A Record Of A Mortal's Journey To Immortality

by S.H.A aifu

A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, how will he successfully traverse the path of cultivation and become an immortal? This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with

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Even though it was impossible to identify the caliber and ability of the treasures based on its appearance alone, generally speaking, cauldron, lamp, and mirror treasures all had some special abilities that were very hard to defend against.

In particular, the Heavenvoid Cauldron was emanating spiritual pressure far beyond that of a normal treasure, so Han Li's opponent immediately became quite wary. He had a feeling that this battle wasn't going to be a very easy one.

With that in mind, he immediately unleashed the first attack without any hesitation, hoping to seize the initiative.

At the same time, he made a hand seal, and the specks of blue light around his body receded, transforming into grains of shimmering blue sand that rose up into the sky. These grains of sand then began to multiply at a staggering rate, obscuring the entire sky in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, the massive silver wheel also vanished within the cloud of sand.

A loud cry erupted as the cloud of sand came crashing down toward Han Li, creating a sound akin thunderclaps from the countless sand particles grating against one another.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, but he didn't immediately take any action. The golden lotus flowers twirled around him before flying up to meet the oncoming attack.

As the lotus flowers flashed through the air, countless rays of light began to emanate from them, making them appear just as formidable as the blue sand cloud.

As soon as the sand came into contact with the lotus flowers, the latter instantly expanded drastically to around 10 feet in size each, rotating rapidly in the sky. Their petals were like sharp blades, forcibly tearing through the sand cloud amid a string of resounding booms.

The 72 golden lotus flowers had managed to stop the oncoming blue sandstorm dead in its tracks.

A hint of surprise flashed through the eyes of Han Li's opponent, but he then chuckled coldly as he cast an incantation seal.

Silver light suddenly flashed within the sand cloud as a massive silver wheel emerged, crashing down with violent force and striking one of the 72 golden lotus flowers.

A sinister smile appeared on the man's face.

This Metal Severing Wheel was refined using a rare material sourced from the primordial world, Dark Gold Sand. The wheel's sharpness was unmatched and its destructive power stood well above that of normal flying swords and flying sabers. Ever since he had refined this treasure, they had helped him slice through countless flying sword treasures unleashed by his enemies.

Those golden flying swords did appear to be quite powerful, but they shouldn't stand a chance against the silver wheel.

A string of clangs rang out in rapid succession as dazzling golden and silver light intertwined with one another. The two treasures appeared to be evenly matched.

The man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, the golden lotus flower suddenly spread open its petals to encapsulate the entire silver wheel.

An anguished screech sounded from the wheel before it was shattered into countless pieces and disappeared into the lotus flower.

Before the man had a chance to recover from his shock, Han Li pointed a finger toward the massive cauldron hovering before him. The lid on the cauldron immediately flew off of its own accord, following which countless streaks of azure light swept forth from within. The azure strands flashed past the golden lotus flowers, latching onto large clumps of the blue sand in the sky before dragging them back into the cauldron.

Han Li had taken these measures as fast as lightning, and when his opponent finally returned to his senses, some of his blue sand had already been abducted into the cauldron, and his connection with those grains of sand had been completely severed.

"Spirit treasures!" the man exclaimed.

The blue sand and that Metal Severing Wheel were both treasures that he had personally refined.

Aside from spirit treasures, no other treasures would be able to forcibly take them from him. Now that they had been taken away, over a century of arduous cultivation had gone to waste.

With that in mind, he immediately opened his mouth to expel a fist-sized ball of blood essence.

He extended his index finger and dipped it into the ball of blood essence, using it as ink to inscribe a crimson rune into the air. He then slammed a hand toward the rune, following which it disappeared in a flash.

However, in the next instant, the rune reappeared only around 10 feet away from Han Li, having already transformed into a massive azure ghostly head with a pair of sharp horns before pouncing toward Han Li.

It appeared that he was trying to use this surprise attack to force Han Li to stop acquiring the blue sand and silver wheel treasures.

Han Li was in the process of making hand seals while the Heavenvoid Cauldron assimilated the blue sand at his behest. As soon as the ghostly head appeared, it rushed toward him with ferocious might, but he remained completely unflustered as he abruptly opened his mouth. An arc of golden lightning shot forth from within, striking the ghostly head with unerring accuracy, causing it to vanish into a cloud of azure smoke.

Even an avatar of the elder devil didn't dare to take an attack head-on from the Divine Devilbane Lightning, so this ghostly head naturally stood no chance at all.

Han Li's opponent faltered upon seeing this. A thought then occurred to him, and his expression darkened significantly.

At this point, the strands of azure light from the Heavenvoid Cauldron had already taken half of the blue sand in the sky.

A bone-chilling harrumph sounded as Han Li's opponent furrowed his brows, then made a strange hand seal. At the same time, what sounded like Buddhist chants rang out, following which he slowly pointed a finger toward the air before him.

The grains of blue sand that were locked in a fierce battle with the azure light and the golden lotus flowers suddenly became completely stationary. Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light erupted as the grains of sand began to expand drastically.

In the blink of an eye, these tiny rice-sized grains of sand transformed into head-sized blue rocks, all of which were translucent and giving off vibrant blue light. These glittering and translucent rocks immediately came crashing down from above, finally causing the freely-rotating golden lotus flowers to slow down. Even the strands of azure light from the Heavenvoid Cauldron also became unable to draw in these heavy blue rocks.

Han Li faltered upon seeing this before casting his gaze toward his opponent.

He discovered that the man's entire body was radiating brilliant spiritual light while his hair danced in a frenzy around him. There was also white light flashing from within his visible orifices, and it was quite clear that he was using the power of his essence.

Han Li's expression darkened as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head. All of a sudden, murky grey light erupted forth before sweeping through the air. The incredibly heavy blue translucent stones in up above immediately became almost completely weightless before being forced to revert back to their sand form.

The grey light rapidly swept forth, completely capturing all of the grains of sand in the air.

Not only did this turn of events cause the expression on the face of Han Li's opponent to darken even further, even the perpetually emotionless armor-clad cultivator outside the light barrier revealed a hint of surprise for the first time. It was quite clear that Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light had even drawn the interest of this Spatial Tempering cultivator.

"What ability is this? Why is it able to wrest away my Blue Crystal Sand?" the man asked with a vicious expression.

"Do you think I'll tell you?" Han Li chuckled with a carefree expression. In his eyes, this man was only acting so cocky because his cultivation base far outstripped that of Han Li's. However, Han Li didn't know who this man was, and he also appeared to have a Spatial Tempering Stage master. As such, he was rather cautious in his approach and had no intention of killing this man just yet. Otherwise, he would've already retaliated with a relentless storm of attacks, giving his opponent no chance to even catch his breath.

Of course, this was also a sign of Han Li's extreme confidence in his current set of abilities.

With the Divine Essencefused Light, Aureate Sword Formation, and Spirit Devouring Heavenly Flames, he wouldn't be fearful in the slightest even if he were to come up against a late-Deity Transformation cultivator.

An indecisive look appeared on the man's face. Han Li's abilities were far more powerful than he had anticipated, and defeat was not an option for him. With that in mind, he finally made a decision as he flipped both hands over at once.

On one hand, a palm-sized yellow copper badge appeared with white mist swirling around it, making it impossible for anyone to glean its actual appearance. On his other hand, a silver talisman appeared, and it was filled with beveled silver text runes!

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted upon seeing this as he activated his sword arts.

The golden lotus flowers that were circling around overhead suddenly converged toward the center, forming a super massive golden lotus flower that was over 100 feet in diameter, and the gargantuan flower hurtled toward the man at Han Li's behest.

As for the murky grey light up above, it came crashing down to create a grey light barrier that formed a secure cocoon around Han Li.

At this moment, Han Li's opponent raised both hands at once, and the copper badge immediately hovered into the air. At the same time, brilliant white light erupted from the badge and a projection emerged from within before rapidly expanding.

A half-naked giant of a man that was around 20 feet tall soon appeared.

The giant was carrying no weapons, but its skin was like translucent green jade and there was spiritual light shimmering in its eyes. It was a humanoid puppet.

Meanwhile, the silver talisman exploded into a ball of silver mist that was around a foot in size.

The silver mist materialized into a giant black wolf with a pair of sinister green eyes, which were cast toward Han Li in a completely expressionless manner.

After summoning these two creatures, Han Li's opponent still wasn't content. He took a deep breath and his face suddenly turned as crimson as blood. He laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and blue light flashed up above as a blue Nascent Soul appeared, holding a black bell that was around an inch in size.

"That's the Thousand Soul Bell! Has Eccentric Ming gone senile? How could he lend such important treasures to his disciples?" The armor-clad cultivator outside the light barrier displayed no reaction to the puppet, nor the giant black wolf, but his brows furrowed and his expression immediately darkened at the sight of the bell in the blue Nascent Soul's hands.

"Senior! This is a treasure that I borrowed from my master; I'm not breaking any rules here, right?" The blue Nascent Soul chuckled as it spoke in an infantile voice.

"Hmph, of course not. However, the Thousand Soul Bell is an extremely powerful treasure, and you'll only barely be able to use it through the help of a secret technique. Even if you come out on top in this battle, you'll sustain severe injuries for forcibly using power beyond your capabilities. Are you sure you want to do this just for a plot of Spirit Land?" the armor-clad cultivator asked in a cold voice.

"Thank you for your words of caution, Senior, but I've naturally thought long and hard before making this decision," the Nascent Soul replied. The massive golden lotus flower was almost upon it, and it immediately hurled forth the black bell in its hands in response.

At the same time, the green puppet began to rush toward Han Li, expanding even further with each and every step it took.

After reaching the halfway point between Han Li and his opponent, it had already swelled to more than twice its original size.

Meanwhile, the giant black wolf swayed before disappearing on the spot as a burst of black mist.

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As soon as the black bell was hurled into the air, it released a string of crisp chimes.

Han Li was suddenly struck by the feeling that a massive boom had erupted within his spiritual sense, following which his body spasmed as if he'd been electrocuted, and he almost plummeted from the sky.

Han Li was naturally shocked by this development, and his Great Development Technique activated of its own accord to send a stream of coolness circulating through his mind.

His face had paled significantly, but his body was finally back to normal.

"That's also a spirit treasure! There's no way that a normal treasure could possess such power!" A hint of wariness flashed through Han Li's heart as he reflexively retaliated.

He made a hand seal, and his spiritual sense converged into a ball in his mind before being expelled toward his opponent.

Meanwhile, Han Li's opponent was even more shocked than he was to see Han Li recover so easily from the effects of the Thousand Soul Bell.

Even though this attack wasn't the bell's most powerful ability, it was very difficult for opponents of a lesser cultivation base to withstand such an attack.

He gritted his teeth, and just as he was about to pour forth even more magic power into the bell, a burst of acute pain suddenly tore through his spiritual sense, as if a sharp spike had been forcibly stabbed into his brain.

Unfortunately for him, his spiritual sense wasn't as powerful as Han Li's. As such, he was quite susceptible to Han Li's Spirit Stun Thorn attack, causing him to let loose a howl of pain as he threw his hands over his head, while his body completely curled up into a ball.

His Nascent Soul also instantly disappeared into his body.

In an instant, he had lost control over the Thousand Soul Bell in the air.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he completely ignored the oncoming giant puppet as he pointed a finger toward the massive golden lotus flower in the distance.

The massive lotus flower immediately rotated rapidly as it came crashing down from above, encapsulating the black bell in a burst of golden light.

Just as the golden lotus flower enshrouded the Thousand Soul Bell, the green puppet had swelled to around 60 to 70 feet in size, raising a massive fist before swinging it violently toward Han Li.

A loud thump erupted as the puppet's punch was kept at bay by the Heavenvoid Cauldron. However, the cauldron tremored violently as it shrank down to around half its size. This puppet possessed extraordinary strength!

Meanwhile, a burst of ghastly howls rang out from within the massive golden lotus flower. A giant bell projection around 10 feet in size appeared at the center of the golden lotus flower, warding off all of the flower's sharp golden petals.

At the same time, wisps of black threads emerged from within the black bell, binding the golden lotus flower, forcibly slowing down its rotation.

Han Li was rather bewildered upon seeing this, yet just as he was about to inject more power into his treasure, the giant black wolf surfaced behind him like a wraith before pouncing toward him from behind.

Its claws were able to pierce through Han Li's grey Divine Essencefused Light barrier without any trouble.

The Divine Essencefused Light was indeed powerful, but its powers were not applicable to existences outside the realm of the five elemental powers.

Just as the giant wolf thought that its sneak attack had succeeded, two shimmering golden fists suddenly hurtled toward its front paws.

Following two resounding booms, its front paws were completely pulverized by the pair of golden fists.

The wolf let loose a howl of anguish as its body shot back from the tremendous resulting force of the clash.

Right at this moment, Han Li finally turned around to face it. His entire body was shimmering with golden light, making it appear as if he were a divine deity forged from gold.

At the sight of the backpedaling black wolf, Han Li wore a cold expression as his body shot forth through the air. A string of afterimages was left in his wake, and he appeared above the wolf's head in the blink of an eye.

After recovering his magic power, Han Li was able to unleash his Shifting Smoke Steps.

Even though this technique didn't grant him as much speed as the Thunderstorm Wings and the Nine Gale Transformations, when used in conjunction with Han Li's insanely powerful body, it was very effective for movement over short distances.

Upon seeing Han Li appear above its head, the giant black wolf's feral instincts were set off as it blasted a ball of black light out of its mouth, which was aimed straight at Han Li.

However, Han Li merely waved a casual golden palm through the air, and the black ball of light was swatted flying as if it were a pitiful fly.

At the same time, he injected his magic power into his eyes in a frenzy, following which piercing blue light instantly erupted from his eyes, allowing him to glean the bodily structure of the entire wolf in a split second.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li's body swayed before he appeared in front of the wolf's stomach in a completely expressionless manner.

His hand's shot forth light lightning, grabbing onto the wolf's head and one of its hindlegs respectively, catching the wolf in two vice-like grips that completely immobilized it. He then let loose a loud roar as he brought both arms apart in one violent motion! With Han Li's current unfathomable strength, even a demon beast constructed from metal could be torn apart with ease, let alone a creature manifested from a talisman.

As a result, the giant wolf's massive head was wrenched off its body in one fell swoop. As soon as the wolf was decapitated, brilliant black light erupted from its body, dissipating into bursts of tumbling black mist. However, its head was still very much alive and kicking, even while it was still clamped within Han Li's golden grasp.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he grabbed the air with his other hand, following which a ball of silver flames emerged.

The ball of fire transformed into a Fire Raven in a flash, and the latter swooped down toward the black wolf's head following a crisp cry.

Amid a howl of shock and horror, silver flames instantly engulfed the wolf's head, reducing it to a ball of black mist in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, the silver flames completely devoured all of this black mist before reverting back to its Fire Raven form.

The bird opened its mouth to expel a silver talisman, which Han Li rapidly grabbed ahold of.

This talisman was none other than the one that his opponent had summoned earlier, but the light shimmering on its surface had dimmed significantly, indicating that it had expended most of its power.

Meanwhile, the Fire Raven was blasting silver flames out of its mouth, circling around Han Li in an excited manner.

Han Li then turned toward the green giant puppet over 100 feet away before appearing above its head in a flash.

The puppet had been impeded by the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and was ramming its fists into the latter over and over again.

The cauldron was knocked back around 10 feet and shrank with every single punch, but it was able to withstand an attack from the avatar of an elder demon in the past, so it certainly wasn't an easy obstacle to get around. After each successive punch, it would simply return to its original spot and expand once again to its former size, thereby repeating the process over and over again...

The puppet had no intelligence to speak of, and Han Li's opponent was still reeling from the excruciating pain inflicted by the Spirit Stun Thorn. As such, he couldn't manipulate the puppet and it could only attack the giant cauldron with brute force, seeing as it wasn't capable of formulating any superior strategies.

Han Li wasn't very familiar with the puppetry techniques of the Spirit Realm, but the puppetry techniques in the Great Development Treasured Scriptures left behind by the Monarch of Soul Divergence were among the best that could be found in the human world.

As such, despite this giant green puppet's obvious power, Han Li was able to immediately identify its weakness with his spirit eyes.

He quickly stowed away the silver talisman in his hand before stepping forward. Golden light flashed, and he appeared almost instantaneously behind the massive puppet.

A string of crackles and pops rang out from Han Li's body as he aimed vicious punch toward a certain spot right under the puppet's ribs.

Prior to even making contact with the puppet, his shimmering golden fist was sweeping up immensely powerful winds that threatened to tear through space.

An earthshattering boom erupted as a massive fist indentation that was several inches deep appeared on the puppet's body right under its ribs. It was swept off its feet by the enormous force of Han Li's strike before thudding to the ground.

However, Han Li refused to release the pressure as his fists rained down like a torrential storm on the exact same spot on the puppet's body.

In the blink of an eye, a hole had been punctured into the puppet's body.

Han Li immediately withdrew his fists before rubbing his hands together, sending an arc of golden lightning hurtling directly into the puppet's body through that hole.

A series of explosions rang out from within the puppet's body, following which it began to shrink drastically amid a burst of brilliant green light. In the blink of an eye, it had shrunk down to only around a foot in size before laying on the ground in a completely stationary manner.

It appeared that a complex series of procedures had been undertaken to defeat the black wolf and the green puppet, but it had actually only taken Han Li the span of a few breaths.

At this moment, his opponent finally recovered from the effects of the Spirit Stun Thorn, just in time to witness Han Li destroying his puppet while scintillating golden light radiated from his body.

"Complete mastery of the Vajra Arts! You're a top-grade body refinement warrior as well!" he exclaimed with incredulity etched on his face.

The armor-clad cultivator outside the barrier of light didn't say anything, but he was clearly also quite astonished by what he was witnessing.

Han Li turned to his opponent with a calm expression, and asked, "Would you like to continue, Fellow Daoist Weng?"

The man's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this."Your abilities are indeed far superior to what I'd anticipated, but do you really think that you've won? Even if I have to sacrifice the fruits of over a century of arduous cultivation, I'm going to show you the full power of this Thousand Soul Bell!" Han Li's opponent flew into a thunderous rage as he looked up at the black bell, which was currently grappling with a giant golden lotus flower.

He then began to chant something, and blue light flashed above his head as his Nascent Soul emerged again.

The Nascent Soul wore a grave expression as it made a hand seal with one hand while raising its other hand into the air. A blue pillar of light shot forth, striking the black bell with unerring accuracy as the Nascent Soul began to chant an unintelligible incantation.

The black bell shuddered before absorbing the blue pillar of light as specks of spiritual light.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the man pointed a finger at the black bell from afar, and it gave off a crisp tinkle.

A burst of violent spatial fluctuations abruptly erupted from within the light barrier, following which a thin black rift appeared in the air above without any premonition.

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As soon as the black rift appeared, the Nascent Soul flicked its fingers toward the black bell in quick succession. With each successive flick of its fingers, the man's face would progressively pale further and further, while the black rift overhead widened incrementally.

After many tolls of the bell, the black rift had already formed a semi-circular opening, within which black Qi and Yin winds swirled, making it impossible for anyone to glean what was lurking within the rift.

An extremely unsettling burst of cackling suddenly rang out from within.

Han Li's pupils contracted as brilliant golden light erupted from his mouth. At the same time, he expelled more Divine Essencefused Light to protect himself.

He didn't dare to get careless in the face of a spirit treasure.

Right at this moment, a peculiar sequence of events unfolded.

Wispy black tendrils suddenly appeared in the air around Han Li, slowly circling around him, but not expressing any urge to attack.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this and before he could figure out what kind of technique this was, the black tendrils suddenly manifested into a black light formation that trapped Han Li right at its center.

"Crap!"

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as his Divine Essencefused Light hurtled toward the formation around him in a frenzy.

However, it was clearly already too late.

Black light flashed from the formation and following a rush of dizziness, Han Li disappeared on the spot along with his giant cauldron and golden lotus flower.

In the next instant, he stumbled into a peculiar space that was lined with black shadows, and unsettling ghostly cries rang out around him in unrelenting waves.

He had been forcibly teleported into that black rift.

Han Li faltered initially upon seeing this, but for some reason, a smile then appeared on his face.

At the same time, the Nascent Soul of his opponent outside the rift hurriedly began to unleash the black bell's power again.

Amid a string of tinkling chimes, the black rift slowly closed, settling to become a thin black line that was over 100 feet in length hovering in the air.

The Nascent Soul then flashed before immediately returning to his body.

Han Li's opponent then opened his eyes as a sinister smile appeared on his face.

That black rift was an independent space opened up by the Thousand Soul Bell. Even though its name suggested that there were only 1,000 souls within the bell, there were actually much closer to 10,000 Yin souls lurking within the treasure. All of these Yin souls were the souls of extremely vicious demon beasts that had been refined using a special secret technique, ensuring that they retained virtually all of the power they had in life.

Furthermore, the main soul within the bell was even a mid-Deity Transformation Stage heavenly spirit beast during its life. His master had only stumbled upon it during its dying moments in a stroke of massive fortune, thereby allowing him to refine it as the main soul of this treasure.

With the assistance from the other Yin souls, the main soul's power could be enhanced by around twofold. Furthermore, there was a restriction that severely debilitated the powers of all beings within the bell aside from Yin souls, so all cultivators who were abducted into the treasure were placed at a severe disadvantage.

As such, even a late-Deity Transformation cultivator would most likely perish in there.

The armor-clad cultivator looked up at the thin black line in the sky and a peculiar light flashed through his eyes, but he didn't take any action.

Meanwhile, Han Li's opponent sat in mid-air with his legs crossed, waiting for the Yin souls within the treasure to devour Han Li so he could end this battle.

After around five minutes, the black bell in the sky suddenly began to tremor violently. At the same time, erratic halos of black light began to emanate from it, and bursts of peculiar cries erupted from within, creating a very bizarre spectacle to behold.

Han Li's opponent was able to use the treasure, but had not forged a spiritual connection with it, so he had no idea what was going on.

The black bell suddenly let loose a grief-stricken chime, following which the massive projection around it abruptly shattered. The projection disintegrated into wisps of black Qi that disappeared into the Thousand Soul Bell in the blink of an eye.

"Impossible! The main soul was destroyed?" The man finally understood what had happened, and an expression of shock and horror appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, a burst of black light suddenly punctured a certain spot in the space overhead, creating a fist-sized black hole.

Spiritual light flashed and a burst of azure light shot forth through the hole, quickly revealing itself to be a humanoid figure.

As a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator, Han Li's opponent seemed to have detected something, and he hurriedly turned toward that direction.

However, the humanoid figure disappeared in the flash before suddenly reappearing behind the man, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

A thunderous roar erupted, making the man's ears ring as a golden fist came flying toward him.

"Argh!"

The man was stunned by this turn of events, and his body suddenly shattered like a mirror, manifesting seven or eight projections at once that all fled toward different directions.

"Hmph! You're not going anywhere!"

That humanoid figure was naturally none other than Han Li. He let loose a cold harrumph as he launched a string of identical punches toward all of the fleeing projections at once, all of which struck the backs of the projections with unerring accuracy.

All of the projections were vanquished and disappeared on the spot, but a small silver shield appeared behind the man's true body, keeping the golden fist at bay.

However, the silver shield only managed to withstand the fist for a split second before it was violently shattered.

The golden fist struck the man on the back without any hesitation, but right as it made contact with the man's body, a layer of azure armor suddenly appeared over his skin.

A resounding boom erupted as the fist struck the suit of armor in a violent manner amid a flash of intertwining golden and azure light.

The azure light tremored violently as the fist sank several inches into the man's body, sending him flying through the air amid a howl of agony.

However, Han Li was not satisfied with the outcome of that attack. His fist had been imbued with immense power, but he felt as if he had struck a wall of feathers, and only a small proportion of that power had actually impacted his opponent's body.

Otherwise, that punch would've been enough to inflict a severe wound.

In the instant that he was forcibly teleported into the Yin soul space, Han Li finally sensed his opponent's killing intent, so he naturally wasn't going to hold back in his attacks.

Even though he was surprised by the fact that his punch seemed to have been buffered, he didn't allow his surprise to slow him down in the slightest as he instantly appeared above his opponent. He grabbed the air with a single hand, upon which a golden longsword suddenly appeared in his grasp.

Just he was about to plunge the sword into his opponent's body, the latter suddenly let loose a desperate cry.

"Stop! I concede!"

Han Li's lips twitched upon hearing this, but he completely disregarded this plea for mercy as he brought his sword down without any hesitation.

With the insane sharpness of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, he would definitely be able to slice the man's body cleanly in half, even with that suit of azure armor he was wearing.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby as a swath of yellow light shot forth, sweeping up Han Li's opponent and causing him to vanish on the spot.

As such, Han Li's sword struck empty air.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he turned toward a certain direction. There, over 200 feet away, a ball of yellow light suddenly erupted, following which two humanoid figures emerged from within.

They were none other than the armor-clad overseer of the match, as well as Han Li's opponent.

The former remained expressionless as usual, yet the latter's face was deathly pale, and his suit of azure armor was stained with blood as he glowered at Han Li with resentment in his eyes.

It appeared that even though Han Li's punch had been buffered significantly by the suit of azure armor, his opponent had still suffered internal injuries, to the extent that he had thrown up a mouthful of blood. The fist indentation on the back of his armor was quite apparent.

Han Li glanced at his opponent expressionlessly before stowing away his longsword and extending a salute to the armor-clad cultivator.

"Thank you for stepping in, Senior. I was unable to withdraw my attack in time and almost wounded Fellow Daoist Weng there!" Han Li said with an earnest expression.

His opponent almost threw up another mouthful of blood upon hearing this.

Unable to withdraw his attack in time? He clearly had no intention of withdrawing his attack at all! He was striking to kill!

A peculiar look flashed through the armor-clad cultivator's eyes, following which a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"It's easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment in a battle, so that's very much understandable. In this battle for the Spirit Land, Fellow Daoist Weng has conceded, so Fellow Daoist Han is naturally the victor and will take possession of the Spirit Land. Do either of you have any objections?"

Han Li smiled upon hearing this; he naturally wasn't going to pose any objections.

His opponent wore an indignant expression and opened his mouth several times, but refrained from saying anything in the end.

Seeing as neither of them said anything, the armor-clad cultivator nodded before extending a hand toward Han Li. "Hand over your Dark Azure Pendant!"

Han Li immediately flipped his palm over upon hearing this, summoning the azure jade pendant, which he then tossed over to the armor-clad cultivator.

The latter caught the jade pendant before bringing it toward a thumb-sized green crystal in his other hand that he had already prepared in advance. The small stone immediately disappeared into the jade pendant right as the two made contact with one another.

"Alright, the coordinates of the Spirit Land have already been injected into your Dark Azure Pendant. Unless you voluntarily relinquish this plot of Spirit Land, you won't be able to participate in the battle for the Spirit Lands that's held once every century. You two can leave now; the next match is about to begin soon."

The armor-clad cultivator returned the jade pendant to Han Li before waving a dismissive hand at both of them. At this moment, an opening had already appeared in the white light barrier around them.

Han Li didn't say anything further as he cupped his fist in a salute toward the armor-clad cultivator, then disappeared into the distance through that opening as a streak of azure light.

Meanwhile, his opponent wore a thunderous expression as he also flew away from the venue. However, he paused nearby and glowered at the direction that Han Li had left in before flying toward the opposite direction.

Even though he had sustained internal injuries during that recently concluded battle, he was still flying quickly. After a short while, he had appeared high in the air over an unfamiliar place, upon which he came to an abrupt halt.

"Why is your aura so chaotic? Were you injured in the battle for the Spirit Land?" A familiar cold voice sounded, following which azure light flashed in the air nearby. That miniature green wyrm appeared and inspected the man with a cold expression.

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"Sorry to disappoint you, Master; that man was unfathomably powerful, and I was defeat by him. If it weren't for the intervention from the Heavenly Guard in the end, I would've perished by that man's sword." As soon as the green wyrm appeared, the man hurriedly lowered his head in a respectful manner.

"Your opponent is only an early-Deity Transformation cultivator, and I even lent you my Thousand Soul Bell; how did you manage to lose? When did you become so useless?" The green wyrm's expression darkened significantly.

Cold sweat immediately began pouring down the man's face as he explained, "I did everything I could, Master, but there seemed to be no end to the tricks that my opponent could pull out of his sleeve. He had a cauldron spirit treasure, and he's also achieved complete mastery of the Vajra Arts."

"He also has a spirit treasure? And he's completely mastered the Vajra Arts?" The green wyrm was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed, I speak only the truth, Master." The man was slightly relieved upon hearing the hint of intrigue in the wyrm's voice.

A contemplative expression appeared on the green wyrm's face before it suddenly extended a claw toward the man.

A ball of black light shot forth from his body, carrying the Thousand Soul Bell into the wyrm's grasp.

It carefully inspected the bell for a while, following which its expression immediately darkened again.

The man was feeling quite uneasy upon seeing this.

The green wyrm chuckled coldly, and scoffed, "So that means this man is walking the path of simultaneous cultivation. Hehe, such a style of cultivation was popular once back in ancient times, but barely anyone pursues this path now. Body refinement and cultivating magic power both take an extremely long time; doing both works to a certain extent at low cultivations bases, but over the long term, one's cultivation would inevitably trail behind their peers if they were to continue down this path. On top of that, body refinement requires a certain level of aptitude. As far as I'm aware of, there are only a small handful of people who have reached the Body Integration Stage while pursuing this path, including the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign. All of these people were body refinement warriors to begin within, and only became cultivators after consuming some type of spirit medicine. Otherwise, walking this path will only ruin one's future cultivation."

"This man has already achieved full mastery of the Vajra Arts; are there any other body refinement techniques for him to use to continue strengthing his body?" the man asked with furrowed brows.

"Attaining full mastery of the Vajra Arts is already the pinnacle among mortal body refinement warriors. The next step for him to progress is to naturally begin using some demonic cultivation arts to further refine his body. However, those cultivation arts naturally aren't meant for humans, so it'll be very perilous for him to engage in such practices. For him to be able to cultivate both his magic power and his body to such an extent makes it no surprise that you were no match for him. However, that doesn't explain how he was able to break free from my Thousand Soul Bell. Not only was the main soul in the bell destroyed, around 60% to 70% of all of the other Yin souls within are also missing." The wyrm's voice suddenly cooled as he spoke.

"I don't know how he managed to do this, either. I trapped him in that space, but he managed to escape not long after that, and I wasn't able to witness what he did in there," the man hurriedly explained.

The wyrm scrutinized the man for a long time before withdrawing his gaze with a cold harrumph. "Hmph, the Thousand Soul Bell isn't a powerful enough treasures to make it onto the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, but it's more than powerful enough to crush a late-Deity Transformation cultivator. It appeared that this man either possesses a treasure that is the bane of all Yin souls or has mastered an extremely powerful Yang-attribute cultivation art. So be it, I'll just have to capture some more beast souls to replenish the ones that are missing. However, we can't give up on the treasures left behind by that person."

The man was elated that the wyrm wasn't pinning any further blame on him, but a hesitant look then appeared on his face as he mused, "Thank you for sparing me, Master. The problem is that the plot of Spirit Land already belongs to that man. If he sets up restrictions around the plot of land, it'll be rather difficult for us to go in and search for treasures there."

"That will indeed be rather troublesome, but the plot of Spirit Land is quite large, and he won't be able to set up so many powerful restrictions in a short time. Go to where my true body is residing in seclusion, and I'll give you something for you to take to my good friend, Gongyang Gui. He possesses a Heavenly Five-Colored Flag that has extraordinary concealment abilities. Borrow that from him and we'll sneak into the Spirit Land at the right opportunity. In doing so, we'll be owing Old Devil Gongyang a big favor," the green wyrm grumbled.

The man didn't dare to say anything in response, and could only nod emphatically with a respectful expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Han Li had just flown out of Deep Heaven City, and was traveling toward the plains outside of the city.

Following the conclusion of that battle, he was heading straight toward the plot of Spirit Land he had chosen rather than returning to the Flying Spirit Palace.

With Han Li's current abilities, he was able to fly extremely quickly, and it only took him an uneventful journey spanning around three to four days to reach a massive set of lush mountain ranges.

This was the so-called Glorious Sound Mountain, and Han Li stopped in the air above one of the mountains in the mountain ranges. He scanned his gaze over this massive mountain, which was hundreds of thousands of kilometers in size, and his narrowed with a contemplative expression.

Even though this was the most inferior of the three mountain ranges displayed by the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, it was still a set of mountain ranges that could be used for cultivation by Deity Transformation cultivators, so it naturally possessed high spiritual Qi density. Compared to so-called cultivation holy lands in the human world, the difference was night and day.

After inspecting the mountain for a while, Han Li gave a content nod before descending into the mountain ranges as a streak of azure light.

Not long after that, he had already covered a distance of over 50,000 kilometers.

Even though he was racing ahead at an astonishing speed, his powerful spiritual sense allowed him to detect everything within a radius of over 5,000 kilometers.

Along the way, he had already passed by four or five shimmering restrictions, which were clearly where the cave abodes of other cultivators were situated.

Han Li paid no heed to these neighbors and continued to fly on ahead.

After passing through almost the entirety of the mountain ranges, Han Li finally found the plot of Spirit Land on the map that belonged to him. The plot of land stretched for over 10,000 kilometers, and there was no end to it in sight. Furthermore, there was not even a single cultivator here aside from himself.

Han Li was quite elated, but he wasn't in a hurry to build a cave abode. Instead, he flew in a circle around the annotated border on the map, which indicated the boundaries of his plot of Spirit Land. During the process, he would toss out white formation flags at regular intervals, all of which burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

These formation flags were only treasures of the lowest grade and only possessed a very lackluster illusionary effect. They were only there for symbolic purposes, informing other nearby cultivators that this plot of land now had an owner, thereby serving as a warning against trespassers, intentional or not.

After that, Han Li began to travel through this area in a leisurely manner.

Over half a day later, he discovered several small spirit mines and a few naturally occurring spirit medicine patches.

Of course, the spirit stones and spirit medicines that could be found at those locations were all quite low in caliber, and it was most likely the case that the previous owner of this land couldn't even be bothered to excavate and farm those sites.

These sites naturally didn't really catch Han Li's eye, either, but they came as a minor pleasant surprise to him.

