Рубрика: Путешествие к бессмертию

Chapter 404: A Deceptive Situation

The night quietly passed by.

Just as dawn broke, the cultivators silently appeared above the evil cultivators lair.

Its here? Fairy Violet Spirit looked down at the small black island beneath her with confusion. The island was truly small and it only had a radius of about two kilometers. It would be more accurate to call this a huge reef.

Thats right. Not only have the Golden Cicada Wasps arrived at this location, but the two elders have also confirmed it. Those evil cultivators are here. Lady Fan softy said.

The violet-clothed woman then silently nodded her head and no longer held doubt.

However, this place was obviously a temporary hideout. Not only was the island pathetically small, but there was only an extremely simple illusion formation placed down that was basically worthless.

Kill without hesitation! After Fairy Violet Spirit coldly shouted her command, Eccentric Scarletflames bewildering laugh echoed out of his black cloud, easily wiping out their pathetic formation with resounding bolts of lighting. Afterwards the other cultivators bluntly rushed down.

The sound of their formation breaking had obviously alerted the people below.

Several sharp whistles sounded out from below. Fifty streaks of radiance flourished out, and a large number of cultivators met their advance. The three Core Formation cultivators leading them were surprised to see the Exquisite Sound Sect. But without waiting for their reply, Lady Fan yelled, Strike! She then released a silver wheel magic tool and took the initiative to attack.

When the other cultivators saw this, they bluntly followed her lead and attacked.

The sky was suddenly filled with flashes of radiance and deafening whistles.

Since Han Li was acting under the intention of acquiring the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, he naturally found it embarrassing to stay idle. As a result, he and Crooked Soul casually took out their magic treasures and tied down five Foundation Establishment cultivators, preparing to eliminate them in one blow.

As two Core Formation cultivators, they shouldve been able to easily deal with a small group of Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, something shocking had occurred.

When the five Foundation Cultivators discovered that two Core Formation cultivators were attacking them, their clothes were ripped away to reveal fiend demons. Han Li was shocked to the point that his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head despite having seen them before.

But even with their greatly increased cultivation and speed, Han Li was no longer a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. They only managed to resist for a few moments more before Han Li and Crooked Soul turned them to ash with their magic treasures.

At this point, Han LI had discovered that their fiend demon transformations were different from that of the Black Fiend School. Not only did their transformations not require an incantation or cocoon, but an elemental blood core wasnt present in their bodies.

Han Li felt extremely confused and puzzled. He pondered for a moment on whether or not they had some sort of relationship to the Black Fiend School. But he immediately dropped the thought and attentively looked in the other directions. Now was not the time to ponder these questions. It would be absurd if he allowed anyone to ambush him just because his thoughts were running astray.

However, what Han Li saw only made his doubts grow stronger. A majority of the evil Foundation Establishment cultivators had underwent a fiend demon transformation. In addition, they formed small groups and were fiercely fighting with all their might.

The three enemy Core Formation cultivators had earlier been restrained by Eccentric Scarletflames black cloud and were unable of escaping. Judging from the incessant rolls of thunder from the cloud, it seemed they were being quite strenuously held in place.

At the moment, the enemys several Core Formation cultivators and many Foundation Establishment cultivators had been reduced to under half of their original numbers in the blink of an eye. But even so, the remaining survivors still fearlessly fought on.

Their dauntless attitude had left many attacking Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators greatly astonished.

But at that moment, a fierce whistle pierced the air, leaving the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators deafened for a moment. Everyones expressions had involuntarily changed.

Why are you all standing still? Quickly kill them off! Something troublesome is about to arrive! Eccentric Scarletflames words croaked out of his black cloud, waking the many cultivators from a daze and allowing them to continue their fierce attacks.

When the evil cultivators heard the sharp whistle, their spirits were greatly roused, becoming even more tenacious. For the time being, they were unable to be struck down.

In the following instant, several streaks of ash gray light arrived above the island.

When the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators saw this, they stopped and stared at the five newly arrived Core formation cultivators with grave vigilance.

The large, middle-aged man leading them had an ashen complexion. Although his facial appearance was ordinary, he wore a menacing expression. His magic power fluctuations far exceeded that of his four allies and appeared to be late Core Formation. The other four were merely early Core Formation cultivators, but they gazed at the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators with rage all the same.

Who are you to dare slaughter the disciples of our Hidden Fiend Sect? We must repay this debt of blood! His expression grew dark after seeing that there werent many of his disciples left.

The others were stunned. These bandits had no idea why they had come to pay them a visit and they actually spoke so boldly and righteously.

A few of the more quick witted individuals couldnt help but look towards Fairy Violet Spirit, Lady Fan, and Zhuo Ruting with slight hesitation.

Fairy Violet Spirit clear, beautiful eyes revealed a trace of doubt and thought to say something before she was interrupted by a shout, Stop your nonsense! Youve committed crimes that cannot be repaid even with death! Elder Zhao who had been closely following Lady Fan suddenly flew out from the crowd and waved his arm, releasing a three meter long streak of fiery light towards the enemy.

The middle-aged cultivator furiously grimaced and released an ash-gray devilish Qi with a boom. The huge forty-meter-tall aura of ash-gray Qi formed a huge misty ghost face in an instant.

As soon as the ghost face came into existence, it opened its mouth and fiercely charged forward.

Elder Zhaos attack had disappeared within the huge mouth of the ghost face. The ghost face then charged towards Elder Zhao without pause. гeewenvel.com

Suddenly, Elder Zhao revealed panic and quickly blurred several times, returning to the group of allied cultivators at a speed much faster than when he had left them. He loudly yelled, Everyone, act together! He is a late Core Formation cultivator. We dont stand a chance if we fight alone!

These obviously inciting words caused two Core Formation cultivators and a portion of the Foundation Establishment cultivators to immediately release their magic tools and treasures to strike the ghost face.

However, a majority of them detachedly gazed on with doubt. The scene appeared somewhat messy.

Having seen this, Han Lis face slightly twitched, and he slowly slipped towards the back of the crowd along with Crooked Soul. The situation appeared discouraging. Although he didnt know what was about to happen, Han Li thought to immediately distance himself from the coming danger.

Dont yet act! There is something strange about it! The violet-clothed woman saw that something was amiss and coldly scolded the Exquisite Sound Sect disciples. However, the attacking Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators seemed to have ignored her and continued their focused attacks on the ghost face.

When Han Li saw this, his expression slightly shifted, and his heart felt heavy.

The enemy middle-aged cultivator wasnt foolish and also saw that something was queer.

After some slight surprise, he decisively waved his hand towards the ghost head, causing it to release a strange hiss. It then opened its mouth and spat out countless ashen spheres of light. The magic tools and treasures that they struck suddenly swayed with instability. He took advantage of this opportunity to have the ghost head fly back towards him.

The attacking cultivators were stunned and didnt dare to separate from the group to continue their attack.

Can someone tell me what is going on? Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fairy Violet Spirit flew out from the group and coldly asked while she stood in between both sides.

Whats going on? You killed my sect disciples without cause and you ask their sect master? The middle-aged man coldly said. His eyes had already turned to a shade of a peculiar dark green.

The violet-clothed woman emotionlessly met his gaze as she slowly asked, Were you the ones who robbed our Exquisite Sound Sect and killed our sect master?

The middle aged man responded with a furious tone, Preposterous! Our Hidden Fiend School has always had very few dealings with outsiders. Why would we do such a contemptuous thing?

When the violet-clothed woman heard this, she grew silent and her eyes became ice-cold.

When the others heard this, they seemed to realize something, and their expressions became strange.

Lady Fan suddenly emerged from the group and slowly proclaimed, It seems that weve fallen into someones trap!

Humph! Was it you that have fallen into a trap or was it us? The middle-aged man eerily spoke with a resentful expression.

The disciples that he had spent such a great number of years nurturing had all died within a day. It was impossible for him to not feel vehement hatred towards them.

Were it not for the fact that the Exquisite Sound Sect possessed too many Core Formation cultivators and the uncertainty he held towards the strange cultivator within the black cloud, he wouldve used the entirety of his strength to heavily wound them despite knowing he had fallen into someone elses trap.

As the violet-clothed womans gaze became completely void of emotion, Lady Fan waited from the side with a bitter smile.

Elder Zhao, Elder Fu. How about you give us an explanation? Fairy Violet Spirit slowly turned around and focused her attention on two people within the group.

Alternative Title

Chapter 403: Eccentric Scarletflame

Nangong Wan! Han Li eventually found the origin of his feeling of familiarity.

Although the appearance of the female cultivator named Zhuo Rutin differed from Nangong Wan, the slight similarity between their elegant grace stirred his hearts deepest depths.

Now knowing the cause of this feeling, Han Li looked at Zhou Ruting before turning his gaze away and calming the great disturbance in his heart.

However, ever since Han Li and Crooked Soul had arrived, Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting showed no intention of wanting to immediately set off. Instead, they were occasionally looking towards the sky as if they were waiting for someone.

Han Li was somewhat puzzled by this, but he didnt bother to ask any questions. Instead, he found a desolate corner and sat there with Crooked Soul, quietly waiting for the mission to start.

