This projection was a temporary spiritual sense clone that Han Li had conjured up, and he had sent it into the wooden box using a certain foreign secret technique. However, this space clearly wasn't the space inside the wooden box, and that was rather surprising to Han Li.
However, despite his surprise, he wasn't overly concerned. After all, the worst that could happen would be the loss of this wisp of spiritual sense, which wouldn't have too much of a negative impact on him.
Thus, after inspecting his surroundings for a while, Han Li drifted toward a certain direction. Along the way, his surroundings were entirely comprised of thin grey mist, and after flying for several hours, the scenery hadn't changed at all.
His brows furrowed slightly as he stopped momentarily, then suddenly changed direction and flew directly upward. After passing through one layer of mist after another, he discovered that the sky in this space also seemed to be completely boundless. Even after flying for half a day, he still found himself inside a vast expanse of ever-present grey mist.
His expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, but all of a sudden, he turned toward a certain direction, and yelled, "Who's there?"
His voice wasn't very loud, but it echoed incessantly throughout the nearby space. However, no one emerged from the nearby space to meet him.
Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before giving a cold harrumph, then suddenly sat down with his legs crossed to meditate in mid-air.
His eyes were tightly shut, and he remained completely still for over half a day, looking as if he planned to never get up again.
On the second day, a ball of green light suddenly emerged nearby before transforming into a green-robed elderly man.
The man had a pair of remarkably long eyebrows, and his face was very thin and gaunt. There was a yellow wooden pin in his hair, and the image of a sinister devilish monster with three heads and six arms was embroidered onto his robes.
After he appeared, he displayed no intention of approaching Han Li, and merely appraised him in silence with a cold look in his eyes.
However, Han Li continued to sit with his eyes closed, as if he hadn't even sensed the elderly man's arrival.
Thus, the two of them maintained a rather peculiar silence, and it seemed that neither of them wanted to be the one to speak first.
Time quickly passed by, and three days and three nights later, there was still no change to the situation whatsoever.
However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that a hint of surprise had appeared in the elderly man's eyes as he appraised Han Li.
After another eight hours, the elderly man was clearly starting to become a little restless. His body swayed, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted several tens of feet in front of Han Li, following which the elderly man re-emerged.
However, Han Li merely continued to ignore him, and a hint of fury appeared on the elderly man's face.
"Hmph, you sure are quite courageous to disregard me like this." The elderly man finally broke the silence, and his voice was as sharp as unpleasant as the sound of metal grating on metal, striking the listener with a sense of unease and anxiety.
"From the sounds of it, you must be quite an important figure. May I know your name?" Han Li asked in a calm voice as he slowly opened his eyes.
"A mere human cultivator like you won't know of me. Having said that, I'm very curious; how did the spiritual clone of a human cultivator get into this place? Does this mean this item has fallen into your hands?" The elderly man was able to immediately identify that this wasn't Han Li's true body.
"Hehe, you must be a mighty figure of the Elder Devil Race. This box did indeed fall into my hands, and I sent this spiritual sense of clone of mine into the box to investigate its contents. If I'm not mistaken, this is one of the restrictions in the box rather than the actual space within the box, right?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.
Due to the fact that he was only a spiritual sense clone, he was unable to ascertain the power level of this elderly man. However, he had already guessed that this was a devilish being, so despite the fact that his expression remained unchanged, he was naturally rather wary of this elderly man.
"Indeed, this is the 10th illusionary restriction in the box. As long as one can master the key elements of this restriction, they'll be able to change everything within this space at will. I must say, the sacred race really has become incapable; how could they have let this treasure fall into the hands of a human? You mentioned that this treasure is in the form of a box; that's good to hear. At the very least, it's far less unsightly than its previous form," the elderly man murmured with furrowed brows as he swept a sleeve through the air.
The entire surrounding area blurred, then shattered and fell away like a mirror. All of a sudden, Han Li was greeted by the refreshing fragrance of nature, and the sound of a flowing stream.
