A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm-Chapter 1392: Freedom

After an indeterminate period of time, as the final ball of golden light slipped out of Han Li's hand, his aura abruptly declined to the peak-Great Encompassment Stage.

"Thank you, Senior Vial Spirit," Han Li exhaled as he removed his hand from the Heaven Controlling Vial.

The vial spirit offered no response.

Right at this moment, the Heaven Controlling Vial suddenly began to tremble violently, and the dark green light within the vial was also flashing erratically.

Han Li hurriedly sprang back in retreat upon seeing this, and a ring of golden light surged out of his body to ward off the surrounding space-time power.

All of a sudden, the Heaven Controlling Vial exploded violently into countless balls of green light, which converged to form a green-haired child that appeared to have been around seven or eight years of age.

It was very difficult to tell the child's gender from their physical features, and they examined their own body momentarily before bursting into laughter.

"Finally! After all these years, I'm finally free from that accursed vial!"

"You must be Senior Vial Spirit, right? Congratulations on escaping the Heaven Controlling Vial," Han Li said in a calm manner, seemingly completely unsurprised by this turn of events.

"Oh? You already knew about this?" the vial spirit asked.

"I had a feeling that you were plotting something during the lengthy periods of silent cultivation that you underwent, and on top of that, I've become extremely sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others after mastering the Spirit Refinement Technique. Even though you're not a living being, I was still able to gather some clues during our communications, so I had a rough idea of your intentions," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"Very impressive," the vial spirit chuckled. "I'm surprised you dared to work with me even after figuring out my plan."

"I knew you were plotting something, but I didn't detect any ill will or animosity from you. On top of that, even though I've regressed back to the Great Encompassment Stage, my understanding of the laws of time hasn't diminished in the slightest, so I'm far from defenseless and vulnerable," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

The vial spirit burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"I should've known not to expect anything less from you, Han Li! While it's true that you've returned to the peak-Great Encompassment Stage, you still have to be careful in your future usage of time law powers.

“On top of that, you can rest assured that I bear no ill will toward you. Instead, I am extremely grateful to you. It was only thanks to your willingness to sacrifice your Dao Ancestor law powers that I was able to escape from the Heaven Controlling Vial."

"There's no need to thank me, this was mutually beneficial for both of us. What are your plans from here onward, Senior?" Han Li asked.

"Now that I've finally been freed from the Heaven Controlling Vial, I'm going to explore the True Immortal Realm, and if possible, I would like to go and take a look beyond the True Immortal Realm," the vial spirit replied in an excited manner.

"Are you referring to the underworld and the Gray Realm?" Han Li asked.

"Your view of the world is too narrow, Fellow Daoist Han. Surely you don't think that the True Immortal, the Gray Realm, the underworld, and the Devil Realm are all that exist of this world," the vial spirit chuckled.

"I know that all of the immortal regions of the True Immortal Realm exist within the primordial land, but I don't know about anything outside of that," Han Li replied.

"The True Immortal Realm, the underworld, and the Gray Realm were all born from the very initial chaotic space, as was the Heaven Controlling Vial. According to the earliest memories stored in the Heaven Controlling Vial, the chaotic space is a boundless place, and it's impossible to know how many realms like the True Immortal Realm it's given rise to.

“How about it, Fellow Daoist Han? Are you interested in exploring this world with me?" the vial spirit proposed.

Han Li's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this, but he then shook his head as he replied, "I admire your lofty aspirations, but I am truly exhausted after this draining ordeal. On top of that, there are still people awaiting my return, so I won't be able to accompany you on this journey."

"I see. That's fine, to each their own," the vial spirit replied with a hint of disappointment in their voice.

"Senior Vial Spirit, how are we supposed to get back without Heaven Controlling Vial?" Han Li asked.

"That's not a concern. I am the vial spirit, so I possess some of the same abilities as the Heaven Controlling Vial. At the very least, I can take you back without any issues. Having said that, I can sense that there's something that you still want to do. Otherwise, you wouldn't have hesitated for so long when choosing whether to relinquish the Heaven Controlling Vial," the vial spirit said.

An image of Yuan Yao surfaced in Han Li's mind upon hearing this, while the vial spirit waited in silence with a knowing smile.