They waited for nearly a day. Were these people not cultivators, each completely patient, they wouldve long started complaining. But even with this being the case, people still revealed dissatisfaction.

Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting revealed slight worry under these circumstances and begrudgingly met to converse in whispers.

When Han Li saw this, he speculated who exactly they were waiting for before suddenly being interrupted by the sounds of thunder coming from the appearance of a black streak at the edge of the sky.

As the black streak quickly approached them, the many cultivators sitting in meditation each stood up and gazed at it with amazed expressions. In the blink of an eye, the black streak had already arrived above them. Han Li and the others were now able to clearly see that this black streak was actually a black cloud with a diameter of about twenty meters. Its area was large enough to cover the entire mountaintop. With its occasional rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning, it appeared even more bizarre.

As the crowd was blankly staring at the black cloud, a womans cold voice suddenly came from within, Senior Scarletflame, you can let me down now. I wish to speak with my two Senior Martial Sisters.

Hehe, of course! An extremely hoarse voice gave a croaking reply.

Lady Fans and Zhuo Rutings expressions changed slightly upon hearing the voices and they glanced at one another. The other cultivators figured out the origins of the black cloud and their expressions became bright.

Just as Han Li was restless and confused, he heard one of the other cultivators mutter, The Exquisite Sound Sect has quite some ability. They were actually able to invite Turtle Source Islands Eccentric Scarletflame!

Han Li was able to clearly hear this persons whisper through use of his exceptional Spiritual Sense. After hearing it, his heart trembled.

When Han Li heard the words Turtle Source Island and Eccentric Scarletflame, Han Li immediately knew of the black clouds origins.

When he was getting acquainted with a few Core Formation cultivators, they had mentioned the grand reputation of Turtle Source Islands Eccentric Scarlet Flame several times. This late Core Formation cultivator had long become well-known in the Scattered Star Seas from the unpredictability of his Water Sunflower Devilish Art and his brutal ruthlessness.

Many people had also said that Eccentric Scarlet flame was extremely likely to enter Nascent Soul, it was only a matter of time before he became a great hero similar to Martial Ancestor Zenith Yin. As he was the sole hegemon of Turtle Source Island, no one dared to easily provoke him. As such, he could be considered to be an impressive person of renown. Could it be that the Exquisite Sound Sect had requested for him to come here to assist them?

Han Li calmly raised his head and carefully examined the black cloud with a vigilant heart.

At that moment, the black cloud furled out a gap and a slender woman dressed in violet royal garments flew out. She carried herself with graceful elegance, but her face was concealed by a faint purple Qi.

When Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting saw her appear, they immediately stepped forward to welcome her.

Junior Martial Sister Wang, why is Eccentric Scarletflame here? Could it be that you invited him? That wasnt necessary! Zhuo Ruting softly asked with a slight frown.

Thats right. This Eccentric isnt to be easily provoked. Devils are easily invited but hard to get rid of! In addition, our current manpower is already sufficient! Lady Fan spoke with a heavy expression, revealing a slight trace of dissatisfaction.

Didnt you two Senior Martial Sisters also believe that we had enough manpower while transporting the goods? The violet-clothed woman faintly stated without paying attention to the other twos worries.

Lady Fan immediately understood what she had meant and asked with bewilderment, Junior Martial Sister, what do you mean? Does the enemy have other problematic characters?

Zhuo Ruting also revealed an astonished expression.

Ive received information that their lair is being overseen by their leader, a late Core Formation cultivator. As the manpower that Senior Martial Sisters have gathered fell short, I took a trip to Turtle Origin Island to persuade Eccentric Scarletflame to help us!

After hearing this, the two senior women looked at each other in doubt and said no more.

Although they knew that their junior had paid an enormous price to convince Eccentric Scarletfire to aid them, this wasnt the time to address it. It was best left for after the matter at hand was concluded.

At that moment, the violet clothed woman swept her gaze past the cultivators on the mountaintop and sized them up before nodding her head as if she was satisfied.

Senior Martial Sisters invited a few more Core Formation cultivators than expected. With the aid of Eccentric Scarletflame, we will definitely be able to kill those evil cultivators and avenge my mother! The violet clothed womans voice turned extremely cold, filled with intense killing intent.

Be at ease, we will definitely avenge our sect master and repay this debt! Zhuo Ruting slowly said as she lightly brushed her beautiful, jet-black hair.

Thats right. Sect Master treated us with great kindness. We will give up our lives if it means killing the enemy. Lady Fan solemnly agreed. freeebnovl.cm

The violet-clothed woman felt moved and deeply bowed to the two.

I have greatly troubled you two Senior Martial Sisters! Since this matter has already been addressed, so long as my mother has been avenged, one of you two will be assuming the position of sect master. I, Wang Ning, do not seek to take that position! The violet-clothed woman decisively said.

After this was said, Zhuo Rutings beautiful face wore a complicated expression. Her red lips opened but she decided to stay silent in the end.

As for Lady Fan, although she managed to keep her expression calm, her eyes held a trace of unconcealable excitement.

Not far from Han Li, a cultivator surnamed Meng muttered to himself, Tch tch! That must be the Exquisite Sound Sects Fairy Violet Spirit. Its such a shame that she concealed her face with a magic technique.

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred. He had heard of the Fairy Violet Spirit before. It was said that she was as beautiful as a goddess and was one of the most beautiful women in the Scattered Star Seas. Could that be her?

Han Li gazed at the violet-clothed woman in the distance with slight astonishment.

At that moment, the three woman finished talking, and the violet-clothed woman flew back up towards the black cloud like a goddess. Then the Envoys of the Left and the Right eventually started the operation with solemn expressions.

Over a dozen streaks of radiance flew from the mountaintop and headed north in a loose flight formation.

Han Li and Crooked Soul occupied a position at the center rear, flying in silence. However, for some unknown reason, the cultivator surnamed Meng flew to Han Lis side and started gleefully chatting with him.

Why has Fellow Daoist Han agreed to help Left Envoy Fan? As for me, it was because one of my concubines was one of her direct disciples. I couldnt help but assist them! Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han also…

I dont have much luck with woman unlike Fellow Daoist Meng. Lady Fan merely promised to give me an item worth my time! Han Li indifferently said.

That is truly a pity! Brother, the best things about the Exquisite Sound Sect are naturally their beautiful female disciples. Particularly the disciples that were personally instructed by their two Envoys. Those are truly…

Although Han Li remained calm as he listened to the endless jabber, he felt unsure of whether he should laugh or cry. With his speech being overly familiar from the very start, Han Li was reminded of his garrulous Senior Martial Brother back at Yellow Maple Valley and was unable to bear this man any ill will.

As such, Han Li occasionally gave him an answer while following the lead of those from the Exquisite Sound Sect, flying towards an unknown location.

The eventually arrived on a desolate island where a few lower level disciples from the Exquisite Sound Sect had been waiting for them for quite some time. They were keeping watch on the bandits den on a nameless island not far away.

Knowing that no one had left the evil cultivators den, Fairy Violet Spirit flew down from the black cloud and had Han Li and company rest for a moment. On the next morning, they were going to mount a surprise raid.

Chapter 402: Envoys of the Left and Right

It was stolen? Han Lis gaze flashed with distrust.

Although Senior isnt convinced, this matter is completely true! Lady Fan then revealed a wry smile.

Two months ago, our store was undergoing a large transaction. The profit was such that our Exquisite Sound Sect wouldnt have had to conduct business for another ten years. Thus, our sect collected a large amount of materials and sent them off, escorted by our Sect Master Wang and the majority of our experts. However, a group of masked cultivators intercepted our convoy. The techniques of their six Core Formation cultivators were profound and evil, and the remaining cultivators were proficient in cooperative techniques. Our sect master was overwhelmed and died at the scene, and the storage pouches holding the items were stolen. A majority of our ordinary sect disciples perished in the attack as well. Were it not for two of our elders throwing caution to the wind and using secret techniques that lowered their cultivation, they wouldve killed us all and no one wouldve known. The womans voice had turned gloomy and her expression turned remorseful.

It wasnt a trap setup by the buyer? Han Li instantly blurted out.

That is impossible! Our buyer was a member of the Four Elements Merchant Union. They have a flawless reputation. Why would they ruin their reputation over robbing such a minor amount of goods, given their strength? Lady Fan lightly shook her head and denied this with a pale face, revealing an appearance of frail powerlessness.

Han Li coldly gazed on and didnt say anything. He didnt have the slightest intention of consoling the woman.

In response to Han Lis indifference, Lady Fan could only softly put away her grief and continue her explanation, That small stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo was the treasure of a small sect. However, the sect had declined extremely far and only had a single remaining descendant. As such, the single descendant had sold the item to our Exquisite Sound Sect. My sect master had carried this item on his body and planned to auction it off at Heavenly Star City after the deal was concluded. We didnt expect it to be plundered as well.

