Chapter 671: Already Dead

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li.

Back in the Water Divination Palace, the large-headed child had bestowed upon him some memories containing his cultivation insights in addition to the Water Divination Time Arts.

In those memories, the term "law abilities" was brought up, but no explanation of exactly what this concept was had been provided.

At the time, Han Li had only memorized all of this information in the hope that it would be useful to him in the future, and it seemed that perhaps it had something to do with this.

Could it be that this golden finger projection is a type of law ability?

However, he didn't dwell on this train of thought for long as he began staring intently at the golden finger projection, carefully observing the time law power permutations and distribution of time law threads within it.

The profound permutations in the time law powers were extremely mesmerizing to behold, and he quickly found himself completely immersed, as if he were looking at a piece of unmatched artwork.

The finger projection flew back upward, and it quickly vanished through the large hole in the ceiling.

Han Li immediately closed his Eye of Truth upon seeing this, then closed his own eyes as he carefully recalled the incredibly profound sight that he had just witnessed.

A long while later, his Eye of Truth sprang open again at his behest, and a beam of golden light shot out of it and into the hole.

Once again, the same golden finger projection appeared, and Han Li was able to observe it for a second time.

He repeated this process over and over again, and in doing so, he was able to slowly glean a great deal of insight into the golden finger projection, but at the same time, he discovered that there were only more and more things that he didn't understand.

However, he had already memorized all of the time law power permutations within the golden finger projection, so he would be able to continue studying it once he left this place.

At this point, not only was he utterly exhausted, he had also gained as much insight as he could into the golden finger projection, so there was no point in continuing this exercise any further.

With that in mind, he cast his gaze into the hole up ahead, and the ball of golden light inside was still flashing incessantly.

With his Reversal True Axis ability channeled to its maximal extent, he quickly recovered his mobility, then raised an arm as a burst of bright golden light that was interspersed with ten time law threads appeared over the palm of his hand.

He then made a grabbing motion, and the golden light and time law threads instantly transformed into a large golden hand that grabbed onto the ball of golden light before pulling it upward.

However, the ball of golden light seemed to be completely rooted to the spot, refusing to budge.

Han Li's expression changed slightly seeing this, and he took a deep breath, following which sixteen additional time law threads appeared within the large golden hand.

The hand instantly swelled to around twice its original size, and the time law power fluctuations emanating from it were significantly enhanced.

Even so, the ball of golden light still appeared to be completely unmovable.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he withdrew the golden hand, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he raised his hand once again, this time to summon his Profound Heavenly Gourd.

A dull thump then rang out as a beam of green light shot out of the gourd before hurtling directly toward the ball of golden light.

However, the beam of green light had only just shot out of the area encompassed within the Reversal True Axis when it was instantly stopped in its tracks by the surrounding time law powers.

Han Li slowly crouched down upon seeing this, extending his hand into the hole on the ground, and only then was the beam of green light able to make contact with the ball of golden light inside.

The beam of green light then attempted to drag the ball of golden light into the Profound Heavenly Gourd, but despite its best efforts, the ball of golden light remained completely still on the spot.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he stowed his Profound Heavenly Gourd away before unleashing another secret technique...

Some time later, Han Li stopped what he was doing as a resigned look appeared on his face.

He had already tried everything that he could think of, but the ball of golden light simply refused to budge.

A conflicted look appeared on his face as he gazed upon the ball of golden light inside the hole.

Was he really just going to have to leave something so precious behind?

He simply couldn't bring himself to give up.

The ball of golden light contained more time law powers than his golden lock and his golden flag combined, and that wasn't even taking into account all of the profound complexities that it also harbored.

If he could secure it, then it would undoubtedly be very useful to him.

All of a sudden, a thought sprang into Han Li's mind, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which a burst of radiant golden light erupted out of his Mantra Treasured Axis.

At the same time, the golden light in front of him converged to form the Clear Time Vial.

Han Li then switched to a different hand seal, and the golden light around his body swept through the surrounding area before forming countless grains of golden sand.

The three bursts of time law powers intertwined to form a golden vortex that was revolving rapidly, and the vortex then began to compress inward at his behest.

A burst of incredibly formidable time law powers flashed past, and the golden vortex transformed into a revolving golden ring.

At this point, Han Li was able to conjure up this golden ring using his three time-attribute cultivation arts with relative ease,

"Go!"

Han Li thrust his palm forward, and the golden ring immediately shot forth before making contact with the ball of golden light.

The golden ring then began to revolve rapidly while giving off dazzling golden light, easily outshining the pervasive golden light that filled the entire palace.

At the same time, a burst of tremendous suction force erupted out of the golden ring to envelop the ball of golden light.

Finally, the surface of the ball of golden light began to ripple slightly, and this was the first sign of wavering that it had displayed thus far.

Han Li's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this.

Several strands of golden light rose up reluctantly from the ball of golden light, then vanished into the golden ring.

The ball of golden light seemed to be trying to resist, but to no avail.

At the same time, the golden ring was glowing brighter and brighter, and more and more golden light was drawn upward before being sucked into the golden ring.

Moments later, the golden ring shuddered as it released a strand of golden light, which vanished into Han Li's body in a flash before appearing on the Mantra Treasured Axis.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he continued to inject more power into the golden ring.

The suction force released by the golden ring became stronger and stronger, and more and more golden light was sucked out of the ball of light before vanishing into the golden ring, only to then transform into time law threads.

The ball of golden light was rapidly shrinking at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye, and it didn't take long before it disappeared entirely.

In the instant that the ball of golden light vanished, all of the golden light within the palace rippled slightly before fading away.

The restrictive time law powers within the palace also vanished, and for the first time in countless years, the flow of time was restored to normal.

Immediately thereafter, a string of dull thumps rang out as the Heavenly Court cultivators and True Mantra Sect disciples fell out of the air before crumpling to the ground.

A surprised look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he withdrew the golden ring before making his way over to the cultivators that had crumpled to the ground, only to discover that they were all dead.

How did this happen? They looked very much alive just a moment ago...

The bodies were entirely unharmed, and the nascent souls were still present within them, but their souls had completely vanished without a trace.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense carefully over the bodies, and he quickly noticed something.

As it turned out, there was an extremely faint time law aura left behind in the mind of the body closest to him, and if it weren't for his tremendous spiritual sense and the fact that he had cultivated the laws of time, there was no way that he would've been able to detect it.

The time law aura was imbued with a burst of extremely aggressive intent, similar to that of the golden finger projection, and it was clearly this aggressive finger intent that had destroyed this person's soul.

Han Li then examined all of the other bodies to find that they had suffered the same fate.

So not only does that golden finger projection possess tremendous penetrative power, it can also attack one's soul!

With that in mind, Han Li was only becoming more intrigued by the golden finger projection.

After determining the cause of death of these cultivators, Han Li captured the nascent souls of the two Golden Immortals in the palace, then paid no further heed to the bodies as he turned his gaze to the Mantra Treasured Axis behind him.

At this point, there were as many as thirty-nine time law threads around it.

By refining that ball of golden light, Han Li had earned himself thirteen time law threads.

However, all of the profound time law power permutations within the ball of golden light had been erased after it was converted into time law threads, and that was a little disappointing to Han Li, but having already gained thirteen time law threads, it would've simply been excessively greedy to ask for anything more.

After that, Han Li searched through the palace one more time, but wasn't able to find anything else of use.

After departing from the palace, Han Li continued to make his way deeper into the valley.

Before long, he reached the end of the valley without encountering any more buildings, and he flew out of the valley to continue his search.