turned out, one of the Time Dao Runes on its surface had already been restored, much to Han Li's befuddlement.
He had been too busy reading through the Mantra Axis Scripture prior to this, so he had completely failed to notice.
Only less than four months had passed since all of the Time Dao Runes had faded, so theoretically speaking, none of the Time Dao Runes should've recovered yet. Could this be due to the two extra time law threads that he had attained?
The time law threads were very mysterious, and even now, Han Li still had no idea what purpose they could serve. However, if they could accelerate the recovery of his Time Dao Runes, then that was certainly fantastic news.
After taking a moment to settle his own emotions, Han Li began to cultivate the Mantra Axis Scripture.
He made a hand seal while quietly chanting an incantation, and the Mantra Treasured Axis slowly drifted through the air until it was hovering behind him above his head while giving off dazzling golden radiance.
The golden light that it was radiating instantly filled the entire secret chamber.
......
Over a century passed by in the blink of an eye.
Inside the secret chamber, Han Li remained seated with his legs crossed like a statue, but there was faint golden light all over his entire body.
Some time later, he slowly opened his eyes, and the faint golden light inside them quickly faded.
At this rate, I don't think I'll be able to open an immortal acupoint even after 1,000 years of cultivation. Will I really have to resort to the Profound Baleful Spirit Arts?
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly in hesitation as he mulled over this matter.
After some more contemplation, he decided to seek out another opinion, so he called out to Mo Guang.
The shadow that he cast onto the ground instantly warped slightly before elongating forward, and a shadowy figure emerged from Han Li's shadow before rising to its feet.
After taking so many years to rest and recuperate, Mo Guang had already made a full recovery, and its aura was even superior to back when it was at its peak.
"You've finally called upon me again, Fellow Daoist Han," Mo Guang said with a faint smile, following which its expression changed drastically as soon as it detected the aura emanating from Han Li's body.
Han Li paid no heed to its reaction as he said in an indifferent manner, "I've been through a lot over these past years, and there's never been a suitable opportunity to call upon you. I have a question for you today, and I'm hoping you can help me, Fellow Daoist Mo Guang."
"I didn't think you would already be a Golden Immortal, Fellow Daoist Han. Looks like I've gotten much better than choosing masters since last time. What is it that you want to ask me?" Mo Guang prompted with a smile.
"How much do you know about the Gray Realm?" Han Li asked.
"The Gray Realm? That's always been considered to be a taboo subject in this immortal region, and even Ma Liang didn't get involved much with it back when he was alive. [1] Hence, I'm afraid I don't know much about it. All I know is that it's a realm that's just as vast as the Immortal Realm," Mo Guang replied.
Han Li was a little disappointed to hear this, but he then asked, "What do you know about baleful qi?"
"When it comes to baleful qi, cultivators like yourself should know more than I do. Whenever one engages in the act of killing, baleful qi would naturally form in their body. It's just like how Extrarealm Heavenly Devils like myself can absorb devilish qi through killing. However, baleful qi normally can't be manifested unless someone has accumulated so much baleful qi through slaughter that their baleful qi has gained a substantial form," Mo Guang explained.
Han Li nodded in response with a contemplative expression, then asked, "Have you heard of any cultivation arts in the Immortal Realm that draws upon baleful qi to advance one's cultivation base?"
"I am aware of the existence of such cultivation arts, but generally speaking, no cultivators would willingly choose to pursue such cultivation arts. I've heard that doing so will impact a certain part of one's cultivation later down the line, essentially placing a bottleneck on oneself and sacrificing one's long-term future for short-term gain," Mo Guang replied.
Han Li was silent for a long while upon hearing this, and Mo Guang also remained silent.
After some time, Han Li looked up at Mo Guang and said, "Thank you for answering my questions, Fellow Daoist Mo Guang. I'll summon you for a chat once I'm out of my current predicament."
He then swept a sleeve through the air, and Mo Guang vanished back into his shadow.
"I can't afford to wait tens of thousands of years..." Han Li sighed to himself as he made a strange hand seal, and a vast expanse of baleful qi instantly surged out of his body, inundating the entire secret chamber.
He then began to chant an incantation, and all of the baleful qi that was churning in a chaotic and haphazard manner was suddenly reined in, ceasing their outward expansion before gradually converging into a single cloud.
As a result, the color of the baleful qi was becoming darker and darker, and it was also becoming more and more dense.
As soon as the baleful qi came into contact with Han Li's skin, he was immediately struck by a peculiar feeling that struck a hint of apprehension into his heart, but he didn't stop what he was doing as he continued to guide the baleful qi toward the acupoints in his body.
The baleful qi surged toward an acupoint beneath his ribcage, just like magic power would, and the acupoint immediately displayed signs of loosening in the face of the violent influx of baleful qi.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately closed his eyes to focus on his cultivation.
Some time later, a faint pop rang out from within Han Li's body, immediately following which a tiny vortex emerged beneath his ribcage, and the vortex began drawing in all of the surrounding world's origin qi in a frenzy.
Close to a minute later, a speck of golden light emerged on that spot on Han Li's body, signaling the opening of his 37th immortal acupoint!
Han Li inspected the immortal acupoint momentarily to find that not only was it filled with a vast volume of immortal spiritual power, there was also a wisp of black baleful qi inside, but it was very faint in color and didn't appear to be all that harmful.
Han Li was slightly reassured to see this, and with a sweep of his sleeve, he brought his Mantra Treasured Axis around until it was hovering in front of him.
Not only had quite a few of the Time Dao Runes on the axis already recovered, two more Time Dao Runes had emerged on its surface, taking the total to 362.
It seemed that the Time Dao Rune limit had been lifted once again, so perhaps he would be able to keep adding Time Dao Runes to his Mantra Treasured Axis using the time crystals manifested by his Heaven Controlling Vial, but that was something that he was going to save for a later date.
With that in mind, Han Li switched to a different hand seal to inject some immortal spiritual power into his Mantra Treasured Axis. The axis immediately began to glow radiantly while releasing layers of golden ripples, and it appeared to be no different from before.
During the next two days, Han Li paused in his cultivation and spent that time carefully examining his own internal condition, and only after confirming that there was nothing amiss did he recommence his cultivation.
......
Over 1,000 flew by in a flash.
On this day, gusts of ferocious wind suddenly began to sweep over the ruined city, and tremendous volumes of the world's origin qi converged toward a garden in the city.
Before long, a vortex that hung over the entire city had taken shape in the sky, and it was like an all-encompassing funnel that was directing all of the world's origin into a large black hole in the garden in a frenzy.
The surging world's origin qi instantly filled the entire hole, flowing into a secret chamber deep in the underground palace like a vast, never-ending river.
1. Ma Liang was Mo Guang's former master, and the latter pledged their allegiance to Han Li after he killed Ma Liang in battle. ?
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