But when my sect master was transporting these goods, he had conducted a minor trick on them and we were able to quickly track down their hideout as a result. However, these thieves have quite a few Core Formation cultivators among them, and our sect doesnt have the strength to take them down. As a result, this meeting wasnt just about purchasing your goods. We were also assigned the responsibility to scout out high level cultivators for assistance. Seniors magic power is quite profound. If you are willing to help us, we wouldnt mind giving you the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

The woman chose her words carefully before arriving at her original intention. Han Lis expression was indifferent when he heard this, but his eyes continuously shifted around as if he were thinking about something.

When Lady Fan saw this, she knew Han Li was weighing the advantages and disadvantages, and she hurriedly attempted to make the deal sweeter, If Senior still feels the price is low, our sect is willing to gift an outstanding beauty to Senior as a servant.

Not interested! Han Li bluntly rejected her without the slightest consideration. The woman immediately revealed disappointment in response.

Han Li lightly exhaled and asked a question that greatly surprised the woman, Has the Heaven Lightning Bamboo been refined? Can it continue to age?

It hasnt been refined. The Heaven Lightning Bamboo was carefully nurtured by that small sect for over a hundred years. It can be further nurtured and continue to sprout out more stalks without a problem. Could it be that Senior doesnt wish to use it to refine a magic treasure and wishes to leave it behind for his descendants? However, the Heaven Lightning Bamboo grows extremely slowly. After every thousand years, it only grows by only a inch. It is truly difficult to breed! The woman asked, baffled.

Han Li didnt respond to her question, lowering his head in contemplation.

Just when Elder Zhao started to appear impatient, Han Li finally came to decision and calmly said, In addition to the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, we still require another item as payment. After all, Crooked Soul is taking action alongside me.

That isnt a problem. Our sect finds these conditions acceptable! Lady Fan agreed to the conditions with a beaming smile as if she had no intention of arguing.

Since this is the case, send someone to inform me at my cave residence when the time comes. Surely your esteemed sect should know where it is.

Without waiting for Lady Fan to say anything more, he cupped his hands and quickly left with Crooked Soul, not allowing her any additional opportunities to use any of her bewitchment techniques.

Han Lis blunt departure left Elder Zhao and Lady Fan looking at each other in dismay. Lady Fans eyes revealed complicated emotions as her face continuously shifted between clear and gloomy. reeebnvel.com

After returning to his cave residence, rather than quietly waiting for the Exquisite Sound Sect to call on him, he visited a few of his Core Formation cultivator acquaintances and made a few inquiries about the Exquisite Sound Sect.

Surprisingly, they had all heard of this sect before. One of them even had previous transactions with them.

According to what they said, the Exquisite Sound Sect was acceptable and their business dealings were good. However, their sect had only had women in positions of power for generations. This included the position of sect master.

The Exquisite Sound Sects strength couldnt be said to be powerful. Apart from the sect master, the only other high positions were the Envoy of the Left and the Envoy of the Right. As such, it was only natural that they would employ two or three guest elders as support. Among mid-grade powers, they could be considered to be among neither the best nor the worst.

But even with their strength being nothing of note, they werent to be easily provoked. This was because the female cultivators of the Exquisite Sound Sect were each as beautiful as a flower and well cultured. Those in power would often fight over their outstanding female cultivators to be their Dao companion. As such, they received quite a bit of both open and hidden support.

However, what Han Li was most concerned about was that while their reputation was decent, he heard that they had plotted a small number of malicious conspiracies to murder other cultivators. But what was most famous about the Exquisite Sound Sect were their bewitchment techniques. There were a large number of male cultivators that had become completely infatuated with their sects female disciples.

After acquiring this information, Han Li felt that he now had a general understanding of the Exquisite Sound Sect. After some consideration, it seemed that he would have to take this job as he was unable to resist the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

As such, ever since he had returned to his cave residence, he started to quickly craft grade three puppets without end.

Half a month later, a sound transmission talisman flew into Han Lis hand. After Han Li took a look, he tranquilly arranged his items and then brought Crooked Soul along with his two Bloodjade Spiders out of his cave residence.

When he arrived at one of Heavenly Star Citys gates, the young woman named Lianer was waiting for him apprehensively. When she saw Han Li and Crooked Soul arrive, she hastily ran over to them with a smile and said, Seniors! My mistress wishes for me to bring you to the island were gathering at. We will then set off on our journey afterwards.

Han Li nodded his head and wordlessly spit out his Green Brilliance Dagger. After wrapping the girl in the daggers light, he flew off.

Crooked Soul turned into a streak of yellow light and followed after them.

This seemed to be the young womans first time using a magic treasure to fly. Between occasionally giving Han Li some directions, she continuously gazed at Han Lis swordlight with great curiosity. But whenever her gaze met Han Lis, she bashfully turned her head away.

The young woman and Han Li were quite close within the sword light, almost touching each other. If Han Li slightly lowered his head, he would be able to see her white, flawless neck and smell the womans sweet fragrance, taking advantage of his minor amount of luck.

The woman seemed to have noticed this and her cheeks blushed a result, leaving Han Li feeling quite amused. He couldnt help but wear a mysterious smile.

He had guessed that since Lady Fan sent her personal servant to guide his way, she was attempting to use a genuine beauty to entrap him as her bewitchment techniques had proven ineffective on him.

With that thought, he inwardly sneered and presumptuously took a deep whiff of the young womans scent, causing her to slightly tremble. Her delicate, white ears turned pink, and she appeared somewhat panicked.

However, Han Lis imprudent actions stopped there, and he didnt progress a single step further. The young woman eventually regained her calm and continued to give Han Li directions.

An hour later, Han Li descended onto a small barren, nameless island.

About a hundred meters away from the mountaintop, in addition to Lady Fan and Elder Zhao, there were over a dozen people sitting in meditation or whispering amongst themselves.

There were five Core Formation cultivators, and the others were late Foundation Establishment. It seemed that the Exquisite Sound Sect had spent quite a bit of their influence to gather this many people.

Upon seeing her servant arrive together with Han Li and Crooked Soul, Lady Fan couldnt help but reveal happiness and hastily walked over with light steps.

It is truly fortunate for our Sect that you two Seniors have agreed to come! Let me introduce you to the others! The womans eyes appeared to be overflowing with emotion.

She introduced Han Li and Crooked Soul to a Core Formation cultivator surnamed Meng and four Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But what was baffling was that after Lady Fan introduced them to these people, as if in an attempt to demonstrate her power, she didnt introduce them to the others.

Lady Fan looked at a pretty woman wearing lotus green clothing, and Han Li followed her gaze, realizing that the cultivators she hadnt introduced to them appeared to be affiliated with the green clothed woman.

The woman had long eyebrows, upturned eyes, and a tall, slender nose. Her elegant eyes seemed to conceal a baleful aura. From a single glance, one could tell that she held a position of authority. However, her appearance aroused a desire to conquer her among men.

This woman coldly laughed after seeing Lady Fan, but she appeared slightly shocked upon seeing Han Li and Crooked Soul. She then turned around and whispered to a middle-aged cultivator behind her, not paying attention to Lady Fan in the slightest.

Who is she? Han Li asked with a calm expression.

Fan Jingmei gave a start before begrudgingly giving an answer, Zhuo Ruting, our sects Envoy of the Right.

Hm. Han Li couldnt help but take another glance at this woman, much to the displeasure of Fan Jingmei.

Han Li didnt have any unbecoming thoughts towards this Zhuo Ruting. He merely felt that the grace and appearance of this woman gave him a feeling of strong familiarity, and he couldnt help but sink into contemplation.

Lady Fan grew sullen upon seeing this and turned to speak with Crooked Soul. However, Crooked Soul remained expressionless while she spoke and didnt utter a single word in response, leaving her even gloomier.

Vetoed. The author is free to share his… discretions.

Chapter 401: Heaven Lightning Bamboo

Han Li didnt fly back to his cave residence after leaving the teahouse. Instead, he walked along the road and suddenly turned a corner into the rear of a nearby store. freewenovl.co

Afterwards, he closed his eyes and calmly stood in silence.

A long while later, Han Li frowned and opened his eyes.

He had just attempted to stealthily use his spiritual sense to return to the teahouse and listen in on what they said afterwards. However, he hadnt expected to be blocked by a layer of restrictions as he approached their room.

These restrictions couldnt be considered to high quality and could be easily broken through with Han Lis spiritual sense. However, it would cause far too much of a commotion and ruin his plan of stealthily spying on them. Since Han Li wasnt able to forcefully continue, he withdrew his spiritual sense.

It seems the Exquisite Sound Sect isnt to be trifled with. Theyve left no holes to be exploited. Han Li opened his mouth and spat out the inch long green dagger and used it to fly back to his cave residence.

After returning to his residence, Han Li went to his hidden room and retrieved the storage pouch holding the demon beast materials. He then called out to Crooked Soul, having him accompany him back to the teahouse for safety. The journey back and forth had taken quite a few hours.

Fortunately, by the time Han Li and Crooked Soul returned to the teahouse, Lady Fans subordinate, the middle-aged man, was anxiously waiting for him. Upon seeing Han Li approaching, he immediately ran inside with a happy expression.

Han Li saw that he went back to report to Lady Fan and didnt seem to mind. He then calmly walked inside with Crooked Soul.

