Chapter 583: Bottom of the Ravine
Chapter 583: Bottom of the Ravine
The ground within the valley split open as the trees on either side moved back to clear a wide path, allowing the giant tree demon free passage.
There was a perplexed look on the tree demon\'s faces as it rushed through the valley, but it suddenly stopped cold in its tracks as it discovered that the vast funnel of the world\'s origin qi was hovering directly above the ravine that was filled with baleful qi.
A wary look appeared on its face upon seeing this, and after a brief hesitation, it suddenly turned around before rushing back into the valley.
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers deep in the ravine, Han Li was standing in mid-air, glowing as brightly as the sun, and the golden light radiating from his body was keeping all of the surrounding baleful qi over 100 feet away from him.
The radiant golden light formed countless threads that intertwined with one another to create a golden cocoon that enveloped his entire body, and only a faint silhouette was visible through it.
The vast world\'s origin qi that had been funneled into the area came cascading down like an enormous golden waterfall, forming a massive rippling vortex around the golden cocoon.
No light had reached this point in the ravine for countless years, yet the entire area was suddenly illuminated by the radiant golden light, and even though it was unable to completely shine through the dense baleful qi, it was still a stunning sight to behold.
The golden waterfall continued to cascade down for three whole days before finally fading, following which a roar of exaltation suddenly rang out from within the ravine.
A burst of scorching golden light rose up within the giant golden cocoon, and it swept through the cocoon like a sword to slice it into two.
Han Li flew out of the cocoon with golden light flashing in his eyes, then opened his mouth to release a burst of tremendous suction force, drawing all of the golden light in the ravine into his belly, and the golden cocoon also disintegrated into specks of golden light before surging into his mouth.
At the same time, a speck of golden light appeared on his back, and it was flashing incessantly while absorbing the residual world\'s origin qi in the air.
With that, his 84th immortal acupoint had finally been opened!
Just like his previous immortal acupoints, this one also had some hints of black baleful qi within it, and it was actually even more apparent in this particular immortal acupoint.
Han Li swept a hand through the air with a calm expression, and his Mantra Treasured Axis appeared in front of him amid a flash of golden light, then began to revolve on the spot while releasing waves of golden ripples.
At this point, there were over 400 Time Dao Runes on the axis, and all of them lit up in unison. At the same time, there were also now as many as 18 time law threads wrapped around the Mantra Treasured Axis.
Han Li raised a hand to make a beckoning motion, and the 18 time law threads immediately turned as straight as arrows before flying toward him, only to curl around his fingers upon reaching him.
Sensing the energy fluctuations emanating from the time law threads, Han Li murmured to himself, "I didn\'t think that I would attain so many additional time law threads by mastering the fourth level of the Mantra Axis Scripture. Now that the Mantra Treasured Axis has become even more powerful, I\'ll stand a better chance against the Gold Devouring Immortal."
As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept a sleeve through the air to stow the Mantra Treasured Axis away again.
As all of the golden light around him faded, the surrounding baleful qi converged once again to inundate him.
Han Li had absorbed much of the baleful qi in this area, so it wasn\'t as dense as it had originally been, but down below was still a vast expanse of impenetrable darkness, and it seemed that the density of the baleful qi deeper in the ravine hadn\'t changed at all.
Han Li took a deep breath, then sat down with his legs crossed and swallowed a cultivation base consolidation pill before closing his eyes to meditate.
......
Three days and three nights later, Han Li reopened his eyes, then rose to his feet.
There\'s not much time left until the 20 years are up, so it\'s about time that I discussed some strategy with Brother Xie and the others...
With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze upward, yet right as he was about to ascend out of the ravine, a familiar voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Fellow Daoist Han, we\'ve already made it to this point, don\'t you want to go to the bottom of the ravine to see what\'s down there?"
Han Li\'s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, following which he asked with furrowed brows, "Didn\'t I already cut off your perception of the outside world? How do you know where I am right now?"
