Chapter 839: Mystery Unraveled

Only after looking around in bewilderment for some time did Han Li gradually compose himself before slowly flying toward the river.

Even though he had already been here on several occasions, this was the first time that he had been here in his physical form, so it was still a unique experience.

Hovering high up in the air, Han Li peered into the river, and thanks to his prior experience, he knew not to focus his gaze on any single one of the balls of light. Instead, he only took brief glances at the images flashing through them.

Right at this moment, a large ball of light passed by beneath Han Li, moving significantly slower than the other balls of light.

As soon as Han Li caught sight of the image displayed on it, his attention was immediately drawn to it.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

However, as soon as he gave the ball of light his undivided attention, it immediately released a burst of immense suction force that sucked him in without giving him any chance to resist.

......

After an indeterminate period of time, Han Li's eyes sprang open, and he found himself laying on top of a black rock above a turbulent sea. Waves were constantly crashing into the rock around him, splashing water in all directions.

Han Li sat up on the rock, then inspected his surroundings to discover that the seawater around him was of a very dark and foreboding color.

His ears were ringing slightly, while his breathing was also a little heavy, and he was struck by an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

Nothing appeared to be amiss in the area around him, but he couldn't help but feel as if something was different, and this sense of discomfort was only slowly compounding with each breath that he took, but only by a minute degree.

Under normal circumstances, perhaps he would've also detected this slight change, but he wouldn't have paid it much heed. However, given the special nature of the circumstances at hand, he had to be extra careful.

He strode over to the edge of the rock, then peered into the water, and the reflection looking back at him was one of his own face.

Sure enough, he had experienced physical transmigration on this occasion!

Han Li exhaled as he sat back down onto the ground, and he didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

He habitually took a glance upward to discover that the usual Mantra Treasured Axis projection was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was an indistinct golden ring above his head that was riddled with Time Dao Runes.

After a brief count, Han Li discovered that there were 1,620 Time Dao Runes, which appeared to be the total number of Time Dao Runes on all five time-attribute artifacts combined.

It seemed that the duration of this transmigration was still going to depend on the rate of expenditure of his time law powers.

Right at this moment, he spotted half of a giant black carcass floating on the surface not far behind the rock. The carcass was already a little decomposed, and it was giving off a foul odor.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he rose up into the air for a closer look, upon which he discovered that it was a chunk of a black whale's body, and it looked a little familiar.

At the same time, he suddenly recalled the scene that he had witnessed in the ball of light. To put it more accurately, he recalled the person that he had seen within it.

All of a sudden, a theory began to take shape in his mind. Could it be that the strange state that Daoist Master Bone Shine was in during their second encounter was the result of this transmigration?

The more he pondered this theory, the more plausible it seemed in his mind, and thus, he rose to his feet again.

After inspecting his own internal condition to ensure that nothing was amiss, Han Li closed his eyes, then released his spiritual sense in all directions.

Moments later, he reopened his eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Immediately thereafter, he put on a Reincarnation Palace mask, then sped away in a certain direction.

......

Tens of thousands of kilometers away, a dark green figure was seated on the surface of the water, bobbing up and down like a floating lilypad.

It was a very thin elderly man wearing a loose-fitting dark green Daoist robe, and it was none other than Daoist Master Bone Shine!

At this moment, there was a fist-sized purple bead hovering above his head, and it was giving off bursts of purple smoke and hazy purple light that encompassed his entire head.

The purple bead was an immortal treasure that was beneficial to the soul, but it was only a ninth-grade immortal treasure.

Under normal circumstances, Daoist Master Bone Shine would never use this immortal treasure, but he had no choice in the matter here.

While hunting down the two perpetrators who had killed his disciple, he had been caught off guard and suffered severe spiritual damage from an attack unleashed by that High Zenith cultivator, and he had taken several restorative pills without much effect.

Left with no options, he was forced to use this immortal treasure that wasn't actually meant for restorative purposes.

"Once I get my hands on those scoundrels, I'll make them wish they were never born!" Daoist Master Bone Shine spat through gritted teeth.

Right as his voice trailed off, a streak of light flew over from afar, then drew to an abrupt halt around a thousand feet away, revealing a familiar figure.

Daoist Master Bone Shine hurriedly sprang to his feet in a panic as he exclaimed, "You again?"

I knew it!

Up to this point, Han Li's theory had been confirmed. He had indeed returned here through transmigration to battle Daoist Master Bone Shine again.

During what Han Li had thought to be their second encounter, he was wondering how Daoist Master Bone Shine had suffered such severe additional spiritual damage, and the answer was now clear.

A grim look appeared on Daoist Master Bone Shine's face at the sight of Han Li's triumphant expression, and a sense of unease welled up in his heart, but he couldn't pinpoint where this sense of unease was coming from.

After taking a moment to compose himself, Daoist Master Bone Shine harrumphed coldly, "You dare to come after me on your own? You must have a death wish!"

"You still haven't recovered from the spiritual damage from last time, have you?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"So what? There's no way that you could unleash that same secret technique a second time in such a short span!" Daoist Master Bone Shine countered, but internally, he was not without doubts.

"That secret technique was extremely taxing on my spiritual sense, so it's indeed not something that I can recover from in a short time, but how are you so sure that I don't have any other tricks up my sleeve?" Han Li asked with a mocking sneer.

For some reason, the unease in Daoist Master Bone Shine's heart grew even more pronounced.

However, he then quickly dismissed his own concerns. How could a single early-High Zenith cultivator possibly pose a threat to himself?

"What a load of bullshit!" Daoist Master Bone Shine harrumphed coldly as he swept a a sleeve through the air, instantly conjuring up his bone withering spirit domain.

A thin cloud of mist spread through the surrounding area, and the eight bone pagodas appeared once again.

As Daoist Master Bone Shine channeled his spiritual sense, he could feel a sharp pain in his consciousness, and the circulation of his spiritual sense and devilish qi were also rather sluggish.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he remained unfazed as he flipped a hand over to summon a strange-looking glass lamp.

"That's the Soul Devouring Lamp! Why do you have it?" Daoist Master Bone Shine exclaimed.

"So you recognize this lamp as well, but do you have a way to ward off its powers?" Han Li asked.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, sending the lamp flying toward Daoist Master Bone Shine, who immediately summoned a purplish-golden talisman without any hesitation before pressing it to his own forehead.

The talisman instantly lit up in flames before being incinerated into nothingness, leaving a complex purplish-golden rune at the center of Daoist Master Bone Shine's glabella.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he began making a rapid string of incantation seals.

As the Soul Devouring Lamp approached Daoist Master Bone Shine, its wick suddenly lit up with two flames, one purple and one azure, both of which were intertwined with each other like a pair of miniature fiery snakes.

The purple and azure flames weren't particularly bright. Instead, they were quite dim, but Daoist Master Bone Shine's gaze was involuntarily drawn to them, following which a slightly dazed look appeared in his eyes.

He felt as if he could see two exceptionally beautiful young women dancing within the lamp, seductively flaunting their gorgeous bodies, and it didn't take long before they captured the entirety of his attention.