By the time Han Li arrived at their room, the young woman and the middle-aged man were respectfully waiting for him.

Elder Zhao and Lady Fan are awaiting you! The woman spoke with a careful, respectful expression. After she finished, she stole a curious glance at Crooked Soul.

Without any intention of introducing Crooked Soul, Han Li nodded his head and bluntly entered the room with Crooked Soul close behind him.

The young woman hesitated for a moment, but she didnt dare to step forward and investigate him.

Lady Fan had covered her face beforehand. Upon seeing Han Li enter, her eyes lit up in a graceful welcome.

Senior Han has arrived quite quickly! I had believed you wouldve taken a moment more. Huh, this Senior is…? Lady Fans beaming smile froze after seeing Crooked Soul.

This is my good friend, Crooked Soul. After hearing of this matter, he wished to have a look. Im sure Lady Fan doesnt mind, yes? Han Li chuckled and deemphasized Crooked Souls presence.

Of course not. Please, have a seat! Lady Fan took a good look at Crooked Souls ugly face and his ice-cold expression for a moment before speaking with a sweet smile.

She secretly rejoiced in her heart. Fortunately, they hadnt planned to carry out any foul play, otherwise, they wouldve provoked a great enemy, given the appearance of his Core Formation associate.

In addition, her intentions to rope in Han Li only grew stronger.

The materials are all in here. Please, take a look! Han Li was straightforward. After taking a seat, he threw the two pouches containing the demon beast materials on the table.

When Lady Fan saw this, she was unable to conceal her joy and expressed her thanks before picking up the storage pouch and examining them with her spiritual sense. Afterwards, she handed the pouch over to Elder Zhao.

The old man calmly received the pouch and examined the items within for appraisal.

This took some time because the quantity of materials were far too great in number. While this was happening, Lady Fan was chatting with Han Li while wearing a beaming smile and unconsciously made an inquiry about the materials origin.

But as Han Li was someone of quick mind, he was able to deflect the question and give the woman no information.

After a short amount of time, Elder Zhao finished checking the materials and used a voice transmission to give Lady Fan an estimate. After some silent deliberation, she lowered the price by a tenth and offered it to Han Li.

When Han Li heard this, he started muttering to himself, causing Lady Fan to somewhat worry. In order to ensure the deal went through she gritted her teeth and hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to raise the price by five percent.

After hearing the new price, Han Li nodded his head and approved. Although he clearly understood the price given was a bit low, being able to sell off all of these items in a single instance was much to his satisfaction.

When Lady Fan saw Han Li approve, she felt greatly relieved and handed over a storage pouch containing a small sum of mid-grade spirit stones.

The deal was now finished and both sides were satisfied.

But as Han Li was about to take his leave, the woman casually said, Ive heard that Senior is looking for some exotic spirit bamboo. I happened to just acquire some information on this. Would Senior be interested in staying to listen?

Han Lis heart strongly stirred and he couldnt help but turn around.

At that moment, Lady Fan was looking at Han Li with a smile. Her beautiful eyes were concealing a peculiar glint.

Lady Fan, an expert of bewitchment techniques, intended to take advantage of Han Lis shock and stealthily plant a seed deep in his heart. In the future, Han Li would unconsciously become deferential to her as a result.

As Han Li met her gaze, he felt a concentrated feeling of attraction towards her, it was smothering and difficult to escape.

As his mind had nearly succumbed to the pressure, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning, Bewitchment Technique!

Suddenly, Han Lis heart trembled and his expression grew ice-cold. Upon seeing Han Lis icy intent, Lady Fans heart trembled and her bewitchment technique lost its effect.

Fearful, she hastily thought to turn her gaze away, but for some unknown reason, her neck and skull had grown stiff and she was unable to turn her gaze away, she wasnt even able to open her mouth.

Cultivation backlash! Once Lady Fan recognized what was happening, she felt her heart drop and did her utmost to break free of Han Lis grasp.

What did you do to Left Envoy Fan? When Elder Zhao saw that Lady Fan appeared amiss, his eyes coldly glinted and he thought to step forward.

However, Crooked Soul then blurred, disappearing from his sight. The old man couldnt help but be alarmed upon his sudden reappearance at his side with a strange movement technique, not knowing whether or not he should take action.

At that moment, Lady Fans expression became heartbreakingly pitiful, begging Han Li to show her mercy as her struggle to break free had been fruitless.

Humph! With a cold snort, Han Li released her from his icy gaze.

The woman then hastily turned her gaze away as if she were being spared. But at the same time, she couldnt help but spit out a mouthful of blood and stain her shawl red.

Left Envoy Fan, are you…? Elder Zhao raised his brow upon seeing this and furiously glared at Han Li, wanting to attack.

Elder Zhao, dont get angry! Senior Han treated me leniently. I only suffered Qi backlash. Spitting out only a bit of blood is already merciful! Lady Fan hastily stopped the old man from acting out of fury and said this with a wide smile.

Having heard this, the old mans expression gradually softened and returned to normal.

I truly didnt think that Senior was an expert proficient in bewitchment techniques! I had impulsively attempted to test you, please dont blame me too harshly. However, I really do know some minor information on the whereabouts of Heaven Lightning Bamboo. Having seen that Han Lis gaze was still harsh, the woman took the initiative to speak, afraid that Han Li would investigate the previous matter.

Heaven Lightning Bamboo! Han Lis ice-cold expression stirred upon hearing this.

Heaven Lightning Bamboo? The same that is known as one of the three great divine woods? Han Li was doubtful of what he heard, but his voice still contained a trace of excitement. Although he planned to use an exceptional bamboo to refine his magic treasure, he hadnt thought of being able to use one of the three great divine woods to refine it! But wasnt it said those three great divine woods have all gone extinct?

Lady Fan took out a small jade bottle and swallowed a medicine pill that restored her pale complexion before replying with absolute certainty, Thats right! I have personally handled the item. It is definitely genuine.

Could it be that youve already sold it to someone else? Han Li stared at the woman and his tone grew cold once more. At the same time, he apprehensively thought, Could it be this woman hasnt learned her lesson and wishes to use me to handle her dirty work?

After a moment of hesitation, Lady Fan decided to give an explanation with an honest appearance, No. This item was originally to be auctioned off in Heavenly Star City. However, we didnt expect for a majority of our goods to be robbed during transport. Our sect has managed to find the hideout of our thieves and are inviting righteous Daoists to take care of them in a single blow!

Chapter 400: Dignified

Elder Zhao, sorry for the long wait! This is Senior Han, the owner of those demon beast materials! After entering the room, Fan Jingmei spoke to the grey-clothed old man with a respectful tone.

The grey-clothed old man replied, Oh, so its Fellow Daoist Han! Please, sit. This old man just steeped a pot of ice-cloud spirit tea. Please, have a taste.

Han Li frowned. There was nothing odd about the old mans appearance apart from unusually red cheeks, as if he had just recovered from a grave illness. He couldnt help but feel somewhat puzzled.

His current spiritual sense was far stronger than cultivators of the same rank. In an instant, he was able to see that the old man was an early Core Formation cultivator. Han Li didnt say anything in refusal and bluntly took a seat across from the old man. Han Li indifferently stared at the old man as he poured a cup of fragrant tea, but didnt move to take it.

Han Li didnt mean to slight the old man as he was acting out of habitual carefulness. He definitely wasnt going to drink something from an unfamiliar place.

The old man didnt reveal any displeasure at Han Lis cautious actions. Instead, he faintly smiled and poured himself a cup, placing all other matters to the back of his head for that instant.

Senior Han! Weve come to find you on behalf of the Exquisite Sound Sect to purchase all of your remaining demon beast materials. Lets discuss the price. Just as Fan Jingmei sat down, she gently spoke to Han Li with a dainty composure.

How could Han Li easily admit to still having many rare materials despite not knowing their intentions? After some calm thought about what they had said, Han Li decided to block them for the time being, It is true that I had previously acquired quite a few demon beast materials. However, I have just sold my last batch. I fear I that must disappoint you.

When Lady Fan heard Han Lis refusal, she sweetly smiled and softly spoke with a hint of laughter, It seems Senior Han wishes to fool us. Although our sect doesnt know how many demon beast materials you have, we are certain that its a large amount. Otherwise, Senior Han wouldnt have so carefully sought out small, travelling merchants to sell them to. In addition, every transaction was done in very small amounts, and you look for a different buyer every time.

Had our sect not happened to be gathering related materials, its likely we wouldnt have discovered something was amiss. Senior sure is scared of having his wealth exposed! If this is the case, Senior Han can dispel those fears. Although our sect isnt some sort of superpower, our sect holds quite a positive reputation in the Scattered Star Seas. If Senior were to sell all the materials to us, it would save us the trouble of repeatedly purchasing them from small merchants!

The woman spoke with a beaming smile and a calm appearance. However, Han Lis eyes coldly glinted, and he slightly scowled. Finding out you had been secretly investigated wasnt a happy matter!

