Daoist Xie made his way over to a strange rock that resembled an elderly ape, upon which he pointed at it, and asked, "Why don't you take a look at this, Friend Han?"
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he quickly strode forward, then raised a hand to inspect the rock.
"Could this be... a Desolation Stone?" His brows furrowed even more tightly upon hearing this.
"That's right," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.
"No wonder I couldn't detect any formation fluctuations in this area with my spiritual sense; they've all been concealed by this Desolation Stone.
However, I didn't expect it to be so effective at concealing the aura of a formation spell formation, "Han Li said pensively.
"Of course, these Desolate Transformation Stones wouldn't be able to fool you, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie said.
"Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?" Han Li asked.
Daoist Xie didn't say anything as he led Han Li deeper into the forest, and the two of them finally arrived at a relatively spacious clearing.
Han Li made his way over to discover that the clearing had been charred black, and all of the shrubs had been reduced to ashes by the flames, revealing a round stone platform that was around the size of a millstone.
The surface of the stone platform had also been charred black, and the runes engraved on its surface had become blurry and indistinguishable.
Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a gentle breeze swept through the air, sweeping away all of the dust and dirt on the stone platform, revealing the entire stone platform once again.
"What is this?" Han Li bent over to inspect the stone platform, upon which his brows furrowed tightly.
The stone platform was inscribed with nine strange talisman markings that were shaped like flower petals, and when they were pieced together, it was like an enormous Nightmare Dutchman's Bloom. Moreover, there were numerous complicated and hidden special talisman markings hidden within the striations of the petals.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is an extremely advanced Dream Concealment Rune that can conceal the aura fluctuations of many treasures and formations, and it's almost impossible to detect with one's Divine Sense after being used with the Desolation Stone," Daoist Xie explained.
"Seeing as you're aware of this rune, I presume you have a way to break it?" Han Li asked.
"Friend Han, please take a look at the center of the flower pattern," Daoist Xie replied in a noncommittal manner in response to Han Li's question.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the center, only to discover that there was nothing there, and his brows furrowed slightly as he appraised Daoist Xie with a perplexed expression.
"That used to be the stamen of the dream flower, but for some reason, it's been completely destroyed, and it's unrecognizable," Daoist Xie replied.
When Han Li heard this, he carefully examined the area and discovered that there were indeed traces of human destruction.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li said, "Seeing as you've already identified the origin of these patterns, it shouldn't matter even if they're damaged. All we have to do is break them. Could it be that there's something strange about these patterns?"
"Friend Han, have you heard of the term 'Three Thousand Dreams'?
The reason why these runes are called dream concealment runes is due to the variety and variety of them.
If even one of the runes changes, the entire formation will be completely different. Even with my memories of this rune, I don't know all the ways to break it, so I won't be able to do so, "Daoist Xie said with a shake of his head.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li said, "If that's the case, then we'll have no choice but to completely destroy it."
"Well... why don't you give it a try, Friend Han?" Daoist Xie suggested.
Han Li's expression was rather peculiar, and he knew that things definitely weren't as simple as they seemed. However, he still transformed into a Giant Mountain Ape that was over 100 feet tall amid a flash of golden light.
Light flashed from his acupoints, and he let loose a low cry as he raised a massive fist before crashing it down heavily toward the stone platform.
"Boom!" A loud sound was heard!
The entire stone platform tremored violently, and a vast expanse of golden light swept forth in all directions like gale-force winds.
Sand and pebbles were swept up in its wake, and the winds only died down after spreading for several thousand feet.
At the same time, the Dream Concealment Rune on the stone platform suddenly lit up with a golden light. Streaks of vine-like golden veined patterns spread along the stone platform, extending into the depths of the dense forest like a spider web.
Han Li was currently in his giant ape form, so his field of vision was naturally extremely wide. He discovered that the entire city outside the garden was lit up with streaks of golden patterns. Those vine-like patterns covered the entire secret realm, creating a dazzling and eye-catching spectacle.
"According to my estimations, one would need to be at least at the Golden Immortal stage in order to break this restriction.
Even if I unleash my full power, I won't be able to do so, "Daoist Xie said after a brief pause.
"Even if we can do that, we most likely won't be able to do so.
The runes here are connected to the entire secret realm. If we destroy them with brute force, the entire secret realm will collapse as a result. When that time comes, none of us can predict what will happen. "Light flashed from Han Li's body and he returned to his original form.
