Crab Daoren walked along the overgrown path and stopped abruptly beside a strange rock shaped like a hunchbacked old ape, pointing at it and saying, "Fellow Daoist Han, why don't you take a look and see what this is?"

Han Li frowned slightly, strode forward, wiped the strange rock with his hand, and examined it carefully for a moment.

"Could this be... a Petrified Wasteland Stone?" He frowned even more tightly, speaking with some uncertainty.

"Indeed, it is this item." Crab Daoren nodded.

"No wonder I couldn't detect any formation fluctuations here when I used my divine sense to investigate. It turns out it was all concealed by this Petrified Wasteland Stone. I just didn't expect the effect of this thing in concealing formation auras to be so powerful?" Han Li said thoughtfully.

"If it were just these Petrified Wasteland Stones, it would certainly not be enough to make even Fellow Daoist Han unable to detect it." Crab Daoren glanced at Han Li and said.

"Could there be some other means?" Han Li's eyes flashed slightly as he asked.

Crab Daoren didn't speak, leading Han Li further into the depths of the dense forest, until the two of them finally arrived at a relatively open clearing in the forest.

Han Li walked in and saw that the clearing was scorched black. The originally growing low shrubs had been burned to ashes by flames, and a millstone-sized circular stone platform was exposed on the ground.

The surface of the stone platform was also scorched black by flames. The rune patterns originally engraved on it had become blurred and difficult to recognize.

Han Li waved his sleeve, and a gust of clear wind swept through, rolling up the ashes and dust on the stone platform and sweeping them away to the side, revealing the entire stone platform's full appearance.

"What is this thing?" Han Li leaned over to take a look, and his brows couldn't help but knit together.

He saw that on the stone platform were engraved nine strange rune patterns shaped like flower petals, pieced together to resemble a huge Dream Cloud Flower, and within the texture of the petals were still hidden many complex and secretive special runes.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is a very profound Dream Concealment Rune, capable of concealing the aura fluctuations of many magical treasures and formations. When used in conjunction with Petrified Wasteland Stones, it will almost never be detected by divine sense." Crab Daoren explained.

"Since Fellow Daoist Crab knows the origin of this rune, you must have a method to crack it?" Han Li asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please look at the center of this Cloud Flower pattern..." Facing Han Li's question, Crab Daoren replied noncommittally.

Han Li shifted his gaze, only to see that it was a blank space, with nothing at all. His brow couldn't help but furrow slightly, and he looked at Crab Daoren in puzzlement.

"That place was originally where the Cloud Flower pistil was located, but for some reason it was completely destroyed and can no longer be identified." Crab Daoren said slowly.

Hearing this, Han Li observed again carefully, and only then did he discover that there were indeed traces of artificial destruction there.

"Since you have already identified the origin of this rune, even if it is damaged, it should not be a major problem. We only need to follow the law to crack it. Could it be that there is something strange about this rune?" Han Li pondered slightly and said.

"Has Fellow Daoist Han ever heard of the 'Three Thousand Grand Dreams' technique? The reason why this rune is called Dream Concealment is because it has a rich variety and is extremely changeable. If there is even one rune change in this blank space or in the纹路, the cracking method of the entire formation will be completely different. Even if I have memories about it, I don't know all the cracking methods. Even if I wanted to try them one by one, I wouldn't be able to do it." Crab Daoren shook his head and said.

"If that's the case, then we can only use force to break the formation and destroy it completely." Han Li pondered for a moment and said.

"This... Fellow Daoist Han, why don't you give it a try." Crab Daoren's eyes flashed slightly as he said.

Seeing that his expression was a bit strange, Han Li knew that it definitely wasn't that simple, but his mind still turned, and a golden light flashed around him, directly transforming into a mountain giant ape that was ten or so feet tall.

The Xuan Apertures on his body lit up, he let out a low roar, raised his arm, clenched a huge fist, and smashed it heavily onto the stone platform.

There was only a loud "boom"!

The entire stone platform shook violently, and golden arcs surged up, turning into a hurricane that swept in all directions.

Where it passed, sand and rocks flew, trees collapsed, and after spreading out for hundreds of feet, the momentum gradually subsided.

At the same time, the Dream Concealment Runes on the stone platform also suddenly lit up with a golden light, and golden纹路 like vines spread out along the surroundings of the stone platform, extending into the depths of the dense forest like a spider web.

Han Li, who had transformed into a giant ape at this moment, naturally had a wide field of vision and could see far away. He noticed that golden纹路 were lighting up in the entire city outside the garden. The vine-like纹路 actually covered the entire secret realm, looking dazzling and unique.

"According to my estimation, to break this restriction with external force, you need at least the strength of a Golden Immortal Realm. Even my full-strength strike cannot do it." Crab Daoren pondered slightly and said.