After inspecting the entire area, Han Li hovered in the air high above the center of the plot of Spirit Land with a contemplative look on his face, feeling a little perplexed.

He didn't discover anything special about this place, but his opponent had gone to such extreme lengths during their battle. Could it really be the case that he was simply targeting this place because it was beneficial for the cultivation of one of his secret techniques?

Han Li shook his head to reject the notion as soon as it appeared in his mind.

His opponent's reaction to losing the battle indicated that things definitely weren't as simple as that. Furthermore, the Spirit Land was such a vast area; why was he willing to go so far for this particular plot of land, to the extent that he was prepared to kill Han Li? It appeared that this place would have to be carefully searched again. Otherwise, Han Li felt as if there was something constantly nagging at him, and he wouldn't be able to cultivate with a calm heart.

After making his decision, Han Li began to consider constructing a cave abode.

Even though the land here was all quite similar, there were naturally a few locations were spiritual Qi was especially rich and abundant.

After some careful consideration, Han Li finally made a decision. As such, he immediately rose into the air as a streak of azure light, and flew toward the location he had chosen.

Not long after that, Han Li appeared between two massive mountains, in a place with tumbling five-colored mist.

This place seemed to be a massive swamp, and the vibrant five-colored mist emanating from it reached altitudes of thousands of feet. It didn't possess extremely toxic properties, but inhalation was far from advisable, even for cultivators.

Most importantly, there were some unknown constituents in this mist that restricted Han Li's spiritual sense to a certain extent, making him unable to detect what lay deep within the mist.

Only after using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes was Han Li able to discover that several kilometers into the mist, there was a natural valley that connected the two massive mountains.

Such a naturally obscure location was perfect for Han Li's cave abode.

As such, Han Li flew deep into the mist before easily carving out a hole in the side of a certain nondescript rock face within the valley. He then released his flying swords to dig out two extremely long passageways that led directly into the bellies of the two giant mountains.

He was planning to construct two cave abodes at once.

One of them was a hoax that would be used as a diversion, while the other one was the cave abode in which he would cultivate, as well as nurture his spirit insects, spirit beasts, and spirit medicines.

As for that Hidden Fortune Abode, it was too small, so there was naturally no need to use it now.

After constructing his cave abodes, Han Li immediately transferred the spirit herbs and spirit medicines he'd taken here from the human world into the medicine garden. The Gold Devouring Beetles were also placed into an enclosure. After being nurtured for so many years, all of the Gold Devouring Beetles had reached astonishing sizes, and appeared to be extremely menacing. They were clearly already close to full maturity.

As for that, Leopard Kirin Beast, Han Li also prepared a comfortable nest for it so it could cultivate on its own.

However, after walking into a particularly eerie empty beast room, a solemn look appeared on Han Li's face.

He gently waved his spirit beast bracelet toward the beast room, following which a burst of black light swept forth, and a black object that was around 10 feet tall abruptly appeared.

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The object was round and resembled a cocoon. It was emitting faint black light, and the image of a crimson malicious spirit could be seen on its surface.

The malicious spirit possessed a single horn and three eyes, giving off a very sinister appearance.

This cocoon was naturally formed by the Weeping Soul Beast. Back when the Weeping Soul Beast had last evolved, it had also transformed into a black cocoon just like this one. The image of the malicious spirit on the cocoon was identical to the one on the Weeping Soul Beast's back.

Han Li stroked his chin as he looked at this cocoon, and a hint of elation flashed through his eyes.

During the battle for the Spirit Land, when he was sucked into the Yin soul space, he had immediately sensed the abundant Yin Qi in the air. Immediately thereafter, countless vicious souls materialized, all of which swept directly toward Han Li, led by a powerful ghostly monarch.

Han Li naturally released his Weeping Soul Beast without any hesitation upon seeing this.

This beast possessed the incredible ability to devour souls, and as light poured forth from its nostrils, none of the normal Yin souls were able to put up any resistance as they were reduced to sustenance for the Weeping Soul Beast. Only that ghostly monarch was a little troublesome to deal with. It had cultivated its body to take on a substantial form, thus allowing it to resist the Weeping Soul Beast's light.

However, Han Li used his Thunderstorm Wings to appear behind it and unleash a sneak attack with his Divine Devilbane Lightning, upon which the situation changed drastically.

After being wounded, the ghostly monarch was no longer able to use its secret technique to stabilize its soul. In the end, the Weeping Soul Beast swooped in to devour the ghostly monarch during its battle with Han Li.

After engulfing so many vicious souls and this final ghostly monarch, which possessed powers comparable to a Deity Transformation cultivator, the Weeping Soul Beast immediately broke through its evolution bottleneck, thereby transforming into this black cocoon.

Thankfully, Han Li had witnessed the same phenomenon in the past, so he was filled with elation rather than panic.

As such, he didn't have any time to take care of the rest of the vicious soul as he forcibly broke out of the Yin soul space with his Law Destruction Eye, escaping into the outside world with this cocoon.

Now, he was placing the giant cocoon into this beast room, and he would only have to wait for some time for the Weeping Soul Beast to complete its evolution.

Han Li took one final long look at this cocoon before departing from this room, heading for his medicine garden instead.

The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, Dragon Scale Fruits, and other spirit medicines in the garden were quite rare even in the Spirit Realm, so Han Li had to treat them with care.

The only thing that was missing was the Profound Goddess's Palm that Han Li had painstakingly nurtured.

The palm had borne fruit in the human world, but it had completely wilted and disintegrated into dust as soon as Han Li took this fruit.

What was even more incredible was that the several cuttings he had taken from the palm in advance also disintegrated.

Thus, there was no way for him to plant it again.

It was most likely the case that not only had all of his cuttings been ruined, all of the cuttings carried by others had to have also ceased to exist.

That was the effect of the law of exclusivity.

No Profound Goddess's Palms could exist in the same world, and that was something that Han Li couldn't change.

Even the Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators in the Spirit Realm were powerless to alter the laws of heaven and earth; they were only capable of using the world's origin Qi around them.

It would take beings of higher levels to be able to control such things; perhaps beings as powerful as heavenly true spirits would be capable of such a task.

This was also an indication of just how much the Profound Heavenly Fruit defied the natural order.

At the thought of the Profound Heavenly Fruit that he had finally obtained after several hundred years of work, Han Li was struck by a sense of excitement and elation.

Due to his ascension and his subsequent complete loss of magic power, he hadn't had any time to carefully inspect the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

Now, he had some time before he had to report back to Deep Heaven City, and that was a sufficient interval for him to do some research on the fruit.

As such, after setting up all of the required restrictions outside the cave abode, Han Li made his way into a secret chamber and sat down onto the ground with his legs crossed.

He flipped a hand over, and a pristine white box appeared over his palm.

The surface of the jade box was plastered with seven or eight restriction talismans, all of which were shimmering with spiritual light.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li tore off the talismans before slowly removing the lid of the box.

A shimmering white object that was several inches in length appeared before Han Li's eyes.

He extended a hand to extricate this object from the jade box, then carefully inspected it while stroking it with his finger.

The object was of a thin oval shape, and its surface was extremely smooth. It was ever so slightly yellow in color, and one end was slightly blunt, while the other was completely even, as if it had been chopped by a blade. It looked like a small oval rod.

However, it was only around half a foot in total length.

On the surface of the rod, there was a series of indecipherable dark green patterns. The rod appeared to be made from something that was a blend of metal and wood, and it was quite supple to the touch.

This peculiar rod was the fruit from the Profound Goddess's Palm.

The humanoid puppet had informed him that in the beginning, the fruit from the palm wasn't like this in the beginning. Instead, it was a spherical fruit that was shimmering with white light, and it only became like this after being fertilized by the green liquid for years on end.

Han Li was rather speechless when he first caught sight of this strange object.

Back when he had just obtained this fruit, he had only examined it for a short time, but he was still struck by how peculiar this thing was.

However, he was busy working toward ascension to the Spirit Realm at the time, so he didn't put in any diligent research.

After a brief pause, Han Li carried the object with one hand while extending a finger from his other hand. Azure spiritual light flashed from his fingertip as he gently tapped it against the rod.

The azure spiritual light tremored as if it had come into contact with some kind of restriction before completely dissipating, unable to penetrate so much as a single millimeter into the fruit's surface.

Han Li raised his eyebrows, but he wasn't surprised to see this. This fruit had always rejected any injections of spiritual Qi, and no spiritual power could be infused into it. After staring at it for a while longer, a thought occurred to Han Li as golden light shimmered from the hand that was carrying the fruit. A peculiar scene then unfolded; Han Li was able to sink his fingers into the fruit with ease, causing it to warp and distort as if were made from soft dough.

However, when Han Li released the fruit again, it instantly reverted back to its original rod form.

Han Li suddenly opened his mouth to expel a thin golden thread, which circled around the fruit once before returning to Han Li's mouth.

However, the sword thread formed by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword wasn't even able to leave the slightest trace on the surface of the fruit. Han Li was quite intrigued to see this, and he flicked his finger to blast an arc of golden lightning onto the rod.

The arc of lightning was repelled by the fruit, striking a corner of the secret chamber, causing the entire chamber to tremor slightly due to the force of the resulting explosion. Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he grabbed the air with his other hand, following which an egg-sized ball of silver flames emerged over his palm. Han Li immediately tossed the fruit into the fireball without any hesitation, but Han Li was disappointed by what he saw next.

As soon as the fruit was hurled toward the fireball, the latter suddenly dissipated into specks of silver flames before materializing to form that Spirit Devouring Fire Raven in the air several tens of feet away.

As soon as the Fire Raven appeared, it stared intently at the fruit with horror in its eyes, letting loose a few sharp and urgent cries to express its fear.

Han Li's brows furrowed even further as he grabbed ahold of the fruit again. His Spirit Devouring Heavenly Flames were a culmination of the most powerful Yin and Yang flames; how could it be terrified of a piece of fruit? That was truly a surprise to him.

Could it be that this fruit was even more mysterious and profound than he had anticipated?

Immediately thereafter, Han Li brought out his glacial flames, wind blades, and various other types of attacks to experiment on the fruit, only for it to remain completely unscathed throughout this sustained assault.

Han Li had even brought out a few Gold Devouring Beetles from the insect room and placed them onto the fruit.

In his memories, the Gold Devouring Beetles were capable of engulfing anything and everything, yet they displayed a similar reaction to the Spirit Devouring Fire Raven, hurriedly flying away in a panicked frenzy with no intention to try and devour this object whatsoever.

Han Li then tried using his Law Destruction Eye to attack the fruit, all to no avail, either. Despite Han Li's vast array of abilities, he was completely stumped and was left scratching his head.

He then injected all of his power into his eyes, upon which piercing blue light erupted from his pupils. He was trying to glean the internal structure of this fruit using his spirit eyes.

Much to his surprise, his spirit eyes revealed to him a pea-sized speck of white light within the fruit that was flashing in an extremely feeble manner.

Han Li was immediately reinvigorated upon making this discovery. However, further inspection yielded no other results.

During the next half a month or so, Han Li was almost constantly carrying out experiments on the Profound Heavenly Fruit. During the final few days, he even set up a few profound miniature formations within his secret chamber, trying to use the power of the formations to refine this fruit, but none of that worked, either.

On the final night, Han Li stroked the Profound Heavenly Fruit with his finger, but his expression was completely calm and devoid of urgency.

It appeared that without encountering any miraculous opportunities, he wouldn't be able to do anything to or with this fruit. However, after transcending his emotions of frustration and urgency, his mental state had become more resolute than ever.

As such, the past half a month or so wasn't a complete waste of time. However, he had to return to Deep Heaven City the next day. With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit in his hand again, this time, choosing to inspect the dark green patterns that he had paid minimal attention to in the past.

All of a sudden, an extremely peculiar look appeared in Han Li's eyes as a startling thought occurred to him.

The diagram depicted by and the colors of the patterns suddenly reminded him of something.

There was another object with similar patterns on its surface and even though its color wasn't completely identical to that of the Profound Heavenly Fruit, it bore a strong resemblance.

Why hadn't he thought of this object before?

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Han Li suddenly reached for his storage bracelet, and a nondescript-looking leather bag appeared in his hand.

He tipped the bag over, and a small green vial came tumbling out into his grasp.

It was none other than that mysterious little vial.

Han Li held the vial in one hand and the Profound Heavenly Fruit in the other as he inspected the two side by side through narrowed eyes.

The two items were different both in shape and mass, but the dark green patterns on their surfaces really did bear a strong resemblance.

Could it be that the two objects were connected somehow? Could it be that the mysterious little vial was refined from a Profound Heavenly Fruit?

Han Li's heart rate began to accelerate as he considered the small vial's incredible abilities.

The more the thought about it, the plausible this notion seemed.

The small vial was made from a different material compared to the Profound Heavenly Fruit, but it was also a material that he had yet to decipher the origins of.

He inspected the objects in his hands before exhaling as he cast his gaze toward the small vial.

All of a sudden, he placed the Profound Heavenly Fruit on the ground before removing the lid off the mysterious little vial.

A drop of green liquid dripped soundlessly onto the fruit.

The scenes that followed struck Han Li with a sense of elation.

Azure light flashed from the drop of liquid before it disappeared into the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

Brilliant blue light erupted from Han Li's eyes again as he gleaned the internal situation within the fruit.

As soon as the drop of green liquid disappeared into the fruit, it immediately fused with the speck of white light at its center. A few moments later, the feeble speck of white light expanded slightly.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, but there were no further changes to the white light following further observation, and the blue light in Han Li's gradually faded.

He lowered his head with a contemplative expression as he considered what he'd just seen. It appeared that only the mysterious green liquid in the small vial had any effect on the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

He didn't know what purpose that speck of white light could serve, but it appeared that the only way to find out was to continue feeding the green liquid to the fruit.

After thinking to himself for a long while, Han Li carefully stowed away both the small vial and the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

He was going to infuse the green liquid into the fruit at regular intervals.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, in the same instant that the green liquid disappeared into the white light within the Profound Heavenly Fruit, something was happening in the Heavenly Spirit Region of the three human regions, which was countless kilometers away from Deep Heaven City. At the center of a small island that was hovering tens of thousands of kilometers in the air, golden light suddenly erupted from a translucent jade wall that was inscribed full of golden and silver runes. At the same time, a crisp cry rang out, spreading throughout the entire island.

Two green-robed cultivators who were seated in front of the jade wall with their eyes closed both opened their eyes in unison with shock etched on their faces."Golden light! Could it be that another Divine Spirit Treasure has appeared?" one of them exclaimed.

The other cultivator remained silent, but his eyes were also filled with elation as he looked at the jade wall.

All of a sudden, a dozen or so streaks of light shot forth from various locations all over the island, all of which converged toward the jade wall.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, a dozen or so green-robed cultivators had gathered before the wall, all of whom were scrutinizing the golden light with excitement in their eyes.

A few moments later, the golden light from the jade wall gradually faded, which made the dozen or so cultivators rather nervous. All of them stared at the jade wall without even daring to blink, as if they were petrified of missing something.

The third line of golden runes on the jade wall suddenly blurred before moving down a line. Meanwhile, a new line of golden text appeared on the vacated third line.

All of the excited cultivators' expressions immediately stiffened. Everyone stared at the third line of golden runes with flabbergasted looks on their faces. "It's a Profound Heavenly Spirit Artifact! And it's climbed to third on the roll as soon as it appeared!" After a long while, an elderly green-robed man murmured to himself, "Heavens, could it be that another true spirit tribulation is about to descend upon our Spirit Realm?"

All of the other cultivators were also alerted to this possibility upon hearing this, and all of their faces paled as horrified expressions appeared in their eyes. None of them seemed to want to say anything.

Finally, the golden light on the jade wall completely faded, and everything returned to normal.

Looking up above the jade wall, there was a silver plaque that was over 100 feet in length hovering roughly 10 feet above the wall. There was a string of golden text on the plaque that read "Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll".

Not long after that, streaks of light shot forth from the island, heading toward the three human regions and the seven demon territories.

At the same time, within the restricted areas of the larger races in the primordial world, similar changes were taking place on all of the jade walls there. The same information was being relayed to all of the races, and this development had stunned all of the higher-ups among them.

Not long after that, all of the higher-ups among the various races, including the human and demon races, had burst into an uproar.

It appeared that the Spirit Realm hadn't changed at all, but drastic changes were taking place beneath the visible surface. All races were bolstering their defenses in anticipation for the ordeal that could befall them soon.

Of course, as the instigator behind all of this, Han Li himself was completely oblivious to what was happening. He was currently meditating in his cave abode, preparing to return to Deep Heaven City the next day.

Time passed by slowly and just as daylight was about to arrive outside the cave abode, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes as an elated look appeared on his face.

He immediately rose to his feet before rushing out of his secret chamber, heading straight for one of the beast rooms.

Han Li stood outside the beast room and peered in through a window, upon which he was completely rooted to the spot.

A head-sized hole had been punctured into massive black cocoon within the room, and the cocoon was now completely empty.

Directly above the cocoon, there was an inky-black cloud hovering in mid-air, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

Han Li was quite startled to see this, but he still cast an incantation seal toward the door of the room with furrowed brows.

Azure light immediately flashed from the door as an invisible restriction was lifted.

The door gradually rose up, and Han Li strode into the room.

The black cloud in the air, which was around 10 feet in size, didn't display any reaction to Han Li's arrival.

Han Li stared up at the cloud before making a hand seal. He opened his mouth, a black bead shot forth from within.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Bead that he had refined long ago.

Han Li began to chant something as he pointed a finger at the Weeping Soul Bead.

Green light flashed from the bead, and its surface began to flash erratically.

The dark cloud in the air finally began to react. Gusts of powerful Yin winds were swept up around it and at the same time, arcs of black lightning erupted within the cloud amid a series of rumbling thunderclaps.

The bead hovering before Han Li also began to vibrate, and the green light emanating from it began to brighten significantly.

Han Li's expression changed upon seeing this.

He could sense resistance from the dark cloud, as if it were trying to shrug off the call of the Weeping Soul Bead.

Following its evolution, the Weeping Soul Beast was following in the footsteps of the Six-Winged Frost Centipede, trying to escape from Han Li's control.

However, Han Li had now recovered all of his powers, so he naturally wasn't going to allow this to happen. He immediately began to circulate his magic power as he flicked his 10 fingers in quick succession, casting incantation seals of different colors, all of which disappeared into the Weeping Soul Bead.

The bead let loose an anguished cry, following which the brilliant green light radiating from it began to dim again.

At this moment, a massive thunderclap erupted from the dark cloud, following which a dark figure emerged from within amid countless arcs of black lightning. The creature descended right in front of Han Li, staring intently at the black bead with a conflicted light in its crimson eyes.

Han Li's heart jolted, but upon catching sight of the appearance of the creatures standing before him, a peculiar look appeared on his face. His expression was a mixture of astonishment, surprise, and exasperation.

The figure standing before him was another black-robed "Han Li". Aside from the fact that the color of its robes was different, it was completely identical to Han Li down to the very last detail.

Upon seeing this expression on Han Li's face, "Han Li" also adopted the same expression, making Han Li feel as if he were peering into a mirror.

Han Li was silent for a long while before his brows furrowed as he asked, "You're the Weeping Soul Beast?"

The black-robed "Han Li" put on a bashful smile as he replied, "Mas... ter, I... I am... Weeping Soul!"

His voice was extremely coarse, but he spoke with the proficiency of an infant.

Han Li had already ascertained this being's identity through his connection with the Weeping Soul Bead, but he was still struck by a sense of shock upon hearing the beast's reply. "Have you taken on a permanent form or have you learned a transformation technique?"

The black-robed Han Li's mouth gaped open upon hearing this, and it seemed to be at a loss for how to reply.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a wry smile appeared on his face.

The Weeping Soul Beast had just attained intelligence, but how was it supposed to know everything straight away? He had to inject some knowledge into the beast's mind before it would be able to formulate a reply.

This was a rather difficult task for other cultivators, but it was very simple for Han Li.

He abruptly placed a hand over the top of his own head, following which black light flashed, and a black Nascent Soul that was around an inch in size appeared.

This was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul.

Back when Han Li had recovered his magic power, he had also materialized this second Nascent Soul again. However, this Nascent Soul still only possessed Nascent Soul Stage power, so it wasn't much use for Han Li in battle. As such, Han Li was planning to infuse it into a puppet to help him to look after the cave abode.

Thus, the Nascent Soul shot forth and disappeared into the body of the black-robed Han Li.

Black lightning flashed all over the black-robed Han Li's body, and a painful expression appeared on his face.

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Han Li used the second Nascent Soul to inject some information about language and cultivation arts slowly into the Weeping Soul Beast's spiritual sense. Thankfully, he was able to do this with this second Nascent Soul as a medium. Otherwise, no other Deity Transformation cultivator would dare to adopt such an injection method.

After a while, the black-robed Han Li's wooden eyes gradually became clearer, seemingly having attained a lot of knowledge.

Han Li withdrew his hand seal before waving a hand toward the beast.

The second Nascent Soul immediately flew out of the Weeping Soul Beast's, yet the spiritual light shimmering from the former had dimmed significantly, looking as if it had expended a lot of energy during that process.

The Nascent Soul swayed before disappearing into Han Li's body again.

"You understand what I'm asking you now, right?" Han Li asked.

The Weeping Soul Beast blinked, and only after a long while did it reply, "I'm imitating Master's form, but I can transform into other forms as well."

Even though it had attained a lot of knowledge, the Weeping Soul Beast was still like a newborn infant, so it didn't even know how to lie. Furthermore, it had been nurtured by Han Li for a long time, and its attempt to escape from Han Li's control was only an unconscious resistant reaction. After attaining intelligence, it no longer had any intention to resist Han Li, and had become extremely respectful toward him instead.

That was why it had decided to transform into Han Li for its first transformation.

Through his connection with the Weeping Soul Bead, Han Li could roughly glean what the Weeping Soul Beast was thinking, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He opened his mouth, and the Weeping Soul Beast disappeared down his throat as a wisp of black smoke.

"Can you show me your transformation technique?" Han Li was feeling rather curious about the Weeping Soul Beast's abilities.

The black-robed Han Li nodded before letting loose a sharp cry. All of a sudden, it tore apart the black robes as thick long fur sprouted all over its body, At the same, it swelled drastically in size, transforming into a massive black ape around 20 feet tall in the blink of an eye.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this.

So its so-called transformation technique was just to switch back to its original form?

Just as a hint of disappointment was welling up in Han Li's heart, the giant ape suddenly let loose a loud harrumph as gusts of Yin winds and countless arcs of black lightning were swept up around it.

Immediately thereafter, its body expanded once again!

The fur all over its body began to turn red as three twisted horns slowly sprouted from above its head. A bulge also appeared on its glabella, following which a crimson demonic eye emerged. At the same time, its face elongated, and its teeth turned into sharp fangs.

It had transformed into a malicious spirit akin to the image on the Weeping Soul Beast's back except it appeared to be even more vicious. Furthermore, its massive body was around 60 to 70 feet tall, and filled up the entire beast room.

What came as even more of a surprise was that three black bone spikes had appeared on the Weeping Soul Beast's back, each of which was around 10 feet in length. There was also black Qi swirling around these spikes, and he could clearly recall that the malicious spirit in the pattern on the Weeping Soul Beast's back didn't possess those spikes.

However, the Deity Transformation Stage ghostly monarch that the beast had devoured was able to manifest similar bones pikes with its hands; could it be that the two were somehow connected?

Just as Han Li was contemplating this notion, the Weeping Soul Beast's body suddenly transformed into a dark cloud before shrinking to become a small black monkey. Immediately thereafter, it jumped onto the black cocoon, tearing it into pieces before feasting on it in large chunks.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a faint smile appeared on his face.

It didn't take long for the little monkey to devour the entire massive cocoon, following which it let loose an elated cry and leaped onto Han Li's shoulder, settling there in an intimate manner.

Han Li stroked the Weeping Soul Beast's furry head before stowing it away into his spirit beast bracelet.

After doing all that, he went to the nearby insect room to check on the Gold Devouring Beetles.

These beetles had reached half a foot in length each, and he was very excited to see this.

All of a sudden, he raised a hand, and azure light flashed as that small green vial appeared again.

He looked at the vial for a short while, stroking it silently with his finger.

Come to think of it, this mysterious little vial had become a lot more efficient here in the Spirit Realm.

In the past, it had taken seven days for it to produce a single drop of liquid, but that time had been shortened to three days in the Spirit Realm.

What was most surprising to Han Li was that the phenomenon manifested from the creation of the liquid at night had also been minimized.

In the past, as it basked in the moonlight, all types of strange phenomena would appear, but it only glowed with a faint white light under the moonlight now. Unless one was to inspect it from close quarters, it would be impossible to even identify the fact that it was glowing at all. Even if it didn't manage to catch someone's attention, they would only mistake it for a low-grade treasure anyway.

Han Li discovered this after he recovered his magic power.

It was almost certain that the seven moons in the Spirit Realm as well as the increased abundance of spiritual Qi here were responsible for these changes.

This was naturally good news for Han Li!

Not only was he able to extract green liquid from the vial with increased regularity, it had also become more understated and nondescript. He could even use the small vial in public on some occasions and not be afraid of it being noticed by anyone.

Han Li contemplated the situation for a short while before stowing away the small vial. He also stored the Gold Devouring Beetles and Leopard Kirin Beast into his spirit beast bracelet before exiting the cave abode.

He knew that there were most likely people with their eyes on his plot of Spirit Land, so he naturally wasn't going to leave anything important behind in his cave abode.

Moments later, a streak of azure light emerged from within the five-colored mist, traveling toward Deep Heaven City.

Several days later, the streak of light passed over a massive city wall that was several tens of feet tall, thus arriving in Deep Heaven City.

On this occasion, Han Li was already familiar with this place, so he quickly arrived in front of the massive azure tower.

There weren't that many cultivators making their way in and out of the tower at this point in time, and Han Li strode in in a leisurely manner.

According to what Zhao Wugui had told him, there was no hurry for him to go and report his plot of Spirit Land. Instead, he visited a place in the tower known as the Heavenly Armor Hall first, and was assigned a suit of Dark Azure Armor.

During his battle for the Spirit Land against the man with the Weng surname, his opponent had also worn a suit of this armor, and it was what had buffered the force of Han Li's punch in the concluding stages of their battle.

He then sought out one of the Black Iron Guards within the tower and inquired about the whereabouts of the 56th squad in the third team, and he headed directly over to that location.

After a series of twists and turns, he finally stopped in front of a mundane-looking gate.

Above the gate was a sign that read "C56" in ancient text.

Han Li looked at the shimmering white restriction on the gate before flipping over his palm, following which an azure jade pendant appeared in his hand.

He waved the jade pendant toward the gate, following which a plume of azure light shot forth, and the white restriction on the gate was instantly dispelled.

With his other hand, he gave the gate a casual push, and it opened up quite smoothly.

He made his way through the gate and found himself in a spacious hall. There were some tables and chairs within the hall, as well as two passageways on either side of the hall, seemingly leading to someplace else.

At this moment, there were two cultivators clad in suits of black armor seated next to one another, discussing something in quiet voices.

Both of them immediately turned to Han Li with surprised expressions following his arrival.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the two men, upon which he immediately raised his eyebrows.

What a coincidence!

One of the two men was none other than the green-eyed man with the Zhuo surname who had taken Han Li to the Flying Spirit Palace.

A hint of recognition appeared on his face at the sight of Han Li, following which he hurriedly rose to his feet and extended respectful bow. "Greetings, Senior Han. Could it be that you're our new squad leader?"

"Indeed, I've been assigned the role of leader of the 56th squad. I'll be in your care from now on." Han Li smiled as he tossed his jade pendant casually through the air.

The man's heart jolted as he caught the jade pendant. He carefully inspected the jade pendant before returning it to Han Li in an even more respectful manner.

"Zhuo Chong of the 56th squad pays his respects to the squad leader!"

Seeing as Han Li's identity had been verified, the other man, who was a thin man that appeared to be in his thirties, also hurriedly rose to his feet. "Dongguo Feng pays his respects to the squad leader."

Han Li waved a hand to brush aside the formalities before asking, "Are you two the only ones here?"

"Aside from Daoist Priest Ma and Fairy Xu who aren't here, our other fellow Daoists are all meditating in the silent cultivation chamber. The two of us are here on patrol. Would you like me to alert everyone to your arrival, Senior?" Zhuo Chong asked.

"There's no need to disturb them. I've only just arrived in Deep Heaven City and I'm not too familiar with this place yet, so you can give me an introduction about our squad," Han Li replied with a smile.

"I'll be sure to tell you everything I know, Senior," Zhuo Chong immediately vowed.

During the following period of time, he introduced all of the members of their squad to Han Li, then also elaborated on the patrol missions assigned to their squad.

Just as Han Li was listening to his introduction, a burst of golden light suddenly flashed before rushing into the hall, hurtling directly toward the three of them.

Zhuo Chong and Dongguo Feng glanced at one another at the sight of the golden light, but neither of them did anything. In contrast, Han Li casually made a grabbing motion, and the golden light immediately fell into his grasp as a small golden sword, attached to which was a red jade slip.

Before Han Li had a chance to extricate the jade slip, someone suddenly pushed open the gate of the hall from the outside. At the same time, the refined voice of a man sounded.

"Hehe, was that a messenger sword from our higher-ups? Looks like I'm not too late, after all... Huh? You're..." A graceful Daoist priest strode into the hall before faltering at the sight of Han Li.

"Brother Ma, this is Senior Han; he's been assigned to be our squad leader," Zhuo Chong hurried introduced.

"Senior Han... This junior pays his respects to Senior Han!" A hint of surprise appeared on the Daoist priest's face as he hurried over to Han Li before extending a respectful salute.

"There's no need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Ma. Looks like you've reached the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage, which means you're only one step away from the Deity Transformation Stage. That's very much worthy of celebration!" Han Li carefully appraised the Daoist priest before a warm smile suddenly appeared on his face.

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"You have a sharp discerning eye, Senior Han. Unfortunately, I've been stuck at this cultivation base for several hundred years already. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to take that final step before my lifespan runs out," the Daoist priest replied with a wry smile.

Han Li gave him a faint smile in response, and didn't say anything. He pulled the red jade slip off the small golden sword before examining its contents with his spiritual sense.

The other three cultivators waited patiently off to the side.

Moments later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and uttered the name of a place.

"Floating Dawn Swamp!"

"What? How could it be that place?!" Zhuo Chong exclaimed upon hearing this. Dongguo Feng and the Daoist priest were also shocked by this development.

"Why? Is there something wrong with that place?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"That's an understatement! That place is regularly frequented by beings of other races, and many of our fellow Daoists perish there every year! It's an extremely perilous place," Zhuo Chong explained in a grim voice.

"And we'll be the only squad patrolling this place?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise on his face.

"That most likely won't be the case. The Floating Dawn Swamp is an extremely massive place; even if we fly non-stop, it'll still take us half a month to fly a lap around it. Generally speaking, there would be four or five squads patrolling the place at once," Daoist Priest Ma explained.

"If we're not the only squad there, then we have nothing to complain about. We'll just need to take extra care," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

"Senior Han, you won't be aware of this, but two years ago, Leader Xuan Guang of the 12th squad was attacked by Shadow Tribe beings in the Floating Dawn Swamp, and he perished on the scene along with two of his companions; Senior Xuan Guang was already a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator at he time!" Dongguo Feng explained with a fearful expression.

"Is that so?" Han Li's expression finally changed slightly upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, the sound of footsteps rang out from the passageways on either side of the hall as a few more people emerged.

Among them were five men and a woman, two of which were elderly men, two of which appeared to be a middle-aged couple, and the remaining two were a young man who appeared to be in his late teens, as well as a boisterous-looking burly man.

These were clearly the squad members who had been meditating in the silent cultivation chambers, and they had emerged clearly because they had somehow been alerted to the arrival of the messenger sword.

All of them were naturally rather surprised to see Han Li before extending respectful bows toward him following introductions made by Zhuo Chong.

Han Li naturally responded politely in kind.

After sweeping his spiritual sense through these squad members, he took an extra glance at the teenager, who introduced himself as bearing the Ying surname.

This was at the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage, just like Daoist Priest Ma and Zhuo Chong.

Surprisingly, the two with the lowest cultivation bases were the pair of elderly men.

After learning of the fact that they were being deployed to patrol the Floating Dawn Swamp, all of them also became quite concerned.

"Alright, we can't change the orders issues by our higher-ups, so we'll just have to be more careful in the next few years. Let's set off tomorrow; make sure you're all prepared for our journey by then." Han Li issued a few instructions before making his way into one of the passageways.

He then found a silent cultivation chamber for himself and settled in there. Han Li's nonchalant reaction made all of the cultivators present even more concerned. Everyone turned to Zhuo Chong in the end.

The young man who appeared to be in his teens asked, "Brother Zhuo, did you inform Senior Han of the perils of the Floating Dawn Swamp?"

"Of course I did, but it appears that he hasn't really taken me seriously." Zhuo Chong heaved a faint sigh.

"We have no choice in the matter anyway. The order was issued by the panel of elders; what are we going to do? Resist the orders?" the woman among them said in a resigned voice.

"Obviously we can't resist the order, but we have to at least alert Senior Han to the perils of the swamp so he can treat the situation with more caution. If we really encounter those powerful beings from foreign races, we have to at least be prepared," Daoist Priest Ma said with a concerned stroke of his beard.

Zhuo Chong was silent for a moment before saying, "There's no need to be overly concerned, everyone. The Floating Dawn Swamp is indeed quite a perilous place, but truly powerful beings from foreign races are still quite rare there. On top of that, due to how dangerous the swamp is, we'll receive a handsome reward for our efforts, and we'll be able to take a long rest after this patrol mission. As long as we can survive these next few years, we'll most likely be assigned to less dangerous areas thereafter. You've all heard what Senior Han said; go back and make preparations for our journey tomorrow."

No one else had anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion, so they could only depart amid a rather gloomy atmosphere.

At this moment, Han Li was seated with his legs crossed within the silent cultivation chamber, and there was faint golden light shimmering all over his body. He appeared to be in deep meditation, but there were golden halos flashing erratically behind his head, creating a rather bizarre sight to behold.

