Chapter 1347: Repetition

Around half a month later, Han Li reappeared in his own consciousness.

"Welcome back, Fellow Daoist Han. Here for a rematch?" the self corpse soul asked with a smile, and it had clearly also made a full recovery.

"That's right, but before that, I have something to ask you," Han Li replied.

"Go ahead," the self corpse soul prompted.

"Last time, you said that in order to sever you, I have to kill my friends, my wife, and my parents. Why is that?" Han Li asked.

"That's something that you'll have to find out for yourself," the self corpse soul replied with a smile.

Clearly, he knew the answer, but wasn't planning to reveal it.

Han Li was silent for a moment, then sprang forward as he thrust a fist through the air, conjuring up a mountainous, golden fist projection that was imbued with devastating power.

The self corpse soul remained unfazed as he thrust a palm forward in response, releasing waves upon waves of palm projections to oppose the oncoming attack.

The golden fist projection tore through hundreds of palm projections in succession before it was finally eradicated, immediately following which Han Li appeared behind the self corpse soul amid a flash of lightning before lashing out with both fists at once.

Two Great Five Elemental Annihilation Fists instantly came crashing down upon the self corpse soul, but once again, the self corpse soul was completely unflustered as a burst of golden light surged out of his body before forming a tornado-like light barrier around him.

The two Great Five Elemental Annihilation Fists struck the light barrier and were instantly sent flying back as if they had just bounced off a soft wall, while the golden light barrier shuddered violently before fading away.

"I see what you're doing. You're trying to hone your control over your law powers by fighting me, right? You've been progressing too rapidly in your cultivation base, and as a result, your control over your newfound law powers is lagging behind. That's something that you'll have to address if you want to be able to oppose Gu Huojin, and I'll admit that fighting me is a good way to achieve this objective," the self corpse soul chuckled.

Han Li offered no response.

This was indeed one of his objectives, while his other objective was to try and gather more information about self corpse souls through interacting with his own.

Regardless of how tight-lipped the self corpse soul remained, Han Li was confident that he would be able to gather some information through their battles.

With that in mind, Han Li continued to lash out in an aimless fashion, while the self corpse soul warded off his attacks with ease.

"While that's a sound plan, you better be careful in your execution. If you're slain by me during one of our battles, then this body will be mind. Honestly, that's not going to change much anyway. After all, you and I are one and the same," the self corpse soul said with a smile.

The battle raged on for several days, only drawing to a conclusion once both of them were completely exhausted.

Several days later, Han Li returned, and this cycle repeated itself over and over again.

Before long, ten thousand years had flown by.

Inside Han Li's consciousness, two blurry, golden figures were clashing over and over again, both moving far too quickly to be tracked with the naked eye.

All types of fist projections, palm projections, sword qi, and other attacks were racing through the air, and all of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out, following which both combatants sprang back in retreat.

Golden light was flashing radiantly over Han Li's body as he thrust a fist through the air, and numerous golden fist projections erupted out of his entire body, not just his fist.

Every single fist projection was a Great Five Elemental Annihilation Fist, and they varied in length and thickness, intertwining with one another to form an enormous net that descended from above, leaving no room for retreat or evasion.

The self corpse soul made no attempt at evasion as he pointed a finger at the vast net of fist projections, and everything around him turned a dull, gray color as a burst of unmatched power was unleashed, clashing against the net of fist projections.

All of the fist projections were instantly destroyed, while Han Li and his self corpse soul were both sent flying back once again, and as usual, neither one was able to get the better of the other.

The battle intent had already drained from Han Li's eyes, and he didn't make any further moves.

"You don't want to continue?" the self corpse soul asked.

"There's not much point in continuing, so I'll be taking my leave now," Han Li replied, then vanished from the spot.

The two of them had fought countless battles against each other over the past ten thousand years, and their relationship had changed in subtle ways during that time.

Not only were they equal in power, even their personalities were identical, and they had developed a friendly rivalry over the years.

After Han Li's consciousness returned to his body, he closed his eyes in a weary manner and took some time to rest and recuperate.

