A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1072: Refining Law Threads

"Are you trying to pressure me into complying, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"You can settle your personal differences once you leave this secret area. Right now, time is of the essence here in the Eon Pagoda. Besides, with so many of us here, you don't have to worry about anyone coming after you," Jin Liu countered in a cold voice.

"In that case, let's part ways here. All of you can go one way, while I'll go the other. If you want to make me comply by force, then I invite you to try," Han Li replied in an equally hostile manner.

"Let's not make any rash decisions, Fellow Daoist Shi," Lei Yuce hurriedly interjected. "I understand that this is a lot to ask of you, so how about this? Seeing as Fellow Daoist Lan has relinquished the right to have the first pick of the treasures on the stone table, you can have that right instead. Will that suffice as compensation?"

Wen Zhong and the others also chimed in to try and persuade him, and it was clear that in the wake of Han Li's display of power in the previous battle, they didn't dare to try and make him comply by force.

Han Li was silent for a moment, then said, "I can release Fellow Daoist Shi's senior martial brother, but I don't want any of the treasures on the stone table. Instead, I also want something else."

Lei Yuce was naturally very happy to hear that Han Li didn't want any of the treasures on the table, and he immediately asked, "What would you like instead, Fellow Daoist Shi?"

"If you want me to release your senior martial brother, then you'll have to give me a Fire Age Firefly hive in exchange," Han Li declared as he turned to Lan Yan, and Jin Liu's expression immediately stiffened slightly upon hearing this.

"What's that? I don't have one," Lan Yan asked with a perplexed expression.

"You may not have one, but someone else does," Han Li replied as he turned to Jin Liu with a hint of a smile on his face.

"What is the meaning of this, Shi Mu?" Jin Liu snapped in a furious voice.

Fire Age Firefly hives were extremely precious, and they were also very useful to him, so he was naturally very reluctant to comply.

"I'm just proposing a trade. Weren't you just saying that we shouldn't be so petty, and that we should make some personal sacrifices for the greater good? Surely you should practice what you preach, right, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li shrugged.

Jin Liu wasn't anticipating having his own words used against him, and he could only glower at Han Li in silence.

Lan Yan was ecstatic to hear that Han Li was finally willing to release Lan Yuanzi, and she hurriedly turned to Jin Liu as she urged, "Please give me your Fire Age Firefly hive, Fellow Daoist Jin. I'm willing to purchase it from you with Immortal Origin Stones or offer up other precious materials in exchange."

"What do you say, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Lei Yuce asked with a hint of a threatening tone in his voice.

Jin Liu's powers were far inferior to Han Li's, so Lei Yuce felt no qualms exerting pressure upon him.

Jin Liu's expression darkened significantly upon hearing this, but a plan then seemed to have occurred to him, and he smiled as he said, "I can hand over the Fire Age Firefly nest, but there's no need for any compensation from Fellow Daoist Lan. Instead, I want to have the first pick of the treasures on the stone table."

The Fire Age Firefly hive was indeed extremely precious, but not as important to him as the treasures within the array.

Lei Yuce exchanged a few glances with everyone else, then decided that this was an acceptable trade.

With everything settled, Han Li didn't waste any more time as he swept a sleeve through the air to release Lan Yuanzi amid a flash of silver light, and he fell to the ground, still in an unconscious state.

Lan Yuanzi hurriedly rushed over to his side before picking him up from the ground.

The two of them were cultivating a law power fusion secret technique, and even though they hadn't fully mastered the secret technique yet, a special connection had formed between them, allowing them to detect whether the other was dead or alive.

Even though Lan Yan was aware that Lan Yuanzi was still alive, she had been feeling very uneasy this entire time, knowing that he had fallen into Han Li's hands, and now that he had been returned to her, she couldn't help but weep with joy.

At the same time, she swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of blue light to inspect Lan Yuanzi's internal condition.

Han Li paid no heed to the two of them as he strode over to Jin Liu, who harrumphed coldly before summoning his Fire Age Firefly hive, which was giving off tremendous law power fluctuations.

With the exceptions of Su Anqian, Jin Liu, and Han Li, this was everyone's first time seeing a Fire Age Firefly hive, and they couldn't help but be stunned by the tremendous time law powers that it harbored.

Furthermore, Jin Liu was intentionally making his movements very slow and methodical to ensure that everyone could get a close look.

Han Li could see what Jin Liu was doing, but he didn't care, and he promptly stowed the hive away.

