Han Li’s gaze lingered longest on this cloak.
For one, its design was extraordinarily peculiar, composed of two layers: an inner lining woven from silver threads, and an outer layer covered in strange, unidentifiable feathers. Under the light barrier, these feathers shimmered with a dark crimson glow, appearing utterly eerie.
For another, this was the first time Han Li had encountered a cloak-type magic treasure, and he was intensely curious about its function. Based on his speculation, this ancient treasure likely possessed remarkable defensive capabilities or the ability to conceal one’s aura—both abilities he desperately needed to survive in the Inner Hall, where powerful enemies lurked everywhere.
As he studied these three ancient treasures, hesitation flickered across Han Li’s face. He could only take one of them; the moment he did, the restrictions within the pavilion would teleport him away. He had to make a choice.
Logically speaking, taking the golden mirror was the safest bet. Han Li was almost certain its power was formidable, and acquiring it would instantly boost his strength. The peculiar five-colored bronze rings, on the other hand, might bring an unexpected surprise—their set nature and five-colored radiance made this ancient treasure seem incredibly mysterious. As for the cloak, taking it promised immediate utility, potentially even saving his life in a crisis.
Han Li’s eyes shifted back and forth among these three items.
Even though he was usually expressionless, faced with such invaluable treasures within reach, he couldn’t help but feel hesitant and conflicted. After a long moment, he took a deep breath and calmed himself.
This time, after only a brief contemplation, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind. The sudden emergence of this idea made his heart race.
Based on his understanding of formations and restrictions, high-level restrictions that forcibly teleported people out of a space had almost no workarounds unless one found the restriction’s core or used brute force to destroy the entire restricted space. Touching the pre-set restriction would instantly trigger the teleportation.
Both methods were impossible for Han Li. Finding the core of this space’s restriction would require a master-level formation expert to study and search for years—utterly out of the question.
Using brute force to break it? Only if Han Li had lost his mind would he attempt such a thing. Not even Nascent Soul-stage old monsters had succeeded, let alone a newly formed Golden Core cultivator like himself.
However, in the formation-breaking insights he had acquired, Xin Ruyin, a genius in the art of formations, had once proposed a theoretical conjecture in a ancient text regarding spatial restrictions—a method to temporarily render spatial restrictions ineffective for a brief moment. Though it would only last an instant, that sliver of time would be enough for Han Li to grab one more ancient treasure.
But to achieve this, the cultivator had to completely sever all connections between their spiritual energy and the energy of the space, leaving not a single thread of connection.
After proposing this hypothesis, Xin Ruyin had self-mockingly written that even Nascent Soul-stage cultivators likely lacked such abilities, and it was merely a flight of fancy. A cultivator with such great power could simply rely on their own strength to break the restriction—why bother with such trouble?
After all, cultivators in this realm could, at most, use highly advanced concealment techniques to avoid detection; truly severing all connection to the world’s spiritual energy was impossible.
But when Han Li read this passage in the cave abode, he immediately thought of the Gold Devouring Beetles’ freakish ability to devour heaven and earth’s energy. On a whim, he conducted a small experiment and, by mobilizing the beetles, actually succeeded for that brief moment. At the time, Han Li had treated it as a playful experiment and didn’t pay it much mind afterward. But now, recalling it, his heart burned with excitement.
After concentrating and pondering for a moment, Han Li felt there was real hope for success. Even if it failed, he would only end up taking one ancient treasure—no real loss.
With that thought, Han Li hesitated no longer. With a wave of both hands, he summoned all his spirit beast pouches. Tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles flew out with a buzzing hum, forming a massive cloud of insects that swirled around him.
Ignoring the beetles, Han Li turned his attention to the distances and positions of the three ancient treasures. After mentally calculating, he drifted lightly toward the dark red cloak, the insect cloud following closely behind.
When he was about ten feet away from the cloak, Han Li sensed a change in the surrounding spiritual energy and hurriedly halted, his expression turning grave.
Suddenly, Han Li formed hand seals and let out a series of clear chirps. The Gold Devouring Beetles surrounding him immediately grew restless but then shot toward him like arrows, quickly covering his entire body layer upon layer, dyeing him in gold and silver.
Yet, from within the mass of insects, Han Li’s chirps didn’t cease; instead, they grew sharper and more intense.
Before long, the beetles on his body began emitting identical low hums, gradually harmonizing with Han Li’s sounds. The insect hum grew louder and louder, the beetles opening their mouths to rhythmically inhale and exhale in a synchronized and utterly bizarre manner.
At this point, Han Li fell silent. Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
As the insect hums rose and fell, black spots of light gradually emerged across Han Li’s beetle-covered body. These spots flickered, growing larger and smaller, expanding until several spots merged into larger black patches. When these larger patches touched, they coalesced into even bigger masses of black light.
The black masses on Han Li’s body spread like blooming black chrysanthemums, soon covering every inch of him and slowly unfurling. Eventually, these black masses merged and expanded, forming a suit of pitch-black, sleek armor that encased Han Li and the beetles within it, leaving no gaps.
The insect hums vanished the moment the armor appeared. Aside from its jet-black color, the armor showed no other hues, utterly opaque.
And in that instant, Han Li moved.
A bizarre, pitch-black hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the cloak nearby. At the same time, he clumsily turned and drifted slowly toward the set of five-colored bronze rings.
The moment Han Li seized the cloak, blue light erupted around him, countless rays surging toward him. But upon contact with the eerie black armor, the light was instantly absorbed without a trace.
Yet the blue light didn’t recede; instead, it gathered more fiercely, pressing relentlessly against the black armor. The strange armor began to tremble violently, on the verge of collapse.
Han Li was frantic but moved with extreme care and gentleness, as if afraid of disturbing something.
A mere fifteen to twenty feet felt like an hour of arduous travel as Han Li slowly inched toward the bronze ring ancient treasure. Suppressing his exhilaration, he reached out with similarly blackened, gleaming fingers and firmly grasped it.
Almost the moment the ring was in his hand, the black armor around him seemed unable to withstand the blue light’s pressure. With a piercing shatter, the armor first splintered into pieces, then dissolved into motes of light, completely dispersing.
Before Han Li could react further, the blue light unceremoniously engulfed him. A dizzying spin later, he vanished from the spherical light barrier without a trace.
Amid a dazzling blue flash, Han Li appeared in a small stone room. Staggering slightly, he steadied himself and immediately scanned his surroundings with high alertness, then relaxed—fortunately, there was no one around, as his insect-covered appearance was far too bizarre.
With that thought, Han Li let out a whistle. All the Gold Devouring Beetles took flight from his body, forming a gold-and-silver cloud above his head without descending.
Han Li paid them no mind, instead eagerly examining the two items in his hands. Though he had already looked them over several times, holding them now filled him with irrepressible excitement.
He ran his fingers over each ancient treasure: the cloak was light and slightly warm, while the five bronze rings were icy cold, as if made of frozen ice.
After admiring and examining them for a while, Han Li turned his attention to the stone room.
It was empty, aside from the teleportation array that had brought him here and a square passage directly ahead. There were no other unusual features, giving it a stark, cold atmosphere.
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