Linghuan Realm, atop a massive snow mountain exceeding ten thousand zhang in height.

A layer of exceptionally thick, lead-black clouds accumulated in the sky, from which came rolling, muffled thunder. Streaks of dark blue lightning flashed intermittently deep within the clouds.

Beneath them, the wind howled, whipping up a frenzy of white snowflakes, obscuring almost the entire mountain peak in a hazy expanse.

Yet, a hundred li away from this mountain peak, the moon and stars shone brightly in serene tranquility, forming a stark contrast to the scene.

The pointed summit of the snow mountain had, at some point, been sheared off by immense magical power, transforming it into a massive platform spanning a hundred zhang.

Upon the platform, dozens of black stone pillars, each ten zhang tall, stood seemingly haphazardly, yet concealed profound mysteries, forming a massive circular formation with inner and outer rings.

Etched into the ground within the formation were complex and intricate spirit patterns, while the tops of the surrounding stone pillars were inlaid with spirit stones of extremely pure spiritual power.

At this moment, a tall and upright figure, braving the swirling snow and wind, sat cross-legged in the center of the formation.

He wore a simple, thin, azure robe. His unremarkable face was sharply angular, and his star-like eyes were bright and deep, radiating a captivating brilliance. This was Han Li.

He gently closed his eyes, his hands rapidly forming incantations before him, and he softly chanted an obscure spell. The Little Big Dipper Stellar Essence Art within his body swiftly began to circulate.

In an instant, the peak shone brightly.

Countless silver-white starlight pierced through the clouds directly from the sky, transforming into seven immensely thick pillars of silver-white light, enveloping the entire mountain peak.

The snowflakes, originally swirling wildly in the wind, melted instantly upon entering the silver light, transforming into a mist that vanished.

Han Li raised his hands above his head, still forming incantations, as if reaching toward the heavens. Immediately, a dark light flashed at his waist, and the seven Starmoon Treasure Mirrors flew out directly, each entering a pillar of light, radiating brilliant light.

At the same time, a strange vortex suddenly appeared above Han Li’s head, drawing the seven mirrors toward it.

As the vortex grew larger and the attractive force emanating from it increased, all seven mirrors involuntarily converged toward the center.

Even the seven massive pillars of light were drawn by this force, tilting and converging toward the center.

With a muffled “boom,” like thunder rolling past,

the seven silver pillars of light finally converged, merging into a single massive pillar over a hundred zhang thick, obscuring the entire mountain peak and connecting heaven and earth.

At this moment, the Big Dipper stars deep in the sky shone brightly, undergoing astonishing changes.

Starting with Tian Shu Star, the seven stars, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, etc., sequentially lit up with silver-purple light, one after another, flashing continuously.

After several cycles, the Big Dipper stars shifted positions, transforming from their original dipper shape into a straight line, then linking end to end, forming a circle.

Immediately afterward, an immensely thick silver-purple beam of light surged from the circle, as if spanning hundreds of millions of li, piercing through the endless night sky, directly illuminating Han Li.

With a “whoosh,”

Han Li’s clothing instantly turned to ash the moment the silver-purple light landed on him.

His skin immediately reflected silver light, becoming incredibly translucent.

Through his skin, one could even see that his muscles and bones were changing. Originally covered only with a faint silver sheen, they now appeared as if coated in molten silver.

A loud buzzing sound filled the snow peak.

Countless silver light motes replaced the original snowflakes, fluttering down and transforming into a massive spherical light curtain, enveloping the entire mountain peak, from which radiated terrifying spiritual power fluctuations.

As these fluctuations intensified, the entire mountain peak began to shake violently, along with the entire surrounding mountain range, becoming extremely unstable.

Within a thousand li, the earth trembled continuously, and in many places, long, winding fissures opened up, some even causing riverbeds to shift, altering the course of rivers.

In the dense primeval forests nearby, billowing clouds of yellow dust rose everywhere, and countless wild beasts stampeded wildly through the trees, emitting cries of anguish.

Above the forests, dense flocks of birds and beasts flapped their wings, vying to escape the woods, obscuring large swathes of the sky in darkness.

“Rumble…”

Hundreds of li away, a tall volcano that had been dormant for over ten thousand years erupted once more under the continuous influence of this tremor.

Large quantities of dark red magma, enveloped in thick black smoke, spewed forth from the crater, reaching thousands of zhang into the air.

Countless red-hot burning rocks were first hurled high into the sky, then quickly fell like fiery meteors, leaving long tails in the night sky, piercing through layers of volcanic ash, and crashing into the forests.

Large swaths of forest immediately burst into roaring flames, illuminating half the night sky in fiery red amidst billowing smoke.

Throughout the mountain range, more than a dozen streams of light shot out from different locations, all hovering in the high sky hundreds of li away from the silver light sphere.

Among these people were handsome young masters, graceful middle-aged women, and mostly wizened old men, mostly alone, with few gatherings of three or five.