In response to Han Lis scowl, Lady Fan suddenly changed the subject and gave Han Li an explanation, Senior Han, please dont blame me for my rude conduct from before. This matter is quite urgent and we had to make use of a majority of our power in Heavenly Star City to track you down. We hope that Senior will provide us assistance, just this once!

This time, she had placed herself in a weaker position with her words and gaze revealing a slight intention to implore.

Han Lis scowl gradually subsided, but he didnt give an immediate response. Instead, he started to lightly tap the table with an indifferent expression. At this moment, Han Lis mind was continuously churning through lines of thought, analyzing the pros and cons at lightning speed.

Although he didnt know why the Exquisite Sound Sect required such a large quantity of demon beast materials, they clearly believed that he possessed what they desired. If Han Li further denied them, it would only serve to create a meaningless grudge.

While he hadnt heard of the Exquisite Sound Sect before, they shouldnt be too weak, given the appearance of Elder Zhao. Han Li didnt wish to make an enemy of them without good reason.

In addition, he possessed a bit too many demon beast materials. If he continued to sell them off bit by bit, it would only be a matter of time before he was found out. As such, wouldnt it be better to take advantage of this opportunity and cleanly handle the matter all at once? After all, this was Heavenly Star City where fights were prohibited. He wouldnt have to worry about anything going amiss.

With that thought, Han Li was silent for a moment more before serenely saying, Since youve spoken as such, I wont further conceal the truth. I do possess a few of the demon beast materials that your sect desires, but I dont know whether or not I have enough to satisfy you!

The two women revealed joy at Han Lis admittance. As for the old man sipping tea as if he were above the world, he gazed at Han Li with a much more relaxed expression.

How much are you in possession of?! Lady Fan impatiently asked, gazing at Han Li in anticipation.

Han Li faintly smiled and replied with an astonishing number, much to the pleasant surprise of the woman. Although she knew Han Li possessed quite a bit, she didnt expect the quantity to be at such a degree. She could finally finish her mission.

I want all of those materials! Does Senior have time to do the trade today? The Exquisite Sound Sects Lady Fan couldnt keep her composure and spoke with a slight tremble in her voice, fearful that Han Li would change his mind.

Han Li felt quite surprised at this womans impatience. However, he also felt that it would be best for this trade to made as quickly as possible. There would be less time for any unwelcome problems to appear. After some thought, he said, I do. Lets do the trade here! Lady Fan should go get the spirit stones. Ill go and fetch the demon beast materials. Han Lis clear decisiveness was in agreement with the womans intentions. She repeatedly nodded her head with a gaze of happiness.

Han Li then indifferently stood up and took his leave, walking out of the room in large strides.

A moment after Han Li disappeared from view, Lady Fans excited appearance gradually faded away. She suddenly turned her head towards the old man and asked, Senior Zhao, how is his cultivation? Ive heard that he had just achieved Core Formation. He shouldnt have had the time to refine a magic treasure. If you were to take take him by surprise, could you overcome him? If you are confident, we would be able to save quite a huge sum of spirit stones.

By the time this woman icily said those words, her dainty temperament had changed into a chilling, sinister expression.

Impossible! Although this person hasnt been in Core Formation for long, his cultivation art is unordinary. Not only is his magic power exceedingly pure, but his body conceals the faint Qi of a magic treasure. While he didnt have the time to secretly refine a magic treasure, he is in possession of an inherited magic treasure. We cannot look down on him. Elder Zhao shook his head and opposed the suggestion.

The womans eyes glinted with a strange expression as she slowly said, So it seems this person isnt weak. How about we pull him into our operation in the coming month? If things goes smoothly, we can spend a bit to rope him in. If things goes unfavorably, we can just abandon him!

That really is a good method! But from the recent conversation, he appears to know when it is appropriate to retreat despite appearing so youthful. It doesnt seem he will be easily taken advantage of. What is your grasp of the situation? Are you thinking about seducing him? As the old man spoke, he revealed displeasure.

Lady Fan shot a glance at the old man. Then, while stifling laughter, her eyes revealed fawning. Hehe, Senior, youre jealous! Relax, I wont touch any man apart from you. She pulled away at her muslin shawl to reveal her extremely enchanting face.

The old man originally appeared somewhat sickly. But upon seeing the woman, he was at a loss for words, and his cheeks flushed to an even deeper red. This scene left Lady Fan feeling very satisfied.

Senior, in order to protect me, you suffered a great injury. It is something that I will always remember! After saying this, Lady Fan spun her lithe, well-endowed body around and slid into the old mans embrace, caressing the old mans chest with her slender, white hands.

At this moment, Lady Fans face revealed overflowing thoughts of love, and her eyes appeared moist to the point of overflowing with tears. Her alluring beauty was capable of even resurrecting dead men.

The old man let out a breath as the womans white hand climbed up his chest out of impatient desire. He then crudely responded by embracing her fragrant body with equivalently impure intentions.

This scene caused the young woman who still remained in the room to deeply blush. She averted her gaze with a lowered head.

Lianer! How about you wait outside and report back once he returns? Lady Fan softly whispered as if she had moaned.

Yes, of course. The young woman hastily responded as if she were being spared and stepped out of the room.

But before she even left the room, they still continued.

That young girl has become far more beautiful these past two years. How about you give me a few years to teach her a couple things? Since good things shouldnt be given to outsiders…

Bah! Youre dreaming! I only kept her around because she was useful! I forbid you from laying your hands on her! Could it be that I…

Having clearly heard the twos flirtatious banter, the young woman sighed and left the room.

Happy 400th Chapter Guys!

Whew, weve made it so far! Thank you to the readers that kept up so far, and my patrons! Cheers to a new arc with Han Li making use of his new Core Formation capabilities!

Call out to my former tl: Gandalfs Socks , my former editor: Koreanmist, my elusive proofreader Asvare, and my current editor Barbant .

Thank you, your support have helped me a great deal! Now another 2046 chapters to go! Were a little bit less than 20% of the way there!

Ending note: Barbants suggested title and an easter egg.

Chapter 399: Exquisite Sound Sect

As Han Li was silently contemplating inside his bedroom, his expression suddenly changed and he walked out.

During his many years of seclusion, the entrance of his residence had remained sealed. He saw that outside his cave residences restrictions, there were eight sound transmission talismans of various colors, knocking against his barriers like headless houseflies.

Han Li looked at the scene with raised eyebrows for a moment before taking out his authority talisman and saying, Receive! The sound transmission talismans outside the barriers shot into his hand in response.

Han Li stood still as he calmly looked through them.

Half of the sound transmission talismans were from neighboring Core Formation cultivators wishing to offer their congratulations. The other half of the sound transmission talismans were invitations from organizations of varying sizes to take a position as a high ranking guest elder, using exceedingly rare treasures as payment. There was even one that offered two stunning maids as a recruitment gift right from the start.

After looking through the details of their offers, Han Li inwardly rolled his eyes.

He politely replied to the Core Formation cultivators offering their congratulations and gave a direct refusal to the many organizations. He didnt believe that he could take it easy and be without worry now that he reached Core Formation. He still had to use a bit of time to consolidate his core. Furthermore, Han Li considered it advantageous to maintain a low profile.

In the coming days, Han Li started to frequently pay a visit to the cave residences of nearby Core Formation cultivators and humbly asked them for advice regarding what should be done after achieving Core Formation.

Because the topic at hand wasnt some sort of secretive issue, these cultivators were happy to chat with him and give him a few pointers. Han Li ended up profiting quite a bit from these visits.

However, a few cultivators felt very envious of how Han Li had managed to preserve his youthful appearance before achieving Core Formation. After all, apart from a miniscule group consisting of either geniuses with heavenly aptitude or those like Han Li who cultivate with the assistance of many spiritual medicines, most Core Formation cultivators had reached quite a considerable age by the time of their Core Formation.

Although their lifespans had greatly increased after reaching Core Formation, they didnt regain their youthful appearance. At most, they would appear less sickly or haggard as they grew older. Naturally, there were a few cultivators that practiced a cultivation art that had the wondrous effect of preserving ones appearance and were also part of the group which preserved their youthful appearance after Core formation.

Han Li happened to still have a few Face Setting Pills on hand. As he wasnt particularly attached to them, he traded them with the Core Formation cultivators for a few rare items, much to everyones satisfaction.

Although Han Li didnt end up becoming close friends with any of them, they became familiar enough that he had an amiable relationship with them, capable of calling one another Brother and Fellow Daoist.

During this time, Han Li had also refined the Green Brilliance Dagger while searching for magic treasure and grade three puppet materials.

There were many materials capable of refining magic treasures along with refinement techniques of almost every description. Apart from the power and efficacy, using top quality materials to refine a magic treasure would result in far superior power and an even greater upgrade potential than those refined using common materials. Additionally, even if the same materials were used, there will be great differences in both power and efficacy depending on the secret techniques used to refine them.

Thus, apart from the common magic treasure refinement techniques known to everyone, the exceptional secret refinement techniques were kept hidden by sects and other great powers, not easily divulged to outsiders.

However, this didnt mean that the best materials combined with the best treasure refinement technique would result in a magic treasure with inexhaustible potential might. What was most important to a magic treasures strength was the constant refinement and nourishment from the cultivators primal soul.