A day passed by in the blink of an eye.

When Han Li opened his eyes again and emerged from the silent cultivation chamber, Zhuo Chong and everyone else was already waiting there for him. All of them immediately rose to their feet and extended respectful salutes at the sight of Han Li.

Han Li waved a hand before turning his gaze toward a beautiful female cultivator.

This woman appeared to be in her twenties, and her pristine fair skin was almost translucent. Her eyes were shimmering like a pair of bright stars, and Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity when he looked at her, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon making this observation.

"Senior Han, this is Fairy Xu; she's the direct lineal descendant of an ascended cultivator," Daoist Priest Ma introduced with a smile.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he merely nodded with a calm expression.

The female cultivator also seemed to have a rather cold and aloof personality, and she only extended a clipped greeting toward Han Li before falling silent.

"If everyone's here, then let's set off."

Han Li didn't delay any longer as he led everyone out of the hall, heading directly toward a teleportation stone hall nearby.

This hall was guarded by another group of cultivators, and there was a golden ark situated within the hall, but there was no need to make use of that treasure seeing as the teleportation was only going to be over a relatively short distance.

After handing over his identification badge for examination, their squad split up into groups of three or four to be teleported in separate bouts.

Amid three successive flashes of white light, all 11 members of the squad were teleported out of Deep Heaven City and appeared in an unfamiliar place. After shaking off the rush of dizziness from teleportation, Han Li inspected his surroundings, and his brows furrowed slightly.

They were situated within a small stone chamber with a one-way teleportation formation underfoot. There were all types runes carved into the walls, all of which were flickering and seemed to have been enshrouded under a restriction.

Daoist Priest Ma and the other cultivators that had been teleported to this place in advance were waiting for them outside of the formation.

Han Li made his way out of the teleportation formation in an unhurried manner before striding toward the door of the stone chamber. He then pulled out his azure jade pendant and waved it at the door.

A burst of azure light immediately shot forth, and the runes on the door flickered before it was slowly opened, revealing a passageway leading upward that was around 10 feet wide.

Han Li immediately shot forth into the passageway as a streak of azure light.

His 10 subordinates also hurriedly unleashed their movement techniques in pursuit. Not long after the final person left the stone chamber, spiritual light flashed from the door, and it slowly sealed shut again. Meanwhile, Han Li had already emerged from the passageway and was standing in the air above a small mountain, surveying his surroundings from his vantage point up above.

They were currently situated within a set of bleak and barren mountain ranges. Around 50 kilometers behind them, a vast expanse of white light could be seen, beyond which lay a massive city wall. Even from such a long distance away, everyone could still see the astonishing spiritual light flashing from the runes on the city wall.

Han Li appraised the city wall for a long time with a contemplative look on his face.

As far as he was aware, the wall of Deep Heaven City that was facing the primordial world had no gate. Any humans or demons wishing to access the city from this side had to do so through the teleportation formations within the city.

With this arrangement, the restrictions placed on the city wall would prevent beings of foreign races from being able to infiltrate the city.

However, Han Li wasn't interested in that. Instead, he turned his attention toward another direction.

There, he was greeted by the sight of a string of lush mountains, all of different sizes. A scene of peacefulness and tranquility was portrayed, making it quite difficult to believe that the place was situated within the primordial world.

According to the map, the so-called Floating Dawn Swamp was around 5,000 kilometers away from this place. Due to the special terrain there, cultivators' spiritual sense were impaired, which made it the perfect place for spies from foreign races to survey Deep Heaven City from afar.

As such, Deep Heaven City had no choice but to deploy groups of cultivators to regularly patrol the area. However, all of the spies from the foreign races were quite powerful and were especially proficient in concealment techniques. As such, many humans regularly fell prey to these beings and perished within the swamp.

This was why it was regarded as one of the most dangerous areas to be assigned for patrol duties, and all cultivators on patrol duty prayed that they weren't assigned to this accursed place.

However, Han Li had been deployed to this area, so he had to take extra care during the next few years.

With that in mind, he glanced at the group of cultivators behind him as he instructed, "Let's go."

Thus, their squad of 11 flew into the distance as streaks of light.

A distance of just over 5,000 feet was certainly not difficult to cover for a group of cultivators at or above the Nascent Soul Stage. As such, it didn't take long before Han Li caught sight of their destination in the distance.

A turbulent green light appeared in his field of vision first.

After drawing closer, Han Li managed to identify that this was not some green line; it was instead a vast expanse of murky mist.

He slowed down slightly as he flipped over a hand, upon which a special formation plate appeared over his palm.

Han Li pointed a finger at the formation plate, and a layer of red light immediately lit up over its surface. At this moment, all of the cultivators behind him also brought out identical formation plates and did the same thing.

These formation plates were known as Foreign Spirit Plates, and were treasures assigned to all cultivators from Deep Heaven City on patrol duty. The treasure could allow them to detect the presence of beings from foreign races within a certain distance.

The limitation of this plate was that its detection effect was only applicable toward a single direction, but with so many plates summoned at once, all of which were focusing on different directions, they proved to be quite useful.

Thus, Han Li and his group carried the formation plates in their hands as they slowed down and carefully ventured into the mist.

Soon, all of them had disappeared.

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The Floating Dawn Swamp was worthy of its ominous reputation.

For some unknown reason, when they entered the swamp, Han Li's spiritual sense couldn't spread past three hundred meters away. There wasn't much one could do to protect themselves from the illusory fog.

But what was most troublesome was the strange 'Sharp Worms" lurking in the dripping sludge.

These worms had centipede-like limbs and body, but countless slender sharp mouths lined its body, all capable of spitting venom that can corrode magic treasures and devour a cultivator's protective light.

If it were only one or two, they wouldn't have caught their attention, but these types traveled in groups. Ever since they entered the swamp sludge, tens of worms would simultaneously emerge, all of them about three-meters-long and capable of flight.

Naturally, each time a group of them were disturbed, the squad would scramble to respond.

If they weren't given a patrol assignment, they would've simply flown over the swamp so they didn't have to deal with the sharp worms.

As a patrol squad, they needed to examine traces of foreign tribes which was impossible to do if they flew high in the air. They were only able to fly at low altitudes.

As such, worm attacks became commonplace but there wasn't anything that could be done to prevent them.

There was even one time when they disturbed a huge number of worms, provoking over four hundred worms from the swamp.

If it weren't for Han Li's Divine Essensefused Light, they would've swarmed the squad and inflict heavy losses. Instead, the light suspended the worms in midair where they were incinerated by spirit fire.

Initially, they had doubts about Han Li's abilities since they hadn't seen him use them prior, but now, they felt far more at ease.

Of course, the Floating Dawn Swamp had other dangers than just the worms.

There were the ancient Silverhead Beasts that were fond of concealing themselves in the dense jungle. They were able to separate their heads from their body and have their various body parts split, launching different attacks. Han Li found them difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, the beasts' movements were slow and the area was difficult to traverse. So long as the squad flew out of their range, the beasts couldn't pursue them.

As such, they weren't nearly as dangerous as the sharp worms.

But soon, Han Li and the others came to have a deep understanding as to why the Floating Dawn Swamp was the named the grade one patrolled area.

They had to maintain a heightened level of vigilance nearly the whole time. If they weren't careful, they could suffer injury.

Under these circumstances, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. The squad maintained their vigilance, but they didn't discover any traces of foreign tribes, much to the relief of those in the squad.

The tense atmosphere in the squad eventually eased up.

One day, a group of cultivators in the squad were holding the Foreign Spirit plates in their hand while flying for most of the day. Even high-grade cultivators couldn't help but tire from this. After all, one needed to remain vigilant on patrol and would cause much strain on their mind.

At that moment, they arrived in front of a clear pond three hundred meters wide. There was a small pile of rocks at the pond side with a row of slender green bamboo growing from it. It was a refreshing scene one would find in a painting.

Their spirits were roused.

The large green-eyed man exchanged a glance with the others and he drew close to Han Li. He respectfully said, "Senior Han, this place seems quite good. How about we rest for a moment before we continue the patrol."

"That's fine, but be careful. First, take a look if there is anything strange," Han Li calmly said.

On their assignment, Han Li rarely gave orders and was welcoming of the squad's proposals.

This caused the distance between Han Li and the squad to unconsciously become closer.

"Of course!" The green-eyed man said with a smile. He then waved to the others behind him.

Two old men and the pair of women spread out quickly flying in the circle. With no reaction from the Foreign Spirit Plate, they landed next to the scattered rocks near the pond with relief.

They couldn't stay too long, so they simply found a clean area for themselves to sit and rest.

As a Deity Transformation cultivator and someone who cultivated the Great Development Arts, the patrol hadn't taken much strain on his mind. He hadn't joined them as a result, and simply took a leisurely stroll around the pond as he glanced around.

The pond wasn't very deep, but its water was very clear.

Inside the water swam a finger-sized silver fish that appeared harmless.

Han Li frowned when he saw this and unconsciously raised his head and turned to look at the dozen stalks of bamboo.

A few winds seemed to be blowing nearby, but they didn't cause much sound, adding to the serene atmosphere.

The squad cultivators were sitting either at the edge of the water or next to the bamboo forest, all still.

Han Li then turned his glance at the mirror-like surface of the water and muttered to himself for a moment. His eyes became narrow for just a moment. He slowly turned around and lifted his leg in the direction of the bamboo forest.

But in that brief instant, Han Li flicked his fingers hidden inside his sleeves. Red lights flashed and ten red lines sank into the ground.

This all occurred silently and without a trace.

When Han Li slowly walked towards the bamboo forest, he stopped in front of it and looked at it with a calm gaze.

This action seemed somewhat bizarre.

The youth surnamed Yin and the woman surnamed Xu couldn't help but open their eyes when they detected this strange action and gave each other a strange glance.

However, Han Li ignored them and his gaze soon became ice cold. He opened his mouth. A golden light shot out and chopped through the green forest in a crack of lightning.

Then with a crack, a bowl-thick stalk of green bamboo was split through the middle.

"Yi!" The youth surnamed Yin yelped in shock.

Fairy Xu also looked with wide eyes.

But before they could process what happened, an incomprehensible scene occurred.

A fountain of dark green liquid spouted from the opening of the split bamboo, spreading an incredibly fishy smell in the air.

What was even more astonishing was how the earth rumbled at nearly the same time. A painful roar shook the ground and the green bamboo trembled, turning into thick hair-like tentacles and fiercely striking at Han Li.

As if he could allow such a simple attack to hit him. He disappeared in a blur and appeared above the water, coldly looking down at dancing tentacles that attacked him.

The cultivators that were resting nearby were startled by this sudden change and soared into the air in panic. They even released several of their bladed weapons to strike the tentacles.

When they saw that Han Li chopped off one of the tentacles, they unconsciously took the action lightly.

However, they wholly didn't expect for the tentacle to give a strange metallic clang upon impact, easily repelling the weapons.

In the astonishment of the other cultivators, they also thought to attack when the grey stones at the side of the pond suddenly turned black. The scattered stones twisted together to form skull-sized black scales. They belonged to a huge ancient beast.

The beast appeared round, but one wasn't able to see its nose or mouth. However, there were thin tentacles on its back that were over thirty-meters long. It seemed to be lying hidden next to the pond. The bamboo was a transformation of its flesh.

Cultivators seemed to have been resting on the surface of the beast. It had used some sort of unknown ability to conceal itself not only from their spiritual sense but also from their Foreign Spirit Plate.

"Attack!" Han Li shouted from the air.

The cultivators felt their hearts trembled and they immediately released their treasures. For a time, various-colored light shined in the air and engulfed the huge beast in a torrent.

The ancient beast had no intention to flee. Rather, the tentacles on its back hurriedly danced, turning into a grey blurs of light, blocking the attacks on its body.

Whenever a tentacle blocked an attack, a rumbling explosion sounded and it fiercely blocked the magic treasure. Regardless of where the treasure struck, they were bluntly repelled, preventing any attack from striking at its true body.

The youth surnamed Ying coldly snorted, clapped his hands together, and raised them. A ball of red and yellow light appeared in each hand, suddenly releasing a hail of fist-sized lightning fireballs upon the beast's face. As for Fairy Xu, a cold silver light glowed from her body and wildly flashed, producing countless ice-attributed balls of lightning.

The two types of lightning flames seemed to merge and created astonishing momentum. A deafening boom resulted, creating blinding lightning, completely enveloping most of the beast.

When the others saw this, they couldn't help but smile.

At that moment, Han Li had yet to take action and was merely observing his subordinates' attacks.

"Hmph!" A bone-chilling snort sounded from the direction of the lightning fireballs.

An otherworldly wind suddenly blew from underneath them.

The wind was hazy and shook, circling itself a few times before stirring up a tornado. It completely swept up the lightning fireballs.

A series of explosions could be heard within the tornado, resulting in both the tornado and lightning flames disappearing.

Youth Ying and Fairy Xu were both greatly alarmed. The others also appeared deeply shocked.

A strange person appeared on top of the huge beast.

The person had green flesh of some unknown hide. It had no clothes, a bald head, and nostrils, but its eyes lacked any emotion.

But what was more strange was that the legs underneath his thighs merged with the huge beast as if they were one and the same.

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"A Savage Beastman! Quickly kill him! We cannot allow him to join with the beast." When they saw this strange person, Daoist Priest Man shouted in terror.

When the others heard this, they were aghast.

Without another thought, they released rarely seen ancient treasures in streaks of light.

In a moment, the beastman and the ancient beast was pelted by attacks.

Han Li saw that his subordinates were truly fearful of this foreign tribe.

To the confusion of the cultivators in the squad, Han Li still hadn't taken action. As the beastman was on the verge of transformation, he continued to float in the air with his hands behind the back, leaving the fight completely to them.

As the cultivators felt somewhat stressed, the beastman suddenly counterattacked, blocking them from asking Han Li.

The beastman let out a strange laugh and its shoulder blurred, creating a yellow tornado in the direction of the cultivators. As for the ancient beast, its body began to turn exceptionally green, soon extended its tentacles.

They spread out in green blurs, striking at the air along with the tornado.

Regardless of the magic treasures' attacks, be they lightning, flame, or swordlight, they were all swept into the tornado and disappeared. And when they were struck by the tentacles, they were repelled.

The cultivators acted in a panic, unable to cope with what was happening.

As Han Li looked on without lifting a finger, no one noticed the small silver fish in the pond had begun to form two orbs. They sparkled with silver light as if it in the form of silver eyes.

Meanwhile, the calm surface of the water began to violently stir, exposing a transparent ten-meter-large mouth. It had crystalline ice-like fangs.

The pond had turned into a monster with a transparent body.

At that moment the huge transparent monster stirred and pounced at Han Li in midair.

Not only was it transparent, but its movements were silent as if it were formless.

Han Li silently looked at the battle that was unfolding between the beastman as if he hadn't noticed himself being attacked.

Just as the transparent beast was ten meters away from Han Li, its silver eyes flashed and it bared its fangs at Han Li.

Grey light flashed from Han Li's back, and countless thin lines of Divine Essencefused Light directly shot at it.

Alarmed, the huge beast thought to dodge, but it was too late!

With the sound of pattering rain, the grey lines pierced through the huge beast's body and twisted, firmly wrapped around the beast's body.

Han Li's body then blurred, turning to the huge beast. With a brief glance, he opened his mouth and spat out a small black mountain.

It twirled in the air, surging several times in size until it was a three-hundred-meter tall mountain above the transparent beast.

The beast knew things were far from good and it promptly shook its body violently in an attempt to escape.

Unfortunately, it was a water-attributed beast. With a body of the five elements, it couldn't hope to escape the bindings of the Divine Essensefused Light.

The grey lines simply swayed a bit and tightened.

At last, Han Li uttered an incantation.

A roiling sound filled the air and the mountain dropped, crushing the transparent beast underneath.

The impact vibrated the air.

The mountain crushed the transparent beast into the earth, ensuring it was entirely trapped.

He then took an expressionless look at the beast.

However, a loud scream from behind him caught his attention and he slowly turned around with a frown.

The cultivators were still busy in their battle with the beastman, but when the beastman saw the transparent monster restrained by Han Li, it let out a panicked roar.

The beastman no longer controlled the tornado or tangled with the green-eyed man. Instead, he slapped the beast below him and quickly sank inside the giant beast.

"Not good, he's about to merge with it. Quickly stop him!" The large green-eyed man rejoiced at seeing Han Li silently restrain the other beast, but his face grew tense at seeing what the beastman had done.

Youth Ying and the others were all alarmed and poured as much of their spiritual power into their treasures as they could, doubling all their efforts into attacking.

But even without direction, the tornado still hindered their attacks for a time. In that delay, the skin of the huge beast shined with green light and bumps appeared on the surface of its body.

First a pair of legs, then hands appeared. Finally, its body lengthened and a bald head grew.

Under the control of the beastman, the huge beast turned into a black giant that was a hundred meters tall. Its body was covered in purple-black scales and it had ominous green lanterns for eyes.

When it appeared, it wordlessly raised its hand into the air and fiercely pounded down with black light flashing from its fist.

Booms thundered and a dozen magic treasures were crushed into dust. A majority of them, however, managed to escape high into the air with a wail.

Fairy Xu raised her brow and snorted. Only she deemed to continue her attack and pointed at her snow-white flying sword.

Letting out a keen ring, it turned ten-meters-long and blurred, instantly disappearing.

In the following moment, it reappeared twenty meters above the giant and fiercely chopped down.

She actually planned on beheading the giant in a lone effort.

But greatly against her expectations, the giant was incredibly fast despite its huge size. As soon as the sword moved, it opened its mouth and blew back the sword with a gale.

Soon, it firmly grabbed ahold of the sword with its black-purple hand.

A malevolent expression appeared on the giant's face as it pressed its other palm against the sword.

It appeared to want to destroy the flying sword.

Fairy Xu's face turned pale.

The sword was her personally bonded magic treasure. If it was destroyed, she would suffer backlash from her mental bond with it.

She was executing spell seals in utmost haste to free it, but despite its violent trembling and the series of white icy Qi, the giant kept its grip steady.

The giant took a deep breath. Just as it was about to press down, space fluctuated nearby. A dense beam of black light struck the giant's chest.

In a baffling display, the attack seemed trivially small compared to its giant body, but its tumble several steps back.

The black beam of light only appeared for an instant, and from where it appeared followed a silver flame bird. The fist-sized bird dived at the giant with its wings spread.

Again, the difference in size was incredible, but it stepped back with a fearful expression upon seeing it. Rather than standing firm, it immediately turned around in a mad run.

The giant only took two steps before a sharp wind sounded from below the nearby ground. A dozen red threads flew out and surrounded the giant's step. Red light glowed, turning into dense flaming ropes holding down the giant's legs.

No longer able to move forward, the giant swiped down in furious alarm, wanting to break the flame ropes.

The silver flame bird never gave it the chance. It swooped forward at lightning speed and struck the giant's back as a ball of silver flames.

A muffled crackle snapped, and silver fire spread as the giant was covered in oil. It spread quickly and lit it ablaze.

Yet unable to free itself, the giant could only scream in pain and swept yellow winds around itself, trying to extinguish the flames.

When yellow wind and silver flames touched one another, the wind itself seemed to be lit up. In only a few short breathes, the giant was thoroughly enveloped by both flames and ignited winds.

Soon, the screams stopped and the giant fell onto the ground. The body had been burned to a crisp, leaving no trace of the giant's existence.

The black beam of light had unexpectedly appeared afterwards and arrived where the giant once was. The entire scene was witnessed by the squad of cultivators.

Although Han Li already used his Spirit Devouring Flames once before on the sharp worms, it hadn't been in a display as fearsome as this. Now that the cultivators had seen it used on the helpless beastman, they were all mesmerized with disbelief on their faces.

At that moment, Han Li blurred, arriving above the silver flames and beckoning to it.

The silver flames suddenly condensed into a ball and returned back to him in the form of a firebird. As for the fire ropes, they returned into his sleeve in read threads.

Han Li swept his sights to the transparent beast being suppressed by the Divine Essensefused Mountain, and said, "Take back the Savage Beastman and have the Foreign Spirit Hall deal with it when we go back to the city."

"Yes! Junior Ma will immediately retrieve it!" The heart of the large green-eyed man trembled and he acknowledged the command. Then with a flip of his hand, he released a white gourd.

The gourd was inscribed with large quantities of silver runes. It is a specially refined magic tool meant for temporarily detaining foreign beings.

Regardless of the tribe of their many abilities, so long as they aren't at true spirit grade, they can be captured by the gourd.

Of course, the beastman had now lost its strength and was completely motionless. It no longer put up a resistance.

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When the green-eyed man arrived near the Essensefused Mountain, he held out the gourd to the transparent beast underneath.

With a light toss, the gourd spouted out a silver mist in midair, and the mist circled around the huge mountain. It suddenly turned into giant silver characters, entering the body of the huge beast in an instant.

As silver light enveloped the entire monster, its figure quickly shrunk to the size of a fist.

But strangely enough, the Essensefused Mountain shrunk at the same speed as the transparent beast, denying the beast any chance of escape.

The gourd then released another wave of silver mist that enveloped the shrunken beast.

Meanwhile, Han Li pointed from far away and the small black mountain slowly rose into the air, allowing the beast to be absorbed in the gourd.

The green-eyed man hastily put a lid on the gourd and stuck a golden talisman on top of it, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

The others had already withdrawn their magic tools and landed on the ground. But when they looked at Han Li, it was with newfound respect.

The recent battle clearly displayed that their squad leader possessed unfathomably profound abilities. He was by no means an ordinary Deity Transformation-stage cultivator.

While they were overjoyed by this, they also felt a degree of awe.

"Take another moment to rest before we continue."

Having taken the mountain back into his sleeve, he simply gave the squad a short word. He walked aloofly to the side and sat down with his eyes closed.

Naturally, none of the others raised any objections. They also spread out and took a moment of rest to recover their magic power.

Fairy Xu, however, remained standing.

After some brief hesitation, she walked over to Han Li and curtsied, "Many thanks for Senior's assistance. My Ice Crystal Sword would've been destroyed otherwise."

Han Li opened his eyes and gave the woman a probing glance, "An Ice Crystal Sword? You must've refined it from Myriad Year Profound Jade."

Fairy Xu's heart trembled, "Senior has great wisdom. The primary material in my sword refinement is profound jade!"

Han Li slowly asked with a flicker of his eye, "Since you use a sword of extreme cold, your cultivation art must also be ice-attributed. Can I ask if you know a person?"

"Please go ahead, Senior!" After a brief pause, Fairy Xu immediately agreed.

Han Li stared at her twinkling iris and continued in sound transmission, "There was an ancient cultivator by the name of Fairy Ice Soul. She was an ascended cultivator who practiced techniques of extreme cold. Do you know this person?"

When he looked at the woman, he felt an air of familiarity. Upon closer inspection, he found that her eyes appeared to be the same as Fairy Ice Soul's image during the opening of the Spirit Void Hall in the North Night Palace. There was a striking resemblance.

Although it was only an image, Fairy Ice Soul's irises were flowing with light like twinkling stars. The remarkable sight had left a deep impression on his memory.

Now that he saw the woman cultivated ice-attributed techniques and used a treasure refined from profound jade, he decided to ask her out of curiosity.

"Fairy Ice Soul? That was a deceased ancestor of my Xu Clan! Did Senior know her? Could it be Senior also came from the same lower realm!?" Fairy Xu quickly replied in voice transmission with complete shock.

"Hehe, I definitely didn't know her, but I did benefit from what she left behind in my lower realm." Brushing the rest off with a laugh, he asked, "Hm... Why isn't your flying sword completely refined from Myriad Year Profound Jade? Its magic power would've been raised by at least another half."

Shocked at Han Li's connection with her ancestor, she soon recovered and replied, "Senior must be joking. The Myriad Year Profound Jade might not be as valuable as the top-grade materials found in the wildlands, but it is still very difficult to collect. The profound jade in my flying sword was all purchased at extravagant cost."

Han Li ran through his thoughts and said, "So that's the case. I happen to have some Myriad Year Profound Jade on hand. It's enough for you to fully refine the flying sword. Since Fairy Xu has a connection to Fairy Ice Soul, I'll give it to you. This can be considered as returning the favor!" He swiped his hand through his storage bracelet and summoned a footlong jade box into his hand before handing it over to her.

"Many thanks, Senior!" The woman appeared overjoyed and hastily uttered thanks. And when she opened the box, she gasped.

There were four fist-sized lumps of white rock, each emitting a white glacial light.

Not only was it enough profound jade to refine the flying sword, there was enough to craft a magic treasure as well.

A fiery gaze flashed through the woman's eyes and she gave Han Li a deep salute after putting away the box.

Han Li waved his arm in a casual manner and resumed meditation.

Be it the Heavenvoid Cauldron, the Glacial Quintessence, or the glacial flames, they all seemed to be largely related to Fairy Ice Soul. Since he acquired much benefit from them in the past, helping out one of her descendants have relieved him of this debt, leaving him with less to worry about the next time he faces his inner demons.

Having acquired this valuable treasure, she tactfully ceased bothering Han Li and quietly departed.

The others naturally took notice of Han Li's actions with the woman from afar.

Seeing her obvious delight at the jade box, a large departure from her usually collected attitude, many grew curious, but none were so foolish as to directly ask them.

About six hours later, Han Li gave the command and they set off.

For the rest of their journey, they didn't discover any other foreign tribes. Having finished their patrol route, they arrived at a predetermined point and awaited the arrival of a Gold Court Boat.

The squad was then taken back to Deep Heaven City in two waves.

In their encounter, they captured a beast that was tamed by the Savage Beastman. When they handed it over to the Foreign Spirit Hall, they acquired a significant reward.

According to the rules, there was a half year of rest after each patrol and they finished their patrol assignment after a ten year period. Afterwards, the patrol area and route would change.

Because Han Li finished the patrol on his own for the first time, he was awarded an Earth Cleansing Pill and he promptly took it.

Soon after, the small squad arrived back at the hall and separated. The cultivators all bid their farewells to Han Li before taking off.

Just as Fairy Xu was about to depart, she said, "Senior Han, in two days, there will be a triannual auction for items found from the wilderness. You might want to take a look at it."

Han Li raised his brow and asked, "Items from the wilderness? Are you interested in it too?"

"Senior must be joking. One must be at Deity Transformation-stage in order to participate. As I am only a trifling Nascent Soul cultivator, I don't qualify. In addition, each item is bid at extraordinary prices. They aren't something I can hope to afford. Perhaps you might find some luck." She said with a wry laugh.

"Thanks for telling me, Fellow Daoist. I'll be sure to take a look." Han Li said with a neutral tone.

Seeing that Han Li received her friendly tip, she respectfully bid farewell.

Han Li glanced at her back and unconsciously narrowed his eyes.

In truth, even if the woman hadn't mentioned there was an auction, he had no intention of immediately leaving the city.

Ever since he arrived in the spirit realm, he didn't have an opportunity to acquire suitable pill formulas and medicines. He originally planned on doing so after he finished the patrol. Now that there was an auction happening, he may as well take a look along the way.

After all, he already knew of the inconceivable reputations about items from the wilderness.

With that in mind, Han Li calmly departed from the huge stone pagoda and flew to the location of the market as noted on his map.

The Deep Heaven City Market was extremely large. It had about every rare material from the three human realms and seven demon lands.

The occasional appearance of wilderness items aroused even more activity.

Both city guards and outsiders freely wandered the markets.

But what was most astonishing was the huge light barrier that separated human and demon clans, splitting them into two areas.

At the very heart of the city, there was a huge hall that let to an area where both humans and demons could trade materials or wilderness items.

After all, there were items that weren't useful to either humans or demons, but were possibly valuable to the other side.

As for the auction, that would take place at a side chamber in the hall.

In a streak, Han Li landed in a street in the market, next to a medicine shop, and casually walked in.

"Senior, what are you looking for? Although my shop may be small, I have many medicines."

The shop wasn't large. There were a Core Formation-stage middle-aged shopkeeper and two Foundation Establishment servants. There were no other guests.

When they saw Han Li walk inside with his dark azure armor, the shopkeeper smiled and personally stood up to welcome them.

"Are there any pill formulas and spirit medicines that can progress one's cultivation?" Han Li bluntly asked.

"For a Deity Transformation cultivator? I have two pill formulas, but many of the required materials are too precious to be held in my store." When the shopkeeper heard there was business, his spirits were roused.

Han Li frowned and said, "Oh, then go ahead and take out the pill formulas. I'll take a look."

"Yes, please wait a moment Senior. I'll have it right out." The shopkeeper respectfully said. He then gave the order to a servant and hastily gave Han Li a seat with tea. Then he headed into the back of the shop.

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Han Li rejoiced at being able his wanted items with ease.

He sat in a simple bamboo chair and sipped on some spirit tea in a leisurely manner.

A while later, the middle-aged shopkeeper came back with a storage bracelet.

When he arrived in front of Han Li, he swiped his hand past the storage bracelet and took out a white and a blue jade slip. He then took out a large assortments of boxes and bottles, placing them on the side of the table.

Then he respectfully stood there and waited.

Han Li swept his gaze and summoned the two jade slips into his hand before immersing his spiritual sense into them.

"The Clearjade Pill and the True Toad Liquid," Han Li muttered to himself. He frowned and withdrew his spiritual sense.

The Clear Jade Pill was acceptable. It used rare medicinal herbs, some of which he hadn't heard before. A majority of the herbs had to be at two or three thousand years of maturity, but they were considered quite common. As for the True Toad Liquid, it was rather odd. The liquid's primary ingredient was the spirit blood of an ancient beast in the wilderness called the green-eyed toad. It had common supplementary ingredients. While both could be used by Deity Transformation-stage cultivators, the Clear Jade Pill was only useful to early Deity Transformation-stage cultivators. It had diminished results in mid-stage cultivators.

The True Toad Liquid is much stronger but was more suited for late-Deity Transformation stage cultivators. If used at mid stage, the overbearing medicinal power could pose a great risk.

With his eyes shut, he began to think about the medicine's usage, refinement and portioning. Then he opened his eyes and examined the boxes and medicines on the table.

As the middle-aged shopkeeper said, he lacked about half of the materials required for the medicines. The toad's spirit blood obviously wasn't there.

Han Li stroked his chin and asked, "Are the missing ingredients something I can purchase at other shops? Since the True Blue-eyed Toad is an ancient beast from the wilderness, it should be difficult to find."

"The required materials for the Clear Jade Pill doesn't really need medicines of the right maturation. It can be refined even with plants of lesser age, but its effects will be lacking. They can be acquired so long as Senior has enough spirit stones. As for the toad's spirit blood, it is a truly rare material. Although it will go on sale occasionally, it will be immediately bought. There are one of the most in-demand materials for large medicine stores. It won't be easy for Senior to acquire this item. However, there will soon be an auction where it might be sold."

"So it was like that. I want those items." After some consideration, Han Li nodded.

"Many thanks for your business, Senior. I will give you the bill. Two pill formulas is a hundred thousand spirit stones, the three stalks of five thousand-year-old gold herb is..." With a smile, the shopkeeper hastily spoke and began to list out the prices of the items on the table.

Han Li simply narrowed his eyes as he listened, betraying nothing from his face.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li calmly left the medicine store and entered another store nearby.

As such, he began to stroll through all the medicine shops nearby as if planning to visit all the medicine shops on the street.

In other medicine stores, Han Li gathered together eight other useful pill formulas, but they required materials that were even harder to obtain that the spirit blood of the True Blue-eyed Toad. Han Li had no choice but to put them off. So long as he could acquire the required materials for these medicines, he would spare no money.

However, he wouldn't gather extremely expensive materials, but seeds or young stalks.

This way, Han Li could acquire large quantities of materials without bankrupting himself.

As a result, he acquired all the medicinal herbs he required for the Clear Jade Pill and more. After he matured the herbs using the spirit liquid, he'd be able to start refining the pills.

Of course, it wasn't easy to refine medicine that could be used by Deity Transformation-stage cultivators. With his attainments in pill refinement, he may need to take multiple attempts to make a pill.

With Han Li's small bottle, he had unlimited attempts, so he had nothing to worry about.

As for the True Toad Liquid, it was something he required.

He would have to purchase it in the coming auction.

Han Li felt somewhat apprehensive.

But before the auction, he would need to acquire more spirit stones. He was currently lacking them, so he would have to trade for more.

In the spirit realm, spirit stones were abundant, causing the price of items to be several times more than in the mortal realm.

Of course, even with more spirit stones in the mortal realm, it would still be impossible to acquire the ingredients needed for Deity Transformation-stage pills.

Han Li with confident that with enough medicine pills, he would be able to advance a grade without a problem.

Having come to that conclusion, he quietly entered an empty corner of a street.

He looked around him to see that no one was looking and a series of cracks sounded from his body. He shortly transformed into a large man with a purple face.

Afterwards, Han Li strut into a large store by the name of the Revival Hall.

In the markets of the spirit realm, thousand year spirit medicines weren't as rare as in the mortal realm. But when Han Li presented several stalks of medicine at eight thousand years of maturation, the shopkeeper exchanged them for an astronomical sum of spirit stones without any hesitation.

Han Li grabbed the spirit stones and nimbly departed. He didn't stay in one place for long in order to avoid attention.

Han Li didn't depart from the city. Instead, he walked past several streets and took note of the various magic tools, treasures, materials, and talismans that were on sale.

As a result, he had gained much experience.

It was clear the spirit realm was filled with abundant materials. The quality and might of treasures here far exceeded that in the mortal realm. Even larger stores had fantastical spirit treasures on sale.

As for talismans and secret seals, they were even more fantastical, much to Han Li's surprise. They were beyond the mortal world's talismans.

There were several talismans among them that were written in silver runes.

The majority of these talismans were either assistive or defensive, with hardly any offensive types among them. The few he saw held astonishing prices. But there were talismans with a silver silhouette that caught his interest.

Han Li asked all the store owners about it and came to know that they all came from the Heaven Spirit Region. These silver rune talismans were puppet talismans.

One can summon the puppet phantom that is inscribed in the talisman. Its abilities and might depend on the refinement quality and the skill of its user.

It was said that the finest puppet talismans could even mimic the cultivation and techniques of its user. It was a rather practical talisman.

After he was finished, his heart stirred and he couldn't help but think of the damaged jade book remnants in his possession.