They were all rogue cultivators lurking in this mountain range, with varying strengths, the weakest being in the late Core Formation stage, and the strongest only in the mid-Refining Void stage.

Besides them, there were also some people with peculiar appearances, some with vertical horns on their heads, some with colorful patterns on their bodies, some covered in fur, and some simply with the heads of ferocious beasts, clearly demon cultivators.

However, whether human or demon cultivators, all looked toward the top of the snow mountain with shock and doubt, but none dared to approach and investigate.

"With such power, could it be that a Great Ascension cultivator is about to undergo tribulation and ascend?" A white-robed youth gazed at the various anomalies above the snow mountain and wondered.

Another thin old man who came with him shook his head and said,

"I don't think so. There's no sign of tribulation lightning at all. It's more like someone is cultivating an extremely profound art, about to achieve great success, which has triggered such天地异象."

"Cultivating an art? How is that possible..."

The white-robed youth gasped. He couldn't believe that cultivating an art alone could trigger such a wide range of 天地异象.

Just then, a deafening roar came from the peak, and an extremely powerful shock wave swept out in a circular fashion, centered on the snow mountain, in all directions.

Seeing this, everyone hundreds of li away transformed into streams of light and flew backward. One demon cultivator with shallow cultivation was overtaken by the shock wave before he could retreat far enough, and was immediately struck, spurting blood and suffering severe damage, nearly perishing.

After retreating another hundred li, everyone stopped, looking back with lingering fear.

The spherical light curtain covering the entire snow mountain had doubled in size, enveloping an even larger area, and the entire snow mountain had become blurred, with only a vague outline visible.

……

At the same time.

On Nine Palace Peak of Jingyuan Sect, Daoist He Shan, who was as fat as a mountain of flesh, stood on Gathering Star Terrace, gazing at the Big Dipper stars in the night sky undergoing strange changes, his expression complex and difficult to read.

Earlier, under Han Li's pressure, he was forced to destroy the communication formation within the sect that connected to the Immortal World, completely betraying True Immortal Jing Ming.

Now that this man seems about to depart, how to deal with the old ancestor in the Immortal World pursuing the matter later is something that needs careful consideration.

In addition, the Cold Flame Sect has developed rapidly in recent years, absorbing many small and medium-sized forces in secret, showing a tendency to share the limelight with the Jingyuan Sect. Once Han Li leaves, this Linghuan Realm is likely to become uneasy again...

Thinking of this, Daoist He Shan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

……

Coincidentally, on the square atop Holy Flame Peak of the Cold Flame Sect.

Si Ma Jingming, dressed in a purple robe, was also leaning on a white jade railing, looking up at the night sky, his face showing a similarly complex expression.

After a long while, he let out a long breath, as if relieved of a burden, and said,

"Senior Han, you're finally leaving..."

Although the Cold Flame Sect had greatly increased in strength after absorbing the Heavenly Ghost Sect, Han Li's existence had always been like an invisible mountain, weighing on his mind.

Although the Cold Flame Sect and Han Li had not fallen out, but instead had a fairly harmonious relationship, having someone who could destroy a sect at will was like having a talisman next to him that could explode at any time, and no one would feel relaxed.

……

At this moment, in a secluded cave on Chuyun Peak.

Gu Yunyue, dressed in white, was sitting opposite Yu Menghan, dressed in palace attire, at a stone table in the courtyard patio.

The latter was holding her small face, gazing at the Big Dipper stars in the night sky that had transformed into a circle, and the strange silver-purple beam of light, her eyes somewhat dazed.

"This Elder Han is treating you quite unusually, not only leaving this cave to you, but also leaving so many magical treasures and elixirs. The total value of these resources is no less than that of a small sect, enough to last you until the Transformation God stage." Gu Yunyue looked at her like this, revealing a gentle smile, and said teasingly.

Yu Menghan was stunned when she heard this, and then she suddenly came back to her senses, saying,

"Elder Han probably remembers that I brought him and Little Yue'er to the mansion back then, so he treats me so well. In fact, that bit of kindness has long been repaid, but on the contrary... I owe Elder Han more."

Gu Yunyue smiled upon hearing this, shook her head, and said nothing.

The two masters and disciples then said no more, and the small courtyard became silent.

……

Meanwhile, in a cave halfway up Chuyun Peak.

An elderly Daoist wearing a lotus crown and draped in a gray and white Daoist robe was sitting cross-legged in a secret room. This was Daoist Bai Shi.

In front of him was a blue ancient book with yellowing pages, on which were written five ancient and clumsy characters: "Profound Water Refining Nether Records."

This ancient book was a superior ghost path art of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, and an important secret that would never be passed on, so when Han Li suddenly appeared and gave it to him casually, he almost couldn't believe it.

On the day he obtained it, he began to study it diligently, and now he had cultivated to the second level. The bottleneck of the early Core Formation stage, which he had been stuck in for many years, finally showed a glimmer of loosening.

This made him pleasantly surprised, and at the same time, he felt a bit fortunate that he had the fortune to briefly follow Han Li back then.