Chapter 269: The Eye of Truth

If this really is the so-called White Finch Valley, then perhaps something will happen if I summon my Mantra Treasured Axis here.

With that in mind, Han Li made a hand seal and activated his Mantra Axis Scripture cultivation art.

His Mantra Treasured Axis then appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light, and it began to revolve slowly in mid-air.

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The 24 semi-transparent Time Dao Runes on the axis were flashing incessantly while giving off bursts of powerful law fluctuations, causing everything in a radius of 100 feet to slow down to such a degree that it was as if everything had fallen still.

The wind had stagnated, and even the flow of air had become extremely slow. Similarly, the ripples on the surface of the lake also appeared to have been frozen solid.

The mist rising up from the surface of the lake resembled pillars of white smoke that were moving extremely slowly, and compared with the mist in the distance, which was moving at a normal speed, the mist affected by the Mantra Treasured Axis may as well have not been moving at all.

Han Li slowly spun around as he inspected his surroundings, trying to find abnormal change in the environment, but even after a lengthy period of observation, he wasn't able to spot anything.

Right as he was beginning to think that he was in the wrong place, something out of the ordinary finally happened.

A burst of white light suddenly appeared in front of him, and a palm sized white finch appeared out of thin air, flapping its wings as it flew toward the lake.

It was encompassed within the 100-foot effective radius of the Mantra Treasured Axis, but it seemed to have been completely unaffected as it descended gently onto the surface of the lake, sending ripples spreading in all directions around it.

Han Li was staring at the white finch, unsure of what to do next.

Right at this moment, the white finch suddenly turned back to take a glance at him, then gently pecked down onto the surface of the lake with its gray beak.

Han Li felt as if he could hear the chime of a bell ring out, immediately following which circles of ripples appeared on the surface of the lake before spreading outward in all directions.

The further outward the ripples spread, the larger the waves that they swept up were, and upon reaching the stone banks on either side of the lake, the waves had become so large that they were sending large volumes of water splashing in all directions.

A black hole around the same thickness as an adult human's torso had appeared at the center of the waves, and a glowing black octagonal array emerged above it, giving off powerful spatial fluctuations.

"There's a secret area here!" Han Li exclaimed as his brows furrowed slightly.

The white finch that had triggered all of this seemed to have been rather displeased by his hesitation, and it spread its wings and circled around in the air for a while before flying into the black hole, vanishing amid a flash of light.

Han Li didn't hesitate any longer as he withdrew his Mantra Treasured Axis, then leaped up into the air before also falling into the black hole.

However, as soon as his feet landed upon the opening of the black hole, he appeared to have been kept out by an invisible barrier, unable to pass through the array.

Blue light flashed within his eyes as he attempted to find a way to bypass the array.

Some time later, his brows furrowed slightly as he raised his fist before punching down on the invisible barrier beneath him, he felt as if his fist had struck a wall of cotton, and most of its power was instantly nullified.

After that, Han Li attempted several more methods to try and break through the restriction, but all to no avail. The restriction was extremely profound and seemingly had no weaknesses at all.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he pondered what to do next.

Judging from what had just happened, it seemed that he had guessed right, and that this was indeed the so-called White Finch Valley.

However, the white finch had already flown into the secret area, and it seemed to have been guiding him into it as well, so why was he unable to enter.

Could it be...

A thought suddenly occurred to him as he flipped a hand over to produce his elder badge, then pointed it at the octagonal array above the black hole.

A burst of black light flew out of the array and onto the badge, upon which 9,000 merit points were instantly deducted, leaving him with a measly 132 merit points.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, following which an elated look appeared on his face.

Before he had a chance to think about anything else, light flashed from the array above the black hole, then swept up to envelop his entire body before dragging him straight into the hole.

After that, the black hole abruptly vanished.

The ripples surging across the surface of the lake still hadn't subsided, but the mist that was rising up from it had already returned to normal.

Han Li felt a brief rush of dizziness before finding himself standing on a white stone plaza.

He inspected his surroundings to find a cluster of mountains behind him, while there was a massive deity statue that was over 1,000 feet tall situated to both his left and to his right. Each of the deity statues was wielding a giant weapon that was resting on the ground, and both statues were glowering directly at Han Li.

Han Li only took a brief glance at the statues before directing his gaze directly up ahead.

At the end of the plaza was a golden palace with no end in sight, and above it was a layer of lustrous clouds that were glowing bright.

There was a pavilion with no walls in front of the palace, and a pair of sage-like figures were seated across from one another in the pavilion, playing a game of go. Behind each of them was a pair of celestial maidens in palatial dresses, holding incense burners and cups of tea, and none of them were looking in Han Li's direction.