The talisman attainments it detailed also mentioned the refinement method for a puppet talisman, but he hadn't researched it. As the selling cost of these talismans was incredible, he'd have to take a proper look at them.

With that in mind, Han Li bluntly looked for too talisman stores and picked up the materials he needed to refine silver rune talismans in large quantity.

With that done, Han Li leisurely made his way to the auction site, the Profound Zenith Hall where human and demons mixed.

Although the auction was still two days away, he wanted to take a look at what the demons were trading.

After all, demon clan hadn't participated in human auctions.

In order to prevent any clashes from occurring in the hall in the middle of business, human cultivators that wanted to trade needed to carry a palm-sized jade pendant.

So long as the jade pendant was on their body, it would immediately conceal them in a white mist and would also restrict the user's cultivation. In addition, if anyone in the hall used their magic power, the grand formation in the hall would not only restrict their abilities, but it would also teleport them outside. They wouldn't be able to enter for a short time.

The demon clan's side had a black banner that hid their appearance in a demon cloud as well.

In addition, there were four Spatial Tempering-stage gold guards from both races standing at guard. There were also ten dark azure guards preserving order on either side.

Such power naturally prevented anything unwanted from occurring.

In order to enter, Han Li had to pay a large number of spirit stones. He took a jade pendant from the guard and put it on his waist, producing a white mist around them. Then he walked down a long corridor and through a large gate.

As a result, he arrived in a large hall over a kilometer long with an exact door on the other side.

There were over a hundred white and black balls of mist in the hall, each representing a human or demon.

There were thirty of them sitting cross-legged on the ground with several items laid out in front of them. They were all silent.

Most people stood by the vendor stalls, carefully examined items, or had quiet discussions with the vendors. There were also blurs occasionally spotted in the hall. From time to time, people who hide in a corner and have their secret discussions there.

Han Li stood in place and looked at his surroundings. He then wordlessly walked over to a nearby vendor's booth.

The vendor was hidden in a silver mist, showing he was human.

Placed in front of him were two odd items.

One of them was a faint green and resembled a branch. The other was a sparkling crimson stone about the size of a fist.

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Han Li curiously examined the items on display and swept his spiritual sense past them.

The branch had extremely thin wood spiritual Qi, but it also possessed an intense lightning-attributed power as if it was formed from lightning. He was astonished by its existence.

This immediately reminded him of the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

But even ten-thousand-year-old Golden Lightning Bamboo didn't possess such fearsome lightning power. Its Divine Devilbane Lightning is usually well restrained.

As for the crimson gem, it let out a fishy scent as if it were the inner core of a beast, but he couldn't tell its origins.

Han Li looked at this with some interest, but after a moment more, he quietly left to another vendor's booth.

He then arrived at demon vendor with head-sized chunks of black ore that gave off a chill.

Han Li slowly paced through the hall and looked at what was on display. He would occasionally stop and take a close look.

From start to finish, he hadn't said a word as if he were ignoring the vendors entirely.

Han Li quickly looked through all the items on display, but he found himself somewhat disappointed.

Although all the items were rare enough, there was nothing that truly tempted him.

Although these items have come from the wilderness, there were unfamiliar items and would only be useful to an odd few.

Han Li swept his gaze around. Just as he thought about whether he should leave the hall, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

The white mist around him blurred and he suddenly turned around. The footsteps then came to a stop as if in surprise of Han Li's quick reaction.

The person was a demon cultivator as they were covered in black Qi. They had a slim body and was examining Han Li.

They were both hidden by secret techniques. Apart from a faint silhouette, nothing could be made out.

"Is there anything you want from me?" Han Li calmly asked.

"Did you not find any suitable items, Fellow Daoist?" A pleasant female voice spoke from the black cloud.

"Yes, I haven't found anything that caught my interest. Why did you ask me that?"

"It appears this is your first time at the Profound Zenith Hall. In truth, apart from what is put on display the truly good items are found in private exchanges," the woman calmly said.

"So it was like that. But wouldn't it be easier to find a suitable customer if one showed it in the open?" Han Li said with a frown.

"So you don't know, Fellow Daoist, or you're being deliberately dense. Even with the concealment pendants and banners, it is still easy to tell one apart. Furthermore, some items are quite provocative so it isn't best to have too many people know about it. Alright, that's enough for now. Do you have any items you wish to trade?" The woman's impatience seemed to grow colder out of impatience.

"So long as you have good items, I am willing to trade. However, I must ask why did you seek me out." Han Li said.

"It's rather simple," the woman said with an indifferent tone, "I was able to tell that you were most likely someone new to Deep Heaven City when you were closely examining the vendor items. Although our cultivation is restricted, I can tell on closer inspection that you are most likely a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. You are a suitable person to trade with me, and you weren't the first person that I sought out. Tell me what you have that is suitable for a demon. Apart from a few of my own items, I've also been entrusted to several items by my comrades. That's why you take out all your good things."

When Han Li heard this, he smiled.

"I do have a few things that are suitable for demons. But can I take a look at your things first?"

"Hmph," the woman coldly chuckled, "I have spirit medicines, materials, a few human magic treasures and ancient treasures. What do you want?"

Han Li's eyes wandered for a bit and he asked, "I don't need any finished goods, but I am interested in materials. Do you have any True Toad spirit blood? I require it."

The woman paused and immediately shook her head, "True Toad spirit blood. Hehe, you sure know how to pick them. True Toad Liquid is not only useful to humans but demons as well. No one would be selling it in the Profound Zenith Hall."

"If that's the case, then do you have any five-thousand-year-old gold grass and..." Han Li didn't pay any mind to the woman's mocking tone and promptly listed other materials that he lacked from his pill formulas.

When she heard Han Li, her face turned unsightly. When Han Li was finished, she gloomily said, "Don't delude yourself. Those materials are for cultivation progression pills. They are all found in the wilderness, so our demon clan is lacking them as well. We definitely wouldn't be trading those to humans."

Han Li wasn't disappointed by her words and calmly proposed, "There is no need to be anxious. I don't even need the right year of the herbs. Saplings and seeds will do as well. I am even willing to trade at cost."

After some hesitation, the woman said with a doubtful tone, "In that case, it could be possible, but it is also troublesome as I don't have any of those right now. Let me see what you have."

"So long as you can gather them together, I will trade with you the next time I am here." Han Li said with a happy tone.

"Yes, but this is something that I must take a look at first. Even if seeds and saplings are commonly scarce when few people wish to buy them. But in case I do find them, what will you be giving to me? I won't be considering spirit stones, even high-grade ones." The woman said with an arrogant tone.

When Han Li heard this, he sent her a voice transmission with a calm expression.

"What? You actually have ten-thousand-year-old spirit herbs?" The woman trembled inside the fog and she spoke with delight.

Han Li smiled and said, "So long as you can find the items I require, I will give them to you."

After her delight passed, doubts filled her mind. "Why don't you make medicine pills with those herbs? Why do you want to trade with me?"

"Please don't ask too much about my circumstances. If you feel that it is suitable, please do your utmost to gather those materials. The next time I come here, I will trade with you. Consider this one to be a down payment." Han Li soon swiped his hand over his storage bracelet and took out a half-foot-long wooden case and casually handed it over to her.

The woman in the black Qi was startled and unconsciously reached out for it. Her expression wavered and she quickly brushed her spiritual sense past the gap in the wooden box.

She yelped and took a long look at the item in the box. Then she slowly opened the lid and her expression turned solemn.

"Are you truly planning to use this as a down payment. Don't you fear that I will take it and won't return?" The woman coldly said.

"This is a trifling three thousand year old herb. With your status, you aren't going to do something like that. Additionally, this is a display of sincerity to guarantee your business. So long as you bring those medicine herbs to me, I'll definitely leave you satisfied." He said with a neutral tone.

She flipped her hand and put away the box. Then, she confidently said, "It seems you are sincere about the deal, but items you want can't be gathered in a short amount of time. I will need several years to gather the three medicines."

"Good, I await good news." Pleased, Han Li saluted her.

To him, a medicine herb of several thousand years wasn't valuable. It was a cheap price to gain her trust. Furthermore, Han Li was confident that his promise of a ten-thousand-year-old medicine herb was enough to have her find his items.

Since Han Li was unwilling to attract too much attention to the human side of the city, this was a suitable method.

The woman nodded and wordlessly left.

Han Li narrowed his eyes to look at the slender silhouette through the black mist. Suddenly, he began to walk to the exit on the human side.

But when he walked past the first human vendor, his eyes were drawn onto the branch once more and he unconsciously stopped. After some hesitation, he walked over.

"Could you tell me about the origins of this item?" Han Li walked over to the vendor and reached out for the green branch. He then stroked it with his finger.

"The origin? I saw heavenly lightning strike dried spirit wood. Afterwards, it grew alive and turned into this spirit wood. I don't know anything about its origins or usage." A hoarse, aged voice spoke from the white mist.

Han Li flipped the branch several times and muttered, "Heavenly lightning turned wood. How surprising."

"Hehe, rare indeed," the old man chuckled, "However, I won't hide this from you. This item contains potent lightning power. Even if you forcefully refine it, you won't be able to use it for tool refinement. I wanted to see if the demons were interested, but it seems you are too!"

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"Oh, its nothing much. I just cultivated a bit of lightning, so I am curious about this item." Han Li fiddled with the lightning branch and calmly asked, "What did you plan on trading this for?"

When the old man heard that Han Li thought about purchasing it, the old man was startled and gave Han Li an appraising glance. He hoarsely said, "I have yet to find a true use for the lightning wood, so its price is hard to estimate, but it is lightning turned wood. How about this? Recently, I've wanted to refine a Sky Essence Pill, but I'm missing a five-thousand-year-old medicine herb. If you can give it to me, the wood is yours. Of course, I won't refuse top-grade spirit stones if you have them."

"How did you know I have medicine herbs?" Han Li's heart trembled and his expression behind the white mist sank.

"There is no need to be shocked," The old man softly said, "I've cultivated a minor ability that grants me an extraordinary scent of smell. During your trade with the demon woman, I caught a whiff of a medicinal scent coming from that wooden box. It belonged to a three-thousand-year-old medicinal herb. If you can easily take that out, then it is likely you can bring out a five-thousand-year-old medicine herb."

Han Li was left speechless.

He heard Buddhist sects' grand techniques were able to strengthen a cultivator's five senses. Legend mentioned myriad distant sight, flawless hearing, penetrative sights like his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. From what he said, his abilities must've reached an inconceivable realm mentioned only in rumors.

Having realized this, Han Li's expression relaxed and he slowly said, "That is so. Since you've pointed it out, I do have such a medicine herb. Take a look and see if it's suitable."

Han Li had no intention of bargaining. He raised his hand and white light flashed. He tossed a narrow wooden box over to him.

The old man was surprised. He didn't think that Han Li would truly agree to his condition. He happily took the box and took a quick glance at its interior before covering it back up.

"Not bad, a genuine five-thousand-year-old spirit herb. I can use it." The old man happily said.

Han Li smiled and his hand blurred, putting away the branch. Then he saluted him and silently departed.

In front of old cunning foxes, the less said the better.

After he left the hall, he took another trip through the market, but with his spirit treasures and countless medicine herbs, there was little that could temp him. Several hours later, he returned to the huge stone pagoda.

When he walked in his squad's seclusion room, Han Li waved his hand, striking at the door with a spell seal. He didn't wish to be disturbed.

But Han Li still wasn't at ease. He raised his hand and released several differently-colored streaks of light that disappeared into corners of the room.

His two hands formed a spell seal and a white barrier of light appeared on the walls, thoroughly protecting him from view.

As a result, Han Li was able to take a seat on the meditation mat and take out the half-foot-long lightning branch.

It was only about as thick as a thumb, but its color was exceptionally green. There was also a fine vortex pattern on its surface, but on closer inspection, it looked more like a flame.

He hadn't closely inspected the branch while he was in the Profound Zenith Hall. Now, he brushed his finger lightly past every inch and he closed his eyes.

Underneath the branch's surface, the wood was brimming with violent lightning. It was inconceivable for such a thing to have solid form.

As he mulled over this, he opened his eyes once more and azure light flashed from his hand. He injected some spiritual power into the branch.

The branch trembled and the magic power came back to him, completely repelled.

A trace of astonishment appeared in his eye and he poured in magic power with more force.

The branch trembled and a layer of white light appeared on it. It clashed with the azure light from Han Li's hand, appearing entirely incompatible.

A while later, a slight drone sounded from the light.

Han Li frowned and he waved his hand, vanishing the azure light.

It was clear that forcefully injecting more spiritual power into the branch would cause it to explode.

With Han Li's experience, he had other ways of examining it.

He grabbed the branch and released several arcs of golden lightning onto it.

The lightning jumped on the branch's markings and remained completely still.

Han Li didn't appear dejected. If this branch was easily researched, its previous master wouldn't have sold it at such a low price.

Han Li then tossed it into the air, where it immediately floated in suspension.

He flicked his finger at the branch, and a golden swordlight flew out and chopped at the center of the branch.

A deep clap of thunder sounded. White light arced out and the branch was easily split into two. It then gently fell to the ground.

Han Li then reached out for the two halves and took them into his hand.

Han Li swept his gaze past them and saw silver light shining from the split ends.

Blue light shining from his eyes, he closely looked at it and discovered that the so-called silver light was actually countless thin arcs of lightning waved together in some sort of pattern. It formed an inconceivable design.

It was meticulous and complex.

If it weren't for his spirit eyes, he wouldn't have been able see through it.

In the blink of an eye, a layer of green wood immediately formed over the cut ends, creating two independent branches.

Han Li was truly shocked by this.

Controlling lightning and condensing it together was originally something he considered a skill of his. But lightning of this elaborate detail was beyond his abilities and something he never considered.

This was countless times more complex than his nets or condensed balls of Divine Devilbane Lightning. And those methods already required an outstanding degree of control with his spiritual sense.

Han Li took the branches in hand and lowered his head in thought.

Suddenly his gaze flickered and he flicked his finger at once of the ganches.

Golden light flashed and it was again cut into two.

This time, Han Li was prepared and his spiritual sense stirred. He looked at the bared silver opening.

Blue light brightly shined from his eyes and he completely focused on the branch's opening.

This time, however, the designs of the lightning from the opening was vastly different.

A short moment later, the opening was covered again by green wood.

He slowly closed his eyes and began to think about what he saw.

Suddenly, his finger flicked and another piece of the wood was split open. Again, a completely different pattern was revealed and he looked at it with complete focus.

Soon, the branch half was cut into countless small pieces, all lying on the ground.

As Han Li began to show a face of understanding, he spat out a thin swordlight and cut through the center of the other branch half. In a flash of silver light, it split into two even pieces.

He closely examined it once more and he released countless more golden streaks, splitting the wood into thin pieces.

The thinnest pieces were like paper.

Even so, the lightning wood remained extremely stable. It clearly contained a fearsome amount of lightning to not burst out.

Han Li suddenly flipped his hand and took out a white jade slip.

He held onto the jade slip and began to imprint all the patterns that he saw.

Finally, he let out a long breath.

Even with his astonishing level of memory, the many meticulous and complex patterns would be difficult to remember.

With that freed up from his mind, he began to comprehend the lightning designs.

For some reason, why he saw the lightning patterns, he felt a grasp of it, knowing the patterns had to do with the formation of the lightning wood.

He sat down for an entire day, unmoving as he completely looked at the patterns.

Suddenly, Han Li's eye stirred and he flicked his finger. Lightning rang!

A streak of golden lightning shot out and immediately burst, scattering into countless thin arcs.

He chanted an incantation as fingers began to flick through the air.

The arcs of lightning stopped and suddenly condensed together. They began to weave into a strange design, faintly resembling what Han Li saw from the branch.

Just as it was about to take the form of cloth, it ruptured.

The weaved lightning disappeared like a firecracker.

Han Li let out a deep sigh and he couldn't help but show a trace of disappointment, but excitement was still strong in his eyes.

His thoughts were correct. The golden lightning cloth he weaved with the lightning patterns possessed a vague power.

It was a shame that he made an error in weaving the cloth, leading to its eruption before he could research it.

Han Li took a deep breath and he twisted his hands together. A dense bolt of golden lightning shot out, letting out a rumbling sound.

It burst into countless thin arcs of lightning and condensed together again. The threads now appeared in far greater number.

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Under control of Han Li's spiritual sense, the threads of lightning continued to weave together in the pattern of the branch.

However, this level of control was extremely difficult. Even with his vast spiritual sense and Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he successively failed, resulting in eruptions.

Eight times later, the golden lightning cloth eventually took form, floating motionlessly in the air.

The cloth was the size of a palm, woven in eye-catching lightning patterns. It appeared rather mysterious.

When Han Li saw the finished product, his face slightly changed and he waved his hand, summoning the cloth into his hand.

It was exceptionally soft with a sleek surface. It was actually somewhat more exquisite than silk and he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

Han Li gently stroked the golden cloth and examined it for a moment more. His gaze flickered and he tossed the item into the air, striking it with a spell seal.

The cloth turned into a streak of golden light and began to circle from his hands. It rang with soft rolls of thunder.

The cloth dispersed inch by inch, revealing a hollow image of lightning patterns in a faint golden glow. As the translucent pattern appeared, an immense spiritual pressure burst out from it.

This was the mysterious power he sensed from the branch previously.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and attentively stared at the golden pattern. His heart lit up with excitement.

Although he still couldn't completely control the lightning patterns, the force of its spiritual power was over ten times what was originally contained in cloth weaved from Divine Devilbane Lightning. If it was harnessed into an attack, the protective restriction in the stone room might not be able to withstand it.

With that in mind, Han Li beckoned to the lightning pattern.

Thunder clapped and the lightning patterns flashed, returning to its form as cloth and dropping back into his hand.

Soon after, he spat out more lightning, using it to weave together another item of lightning. After another string of failures, he successfully created something.

This time, it wasn't a cloth, but a glistening golden ball. Lightning patterns faintly shined from its surface.

Han Li grabbed ahold of it and thoroughly examined both of the items with his spiritual sense.

A short moment later, he thought of something and spat out a ball of silver flames.

He then pointed at the flame with an incantation gesture.

Bang. The flame ruptured and scattered into countless silver flowers.

Han Li chanted and used his spiritual sense to change the form of the flames into thin strings.

A similar scene occurred, but when he weaved it together halfway, the flames burst and turned into a silver fireball.

When this happened, a pensive expression appeared on his face. With another command, the fireball turned into a bird and flew back into his body.

Afterwards, he used his magic power to condense together blue strings, but the result was similar to the spirit devouring flames. His attempt ended in failure.

Han Li didn't continue his experiments and sank into deep thought.

While both lightning objects originated from the same principles, many small details varied. The lightning int he cloth was steady and pure, but the golden orb's lightning was restless and dangerous as if it could erupt at any moment.

As Han Li fiddled with the two items in his hand, he eventually smiled after some meticulous thought.

According to his guesses, the lightning patterns were a type of naturally formed talisman characters. Each pattern should create unique properties similar to the talisman characters formed from Immortal Clan's silver runes.

These lightning patterns' effects and skillful use weren't something he could come to understand in a short amount of time.

As such, Han Li placed the two lightning items in a jade box and carefully sealed them with several restriction talismans before finally putting them in his storage bracelet.

For the rest of the time before the auction, Han Li carefully withdrew his spiritual sense and shut his eyes in meditation.

On the morning of the third day, hl Han Li opened his eyes and withdrew the restriction from the seclusion room before heading out.

When he left the room, he immediately released his spiritual sense out of habit and unconsciously swept his spiritual sense past the entire hall.

As a result, he heard someone's voice.

He looked to the side and frowned.

Without making the slightest sound, he walked out of the main hall.

Before he fully made his way out, he heard a man's voice wildly laugh, "Fairy Xu, if you can't take a loss, then don't make the bet in the first place. Did you not agree to become my apprentice's wife?"

The laugh sounded extremely foreign as if it came from a broken gong.

Han Li calmly walked out and swept his gaze across the entire hall.

He saw two pairs of people standing in confrontation.

One of the pairs consisted of a man and a woman. The woman was Fairy Xu, but her face was deathly white. The other was the large green-eyed man, but his face wore an unsightly expression.

They faced two black-robed men.

One of them had a slim face and long triangular eyes, wearing dark azure armor. The other was a pock-marked middle-aged dwarf with diseased hair.

The laugh came from the old man.

"Senior Han!"

As soon as Han Li appeared, the large man glanced at Han Li and quickly saluted him with a face of deep relief.

Fairy Xu also appeared overjoyed when Han Li appeared.

Han Li stopped and many thoughts quickly flashed through his hand, but his face remained unchanged.

The old man's wild laughter suddenly stopped and he examined Han Li with a trace of surprise. "So your esteemed self must be the newly arrived Fellow Daoist Han."

At nearly the same time, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the old man to discover he was a mid Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. He couldn't help but raise a brow at the old man.

"Who are you Fellow Daoists and why are you making a commotion?" Han Li coldly asked.

The old man was enraged by Han Li's rude demeanor as his cultivation level was a level above his.

But when he recalled that Han Li was an ascended cultivator, he forcefully suppressed his rage and wore an artificial smile, "I am Huang Bao. Leader of the twenty-seventh squad. I've come here because I have some matters to discuss with Fairy Xu. It'd be best if you didn't interfere."

"I have nothing to say to you." Fairy Xu gritted her teeth, "This matter only concerns your disciple. Shouldn't Senior stop interfering with this matter and making this bigger than it is?"

"What? Didn't Fairy Xu miss an appointment with my disciple? Since you didn't say anything, he had requested others to help him. If you have the skill, you can look for help. Otherwise, disaster will befall your Xu Clan." The old man's voice turned cold and he gave the woman a deathly stare.

"My affairs have nothing to do with the Xu Clan. Senior can't involve the unrelated." Fairy Xu couldn't help but betray her anger.

The old man laughed. "How are they unrelated. The moment you made an agreement with my disciple, the Xu Clan were made witnesses. If you don't keep your word, I will have to seek out the witnesses."

Fairy Xu's face paled even further and she glanced in Han Li's direction. Although she didn't say anything, her plea for help was beyond obvious.

As for the green-eyed man, he wore a helpless expression.

Han Li stroked his nose and calmly asked, "What was the agreement?"

To tell the truth, if it wasn't for the fact the woman was a descendant of Fairy Ice Soul, or the fact they had some friendship between them, he wouldn't have asked.

With his status, he showed his intention to involve himself upon asking that question.

The old man's expression faintly changed.

The dwarf rolled his eyes and chuckled, "It's quite simple. I wanted to marry Fairy Xu, and the Ice Crystal Sword is of incredible cold. She promised that if my treasure could withstand a strike of her sword without freezing over, she would agree to marry me. I had already done that, but she planned on reneging her word and has hidden here since."

"Is this true?" Han Li asked her.

"It is true, but something was done to my magic treasures. Otherwise, an early-stage cultivator like him wouldn't have been able to endure my strike." She wore a furious expression and couldn't help but glance at the old man.

Although the old man didn't say anything, his eyes betrayed a trace of smugness.

"Regardless of the region, you weren't able to freeze over my Green Wave Blade! Now, you'll have to agree!" The dwarf giggled.

Fairy Xu remained silent with an extremely icy expression.

An icy glint appeared in Han Li's eyes and he imposingly said, "So it was like that. However, I don't believe that your magic treasure can withstand her Ice Crystal Sword. Demonstrate this right now. If it is true, I will turn a blind eye to this matter. But if it isn't, I will ask you two to leave. This is the quarters of the fifty-sixth squad, not the seventh-seventh."

"Senior, I..."

"Good, then let it be so. I hope Fellow Daoist Han can remember his own words."

When Fairy Xu heard this, she was greatly shocked. She thought to say something, but the old man agreed with glee.

Because Han Li was an ascended cultivator, the old man was unwilling to incur any grudges over this incident.

The dwarf tactfully spat out a green flying sword and had it circle in front of him, a sinister smile clear on his face.

The flying sword shined dazzlingly with incredibly light. It appeared to be of no small matter.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and blue light flashed from his eyes, clearly seeing through the surface of the sword.

This so-called Green Wave Blade possessed two entirely different concentrations of spiritual power. One was weak, while one was incredibly strong.

It was clear something had been done to this treasure.

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Under the gaze of so many people, Fairy Xu felt apprehension, nevertheless, she waved her sleeve and summoned a white light. It circled above her to reveal a crystalline flying sword.

It was her bonded magic treasure, the Ice Crystal Sword!

To tell the truth, she felt largely helpless.

Even if a trick was done to the Green Wave Sword, she was only given a little bit of time to refine the Myriad Year Profound Jade that was given to her into the sword. However, this still greatly increased the sword strength, so there was a chance to seal the blade in ice.

Although she released her sword, she didn't dare to immediately attack the green sword. Instead, she hesitantly glanced at Han Li.

Han Li took a glance at both of the flying swords and he reached out to one of the swords.

Fairy Xu felt her sword largely tremble. Then, it flew against her control and arrived in Han Li's hand.

He grabbed the sword's hilt and flicked his finger against its body, emitting a phoenix's cry.

The sound was extremely pleasant, a near heavenly tone.

The old man couldn't help but sneer.

Although cultivators of their level could use secret techniques to forcefully boost the might of their magic treasures, it was a difficult task to do this to another treasure.

After all, regardless of the nature of the spiritual power and technique will conflict and make it difficult to fuse together.

When he forcefully boosted the power of his disciple's magic treasure, he unexpectedly acquired an extremely profound spirit talisman. After spending half a month refining it, it finally became this powerful.

As Han Li was only an early Deity Transformation cultivator, he didn't believe that he could exceed that power in only an instant.

Furthermore, sealing the Green Wave Sword in ice was something that only equivalent ice-attributed power could perform. This in itself was a huge restriction.

As this quickly flashed through the old man's mind, he had no fear of Han Li's action.

"A good sword!" As if having seen through the old man's thoughts, the corner of Han Li's lip twitched and a silver flame burst out from the hilt of the sword. In the blink of an eye, it wrapped around the sword and disappeared into it.

The crystalline sword turned silver-white in the blink of an eye. The design of a sailing flame bird now appeared on its surface, lifelike in detail as if it had been carved there from the very beginning.

Han Li had used forcefully injected his Spirit Devouring Flame into the Ice Crystal Sword, inducing this bizarre transformation.

The Spirit Devouring Flame was an inconceivable ability that devoured spiritual power. As it was formed from Great Yin Trueflame and Puresun Flame Essence, it could shift between extreme cold and heat, allowing it to fuse into the flying sword with ease.

The old man's eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed his eyes. As for the others, they were greatly shocked.

Then in a gust of wind, Han Li tossed the flying sword back into the air.

Fairy Xu quickly cast a spell seal at it with joy on her face and quickly regained control. Afterwards, she chanted an incantation and flicked her fingers, striking the sword one after another, completely filling the sword with the entirety of her magic power.

Afterwards, the flying sword let out a series of drones and trembled. A layer of silver flames appeared on its surface and wrapped around it, instantly transforming it into a three-meter-long silver flame bird.

The temperature in the entire hall steeply dropped as soon as the flame bird appeared. Even a layer of white shining frost began to appear on the ground.

Fairy Xu let out a delicate shout and the flame bird wildly flapped its wings, changing into the green flying sword.

Seeing that the ice sword was greatly empowered by Han Li, the dwarf let out a trace of terror and could only grit his teeth, casting a spell seal and commanding his own magic treasure.

The green sword blurred as light brightly shined from it. It took the form of a horned green wyrm and fiercely charged forward.

A loud explosion shook the air.

The green wyrm and the silver flame bird collided, weaving green light and silver flames together. The bird then opened its mouth and bit off half of the flood dragon's body, devouring it without a trace.

The dwarf loudly shouted and spat out a glob of blood. He was stupefied in fear.

A loud bang sounded from the flame bird and turned into a silver ice mist, covering the damaged green wyrm entirely.

Under the glow of silver light, a loud crack sounded. A thirty-meter-tall boulder of ice appeared in the air.

The flood dragon let out a wail inside the ice and it disappeared, only leaving behind a flying sword that dimly shined.

Unnoticed by everyone, a thin thread of silver light appeared shot out the mist when the Green Wave Blade revealed itself and silently vanished inside of it.

A strange scene occurred.

The dwarf was clearly sixty meters away from his magic treasure, but at the same time his blade was frozen, his body collapsed onto the floor as if he fainted.

This was a heaven-defying ability of the Spirit Devouring Flame.

Even Spatial Tempering cultivators couldn't guard against this ability, let alone the magic treasure of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if it was strengthened, it collapsed in a single strike.

When Fairy Xu saw this, she quickly waved her hand in delight.

The silver ice mist condensed back into a silver flying sword and returned to her.

Along the way, a ball of silver flame left the sword and shot back towards Han Li, soon to disappear into his body.

Meanwhile, the old man Huang Bao recovered from his shock and his body in his rage. He soon appeared at his disciple's side and he quickly discovered a layer of frost on the dwarf's body. His face was blue as if he died from frostbite.

"A frozen soul in his body!" When Huang Bao saw this, he wore a face of shock.

Nevertheless, he was still a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. He instantly waved his sleeve at the huge boulder of ice and released a streak of red light.

Bang. The light quickly coiled around the boulder and a cloud of flame entered the ice.

The temperature in the hall sharply rose and the ice was thawed in an instant and the green flying sword recovered its freedom. It immediately returned into the dwarf's body.

Han Li looked on with an indifferent expression.

To conceal the true abilities of the Spirit Devouring Flames, he reduced its power and had the Ice Crystal Sword itself freeze over the blade. Otherwise, with its abilities as a Heavenly Flame, the ice it left behind wouldn't have been easily thawed. However, he did display a bit of might to make sure they knew better than to bother him.

He previously commanded a trace of the Spirit Devouring Flames's extreme cold and had it enter the flying sword. Through the dwarf's mental connection, he had it invade the dwarf's body.

This ability to freeze the soul and affect the body was an ability he had only been able to use recently.

He also researched related information about this once before. This ability was quite powerful and could only be achieved by a few legendary glacial flames.

As such, it was truly quite effective.

Han Li became an enigmatic figure in the old man's eyes.

The old man quickly took out a fire-red medicine pill and placed it in the dwarf's mouth. He saw the blue color on his face quickly fade away and he let out a breath before looking at Han Li with a wavering expression.

Having thought to himself for a moment, the old man eventually saluted Han Li with a forced smile and said, "Brother Han's abilities are quite fearsome. It is my loss. My disciple will drop the matter of marriage. I will bid farewell."

He then brought the dwarf out from the hall.

Han Li returned the salute, but he said nothing else. When he saw all trace of the old man leave, his expression sank. Before Fairy Xu could utter her thanks, he coldly asked, "Who is that man?"

Fairy Xu was startled. Before she knew the meaning of Han Li's words, the green-eyed man hurriedly explained, "Don't worry, Senior Han. Huang Bao and his disciple comes from a small sect known as Quicksand Valley. It isn't some ancient sect. Huang Bao himself is the sect's greatest cultivator.

"So it was like that. I don't have to worry about any further troubles!" Han Li then turned to her and said, "Fellow Daoist Xu, this will be the only time I go out of my way to help you. If something else comes to trouble you, you'd best fend for yourself!"

Fairy Xu's heart sank, and she respectfully answered, "This Junior understands. Many thanks for your help, Senior. I definitely won't trouble you in the future."

Han Li nodded and then walked out of the hall in bold steps before taking off.

When the green-eyed man saw Han Li left, he wryly laughed and said, "That silver flame actually possessed the power of extreme cold and was able to freeze the soul and enter the body. But it doesn't match the glacial flames of legend. Fellow Daoist Xu, Senior Han seems to look after you. Do you know what flame it is?"

Fairy Xu let out a sigh and said, "Senior Han has a faint relation to my ancestor, but this is the first time I've heard of this glacial flame. On the patrol, he engulfed an entire fused beastman with that flame. Having that ability isn't so strange, but it seems that he isn't fond of others hearing about him. Brother Zhuo had best keep quiet about this, or else..."

When he heard this, his expression changed and he nodded in agreement.

During that time, Han Li was flying towards the market in an azure streak.

According to his information, the auction should begin at noon. It would be at the time he arrived.

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When Han Li arrived, it was nearing noon. In just a moment, he used a secret technique to transform himself into a large man with long facial hair and entered the Profound Zenith Hall.

The people at the entrance were already enhancing spirit stones for concealment pendants to enter the hall.

All of them were at Deity Transformation-stage and above.

Han Li even spotted three Spatial Tempering cultivators entering.

After some thought, he also walked in and gave the guard a pouch filled with spirit stones. The guard swept his spiritual sense past it and nodded, handing him a jade pendant and opened the way for him. He promptly said, "After you enter, head left."

When Han Li heard this, he was stunned and he hesitantly walked in.

After they entered the passage, he astonishedly discovered that the straight passage he originally took was now exceptionally twisted and split down the middle.

It was like the Profound Zenith Hall was completely different.

It seemed the restrictions in the hall had changed as well.

Nevertheless, Han Li did as the guard advised and headed down the left side.

Soon, he entered the dark passage and vanished.

After the time it took to finish a meal, he found himself in a pitch-black stone room.

The room was three meters wide with walls to all sides apart from a spacious opening. There were a jade table, a bamboo chair and a table with a red spell plate.

There were many of these stone rooms densely packed spread across three hundred meters in the air. They were flying stone rooms.

The entire hall was three thousand meters wide and nearly had a thousand stone rooms floating above it.

Faint azure talisman characters glowed from the surface of the stone room. Each room had a considerable distance between the two as if they were floating lamps.

Han Li sat down in the chair, looked down at the auction below and clocked his tongue.

In the instant he entered the large hall, he entered an odd spell formation and teleported to the room. Under examination, he discovered the room wasn't only suspended in air, but it also blocked spiritual sense. With the addition of the light pendant concealing them, it would guarantee the animosity of the bidders.

It appeared the master of the auction knew that cultivators feared arousing envy and spent much time on how to solve this.

Han Li leaned back in his chair and rested his eyes for a short time. Soon, another several hundred cultivators entered the hall, nearly filling it to its brim.

Han Li widely opened his eyes and took a breath.

When one normally entered the auction, they needed to be at Deity Transformation-stage at the very least. But this small auction managed to gather nearly a thousand Deity Transformation cultivators.