If the master of a peerless magic treasure was unwilling to spend the time to nurture it, its power may be inferior to that of a common magic treasure. In fact, it wasnt exactly a rare occurrence.

As for the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, its main material was thousand year spirit bamboo as the name implied.

This material was easy for Han Li to acquire by spending a bit of time and taking advantage of the abilities of his small bottle. However, using common types of bamboo was beneath him. He wanted to acquire the rumored divine bamboo as the primary material for his magic treasure refinement. As a result, Han Li had attentively kept watch on the city market of Heavenly Star City until now. However, he wasnt able to find anything that satisfied him.

Although he felt somewhat anxious, Han Li felt that it would be better to have nothing if he couldnt have the best and could only leave the matter of refining his magic treasure for later. Fortunately, as he had the Green Brilliance Dagger as well as a few treasure talismans, he wouldnt have to worry for a while.

Since he couldnt refine his magic treasure, Han Li turned his eyes towards refining new puppets.

According to the Puppet Sutra, the strength of grade three puppets were equivalent to mid Foundation Establishment cultivators. As such, the materials required to refine them were even more precious than those for grade two puppets. In addition, these puppets came in several different shapes.

After some deliberation, Han Li chose the puppet that primarily used wood element materials, the ape styled puppet.

Although this puppet required much older ironwood along with the rare Sky Crystal Wood, they were wood type materials. Han Li could use his green liquid on them and massively decrease their cost.

But even with this, the higher grade supplementary materials combined with the increased number of puppets he could control was sure to add up to an increasingly frightening cost. Although this amount of spirit stones wouldnt bankrupt him, it would consume all of the materials he had accumulated.

Helpless, Han Li could only sell off another portion of the rare materials he acquired from the grade five demon beasts and postpone poverty for the time being. However, Han Li didnt expect that his actions caught the eye of an observant individual despite being so careful.

One day, just as he finished selling off some materials to a minor travelling merchant, a young woman as charming as a flower blocked his way back to his cave residence.

Are you Senior Han? My clans madam wishes to invite Han Li to the nearby Clear River Teahouse. Would Senior give me the honor of accepting? If you refuse, this junior will be heavily punished by my mistress.

Im not interested! After a mere glance at the young woman, Han Li refused without the slightest hesitation.

He was able to make out that although this woman was a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, she cultivated some kind of charming technique. If he were inexperienced or careless, he definitely wouldve made an embarrassment of himself.

The seventeen year old woman was alarmed at Han Lis refusal and hastily implored him, Senior Han! If you dont go, this junior will be punished for failure. freewenvel.com

When the young woman said that, Han Li turned around and left with an indifferent expression. Although he didnt know whose authority she was acting under, he had no interest in meeting a stranger.

Senior Han, please wait! The Exquisite Sound Sects Junior Fan Jingmei pays her respect to Senior Han. I hope Senior will forgive Lianer for her offenses. I will properly discipline her later. After Han Li took two steps away from the young woman, he heard a pleasant female voice.

He couldnt help but stop and turn his head for a look.

At some unknown time, a woman covering her face with a muslin veil had appeared beside the young woman. Although her face was concealed, Han Li was able to make out that her skin was as white as snow and her hair was black and shiny, coiled high around her head. Her two eyes, clear as water, stared at Han Li without blinking.

I do not recognize you, miss. If you have any business, please make it short. I wish to return to my residence and cultivate! Han Li calmly spoke with an unsociable tone.

Fan Jingmei was startled for a moment before replying with a faint smile, Since Senior Han is so straightforward, I will be direct as well. Senior has recently sold off large quantities of rare demon beast materials. Our sect is greatly interested in these materials and wishes to have a chat with Senior. However, there are far too many people here. How about we take this discussion to a quiet room in a teahouse?

After hearing her explanation, Han Li carefully examined the woman with narrowed eyes for a moment. After seeing her reveal bashfulness, Han Li stiffly said, Fine, lead the way!

Many thanks for Seniors kindness. Senior Han, please follow me! The woman revealed slight happiness and hastily walked forward with light steps. As for the young woman, she dejectedly followed after her.

However, although the young woman walked in front, she couldnt help but turn her head and steal a look at Han Li. But when her gaze met Han Lis, she quickly turned her head around in fright and her ears revealed a strong shade of red.

When Han Li saw this, he revealed a mysterious smile and inwardly chuckled.

The teahouse wasnt far away. After a short moment, Han Li entered a pavilion with a huge flag saying, Tea.

There were quite a few people drinking tea at this time. When a middle-aged man drinking tea saw the two women walk in, he hastily ran towards them and said, Martial Aunt, the room is ready! You and your guest may enter!

Good, bring us there and stand guard by the door afterwards. Fan Jingmei indifferently commanded.

Understood.

The middle-aged man then led Han Li and the other two to an elegant room on the second floor.

There was a grey-clothed old man in the room that was calmly brewing a pot of piping hot tea. His eyes didnt show the slightest change as he watched Han Li and the others enter the room.

TL: Sword Shadow Splitting Light Technique -&gt, Swordshadow Phantasm Technique, Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword -&gt, Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword

Chapter 398: Core Formation and Magic Treasures

The door to the secret room inside the cave residence had finally opened.

A silhouette slowly walked out of the room with their face covered by long, disheveled hair.

A yellow light then flashed to their side, revealing Crooked Soul with a stiff expression.

Hehe, Core Formation! Ive finally obtained Core Formation! After looking at the exterior of the secret room and Crooked Soul, he heartily laughed towards the sky in awe-inspiring roars.

The gaps through the long, disheveled hair revealed the face of Han Li, who had undergone sixty years of secluded cultivation. However, his eyes revealed a refined spirit, and his every movement contained a vast pressure as if he had become a different person entirely.

After he finished laughing, Han Li looked at the scene outside of the hidden room with a sense of unfamiliarity. After ignoring the world for sixty years, he felt a great sense of change despite everything having remained the same. It was as if everything that had happened was but a distant matter.

Han Li didnt stay still for long. Using his vague memories, he went back to his bedroom.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li left his bedroom with a beaming smile. He had restored his original attire and appearance, that of a youth about twenty years of age.

Now wearing a cold expression, he calmly walked towards the insect room.

The Gold Devouring Insects in the room had undergone a massive change over the years. Not only had their numbers reached a frightening several tens of thousands, but their originally silver shells began to reveal spots of gold, causing them to appear even more sinister and savage than before.

Han Li didnt reveal the slightest amazement. He had found out about this many years ago from his clone, Crooked Soul. The only change was that now he was able to see this with his own eyes.

Han Li hadnt expected that his original flash of insight to test the Rainbow Skirt Grass on his Gold Devouring Beetles would unexpectedly resolve the problem of their breeding.

While he was in seclusion, Crooked Soul continuously fed the Gold Devouring Beetles stalks of Rainbow Skirt Grass with their leaves uncurled. These beetles became increasingly violent after eating the herbs. After four years of consumption, the Gold Devouring Beetles had undergone a transformation.

One day after they finished eating the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the beetles began to fight and cannibalize each other. A few days later, the original several hundred had been reduced to a mere dozen. However, the surviving beetles were now docile and more beautiful.

Soon after, the cannibal beetles began to lay eggs. They all slowly died after having laid about a hundred eggs each, leaving Han Li with over a thousand insect eggs.

The eggs hatched about a year later, and Crooked Soul continued to feed them the ripened Rainbow Skirt Grass, causing them to cannibalize one another and lay their eggs once more.

After several repetitions, the number of Gold Devouring Beetles started to frantically increase.

Were it not for the fact that the amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass he could mature was limited, he wouldve had the beetles cannibalize themselves much more often and ceaselessly increase their numbers.

But what was most surprising was how the offspring of the cannibal beetles became both stronger and more violent with each increasing generation. In addition, their silver shells began to show gold spots at an increasing frequency.

This made Han Li wonder if their grade would increase after their shells turned completely golden.

Standing outside the insect room, Han Li stared at the Gold Devouring Beetles with a spirited gaze for half a day in silence. He clearly understood that this method of breeding the Gold Devouring Beetles was definitely not the orthodox method used by the beast controlling cultivators of ancient times.

This was because he was certain that his small mysterious bottle was unique in its effect of accelerated maturation. This method may perhaps be even better than the one used by his predecessors.

Han Li faintly smiled as he thought this. He then moved to the other insect room closeby that housed his two Bloodjade spiders.

Although Han Li had only instructed Crooked Soul to use a small portion of the green liquid produced to refine Spirit Feed Pills for the spiders, the amount of pills consumed over this long period of time had allowed the Bloodjade spiders to ascend by several grades. Now, they were peak grade four demon beasts.

They were currently exactly the same as the white spider he had fought in the underground cave. Their bodies were as translucent as jade, making for a beautiful sight.

The two spiders had clearly been made aware of Han Lis arrival through the connection they had with Han Lis mind. They immediately pounced towards the stone door, wishing to intimately play with Han Li.