"Please don\'t misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han, I\'m not to blame for this. It\'s just that the sudden drastic increase of the baleful qi in your body has strengthened my connection to the outside world slightly," Mo Guang hurriedly explained.
"Aren\'t you a Heavenly Devilish Monarch? I never knew that you could make use of baleful qi," Han Li mused as he raised an eyebrow.
"Baleful qi is not something that only humans and demon beasts possess. Instead, it arises within all living beings who have taken the lives of others. On top of that, our Heavenly Devils are even more sensitive to these types of negative energies than humans," Mo Guang explained.
While conversing with Mo Guang, Han Li covertly examined the connection between himself and Mo Guang, and he was relieved to find that there was indeed nothing amiss.
"Why have you suddenly proposed for me to go to the bottom of the ravine, Fellow Daoist Mo Guang? Have you discovered something?"
"Not exactly, I only have a vague feeling that there seems to be something very special down there. This is only a suggestion from me. If you feel like it\'s not worth the trip, then don\'t worry about it," Mo Guang replied.
After a brief silence, Han Li decided, "It can\'t hurt to go down and have a look."
With that, he continued to descend deeper into the ravine.
After descending for several hundred kilometers, the surrounding baleful qi had become so dense that even Han Li was feeling rather uncomfortable, despite his current cultivation base and spiritual sense.
By drawing upon the baleful qi in the ravine to open up his immortal acupoints for such an extended period of time, both his body and soul had undergone some slight changes, allowing him to gradually integrate himself into this environment.
However, the 20-year time limit was fast approaching, and there wasn\'t enough time left to make any further significant progress, so he had decided that he was immediately going to turn back if the baleful qi were to become too dense to bear.
However, right at this moment, an enormous green skeleton suddenly appeared in his field of view.
The skeleton was long and sleek, with a spine that resembled a winding ridge. On either side of the spine were racks of ribs, beneath which the bones of the creature\'s four limbs were still intact. On top of that, the limbs were all standing straight, supporting the skeleton in an upright position, as if it had died standing and remained that way, even in death.
Han Li flew down until he landed beside the skeleton, and by his estimates, he was currently at least 1,000 kilometers away from the entrance of the ravine up above.
He walked around the mountainous skeleton until he was standing directly in front of it, and he discovered that the skull of the skeleton was resting on the ground, while bursts of baleful qi were rising up incessantly out of its massive eye sockets before spreading into the surrounding space.
The head was quite wide up top, but then tapered to a point, and there was a pair of massive front teeth protruding out of front of its long mouth, giving it the appearance of a massive rat.
Han Li immediately recalled the giant green rat that he had seen in the baleful qi illusions earlier, and it occurred to him that this seemed to be the rat\'s carcass.
At the very center of the giant rat\'s glabella was a hole with smooth and even edges that pierced all the way through the back of its head, and it seemed that had been the killing blow.
The skeleton was already completely devoid of spiritual power fluctuations, but as Han Li stood in its presence, he was still struck by a sense of insignificance and inferiority, as if he were standing before a vast mountain.
What was particularly noteworthy about the giant rat were its two front teeth, which were of a slightly darker green color than the rest of its body, and there were bursts of clear law power fluctuations emanating from them.
Han Li was rather curious to see this, and he was just about to take a closer look when he suddenly noticed that the body of a purple-robed man was laying behind the giant rat\'s head.
A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li\'s face upon seeing this.
The body of the man was largely quite well preserved, but it was looking extremely wizened, and its skin was a purplish-green color. On top of that, its clothes were in complete tatters, and there was a layer of black dust-like granular substance all over the entire body.
Han Li skirted around the giant rat\'s head to approach the body, and he was immediately struck by a wave of incredibly fierce baleful qi, causing him to stop in his tracks as his brows became tightly furrowed.
He cast his gaze toward the body\'s face to find that its features didn\'t actually appear very old, and it was only due to its severely sunken cheeks and eyes that it had initially appeared like a wizened elderly man.
Within its sunken eye sockets, the body\'s eyes were still open, and what was particularly harrowing was that its pupils were a completely dull and lifeless gray color.