"Indeed," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.
Han Li's brows furrowed as he circled around the stone platform, and a thought suddenly occurred to him at the sight of the golden light dissipating.
He made a hand seal, and golden light immediately erupted from his back as the Wheel of Truth appeared.
His line of sight shifted, and the huge golden eyeball on the Wheel of Truth also slowly rotated, shooting a golden ray of light that seemed to be solid onto the stone platform.
As the golden light fell, the entire stone platform flashed, and the charred marks on its surface instantly disappeared, leaving it as clean as new.
On the other hand, the empty space at the center lit up with an expanse of hazy light as strand after strand of striations gradually floated up into appearance, and they were shaped like the pistil of a flower and were extremely complicated.
Just as Han Li was about to examine it more closely, the projection in the empty space suddenly began to tremor and become very unstable.
After examining it for a short while, Han Li was struck by a sense of dizziness, and he could only withdraw the Wheel of Truth back into his body in a resigned manner.
"How is it?" Daoist Xie asked.
"This space is very strange. Many of the ordinary objects here contain the power of the laws of time, but they're extremely weak. Every time I use the Eye of Truth to examine them, all I get is a blur, and this stone platform is no exception," Han Li said with a wry smile.
"Your Wheel of Truth is not in its peak state. Perhaps you'll be able to see the full appearance of this Dream Concealment Rune after it fully recovers its power..." Daoist Xie said after a brief moment of contemplation.
"I've already thought about what you've just said, but it'll take a lot of time.
It's just that it would take too much time. After all, the Netherfrost Immortal Abode's secret realm is only open for a limited time. Once the exit to the Northern Glacial Immortal Realm is closed, who knows when it will open again? "
The only thing he was worried about right now was how to get out of this predicament. Of course, once he found a way to leave, he didn't mind staying here for a while longer. After all, he didn't know exactly what had happened in the outside world during these past few days, but he knew that Qu Ling wouldn't have wasted so much time guarding him here for nothing.
"With your immortal body, your lifespan is almost limitless, so why are you worried about time?
The world's origin Qi here is just as abundant as anywhere else in the Northern Frost Celestial Realm, so you can cultivate here until the next time the mystic realm opens, "Daoist Xie suddenly said.
Han Li's eyes flashed as he fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
He was already in a perilous situation after provoking the Northern Frost Celestial Palace, and now that Qu Ling had set her sights on him, as well as Feng Tiandu, who gave him goosebumps, he was in a perilous situation in the Northern Frost Celestial Realm.
In comparison, staying in this mystic realm was safer.
"That may be the case, but once the Netherfrost Celestial Manor closes, no one knows what will happen in the mystic realm.
Once the environment deteriorates, the situation will be even worse than Qu Ling's... "Han Li said worriedly.
What he didn't say was that if he were to be trapped in this mystic realm for hundreds of thousands of years, even though nothing would happen to him, the outside world would most likely be turned upside down. Jin Tong was currently being threatened by Qu Ling, so it was hard to say whether he would be able to survive this ordeal or not. Furthermore, there were many people that he couldn't let go of.
"In any case, we won't be able to leave this place.
Why don't you try to recover your Treasure Wheel Ability first? Perhaps it won't take too long for you to see through the Dream Concealment Runes, "Daoist Xie said with a nod.
"That's the only thing we can do now," Han Li said with a nod.
Time flew by and a few days passed by.
At the center of this ruined city, a massive plaza that was several thousand feet wide had suddenly appeared.
The central core was paved with white stone slabs, while the periphery was covered with freshly turned reddish-brown soil. There were many rubble and fragments of windows and doors in the middle. It was obvious that it had just been leveled.
Even the Star Formations that Han Li had created paled significantly paled in comparison to a series of extremely deep ravines that interconnected with one another to form a massive formation with extremely complex patterns.
This formation was known as the Heavenly Cycle Star Condensation Formation, and it was located at the end of the second half of the Great Heavenly Star Origin Art. This was a formation that could assist in the cultivation of this cultivation art, and it was far superior to the Star Condensation Formation of the past. Even the Star Formations that Han Li had modified later on paled significantly in comparison.
The Heavenly Cycle Star Condensation Formation had a total of 81 star positions that were evenly distributed around the formation, and each of them could be embedded with a Heavenly Star Stone to assist cultivators in absorbing the power of the stars at a faster rate.