After making a recovery, he didn't re-enter his own consciousness to challenge his self corpse soul again. His mastery over his time law powers had reached a limit, and it wasn't going to improve through further battles.

With that in mind, he flipped a hand over to produce a black, leather bound book that had the appearance of an ancient artifact.

This was a book that he had managed to secure by chance through a trade in the Reincarnation Palace, and it was said to have been a journal kept by a descendant of a Dao Ancestor, containing some stories of said Dao Ancestor.

Of course, Han Li was most interested in the part of the journal that described the Dao Ancestor's self corpse soul severance.

Even though that part of the journal only spanned several hundred words, it had provided him with some inspiration and led him to think of some things that he had never considered before.

According to the journal, the Dao Ancestor had spent over a thousand years searching for the true meaning of self. In the process, he had returned to the original site of the first sect that he had joined in his cultivation journey, and he had sat there in meditation for a hundred days.

In Han Li's eyes, that was perhaps an attempt made by the Dao Ancestor to return to his earliest self, back when he first embarked on the path of cultivation.

Over the past ten thousand years, he had also exchanged some insights and ideas with Jin Tong, but Jin Tong hadn't had to sever any corpse souls in this lifetime, so she wasn't able to provide him with much assistance.

Han Li quickly read through the entire book, then closed it before rising to his feet.

It seemed that he had arrived at some type of decision, and he stepped out of the pavilion.

Nangong Wan had also constructed a pavilion outside for her own seclusion.

Thanks to the resources bestowed upon her by Han Li and the incredible abundance of the world's origin qi in the Flower Branch domain, she had already reached the pinnacle of the True Immortal Stage, leaving her on the cusp of the Golden Immortal Stage.

Han Li called out to her through voice transmission, and she immediately awakened from her cultivation before stepping outside to meet him.

"Have you concluded your seclusion? Did you make much progress?"

"I'm afraid my progress has been very limited. I'm planning to go out on a trip. Would you care to accompany me?" Han Li asked as he latched onto her hand.

"Sure. I've never had a chance to explore the True Immortal Realm since my ascension," Nangong Wan replied in an elated manner.

"Once I leave the Flower Branch domain, this space of accelerated time will disappear. Would you like to accompany us, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li asked.

"I'll leave you two to enjoy your excursion without my pesky presence," Jin Tong replied from afar.

Han Li respected Jin Tong's wishes, withdrawing his spirit domain before emerging from the Flower Branch domain with Nangong Wan.

The latter had never seen the Extraheavensphere before, and she began looking around with an amazed expression.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Han Li released a burst of golden light that picked up Nangong Wan, and he began telling her about the Extraheavensphere while flying onward.

After flying for close to a half a month, he embarked on a descent, and they quickly reached the ground.

They had descended upon a turbulent, black sea, and the world's origin qi in the surrounding environment was rather sparse.

Nestled in the waves in the distance was a small island with many residents, and the entire island was enshrouded within layers of advanced restrictions.

"What is this place?" Nangong Wan asked in a curious manner.

"This place is the Black Wind Sea, and that island is called Dark Veil Island. This is where I ended up the second time I ascended to the True Immortal Realm," Han Li replied as a reminiscent look appeared on his face.

Han Li had already told Nangong Wan about Black Wind Island in the past, and at the moment, she was carefully scouring her gaze over the island, comparing it with the details that Han Li had divulged to her in the past.

Han Li descended onto the surface of the sea near Dark Veil Island, then began looking around as if he were searching for something, while Nangong Wan stood silently off to the side to avoid distracting him.

Han Li walked around the island for a long while before returning to Nangong Wan's side, and the two of them promptly departed.

He flew along at a rather slow pace, seemingly thinking about something the entire time, and occasionally, he would point out to her some places along the way that were of significance to him.

Several days later, the two of them arrived at Black Wind Island.

No introduction was required as Nangong Wan was able to identify the island from the symbols within Black Wind City.

"This is the city that's home to the teleportation arrays leading to the outside world, right?" Nangong Wan asked.