This was something that couldn't even be imagined in the mortal realm.

However, this was also impossible to happen unless it occurred in the other cultivator cities in the three human regions, barring Deep Heaven City.

Suddenly, melodic rings range through the hall. The hall's open gates slow closed with a creak and a clack.

The dim hall now became completely dark.

Immediately, several head-sized moonlight stones appeared above the auction. The appearance of their soft white light caused the cultivators to unconsciously looked down.

On a thirty-meter-tall platform, a spell formation suddenly appeared, followed by a flash of white light. A white-robed old man made an appearance.

As soon as he appeared, the cultivators became restless. A few even uttered the old man's name in shock.

"Grandmaster Chi!"

"Why would he appear here? Could it be the auction..."

Whispers continued to echo through the hall.

When Han Li heard the disturbance, his heart stirred and he curiously examined the old man.

He only possessed mid Deity Transformation cultivators, but his headful of silver hair and his friendly face gave him a bearing expected of a dignified cultivator. When he heard others address him as grandmaster, he reckoned the title should come from astonishing attainments in either pill refinement or some other art.

The white-robed old man coughed and spoke with a gentle voice, "It seems I don't need to introduce myself to you. Many of you do recognize me. Normally, I wouldn't appear at such an event, but this auction has things that I've personally appraised. Furthermore, I am greatly interested in these items and took the initiative to act as the auction host. It appears that none of you have any objections!"

"Chi Lao must be joking. Having a tool refinement master to host the auction is exactly what we would want!"

"Not bad, not bad! Brother Chi's personal appraisal can't be wrong. We'll be more at ease."

Praise repeatedly sounded through the floating rooms.

Although many of the cultivators didn't say anything, they also raised no opposition. It appeared that the white-robed old man was quite famous.

The old man continued, "In order for everyone to know what's going on, I'll give you a preview of what to expect. There will be three items of extraordinary value. They were rarely seen in the last several hundred years. Among them are top quality items from the wilderness, and a spirit treasure that has rose up to the primal myriad spirit rankings. As for the last item, it is an entire set of cultivation arts that was left behind by a late-stage Body Integration Senior that shook the worlds of both humans and demons."

The cultivators were greatly alarmed as if they couldn't believe what they just heard. The entire hall was filled with silence.

The item from the wilderness wasn't much as it was unknown, but a spirit treasure on the primal spirit rankings and the primary cultivation art of a Body Integration stage cultivator were incredibly rare treasures. If any of those items appeared on the outside, it would provoke a massacre.

As the hearts of these cultivators heavily thumped, the atmosphere became extremely grave.

"Brother Chi, since there are such important items at the auction, why wasn't it advertised so we could prepare more spirit stones? Why was it kept hidden?" An odd childlike voice sounded from one of the stone rooms.

Having already anticipated this question, the old man smiled and answered, "Fellow Daoist, don't worry. The reason why the auction was kept a secret is that the owner of these three treasures are the same person and had personally made this request to the auction. As for why, I do not know, but the auction didn't refuse it. However, I can guarantee that these treasures are genuine. Of course, since these headline treasures may have arrived on short notice, but you may trade for these treasures using items of equivalent value. The items will be priced a tenth below the value that three of the market's appraisal grandmasters and me, so feel at ease!"

When they heard his reply, the cultivators felt a sense of amazement. Feeling overjoyed, they felt no further need to ask any questions.

Old Man Chi saw there were no more objections and promptly announced the start of the bid with a clap of his hands.

Over ten various colored lights promptly flew out onto the stage.

After the light faded, ten beautiful palace-robed women appeared from behind him.

Each woman possessed Core Formation cultivation and held a box of varying size.

"Following convention, we will begin the auction with finished goods and then move on to materials and secret techniques. The headline items will be auctioned last. For the first item of the auction, we have three bottles of the Brightheart Pills, cultivation progression medicine for Deity Transformation cultivators. Starting bid is three hundred thousand spirit stones with each increase being at least fifty thousand." The white-robed old man waved his hand.

Suddenly, one of the women gracefully walked in front of him and raised her hand, opening the box to reveal three small jade bottles.

The old man waved his hand in front of the bottles and summoned one into his hand.

He skillfully opened it and tilted it, dropping a pure white crystalline pill into his hand.

Its dense medicinal sense immediately scattered.

The white-haired old man promptly held the pill in two of his fingers and waved it towards the cultivators.

An inconceivable event occurred.

The shining pill's surface immediately released an azure and red glow. They were dazzling as if they were gems. And the air filled with its medicinal scent became several times stronger.

"I've already demonstrated the Brightheart Pill's characteristics to you. I'm sure you don't have any further doubts. You may begin the bid!"

"Three hundred fifty thousand!"

"Four hundred thousand!"

"Four hundred fifty!"

Suddenly, a large and a small ball of purple light appeared above the platform. It lit up to show the number of spirit stones on the current bid and which room the bidder was in.

From the start of the auction, the price surged. It appeared that these Deity Transformation cultivators had great uses for these spirit stones.

This was to be expected. Although the headline items were temping, a majority of cultivators couldn't hope to acquire time. It was better to take advantage of this opportunity to grab smaller items while the rich were distracted.

After Han Li returned to his abode, he would be able to refine the Clear Jade Pill and wouldn't need to bid on similar items. He simply watched the bid until the pills were won for six hundred thousand spirit stones.

At that moment, many others had the same thoughts as Han Li: to quietly wait until the auction of the three headline items.

To tell the truth, Han Li was somewhat interested in the spirit treasure and the divine materials, but he wasn't going to participate in the auction.

However, the main cultivation technique of the late Body Integration stage cultivator greatly tempted him.

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Han Li's Azure Essence Sword Art had been cultivated to the peak of its potential.

Although his other abilities are powerful, once his Divine Essensefused light was fully cultivated, its might grew alongside his cultivation. The Heavenly Spirit Devouring Flame also relied on his body's progression to increase its power. Neither of them were of any assistance in increasing his cultivation stage.

Without a suitable technique guiding his cultivation, his body would surely implode from excessive spiritual Qi if he continued to rely on pills.

Now that Han Li wanted to increase his cultivation, there were two paths for him.

One was what common cultivators used: find another set of high-grade cultivation arts to continue cultivation. However, suddenly changing to an unfamiliar cultivation art midway was bound to be inevitable. Furthermore, if he wasn't careful, it would produce conflict with his original cultivation art and produce fewer results than the effort he put in.

The other cultivation method was to read through the experiences of body refiners, figuring out a path that was rarely tread.

That was magic and body dual cultivation. He would have to seek out a devilish sect or demon clan's technique related to body refinement.

Both devilish sect and demon clan techniques will not only strengthen his body to a high level when cultivated, but they will also increase his magic power.

However, not only is this method rarely seen, but it is also incredibly difficult. Although some human cultivators chose this method, those that succeeded were a sparse few.

Originally, the potential of a human's body couldn't compare to the Elder Devils and the demon clan. Once a human's flesh body was cultivated to a certain strength, it couldn't be progressed further apart from outstanding individuals.

But when dual cultivation progresses to the highest levels, not only will one possess astonishing power, but their chances of breaking through bottlenecks are far beyond similar level cultivators. This caused Han Li to feel a bit of conflict over what to choose.

He did happen to possess a set of dual cultivation arts. They are the Heavenbearing Devil Art and the techniques from the Sacred Provenance Plate.

Han Li already confirmed that those two techniques are closely related to one another and the Brightjade Arts.

Since all three techniques can be cultivated separately and all possessed their own abilities, they can be considered a set of cultivation arts and can be cultivated in sequence.

If he cultivated them without relation to one another, the other two techniques wouldn't have a previous foundation for cultivation and the strength would be only displayed at a tenth of its potential. But if he cultivated them together from the very start and restored the set of dual cultivation arts, they would reach their full potential. Although these techniques originated from an extremely powerful devilish art from the True Devil Realm, after passing through expert revisions from the human Buddhist sects and the devilish Dao as well as the demon clan, they were now entirely different. Cultivating magic and body didn't use true devil Qi, but worldly essence Qi.

Although Han Li researched this on his own and felt that these three techniques could be cultivated together, in truth, there hasn't been any human that attempted it before.

When the Buddhist Sect's Brightjade Arts and the Devil Dao's Heavenbearing Devil Arts were created, they were regarded as different cultivation techniques. And the Sacred Provenance Plate's techniques was a legacy passed down by the mortal realm's demon king. It was missing two parts, but it couldn't be the same as the Brightjade Arts and the Heavenbearing Devil Arts.

If he truly cultivated them together, who knows what problems he could encounter.

However, it was without question that the Heavenly Provenance Plate was a dual cultivation technique that far exceeded others. And the might of his body cultivating the Brightjade Arts has become brutal to the point of being able to use brute strength to fight Nascent Soul cultivators. If he could cultivate the other two, who knows what power he could achieve.

Cultivating purely magic power or dual cultivation each had their advantages and downsides. The first made quicker progression, was easier to cultivate, and was more reliable. The other kind was difficult and risky, but it led to overbearing strength. It would also increase his chances of even greater cultivation.

As a result, Han Li still remained hesitant and had yet to come to a true decision.

He had always made note of commonly cultivated high-grade techniques, but he never came across anything suitable in the market. It wasn't that there wasn't any high-grade Spatial Tempering arts being sold, but after using the Divine Essensefused Light and the Heavenly Spirit Devouring Flames, he felt common techniques to be beneath him.

Now that he heard a set of late-Body Integration stage techniques were being auctioned, his heart stirred.

If the cultivation art was truly suitable, he would give up his shaky path on dual cultivation.

As Han Li pondered this with worry, Old Man Chi auctioned off the medicine pills in succession. They were all auctioned off at several times their base price.

After all the medicine pills had finished bidding, all of the female cultivators holding the boxes flew up to the winners of the bid and exchanged them for spirit stones.

Most of them, including the Brightheart Pill, were used for early-Deity Transformation stage cultivators.

Only two of them were for mid-stage Deity Transformation cultivators while none of them were for late-stage cultivators.

This was no surprise.

Even with the density of spiritual Qi and abundance of spiritual medicines in the spirit realm, the primary ingredients for Deity Transformation-stage medicine pills were found in the wilderness. If the herbs could be raised by humans, they would either take too much time or were difficult to nurture.

As such, it was naturally rare for Deity Transformation-stage medicine pills to appear on sale.

Furthermore, the success rate of refining these medicines were incredibly low.

Even if one succeeded in creating a late-stage medicine pill, he would keep it for himself, not auction it off.

This was why even in Deep Heaven City, where pill refinement materials were abundant, early Deity Transformation-stage medicines are always scarce, let alone those for mid-stage.

With the auction for medicine pills over, the old man waved his hand and the women behind him immediately took another set of boxes.

They opened the boxes to reveal different-styled jade boxes. They were medicine as well, but they weren't for cultivation progression. They were antidotes and for healing wounds.

Another round of bidding began.

These medicine pills weren't nearly as well received. Although they were all bid away, their prices were far lower than the last round.

To a cultivator, one could never lack for cultivation medicine. These kinds of assistance medicines would only be prepared in few numbers, so they wouldn't be fiercely bid on.

One that was done, the women took out wooden boxes with restriction talismans out of their storage bracelet. It was then that the lax atmosphere in the hall became more fervent.

These talismans were all torn off to reveal treasures of sparkling light.

There were more commonly seen magic blades and sabers, but there were also seals, medallion, mirrors, and other top-grade ancient treasures of rarer forms.

The white-robed old man soon reached out to one of the boxes and summoned a bronze token into his hand.

They saw the old man toss the token into the air and formed an incantation gesture, striking it with a spell seal.

After it twirled through the air, it suddenly turned into three hollow copies and shot out. It turned into three twenty-meter long pythons, one azure, one red, one white, and all sitting in a coil while suspended in midair. They all looked formidable.

Old Man Chi spoke with a clear tone, "Venomous Python Token. The primary material to refine them was three snake-type ancient beasts. Control their soul manifestations to attack. Joined together, they will be at the level of three Nascent Soul-stage assistants. It can be considered to be a rare exceptional treasure. Starting bid is at two million spirit stones. Each increase will add a hundred thousand!"

"Two million!" Although three Nascent Soul assistants aren't much in the eyes of a Deity Transformation cultivator, in a crucial moment it could be used as a surprise move.

"Two million two hundred thousand!" After a brief silence, the bidding war started.

"Two million three hundred!"

Each of the treasures were bidded. After two waves, the final treasures on display were spirit treasures. The prices had reached a height of disbelief.

Although they were only lowest grade spirit treasures, the Spatial Tempering-stage cultivators continued to vie for them.

Each spirit treasure would greatly increase their odds of surviving greater tribulation. In past auctions, headline items would likely be on par with these spirit treasures.

However, there were a few Spatial Tempering-stage cultivators that viewed this with indifference. They were saving their bids for the last three items.

Although it can be considered a spirit treasure, common spirit treasures and a Divine Spirit Treasure on the primal myriad spirit rankings were vastly different in power. If one had an opportunity to take ahold of such a treasure, they wouldn't easily relinquish it.

All this time, Han Li hadn't participated in any bids and remained quiet in his room.

Then came time for the rare materials and secret techniques to be auctioned off. Han Li quickly paid attention with roused spirits.

A rare item and a rare cultivation art were quickly bid on.

And when the white-robed old man uttered the words, "A vial of True Toad Spirit Blood", Han Li's face lit up.

He originally thought to bid on it, but when the white-haired old man said the starting bid was at one million five hundred thousand spirit stones, Han Li's mouth twitched.

This starting price was far higher than the other materials that were auctioned.

Before Han Li could think of the number of spirit stones to offer for the spirit liquid, he suddenly heard a price that caused his heart to sink.

"Three million spirit stones!" A voice lazily spoke from a remote corner of the hall.

Other cultivators that wanted to offer a bid fell silent and he all looked over in shock.

It was a pity that they weren't able to see anything due to the restrictions of the rooms.

True Toad Liquid Blood was the required material to refine True Toad Liquid, but a price of three million was beyond the upper bound of most bidders.

For a time, the hall fell deathly quiet.

Han Li tensely frowned and looked at the auction stage. The white-robed old man was holding the bottle of liquid with a wavering expression.

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Han Li was naturally able to afford the price of 3,000,000 spirit stones.

Even if he did have spirit herbs that could be sold for large amounts of spirit stones, he definitely wouldn't sell too many of these herbs during a short period of time.

Otherwise, if someone were to discover what he was doing, it could spell a lot of trouble for him!

The one who had just placed a bid seemed to be intent on securing this jar of True Toad Spirit Blood. Even if he were to place a bid of 3,000,000 spirit stones, that may not be enough, and he would definitely attract attention from others.

Furthermore, such a small amount of spirit blood would only be enough for him to familiarize himself with the True Toad Liquid refinement process; it wouldn't actually be sufficient to refine much spirit medicine.

As such, following a period of contemplation, Han Li decided not to place any further bids.

Just because Han Li had bowed out from the bidding didn't mean that everyone else was also going to give up on it.

Just a few moments later, a few more people placed a string of bids. These people were clearly all late-Deity Transformation cultivators who desperately needed the True Toad Liquid to break through their cultivation bottlenecks; a normal cultivator definitely wouldn't be willing to pay such a hefty price.

After an intense bout of bids, the jar of True Toad Spirit Blood was successfully secured by the first bidder at an astronomical price of 4,000,000 spirit stones.

The fact that the item had been purchased for such a high price naturally attracted a lot of attention, and many of the cultivators present were frequently stealing glances at the stone cabin, trying to figure out just who was in there.

However, their efforts naturally yielded no fruits.

The next few auction items were also extremely rare, all of which were important ingredients for pill refinement for Spatial Tempering cultivators. There were fewer people bidding for these items, but the prices were even more staggering.

Among them, a purple Myriad Year Primordial Fruit was sold for close to 10,000,000 spirit stones. All of the cultivators who were participating in auctions of this nature for the first time were completely flabbergasted.

Just ingredients were being sold at such jaw-dropping prices; if pills that were useful to Spatial Tempering cultivators were to be brought out, how high would the prices rise to?

Not long after that, all of the ingredients and secret tome items had been completely auctioned off. The white-robed elderly man gave a gentle wave of his hand, and the 10 female cultivators standing behind him all drifted off the auction platform.

At the same time, three cultivators in different attire slowly stepped onto the platform.

One of them was a woman in an azure dress, the second was a healthy-looking elderly man, and the final one was a middle-aged scholar with a set of refined features.

At the sight of these three, a slight stir ran throughout the entire hall.

Han Li could faintly hear the word "appraiser" being thrown around, and he immediately understood who they were. These were the three appraisers that the elderly man had been referring to in the beginning.

The cultivation bases of this trio were inferior to the white-robed elderly man; all of them were only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage. However, their ability to create such a stir among the cultivators present clearly indicated that they weren't just a trio of ordinary people.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the white-robed elderly man extended a polite greeting to the three before turning back to all of the cultivators present. "Coming up next will be the three most precious treasures for this auction, and they're being carried by Fellow Daoist Han and the others. The first treasure will be three scales from the True Spirit Black Qilin of the primordial world. These scales can be used to refine the legendary True Spirit Water Pill or used as top-grade materials to refine water-attribute spirit treasures. Spirit treasures refined using this material have a certain chance of making it onto the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. In contrast, the True Spirit Water Pill can allow any early-Deity Transformation cultivator to reach the mid-Deity Transformation Stage following consumption. Of course, regardless of whether it's the spirit treasure or the True Spirit Water Pill, the probability of successfully refining either of them is rather low, even if a master of the craft were to be commissioned for the job. However, if anyone secures this item and wishes to refine a spirit treasure with it, I can provide my personal tool refinement services free of charge," the white-robed elderly man announced with a chuckle before retreating to behind the trio of appraisers.

The cultivators in the second stone cabin all drew sharp breaths upon hearing the words "True Spirit Black Qilin". All of them stared at the three appraisers onstage in a completely speechless manner.

In contrast, all of the cultivators who were extremely rich were ecstatic to hear this. It appeared that they had made the right decision to wait for the final few auction items.

Regardless of what the final two auction items were, just these scales of the True Spirit Black Qilin was valuable enough for them to bid with all their might.

However, most of them were planning to refine the True Spirit Water Pill. In contrast, using the scales to refine a spirit treasure seemed like a bit of a waste.

Furthermore, the only cultivators who were interested in refining a spirit treasure with the scales were virtually all cultivators who used water-attribute cultivation arts.

Han Li's heart also jolted significantly upon hearing about the True Spirit Water Pill.

This was a pill that defied the natural order, and could instantly effect a breakthrough for an early-Deity Transformation cultivator. It was what he had been desperately searching for, and he almost instantaneously made the decision that he was going to secure these scales no matter what. Even if he had to take some risk to achieve that objective, it would be worth it.

Thus, a decisive look appeared on Han Li's face.

At this moment, the middle-aged woman among the three appraisers stepped forward. She swept a hand over her storage bracelet, and a translucent jade box that was around a foot in size appeared. There were runes shimmering over the surface of the box, as well bursts of white light, and it was quite apparent that even this box was no ordinary object.

The woman required no further introduction from the white-robed elderly man as she placed a finger onto the jade box.

The lid of the box flew off of its own accord, following which three streaks of black light shot forth, rising high into the air.

However, the middle-aged woman seemed to have anticipated this in advance, and she merely made a grabbing motion in a calm manner.

A burst of invisible suction force emerged, trapping the three streaks of black light before violently tugging them downward.

The three streaks of black light swirled before revealing themselves as a trio of fist-sized black scales, which were forced into the middle-aged woman's hand.

The woman placed two of the scales back into the box, then sealed it with a restriction talisman, before displaying the final scale to everyone.

"As you all know, the black Qilin is a water-attribute true spirit from birth. Their scales are the best water-attribute materials in this world, and they're most useful for fellow Daoists who are using water-attribute cultivation arts. However, there are only two ways to verify the authenticity of such scales. The first of those methods is to assess the spiritual power within the scales. Even without further refinement, these scales contain astonishing water-attribute spiritual power, comparable to that of top-grade water-attribute treasures."

As she spoke, the middle-aged woman injected her spiritual power into the scale before waving it through the air.

All of a sudden, blue light flashed and a blue lotus flower of light blossomed on the surface of the scale. The lotus flower was translucent and dazzling, as glamorous as a diamond.

The lotus flower then rotated on the spot and swelled drastically in size at the middle-aged woman's behest, expanding to around the size of a human head within the blue spiritual light.

Its petals swayed, and countless specks of blue light shot forth in all directions. In the blink of an eye, extremely rich water-attribute spiritual Qi had spread throughout the entire hall.

Situated within one of the stone cabins, Han Li's eyes flashed as he raised a hand and made a grabbing motion. One of the specks of blue light fell into his palm and immediately disappeared.

Han Li closed his eyes and experienced a cool sensation quickly coursing through his entire body from his palm.

When he opened his eyes again, his expression was filled with contentment.

This was indeed extremely pure water-attribute spiritual power, and only the scales of the black Qilin would be able to emanate such power.

Not just Han Li, but all of the other cultivators were also convinced after experiencing the pure spiritual power imbued within the blue specks of light.

At this moment, the middle-aged woman flicked her wrist, and the blue lotus flower on the scale disappeared.

The specks of blue light hovering throughout the entire hall also instantly vanished.

She continued, "Among the heavenly true spirits, the hardness of Qilin scales is not inferior to that of even the most powerful true spirits, such as true dragons. Even though the scales will have lost most of their hardness after detaching from the Qilin's body, it would still be impossible to destroy them with normal attacks."

As her voice trailed off, the woman tossed the scale into the air.

A ball of black light immediately hovered in the air in a completely stationary manner.

Right at this moment, golden light flashed from the middle-aged woman's hands, and two axes appeared, each of which was around a foot in size. Both axes were shimmering with golden light and giving off a menacing aura.

The woman adopted a serious expression as her axes flew into the air as streaks of golden light, then came crashing down toward that scale.

Following a resounding clang, black light flashed from the surface of the scale and it was sent flying by the twin axes, but it was completely unscathed.

However, the demonstration didn't end there. The middle-aged woman began to chant something, and a pillar of azure flames erupted into the air, completely engulfing the scale.

"Three-Colored Azure Tribulation Flames!"

Several cries of surprise rang out from within the hall, and many cultivators were clearly very envious toward the flames that the woman had just unleashed.

However, after the woman withdrew her flames, the scale that was hovering in mid-air was still completely unscathed.

After that, she unleashed a series of other attacks, all of different attributes, yet they were completley ineffective against this scale.

The final Devil Dao treasure the woman unleashed released a ball of blood mist, but it was unable to corrode the scale in the slightest, and thus concluded her demonstration.

She raised a hand to draw the Qilin scale back to her before placing it into the jade box again, and sealing it with a talisman. She then took a few steps backward with the box in her hands, and refrained from saying anything else.

At this moment, the white-robed elderly man took the stage again with a wide smile, and said in a brief and concise manner, "The three True Spirit Black Qilin scales have a base price of 15,000,000 spirit stones. Each incremental jump has to be at least 1,000,000 spirit stones, and the bidding may now begin."

"17,000,000"

"18,000,000"

20,000,000"

The price of the scales quickly climbed up by 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 at a time. Many of the cultivators who attending this type of auction for the first time were completely stunned by this, and immediately relinquished any thoughts of participating in the bidding.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but there was also a hint of surprise shimmering in his eyes. He didn't think that in the dying stages of the auction, there would still be so many cultivators with so much money left to spend.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to place a bid. He merely looked at the astronomical number that was only continuing to increase and pursed his slightly dry lips.

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In the face of three true spirit scales, tens of millions of spirit stones were nothing but mere numbers. Everyone wanted to make a breakthrough with immediate effect.

After all, it was extremely difficult for Deity Transformation cultivators to progress, and the majority of Deity Transformation cultivators were stuck at the early-Deity Transformation Stage until the day they died.

The scales essentially provided a lifeline, and everyone immediately burst into a frenzy to try and secure the scales for themselves.

However, no matter how desperately one wanted to secure the scales, they had to be conscious of their limits.

After the price rose above 25,000,000 spirit stones, there were almost no cultivators left who were still participating in the bidding.

In fact, there were only three such cultivators left.

One of them was the same one who had just secured the True Toad Spirit Blood, and his voice was still as lazy as ever.

Among the other two voices, one was quite wizened and coarse, while the other was pleasant to the ears. It sounded as if the remaining two cultivators were an elderly man and a young female cultivator respectively.

The bids rolled in at increments of 1,000,000 spirit stones at a time, and the price was quickly approaching 30,000,000.

When the owner of that lazy voice made an astronomical bid of 30,000,000, the other two cultivators immediately fell silent.

It appeared that this price was already beyond what they were able to afford, so they could only give up.

All of the cultivators looked up in the air above the auction platform. There, the number on the massive disk was slowly changing color. Once it became completely crimson in color, that would mean a final price had been settled.

"31,000,000"

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar voice sounded.

As soon as this bid was made, all of the cultivators in the hall faltered momentarily before immediately turning their attention to the stone cabin that Han Li was situated in.

It appeared that even at such a jaw-dropping price, there were still people willing to make additional bids.

Within the stone cabin, Han Li sat with a calm and collected expression.

"32,000,000"

The lazy voice carried a hint of surprise this time.

"33,000,000"

Han Li immediately placed another bid without any hesitation.

"34,000,000"

This time, the lazy voice only placed the bid after a momentary hesitation.

"35,000,000"

Many of the cultivators present were struggling to pick their jaws up off the ground.

These were true spirit scales on offer here, but surely such a ridiculous price was too much! Even the spirit treasures that ranked at the bottom of the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll were only around this price.

"35,000,000? Hmph! Fellow Daoist Chi, I highly suspect that this fellow Daoist doesn't have that many spirit stones, and is only bidding to cause trouble for me. Shouldn't you be assessing whether he actually has that many spirit stones?" the owner of the lazy voice suddenly said in a cold manner.

"I'll be sure to verify this in person at the conclusion of the auction. However, everything shall progress as normal before then. Please continue, Fellow Daoists," the white-robed elderly man merely replied with a calm smile.

He clearly didn't want to offend either of the bidders before learning their identities.

"If that's the case, then I won't be placing any further bids. I want to see if this fellow Daoist truly can offer something worth 35,000,000 spirit stones as a bond." The owner of the lazy voice seemed to have grown quite frustrated, and he really did refrain from participating in any further bidding.

Thus, the number on the massive disk turned crimson, and the white-robed elderly man announced Han Li to be the new owner of the three true spirit scales. After that, the white-robed elderly man and the woman carrying the jade box began to fly toward the stone cabin that Han Li was situated in.

Soon, they reached the cabin before stopping.

The elderly man flipped his hand over to produce an azure badge. He waved the badge gently toward the stone cabin before entering the cabin with the female appraiser behind him.

After entering the room, the elderly man appraised Han Li for a brief moment before offering a smile and cupping his fist in a salute.

"Your treasure has been delivered, Fellow Daoist. It's time for you to issue the spirit stones. If you have something you can offer as a bond, Fellow Daoist He here will appraise its value and offer discounts accordingly. If you'd like, I can also invite the other two appraisers here as well." The white-robed elderly man was speaking in quite a polite manner.

"I trust your discerning eyes, Brother Chi, Fellow Daoist He. Have a look at this."

Han Li glanced at the jade box being carried by the woman before rustling his sleeve. A small brocade box that had been prepared well in advance emerged from within.

The white-robed elderly man had seen countless treasures in his time, and he merely accepted the box with a calm expression before opening the lid.

A burst of fragrant aroma immediately wafted throughout the entire cabin. The elderly man's calm facade completely crumbled at the sight of the contents of the box. "A myriad year spirit herb!"

The elderly drew a sharp breath before finally tearing his gaze away from the item in the box. He then turned to Han Li with a rather peculiar look in his eyes.

The woman's heart also jolted upon hearing the words "myriad year spirit herb". She strode over to the elderly man and also peered into the brocade box.

Lying within the box, enshrouded in a ball of white light, was a pristine white spirit herb that was several inches in length. There were runes around it that were flashing like projections. "Myriad year spirit runes! That does indeed appear to be a myriad year spirit herb, but further appraisal will be required to verify its authenticity," the woman said in a slow voice after staring at the spirit herb for a long while.

"That's your area of expertise, Fellow Daoist He, so I'll have to trouble you to appraise this treasure." The white-robed elderly man was being quite respectful toward the woman.

The woman nodded before accepting the brocade box that was being handed over to her. She then flipped over her other hand, and a thin green jade ruler appeared. The ruler was around a foot in length, and there were over 20 peculiar spiral patterns carved onto its surface.

The woman's eyes flashed as she slowly extended the ruler toward the spirit herb in the box.

Before the green ruler had even come into contact with the spirit herb, white spiritual light erupted amid a low ringing sound. At the same time, the peculiar spiral patterns on the jade ruler lit up one after the other, emanating piercing green light.

After the 11th and final pattern lit up, the woman's calm expression was finally beginning to crack a little.

She carefully examined the spirit herb in the box once again before concluding in a firm voice, "This is indeed a myriad year spirit herb, and it's a Snow Wyrm Herb that's around 11,000 years old. Snow Wyrm Herbs are quite rare, so they're much more valuable than normal myriad year spirit medicines. I value this at around 7,000,000 spirit stones."

"7,000,000? That's around what I was expecting. Do you have any objections, Fellow Daoist?" The white-robed elderly man nodded before turning to Han Li.

"I'm fine with that price. I also have some more that you can take; they should be enough to pay for the auction item." Azure light flashed from Han Li's wrist, and four jade boxes appeared, all of which he tossed toward the white-robed elderly man in a calm manner.

The elderly man waved an arm to catch all of the jade boxes before opening them one by one.

He was trying his best to maintain a calm facade on this occasion, but the twitching of his eyelid still betrayed his emotional turmoil.

"Are these all myriad year spirit herbs?" he asked in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Why do you ask? Do you not accept such spirit medicines?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Of course we do, Fellow Daoist." the white-robed elderly man chuckled in response, but the shock in his eyes was quite apparent.

The female appraiser was also starting to become rather skeptical.

She appraised the spirit herbs in the jade boxes one by one, following which an incredulous look appeared on her face.

Individual myriad year spirit herbs naturally weren't as precious as true spirit scales. However, they had much more practical applications as they could be used as ingredients to refine a wide range of pills. As such, they were demand always far exceeded supply for these treasures.

Furthermore, they were also extremely valuable, so they were basically the next best currency used on the market, second only to spirit stones. Perhaps shops would reject other items, but there wasn't a single shop that would reject myriad year spirit herbs.

"Seeing as Fellow Daoist He has verified the authenticity of these spirit herbs, then these three true spirit scales belong to you now, Fellow Daoist." A hint of curiosity flashed through the white-robed elderly man's eyes as he put on a wide smile and handed over the brocade box to Han Li.

"Thank you." Han Li made a grabbing motion, and the brocade box was drawn toward him. He briefly inspected the contents of the box before nodding with a pleased expression.

The white-robed elderly man was very curious about Han Li had come across so many myriad year spirit herbs, but he didn't articulate those questions. He merely stowed away the spirit herbs before departing from the stone cabin and returning to the auction platform.

Even though the elderly man and the female appraiser had spent quite a while in Han Li's cabin, this amount of time was naturally negligible to the cultivators outside, who would often meditate for months at a time.

However, all of them immediately turned their attention toward the duo as soon as they emerged. Everyone wanted to know whether the transaction had been a success.

"Rest assured, fellow Daoists, the transaction was a success. We'll now be moving on to the next auction item. This is a spirit treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, so it's even more valuable than true spirit scales. This is the Divine Spirit Treasures, Sea Razing Halberd. Its base price is 20,000,000 spirit stones!" The white-robed elderly man didn't disclose any information about Han Li, immediately moving on to announcing the next auction item instead. The elderly man among the trio of appraisers stepped forward right on cue, producing a shimmering blue short halberd from his spirit bracelet.

The cultivators in the hall were naturally extremely interested in this treasure as well. After the elderly man displayed some of the halberd's incredible abilities, an intense bout of bidding immediately commenced.

At this moment, Han Li's attention was focused entirely on the black scale in his hand, seemingly completely disinterested in the Divine Spirit Treasure being offered outside.

In the end, the short halberd was purchased by an unfamiliar cultivator for the same price of 35,000,000 spirit stones.

It was finally time for the last auction item to be revealed.

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"The next auction item is a cultivation art that was once used by a late-Body Integration Senior who possesses a resounding reputation. Perhaps not many of you will know this Senior's name, but I'm sure all of you have heard of the Great Zhou God Vanquishing Needle. This ability has been showcased in brilliant fashion on many occasions during wars with foreign races. Different editions of this cultivation art have been released, and there are even beings from the demon race who have cultivated this secret technique. The edition of the cultivation art on offer is the very first edition that was created by the Five Spirit True Lord himself in ancient times, so I trust that I won't need to elaborate on its immense value. Most importantly, using this cultivation art will allow one to temporarily convert their own magic power into another attribute. However, there are very strict prerequisites that one must satisfy before they can use this cultivation art. Firstly, only those above the Nascent Soul Stage will be able to consider this cultivation art. Secondly, the cultivator must possess a five-elemental spiritual root.

"Of course, there are also some other conditions that must be satisfied, but those hurdles are not insurmountable, so I won't rattle them off one by one. We can guarantee that the cultivation art is complete, and the highest bidder will be able to verify that for themselves. Another thing that I have to remind everyone of is that even though this cultivation art is extremely powerful, among those who have used it, only the Five Spirit Trud Lord has reached the Body Integration Stage. We're not sure whether the others have simply failed to use the cultivation art properly or encountered other unforeseen troubles. In any case, most of them were didn't progress beyond the Deity Transformation Stage. However, what we do know is that this cultivation art is capable of taking one to greater heights, as evidenced by the might of the Five Spirit True Lord. That's enough talking from me. This cultivation art is known as the Yin Yang Extreme Mantra. Any fellow Daoists who are interested can begin placing bids now. The starting price is 20,000,000 spirit stones, and the minimum incremental jump is 1,000,000 spirit stones once again."

