Han Li's gaze lingered on the cloak longer than on anything else.
First, the cloak's design was extraordinarily peculiar—it was composed of two layers. The inner layer was woven from silver thread, while the outer layer was covered with strange, unidentifiable feathers that seemed to fly and cling to its surface. Under the light screen, these feathers shifted and flickered with a dark crimson glow, making the whole thing look deeply unsettling.
Second, a cloak-type treasure was something Han Li had never seen before, and its functions naturally sparked his curiosity.
Based on his guess, this ancient treasure likely possessed extraordinary defensive capabilities or the ability to conceal one's aura. Both were powers that Han Li desperately needed to survive amid the formidable enemies lurking in the inner hall.
Looking at these three ancient treasures, Han Li's face showed signs of hesitation.
He could only take one item—after that, the tower's restriction would teleport him out. He had to make a choice.
In theory, the safest option would be to take the golden mirror.
Han Li was nearly certain its power was far from insignificant, and acquiring it would immediately boost his strength considerably.
The strange five-colored copper rings, on the other hand, might bring him an unexpected surprise. Their set-like nature and five-colored radiance made this ancient treasure seem profoundly mysterious.
As for the cloak, once taken, there was a good chance it could be put to immediate use—it might even save his life in a crisis.
Han Li's eyes darted back and forth among the three items.
Even though he was normally the type to keep his composure, faced with these treasures that were practically within arm's reach, he couldn't help but feel hesitant and torn for a moment.
After a long while, Han Li took a deep breath and his expression calmed.
After only a brief moment of contemplation this time, a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes and an audacious idea appeared in his mind.
This unexpected thought made Han Li's heart pound.
From his understanding of formations and restrictions, a high-level restriction that forcibly teleported someone out of a space offered virtually no clever workaround—unless one located the master control of the restriction or used brute force to shatter the entire space it encompassed. The moment the restriction was triggered, the person was involuntarily whisked away.
Both of these methods were, of course, completely impossible for Han Li.
Finding the master control of this space's restrictions would require a grandmaster-level formation expert to study and search for years on end. He shouldn't even dream of that.
Using brute force to break through was even more out of the question—Han Li would have to have lost his mind to attempt something like that.
So many Nascent Soul old monsters had failed; he, a cultivator who had only recently formed his core, was even more delusional to consider it.
However, among the formation-breaking insights he had obtained, Xin Ruyin—a genius in the art of formations—had proposed in one of the texts a purely theoretical conjecture specifically addressing spatial restrictions that could temporarily render them ineffective for a brief moment.
Though it was only a split second, that tiny window of time would be enough for Han Li to snatch one more ancient treasure.
But achieving this required the cultivator to completely sever their own spiritual power from all the energy of the space for that instant, with not a shred of connection remaining.
After writing this hypothesis in the text, Xin Ruyin had even added a self-deprecating note—likely not even a Nascent Soul cultivator possessed such an ability, and this was nothing more than a fleeting fantasy. Any cultivator with such tremendous power could simply rely on their own strength to forcibly break the restrictions and wouldn't need to go through such trouble.
After all, the cultivators of this realm could at most employ sufficiently advanced concealment techniques to avoid detection—how could they truly sever their connection with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?
But when Han Li had read this passage in his cave dwelling, he immediately thought of the Gold Devouring Beetles' monstrous ability to consume the energy of heaven and earth, and on a whim had conducted a small experiment. To his surprise, when he activated the Gold Devouring Beetles, he actually succeeded for that brief instant. Han Li had written this off as a momentary curiosity and hadn't thought much of it afterward.
But now, recalling this event, his heart began to burn with excitement.
After meditating on it carefully for a moment, Han Li felt there was a real chance of success. Even if it failed, he would only end up taking a single ancient treasure—no real loss.
With that decided, Han Li no longer hesitated. He waved both hands, sending out all his spirit beast pouches, and tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed out with a droning hum, forming a massive insect cloud that circled around him.
Han Li ignored the beetles and instead re-examined the distance and positions of the three ancient treasures. After a quick mental calculation, he drifted lightly toward the dark crimson cloak. The insect cloud followed without missing a beat.
When he was about ten feet from the cloak, Han Li felt the ambient spiritual energy shift slightly. He immediately halted, his expression growing solemn.
Without warning, Han Li formed a series of hand seals and a clear, piercing sound rang from his mouth.
The Gold Devouring Beetles that had been circling him stirred in agitation, then immediately shot toward him like arrows. In the blink of an eye, they crawled over his entire body, layer upon dense layer, completely covering him in a coat of shimmering gold and silver.
But from within the mound of insects, Han Li's chanting did not cease—if anything, it grew sharper and more piercing.
Before long, the flying beetles covering his body began emitting the same low hum, gradually harmonizing with Han Li's voice.