Han Li stood bathed in radiance, swirling bands of iridescent light coiling around his body, while the farther reaches of his surroundings lay dim and hazy.
Countless white motes, each no larger than a bean, drifted through the air in every direction, floating aimlessly.
Suddenly Han Li formed a series of hand seals. Spiritual light surged ceaselessly across his body, and a luminous whirlwind rose from the ground, enveloping him in a dazzling vortex.
The gale grew fiercer and thicker with each passing moment. The distant white specks were swept in as if drawn by the irresistible call of a flame.
Before long the wind had swelled into a colossal pillar that pierced straight up toward the heavens. Wherever the raging tempest passed, sand and rock were torn from the ground — as though some titanic demon had descended upon the world.
It was then that a chanting voice echoed from within the hurricane.
The pillar of wind shuddered violently, then collapsed of its own accord, dissolving back into ribbons of multicolored light that drifted gently between heaven and earth.
The chant quickened slightly, and the radiance shifted in hue, transforming into a brilliant azure glow.
Immediately afterward, the roar of rushing water thundered from all directions. Boundless emerald waves rolled forth, stretching to the horizon. Crests a hundred zhang tall surged outward one after another, and Han Li was lifted aloft upon a titanic column of water, his hands weaving blue-light hand seals that blazed with such intensity that he resembled a god of the river, impossible to gaze upon directly.
Then Han Li's hand seals shifted once more. His chanting dropped to a deep murmur, and the towering waves vanished in the blink of an eye like illusory phantoms. In their place, layers of crimson flames materialized, and within the inferno a dozen enormous fire wyverns, each dozens of zhang long, rose up — every one raising its head to spit blazing pearls, wreathed in flame…
After the fire came an emerald sea and primeval forests, then a boundless desert, then a realm of ice and snow. One spectacular vista after another materialized and dissolved under Han Li's command. In that moment, he seemed to have become a godlike being, omnipotent and without limit.
Flushed with triumph, Han Li was using his Magical Power to casually condense a primordial giant a thousand zhang tall, making it pound its chest and rear its head in a thunderous roar— Suddenly, silver light flickered at every point along the distant horizon. It gathered and rolled inward, advancing from far to near as a surging silver tide.
In the blink of an eye, blinding silver light blanketed the entire sky.
The giant melted beneath it like a chunk of snow. And when the light washed over Han Li, searing pain lanced through his eyes. He involuntarily pressed both hands to his face and let out a wretched scream.
The entire ground caved in and collapsed within the silver radiance.
Dizziness and vertigo washed over Han Li — then he snapped his eyes open in alarm.
The silver light, the heavenly expanse, every last trace of it — all gone without a trace! He was sitting cross-legged inside a secret chamber, drenched in sweat.
He exhaled deeply and gradually calmed his mind, only then recalling that he was in a hidden room within the Valley of Falling Devils. Just a short while ago, he had swallowed a Fate Creation Pill he had successfully refined. Everything that had just happened was nothing more than an illusory realm brought on by the pill's effects.
Han Li sat blankly on the ground, not rising immediately. He turned over what he had experienced in the vision, his expression shifting between clarity and confusion — half-enlightened, half-bewildered.
He suddenly reached behind him and felt his back. The green robe back there was soaked through.
The corners of his mouth twitched.
This Fate Creation Pill was truly wondrous beyond measure. Even someone with spiritual sense as powerful as his had been instantly overwhelmed the moment he swallowed it, plunging straight into the illusion. And within that vision, he had become an entirely different stranger — experiencing all manner of inconceivable encounters and mastering a host of powerful techniques. Moving mountains and draining seas, summoning wind and calling rain — all had been effortless.
However, when Han Li thought back more carefully, the incantations and cultivation techniques were all maddeningly vague. He could not recall a single word. What he did remember with perfect, vivid clarity were certain insights into and mastery of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth — as though he had experienced them firsthand. Impossibly real. Those insights would indeed be of tremendous help in breaking through to his next level.
Han Li closed his eyes once more, sitting perfectly still.
He remained that way for the better part of a day. When his eyelids finally fluttered open again, his gaze had returned to its usual clarity and calm, and every trace of confusion had vanished from his face.
He rose, shook out his robe sleeves, and raised one hand to send a spell seal at the stone door to one side.
Spiritual light flickered across the door, and it slowly swung open of its own accord. Han Li walked out at an unhurried pace.
The moment he stepped through, a streak of white light shot out from the stone wall to one side and vanished into his sleeve in the blink of an eye.
It was the little fox that Silver Moon had transformed into.
"How many days was I in seclusion? Did anything happen during that time?" Han Li asked casually as he made his way toward the cave entrance at an easy pace.
"Master was in seclusion for two days and two nights. During that time, Miss Zi Ling appeared to have emerged before you. She came by once to check, but when she saw the restrictions at the entrance had not been removed, she left again." Silver Moon replied deferentially, relaying everything in order.