After a fluent introduction from the white-robed elderly man, the middle-aged scholar stepped forward with a smile. He produced a wooden box from his storage bracelet, within which was contained a shimmering golden jade slip. That was quite clearly the cultivation art in question.

The Great Zhou God Vanquishing Needle was truly a vastly renowned ability, and many of the cultivators present were extremely excited to see such a legendary auction item.

As for the prerequisites involved, none of the cultivators present paid them much heed.

After all, only cultivators of the Deity Transformation Stage and above could participate in this auction, so the cultivation base restriction wasn't an issue. As for possessing a five-elemental spiritual root, that was a prerequisite required to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage, so everyone was striving toward that goal already anyway. Of course, only the heavens knew how many of them would succeed in that quest.

However, the white-robed elderly man had made it very clear that this cultivation art was extremely difficult to master, and that very few people were even able to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage while using it, so that discouraged a lot of people from participating in the bidding.

Han Li was one of those people.

The Yin Yang Extreme Mantra was clearly an extremely powerful cultivation art, but the fact that it was so difficult to master immediately made Han Li lose interest in it.

In terms of power, his simultaneous cultivation art for both magic power cultivation and body refinement definitely wouldn't be inferior to the auction item.

Furthermore, 20,000,000 spirit stones as a base price was far too hefty for him to consider purchasing it for novelty purposes.

However, there was no lack of cultivators present who thought themselves to possess exceptional aptitude, and they remained quite interested in this cultivation art. The price of 20,000,000 spirit stones naturally did deter some people from participating in the bidding, but after just two rounds, a cold voice suddenly sounded. "40,000,000!"

Everyone's eyes immediately widened upon hearing this.

The bidder was none other than the man who had been bidding against Han Li for the true spirit scales.

Not only was did his lofty bid leave all of the Deity Transformation cultivators completely dumbfounded, even the Spatial Tempering cultivators who were interested in the cultivation art fell completely silent.

Everyone was wondering just who this person was to possess such incredible wealth. Such a vast quantity of spirit stones was most likely equivalent to the net worth of the average Spatial Tempering cultivator.

Han Li was also feeling rather curious, but this matter didn't have anything to do with him, so he didn't think too much about it.

Seeing as the cultivation art had been sold, the auction naturally drew to a conclusion.

In the instant that the auction concluded, all of the restrictions on the stone cabins were activated. Han Li was teleported out of his cabin amid a flash of white light, and he appeared in a certain corridor outside the auction hall.

Spiritual light flashed in quick succession all along the entire corridor as other cultivators were also teleported there one after the other.

However, everyone was enshrouded in shimmering silver light, so no one could identify anyone else.

Han Li didn't pay any heed to the cultivators around him as he strode directly toward the gate of the Profound Zenith Hall.

The auction was already over, yet he wasn't planning to return to the stone tower. Instead, he was preparing to depart from Deep Heaven City and return to his own cave abode.

There was half a year until he would be deployed on his next bout of patrol duty and during that time, he had to refine some spirit medicines. As a starting point, he had to refine a batch of Clearjade Pills. With a steady supply of those pills, he wouldn't have to worry about his cultivation for the near future.

As for those three true spirit scales, he wasn't going to refine them in any rush.

He was going to conduct some research on them first so they wouldn't go to waste.

After exiting the Profound Zenith Hall, Han Li flew over the tall city walls and traveled toward the barren land in the distance. At this moment, there were two people situated within a secret chamber that was enshrouded under many layers of restrictions in the Profound Zenith Hall.

One of them was a benevolent-looking old man in a set of white robes with his hands clasped behind his back, and a respectful look on his face. He was none other than the elderly man with the Chi surname.

Seated in a casual manner on the stone chair before the elderly man was a handsome young man in a set of purple robes.

There was a vibrant red mole near the corner of his lips that was particularly eye-catching.

The elder man said in a respectful manner, "Don't worry, my lord, even though that person used a secret technique to obscure his features, your lowly servant's Purple Light Spirit Eyes was able to see through the disguise with ease. The one who secured the Yin Yang Extreme Mantra was definitely a female cultivator. However, she looked nothing like the portraits of the women you gave to me. Instead, she was extremely hideous." This vastly renowned tool refinement master of Deep Heaven City was referring to himself as a lowly servant in the face of this young man. If other cultivators in the city were to witness this interaction, their jaws would most likely drop to the ground.

A faint smile appeared on the young man's face upon hearing this.

"There's no need to be confused, Old Man Chi. A female cultivator capable of offering such a vast amount of spirit stones at once to purchase a cultivation art has to be from either the Ye Family or the Gu Family. Like our Long Family, both of these families are obscure true spirit families descended from ancient times, and the true spirit bloodlines being passed down in those two families can only be inherited by women. We have control over the auction houses all over the three human regions, yet they have control over an astonishing number of top-grade spirit stone mines. It's just that neither of those families has many members and very few of them are active in the outside world, so it's always been a secret which true spirit bloodline they've inherited. Now, it looks like one of the families has most likely inherited the heavenly phoenix bloodline, which is one of the most powerful bloodlines in the Spirit Realm, just like our family's true dragon bloodline. It appears we've made the correct gamble this time; the members of those obscure true spirit families really will lurk in Deep Heaven City in disguise for a period of time to train themselves," the young man analyzed in a confident manner.

"You have a brilliant tactical mind, my lord! The Yin Yang Extreme Mantra is of extreme importance to those with the heavenly phoenix bloodline. After all, only top-grade cultivation arts that make use of all five elemental powers can completely activate the bloodline of the heavenly phoenix. How is she supposed to know that this cultivation art is a massive trap that was set in ancient times?" the white-robed elderly man chuckled.

"Hehe, the wisdom of our ancestors is certainly not something we can match. If it weren't for the fact that the true dragon bloodline is far stronger in my body than in our forefathers, those old bastards from our family wouldn't have lent me their support. In order to avoid arousing suspicions from our target, we've even brought out our black Qilin scales and Sea Razing Halberd to be auctioned off. Our scouts also intentionally leaked this information to the members of the true spirit families beforehand. Otherwise, our plan wouldn't have progressed so smoothly. Thankfully, the treasures fetched good prices, and one of them even raked in five myriad year spirit herbs, so we haven't incurred too severe of a loss. By the way, have you figured out the origins of the cultivator that purchased the true spirit scales?" the young man asked.

"My lord, as you know, this lowly servant's Purple Light Spirit Eyes can only be unleashed a total of three times in my life. I wouldn't dare to use the final opportunity on someone else. I could only sense that he wasn't a Spatial Tempering cultivator, and that his cultivation base was only at the Deity Transformation Stage. However, he most likely possesses more than just those five spirit herbs. Could it be that's from the Run family? The bloodline of the Run family isn't all that impressive, but they're truly frontrunners of the human race when it comes to nurturing spirit herbs," the elderly man mused with a serious expression.

"That's indeed a possibility. If that person really from the Run Family, then so be it. The Run Family is a true spirit family with their allegiance pledged to the Heavenly Spirit Sovereign, so we can't afford to mess with them at the moment," the young man said with furrowed brows.

"Indeed, my lord. Even though our family doesn't fear the three emperors, it wouldn't be worth it to make one of them our enemy just for a few spirit herbs," the elderly man chimed in as he nodded emphatically.

A thought suddenly occurred to the young man, and he turned to the elderly man with a benevolent expression as he said, "Using your Purple Light Spirit Eyes must've harmed your cultivation base, right? After I take care of matters here, I'll hold a blood sacrifice ceremony for you to give your cultivation base a boost."

"Thank you for your kindness, my lord!" The elderly man hurriedly extended an overjoyed bow.

The young man nodded with a pleased expression before falling into deep thought about something.

Several days later, Han Li had reached the mountain ranges were his cave abode was situated. Over 500 kilometers away from his cave abode, there were two people locked in a tense showdown with one another.

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"Brother Jin, why have you followed me all the way to this place? Have I done something to offend you?" The man who had spoken was none other than the one who had fought Han Li for that plot of Spirit Land, and the one who was facing off against him was the fatso with the Jin surname whom he'd been interacting with outside the Heavenly Jade Pavilion.

The two appeared to be on relatively good terms, but they seemed to be on the brink of breaking out into battle.

"Of course not, Brother Weng. I just so happened to be passing by this place as well, and I saw you stopping here, so I thought I'd come over to greet you," the fatso replied with an innocent expression.

"You just so happened to be passing by and you thought you'd greet me? Do you think I'm retarded? Who would come to a secluded place like this for no reason? And if you wanted to greet me, was it necessary to follow me for almost 10,000 kilometers while using a concealment technique to hide your presence?" the man interrogated.

"Haha, I also found it to be strange that you would come to a place like this. Why have to come here instead of staying in your own cave abode to cultivate? If I recall correctly, this was the plot of Spirit Land that you were fighting for, but lost in the end." The fatso's eyes narrowed with a sly look.

"Hmph, do I have to explain myself to you now, Brother Jin?" The man's expression darkened significantly.

"There's no need to be angry, Brother Weng. I'm just here to remind you of the fact that this plot of Spirit Land has an owner now. I was afraid that you'd do something reckless and stir up some trouble that you can't rectify. What are you trying to look for in this place? Why don't you tell me, and I'll give you a hand?" The fatso was intent on getting to the bottom of this.

The man harrumphed coldly and didn't say anything further, but a vicious light shimmered in his eyes.

All of a sudden, green light flashed behind the fatso, and a thin green thread appeared out of thin air. The thread then instantly transformed into a massive green net that descended toward him.

The entire process was completely soundless, and the fatso didn't seem to have noticed that something was amiss as he continued to appraise the man with a fake smile on his face.

The man's expression remained completely unchanged, but he was ecstatic internally. He surreptitiously summoned a translucent blue flying dagger into his hand, which was obscured by his sleeve, preparing to kill the fatso with this dagger as soon as he was caught by the net.

However, when the next was only several tens of feet away from the fatso's head, an astonishing turn of events suddenly unfolded.

A dull thump erupted as brilliant spiritual light radiated from the fatso's hair. A vast expanse of golden light emerged before manifesting into a massive golden hand that caught the green net.

Golden and green light intertwined with one another, creating a series of bizarre crackles and pops.

"It's you, Old Devil Jin?"

"As expected, you really did come as well, Old Devil Ming."

Two voices sounded almost in unison from within the green and golden light. It was just that one voice was rather surprised, while the other was confident and assured.

Immediately thereafter, both the massive golden hand and the green net shot back at once. The spiritual light receded to reveal a tiny green wyrm as well as a miniature humanoid figure that was only around half a foot tall.

The small wyrm was none other than the avatar belonging to the master of the man with the Weng surname. In contrast, the miniature humanoid figure wore a set of golden Daoist robes with a miniature wooden sword strapped to its back. Its face had also been completely obscured by murky light, making it impossible to make out its actual appearance. However, one could sense that it seemed to be a rather elderly being.

"You're using a soul splitting technique! You've even deployed this spiritual avatar that you're using to avoid your next heavenly tribulation? Aren't you afraid that something will go wrong and you won't be able to transcend your next tribulation?" the green wyrm asked in a cold voice as it scrutinized the miniature humanoid figure.

"Hehe, you won't need to worry about that, Fellow Daoist Ming. Master Thousand Treasure was an extremely renowned powerful being during his time, and the treasures he carried with him were vastly renowned among both races. As long as I can obtain two or three of them, I won't have to worry about my next tribulation transcendence at all. Didn't you send an avatar here as well?" the miniature humanoid figure chuckled.

"You know about Master Thousand Treasure as well?" the green wyrm exclaimed.

Meanwhile, the fatso and the man with the Weng surname were standing off to the side with respectful expressions on their faces, not daring to interject on this conversation.

"You know need to know how I came by this information. However, you can rest assured knowing that you and I are the only ones aware of this; there definitely isn't a third person with this knowledge. How about we join force and work together to secure the treasures?" the miniature humanoid figure suggested.

"Secure the treasures together? If you had some concrete leads, why would you need to work together with us? Indeed, I am not sure of the exact details, but it's enough as long as you have such information, right, Brother Ming?" the miniature humanoid figure replied.

"You're threatening me!" The green wyrm's voice immediately cooled.

"I would dare to do no such thing. I'm simply proposing a collaboration, which means I intend to assist you in searching for the treasures. Once we find them, we'll split them evenly among us, and it'll forge a closer bond between us. Isn't that a win-win situation?" The humanoid figure hurriedly shook its head and waved its hands.

"You... Huh? There's someone coming!" The green wyrm wanted to offer a furious retort, but its expression suddenly changed as it abruptly turned toward a certain direction.

The miniature humanoid figure also glanced toward that direction, and its expression darkened as well.

"Looks like the owner of the plot of land is back. You have to make a decision about our collaboration, Fellow Daoist. Otherwise, if things get out of hand and the old monsters of Deep Heaven City are alerted, our efforts could completely go to waste. According to the rules of Deep Heaven City, all treasures discovered on a plot of Spirit Land belong to the owner of that land," the miniature humanoid figure urged in a serious voice.

The green wyrm's expression changed several times before it sighed in a resigned manner, and replied, "Alright, I'll agree to the collaboration for now, but the treasures definitely can't be split evenly between us. As for the specific conditions, we'll discuss that elsewhere. We can't stay in this place any longer, though. I heard from my disciple that even though the owner of this plot of land is only a Deity Transformation cultivator, he possesses quite a powerful spiritual sense. Let's take care not to be discovered by him."

"Haha, that's all I needed to hear! Let's go."

The miniature humanoid figured nodded in a content manner before grabbing the air, upon which a small purple umbrella appeared within its grasp.

The umbrella was gently swished through the air, following which it transformed into a swath of purple light. The purple light enshrouded both itself and the fatso, upon which both of them disappeared on the spot.

"That's the Purple Maple Umbrella! I didn't think that he would've brought such a powerful spirit treasure here; looks like he really is well prepared! Let's get out of this place as well." The green wyrm faltered initially upon seeing the umbrella before opening its mouth in a rather gloomy manner to produce a small five-colored flag.

The flag rotated on the spot before manifesting a five-colored cloud that swept toward the two of them, then burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

Peace and quiet resumed as if nothing had ever happened here.

Some time later, a streak of azure light shot forth from the distance, within which was a young man with a set of ordinary features.

This man was none other than Han Li.

When the streak of azure light flew into the air above a trough in the ground below. The streak of light circled around the surrounding area for a few laps before receding to reveal Han Li hovering in mid-air. He glanced around at his surroundings as a hint of bewilderment appeared on his face.

He had just detected what seemed to be a hint of spiritual Qi fluctuations here. Even though it was extremely feeble and disappeared in a flash, there was definitely no mistaking it.

The miniature humanoid figure and the green wyrm that were facing off earlier were both Spatial Tempering cultivators, but they were both avatars, after all. After cultivating the Great Development Technique, Han Li's spiritual sense was far more powerful than that of a Deity Transformation cultivator, and was only slightly inferior to that of an early-Spatial Tempering powerful being.

As such, even though they had acted very quickly, Han Li still detected that something was amiss. As such, he sped here at several times his original pace, but he was still too late.

Han Li unleashed his spiritual sense to quickly inspect the area in a radius of several hundred kilometers around him, all to no avail.

His expression instantly darkened as a result.

After pausing in mid-air and contemplating to himself for a long while, Han Li suddenly gave a cold chuckle as he sped directly toward his cave abode as a streak of azure light.

At this point, the green wyrm and the golden humanoid figure were already thousands of kilometers away, so they naturally weren't aware of the fact that their presence had already been detected. They were currently situated on a secluded mountain, discussing the details of their collaboration.

As soon as Han Li returned to his cave abode, he immediately activated the restrictions nearby before making his way into one of the tool refinement rooms.

He spent three days and three nights in there, and when he re-emerged from the room, he was carrying a strange octagonal formation plate that was shimmering with silver light, and countless pea-sized jade beads of all types of different colors had been added to his storage bracelet.

These jade beads were all very smooth and one or several silver runes had been carved into them, all of which were inscribed in the beveled silver text.

This was a special type of treasures invented by Han Li known as the Myriad Dragon Bead. He had developed such a treasure after using a type of talisman described on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome as reference.

These treasures weren't difficult to refine and they didn't possess any offensive or defensive abilities. However, they were extremely useful sensory devices, and each bead could conduct surveillance on an area with a radius of several tens of kilometers. If any spiritual Qi fluctuations were to appear within the surveillance area, Han Li would be able to ascertain its rough location using his formation plate, even from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

Of course, such surveillance measures couldn't be set up simply by burying these beads casually into the ground.

Not only did they have to be placed in a special spell formation, the location that the Myriad Dragon Beads were buried at had to have the formation plate as its center. That way, they would be able to resonate with one another, but a massive formation was required to facilitate this.

As for how large the formation had to be, that was naturally dependent on how many Myriad Dragon Beads Han Li was going to bury.

Under normal circumstances, if one were to try and conduct surveillance over the entire plot of Spirit Land, just the spirit stone expenditure required would be downright astronomical.

Even with Han Li's enormous wealth, if a surveillance formation of this nature were to constantly be in action, it would only take several years before Han Li's entire supply of spirit stones was exhausted.

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Han Li had inspected some of the restrictions in Deep Heaven City that had made use of beveled silver text, and he discovered that even though some of those restrictions had similar abilities to his Myriad Dragon Beads, they definitely weren't this petite and discreet.

As such, even though these treasures were simple to refine, they were truly unique. Of course, the simplicity being mentioned here was on relative terms. If it weren't for the information on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome, there was no way that Han Li would've been able to refine such treasures.

Back in the human world, Han Li had also been tempted to refine a set of these treasures but unfortunately, one of the main materials required couldn't be found in the human world anymore, so he could only give up on that plan.

Back when he was at the Setting Sun City's marketplace, he unintentionally discovered this material, and it wasn't very expensive, so he decided to purchase all of the materials required to refine these beads.

Looking back now, that was a wise decision.

Seeing as he already knew that there were people plotting something in his Spirit Land, he naturally couldn't just leave things as they were.

Regardless of what measures he was going to take, his first priority was to conduct surveillance on these people.

Han Li departed from his cave abode as a streal of azure light, then buried the countless Myriad Dragon Beads from his storage bracelet deep into the ground according to a certain pattern with his cave abode as the central point.

At his current speed, it took him less than half a day to set up restrictions throughout almost two-thirds of the entire plot of Spirit Land.

After that, Han Li returned to his cave abode and set up a strange formation within a certain hall, then placed the octagonal formation plate at the center of that formation.

He then embedded several tens of high-grade spirit stones in the ground around the formation before casting several incantation seals to activate it.

Following a burst of low ringing, bursts of white light began to appear over the entire formation, following which a layer of silver light suddenly surfaced over the octagonal formation plate.

Upon that layer light, specks of white light were flashing incessantly.

Han Li nodded with a satisfied expression upon seeing this before making his way over to a secret chamber.

He didn't know who had trespassed on his Spirit Land, but they most likely had something to do with the cultivator he had fought over the Spirit Land with. Prior to grasping any concrete leads, Han Li refrained from doing anything that could potentially be reckless, and decided to survey the situation from the shadows first.

Now, he was preparing to inspect that mysterious lightning patterns, as well as to refine the other beveled silver text talismans inscribed on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome. Of course, during this time, he also had to refine some spirit medicine, including the Clearjade Pill.

Han Li entered the secrete chamber before closing the door. He strode over to the center of the chamber before sitting down with his legs crossed.

He raised a hand and brushed it over his storage bracelet, following which azure light flashed, and a jade slip, a golden handkerchief, and a bead appeared.

Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the jade slip first, then carefully inspected the lightning patterns. After that, he stroked the golden handkerchief and contemplated to himself momentarily before tossing it up into the air.

After that, Han Li abruptly opened his mouth to blast forth a crimson fireball, which struck the golden handkerchief with unerring accuracy.

Golden light flashed and the fireball was snuffed out, but the handkerchief remained completely unscathed.

Han Li raised his eyebrows as he pointed a finger toward the handkerchief, launching a translucent ice spike toward it.

The ice spike was also reduced to nothingness following a flash of spiritual light.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face. Could it be that this handkerchief was immune to the power of the five elements?

With that in mind, Han Li flicked a finger to expel a burst of golden sword Qi.

On this occasion, the handkerchief was sliced in half with ease before transforming into countless thin golden threads that quickly disappeared.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he nodded initially before shaking his head.

He then turned his attention to the golden bead in his hand.

The power of lightning imbued within this bead seemed to be extremely volatile.

An hour later, an earthshattering boom suddenly erupted within the secret chamber. The walls of the chamber suddenly shattered, even though they had been reinforced by many layers of restrictions. Arcs of golden lightning that were as thick as large bowls surged violently through the air as if they were countless golden snakes dancing amid brilliant golden light.

Right at this moment, a crisp ringing sound erupted from the very center of the golden light. An inky-black small mountain then appeared, and it began to radiate rings of murky grey light.

As soon as the grey light swept through the air, all of the golden arcs of lightning disappeared, but a golden lightning wyrm had taken shape within the Divine Essencefused Light.

The lightning wyrm was struggling desperately in an attempt to escape.

At the foot of the small mountain, Han Li was seated in a cross-legged manner at the center of an area with a radius of around 10 feet. Aside from that area, which remained completely unscathed, everywhere else in the secret chamber had been severely ravaged by the arcs of golden lightning.

It was as if Han Li was perched on top of a stop pillar amid a gargantuan crater, creating an extremely peculiar sight to behold.

Han Li glanced a the small mountain and the golden lightning wyrm, then assessed his surroundings, and an elated expression appeared on his face.

"The power of the lightning bead has increased the might of the Divine Devilbane Lightning by more than tenfold! If it weren't for the fact that I was set up a barrier of Divine Essencefused Light to protect myself in advance, I would've been caught up in its power. If I can create a few more of these beads, I'll have no need for other treasures; this bead will be able to easily slay opponents of the same cultivation base!" Han Li murmured to himself with an excited look in his eyes.

However, on the subject of the power of lightning, he seemed to have more than just the Divine Devilbane Lightning...

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li as he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light.

A tiny antiquated cauldron was hovering within the azure light, and it was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Han Li immediately laid a hand over the top of his own head, following which a swath of murky grey light erupted forth, enveloping the golden lightning wyrm that had been trapped by the small mountain before pulling it downward.

The golden lightning wyrm was completely powerless to resist and immediately came plummeting toward Han Li.

Han Li then pointed a finger at the small cauldron that was hovering before him.

A buzzing sound immediately rang out as the lid of the cauldron flew off of its own accord. The grey light then forcibly stuffed the lightning wyrm into the cauldron before vanishing of its own accord.

Han Li then waved a hand toward the small mountain up above and drew it back into his own body.

As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he wasn't in a hurry to withdraw it. Instead, he allowed it to hover above his head.

Han Li inspected at the chaotic mess around, and his brows furrowed as he raised a hand to summon a massive ape puppet that was around 20 feet tall. He injected a wisp of his spiritual sense into the puppet and left it with an instruction to repair the secret chamber before making his way toward another secret chamber.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron hovered close behind him.

After entering the new secret chamber, Han Li sat down once again before waving a hand toward the small cauldron.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron whizzed directly toward him at his behest.

Brilliant azure light radiated from the tiny cauldron and it swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size.

Han Li flicked a finger toward the cauldron, and a faint clang rang out.

Bursts of thunderclaps suddenly erupted within the cauldron as a ball of silver light that was roughly comparable to the size of a human head began to unleash astonishing arcs of electricity.

Meanwhile, the cauldron was rumbling incessantly, and it appeared that more balls of lightning were stored within it.

This was none other than the golden and silver two-colored heavenly lightning that Han Li had forcibly extracted during his minor heavenly tribulation. This lightning was not inferior to the Divine Devilbane Lightning in power, and Han Li had a large quantity of it. As such, there would be sufficient materials for Han Li to experiment with refining more lightning beads.

Han Li took a deep breath before flicking his 10 fingers toward the balls of lightning, upon which his enormous spiritual sense surged forth like a flood.

The silver balls of lightning immediately transformed into countless silver threads of lightning amid a series of rumbling booms.

Time passed by slowly and after what seemed like the blink of an eye, Han Li had already spent half a month in seclusion within the secret chamber.

On this day, the octagonal formation plate that had been set up earlier suddenly began to emit a ringing sound. At the same time, brilliant silver light began to radiate from it and a screen of silver light also appeared in mid-air.

The doors of the secret chamber were immediately thrown open, following which a streak of azure light shot forth, appearing in the hall that the formation was situated in after just a few flashes.

The light receded and Han Li was revealed, wearing a set of golden and silver two-colored robes.

The robe appeared to be quite simplistic in design, but there were golden and silver runes shimmering over its surface, giving it an extremely vibrant appearance.

Han Li flipped a hand over expressionlessly to produce a set of azure robes. He donned those robes, and the two-colored robes draped over his body was immediately completely obscured.

He then strode forward into the formation and cast his gaze toward the silver screen of light.

On one corner of the light screen, four specks of light of different colors suddenly appeared, all of which were slowly moving toward the center of the silver screen.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he continued to scrutinize the silver screen. However, his expression darkened significantly as he witnessed the four specks of light drawing closer and closer to his cave abode.

Two hours later, the four specks of light suddenly stopped around 1,000 kilometers away from his cave abode. They then split up and began to travel through the surrounding area in a rather meaningless and indecisive manner.

Han Li stroked his chin upon seeing this before suddenly rustling his sleeve. A dozen or so fist-sized Gold Devouring Beetles shot forth from within, whizzing around the hall before disappearing out the door.

Meanwhile, Han Li cast a few more glances at the light screen before exiting the hall and re-entering the secret chamber.

He took off his azure robes to reveal that two-colored robe again.

He gently stroked the hem of the robe with his finger, upon which a smile appeared on his face.

This lightning robe had been refined after Han Li had used up almost all of the heavenly lightning in the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

This robe was imbued with over 10 types of lightning pattern runes and if they were to all be activated at once, they could unleash extraordinary power. This was enough for it to qualify as a new trump card of Han Li's.

As for that lightning bead, he refined a dozen or so of those as well, and if they were al unleashed at once, even a Spatial Tempering cultivator would most likely have to flee the scene.

With that in mind, Han Li had grown a lot more powerful within a short span of time.

After pausing to consider the situation for a while, Han Li donned his azure robes again before sweeping his hand over his storage bracelet to summon a palm-sized white jade badge.

It was none other than the half-page of the Golden Jade Tome.

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The half-page contained the refinement methods for the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman that Han Li had once used, the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman that had inspired the creation of the Myriad Dragon Beads, and a puppet talisman known as the Armor Origin Talisman.

There was also a fourth and final talisman known as the Heavenly Halberd Talisman, and it was the only one on the half-page that possessed offensive properties.

Following his experimentation with the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, Han Li had already roughly mastered the refinement method. Even though the success rate was extremely low, as long as he was willing to splurge on materials, he would still be able to successfully refine it.

The Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans was an immortal talisman used to trap enemies. Even though he had only gleaned half of its refinement method, that had still been enough for him to invent the Myriad Dragon Bead.

As for the final two types of talismans, Han Li was completely clueless about them.

However, as Han Li was searching for ready-made shadow puppet talismans in the marketplace of Deep Heaven City, he coincidentally discovered a key point about the Armor Origin Talisman. With his extensive knowledge in the field of puppetry, it was quite likely that he would be able to make some progress given more thorough research in the future.

As for the final Heavenly Halberd Talisman, that was a metal-attribute offensive talisman.

According to the information on the half-page of the Golden Jade Tome, activating the talisman would allow one to manifest a heavenly halberd from the True Immortal Realm, which possessed the power to split the earth and part oceans.

However, this talisman was extremely profound and Han Li was simply unable to comprehend it at his current Deity Transformation Stage cultivation base.

Han Li stroked the jade badge as he contemplated the situation.

There were countless high-grade cultivators in Deep Heaven City, many of which were more powerful than him. As such, it as naturally best to create as many trump cards for himself in order to ensure his survival.

Unfortunately, he was unable to refine three of the four aforementioned talismans. However, even with just the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, he could already conceal himself even from Spatial Tempering cultivators. If he could refine a couple of those, then the would definitely prove to be very useful.

As for the other talismans, Han Li wasn't in a hurry to refine them. He would simply have to conduct further research on them in the future.

With that in mind, Han Li flicked his wrist and brilliant azure light erupted from his storage bracelet. The azure light swept down toward the ground before receding to reveal a series of brocade and jade boxes of different sizes, as well as some vials and gourds.

Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the ground, upon which a brocade box immediately flew toward him.

He removed the lid of the box to reveal a section of red hide from an unknown beast. However, the spiritual light shimmering over its surface suggested that it belonged to no ordinary demon beast.

Han Li immediately tossed the small section of beast hide into the air before opening his mouth.

A spluttering sound rang out, following which a ball of azure spiritual light completely enveloped the beast hide.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the color of the spiritual light instant changed drastically, transforming into furious crimson flames.

A peculiar scene unfolded.

Not only was the beast hide not burned to a crisp by the crimson flames, the spiritual light emanating from it became even more dazzling instead while its surface gradually became translucent.

At this moment, Han Li pointed a finger at several other jade vials.

Those vials immediately opened of their own accord, and powder of different colors emerged from within before disappearing into the flames in a flash.

A series of crackles and pops rang out as the powders transformed into spiritual light of different colors that injected themselves into the beast hide.

The surface of the transparent beast hide was immediately illuminated with exuberant light.

Han Li continued to make hand seals, but his eyes were already closed.

Aside from the crackles and pops erupting from the crimson flames, no other sound could be heard within the secret chambers.

Two months passed by in a flash.

During this time, a resounding boom would erupt within the secret chamber every few days. Only after a dozen or so of these cycles did the secret chamber fall completley silent.

Another half a month later, the doors of the secret chamber were opened.

Han Li emerged from within with furrowed brows before immediately rushing toward the hall.

There was still faint spiritual light shimmering there, and the silver screen of light, as well as the four specks of light on it, had become quite blurry and indistinct.

Han Li immediately replaced the high-grade spirit stones around the formation with new ones before activating it again.

Piercing silver light abruptly radiated from the octagonal formation plate, and everything on the silver light screen became clearly visible again. Han Li cast his gaze toward the specks of light with a dark expression.

The four specks of light that had split up earlier had gathered together once again, and they were only around 200 kilometers away from his cave.

There were two reasons behind Han Li's decision to emerge from the secret chamber. Firstly, he had finally managed to successfully refine a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and secondly, one of the Gold Devouring Beetles he'd deployed to keep an eye on these people had disappeared. Han Li didn't know whether it had been trapped or killed.

Prior to this, Han Li's second Nascent Soul, which had been responsible for refining spirit medicines in the cave abode, had informed Han Li that these specks of light had been at that very same location for several days already.

Could it be that they had already found what they were looking for?

With that in mind, Han Li suddenly sat down in front of the light screen with his legs crossed, appraising the screen in silence.

Three days passed, yet those specks of light still showed no signs of moving.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Han Li heaved a faint sigh and rose to his feet.

It appeared that he would have to make a trip there no matter what.

Regardless of what intentions these people had, if they were to stir up some trouble in his plot of Spirit Land, he would potentially have to suffer the consequences.

After all, a distance of several hundred kilometers could be covered in virtually the blink of an eye for cultivators like them.

These people were lurking so close to him; how was he supposed to focus on cultivation with that knowledge?

As such, it was best for him to inspect the scene in person.

Of course, if they had discovered something of value, then he wouldn't mind trying to take it from them. Han Li had faced Spatial Tempering cultivators in the past, and he was confident in his ability to escape from them even if he couldn't win in a battle.

In particular, he had just refined his lightning robes, lightning beads, and a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, so he was feeling even more assured.

Meanwhile, those four people were completely oblivious to the fact that they were under surveillance from the Myriad Dragon Beads and there was no way that there would be any Body Integration cultivators among them.

With that in mind, Han Li rose into the air as a streak of azure light and departed from his cave abode.

After exiting the cave abode, Han Li began to chant something, following which he slowly turned completley transparent.

This concealment technique wasn't as effective as the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, but it was also very difficult for anyone to see through it unless they were to carefully inspect Han Li with their spiritual sense.

Hence, it was more than enough to ensure that he avoided detection.

In the next instant, Han Li flew toward the location stipulated on the light screen.

It was only several hundred kilometers away and at Han Li's current speed, it wouldn't take him long to get there at all. However, he intentionally slowed down in order to ensure stealth as his top priority. Even so, he still got there after only a short journey.

As the target drew closer, Han Li silently descended toward the ground. The spiritual light around him then turned yellow as he continued to advance by burrowing into the ground and using his earth movement technique.

In the process, Han Li was making hand seals to obscure his aura to perfection.

After descending into the ground for close to 10 kilometers, Han Li suddenly stopped, and his eyes narrowed as he said something in a soundless manner.

Specks of golden light abruptly flashed within the soil around him as several Gold Devouring Beetles emerged before disappearing up his sleeve.

The wisps of spiritual sense that had been infused into the bodies of the beetles were withdrawn following which a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face.

"So they really are looking for something, but I didn't think that what they're looking for would be in that place. Seeing as these people were able to detect my Gold Devouring Beetles and kill one of them, there has to be at least one Spatial Tempering Stage being among them," Han Li murmured to himself as he lowered his head in deep thought.

All of a sudden, he swept his hand over his storage bracelet and spiritual light flashed as a purple talisman appeared in his grasp.

The talisman was shimmering with bright light there were countless silver runes flashing all over it. This was none other than the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman he'd recently refined.

Due to the improvements in materials and refinement methods used, this talisman was far more powerful than the last one.

Han Li wasn't confident in his ability to approach any further without being detected by Spatial Tempering cultivators. As such, even he was rather reluctant to use this talisman, he still decided to do so anyway. He had to ensure that he would continue to remain undetected.

The talisman was quite valuable, but it naturally couldn't compare with his life.

Furthermore, due to the fact that the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman had been perfected on this occasion, it was no longer a disposable tool. Instead, it could be reused until the power imbued within it ran out.

The purple talisman exploded and several shimmering beveled silver text runes appeared before dancing around Han Li.

Han Li cast a few incantation seals with a serious expression on his face.

The runes around him then transformed into clouds of silver mist that enshrouded him in the blink of an eye.

The silver mist dissipated moments later, and Han Li had completely disappeared.

As soon as he vanished on the spot, Han Li sensed the difference between this High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and the last one.

