Meanwhile, Han Yi shouldered the Profound Xuan Dao Stele and used the Escape Technique to exit the gray, misty space of the Ashen Ruins, returning to the normal chaotic void. Following the Star Chart, he headed toward the Emperor Profound Continent.
Carrying the stele severely hindered his movement, so he resolved to refine it first. He needed to refine it enough to store it in his Divine Aperture World, ensuring his mobility wouldn't be affected before he could proceed with anything else.
Of course, after refining it, he planned to return to the Ashen Ruins. The outermost regions alone had yielded this extraordinary Dao Stele, and who knew what other treasures might lie deeper within the ruins?
Having encountered this opportunity, he had no intention of letting it slip through his fingers.
Moreover, since the Celestial Venerable Suizhu hadn't perished in the Chaotic Ancient Immortal Mausoleum, he must have already returned to the Immortal Court. Therefore, Han Yi saw no need to rush back to the Sui Zhu Immortal Court.
The Emperor Profound Continent was a considerable distance from the newly emerged Ashen Ruins. Burdened with the Profound Xuan Dao Stele, Han Yi's speed was severely hampered, reduced to the level of an ordinary cultivator at the First Step of the Dao Realm. It took him seven days to finally catch sight of the Emperor Profound Continent.
This was another vast continent, its borders invisible to the eye. At first glance, it showed no significant differences from the Dao God Continent in the Central Dao Domain.
Han Yi, carrying the Dao Stele, descended and didn't linger near the edge of the Chaos. Instead, he ventured deep into the continent, using the Escape Technique for another three days before selecting a dense Ancient Forest as his landing point. Within this ancient woodland, he casually carved out an Immortal's Cave and then retrieved the remaining Dao Swords to establish the Void Sword Realm.
He then concealed the Void Sword Realm, ensuring it would only trigger if someone entered the surrounding hundred-mile area.
Inside the Immortal's Cave, Han Yi placed the twenty-meter-tall Profound Xuan Dao Stele upright on the ground, where it sank more than three meters into the earth.
He scrutinized the stele closely. Its jet-black surface was a seamless, natural unity. The inscriptions on the front were either incomplete or blurred, with only the name "Profound Xuan Dao Stele" at the top remaining relatively clear.
He extended his Dao Thought into the stele, but there was no response. The interior of the stele was completely empty.
This emptiness was the greatest anomaly. If the stele were truly empty, its weight should not have required his full strength to lift, nor should it have been impossible to store in his Divine Aperture World.
Han Yi remained patient. He sat down cross-legged and intensified his Dao Thought, eventually channeling ninety percent of its power into the stele.
Time flowed like water, and ten years had passed.
During this time, Han Yi had repeatedly explored the space within the Dao Stele, yet it remained unresponsive.
In his Immortal's Cave, he paused, pondered for a moment, and then switched to a different method. He placed his palm on the Dao Stele, channeling both Dao Power and divine power into it.
This time, after only three years, his eyes snapped open, a flicker of surprise and delight crossing his face.
Just moments ago, as his divine power probed the interior of the Dao Stele, he had finally detected a subtle change.
Within the limited space of the Dao Stele, a minute particle had been activated by the influence of his divine power.
Han Yi wasn't concerned about the time it took; his worry lay in the possibility that the Dao Stele might prove utterly impervious, refusing to respond no matter what he tried. In such a case, he might have no choice but to hide the stele somewhere on the Emperor Profound Continent, waiting until he was strong enough to retrieve it later.
But now, with this change, hope rekindled within him.
This minute particle was invisible to the naked eye, and even difficult to detect with Dao Thought. It had only emerged after Han Yi repeatedly scanned the interior with his divine power, stimulating the space over and over.
Han Yi focused his Dao Thought, channeling all the scattered divine power within the Dao Stele towards the particle. Enveloped by divine power, he intensified his efforts to activate it.
Three years later.
Han Yi's expression changed dramatically. His divine power had finally breached the particle, revealing a shocking sight.
Within the particle lay a sealed Cave Heaven World. His divine power had forcefully torn open a breach in its barrier.
His Dao Thought poured through this breach into the Cave Heaven, revealing a relatively small, square-shaped world with a domed sky.
Smoke from beacon towers rose across the land, signaling widespread conflict. The world resembled the feudal societies of ancient times from Han Yi's previous life before his transmigration.
The entire world was small; a Qi Refining Stage cultivator could traverse it in half an hour.
The moment his Dao Thought entered, panic erupted among the two armies locked in battle. A violent storm suddenly roiled the skies—winds howled, clouds churned, and thunder crashed incessantly.
