Han Li's heart stirred, and he raised his head to glance at the golden halo above him, noticing that the time glyphs upon it were nearly completely extinguished.

"Come back, we're leaving," Han Li said, turning his head to look at the Essence Flame Firebird.

The silver flame figure seemed to nod, somewhat bewildered, and then, with a sway, disappeared into Han Li's body.

Han Li closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, quietly adjusting himself for a moment. The last wisp of time glyphs finally flickered and died out.

Immediately afterward, the golden halo above him suddenly expanded several times, its interior swirling with dark light, revealing a deep, black vortex from which emanated waves of tearing force.

Han Li felt his body lighten, and he was pulled into the vortex by a great force.

A moment later, inside a room in the Long Pavilion Garden of the Third Prince's residence, a golden light suddenly flared, and a figure emerged from it. It was Han Li.

After steadying himself, he scanned the familiar furnishings of the room and the spell formations he had placed, finally exhaling a long breath and relaxing slightly.

The aftershocks of the tremors within his sea of consciousness had not subsided, and he still felt quite pained, but the absence of the invisible restraints and confinement of that world made him feel much more comfortable.

At this moment, the light of the crystal wall in front of him was dissipating and gradually fading away, and the emerald green vial was also dimming, slowly returning to its original state.

Han Li raised his hand and summoned the emerald green vial, which floated gently down and returned to his hand.

He frowned slightly, gently stroking the leaf patterns on the vial with his palm, his mind attempting to communicate with the vial spirit.

Earlier, during the translocation, he clearly remembered hearing someone speaking in his mind again, believing that it was likely the voice of the Heaven Piercing Vial's spirit.

Unfortunately, after some attempts, there was no vocal response.

After a while, he re-hung the Heaven Piercing Vial around his neck, carefully placing it back inside his clothing.

Han Li's raised hand brushed against his collar, and his entire arm paused slightly. He looked down and suddenly noticed that a golden ring had appeared on the ring finger of his right hand at some point. It appeared to be made of pure gold, and although it had no patterns on it, it looked round and full, unlike ordinary objects.

As he endured the tide-like stabbing pain in his sea of consciousness and carefully examined the ring, he found that it had no fluctuations at all, just like an ordinary ring.

He tried to take the golden ring off, but found that it seemed to be fused with his body and could not be removed.

After several attempts, Han Li felt that his finger was about to be torn off, but the golden ring remained as stable as Mount Tai.

Seeing this, he had no choice but to give up, as it seemed that there was nothing unusual about it for now.

Han Li sat still and adjusted his breathing for a moment, then silently activated the Great Five Elements Illusory World Spell. Wisps of golden light lit up around him, and the Mantra Treasure Wheel and Time Purification Bottle appeared one after another. However, the time glyphs on them were completely extinguished, and the fluctuations of time law emanating from them seemed much weaker.

But at this moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

The golden ring suddenly emitted golden rays of light, actively detaching itself from his finger and flying in front of him, suspended in mid-air.

It began to grow rapidly, its light becoming brighter and brighter, turning into a huge golden halo, becoming faintly visible and somewhat transparent.

Han Li was stunned at first, then his gaze shifted. Through the golden halo, he saw light flowing within, seemingly dozens of golden crystal threads constantly spinning inside, from which emanated waves of powerful time law.

The golden ring was actually the Time Ring formed by the Time Crystal Threads.

After the Time Ring flew out, the manifested objects of the time law, such as the Mantra Treasure Wheel, flew up and landed inside the Time Ring, their surfaces lighting up with large swaths of golden light.

At the same time, Han Li felt the emerald green vial on his chest flickering, somewhat restless, as if wanting to fly out.

Han Li was startled. He had just returned, was he going to translocate again?

However, the Heaven Piercing Vial only trembled a few times in his arms before its light faded and it stopped on its own.

After hovering in mid-air for a moment, the Time Ring transformed back into a golden ring and flew back onto his finger.

"Could it be because there are no time glyphs?" Han Li murmured to himself, stroking the ring with a puzzled expression.

He had no answer for the time being, so he stopped thinking about it. With a wave of his hand, the Mantra Treasure Wheel and other objects flew back and disappeared into his body.

Then, he took out a pill to restore his spirit and swallowed it, closing his eyes to adjust his breathing.

As for the Violet Sun Warm Jade, although he had obtained a lot from the First Prince, Ti Hun still needed it to maintain her condition, so he would leave it all for her.

……

In the Luoqie District, a vast garden estate was dotted with exquisitely luxurious buildings.

Inside a magnificent, spire-topped hall, a handsome young man with snow-white hair and deep purple eyes sat high on a golden chair covered with snow-white beast hide.