At this moment, he could even draw upon all of his treasures as well as a vast amount of his spiritual power. Of course, he was capable of using those resources, but it if he were to unleash a treasure or a technique that was too powerful, then the invisibility effect of the talisman would be dispelled.

Even so, Han Li was already very pleased.

At the very least, he would be able to seize the initiative and launch the first wave of attacks should he choose to do so.

As such, he immediately continued on toward his destination.

After flying for several more kilometers, Han Li's body began to slowly drift upward.

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When Han Li appeared soundlessly on the surface of the ground again, he looked around to find that he was situated halfway up a bleak and barren rocky mountain.

It was quite strange that such a barren land could exist here considering this plot of land was sitting atop a spirit vein.

Back when Han Li was surveying the entirety of his plot of Spirit Land, he had identified this as a rather strange place and searched through the nearby area.

However, he didn't discover anything at the time and he was in a hurry to construct his cave abode, so he quickly departed, concluding that this mountain merely had sparse spiritual Qi due to some natural causes. Even though such occurrences were extremely rare for plots of land sitting atop spirit veins, there were still some precedents.

However, Han Li was naturally still rather skeptical about this place and was planning to return for a closer examination when he had some free time. Now, these four people had lingered nearby for several days already, so there was definitely something amiss about this mountain.

Han Li furrowed his brows as he digested the information transferred back to him by the several wisps of spiritual sense. He then swayed and drifted up toward the mountain's summit.

His current body was as light as air and virtually insubstantial, and he soon reached the mountain summit before hovering in the air in a completely still manner.

He cast his gaze downward to find that it was still just a rocky mountain down below. It seemed to be completely identical to how it was the last time he'd been here. Han Li raised an eyebrow as he swept his spiritual sense downward, but didn't discover anything through doing that, either. Following a brief period of contemplation, he suddenly made a hand seal and injected his magic power into his eyes in the frenzy.

All of a sudden, piercing blue light flashed deep within Han Li's pupils as he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their maximal extent. All things that were normally invisible to the naked eye were revealed to Han Li.

This time, he managed to quickly discover something. There were eight faint pillars of light rising up from the ground around the mountain, creating a strange rectangular formation that enshrouded the entire mountain summit.

Han Li didn't know what kind of peculiar treasures had manifested their pillars of light, but not only was the formation created completely invisible and colorless, it wasn't even giving off any spiritual Qi fluctuations. It was no wonder that he was unable to discover the formation even with his formidable spiritual sense.

It appeared that this temporary restriction had to have been set up by those four people. If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had been constantly monitoring their locations, it actually would've been very unlikely that he would've tracked them down here and seen through this restriction.

However, although this restriction was extremely obscure, its main ability was concealment and it didn't really pose much of an obstacle.

With Han Li's current mastery of formation spells, he was quickly able to make an assessment of this formation before making a hand seal and descending into the formation in a fearless manner. An incredible scene ensued.

After coming into contact with Han Li's insubstantial body, the invisible formation displayed no reaction whatsoever. He was able to easily pass through the restriction, then completley disappear into the mountain summit. It was quite clear that Han Li's current body after using the invisibility talisman was able to simply disregard normal restrictions.

Han Li burrowed into the earth for over 200 feet, following which a blue ball of light appeared beneath him. It was only a head-sized ball of light, but there seemed to be a vortex swirling within it. Han Li was quite intrigued to see this, and he slowly approached it to get a better look.

Much to Han Li's surprise, as soon as he began to draw closer, the vortex within the blue ball of light seemed to have detected his presence.

It immediately blasted forth a burst of brilliant seven-colored light, following which Han Li was swept into the vortex in flash.

Han Li was caught completely off guard and given quite a shock. After a brief struggle, he discovered that he was unable to escape the enormous power that had appeared around him.

Before he had a chance to try and unleash any treasures or powerful techniques, his surroundings blurred, and he appeared in a completely unfamiliar place as if through instantaneous teleportation.

At the same time, his insubstantial body regained substance, revealing himself to the naked eye once again. At the same time, purple light flashed on his chest as a purple talisman appeared out of thin air.

Han Li immediately grabbed the talisman before bring his hands together and following a flash of spiritual light, the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman disappeared.

There was no point in reactivating it as there were two people standing nearby, and they'd already discovered him.

These two were also given a fright by Han Li sudden and unannounced arrival. After catching sight of Han Li's facial features, one of them yelled, "How did you find this place?" That man was none other than the cultivator with the Weng surname. His companion was the fatso with the Jin surname, and he also wore a bewildered look on his face.

In reality, if it weren't for the fact that the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman had made Han Li's body insubstantial, even with his complete mastery of the vajra arts, being swept up in that seven-colored light would've caused him to throw up a few mouthfuls of blood essence. Of course, that was all unbeknownst to him.

This seven-colored light appeared to be rather similar to Buddhist spiritual light, but it actually had far different origins. If a normal cultivator were to be swept up in it, not only would they be completely unable to use their magic power, they would be crushed into mincemeat by the immense pressure.

In order to nullify this restriction and forcibly enter this place, the two men and their masters had worked tirelessly for three days and three nights. Only were they able to force their way into this space using their magic power and treasures.

Han Li was quite relieved to see these two.

Seeing as there were no Spatial Tempering cultivators present, he'd be able to take care of these two with ease.

Even though his concealment technique had abruptly been broken, he merely laughed it off, and said, "I was wondering who had set up the restriction outside; turns out it was you two. Do you have any business here, Fellow Daoists? If I recall correctly, one of the laws of Deep Heaven City states that outsiders are prohibited from trespassing on the Spirit Land of others. If you need to visit the plot of Spirit Land for some reason, you have to notify the owner in advance and receive approval. Otherwise, if this were to be reported to the Heavenly Guards, the trespassers will be punished by torture using the poisonous whip." Han Li's voice gradually grew colder as he spoke. Even though both of these intruders were Deity Transformation cultivators, they still winced slightly at the mention of the poisonous whip. However, the fatso quickly put on a smile, and said, "Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han. Brother Weng and I just so happened to be passing through this place, and we were resting on the summit of this mountain when we somehow activated this restriction and were teleported here. We're also quite confused by this situation as well."

"Oh, do you think I'll believe that, Brother Jin? By the way, if I'm not mistaken, there are two more Fellow Daoists here, right?" Han Li clasped his hands behind his back with a fake smile on his face. At this point, he had already assessed his surroundings with his spiritual sense. Through doing so, he discovered that he was situated in a mysterious space. This space was over 1000 feet tall and around half a kilometer in radius, so it wasn't very large at all.

However, there was seven-colored light hovering in the sky above and swirling throughout their surroundings.

What was even more surprising was that high up in the air within this space, there were seven massive balls of light that resembled suns. However, the white light they were radiating had a cooling effect instead.

There was a seven-colored door of light situated at the center of each of the balls of light, within was a series of completely murky and indistinct scenes.

Both of the intruders were already shocked to hear Han Li's words, and their expressions immediately darkened as they caught sight of Han Li glancing toward the seven doors of light.

"How did you how many of us were in here?" The fatso's voice immediately turned extremely cold.

"Oh? Are you trying to pick a fight? I forgot to tell you two this, but before coming here, I already left behind a few voice transmission talismans and set up some restrictions. If something were to happen to me down here, those voice transmission talismans would be sent out to Senior Zhao Wugui as well a few friends that I recently made. Hmm, trespassing on one's Spirit Land without any good reason nor permission, then attacking the owner of the Spirit Land, also for no justifiable reason. I'm sure the enforcement squads would be interested to hear this. Those two crimes lumped together would probably earn you more than just punishment by whipping. Besides, do you two really think you have what it takes to kill me, even if you join forces?" Han Li asked with a disdainful.

"You know Heavenly Guard Zhao?" The man with the Weng surname was rather skeptical to hear this.

His fatso companion also faltered upon hearing this.

"Senior Zhao was the one who led me to Deep Heaven City in person. Do you think I know him or not?" Han Li replied in a calm manner.

Han Li's calm and collected expression immediately made the two intruders feel less confident.

"Hmph, seeing as you already know that there are more of us here, then I'll tell you what you want to know. Aside from the two of us, our masters are also here, and they've entered the deeper restrictions. What are you going to do? You're just a Deity Transformation cultivator, are you going to try and stop them? The laws of Deep Heaven City only apply under certain circumstances. Do you think anyone will risk offending two Spatial Tempering cultivators just to avenge a dead Deity Transformation cultivator? Even if you know Senior Zhao Wugui, you're probably just an acquaintance of his," the man with the Weng surname scoffed after a brief silence.

"Oh, really? How about we make a bet, then, Fellow Daoist Weng? However, prior to coming here, I anticipated that you'd be the one behind all this, so I intentionally mentioned your name in my voice transmission talismans. But then again, with your powerful cultivation base, I'm sure you won't fear the enforcement squad's soul search techniques, right?" Han Li chucked.

If these people really weren't afraid of the Heavenly Guards of Deep Heaven City, then why would they go to so much effort to sneak into his Spirit Land without being detected. As soon as Han Li said this, the man with the Weng surname became extremely tense. The fatso was also a little dumbfounded. If the man with the Wend surname were to be captured and have his soul searched, the fatso would definitely be detained as well as an accomplice.

If this incident were to be revealed to the Heavenly Guards and the panel of elders, they would be in severe trouble.

"Haha, I've always heard that Fellow Daoist Han's abilities are quite extraordinary. You possess a bright future ahead of you; surely you wouldn't want to risk your life to apprehend us here. In all honesty, Brother Weng and I aren't the masterminds behind all this. If you have conditions, how about you raise them when our seniors return?" the fatso asked in a sly manner.

"Are you banking on the fact that I wouldn't dare to stay here? Alright then, I wanted to meet your seniors anyway, so I'll be happy to wait here for them," Han Li said with a calm smile. His body swayed and he appeared in a corner in the blink of an eye before sitting down with his legs crossed.

He really did appear to be intent on waiting for the two Spatial Tempering cultivators.

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The two intruders were naturally quite surprised to see this. The two of them communicate silently through voice transmission before also sitting down in another corner with their legs crossed.

Their thought process was quite simple; they weren't confident in their ability to kill Han Li, and Han Li himself didn't seem to have any intention of entering the seven-colored doors of light. As such, they would simply have to play the waiting game and leave all of the troublesome matters for their seniors to take care of.

As such, the entire space became extremely quiet. All three were meditating with their eyes closed or appraising the doors of light.

Unbeknownst to the two intruders, Han Li was actually feeling quite nervous. The voice transmission talismans and restrictions he'd mentioned earlier naturally didn't exist.

His original plan was that if these people could obtain the treasures in here, he'd be able to sneak up on them and take those treasures using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman. If there were some cultivators that were too powerful for him to deal with, then he'd simply have to survey them from the shadows.

However, what was completely unexpected to him was that the strange seven-colored light had forced him into this space and even broken the concealment effect of his talisman.

As such, he had no choice but to directly face these cultivators.

Thankfully, he had thought of several strategies that would make these people wary of him, and he was currently using one of them to intimidate these two intruders.

Of course, that wasn't because Han Li was fearful of these two.

The man with the Weng surname and the fatso were at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage and late-Deity Transformation Stage respectively, but with his current set of abilities and treasures, there was at least an 80% chance that he'd be able to kill them on the spot.

Killing these two would be quite simple, but the consequences would be rather troublesome to deal with as he'd be forging a vendetta with the two Spatial Tempering cultivators who had entered the doors of light.

Even though he didn't want to spare these trespassers, he also didn't want to make a pair of such powerful enemies.

Furthermore, even if he could kill these two intruders with ease, there was a chance that he wouldn't be able to escape from this mysterious place in a short time. In that case, once the Spatial Tempering cultivators emerged, he would be the next one to be killed.

As such, it was better for him to try and find a way out first. Once he could formulate a path for retreat, he'd have a lot more options.

With that in mind, Han Li sprang into action. Even though his eyes were closed, he had split his powerful spiritual sense up into countless tendrils that shot forth in all directions.

Han Li was spreading his spiritual sense without any attempt to mask what he was doing, so the two intruders had naturally sensed his actions. However, neither of them said anything to stop him. Instead, they were sneering internally.

As soon as a wisp of Han Li's spiritual sense came into contact with the seven-colored light on one of the walls, it was immediately sucked in and disappeared. Furthermore, a burst of powerful suction force erupted, threatening to suck away the rest of Han Li's spiritual sense directly out of his body.

Han Li was stunned by this turn of events and hurriedly activated his Great Development Technique to dispel this suction force.

However, Han Li also opened his eyes as a result, and he was staring at the light swirling on the wall with a hint of bewilderment on his face.

He naturally also noticed the gloating smiles on the faces of the intruders.

It appeared that these two were aware of the peculiar nature of the seven-colored light in here, and they intentionally refrained from informing him of this information.

Han Li was a little angry, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued to try and formulate a plan.

It was a pity that the spatial spirit treasure that he'd refined, the Crimson Soul Flag, was destroyed by the spatial storms within the spatial node. Otherwise, it would most likely have been quite useful for breaking through this spatial barrier.

Of course, aside from his Crimson Soul Flag, his Law Destruction Eye was also quite effective in tearing through space. However, this place was quite mysterious, and it was yet to be seen whether his Law Destruction Eye would be able to break through the barrier here in a short time, or even at all.

Countless thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, and he quickly decided on another course of action.

Seeing as his spiritual sense couldn't infiltrate the walls here, then he could use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to try and identify some avenues for escape.

Thus, he immediately poured his spiritual power into his eyes, and brilliant blue light appeared deep within his pupils...

A day and a night passed by. Han Li had already closed his eyes again and seemed to have gone into deep meditation. His prior detection hadn't allowed him to discover a good way to escape.

Meanwhile, the seven doors of light in the air above remained completely silent and still.

The two intruders were staring intently up at the sky with dark expressions. Of course, they were also casting the occasional wary glance in Han Li's direction.

"Your two seniors still haven't come out after such a long time; could it be that they've encountered some difficulties in there?" Han Li suddenly asked with his eyes closed.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; if something had happened to our masters, we would've been informed already. Are you getting impatient, Brother Han?" the man with the Weng surname asked.

"I'm glad to hear that your two seniors are fine. I have sufficient patience to..."

Before Han Li had a chance to finish his sentence, a ringing sound abruptly erupted from the seven balls of light in the air. Immediately thereafter, they began to emanate astonishing spiritual pressure as well as scintillating light.

Not only were the two intruders given a massive surprise, Han Li also opened his eyes to assess this turn of events.

However, this was only the beginning! As the ringing sound intensified, the seven balls of light swelled drastically, expanding to the size of wagon wheels in the blink of an eye while flashing erratically.

Rippling spatial fluctuations abruptly appeared around the seven balls of light before flashing over the door of light at the very center.

All of a sudden, it was as if an enormous burst of invisible power had begun compressing the door, making it twist and warp violently.

The fatso immediately rose to his feet upon seeing this, and exclaimed, "This is bad!"

His companion also wore a stunned expression.

Han Li was also rather disgruntled by this turn of events.

Not only were the balls of light in the sky becoming quite unstable and erratic, even the walls and ground were beginning to tremor gently while the seven-colored light was displaying signs of crumbling.

These were clearly strong indications that this space was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing as his life was under threat, Han Li immediately rose to his feet and laid a hand on his head, following which a burst of grey light began to emerge from the back of his head.

He then flipped a hand over, and golden light flashed as three shimmering golden beads were summoned.

These were none other than the three lightning beads he'd refined not long ago.

At this moment, the two intruders had also summoned several treasures. However, they had no confidence in their ability to escape from this mysterious place, and both of them wore horrified expressions.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to pay any heed to whether they lived or died. He immediately decided to use his Law Destruction Eye in conjunction with his Divine Essencefused Light and these lightning beads to break through this space in order to facilitate an escape.

However, right at this moment, a massive rumbling boom erupted from within the doors of light up above.

Han Li was startled by this loud commotion and reflexively stopped what he was doing.

Seven-colored light flashed and a streak of green light, as well as a streak of golden light, shot forth from within the door in the very center.

The two streaks of light flashed through the air before receding to reveal a tiny green wyrm and a miniature humanoid figure.

The green wyrm was missing one of its horns as well as many of its scales. Meanwhile, the miniature humanoid figure's hair was quite disheveled, and it was missing a large chunk of its golden robes.

Both of them appeared to be running for their lives.

"We have to get out of here! This isn't the place where Master Thousand Treasure passed away; it's a place where a Jadebone Humanoid Devil has been sealed! We've triggered a restriction set up any an ancient cultivator, and the devil has been freed. This space is also going to immediately collapse as a result, so... Huh? Who're you?" The miniature humanoid figure's urgent voice abruptly cut off as he caught sight of Han Li.

The fatso was ecstatic to see their two seniors re-emerge, and his lips tremored as he informed the two of Han Li's identity through voice transmission. "Grandpa, he's that Han brat, he..."

"So he's the owner of this plot of Spirit Land!" A hint of killing intent flashed through the eyes of the green wyrm upon hearing this.

"What are you doing, Brother Ming? Our top priority is to run for our lives now, not be caught up by such trivial matters! It would be far too heavy a price to pay for both of us if our avatars were to fall here. Besides, don't forget that he's an ascended cultivator; I have no interest in forging a vendetta with those madmen!" the miniature humanoid figure hurried urged.

"Alright, let's get out of this place, then. As long as we don't kill him in person, even if Zhao Wugui and the others come to find us, they won't be able to do anything. Once this space collapses, that Han brat can perish along with that Jadebone Humanoid Devil. It's a pity that only my avatar is here. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to fear this devil. Let's go." The green wyrm only hesitated momentarily before curbing its killing intent and making a wise decision.

"We have to make haste; this space is going to hold up for much longer."

The miniature humanoid figure was quite relieved that the green wyrm was open to seeing reason. After all, it would be a massive waste if this soul avatar were to perish here.

As such, it immediately began to make hand seals while chanting something. The wooden sword strapped to its back tremored before abruptly rising into the air, transforming into a massive sword of light that was around 10 feet in length.

The green wyrm also let loose a loud roar as it transformed into a massive green wyrm over 100 feet in length amid bursts of wind and lightning. There was a single twisted green horn on its head, and the purple lightning flashing over its body made for a formidable spectacle to behold.

Han Li didn't know what these people had just discussed, but his heart jolted slightly at the sight of the powerful abilities unleashed by these two Spatial Tempering cultivators.

At this point, the seven-colored light swirling along the surrounding walls had completely disappeared. The walls were beginning to tremor violently and had been warped to the extreme.

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The massive wyrm's body shuddered as it whipped its tail and opened its mouth to blast forth a pillar of azure light. An arc of purple lightning that was around the same thickness as a large bowl also erupted from its remaining horn. The two then combined as one before hurtling directly toward a nearby wall.

At the same time, the miniature humanoid figure laid a hand on the top of its head, and a pillar of golden light immediately erupted into the air, disappearing into the giant sword above its head.

A ringing sound erupted from the sword and not only did it further expand to around twice its size in the blink of an eye, it also began to emanate piercing golden light that was scintillating as the sun. Meanwhile, the miniature humanoid figure shrank even further after unleashing that pillar of light. However, it completely disregarded the changes taking place to its own body as it made a hand seal.

The massive sword flew forth as a streak of golden light in hot pursuit behind the azure pillar of light.

Both attacks were targeting the same spot on the wall.

A resounding boom erupted as azure and golden light exploded and intertwined with one another, forming a gargantuan ball of light that was several tens of feet in size with countless bolts of purple lightning shimmering over its surface.

The ball of light was able to slowly sink into the wall at the behest of the two Spatial Tempering cultivators, and it appeared to be unstoppable as it threatened to forcibly tear open the spatial barrier.

Both the wyrm and the miniature humanoid figure were ecstatic to see this. The wyrm called out to the man with the Weng surname, and its body regressed to its former size as it swept up the man as a streak of green light before hurtling directly toward the massive ball of light.

The man with the Weng surname took a cold glance at Han Li as he was being swept away.

At this moment, Han Li was looking on with a blank expression, yet was doing nothing to save himself.

The wyrm shot a glance at him as if he were appraising a dead man before letting loose a long roar and disappearing into the ball of light.

It wasn't afraid of Han Li also attempting to escape through the same avenue. This ball of light contained the true essential power of both itself and the miniature humanoid figure, so no one could pass through it unless they were accompanied by one of them.

The miniature humanoid figure also swept forth as a swath of golden light, sweeping up the fatso before also hurtling toward the ball of light.

Right at this moment, a dull thunderclap suddenly erupted nearby, following which a winged humanoid figure appeared amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The humanoid figure then rustled his sleeve, and a swath of grey light surged toward the golden light.

The miniature humanoid figure felt a burst of suction force appear out of thin air, it was taken by surprise as another humanoid figure adhered himself to its body. "Seeing as you have a way out of here, I'm sure you won't mind taking me with you, right, Senior?"

The owner of the voice was none other than Han Li.

The miniature humanoid figure faltered slightly before turning its gaze toward the direction where Han Li had already been situated. There, he discovered another "Han Li" standing on the spot. The Han Li replica smiled at it before disappearing, transforming into a green talisman that disappeared in the blink of an eye.

This was none other than the Spiritform Talisman that Han Li had been nurturing this entire time.

Han Li had begun hatching a plot as soon as the two Spatial Tempering cultivators sprang into action to tear through the spatial barrier here. He manifested his Spiritfrom Talisman into his own form in order to act as a decoy while he snuck closer to the ball of light surreptitiously using his Thunderstorm Wings.

Due to the fact that the Spiritform Talisman had been nurtured for several centuries and that it possessed certain properties of a tribulation avatar, the Spatial Tempering cultivators weren't able to identify that something was amiss about it, such was their hurry.

Thus, Han Li took advantage of this opportunity, using his Divine Essencefused Light to adhere himself to the miniature humanoid figure like a plaster.

"Do you want to die?!"

The miniature humanoid figure quickly recovered from its surprise and immediately realized what Han Li was trying to do. Thus, it faltered in mid-air before blasting forth countless streaks of golden light, all of which swept toward Han Li with devastating force.

However, much to its surprise, the golden light was only able to make the grey light around Han Li's body tremor violently, but was unable to puncture through it nor dispel it.

"Hehe, if your true body were here, then I naturally wouldn't be able to withstand your immense power. However, if you're just an avatar, then you won't be able to escape my Divine Essencefused Light in a short time. Do you really want to be stalled here by me, Senior?" Han Li chuckled from within the grey light.

"You're threatening me!"

The miniature humanoid figure erupted into a thunderous rage, yet just as it was about to unleash another attack, a shrill shriek suddenly rang out from the air above. Upon hearing this ghastly cry, Han Li's body temperature rose drastically as all of his blood surged toward the surface of his skin.

However, Han Li had already completely mastered the Vajra Arts, so his skin possessed no less fortitude than a top-grade treasure. As such, he was able to alleviate his discomfort by activating this cultivation art.

However, the miniature humanoid figure's expression changed drastically upon hearing this shriek. Even though the fatso was being protected by the golden light that it was radiating, his face still immediately turned bright red upon hearing this cry, and his body began to sway unsteadily.

"It's using the Blood Weeping Technique!"

The miniature humanoid figure hurriedly swiped a hand through the air, upon which a pillar of golden light erupted forth and injected itself into the fatso's body. Immediately thereafter, the fatso shuddered and his face returned to a more normal pallor.

At this moment, a massive bone claw suddenly extended out of one of the twisted doors of light, trying to force it open again.

The claw was as pristine white as jade and was emanating astonishing spiritual pressure. The ghastly shriek from earlier also appeared to have erupted from within that door of light.

Han Li set aside the astonishment in his heart as he asked in a remarkably calm manner, "Looks like that Jadebone Humanoid Devil will emerge soon. If the senior that just escaped from this place destroys this passageway in order to prevent the devil from escaping, then we really will perish here. Are you not concerned about that, Senior?"

The miniature humanoid figure's expression had already darkened significantly at the sight of the massive bone claw, and its expression soured even further upon hearing this.

Old Devil Ming really was cruel and decisive enough to be capable of something like this.

At this moment, another bone claw found its way out of the door of light. The two claws were clamped on either side of the door of light, and the sharp shriek suddenly cut off, only to be replaced by a thunderous roar.

It appeared that it was going to emerge at any moment.

"You made the right gamble this time, brat! I'll take you out of this place!" the miniature humanoid figure immediately agreed without any further hesitation.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this.

The Divine Essencefused Light light around the miniature humanoid figure was eased slightly, following which brilliant golden light suddenly erupted, enveloping most of the grey light before plunging into the massive ball of light with Han Li in tow.

Han Li merely used his Divine Essencefused Light to protect himself and allowed the miniature humanoid figure to do whatever it was that it had to do.

After entering the ball of light, Han Li felt as if he had arrived in a world of scintillating light. Immediately thereafter, he was struck by a rush of dizziness, following which he abruptly appeared in the air above the mountain.

There was a massive ball of light hovering mid-air nearby. However, only half of its was visible while the other half was presumably still within the peculiar space from which they had just escaped.

The green wyrm and its disciple were situated not far away from here, and both of them were stunned to see that Han Li had also managed to escape.

Han Li immediately spread open his Thunderstorm Wings and disappeared as an arc of azure and white lightning in the blink of an eye.

In the next instant, he appeared several hundred feet away.

For some reason, the miniature humanoid figure made no attempt to trap him and allowed him to easily open up some distance between them.

The tiny green wyrm looked on with a cold expression, and a sinister light flashed through its eyes as it prepared to attack Han Li.

However, right at this moment, a burst of harrowing spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from within the massive semi-sphere of light. Immediately thereafter, the sound of a raging tsunami rang out as a section of the sky suddenly became crumpled like a paper ball.

"Crap!"

"It's a spatial storm!"

Everyone present on the scene, including Han Li, were all thrown into a blind panic.

None of them had time to address any other matters as they unleashed their respective movement techniques, transforming into streaks of light that all fled in different directions.

Even though teleportation techniques were generally more effective, escaping into space within a spatial storm was nothing short of suicide!

Thankfully, all of the beings present possessed powerful cultivation bases and even though they were only using normal movement techniques, they still managed to cover a distance of several thousand feet after just a few flashes.

A muffled thump erupted as countless thin black cracks began to appear on the crumpled patch of sky. These cracks then quickly elongated, making the entire space within a distance of over 1,000 feet riddled with cracks in the blink of an eye.

The tsunami-like rumbling and roaring then intensified as these black cracks shattered, following which bursts of liquid-like white light began to ooze forth from within in a frenzy.

A peculiar scene ensued. As soon as the white light appeared in this space, gale-force winds were swept up, drawing in everything in the nearby area. These winds were like all-engulfing monsters; anything that was caught up in these gusts of wind were either instantly shredded or disappeared in the blink of an eye. Furthermore, thunderous ghastly cries were erupting from within the gusts of wind. At this point, Han Li was already situated on the summit of a small mountain close to 10 kilometers away, assessing the situation from afar in an expressionless manner.

This spatial storm was clearly far inferior in power to the ones he'd encountered within the spatial node. Even so, Han Li definitely didn't want to be swept up in it.

Back when he was in the spatial node, it really was all thanks to the Ice Phoenix's spatial abilities that they were able to traverse through the spatial storms. Even so, most of his treasures had been destroyed and he'd almost perished in there.

Now, this spatial storm was only intensifying in ferocity, and it appeared that it wasn't going to be subsiding anytime soon.

After further contemplating the situation for a while longer, Han Li suddenly flew toward his cave abode as a flash of azure light, leaving behind everyone else.

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The green wyrm naturally sensed what Han Li was doing, and its brows furrowed as it suddenly asked its disciple a few questions.

After hearing the answers to those questions, the green wyrm's expression darkened even further.

Right at this moment, a swath of golden light skirted around from another direction, appearing beside the green wyrm after just a few flashes. The golden light then receded to reveal the fatso, as well as the miniature humanoid figure, who was hovering above his head in a calm manner.

"Brother Ming, are you really going to let that brat go? If he reports what we were doing here to the Heavenly Guards, it could prove to be slightly troublesome to us," the miniature humanoid figure asked.

"It's just as you say; the situation in that case would only be a little troublesome for us, so why would I go to so much effort just to rid myself of a minor inconvenience? Searching for treasures on the Spirit Land of others isn't a big deal anyway, and we were only keeping this a secret beforehand due to the resounding reputation of Master Thousand Treasure. Besides, we haven't even found any treasures, so what we did here matters even less. Unless there's a conflict of interest involved, I have no intention of making those ascended cultivators my enemy. Furthermore, I heard from my disciple that this brat is familiar with Zhao Wugui. Heavenly Guard Zhao himself isn't much to fear, but his master is Lei Luo the Enlightened from the panel of elders. Hehe, if you don't want to let this brat escape, I'd be willing to lend you a hand, though," the green wyrm said in a cold voice.

"I have no vendetta against that brat, so why would I do that? Seeing as there are no treasures here, I'll be taking my leave now. I'll be sure to visit you in person when I have some spare time," the miniature humanoid figure replied with a sly chuckle.

He then cupped his fist in a parting salute before transforming into a streak of golden light, sweeping up the fatso and disappearing into the distance without so much as a second glance at the spatial storm.

"Hmph, that old bastard was clearly swindled by that brat and was forced to take him. Now, he's trying to coax me into killing that Han brat so he can use me as a weapon. Does he think I'm a naive child? Hmph! Let's go, my disciple. Seeing as a spatial storm has appeared here, the attention of Deep Heaven City's enforcement squad would definitely be drawn to this place. Even though they won't be able to get here so quickly from Deep Heaven City, it's not entirely impossible that there could just so happen to be Heavenly Guards nearby. It'll be quite troublesome if we were to bump into them. Not only did we not secure the treasures we're looking for this time, this avatar of mine has sustained some substantial damage; what a stroke of ill-fortune!" the green wyrm harrumphed coldly after the streak of golden light disappeared into the distance.

The wyrm's body then elongated before flying toward another direction as a streak of green light.

His disciple hurriedly followed suit as a streak of blue light.

After those two streaks of light also disappeared into the distance, there were no sounds to be heard in the surrounding area aside from the rumbling erupting from the spatial storm.

At this moment, Han Li was situated within the hall of his cave abode, inspecting the silver screen of light before him with his arms crossed.

After verifying that the two Spatial Tempering cultivators had indeed left his Spirit Land, he heaved a long sigh of relief.

Now, there was only a massive yellow speck of light flashing erratically and incessantly on the silver screen.

That speck of light as naturally none other than the spatial storm detected by the Myriad Dragon Beads.

Han Li's situation was different from those of Old Devil Ming and the others; those people could just leave without a second thought, but he had to stay and monitor this spatial storm in case it destroyed his plot of Spirit Land.

Thankfully, he had accumulated extensive experience in such areas from his journey through the spatial node, so he knew that spatial storms of this nature generally wouldn't rage on for too long.

As expected, after about two hours, the speck of yellow light on the light screen gradually began to dim. After another 15 minutes, it had completely disappeared.

Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

He then cast a final glance at the screen of light, yet just as he was about to deactivate this formation spell that expended a vast number of spirit stones, he suddenly caught sight of something, and his expression changed drastically.

At the spot where the yellow speck of light had disappeared, a grey speck of light had replaced it.

This speck of light was far smaller than the yellow one and appeared to be extremely feeble, as if it could fizzle out at any moment. However, as soon as the grey speck of light appeared, it immediately began to move toward a certain direction.

Han Li was astonished to see this, and he couldn't just sit still and watch any longer.

Could it be that a wisp of that devil's soul escaped from the spatial storm? Even though he wasn't sure just what this Jadebone Humanoid Devil was, the fact that even Spatial Tempering cultivators were scrambling to get away from it was a clear indication of just how fearsome it was. If it were still situated somewhere nearby, then there would be no end to his troubles.

From the speck of grey light on the silver screen, Han Li could tell that the thing that had escaped possessed extremely feeble spiritual pressure, which indicated that it was severely injured. As such, it shouldn't be very difficult to kill.

With that in mind, Han Li had arrived at a decision. He rose to his feet and left his cave abode as a streak of azure light, heading directly toward the location where the spatial storm had disappeared.

Moments later, he had arrived in the air above where the spatial storm once was.

As expected, the spatial storm had indeed disappeared. The small mountain had also disappeared along with it, leaving a massive crater over 1,000 feet in radius in its place.

Han Li skirted around the crater for a couple of laps but didn't detect anything amiss.

His brows furrowed as he stopped and hovered in mid-air before closing his eyes.

He released his powerful spiritual sense, which was not inferior to that of a Spatial Tempering cultivator, to encompass the surrounding area in a radius of over 500 kilometers, carefully searching through every single inch of land.

After just a short while, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he let loose a long cry, upon which brilliant azure light erupted from his body. He then shot forth toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light.

The azure streak of light only traveled for close to 200 kilometers before stopping in the air above a lush forest.

The light receded to reveal Han Li standing in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back. Blue light then flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze downward.

All of a sudden, he harrumphed coldly before grabbing the air down below with one hand.

An azure hand of light appeared beneath him, grabbing down toward a certain spot in the forest.

The hand emitted bursts of ringing sounds and even though it was only around 10 feet in size, it encompassed an area of over 100 feet down below, creating quite an intimidating sight to behold!

A streak of grey light suddenly shot forth from the forest beneath the azure hand before fleeing toward another direction.

Han Li seemed to have anticipated this, and he quickly raised his other hand to flick his five fingers toward the grey light.

Five red threads immediately flashed forth from his fingertips before disappearing into space.

In the next instant, the red threads reappeared before rapidly binding themselves around the ball of green light.

The grey light immediately began to swell and shrink erratically as if it were trying to break free. However, Han Li had already made a hand seal as scorching crimson flames erupted from the five fiery threads, completely engulfing the grey light.

Anguished cries erupted from within the grey light and it seemed to be very feeble as it was completely eradicated by the crimson flames, revealing a pristine white object.

Han Li raised his eyebrows as he waved a hand downward expressionlessly. The flames on the surface of the object immediately receded, and it was forcibly drawn into Han Li's grasp.

Han Li focused his gaze on the object to find that it was a white bony hand with golden runes faintly shimmering over its surface.

He could tell from a single glance that this was one of the Jadebone Humanoid Devil's hands, but it was only at the size of a normal hand now.

