[ ANY SOUL AT OR ABOVE THE SOUL REFORMATION REALM SHALL BE STRUCK WITH MENTAL DEMON INDUCING LIGHTNING STRIKE UPON ATTEMPTING TO HARM, ACTIVATE, OPPPOSE OR NULLIFY ANY LAW FRAGMENT IN THE CIRCLE OF LAWS ]

[ ANY NEWLY ADDED LAW FRAGMENT THAT TRIES TO NULLIFY OR DESTROY OTHER LAW FRAGMENTS OR ACT AGAINST THE PRIMARY INTENTIONS OF THIS LAW CIRCLE SHALL BE NULLIFIED AND THE CREATOR OF SAID FRAGMENT SHALL BE STRUCK WITH MIND OBLITERATING LIGHTNING STRIKE. THE NUMBER OF MIND OBLITERATING LIGHTNING STRIKE WILL BE EQUIVALENT TO THE POWER OF THE LAW THE OFFENDER TRIED TO NULLIFY ]

For quite a while, Han Xuhan had been pondering what was the actual purpose of this 'law circle'.

How were the cultivators who wanted to break through this stage of the so called 'inheritance test' supposed to really find a clue to what lay ahead of them ? What was even the point of wasting so much of their precious time and risk their lives with no incentives offered?

Perhaps the answer lay within the law fragments and circle of laws they were researching. But even then, a question remained. Since these law fragments were created as obstacles on their journey toward the central area of the fog, did that mean that these law fragments were actually active? But who was keeping them active? And for how long had they been doing it? The law fragments seemed to be targeting any creature stronger than the physique transformation realm. Was that the clue ?

From their deciphered texts so far, it was apparent that if these law fragments were active, no cultivator above the physique transformation realm would stand a chance at entering the foggy area without being instantly obliterated with all sorts of terrifying punishments. Even touching the walls would result into a deadly outcome for powerful cultivators. But the circle of laws required at least a power level above the soul reformation realm to activate the laws in there, according to the first law fragment he had read just now.

This detail could be explained with the reasoning that the cultivators who created this 'test ground' did not want other powerful cultivators to enter and steal their inheritance.

However, what if those powerful cultivators sent somebody weaker than them, somebody at the physique transformation realm who could enter this place and destroy the law fragments and steal the inheritance for their masters?

Maybe there were more to this inheritance ground than it met the eyes. After all, the cultivators who created this place would certainly not overlook such a loophole. This stadium was still in the periphery of the foggy area. Who knows what lay hidden deeper inside?

After seeing the last two deciphered law fragments on the paper, a clue finally clicked inside his mind.

The law fragments that were carved on the walls were absolutely indestructible for a cultivator at the physique transformation realm, perhaps even in the soul reformation realm. The only way to affect other law fragments in a negative way was to use a new law fragment, just what Mu Ran had done.

Except, as per the second law fragment on the paper, such law fragments that went against the primary intentions of the circle of laws would be immediately met with appropriate punishment.

Thinking for a few moments, Han Xuhan finally realized why Mu Ran hadn't met any punishments and instead escaped from this place.

The law fragment written by Mu Ran had never gone against the logic this circle of laws operated on. He had merely written a new law stating that being able to activate a law fragment would get him a pass. Since all law fragments would have to defer to the law of punishing powerful experts, as long as a low level cultivator could activate a law using loopholes, he could easily pass through. Moreover, it was not written on the walls where the circle of laws were carved but on the ground, thus bypassing the first law fragment on that paper. Because the punishment for using powers above the soul reformation realm did not apply on a newly made law outside the circle of laws. So Mu Ran's cheat grandpa could activate the law fragment without a problem.

"So this is the trick to make our way out? To create a new law fragment using our own source that doesn't go against the primary intentions of the circle of laws? Otherwise, the creator of the law would be punished severely. But where am I going to find an expert above the soul reformation realm?"

For a moment, Han Xuhan counted his lucky stars that he hadn't blindly tried to make and activate new laws by using Mu Ran's law as a template. He hadn't read all the law fragments on the walls. What if he ended up writing something that would result into heavy punishment ?

"You know, your friend doesn't seem to be exactly a...normal cultivator."

The cyan robed man had been staring at the law fragment Mu Ran had written ever since he had sat down. His remark made Han Xuhan laugh and put a stop to those complicated thoughts. Mu Ran's rushed actions had inadvertently let out some of his greatest secrets. But it wasn't as if this problem was hard to take care of.

"Big brother, let me ask you something. If you have such an incredible secret like my friend, and face somebody who might use that secret against you or blackmail you with it, what's the first thing you're going to do?"

Han Xuhan's 'kind advice' silenced the man. He understood what might happen to happen to him if he enraged a strange cultivator whose soul was so powerful. The threat in Han Xuhan's tone was certainly not a bluff. He decided never to bring it up again and pushed the conversation in a different direction.

"Be that as may, we both are well aware that perhaps that little secret of his might be the only reason he was able to activate the law fragment he wrote. But what about us? Unless you too got such a secret, I don't see any way to escape this place and explore deeper inside the fog."

"You're not wrong. Perhaps only a cultivator that powerful can activate the law fragments. But it couldn't hurt to throw a stone in the dark, right?"

"You've thought of something already ?" The cyan robed man sounded surprised, but only for a moment.

"Hehe, I'm pretty sure you've thought of it too. But you haven't done it due to the... risks involved."

The cyan robed man's pupils shrank for second, his breathing grew unsteady.

"Oh no no no. That's way too risky. You don't have any proof that it won't kill you immediately."

"Give me a pen and a paper. " Han Xuhan stretched his arms toward him. The cyan robed man stared at him for a few seconds before sighing reluctantly and handing them to him.

Han Xuhan stretched his arms and got up. Then he gestured at Zhanxian to follow him.

The cyan robed man sat frozen on the ground for a few seconds before he got up and followed the two of them toward the walls.

"Little Zhanxian, lend me one of your fingers, preferably a sturdier one."

Hearing Xuhan's order, Zhanxian gave him a silent look before breaking off one of his middle fingers and shoving it on Han Xuhan's face rather provocatively.

"Good boy. If the punishment really falls on us, you need to prepare to be summoned back immediately. I wont let you die that easily. "

Han Xuhan snatched it away without batting an eyelid and rolled it between his fingers to test its hardiness.

In the last seven hours, he had deciphered a large amount of texts. He could basically recognize a majority of the letters in this archaic language. It wasn't that difficult for him to create a law himself using the simplest words.

Using the pen, he wrote his first law fragment on the paper. The cyan robed man choked upon deciphering it. Xuhan ignored him and wrote a second one, after which he threw the paper away and focused on the wall in front of him.

Picking out a relatively sparsely written part of the wall in front of him, Han Xuhan started etching on it using the sharp end of the finger bone.

The cyan robed man stood beside them and watched him struggle to write the words on the hard walls. With each stroke, the bone was slowly cracking and breaking off at the edges.

Soon, the first and last law was created by Han Xuhan on the walls.

The last law he wrote was the simplest. It read-

[ ALL THE LAW FRAGMENTS WITHIN THE CIRCLE OF LAWS SHALL BE ACTIVATED IMMEDIATELY UPON THE CREATION OF THIS LAW FRAGMENT, INCLUDING ANY EXISTING LAW FRAGMENT IN THE AREA SURROUNDED BY THE CIRCLE OF LAWS, PROVIDED THAT SAID NEW LAW FRAGMENTS DO NOT COUNTER OR HARM THE LAW FRAGMENTS ON THE WALLS ]