"There is indeed one more thing that I want to do. Would you be able to help me, Senior?" Han Li asked as he extended a bow the vial spirit.

"You humans are so strange. Why the obsession with love and romance? They couldn't matter less in the grand scheme of things. I can help you fulfill your wish, seeing as you've helped me so much, but I won't get involved in your personal affairs," the vial spirit said, cupped their hands together before their chest to conjure up a ball of green light, within which was a translucent little vial that was very similar to the Heaven Controlling Vial in both appearance and aura.

"This is all that remains of the Heaven Controlling Vial's power. You can use it as a temporary Heaven Controlling Vial and do whatever it is that you need to do," the vial spirit said as they tossed the vial to Han Li.

"Thank you, Senior," Han Li said as he caught the vial with an elated expression.

"Given your current mastery over the laws of time, you should be able to find the right point in time to return to. However, you'll have to act fast because there's not enough power in this vial to allow you to linger in the past for long," the vial spirit said.

"I understand. Thank you, Senior," Han Li replied with a nod, then extended another grateful bow.

"Alright, Fellow Daoist Han, this is where we part ways," the vial spirit said as they waved Han Li farewell, then sped away into the distance.

Han Li was about to wave back, but the vial spirit had already vanished out of sight, leaving him to lower his hand in a sheepish manner.

He turned his gaze to the transparent vial in his hand, then pointed a finger at it, and a beam of golden light shot out of his fingertip and into the vial.

A layer of green light surfaced over the vial, and the nearby space-time power instantly began to ripple, as if it were being manipulated by the vial's power.

Han Li closed his eyes as he sensed the nearby time law power fluctuations through the vial, and it was a feeling that was both familiar and alien at the same time.

Moments later, his eyes sprang open, and the green light emanating from the vial enveloped his entire body as he sped deep into the space-time passageway. frёeωebɳovel.com

Han Li was completely unaffected by the surrounding space-time power thanks to the green light around him, and he was flying extremely quickly, while the vial was becoming more and more transparent by the second.

A hint of urgency welled up in Han Li's heart upon seeing this, and after flying for a few minutes, he suddenly drew to an abrupt halt.

"This should be about it," he murmured to himself as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of dark green light that sliced open the space-time passageway.

A burst of blinding, white light erupted out of the rift that had been sliced into the passageway, and he hurled out from within, upon which he found himself situated in the sky above a vast desert.

The nearby space trembled violently before collapsing in the face of Han Li's almighty aura, and he hurriedly channeled his Myriad Acupoint Tranquility Technique to restrain his aura and law powers to the best of his abilities.

Even though his cultivation base had regressed to the peak-Great Encompassment Stage, his control over his own aura and time law powers had improved significantly.

The nearby space didn't collapse any further, but it was still rippling violently like the surface of a disturbed lake.

Han Li had no time to waste, and he immediately released his spiritual sense, upon which a look of urgency and dismay appeared on his face as he exclaimed, "Shoot! This isn't the Spirit Realm!"

Without the vial spirit's help, his control over space-time transmigration was rather lacking.

The problem was that this was a completely unfamiliar realm to him, and he could sense that the power of the translucent vial in his hand was still seeping away.

All of a sudden, Han Li vanished from the spot amid a flash of golden lightning, then reappeared in a massive, fortress-like structure, residing within which were many scaled beings.

The space around Han Li was still rippling violently, causing the entire fortress to sway and quiver.

All of the scaled beings were greatly alarmed by this, and the ones with the most prominent cultivation bases among them immediately pounced at Han Li, but weren't even able to get close to him.

With no time to waste, Han Li drew the most powerful one of the scaled beings into his grasp before searching their soul.

So this is the Yellow Sand Realm. Thankfully, it's not too far away from the Spirit Realm.

A look of relief appeared on Han Li's face as he tossed the scaled being aside, then vanished from the spot amid another flash of golden lightning.

All of the scaled beings were left to exchange flabbergasted looks with one another, wondering if that bizarre sequence had been a hallucination.

The scaled being that had been briefly abducted by Han Li felt as if they had just brushed shoulders with death, and even though they were unharmed, they were still trembling uncontrollably from lingering fear.