Chapter 94: An Ancestral God's Last Words
Han Li suppressed the excitement in his heart as he thought about how to proceed.
Sure enough, he had guessed correctly in that the beams of light that the one-eyed giant had been capable of releasing out of its eye were indeed imbued with some type of power of laws.
However, he still wasn't sure exactly what type of power of laws the eye contained.
However, given that most of the abilities that the giant had unleashed were of the earth attribute, and it possessed the ability to increase the force of gravity, Han Li speculated that the eye was imbued with the power of gravitational laws, a branch of the laws of earth.
Ultimately, it didn't really matter to Han Li. Regardless of what type of power of laws the eye contained, all that mattered to him was that it was an object that contained the power of laws.
The black and blue eye in front of Han Li dissipated at his behest, and a weary look appeared on his face.
He flipped a hand over to produce a Cloud Crane Herb before devouring to replenish his depleted magic power reserves, then placed the eye back into his storage treasure.
After that, he flipped a hand over to produce another object. This time, it was the human-faced walnut that he had already previously briefly examined with his spiritual sense.
He pursed his lips before beginning to chant an incantation again, and his eyes and the Law Destruction Eye on his glabella each released a burst of light to form that same black and blue eye.
The black and blue ripples enveloped the human-faced walnut, and the threads of spiritual sense also reappeared before seeping into the walnut.
Time slowly passed by, and as Han Li opened his eyes, a faint smile appeared on his face once again.
The black and blue eye vanished in a flash, and his spiritual sense also receded out of the walnut.
He devoured another Cloud Crane Herb, then played with the human-faced walnut in his hand with a hint of elation in his eyes.
It was very feeble, but he was certain that he had sensed a hint of laws of earth imbued within the walnut.
After that, he pulled out a few more human-faced walnuts before examining them one by one, and sure enough, the outcome was the same.
It seemed that he was extremely fortunate, considering these walnuts were things that he had obtained completely by chance in the interrealm gap.
So one of the prerequisites for cultivating as an Earthly Immortal has been fulfilled, but I have to think carefully about which one I should choose between the eye and the walnut.
Han Li exhaled as his eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation.
According to the information that he had received from Luo Feng, the type of law that an Earthly Deity Avatar was going to manifest depended greatly on what type of power of laws was imbued within the materials used to refine the statue.
Furthermore, this type of special Earthly Deity Avatar that he was going to refine was going to have a direct correlation with the type of power of laws imbued within the material used.
However, Han Li quickly shook his head and rid himself of that train of thought.
It was still too early to be pondering this matter. His top priority at the moment was to track down a high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation first.
He carefully stowed the human-faced walnut away, then flipped a hand over to produce another object. This time, it was the white jade badge.
Blue light flashed within his eyes, and through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he could see that the white jade badge was enveloped within a faint layer of blue light.
This layer of blue light struck Han Li with a rather strange feeling, indicating that it was definitely no ordinary restriction.
There were many wavy projections that could be seen within the blue light, and it was imbued with a hint of water-attribute fluctuations. It was clear that Ancestral God Luo Meng was the one who had cast the restriction onto this jade badge, but it seemed that Luo Feng and the others were completely unable to detect it at all.
A hint of curiosity appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he flicked his fingers through the air in quick succession, releasing around a dozen streaks of white light that landed in the surrounding area, revealing themselves to be a series of white array flags.
Dazzling white light radiated from the array flags to form a lotus-flower-shaped white array that was revolving incessantly.
Han Li tossed the white jade badge through the air, and it was instantly caught by the white array, hovering in mid-air above it.
He then made a hand seal before releasing a series of incantation seals, and countless hite runes emerged from the lotus flower array before converging toward the jade badge and surging into it in a frenzy.
The layer of blue light on the jade badge's surface immediately brightened as it attempted to ward off the white runes, but under Han Li's manipulation, the white runes were constantly changing forms and attacking the layer of blue light from different angles, gradually breaking through the restriction before seeping into the jade badge.
The restriction placed on the white jade badge was certainly not an easy one to break through, but thankfully, Han Li was an expert in array and restrictions, and in addition to that, his enormous spiritual sense and Brightsight Spirit Eyes allowed him to identify the weaknesses in the restriction, thereby giving him a significant advantage.
As time slowly passed by, the layer of blue light on the jade badge dimmed further and further, and before long, there was only a thin layer of it left.
Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly sped up in his hand seals, and the white lotus flower array abruptly brightened as countless white runes emerged.
All of the runes converged together to form around a dozen sharp white spikes, which stabbed into the jade badge with vicious force.
Finally, the layer of blue light on the jade badge flashed one last time before disintegrating.
Han Li's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this, yet right as he was about to grab the jade badge, some of the runes on the badge abruptly began to move as if they were living creatures.
Immediately thereafter, scintillating white light erupted from the badge, forming a series of white clouds, from within which bursts of thunderous rumbling were ringing out incessantly.
Han Li was greatly alarmed by this, and he immediately sprang to his feet.