In an instant, chaos reigned. Men and horses were thrown into disarray as both sides abandoned their armor and weapons, fleeing back to their camps.
Han Yi withdrew his Dao Thought, fearing that if it lingered any longer, the entire grain-sized Cave Heaven World would shatter.
After withdrawing his Dao Thought, he observed a new phenomenon: Spirit Qi began to surge into the tiny Cave Heaven World from its surface. Given centuries of time, powerful Martial Artists would begin transforming into Cultivators, and the first Qi Refining Stage cultivators would emerge.
Curious, Han Yi investigated the source of the Spirit Qi, but within the space of the Dao Stele, it seemed to arise spontaneously, its origin undetectable.
This puzzled him further. Even in the Cultivation World, energy couldn't be created from nothing. He knew his own limitations were to blame for failing to trace the Spirit Qi's source.
As this Spirit Qi materialized from "nothing," Han Yi noticed new grains emerging near the original one. This time, eight grains appeared.
He attempted to envelop one with his divine power and activate it. This time, it took not three years, but only one year to fully activate a grain. His Dao Thought flowed into it through a newly formed aperture.
It was another Cave Heaven World, but this one was still in its primitive, formative stage. Han Yi saw wild people hunting animals in the forests, a scene from an age of raw meat and blood.
Han Yi withdrew his Dao Thought and continued to activate other particles with his divine power. As each particle was activated, he glimpsed various Cave Heavens: feudal realms at war, primeval wildernesses, lifeless worlds, and eras of Martial Cultivators.
These Cave Heavens were of low grade, their strongest Martial Artists only equivalent to those who had just entered the Qi Refining Stage.
As the particles were refined, Spirit Qi began to surge in the surrounding space, growing increasingly abundant and concentrated.
Nearby, more particles emerged.
However, Han Yi didn't activate any more particles. At that moment, his Dao Thought within the Dao Stele's space seemed to have, in some ineffable way, gained the 'permission' to refine the Stele.
Yes, permission.
This permission was indescribable, yet he knew it was there. He also knew that he had acquired this permission by activating nine particles and establishing connections with these Cave Heaven particles.
The permission level was minimal, but it was enough for Han Yi to establish a preliminary connection with the Dao Stele. This connection, though far from being a full Refinement, allowed him to incorporate it into his body, which was sufficient for now.
Inside his Immortal's Cave, Han Yi gazed at the Dao Stele, his eyes filled with wonder and uncertainty. The particles within the stele were actually individual Cave Heaven Worlds. Though the stele's space was limited, the particles were so tiny that if the entire space were filled with them, their number would be practically incalculable.
Viewed macroscopically, wasn't this Dao Stele essentially equivalent to a Dao Domain, with each particle representing a world within that domain?
Pushing his speculation further, he wondered: Could this Dao Stele actually be a Chaos Realm?
The thought startled even Han Yi. He shook his head, dismissing the idea. If it were a Chaos Realm, what entity would possess the immense power to refine such a realm into a Dao Stele and place it at the periphery of the Ruins?
Moreover, if this Dao Stele was truly connected to the Ashen Ruins and the former masters of Ashen Mountain, Ashen Mountain would never have been annihilated in its conflict with the Primordial Demon Palace.
There was clearly more to this than met the eye.
Han Yi didn't let his mind wander. He focused his senses again and discovered that around the nine activated particles—the nine Cave Heaven Worlds—more Spirit Qi was beginning to surge.
As this Spirit Qi flowed, additional particles gradually emerged. Though they appeared more slowly, his divine power revealed that their activation difficulty was significantly higher.
!
After some thought, he realized that this time, it had taken him a full twenty years to activate the tenth particle. This new Cave Heaven World was vastly larger, ten times the size of the first world he had discovered.
Although still Spirit Qi-poor, his Dao Thought swept across it and revealed that this world had once been a Cultivation World. While many ruins suggested its highest Cultivation Realm was only Nascent Soul, it was still far more advanced than the previous Cave Heaven Worlds.
Han Yi withdrew from the world, his Dao Thought returning to his body.
He now surmised that the nine particles he had activated were likely the lowest-tier Cave Heavens within the Dao Stele's space.
Beyond these, there were higher-tier worlds, such as the tenth particle. If he continued his investigations, even more advanced worlds would likely emerge.
These worlds, devoid of spiritual energy, had entered the End of Dharma era. Activating them would restore the spiritual energy, ushering in a new age of cultivation.
Han Yi, uncertain of the Dao Stele's true nature, dared not proceed with activation. Instead, he chose to retreat.
Focusing his thought on the Dao Stele, he attempted to transfer it into his Divine Aperture World.
This time, there was no complete lack of response; he encountered resistance. Han Yi intensified his transfer thought, pushing nearly to his limit, until the Dao Stele began to blur. Finally, it vanished from its original position.
To accommodate the Profound Xuan Dao Stele, Han Yi placed it in his First Divine Aperture World, the Central Palace Divine Aperture World.
Having advanced to the Creation Transformation Realm and the Immeasurable Realm, the Central Palace Divine Aperture World had grown to the scale of a Small World. Moreover, it was no ordinary Small World, but one comparable in grandeur to the Divine Power World he had encountered beneath the Jade Lake in the Primordial Great World.
Using this to contain the Dao Stele represented the maximum limit of Han Yi's capabilities.
In a certain sense, the Central Palace Divine Aperture World was even more robust than his Dao Realm. If anything went wrong with the Dao Stele, this Divine Aperture World would be capable of suppressing it.
Standing within the Cave Heaven World, Han Yi realized with a thought that it had been exactly forty-three years since he arrived here.
For a Dao Realm cultivator, spans of time were often measured in decades, centuries, or even millennia. He had gradually grown accustomed to this.
His figure flickered as he materialized outside the Immortal's Cave, but he hesitated, his brow furrowing.
He sensed an unusually heavy formless pressure weighing upon him. This pressure stemmed from the eighty-six Dao Realm Avatars he harbored within himself, as well as the Profound Xuan Dao Stele recently integrated into his Central Palace Divine Aperture World.
The Dao Realm Avatars alone posed a challenge, but he could usually suppress their influence to a minimum. However, with the addition of the Profound Xuan Dao Stele, he clearly felt its impact beginning to destabilize his core state.
This was unacceptable. The latent danger was too great. While he could still manage against a Dao Fruit Realm opponent, facing an External Dao adversary would be far more perilous. Any hesitation in battle could be exploited, inevitably placing him in grave danger.
After a moment's consideration, he released all the Dao Realm Avatars from his Divine Aperture World.
In an instant, countless Dao Principles clashed within the space. This was because most of these Dao Realm Avatars were Chaos Inorders, primarily consisting of Non-Dao, Counter-Dao, and Sacrificial Daoists. The presence of these Disordered Ones in normal space inevitably triggered reactions from the Dao Principles.
This was only due to the suppression of the Void Sword Realm. If that were removed, the Dao Realm cultivators of nearby Great Powers might detect the disturbance and rush here to "eliminate demons."
Following Han Yi's arrangements, the Disordered Ones and some Pathseekers all used Escape Techniques to merge into the Six Paths figures. These Six Paths figures were Han Yi's first batch of Dao Realm Avatars, developed over two hundred years ago on the Dao God Continent.
Although these Dao Realm Avatars carried an aura of slaughter, at their core, they were genuine Pathseekers.
This was Han Yi's plan.
By separating his Dao Realm Avatars, he reduced the pressure on himself.
After exploring the Ashen Ruins, he intended to purchase a powerful Dao Boat on the Emperor Profound Continent that could match the speed of the External Dao Realm. Then, by driving the Dao Boat with Dao Crystals, he would have it carry his Avatars and himself through the boundless Chaos back to the Vast Heng Dao Domain.
Six Avatars, each at the First Step of the Dao Realm, bowed respectfully to Han Yi before descending into the Immortal's Cave he had created during his refinement of the Dao Stele.
Han Yi retracted the Void Sword Realm, confirmed his bearings, and with a flicker of movement, headed directly away from the Emperor Profound Continent, traveling in the opposite direction from which he had entered. His destination: the Ashen Ruins once more.
To his relief, carrying the Dao Stele did not impede his speed.
Ten days later, the hazy outline of the Ashen Ruins loomed ahead. After altering his appearance and aura with a Formless Dao Technique, he slipped inside. This time, he entered through a different location.
He remained vigilant against recognition. If the Emperor Profound Sect sent a Dao Harmonization Realm expert or a Heavenly Venerable, he would be walking straight into a trap.
He preferred to avoid unnecessary complications.
Even after breaking through to the Dao Fruit Realm, Han Yi maintained his cautious approach.
This time, he assumed the guise of a gaunt young man with a menacing expression, radiating an aura that deterred ordinary Dao Realm cultivators. This intimidating presence would help minimize trouble.
Upon crossing the boundary of the ruins, he beheld a towering Divine Mountain piercing the clouds.