His heart stirred in response, and he hurriedly inspected his surroundings again, upon which he discovered that the world around him had been completely transformed.
There were blue skies and white clouds overhead, and beautiful scenery all around him. He and the elderly man were currently standing in a clear stream. The water in the stream only reached halfway up their shins, and there were a few small azure fish swimming past them in a leisurely manner, seemingly completely unfazed by their presence.
Han Li's expression changed slightly as he made a grabbing motion downward, and a lively azure fish was immediately drawn into his grasp. As the fish struggled between his fingers, he could clearly feel its slippery scales in his hand.
Blue light flashed through his eyes, and he tossed the fish back into the stream, then brought his hand up to his nose, upon which he was immediately greeted by a strong fishy odor.
"What a profound restriction! Everything is completely realistic in here. Would you be able to tell me how I ended up here, Senior? When I injected this wisp of spiritual sense into this box, I had intended for it to directly reach the space within the box. However, I've appeared in this restriction instead, and I assume this has something to do with you," Han Li said in a slow voice.
"Hmph, why do I have to answer your questions? If you want answers, go look for them yourself," the elderly man said with a disdainful roll of his eyes.
As opposed to being enraged by the elderly man's haughty demeanor, Han Li merely smiled, and said, "Hehe, I'm sure you've appeared before me because you wish to speak to me as well. I can see that your body is also formed from spiritual sense; I assume you're being kept in here against your will."
"Who are you? Were you sent here by that bastard, Xue Guang?" the elderly man suddenly bellowed in a thunderous voice, and a burst of astonishing pressure crashed down onto Han Li's body.
Immediately thereafter, the elderly man's body swept forward, and he closed a hand around Han Li's neck as his eyes turned into a vicious crimson color.
A ferocious aura akin to that of a vicious primordial beast erupted from his body, and a giant crimson devilish projection emerged behind him, threatening to tear Han Li into countless pieces.
Han Li was quite alarmed by this sudden development, but his expression remained calm as he replied, "I don't know of anyone by the name of Xue Guang."
"Bullsh*t! If you don't know Xue Guang, then how did you obtain this Devil Sealing Lock? Do you really think I'll believe your nonsensical lies? This Devil Sealing Lock has been passed down between countless Sacred Ancestors, and all of them have carried it with them at all times; if you don't know Xue Guang, how could this treasure have possibly fallen into the hands of a mere human cultivator like you? Don't tell me that you obtained this item after killing Xue Guang!"A hint of insanity surfaced within the elderly man's eyes as he spoke, and dazzling green light began to glow from the fingers that were locked around Han Li's neck, as if he were about to put an end to Han Li's life.
This spiritual sense clone of Han Li's naturally didn't possess any powerful abilities, so he didn't even bother to put up any resistance. Instead, he merely smiled, and said, "I see, so this treasure is known as a Devil Sealing Lock. I don't know who this Xue Guang is, and I certainly wouldn't do the bidding of a devilish being. Besides, if I really wanted to harm you in any way, I wouldn’t have sent just a mere wisp of spiritual sense into this treasure. Even if you destroy this spiritual sense clone of mine, it wouldn't have much of an impact on me, but I may just drop this box into a bottomless abyss that no one will be able to find. Perhaps the box will never see the light of day again, and you'll be trapped in here for the rest of eternity."
Much to Han Li's surprise, as opposed to being enraged even further by this threat, the fury in the eyes of the elderly man completely faded, and he immediately released Han Li's neck. "You dare to threaten me? Haha, it seems that you really don't know who I am, which means there's no way you were sent here by Xue Guang. Please do forgive me for my rudeness, Fellow Daoist."
Han Li's expression also eased slightly upon seeing this, and he adjusted the slightly creased collar of his robes as he asked, "Oh? So you believe what I said now? In that case, would you be able to tell me who you are?"
"Of course I can. Just as you guessed, I've been trapped in here for countless years, and I also have many questions for you about the outside world. How about this? I'll answer one of your questions for every question of mine that you answer," the elderly man proposed as he stroked his beard.