Han Li felt his surroundings were covered in grey mist, and then the ground beneath him suddenly became empty. He couldn't help but stumble forward, and his footsteps became empty before he regained his footing.
He felt as if he'd passed through a layer of hazy mist, and unknowingly, he'd appeared in another space.
He rubbed his slightly aching temples, and his blurry vision slowly recovered, and he saw the moss on the stone floor beneath his feet.
After straightening himself up, Han Li looked to his side and noticed that he was alone. Jin Tong, Qu Ling, and Lu Yuqing hadn't followed him in. He couldn't help but frown and sigh lightly.
Never had he imagined that the Golden Immortal Devourer that he'd been separated from for so many years would actually be reunited under such circumstances. Even though they didn't speak much, Golden Immortal Devourer had stepped forward bravely to save his life at the critical moment, and it caused his heart to feel warm for no reason or rhyme.
After all, after he arrived at the True Immortal Dimension, it was just like the Mortal Dimension and the Spirit Dimension where everyone schemed and schemed against each other. Besides the little fox Liu Le 'er that he'd just entered the Spirit Circle all those years ago, he'd never felt such a feeling of being truly cared for in so many years.
Of course, this was also related to the fact that he'd always treated Jin Tong as half a child.
Obviously, in these two thousand years, Jin Tong should've obtained some kind of fortuitous encounter, and his strength had increased greatly. He was actually able to fight against a late-stage Golden Immortal for so long. However, Han Li knew clearly that he wasn't a match for Qu Ling. This woman had many tricks up her sleeves, and her control of the power of laws was far beyond his. Moreover, she had that strange Profound Heaven Gourd.
Now, he could only hope that Jin Tong could turn the situation around, even if it was a temporary surrender. Judging from the previous situation, Jin Tong seemed to have been taken in as a spirit pet by Qu Ling.
If anything happened to Jin Tong, he would definitely look for Qu Ling after he'd become a Golden Immortal in the future and make her pay the price she deserved.
As for Lu Yuqing, he didn't know when he'd felt that there was something strange about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
However, he'd only met this woman by chance, and they could be considered to be partners in entering the Netherfrost Celestial Abode this time, so they couldn't be said to have much of a relationship. Even though it was mainly because of him that she'd offended Qu Ling this time, since this woman had chosen to follow him in order to seek greater fortune, then such risks were naturally unavoidable.
Now that he had been sucked into this place for no apparent reason, he could only hope that Qu Ling would be angry at him.
Han Li put aside the thoughts in his mind for the time being and looked around.
With this look, he found himself in the courtyard of an old house, surrounded by dilapidated courtyard walls and collapsed houses, covered with dark green moss and weeds, who knew how long it had been abandoned.
However, when his gaze turned to the back of the courtyard, he could not help but raise his eyebrows and a trace of doubt flashed across his eyes.
At the upper right corner of the house that wasn't too tall behind him, pieces of roof tiles were floating in the air, showing signs of collapse. It seemed to be imprisoned by some invisible force, and it seemed to still be in the state when it collapsed.
With a thought in his mind, a blue light flashed in Han Li's eyes, and he released his Divine Sense to explore it.
After a while, he silently leaped up high and landed on the roof ridge. He stretched out his hand and grabbed lightly, taking out a black tile that was floating in the air, while the rest of the tiles and roof ridge remained in their original state, unaffected at all.
While feeling surprised, Han Li, who was standing on the roof ridge, looked out of the courtyard. All he saw were collapsed houses and buildings, and the densely packed ruins stretched in all directions for dozens of miles.
Strange scenes like this courtyard could be seen everywhere in these buildings. Although the damaged pavilions had collapsed into countless pieces, they did not fall to the ground. It was as if they had been frozen at the moment of the collapse, maintaining a state where smoke and dust were rising but had not yet settled.
After a moment of contemplation, Han Li slowly closed his eyes, and the boundless power of his Divine Sense spread into the surroundings.
Unlike the Red Earth Wasteland before, his Divine Sense wasn't shackled and could explore at will.
However, a moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes. The blue light in his eyes had completely disappeared, and his expression became a little strange.
"This is …" He pondered for a while, but couldn't say anything.
The area was so small that it was beyond his expectations. His Divine Sense had only spread out a little, but it had already scanned the entire area. It was less than a hundred miles in radius, and as far as his Divine Sense could reach, there were space barriers.
According to common sense, since he could enter this place, it meant that this place wasn't completely isolated from the outside world. At the very least, there should be a weak point in the spatial barrier. If he could find this weak point, he could break the spatial barrier and return to his original area.