Now that all three hives had fallen into his possession, all he had to do was find a safe place to refine them into time law threads, and his time law powers would be greatly enhanced, presumably allowing him to unleash that same ability that had driven Qi Mozi away.

With that in mind, a hint of excitement welled up in Han Li's heart, and he decided there and then that he had to refine the three hives right away.

As long as he could unleash that ability again, he was confident in his own ability to deal with any threat, whether it be Lekima, Qi Mozi, or anyone else.

With his mind made up, he quickly inspected his surroundings, then began to make his way toward a side door in the palace.

Right at this moment, Lan Yan turned to him with an accusatory look in her eyes as she asked, "Hey, why is my senior martial brother still unconscious? What have you done to him?"

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner, releasing a streak of golden light that vanished into Lan Yuanzi's body in a flash.

A layer of golden light instantly appeared over his body before fading away again, following which his eyelids slowly fluttered open.

"Are you alright, Senior Martial Brother?" Lan Yan asked with an ecstatic smile.

"Where are we right now?" Lan Yuanzi asked in a feeble voice upon catching sight of Lan Yan.

Meanwhile, Han Li continued to make his way toward the side door.

"Where are you going, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Su Anqian hurriedly asked.

"I have some matters to take care of, so I'll be leaving for a bit. You can all split the treasures on the stone table without me," Han Li replied, then promptly departed.

Beyond the side door was an empty hall, and after sweeping his spiritual sense briefly throughout the hall, Han Li gave a satisfied nod before sweeping both sleeves through the air, releasing numerous streaks of light throughout the entire hall.

Everyone was quite alarmed by Han Li's sudden departure, and they were relieved to see that he had only gone into a side hall instead of truly departing.

With the power that Han Li had displayed, he had become an indispensable member of the group, and no one was confident that they would be able to take on the likes of Lekima without Han Li with them.

Standing at the edge of the crowd were Xiong Shan and the black-robed duo, but all three of them were Golden Immortals, and they had kept a low profile the entire way here, so no one paid any attention to them.

"Is this the place?" the black-robed woman asked through voice transmission.

The black-robed young man closed his eyes momentarily as if he were sensing something, following which an excited look appeared on his face as he opened his eyes and replied, "It's this level! There's no mistaking it!"

"Don't get excited too soon! According to my knowledge, what you're trying to accomplish is not an easy task. Will you be able to get it done?" the black-robed woman asked.

The black-robed young man seemed to be a little displeased by the woman's skepticism, and he harrumphed, "I wouldn't have brought you here if I wasn't confident."

"Good. If you end up dying here, it'll be difficult for me to do what I need to do on my own," the black-robed woman said with a smile, and the black-robed young man gave another harrumph before closing his eyes again.

Instead of continuing to converse with her companion, the black-robed woman turned to the side hall with a peculiar look in her eyes.

Xiong Shan also currently had his gaze fixed on the side hall, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, Lan Yan fed a pill to Lan Yuanzi, and the latter's complexion instantly improved slightly as he rose to his feet.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, now that your senior martial brother has been returned to you, let's begin breaking this restriction," Lei Yuce said, and Lan Yan raised no objections to this.

......

In the side hall, Han Li made a hand seal, and several layers of light barriers rose up all around him.

After that, he opened the Flower Branch domain before making his way inside.

At this moment, the bamboo pavilion in the domain was completely encompassed within an enormous ball of churning, black energy.

The black ball was giving off astonishing ghostly power, and all of the plants within several thousand feet of the pavilion were long dead. Thankfully, the medicine garden was far enough to remain unaffected.

Han Li knew that this was the result of Weeping Soul's inability to control the overflowing ghostly power in her body as she refined Ghost King Wu Chao.

He swept a sleeve through the air to release several dozen streaks of golden light, which formed a golden light barrier around the pavilion, and all of the churning ghostly power was instantly confined by the time law powers within the light barrier.

Han Li gave a pleased nod upon seeing this. This was a set of time-attribute array flags that he had refined in the past, and it was working quite well here.

He then swept his sleeve through the air one more time to release the Essence Fire Raven before instructing, "Go and guard the entrance of the domain for me. If anyone attempts to come in, kill them."

The Essence Fire Raven let loose a clear cry in response, flew away toward the entrance of the Flower Branch domain.

Only then did Han Li sit down onto a vacant area in the domain, following which he summoned the three firefly hives.

After that, he took a deep breath, then began channeling his Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra.