Chapter 1304: Path of No Return

"You've already had the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate for far too long, it's far overdue for a switch of hands!" Bone Emperor harrumphed coldly, then extended his arms horizontally to either side of himself before twisting one hand upward and the other hand downward, following which he began making a string of strange hand seals.

At the same time, the two flames in his eye sockets began to glow as radiantly as the sun, while aura swelled to unprecedented heights. Furthermore, his entire skeletal body had become even fairer and more translucent than before, but for some reason, some cracks had also appeared over its surface.

Immediately thereafter, an enormous, white spirit domain appeared behind him, then continued to spread outward, with its boundaries instantly vanishing out of sight.

In the blink of an eye, the entire surrounding area in a radius of several million kilometers had been encompassed within the spirit domain, and it was still continuing to expand.

The spirit domain was so vast that it encompassed the Black River, Infernal, and Yama Regions, and it was still rapidly expanding, as if it fully intended to encompass the entire underworld!

At the same time, the entire sky was torn apart as bursts of light in the shape of lengths of bones emerged, and it was as if the Heavenly Dao itself had descended.

Within this all-encompassing spirit domain, some of the more powerful ghostly cultivators were able to somewhat protect themselves, while the weaker ones had their skeletons torn straight out of their bodies before fusing with the spirit domain.

Not only that, but the spirit domain had even seeped into space and descended upon some of the lower realms, and it was as if a cataclysmic natural disaster had befallen them.

In the blink of an eye, billions upon billions of living beings exploded as their skeletons flew out of their bodies to form vast rivers of bones that came together to form an unfathomably massive vortex.

Countless bones converged from all directions before fusing into Bone Emperor's spirit domain, forming a colossal bone mountain that came crashing down from above.

Only now was Bone Emperor truly putting his power as a Dao Ancestor on full display.

Inside the Reincarnation Array, Violet Spirit fainted on the spot, but she was caught by Han Li before she could fall.

Shi Chuankong and Weeping Soul's legs had given out from under them, and their complexions had turned deathly pale, while Jin Tong was able to fare slightly better, but she was also swaying unsteadily on her feet.

Han Li was struck by a rush of dizziness as his soul trembled within his consciousness, and he hurriedly channeled his time law powers and Spirit Refinement Technique to steady himself.

At the same time, a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes at just how incredibly fearsome the might of a Dao Ancestor was.

In contrast, the Reincarnation Palace Master remained completely unfazed as he thrust a palm forward with a composed smile on his face, and a projection of a hexagonal plate that took up the entire sky appeared before him.

Countless figures of all descriptions were rapidly emerging from the projection, which was also giving off an indescribably vast aura.

In this instant, it was as if he had become the master of the cycle of incarnation across all of the countless realms.

In his presence, no humans, devils, ghosts, or any living beings would be able to escape the fate of being cast into the cycle of reincarnation.

All it took was a slight turn of the hexagonal plate projection, and the descending bone mountain instantly stopped cold in its tracks before exploding into countless scraps of bone like an egg.

With the bone mountain destroyed, Bone Emperor was revealed, and most of his body had already shattered. He let loose a horrified screech as he turned to flee, but he was completely immobilized.

"I'm sure you've heard about how all of the Dao Ancestors who challenged me in the past were either cast into the cycle of reincarnation or pledged their subordination to me. Unfortunately for you, both of those paths have been closed to you," the Reincarnation Palace Master sighed as he swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of tremendous suction force erupted out of the hexagonal plate projection to suck in both Bone Emperor and the vast expanse of bone scraps hanging in the sky.

Shortly thereafter, the hexagonal plate projection also faded away, and with it spelled the demise of a Dao Ancestor.

Xue Li and the others were completely flabbergasted by what they had just witnessed.

Never had they imagined that this would be the outcome of their quest for revenge against the Reincarnation King.

"My avatar spared you your lives all those years ago. Now that you've been freed, you should've been more appreciative of your second chance at life, instead of taking it for granted like this," the Reincarnation Palace Master said as he turned his gaze to Xue Li's group.

"Please spare us..."

Xue Li and the others immediately fell to their knees as they began kowtowing for mercy.

"It seems that repentance only ever comes in one's final moments," the Reincarnation Palace Master remarked, then swept a sleeve through the air to release what appeared to have been a wave of crimson smoke.