However, when he probed with his Divine Sense just now, he did not discover any large spatial fluctuations or the existence of unstable spatial barriers.
Han Li frowned and made a gesture with one hand. Golden light gushed out from behind him, and the Wheel of Truth slowly emerged.
Along with the change of his hand movements, the dozens of translucent Time Dao patterns on the Wheel of Truth lit up one after another. The huge golden eye that was suspended in the middle began to rotate, shooting out rays of golden light that seemed to be substantial.
Since his Divine Sense couldn't detect any restrictions or hidden spatial entrances, Han Li had to use the Eyes of Truth to explore.
He flew into the air, operated the giant golden eye, and focused his gaze on the center of the courtyard where he first appeared.
Under the golden light, the stone slabs in the courtyard were empty, without the slightest abnormality.
Han Li's gaze moved slowly, from the stone slabs on the ground to the stone table in the courtyard, then to the dead tree by the wall, and then to the two side rooms in the courtyard. It was peaceful, without the slightest change.
Only when the line of sight of the Eye of Truth shifted to the house that was still in a state of collapse did there appear a slight change in the hazy golden light. The collapsed roof actually returned to its original state under the surging golden light.
Could it be that this house contains the power of the law of time? "Han Li raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Before he could go forward to take a closer look, the phantom of the house that had just been restored began to flicker frequently, and the image could not be stabilized.
Han Li put away the Wheel of Truth and landed in front of the hall. He first checked the entire outside of the hall, and then entered the hall to carefully search for a while, but he didn't find anything that contained the power of the law of time.
"This is strange. Could it be that the power of the law of time contained in it is too weak, so I can't explore it?
It shouldn't be. "Han Li muttered to himself with doubts in his heart.
After pondering for a moment, a bright light flashed in his eyes, and the Wheel of Truth appeared once again. His figure floated up and left the courtyard, and he flew towards another area.
Looking down from above, he could see that the buildings in this area were quite dilapidated, but they were distributed in a very orderly fashion, similar to that of a city in the mortal world. As such, Han Li was able to investigate the entire city based on the crisscrossing roads in the city.
Starting from the outer square in the east, he went all the way to the west, and along the way, he made a more detailed inspection of some buildings that remained in a state of collapse. Every time he used the Eye of Truth, he could vaguely reflect the original intact image, but just like the previous mansion, it could not be stabilized.
It seemed that there were faint fluctuations of the law of time everywhere in the entire city, but it was not to the extent that people could perceive it.
In less than half a day, Han Li checked the markets in the four major areas of the north, south, east, and west, but he found nothing.
In the evening, the sun gradually turned fiery red, and it began to descend toward the Western Mountains.
In the southern part of the city, there was a nine-story black wooden tower that was covered in weeds. There were many scorch marks on the tower, and it was leaning heavily to one side, looking as if it could collapse at any moment.
Han Li supported himself with one hand on the iron frame at the top of the pagoda and stood on the black tiles at the top of the pagoda, gazing at the distant setting sun.
Beside him stood Daoist Xie in a set of yellow robes. His expression was calm and expressionless.
"Daoist Xie, is there anything special about the layout of this city?" Han Li asked.
"Even though the layout of this city is in accordance with the Nine Palaces Divination Technique, it's just an ordinary city. At least on the surface, there's nothing special about it.
As for whether there are any special arrangements, I can't tell, "Daoist Xie said with a shake of his head.
"In that case, I'll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Xie to investigate this area and see if there are any hidden mechanisms or formations," Han Li said after a brief moment of contemplation.
Daoist Xie nodded silently before disappearing from the wooden tower.
Han Li looked on as the setting sun gradually disappeared, and his eyes suddenly flashed as he shot forth as a streak of azure light.
However, in the blink of an eye, a loud bang suddenly erupted in the air!
In the air at the edge of the city, a streak of azure light flashed, and an azure figure was repelled by an invisible barrier before plummeting to the ground.
This figure was naturally none other than Han Li.
However, as soon as he fell to the ground, the azure light around his body lit up again, and he shot forth in another direction …
Time flew by, and several days passed by.
Within a private garden at the center of this ruined city was a lush, lush forest. There were a series of strange rocks that were as tall as grown men scattered throughout the forest, all of which were covered in slippery moss.
Two figures, one azure and one yellow, were walking side by side along a winding path in the forest.
"There are many secret room restrictions in the city, but most of them are very basic and not worth exploring.
Only this place is different; both the layout of the forest and the patterns are quite extraordinary, "Daoist Xie said as he led the way.