Large white clouds continued to surged out of the jade badge before revolving around it, quickly forming a strange vortex that was several dozen feet in size.
A black hole appeared at the center of the vortex, and initially, it was only around the size of a human fist, but as the vortex continued to revolve, the hole grew larger and larger. After just a few seconds, it had expanded to the size of a millstone, and violent spatial fluctuations were emanating from within it.
The hole was pitch-black and unfathomably deep, making it impossible to see where it led to.
Han Li quickly composed himself as he observed the strange passageway before him, then closed his eyes before releasing his spiritual sense toward it.
However, moments later, he opened his eyes as a wry smile appeared on his face.
There was some type of strange power within the passageway that was keeping out his spiritual sense, preventing him from examining what was inside.
This burst of power certainly wasn't weak, but with his enormous spiritual sense, he would be capable of forcing his way through it if he so pleased. However, at the moment, half of his spiritual sense was dedicated to sealing off his nascent soul from the outside world, so he was unable to dedicate his wholehearted effort to the cause.
After remaining on the spot for a while with a hesitant look on his face, he decided to leap into the black hole.
Within the hole was a passageway that was around 10 feet in size, within which was a vast expanse of white light, while a dark exit as suspended in space up ahead.
Upon emerging from the exit, Han Li was immediately greeted by a fragrant aroma in the air.
He reflexively held his breath as he inspected his surroundings with furrowed brows, upon which he discovered that he was situated in a lush forest that was only around a half a kilometer in size.
The entire surrounding area was enshrouded in a layer of dense mist, and it seemed that this was a small secret area.
After a brief inspection of the area, he discovered that the world's origin qi here wasn't any more abundant than it was in the Black Wind Sea, so it didn't seem to be any cultivation paradise.
Most of the surrounding trees were over 1,000 feet tall with perfectly straight trunks, and only near the tops of the trees did branches emerge to support large green canopies, casting large areas of shade that gave the entire forest a rather dark and dim appearance.
There were very few shrubs growing in the forest, and no animals could be seen, either. Overall, it a forest that certainly wasn't teeming with life.
Through the gaps between the trees, Han Li could see that there was an open area that appeared to be something like a plaza deep in the forest.
He passed through the forest to find that it wasn't a plaza that he had spotted. Instead, it was only a clearing with not a single tree in an area with a radius of around 100 feet.
There was only a large purple flower growing at the center of the clearing. The flower resembled a peony in shape, but it was as large as a lotus flowers. It was entirely purple in color, with leaves that were similar to banana leaves, but it's stamen resembled a chicken's crest, giving it a very peculiar appearance.
This flower was the source of the peculiar aroma that Han Li had caught a whiff of earlier.
Several dozen feet away from the flower was a two-story wooden building that was no more than 30 feet tall. Due to disrepair and lack of maintenance, the window and doorframes had all rotten away, and most of the roof had already collapsed, while slippery moss was growing all over the walls, giving the entire thing a very dilapidated appearance.
To the left of the building's entrance was a gray corpse, which was half propped-up against the wall behind it. Its skeletal hands were extended out in front of it, as if it were reaching for something, and its fingers were pointed right at the large purple flower.
Han Li examined the corpse for a moment, following which his eyes suddenly lit up, and a peculiar look appeared on his face.
He quickly made his way over the body, then crouched down to conduct a closer inspection.
The body's clothes were already rotten and in tatters, resembling patches of mud that were draped all over the corpse's body, and a thick layer of dirt and dust had settled onto the set of remains.
However, even though the dirt and dust, Han Li could see that the bones beneath were still glowing faintly, presenting quite an intriguing sight and indicating that the corpse belonged to a powerful cultivator.
With a gentle sweep of Han Li's hand, a light breeze instantly blew past, removing the clothes and debris on the set of remains to reveal a shimmering white skeleton.
The sound of something falling to the ground then rang out, and as it turned out, several jade slips and a storage ring had slipped out of the corpse's grasp.
Han Li picked up one of the jade slips, then inspected it momentarily before pressing it against his own glabella and injecting his spiritual sense into it.
The jade slip contained nothing more than a short message:
"If a descendant of our Luo Clan has managed to enter this place, do not be alarmed. I am your Ancestral God, Luo Meng, and I have already been in seclusion here for over 9,000 years since my avatar was destroyed.
“I intended to nurture a Soulbirth Flower in order to reforge an Earthly Deity Avatar, but I was attacked by powerful enemies over 3,000 years before the flower is due to reach full maturity. I was able to kill the enemy, but I'm afraid that the injuries I sustained during the battle are too severe to recover from..."
Moments later, Han Li opened his eyes before heaving a faint sigh. As it turned out, Luo Meng had already perished here over 1,000 years ago, and all of the people of his tribe were still completely oblivious.
However, perhaps it was exactly because of this that no news of this managed to spread to the outside world. As a result, even though the Cold Crystal Race and the other opposing forces of Dark Veil Island were already itching to get their hands on a slice of the pie, they still waited until only recently before launching their attacks.
This was already a bright silver lining on what was otherwise a terribly dark cloud.