As soon as the crimson wave swept over Xue Li and the others, their flesh and blood were instantly reduced to ashes, leaving only their skeletons behind, still kowtowing on the ground.

However, their skeletons were only able to linger for an instant longer before they disintegrated into nothingness as well.

Looking on from the side, Han Li was just as astonished by the Reincarnation Palace Master's unfathomable power as Xue Li and the others had been.

Right at this moment, the Reincarnation Palace Master suddenly turned to Han Li as he said, "It was about time that we met, so you've saved me the trouble of searching for you. Come with me."

A peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, but he duly obliged, carrying Violet Spirit in his arms as he turned to follow the Reincarnation Palace Master toward the stone palace, while Weeping Soul and the others trailed along behind him.

"You and Wyrm 3 can come in with me, but everyone else is to wait outside," the Reincarnation Palace Master instructed, then made his way into the stone palace.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before passing Violet Spirit to Weeping Soul. He then gave everyone a nod of reassurance before making his way into the stone palace.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Wyrm 3 took a glance at him with a complex mix of emotions in her eyes, then followed him into the stone palace.

The palace gates slowly swung shut, creating a dark and shadowy environment.

Han Li looked around to discover that the interior of the palace was quite spacious, and that there was a giant, black, stone plaque at the back of the palace with the word "Reincarnation" inscribed upon it in bold, red characters.

It seemed that the reason why the Reincarnation Palace had managed to remain hidden from the Heavenly Court all this time was because it was concealed within the underworld.

Furthermore, even though the mysterious Reincarnation Palace Master appeared to have only been at the late-Great Encompassment Stage, his true power had somehow already far exceeded that of the average Dao Ancestor.

With all this in mind, Han Li's interest in the Reincarnation Palace Master had been well and truly piqued.

For some reason, he was unable to shake the lingering sense of familiarity that arose whenever he laid eyes upon the Reincarnation Palace Master.

Right at this moment, a dark red spirit domain emerged from the Reincarnation Palace Master's body before quickly expanding to encompass the entire palace.

Standing within the spirit domain, Han Li didn't feel any discomfort, but he could clearly sense that his connection with the outside world, including with Weeping Soul and the others, had been completely severed.

"Han Li, you've been involved in much of our Reincarnation Palace's past affairs, and you've also assisted Wyrm 3 greatly on many occasions. For that, I should be thankful to you," the Reincarnation Palace Master said.

"There's no need to be grateful to me, Wyrm 3 has also helped me greatly in exchange," Han Li replied.

"I can see that you've already mastered the fifth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique. Has Wyrm 3 informed you of the drawbacks of pursuing this cultivation art?" the Reincarnation Palace Master asked.

"I am aware of the drawbacks," Han Li replied. "Once I decide to pursue this cultivation art, I must continue to cultivate it and attain full mastery within a set amount of time. Otherwise, I will be driven to a deranged state and reduced to a mindless savage."

"That's correct. However, I presume that you're unaware of why this cultivation art comes with such a drawback. I can reveal the answer to you now," the Reincarnation Palace Master said.

Han Li nodded in response, then waited patiently for the Reincarnation Palace Master to continue.

"The Spirit Refinement Technique is a secret technique that I created with the power of recincarnation as its basis. It enhances one's soul by drawing upon one's spiritual sense from their future lifetimes. Once you begin cultivating it, you cannot stop. The more you progress, the more of the spiritual sense of your future incarnations you'll exhaust in order to enhance your spiritual sense in this lifetime," the Reincarnation Palace Master explained.

"Surely doing something like that would incur catastrophic repercussions!" Han Li exclaimed.

"If one cannot attain full mastery of the Spirit Refinement Technique, then they'll suffer backlash from the souls of their future incarnations, thereby driving them to insanity. However, upon reaching full mastery, a new equilibrium will be achieved, and you'll be able to avoid such a fate," the Reincarnation Palace Master replied.

"So you're saying that as long as I can attain full mastery of the Spirit Refinement Technique, it won't have any drawbacks?" Han Li asked.

"That's correct, at least for this lifetime. However, due to how severely you've exhausted the spiritual sense of your future incarnations, if you enter the cycle of reincarnations, then your future incarnations will possess no aptitude for cultivation due to their lacking spiritual sense, and there's a very good chance that they're be born with severe mental impairments," the Reincarnation Palace Master replied.

"It sounds like I've gone down a path of no return," Han Li remarked with a wry smile.