Joyful, Han Li promptly opened the stone door, allowing the two Bloodjade spiders to pounce at him. Afterwards, they started to climb circles all around Han LIs body.

Han Li caressed the backs of the two demon beasts for a moment while gazing in wonder at their sparkling, crystalline bodies. He then stored them in his spirit beast pouch before turning around and leaving their insect room.

As for the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li still had little intention of using them. He planned to first have them reproduce through a few more generations until their shells turned fully gold before putting them to use as his hidden ace.

Next, Han Li walked through his cave residence before returning to his bedroom in high spirits. After lying down on his bed, Han Li thought about his Core Formation in the hidden room.

Being able to so quickly achieve Core Formation greatly went against Han Lis expectations. He didnt cultivate to the third revolution of the Three Essence Revolutions Technique. Instead, he spent an entire thirty years to cultivate to the second revolution.

By relying on medicine pills to cultivate the Three Essence Revolutions Technique, his cultivation speed was far quicker than he had anticipated. He originally believed that completing the third revolution of cultivation was certain to be strenuous to the point of impossibility, it would consume far too many years of his lifespan to succeed. But by completing his second revolution in a mere thirty years, he had more than enough lifespan left to cultivate through the third revolution.

But after some thought, Han Li decided to not place all his hopes of Core Formation on the Three Essence Revolutions technique.

After all, this cultivation art was merely theorized and had never been tested! It was said that completing the third revolution would only allow a fifty percent chance of success in Core Formation. To put it into other words, even if he completed all three revolutions, he still had a fifty-percent chance of failing.

This caused him deep worry at heart, and he couldnt help but pick a more flamboyant method to increase his chances of Core Formation.

Before Han Li had killed him, he recalled the former young master of the Thousand Bamboo School, Senior Martial Brother Li1. Last appeared in chapter 232. He had attempted to possess Han Lis body but was punished as a result., had previously said that cultivating the Great Development Technique to a deep layer was able to increase his odds of Core Formation. Therefore, after some careful deliberation, he had decided to cultivate to the third layer of the Great Development Technique.

Han Lis reasoning at the time had been: Regardless of whether or not he was lying, there is no harm in cultivating it!

As expected, the third layer of the Great Development Technique took far more time to cultivate than the second layer. It took Han Li about twenty years before painstakingly making a breakthrough and succeeding. As for the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique, Han Li had no thoughts to cultivate to it. At the time, he simply didnt have the time to spare for it.

Afterwards, Han Li took all sorts of supplementary spiritual medicines and began his next several year long attempt at Core Formation.

To tell the truth, Han Li didnt hold much confidence in Core Formation with his second revolution, given his crushing failure during his first attempt of Core Formation at his first revolution. He merely held the notion of only spending a few years just to give it a try. But while Crooked Souls Core Formation only took four years, Han Lis unexpected success had occurred in five years due to his poor aptitude.

Although he had sensed the Heaven-Earth Spiritual Qi in his body run frantic, Han Li felt like it was a dream when a thumb-sized four-colored pearl formed after his bodys true essence made desperate rotations in his Dantian.

Im going to enter Core Formation Stage like this? He didnt dare to believe it! Han Li hadnt prepared himself in the least, nearly allowing this huge fortune, the still unstable golden core, to crumble. Frightened, he hurriedly concentrated on calming his heart so that he wouldnt cause a great disturbance and undergo the great misfortune of returning to Foundation Establishment.

Having recalled his brush with disaster, Han Li couldnt help but raise the corner of his mouth, forming a trace of a faint smile.

Han Li let out a deep breath before sitting up on his bed and then standing up.

Although it had been a while since his Core Formation, he was currently unable to calm the increasing excitement in his heart and couldnt stay still.

Now that he had entered Core Formation, not only was he considered a senior expert in the cultivation world, but his lifespan had been increased to a frightening six hundred years. This increase in longevity would allow him to later cultivate with peace of mind.

But most importantly, he was finally able to make use of his Core Flame. He could now polish and refine his own magic treasure.

With regards to magic treasures, Han Li had two in his possession. The Immemorial Bowl had already been refined by Crooked Soul. As for the Green Brilliance Dagger, he would use it to protect himself for the time being.

Ultimately, he would want to refine the long coveted magic treasure that was described by the golden page1. Han Li acquired the golden page from his former master, Li Huayuan, in chapter 240, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

These swords were refined as a set. After refining them, his strength would massively increase, and he would be capable of sweeping away any cultivators of a similar rank. In addition, now that he had reached the seventh layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art, he could make use of the divine ability, Swordshadow Phantasm Technique. This caused him to excitedly look forward to his upcoming journey through the cultivation world as a Core Formation cultivator.

He now wanted to hurriedly collect the materials for the magic treasure, Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, so that he could create this magic treasure and begin strengthening it with his Core Flame and primal soul.

Chapter 397: Bitter, Secluded Cultivation

Han Li was on his way back to Deep Jade Island, as careful as he had always been. He completely understood that without his puppets or formation spells, it was extremely dangerous to rush through the Outer Star Seas.

Although they were easily able to deal with a grade five demon beast, if they were to catch the attention of a grade six demon beast or worse, it would be difficult to avoid death.

According to his estimations, the demon cores he had gathered should be more than enough to get him through the second or even third revolution of the Three Essence Revolutions Technique. His several hundred grade five spirit stones would net him a couple hundred thousands of spirit stones at the very least. The rare materials he had gathered alone would double the price.

However, Han Li wasnt inspired by greed. This had all been done so that he may tread a bit farther in pursuit of the Immortal Dao. Thus, when it became increasingly dangerous to continue hunting demon beasts, he immediately decided to return.

As of now, he had traveled quite far into the Outer Star Seas. Had he not recorded all of the strange islands he had been to on his map, he might not have been able to find his way back.

Even if he knew the way back, Han Lis return would still take several months of flight. He greatly valued his life and feared that he might encounter ferocious demon beasts on his way back or cultivators that may try to rob him.

Demon beasts shouldnt prove to be problem. At most, they would just circle around him a bit, but they wouldnt approach him too closely. But if he were to come across any malicious cultivators, they definitely wouldnt let them go. His demon cores would be difficult to protect, let alone his fragile life!

As such, Han Li and Crooked Soul were highly vigilant during their journey. Whenever they encountered traces of other cultivators, they immediately hid or fled.

In this way, Han Li eventually arrived back on Deep Jade Island without any problems, allowing him to let out a huge breath of relief.

Han Li entered an extremely shabby, small street and found that apart from two shopkeepers being replaced, everything else had remained the same.

Not paying attention to any of the shopkeepers interested gazes, he walked towards the stone room with the transportation formation.

The Star Palace cultivator in the stone room had been replaced by a middle-aged man with a gentle face. Upon seeing Han Li and Crooked Soul enter the room, he faintly smiled, asking, Do you two want to use the formation?

……

Han Li dove onto his large bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.

As of current, he had already returned to his cave residence on the thirty-ninth layer of Heavenly Star City. As both his body and mind were fatigued, he was unable to deal with any other matters. Hed first deeply sleep for a few days before waking up with the energy he needed.

His journey through the Outer Star Seas had tired him by no small amount!

After awakening, Han Li took a stroll around his cave residence. As he hadnt been there for many years, he felt that he should refamiliarize himself with it.

But when he went to the insect room he saw that the Gold Devouring Beetles had turned into a huge silver sphere once more, hanging from the ceiling in hibernation. Han Li couldnt help but lightly shake his head in response.

Soon after, Han Li took a trip to the city market and bought all of the pill recipes being sold in the market before returning.Han Li then busied himself once again with pill concoction.

Han Li then spent an entire two years within his cave residence refining large quantities of medicine pills in accordance to the pill recipes he had collected, combining aged spiritual herbs with demon cores. His original problem of developing a tolerance for medicine was now a thing of the past.

During this time, he gradually sold off the demon beast materials he didnt need to the travelling merchants visiting Heavenly Star City. As a result, he wouldnt have to worry about spirit stones for a while.

After finishing these matters, Han Li thoroughly sealed off his cave residence and started to make preparations for dispersing his cultivation. But while he was arranging his medicine pills and the remaining demon beast materials, he unintentionally took out a particular item that gave him a bit of a headache the large quantities of hundreds-year-old Rainbow Skirt Grass that he had used to lure demon beasts while in the Outer Star Seas.

They couldnt be sold for much, but it would be a pity to destroy them after having used quite a bit of the green liquid on them. Besides, Han Li had always held some interest in its great demon luring power when its leaves uncurled and had wanted to carefully research it.

As Han Li looked at the bunch of Rainbow Skirt Grass in front of him, he came up with a rather strange thought. The thoughts became stronger until he couldnt contain it, causing himself to feel a bit flabbergasted.

After tilting his head in thought, he gathered the Rainbow Skirt Grass and suddenly walked to the insect room containing the Gold Devouring Beetles. He then casually tossed the Rainbow Skirt Grass into the room, but the Gold Devouring Beetles didnt show the slightest reaction.

Having seen this, Han Li laughed to himself. But after a moment of hesitation, he had Crooked Soul plant the Rainbow Skirt Grass on a few huge chunks of coral in the medicine garden.