In the hall below, a tall man wearing black magic armor with distinct facial features bowed and saluted him, reporting something.

"Du Yuan, is this news true?" The young man frowned upon hearing his words and asked.

"Your Highness, the source of the information is reliable. I am willing to guarantee it with my life," said the tall demon man named Du Yuan.

"I never thought that after searching so hard for so long, it would be in that godforsaken place. But thinking about it, it's not surprising. If it were in any other place, it wouldn't have taken me so long to find it," the young man said slowly, tapping the back of the chair with his finger.

"I have returned this time to report, hoping that Your Highness can mobilize more manpower to go with me and retrieve this item," Du Yuan said firmly, cupping his fist.

"You've done a great job finding out the news. I have other plans for this matter," the young man said with a pensive look.

"Your Highness, forgive my boldness, are you planning to handle this matter yourself? The situation there is unclear, and Your Highness's precious body..." Du Yuan hesitated for a moment and asked.

"This matter concerns my path of cultivation, determining whether I can take the lead and enter the Great Luo realm first, so I must be cautious. All other matters can be put aside for now, with this matter taking precedence," the young man said, waving his hand to interrupt Du Yuan.

"Yes, Your Highness," Du Yuan said, cupping his fist.

……

Time passed, and several years went by.

Inside a secret chamber, Han Li was making hand seals and meditating with his eyes closed.

Around him, the Mantra Treasure Wheel and other objects were suspended, the time glyphs on them having recovered by a small half.

Compared to the past, the recovery speed seemed to be a bit faster.

The golden ring was still quietly on his hand, looking like a worldly object.

After this period of seclusion, he had repaired all the damage to his spirit and made progress in the cultivation of the Great Five Elements Illusory World Spell. He had also become more proficient in controlling the Time Ring.

Now he could control it to avoid simultaneously activating the Time Ring when urging the Great Five Elements Illusory World Spell.

Because if he did, it would cause the Heaven Piercing Vial to act strangely, thus bringing his body into that strange River of Time.

Just then, Han Li's expression shifted, and he got up and walked out of the secret chamber to the outer hall.

A ball of white light was flying around the hall like a fly, making a buzzing sound.

He waved his hand and grabbed the white light, which turned out to be a message talisman. After crushing it, a message was transmitted to his mind.

Han Li's eyebrows rose slightly, and he stepped out, coming outside the Long Pavilion Garden.

A white-haired figure stood here with his hands behind his back. It was Shi Chuan Kong. Seeing Han Li, he walked over with a smile:

"Fellow Daoist Li, you really are diligent in your cultivation. I admire you."

"Fellow Daoist Shi is joking, please come in," Han Li said with a smile, inviting Shi Chuan Kong in.

Han Li invited Shi Chuan Kong into the living room and sat down at a round stone table, asking:

"Fellow Daoist Shi, you didn't go to take over the Heavenly Rainbow Domain, why did you think of coming here?"

"I've never managed a territory before, and I didn't realize there were so many things to do. The handover of various aspects alone has made me overwhelmed. My brothers are also causing trouble in secret, so I'm afraid I won't be able to take over the Heavenly Rainbow Domain for a while. But enough about that, I've come here today with two pieces of news to tell Fellow Daoist Li," Shi Chuan Kong shook his head, then took a breath and said solemnly.

"What news?" Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he put down his teacup.

"One is about the Scaled Sky Realm that you asked me to find," Shi Chuan Kong said with a smile, taking a sip of spiritual tea.

"There's a lead?" Han Li's heart stirred.

"Sort of. I've never heard of this place before. I asked my third brother and searched through many documents before I found this place. It's located in a remote part of the Holy Region, and like the Night Sun Realm, it's another space realm, and a desperate one," Shi Chuan Kong said after thinking for a moment.

"A desperate place?" Han Li's expression was slightly surprised.

"There is no spiritual energy or magical energy in the Scaled Sky Realm... The specific situation inside is no longer verifiable, but in short, it's a special place. Many years ago, it used to be a place of exile for criminals, but it has long been abandoned and hasn't been used for hundreds of thousands of years," Shi Chuan Kong continued.

"Where is that place? Did you find out?" Han Li nodded thoughtfully and asked.

"I knew you would ask that. Are you not at ease with my work?" Shi Chuan Kong chuckled and took out a map jade slip, handing it over.

Han Li's spiritual sense entered it, and his eyebrows rose slightly. Soon, he withdrew his spiritual sense.

"Fellow Daoist Li, although I don't know why you're looking for the Scaled Sky Realm, it's a dangerous place. You shouldn't go there," Shi Chuan Kong said solemnly.

"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Shi. By the way, what's the other piece of news?" Han Li smiled, not wanting to talk more about this matter, and changed the subject.