At the gates of the palace were two teams of warriors clad in suits of golden armor, and as soon as they spotted Han Li, they immediately began rushing toward him with fierce killing intent.

Han Li gave a cold harrumph upon seeing this, and instead of stepping forward to meet the approaching assailants, he sat down with his legs crossed instead.

A burst of blue light then flashed within his eyes as he made a hand seal, then released his enormous spiritual sense in all directions without any restraint.

The sound of splashing waves rang out, and a formidable aura erupted in all directions with Han Li at the center.

Countless rifts were instantly torn into the white stone plaza beneath him, and the entire earth was peeled back before crumbling away. The two deity statues on either side of him collapsed violently before disintegrating into dust, while the cluster of mountains behind him also vanished without a trace.

Before the golden-armored warriors had a chance to reach him, they were also torn to shreds by this wave of destruction, and it didn't take long before the golden palace up ahead also crumbled away, along with the pavilion in front of it and the people situated in the pavilion.

The entire illusion around Han Li had been destroyed, while he remained seated on the ground.

However, the white stone plaza beneath him had turned into mossy dirt, and he was surrounded by lush mountains. It appeared that he was situated in a vast area, but he could clearly sense the presence of spatial barriers around him.

It seemed that this secret area was far smaller than he had imagined.

With that in mind, he slowly rose to his feet, then habitually dusted off his robes before casting his gaze directly forward.

There, he spotted a giant stone monument that was over 100 feet wide.

A strange beast that resembled both a dragon and a serpent was engraved on either side of the stone monument, but the monument was extremely severely damaged, and it was clearly missing a large chunk on top, so it was impossible to tell exactly what it was.

The fractured part of the stone monument was covered in moss, giving it a dilapidated appearance, but thankfully, the bottom half had been preserved very well, and it was riddled with golden seal text.

Han Li quickly made his way over to the base of the stone monument, and after just a single glance, he was immediately rooted to the spot.

This is the Mantra Axis Scripture!

The text recorded on the broken monument had clearly been split up into two parts, between which was a blank area.

The part of the monument near the ground was covered by some short weeds, and the recorded text was very familiar to Han Li. It was none other than the first level of the Mantra Axis Scripture, while the second level was recorded near the top of the monument.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he fell into deep thought.

If the Mantra Axis Scripture was in the sect's Merit Conveyance Palace, then why had this strange stone monument been erected here? And why was it so difficult to access? Could it be that the second level of the Mantra Axis Scripture in the Merit Conveyance Palace also had to be obtained from this place?

After all, it had cost him the same price of 9,000 merit points to enter this place, and this was something that he could perhaps indirectly enquire about the next time he went to the Merit Conveyance Palace.

At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if it was a coincidence that he had noticed the fleeting line of text on the stone wall in the High Profound Palace that had led him to this place.

Right at this moment, a burst of white light suddenly appeared above him, and the white finch that had guided him into this place reappeared before descending onto the broken monument to nibble at the moss on its fractured surface.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the white finch to find that it had a slightly illusory appearance, making it impossible to see it clearly.

Right as he was observing the white finch, it suddenly stopped what it was doing, then turned to him and opened its beak to speak: "Why are you looking at me? You only have half a day here, so hurry up and memorize the cultivation!"

Han Li was caught completely off guard by the fact that the white finch was able to speak. Its way of speech was slightly awkward, so it had clearly been granted the ability to speak by some type of restriction, but Han Li still found this to be quite surprising.

Thus, he couldn't help but look at the white finch for a moment longer.

"Stop looking at me!" the white finch protested.

Han Li hurriedly withdrew his gaze with a sheepish expression before focusing his attention on the stone monument.

Just like the first level of the Mantra Axis Scripture, the second level was also written in golden seal text, and an ancient method of language formulation was used, making it very difficult to understand.

Thankfully, given the foundation that he had established from the first level of the cultivation art, Han Li wasn't at a complete loss, but he was still only able to read through the text very slowly.

As he read through the text engraved on the stone monument, he was forcibly committing it to his memory using his formidable spiritual sense.

After about four hours, a faint sheen of sweat had already appeared on his forehead, and he exhaled deeply, having finally completely memorized the second level of the cultivation art.

Attached to the second level of the Mantra Axis Scripture was a secret technique known as the Eye of Truth, which apparently granted anyone that mastered it the ability to see through all illusions.

However, in order to cultivate this secret technique, one had to have already attained at least 12 Time Dao Runes on their Mantra Treasured Axis.