Han Li carefully inspected the bone hand with his spiritual sense and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, and the discoveries he made were quite astounding to him.

His spiritual sense revealed to him that this object was a treasure, and quite a powerful one at that. Meanwhile, his spirit eyes informed him that this as indeed the skeleton of a human hand.

This was a peculiar treasure that had been refined using human bones!

The grey light that was adhered to the surface of the treasure was a hint of spiritual nature, but it had been easily eradicated by Han Li's Fire Spirit Threads.

As such, this treasure was now nothing more than an inanimate object.

Most importantly, there was a white jade badge around an inch in size hidden within the thumb of this skeletal hand.

There was silver light shimmering on the badge, and there were also many glimmering silver runes carved on its surface, all of which were in the beveled silver text.

Han Li was able to quickly ascertain that this was one of the 72 outer pages of the Golden Jade Tome. Furthermore, it was a complete page, rather than a half-page like the one already in Han Li's possession.

Upon rough assessment, Han Li was able to decipher that this page seemed to include information regarding tool refinement.

Even though Han Li appeared to be quite calm and collected, he was ecstatic that he had stumbled across such a treasure.

However, now wasn't the time to carefully inspect the page of the Golden Jade Tome.

Spiritual light flashed several times in quick succession within Han Li's hands as he plastered a few restriction talismans onto the skeletal hand. He then carefully placed it into a jade box before immediately departing from the scene, returning directly to his cave abode.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, he had made an extremely wise decision in departing from that area so quickly.

Not only after he had snuck back into his cave abode, a formation suddenly appeared out of thin air above the spot where the spatial storm had once raged. Brilliant white light flashed as a shimmering golden ark emerged.

The ark was carrying two golden-armored Heavenly Guards, one with bushy brows and a cloth crown on his head, while the other was quite slender with a pair of thin delicate brows.

They were, respectively, a middle-aged man and a beautiful female cultivator.

"This is definitely the location that showed up on the All-Encompassing Disk. From the looks of the residual spatial fluctuations, the spatial storm appeared to have been quite a small-scale one and could've just been the result of a rare natural phenomenon."

"Hmm, it did indeed appear to be a rather small and relatively harmless spatial storm, and it seemed to have only lasted a short time. Otherwise, it would've done more than just raze that small mountain to the ground." The male cultivator nodded in response while examining everything in the surrounding area with his spiritual sense.

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The female cultivator frowned and said, "However, the space here was very stable before. It previously showed no signs of eruption. How can a spatial storm suddenly appear? Who is the cultivator reading in the nearby area?"

The man twirled his beard and calmly answered, "What is so strange? Small scale spatial fluctuations were always hard to predict. The Gold Court Boat may be wondrous, but they can't predict them all. As for the master of the area, the land was recently acquired by a Deity Transformation cultivator. He should be a dark azure guard."

The woman held a sparkling spell plate in her hand and fiddled with it a moment. Then with a frown, she suggested, "The Foreign Spirit Plate didn't acquire the aura of any foreign tribes. It seems there aren't any hiding here. Should we call the nearby dark azure guard and interrogate him? He might have something to do with the spatial storm."

The cultivator shook his head and spoke with a solemn expression."Why is there any need to go through the trouble? So long as a foreign being isn't here, it has nothing to do with us, even if the spatial storm is suspicious. Don't forget that we have many other tasks to attend to. The Yin Yang Plate anticipates a large-scale spatial storm occurring in another area."

After some hesitation, the woman giggled and agreed, "Brother Ma's words are reasonable. I was too attached to this matter. Let's go."

The man nodded in satisfaction and flew back to the Gold Court Boat in a yellow streak.

The woman looked around her and soon boarded the boat.

A short moment later, the Gold Court Boat blurred and vanished. A teleportation formation of light briefly appeared underneath it before scattering.

Unbeknownst to Han Li in his cave residence, two Spatial Tempering heaven guards had examined the storm in a short amount of time. They even hurriedly left without interrogating him.

For the sake of carefulness, he immediately sealed his cave residence once it returned and temporarily halted monitoring on all of his Myriad Dragon Beads to avoid any expert from seeing through them.

Afterwards, he headed straight to his secluded chambers and began to research his newly acquired bone hand.

Although the bone hand was peculiar as if it had been refined in a method he hadn't seen before, Han Li didn't pay much attention to that regard.

Instead, he bluntly spat out a golden sword that was several inches long.

The small sword trembled and fine golden lightning quickly coiled around the bone hand. The hand's thumb was then silently split into two.

The inch-long jade badge appeared from it and it trembled before flying off of its own accord.

Han Li already anticipated this and easily grabbed at the air, activating an invisible restriction and firmly trapping it in his grasp.

With the pure white jade badge in his hand, he began to examine it with flickering blue eyes.

There were silver rune characters on the jade badge that reminded him of when he first made contact with the path of tool refinement. It contained knowledge that undermined most of what he understood about tool refinement and it greatly captured his interest.

However, the silver runes greatly differed from ordinary ancient script. Were it not for his diligent study of the half page, he wouldn't have been able to understand anything about the true spirit runes.

As a result, Han Li promptly entered the seclusion room with the outer page of the jade book and spent three days studying it before obtaining a general understanding of it.

In addition to an elaborate introduction to tool refinement techniques, its primary contents detailed a technique by the name of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.

This technique used the person's meridians, flesh, and bones as a base, refining them into different magic treasures of inconceivable abilities.

Were it not for the tool refinement techniques he read from the half page, he would've believed what he read to be nonsense.

Additionally, the passage on tool refinement preceding the passage gave him flashes of new insights, leading him to gain more confidence in this technique.

Besides, from the bone hand he managed to acquire, it was clear that it was a product of this technique. How else was a bone hand able to escape a spatial storm of its own accord?

According to what the jade book said, those cultivating this ability would be able to forge their bodies into treasure entirely at once, or could slowly cultivate the ability bit by bit. But regardless of the method, the final product will have one's body completely refined into a Buddhist Impervious Vajra Body.

After that secret technique was completed, regardless of one's own cultivation, their limbs would possess world-shaking abilities and their bodies would approach near immortality.

Although the jade book described the completion of this technique in a few simple words, Han Li was able to perceive deeper information it contained and felt his breath turn cold.

Even if the text was exaggerated, the abilities were as fearsome as one could imagine.

Naturally, this method to cultivate one's body into treasures also required nearly inconceivable requirements.

To start cultivating this technique, one needed a body like Han Li's, which went through the completed cultivation of the Vajra Arts. If he wanted to continue cultivating this technique further and acquire the abilities that were described, he would need to strengthen his body even further.

If he attempted to continue cultivation while his body couldn't endure, his body would crumble.

After all, refining one's body into treasures was a freakish matter bordering on heresy.

As he stroked the jade pendant, he spent a long while deep in thought.

Han Li sighed and muttered, "It seems I won't have to look for any other techniques. I'll need to choose a dual cultivation technique."

With the appearance of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantras, it would push his body to its limits.

Originally hesitant on choosing a cultivation technique, he finally resolved himself and planned on using the set of revised human and demon techniques for dual body magic cultivation.

He stuck a restriction talisman on the jade page and placed it away in his storage pouch. He then took out a faint red jade slip.

When Han Li acquired Man Huzi's Heavenbearing Devil Arts, he duplicated entirely on that jade slip. After leaving it alone for such a long time, he nearly forgot about it.

"Since this technique is split into three portions and are all unique, I may as well call them the Provenance True Devil Arts."

As Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the jade slip, he softly muttered to himself and struck the jade slip on his forehead and he shut his eyes, earnestly comprehending the technique.

The last time he was at Deep Heaven City's stone pagoda, he already attempted to cultivate this devil arc slowly, but without the aid of medicine pills, he didn't acquire many results.

As a result, in the following months, Han Li spent a majority of his time in his secluded room. He did take some time to tend to his spirit medicines and began to refine Clear Jade Pills.

The pill was indeed for Deity Transformation-stage. After using an astonishing amount of spirit medicines and a good number of attempts, he was only able to produce three bottles.

Han Li didn't mind this result by much.

He would gain more skill by refining it more. With enough time, his success rate will increase.

The amount of medicine he refined would be enough for him to cultivate.

Of course, while he cultivated the Heavenbearing Devil Arts, he would also find some time to comprehend the Hundred Meridians Refinement Mantra.

As such, his rest period was concluded in the blink of an eye.

During this time, no one else had come to bother him. It appeared that without any benefit, those Spatial Tempering eccentrics had no reason to waste their time on him.

Han Li was satisfied with this result.

With the half-year rest period almost finished, an azure streak shot out from the gorgeous miasma and it circled in the air before heading back to Deep Heaven City.

He needed to take part of the three month patrol assignment before he could return to his cave residence and continue cultivation.

Three months later, Han Li returned without incident.

He immediately returned to his cave residence and began seclusion once more.

With half a year of cultivation, he emerged once more.

Time slowly passed by in this manner, and eventually sixty years proceeded in a blur.

This amount of time didn't amount to much for a cultivator, but this time, there was a hidden undercurrent flowing through the spirit realm. The higher echelons of various clans frequently gathered together in discussion. These clans were normally well informed and could predict when something disastrous was about to occur, but they still remained apprehensive as they began to put safeguards in place.

As the frontmost area for the human and demon races, Deep Heaven City was able to sense any strange changes. At the very least, the cultivators patrolling on the outside could sense this vast chance as well.

One day, floating above a swamp, a squad of cultivators were slowly flying forward.

An old man with a short beard wore azure armor flew among them, leading the group of ten black-armored cultivators.

Be the old man or the black armored guards, they all wore heavy expressions. With the Foreign Spirit Plate in hand, they continued to look around them as if they feared something could attack them at any time.

The squad didn't see anything after carefully flying for two hours, but then one of the guard's plates began to drone.

Despite its soft sound, everyone immediately looked at it with shock.

A large man with the fierce expression looked at the white light shining on his companion's Foreign Spirit Plate and couldn't help but shout, "We've discovered another foreign being! This happens too frequently. What tricks are they up to? Do their spies not fear death to come onto our border. Two of our members already died in the last battle."

A middle-aged woman shorted and coldly said, "We're still better off. I heard that half a year ago the fourth squad encountered a being from the Cave Hollow Tribe. As a result, most of them died, including their captain."

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The azure-armored old man frowned and commanded, "Since the Foreign Tribe Plate has already sounded alarmed, we'll need to investigate or else we'll be punished when we return. Most foreign beings aren't very powerful. So long as we're careful, we should be able to take care of it smoothly."

Since their Deity Transformation captain spoke, the rest of the squad kept silent, even if they were unwilling.

Soon after, the old man uttered a series of commands and the squad immediately split into several small groups before heading in the direction pointed by the Foreign Spirit Plate.

The squad of cultivators changed direction and flew off tens of kilometers.

They came across an unremarkable pile of stone and a purple miasma that seemed to surround the swamp.

The old man looked at the Foreign Spirit Plate in his hand and nodded. Then he waved his hand and commanded, "It appears to be there. We can't let it escape."

Suddenly, the black-armored guards splat out treasures to defend themselves and released their spiritual sense below.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the cultivators; expression faintly changed.

"They're a close distance away but our spiritual sense still can't find them. It seems that we'll only be able to personally search for them." The old man took a deep breath and called out to the middle-aged man with narrow eyes, "Fellow Daoist Qin!"

"Don't worry, Squad Leader. I know what to do." The middle-aged man quickly replied. Soon after, he slapped the storage bracelet on his wrist and took out a pile of jet-black balls.

He raised his hand and scattered the balls underneath and began to chant.

A series of cracks sounded and the surface of the balls sparked with blue lightning. Their bodies morphed in the blink of an eye and they turned into fist-sized sparking bees. They were black and buzzed from their vibrating wings.

The others remained motionless in the air. Only the middle-aged man sat in midair with his hands forming an incantation. He formed an incantation gesture and over a hundred iron bees.

It appeared the patrolling cultivators took in the lessons of their predecessors and didn't rashly drop to the ground where they would tangle with the foreign tribe in a messy situation.

Otherwise, with the strange unblockable tricks of foreign beings, they could find themselves dead in mutual destruction.

It would be better to control a few puppets to investigate.

Not only after the iron bees were released the Foreign Spirit Plates trembled and let out an exceptionally high-pitched shriek. A few of their plates even burst with blinding light, much to their shock.

The large fierce man looked at the spell plate in his hand and shouted, "Not good, the foreign being is near us. It's already entered our hundred-meter perimeter."

The others looked at their spell plates and were thrown into an uproar as they looked around them with wide eyes.

Within three hundred meters of them, above and below, they found nothing; it was completely empty.

"Everyone, quickly dispel its concealment! It will be over if it approaches us." The old man shouted loudly, leaving a faint ringing in his subordinates' ears. He then flipped his hand and produced a copper mirror.

The old man flung the copper mirror over his head and suddenly, it took the form of a bright moon. Light flashed from its surface and a bowl-sized azure beam shot out. It twirled around the moon before scattering in every direction.

The others began to unleash their own treasures to break the foreign being's concealment, but the light found nothing.

However, the piercing shriek from the Foreign Spirit Plates only grew sharper. It was clear that it was already close.

At that moment, the cultivators revealed panic and the old man felt his face pale.

This situation was without a doubt because the foreign being or beings were scouts of the foreign tribes that shouldn't be provoked. Not only did it not think to flee, but it thought to kill them instead.

As if squeezing his voice out from his throat, the old man shouted, "Quickly lay out the Elemental Spirit Light Formation! Common protections won't protect us!"

Soon after, he paid no further attention to the mirror above his hand. He flipped his hand and summoned a red command token. He tossed it into the air and turned into a ball of flickering red light.

The other black-armored guards suddenly realized something and they released various magic tools into the air.

But at that moment, the magic tools slowed down.

Bang. Three of the Foreign Spirit Plates simultaneously erupted.

Above the owners of the three plates, several faint blurs suddenly appeared.

These silhouettes blurred as soon as they appeared and rushed towards the cultivators.

"Ah!"

The three black-armored cultivators finally discovered these grey silhouettes and couldn't help but shout. However, the magic treasure and spirit light protecting them didn't block the blurs from entering their body.

Suddenly, they let out screams of pain and they fell to the ground as they covered their heads. It was unknown if they survived.

As soon as he saw the blurs, the old man's face vastly changed and he hastily shouted, "They are shadow puppets from the Shadow Tribe! Quickly release your lightning-attribute treasures and techniques!"

Afterwards, he opened his mouth and spat out a silver-white flying sword.

Once the sword appeared, it covered the old man in silver-white lightning.

Afterwards, a grey shadow appeared right behind him, but thunder rang and a bolt of lightning shot out, flinging the shadow ten meters away.

The Shadow Tribe had an infamous reputation, and the cultivators immediately realized what was happening. However, only two of them were able to release their lightning-attribute treasure. The rest of them felt their bodies turn cold and they couldn't help but curse.

Lightning was an overbearing but rare element. Not many cultivators possess such a treasure.

The Shadow Tribe was also a bizarre race. Apart from lightning attributed treasures and a few peculiar techniques, nothing affected them.

And in their brief moment of hesitation, more grey shadows appeared beneath them.

The black-armored guards glanced at each other in terror and they shouted, scattering in streaks in every direction in an attempt to throw off the shadows.

However, the grey shadows seemed to truly become the cultivator's shadow. They turned into streaks of grey light and relentlessly pursued the cultivators.

In the blink of an eye, the cultivators and the shadow puppets were a hundred meters away. All that remained in the original location was the old man and the other two black-armored guards that possessed a lightning treasure.

However, as time went on, an increasing number of grey shadows began to appear in front of them. There were now eight of them that were drifting around them, but rolls of lightning continued to hold them at bay.

However, these shadows didn't seem to know pain since they continued to approach.

The old man took a deep breath and no longer concerned himself with the wellbeing of his subordinates. His wrist flashed with red light and suddenly produced a stack of talismans.

"Evil creatures, you're courting death!"

The old man fiercely glared at them and approached one of the shadows. With a harsh expression, he released a talisman. It sharply crackled, releasing a dozen bolts of blue forking lightning at the grey image.

Rolls of thunder rang and lightning erupted. The grey shadow let out whimpers as a net of lightning surrounded it and turned it to dust.

The old man was overjoyed to see this. It seemed the hefty cost of these lightning talismans as well worth it.

He flipped his hand to produce another stack of talismans and released it in an attack.

But just as the forks of lightning was about to strike at another grey shadow, a cold snort sounded from all around them.

Meanwhile, the grey shadow suddenly produced a large green hand from the front of its body and its fingers blurred. The green hand somehow caught all the lightning in its hand.

After a series of muffled eruptions, the lightning disappeared without a trace.

"A green shadow!" The old man's pupils shrunk.

"You all are courting death." A cold emotionless voice sounded from the green hand. The hand trembled and twisted, turning into a green light silhouette.

The silhouette was in the shape of a person, but their head seemed extremely large, about two or three times larger than an ordinary human. The green light flickered from the face to reveal a pair of bright scarlet eyes.

It appeared to be a high-grade Shadow Tribe being as the old man expected. The old man's lips twitched and his face turned blue.

Although lightning was effective on a majority of the Shadow Tribe, green shadows were at the same level as Deity Transformation-stage cultivators and their bodies were somewhat resistant to lightning. When a Deity Transformation cultivator and a green shadow fought, most of the time, the cultivator perished or lost.

And from the number of shadow puppets the green shadow could control, he feared that the green shadow was the highest of its grade.

The old man's heart completely dropped.

At that moment, he heard distant eruptions from a distance. It was clear that the black-armored cultivators sank into a desperate battle.

The green shadow cared not for the old man's terror and wordlessly took a step forward. His body strangely warped until he was a few meters away from the old man and he raised his arm towards the overbearing lightning surrounding the old man's body.

He planned on directly grabbed ahold of the old man's magic treasure.

The old man's heart leapt. The green shadow was too fast. It was too late for him to dodge. He could only shout and pour the entirety of his magic power into his protective treasure.

The silver lightning thundered in front of him and grew three times thicker.

When the green shadow saw this, a trace of disdain appeared from his crimson eyes, and his palm continued forward. He reached out to grab the lightning.

Thunder rolled and the thick lightning bolt ruptured in a wild display, eventually revealing a small sword.

The small sword shifted its form continuously and wildly trembled, but the large green hand held firm.

The old man's face became bloodlessly pale.

The green shadow let out a bewildering cackle and his body blurred as if he was about to take action.

But suddenly, thunder sounded above the old man and azure-white light flashed. A winged silhouette suddenly appeared.

As soon as the winged figure appeared, he wordlessly pointed his hands downward.

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He flicked his fingers and five dense bolts of lightning lashed out. Another light flashed from his hand to produce a square embroidered cloth drifting downward. Its surface faintly glowed with strange talisman characters in a mysterious fashion.

When the green shadow saw this, he was alarmed but not frightened. Instead, he shook his shoulder, summoning two grey shadows from his back. In a blur, they split off to confront the oncoming lightning and cloth.

The green shadow then twisted his body, wanting to create some distance.

An icy harrumph sounded from the winged silhouette above him.

An inconceivable event followed!

As soon as the green shadow heard him, he violently trembled. Afterwards, his figure stopped and was left in a daze.

A rolling thunder rang and the five bolts of golden lightning were the first to strike the shadow puppet.

Upon contact, the grey shadow dissolved from the golden light like ice to the sun. A grey mist was all that was left behind.

Simultaneously, the odd talisman characters on the embroidered cloth lit up and ruptured. Myriads of fine silver threads covered the grey shadow and immediately retracted it back into the cloth, holding the shadow puppet firmly in place.

Thunder rang from the embroidered cloth, and countless arcs of lightning leaped out, attacking the immobile shadow puppet.

At that moment, the winged silhouette flapped his wings and immediately disappeared with the flash of a silver line.

A moment later, the silver line appeared above the green shadow. The winged silhouette then waved his hand in a casual motion.

His palm sparkled with light and soon light lit up from his fingers, releasing five various colored bone rings.

The rings were as fine as jade with pea-sized skulls meticulously carved from their surface. The eyes in the skulls stirred and the skull opened its mouth as if it were alive.

The five skulls release different colored glacial flames, and they fused together to create a gorgeous barrier of rainbow flame.

Just as he collected himself from being intimidated before, the green shadow saw flames light from in front of him as he was about to be engulfed in rainbow flames.

He felt his entire body tensed and felt it become incredibly slow.

In the next moment, the green shadow felt great terror.

However, he was a high-grade existence in the shadow clan. He instantly let out a piercing shriek from his mouth, causing his green body to burst into countless green threads. They scattered in every direction to avoid being trapped by the rainbow flames.

The winged silhouette seemed to have already anticipated this and suddenly swiped down with his other hand.

Light lit up from it and the image of a small black mountain was faintly revealed from his hand. With a flip of his hand, rings of grey light suddenly rushed out from his palm.

When the grey light flew out, the green threads seemed to have encountered their match. As the rings swept the green threads inside of them, they were instantly crushed and turned to green dust.

At that moment, the green shadow's crimson eyes were filled with terror.

However, his body felt immense pressure as if the land itself was weighing down on him. Against such a powerful ability, he couldn't muster himself to escape.

Winds tore as differently colored light shot out from the winged silhouette's hands, placing a series of talismans on the green shadow.

The green shadow blurred and the crimson light gradually faded from his eyes.

An inconceivable event occurred.

Under the restriction of the talismans, the green shadow began to shrink until he was only a fist-sized green ball that weakly pulsed with faint green light.

The winged silhouette didn't find this odd in the slightest and withdrew his abilities. He simply reached his hand out in the air.

The green ball immediately tore through the air and easily arrived in the person's head.

At that moment, the winged silhouette turned to the dumbstruck azure-armored old man and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Yue, I'm afraid I've arrived too late. Are you alright?"

The old man eventually collected himself and withdrew the flying sword in front of him. He returned the smile and saluted the man, "Brother Han, what are you saying? Had you not saved my life, I fear I would've been in trouble. I've long heard of your exceptional abilities, and now I see those rumors are entirely true! Even a high-grade Shadow Tribe member isn't enough to be your match."

The winged silhouette was actually a youth wearing a set of azure armor, Han Li!

But at that moment, Han Li already progressed his cultivation to mid-Deity Transformation stage.

Han Li chuckled in response and said, "Brother Yue is exaggerating. It's just that my techniques happen to be effective against the Shadow Tribe members. If it were another foreign race, my attacks wouldn't have been effective.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Han is quite modest. Who could've known that your small squad would suffer no casualties during decades of patrol assignments? I heard in those years, you've killed quite a few foreign tribe spies. Tch tch, considering all your merits, my praise hadn't been enough." The old man wryly laughed and shook his head.

"Nonsense, so the other Fellow Daoists must be alright?" Han Li chuckled and then he looked around.

"There should be any problems. Since that Shadow Tribe member has been restrained, the puppets he controlled should've dispersed. My subordinates had been earlier possessed, but since only a short time had passed, their vitality will only be a bit damaged in the worst case. So why did you come across this place? Where are your subordinates?" When the old man saw that Han Li didn't want to continue that conversation, he tactfully changed the topic.

Han Li took out a jade box from his storage bracelet and put the restrained green shadow in it. Then he calmly answered, "Hehe, it was only a matter of luck. I recently acquired a high-grade Foreign Spirit Plate, so it gives me a broader range. I happened to be patrolling with my squad in a nearby area and the plate rang. As for my subordinates, I ordered them to stay in place before I took off."

"So it was like that. I've managed to escape calamity through luck alone!" The old man sighed.

At that moment, the two black-armored guards nearby approached Han Li and uttered deep thanks for his timely arrival.

From a distance, the other cultivators were returning and arrived before Han Li, uttering a similar word of thanks.

Han Li uttered a few pleasantries before saying farewell and flying off in an azure streak.

After Han Li disappeared from sight, the large man with a fierce expression muttered, "I heard when Senior Han just arrived at Deep Heaven City, he was only at early Deity Transformation-stage cultivation, but his abilities were on par with a mid-stage cultivator. And ten years ago, he entered mid-stage and his abilities became even more profound."

The other black-armored guard said with admiration, "More than just that. I heard that in the decades he spent on his patrol assignment, he killed eight high-grade foreign beings. He can't be compared to an ordinary dark azure guard. Could it be that ascended cultivators are all such fearsome existences."

The middle-aged woman snorted and said, "Ascended cultivators are a grade stronger than those native to the spirit realm, but that Senior Han is an outlier even among ascended cultivators."

The other cultivators were startled when they heard this.

After Han Li faded from sight, the old man twirled his beard long in thought. After a short while, he waved his hand and had his squad depart.

Hundreds of kilometers away, an azure streak tore through the air and the light faded away to reveal Han Li.

At that same moment, a dozen streaks of light flew up from the ground and stopped before Han Li to reveal black-armored cultivators.

"Squad Leader!"

"Senior Han!"

They all called out to him and stood at attention while floating in the air.

After several decades had passed, the squad remained safe and sound, but this time, they viewed Han Li with obvious respect. They no longer possessed an ounce of disobedience.

This was to be expected.

The other three squads that undertook patrol missions in similar areas would see an astonishing number of deaths. There were times that over half the small squads would need to be replaced. Although his own squad encountered many dangers, Han Li resolved each of them with ease, earning him the unopposed command of his squad.

Of course, under Han Li's guidance, the squad acquired many rewards, much to their satisfaction.

Han Li nodded and casually said, "Let's go, the foreign being was a green shadow and it has already been disposed of."

A cultivator with a young appearance chuckled and said, "A green shadow? That is quite troublesome. The squad leader must've been able to restrain him easily with his Divine Essensefused Light. Let alone the green shadow, if a scarlet shadow appeared, the squad leader might've had a real fight."

Han Li snorted and said, "A scarlet shadow is something that even Spatial Tempering cultivators find difficult to deal with. How could I possibly deal with one? Alright, let's hurry on our way. After we patrol this last area, we'll be able to rest for another year. Last time, we encountered a high-grade Cave Hollow Tribe being there. This time, we encountered a high-grade Shadow Tribe Being."

Cultivator Ma's cheek twitched and he sullenly said, "That's right. Isn't this becoming too ordinary over the past ten years? Even if we commonly discover foreign tribe scouts, it can't happen this often. There are even high-grade beings among them, each of them entering the swamp without any fear. I heard that the Buried Bone Desert that the demons are managing on the other side are also encountering a large number of foreign tribe scouts. Large number of metamorphosed demons are also dying on their patrols. Could it be there are foreign tribes that plan on attacking Deep Heaven City?"

When the others heard this, their expressions vastly changed and their smiles faded.

Still as beautiful as before, Fairy Xu frowned and said, "That can't be, it had only been thirty thousand years the foreign tribes last attacked Deep Heaven City. Don't they usually launch an attack every sixty thousand years?"

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"After a war, foreign tribes usually need sixty to a hundred thousand years to launch another attack. If something unforeseen has occurred and they want to quickly start another way at the cost of their strength, it would be possible. In the great hundred tribe war five hundred years ago, foreign tribes alternated in five waves of attacks over a span of a hundred thousand years. It nearly wiped out all the strength of both humans and demons, leaving us on the verge of destruction. It took a hundred thousand years before we could flourish once more. Of course, some of these foreign tribes were exterminated during the war."

The large green-eyed man felt his breath turn cold and he widely opened his eyes, "The great hundred tribe war? You must be joking. That war engulfed most of the spirit realm. How can you say something like that will happen? And didn't we end up on top after that?"

"Fellow Daoist Ma's words are quite frightening. If another war like that happens, it will be difficult for us to survive. During that war, mortals were fine, but nine out of ten cultivators suffered heavily from them." Fairy Xu said with a chill."

"That's right, that's right, how can that..."

When the others heard the words 'Hundred Tribe War', their faces paled as if the Daoist Priest said something fearsome, making it difficult to keep their calm.

"That's enough. We've only encountered more foreign tribe scouts recently. How would that lead to another grand hundred tribe war? There is little chance of this happening. And even if it happens, it isn't something we have control over.

Let's first complete the patrol assignment, that's more important. As for matters of war, let the panel of elders deal with it." With a calm expression, Han Li uttered his orders and took the lead.

The others promptly stopped their conversation and flew after him.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from the horizon.

Several days later, Han Li and the others sat on top of a Gold Court Boat and returned to a giant pagoda in Deep Heaven City.

While the others remained in the hall to rest, Han Li left the squad base alone and climbed up to the top of the stone pagoda.

After walking ten stories up, he eventually arrived at a tightly guarded gate and entered an unremarkable large hall.

The hall's walls flickered with various restrictions. They were great in number and appeared to be incredibly powerful.

Inside the hall, apart from the stone table and a white-robed middle-aged man sitting at the side of the stone table, there was no one else.

Just as Han Li entered it, the middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes and gave Han Li a calm glance. "So it was Esteemed Nephew Han. What did you gain during this patrol? Is it living or dead? Which tribe is it?"

The middle-aged man appeared quite familiar with Han Li.

"Senior, I report that I have captured a Shadow Tribe scout alive." Not daring to be negligent, Han Li respectfully saluted the middle-aged man and took out a jade box and placed it on the table.

"The Shadow Tribe! Tch tch, rarely is one captured alive. Let me take a look." The white-robed middle-aged man's expression stirred in excitement.

Han Li formed an incantation gesture and slapped the table in front of him.

The stone table suddenly glowed with white light and a three-meter-wide spell formation appeared with the jade box right at its center.

A layer of silver light appeared from it and the jade box was thoroughly restrained.

The middle-aged man swept his sleeve towards the jade box without any regard of the formation and opened its lid, revealing a green ball of faint light within it.

The middle-aged man examined the ball and rejoiced, "A green shadow! This is a high-grade Shadow Tribe being that is difficult to come across, and it is even alive! Nephew, this will earn you great merit!"

"Senior praises me too much! I hear that in half a month, the Deep Heaven Hall will have an Elder Xing lecture about talismans. Is this true?"

"That's right. This time at Deep Heaven Hall, it will be Elder Xing lecturing. Although I don't know if you follow talisman refinement, Elder Xingis famous for his talisman techniques and lecture will most likely follow that route. Could it be that Nephew Han is interested in it?" The middle-aged man said with surprise.

Han Li openly said, "I've recently delved into studying talismans and have gained some insights. I was hoping for some guidance."

The middle-aged man frowned and slowly said, "If the Dao of Talismans is studied deeply, it will have countless wondrous uses in battle, but this is only a supplementary technique. It doesn't have much use in cultivation.

For Nephew Han to be able to progress his cultivation to mid-stage after only shortly ascending to the Spirit realm, you are a rare kind even among other ascended cultivators like us. Your exceptional talents are clear to see. But it would be best if you weren't distracted by other things, or you may suffer harm in your main cultivation."

"Many thanks for your kind intentions Senior, I will take it to heart. But I do want to attend Elder Xing's lecture. I don't know if my accumulated merits would allow me to listen to him." Han Li showed no intention of backing down.

"Since you've made your decision, I won't say anything further. Adding your past merits to this one, you have more than enough to enter the Deep Heaven Hall. Hehe, every ten years, an elder lectures there and you seem to never miss a single one. It should be quite tough for you as well. Alright, I'll make a list of your accomplishments. Take it to the merit evaluation pavilion and receive your lecture token." He took out a jade badge from his robes and inscribed something to it before handing it over to Han Li.

Han Li took the jade badge with joy and saluted the middle-aged man. Then he bid goodbye and head into the hall.

When the middle-aged man saw Han Li leave the hall, he shook his head and then nodded. Afterwards, the jade box on the table closed and he formed an incantation gesture before pointing at the table.

The spell formation on the table glowed dazzlingly and white flashed from the box before it disappeared.

Just as the middle-aged man was teleporting the green shadow to a restricted area, Han Li flew out the Deep Heaven City market.

Several hours later, Han Li dropped down to the Profound Zenith Hall.

Han Li handed the guards a bag of spirit stones and wore the given concealment pendant before heading inside.

After walking through a long passage, Han Li emerged into the large hall. It was filled with humans and demons trading with one another.

The total of figures covered in silver and black light numbered over three hundred.

There were tens of vendors laid out all over the hall.

Han Li swept his gaze around and his gaze stopped on a stone pillar at the center of the hall.

There was a demon standing still.

Han Li took a deep breath and walked over.

Before Han Li arrived, he heard a chuckle and a sweet voice happily say, "You've finally come. After our last meeting, I thought you've secluded yourself in bitter cultivation. I thought it'd be decades before I'd see you again."

Han Li smiled and replied through voice transmission. "I've only come this time to test my luck. I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Yan would actually arrive here. It appeared that you also sense that something had been wrong recently and also wanted to conclude our business."

After a pause, the woman's voice turned ice-cold, "There is something wrong?"

"You must've heard about it. Take a look at the hall. There are several times more people than normal. Doesn't this mean something?" Han Li leisurely replied. He paid no mind to the woman's tone.

"Could it be that you've heard something?" A glint shined from her eyes.

"I don't know much, but there have been high-grade cultivators dispatching troops. As for the regions we're overseeing, more foreign tribe scouts have been appearing there. About six times as many. How are things on your side?"

After some hesitation, the woman truthfully answered, "It's about the same. Those old fogeys have started to show their faces in greater numbers and there even are new faces in the city. Their cultivation is quite powerful. They should be new subordinates that arrived from the seven demon lands."

"I've got it. It seems there is something that's about to happen. How often do you experience attacks from foreign tribes?" Han Li asked.

The woman sullenly answered, "Three times out of ten on a patrol. Why else has the city undergone such astonishing changes."

"Thirty percent, that is quite high." Han Li let out a long sigh and muttered to himself for a moment.

The woman indifferently said, "That's right. After I finish this deal here, I won't be appearing here again. If Fellow Daoist wishes to preserve his life, it'd be best for him to leave this city. Otherwise when the foreign tribes attack, it will be difficult to escape calamity considering our cultivation."

"Your words are quite simple, but as a cultivator of the city, how could I escape? And every year I also need..." Han Li wryly laughed and his words came to a sudden stop as if something came to mind.

"Hehe, it is quite troublesome to leave the city as of current. Our races are different and I am powerless. Fortunately, even if a war breaks out, you have several years to think of a plan. Alright, that's enough information. Let's begin trading."

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