"Even if we could do it, I'm afraid we can't do it like this. This rune is connected to the entire secret realm space. Once it is destroyed by force, I'm afraid it will implicate the entire secret realm and collapse. What will happen then, none of us can predict." Han Li's body flashed with light, his body shrunk back, and he returned to his original state.

"That's right." Crab Daoren nodded.

Han Li frowned and walked around the stone platform. Seeing that the golden light had dissipated, his heart suddenly moved.

He pinched his hands in a hand seal, and golden light immediately spurted out from behind him, and the Mantra Treasure Wheel emerged.

His gaze shifted, and the huge golden eyeball on the Mantra Treasure Wheel also slowly turned, shining a golden light, like a substance, onto the stone platform.

As the golden light fell, the entire stone platform flashed with light, and the layer of scorched black marks on the surface dissipated, becoming clean as new.

The blank space in the center also lit up with a hazy light, and strands of纹路 gradually emerged, shaped like pistils, extremely complex.

Just as Han Li was about to examine it carefully, the light and shadow in the blank space quickly trembled, becoming very unstable.

After watching for a while, Han Li only felt dizzy and his mind blurred. Startled, he had no choice but to take back the Mantra Treasure Wheel into his body.

"How is it?" Crab Daoren asked.

"This space is really strange. Although many ordinary things contain the power of the Law of Time, they are all extremely weak. Every time I use the Eye of Truth to investigate, the result is a blur, completely useless. This stone platform is no exception." Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Your Mantra Treasure Wheel is not in its peak state. Perhaps after its power is fully restored, you will be able to see the full appearance of this Dream Concealment Rune..." Hearing this, Crab Daoren pondered for a moment and said.

"What you said, I had already thought of before. It's just that it will take too much time. After all, the opening time of the Underworld-Cold Immortal Mansion secret realm is limited. Once the exit to the Northern Cold Immortal Territory is closed, I don't know what year and month it will open next time?" Han Li pondered and said.

What he was currently worried about was how to get out of this predicament. Of course, once he found a way to leave, he wouldn't mind staying here for a while longer. After all, he didn't know what had happened outside in the past few days since he came in. But he thought that Qu Ling wouldn't waste a lot of time guarding him here for nothing.

"With your immortal body and almost infinite lifespan, why worry about time? The concentration of local origin Qi here is no less than other places in the Northern Cold Immortal Territory. You can cultivate here with peace of mind and wait for the secret realm to open next time." Crab Daoren suddenly said.

Hearing what Crab Daoren said, Han Li's eyes flashed and he fell into deep thought.

Having provoked such a behemoth as the Northern Cold Immortal Palace before, his situation was already not good. Now that he was being targeted by Qu Ling, and with that creepy Feng Du, he could be said to be in great danger in the Northern Cold Immortal Territory.

In comparison, staying in this secret realm was actually safer.

"That's true, but once this Underworld-Cold Immortal Mansion is closed, no one can predict what changes will occur in the secret realm. Once the environment deteriorates, the situation may be worse than facing Qu Ling..." Han Li still said with some worry after thinking again and again.

What he didn't say was that if he was really trapped in this secret realm for hundreds of thousands of years, although he might not have any problems, the changes in the outside world would probably be earth-shattering. Jin Tong was now under the threat of this woman Qu Ling, and his fate was uncertain. Moreover, he still had many people he couldn't let go of.

"In any case, there is no way to leave here right now. Fellow Daoist might as well try to restore the treasure wheel's magical power. Perhaps it won't take too long to see the Dream Concealment Rune clearly." Crab Daoren nodded and said.

"Right now, we can only do this first." Han Li nodded.

……

Time flew by, and several more days passed.

In the center of this ruined city, a huge square with a width of several hundred feet suddenly appeared.

The central core area was paved with white stone slabs, while the outer area was covered with newly turned red-brown soil, mixed with many gravel, tiles, and fragments of window frames and doors, obviously just leveled.

On the square, there were deep ravines, connected to each other, forming a huge formation with extremely complex纹路.

This formation was called the "Grand Stellar Convergence Formation," appended to the end of the second half of the Grand Stellar Origin Art. It was the orthodox formation to assist in the cultivation of this technique, far from being comparable to the "Stellar Convergence Formation" of that year. Even the series of star formations that Han Li himself later improved were still inferior to it.

The Grand Stellar Convergence Formation had eighty-one star positions, evenly distributed around the formation, in which each could be inlaid with a star stone to help the cultivator absorb the power of the stars more quickly.

Han Li estimated that if he had used this formation to cultivate from the beginning, the time it would take for his Grand Stellar Origin Art to progress would be reduced by at least half. But similarly, there would need to be a sufficient amount of star stones, and the pain endured during cultivation would be at least twice as much as before.