Not long after, Han Li entered a hidden room and started to carefully scatter his cultivation in accordance with the Three Essence Revolutions Technique.

For the purpose of stability and safety, Han Li scattered his cultivation at a very slow pace. He had gradually scattered his cultivation for an entire half month before dropping down to his intended target, early Foundation Establishment stage.

After reaching this point, Han Li left seclusion. He would first consolidate his cultivation before practicing the Three Essence Revolutions Technique with the aid of medicine pills.

By some unknown compulsion, Han Li used a green drop to further mature a stalk of Rainbow Skirt Grass and threw it into the insect room when it started emitting its strange scent. Soon after, he stood outside the room, carefully staring inside through a slim gap, only to experience slight disappointment.

The silver sphere of clustered Gold Devouring Beetles didnt move in the slightest as if they hadnt detected any difference. Although this had slightly surprised Han LI, he wasnt particularly puzzled. This was because the Rainbow Skirt Grass didnt have an attractive effect on all demon beasts. As the Gold Devouring Beetles were high ranking demon beasts, not being attracted was always a distinct possibility.

Han Li lightly sighed, no longer willing to waste any more time or green liquid on the grass. He thought to instead fully focus his resources and time on creating more Spirit Feed Pills for his two Bloodjade spiders.

But just as he thought this, the silver sphere of beetles suddenly broke apart.

The eyes of the several hundreds Gold Devouring Beetles flickered with red light as they flocked towards the strangely scented Rainbow Skirt Grass. After devouring it in an instant, they continuously let out a low hum as if they were irritated.

Han Li was somewhat stunned by this scene but immediately revealed slight joy. It seemed that his experiments could continue.

Han Li left the insect room in a great mood and ordered Crooked soul to periodically throw in a similar amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass. He wanted to see what effect his Rainbow Skirt Grass would have on demon beasts so that he may lay to rest some of the doubts he carried.

Not long after, Han Li brought all of his medicine pills with him into his hidden room and sealed it off, intent on staying until either he succeeded or died trying.

Han Li had already fully prepared himself, and in order to maintain his focus he had decided he wouldnt take a single step outside of his hidden room until he fully restored his cultivation. As for the rest of the matters in his cave residence, since he could will his clone, Crooked Soul, to take care of them, he had little worry.

Han Li took a pill out of a bottle and swallowed it before closing his eyes, entering a state of oblivious cultivation.

In the following days, apart from ordering Crooked Soul to tend to the matters outside of his room, he was completely focused on refining his Qi.

As time passed, Han Lis mind eventually felt no desire. Whenever he felt that his bodys Spiritual Qi was lacking, he casually swallowed a medicine pill and entered meditation once more. frewebnol.com

Years upon years of monotonous cultivation had passed, fueled by Han Lis intense desire to reach Core Formation.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye and the hidden rooms door still showed not a single sign of movement!

Twenty years passed by and still the rooms door remained shut!

Thirty years…

Time continued to flow with countless suns and moons scurrying past the sky.

On a day during the sixtieth year, a black cloud suddenly appeared above Han Lis cave residence. The weather suddenly underwent a huge change, causing his silver beetles to wildly scatter inside their room.

At nearly the same time, threads of Spiritual Qi from the nearby hundred kilometers frantically amassed towards Han Lis cave residence, creating a huge vortex of Spiritual Qi that could be seen with the naked eye.

This scene alarmed the nearby cultivators. Regardless of whether they were passing by or a resident that lived nearby, they all stopped or left their cave residences, glancing at the scene with amazement.

Core Formation! Someone has undergone Core Formation! Many cultivators gazed at this scene and muttered to themselves, each with their own unique expression.

While there were those that were envious and confused, there were even more that revealed gazes of admiration.

At the same time, the cultivators at the island that were at Core Formation or higher noticed that the Spiritual Qi on Heavenly Star Island had undergone a strange change despite not having seen the phenomenon in the sky. They investigated by having their powerful spiritual senses leave their residences.

As they gazed towards Han Lis cave residence, there were a few among them that were expressionless or excited. Some of them had even frowned.

Chapter 396: Hunting Demon Beasts for Cores

Han Lis worries were soon proven unfounded. A mere hour later, Han Li felt two huge Spiritual Qi fluctuations head towards the red coral island, one from the east and one from the west.

His expression changed and he suddenly opened his eyes, rigidly staring at the line of formation flags before him. Although he had already completed his preparations, he couldnt help but become nervous as two high grade demon beasts were coming at the same time.

Suddenly, a purple formation flag in front of him flashed with radiance and lightly trembled.

Han Lis expression grew solemn, but he didnt take any immediate action and only silently looked on. He knew that although a grade five demon beast could be considered intelligent, it wouldnt be able to break free from the Five Elements Reversal Formation only a moment after entering it. A grade five demon beast may possess similar cultivation to an early Core formation cultivator, but its fighting strength was almost always inferior to a cultivator of similar rank. After all, its intelligence was poor and it was capable of far too few magic techniques, allowing cultivators of similar strength to easily kill them. In addition, they would need quite some time to break through profound creations such as formation spells.

As such, Han Li felt at ease allowing one more demon beast to enter his magic formation before setting out to act.

Just as he was apprehensively thinking to himself, a yellow formation flag flashed with brilliance and released a soft hum. Suddenly, Han Lis solemn expression became somewhat happy. He then formed an incantation gesture with his hands and restricted the scent of the Rainbow Skirt Grass with the formations surrounding it.

After doing this, Han Li held out his bare hands, and two of the glowing formation flags flew into them with a single word, Come!

Behind him, Crooked Soul opened his mouth and spouted out a yellow radiance. The yellow radiance flourished, swirling around Han Li and carrying him off towards the sky in a yellow streak of light.

After a short moment, Han Li appeared above the westmost formation, the Illusory Heavensifting Formation. The formations colorful green-yellow clouds were incessantly rolling, and an oxs roar could faintly be heard booming from within the formation.

Han Li then took out his Divine Wind Boat and had it fly away by itself.

He then took out the yellow formation flag and lightly waved it. The formation flag shot out a yellow beam of light towards the colorful clouds, causing them to vanish and reveal the demon beast within.

The demon beast was about ten meters long and had a round body surrounded by spikes of fire-red light. At first glance, it appeared to be a huge sea urchin. However, over thirty dark green eyes protruded from its body.

The eyes gazes were ice-cold, and they shot out scarlet streaks of light in quick succession towards the formation. Its bull-like roar came from its fat abdomen and sounded as if it was violently irritated.

Thousand Eyed Demon! After seeing the demon beasts appearance, Han Li immediately recognized it and became somewhat interested.

As it was one of the most commonly seen grade five demon beasts in the Scattered Star Seas, it would make for good practice.

He didnt dare delay for long since this formation wasnt strong enough to endure much more of the demons rampage. He immediately gave Crooked Soul an order.

After receiving the order, the yellow light enveloping Crooked Souls body suddenly turned blood-red. He then brought his hands together and quickly separated them, shooting out a yellow crescent from his hand towards the Thousand Eyed Demon in the formation. This was the magic treasure that Crooked Soul had nearly fully refined, the Immemorial Bowl.

Although the Thousand Eyed Demon was trapped in the formation, it seemed to realize how powerful the yellow crescent was. All of the eyes on its body locked onto the Immemorial Bowl flying towards it and shot scarlet beams at it simultaneously, combining into a thick red beam of light. For a short while, the beam rigidly blocked the yellow crescents advance, forcing a contest of magic power with Crooked Soul, the magic treasures controller.

Han Li then revealed a smile.

He patted a bulging storage pouch at his waist, causing over a hundred white lights to quickly fly out and surround the great formation.

These white lights were sinister puppet beasts that appeared to be almost three meters tall. They immediately opened their mouths and dazzling light began to condense in them as if they were prepared to act.

At this moment, Han Lis face was flushed with excitement. He waved his hand, causing his Redthread Shadowchaser needles to appear in his hand. At that same time, the puppet beasts each shot out a beam of light towards the Thousand Eyed Demon.

The demon beast seemed to have discovered the direness of its situation and suddenly let out a sharp whistle. Its entire body let out a groan and curled into a huge ball of flesh covered in spikes of light. At the same time, the red light released by it eyeballs started to turn green. These green streaks of light werent launched as an attack, and instead condensed into a thick barrier of light around its body.

The hundred beams of light simultaneously struck the green light barrier, causing an explosion of radiance to shine around it. The demon beasts barrier managed to withstand the attack. However, the green light barrier began to flicker as if it would collapse before long.

With the absence of the red beam of light that previously restrained it, the Immemorial Bowl was free to attack. Under Crooked Souls command, it suddenly became a huge disk that spanned about ten meters. In concert with the light beam attacks, it fiercely struck down onto the demon beast.

The sound of a sharp rupture soon followed. Although the light barrier was being sustained by desperate releases of green light by the Thousand Eyed Beast, the repeated attacks of the puppets light beam along with the Immemorial Bowls strike had completely destroyed its barrier.

Han Li, who had been waiting for this, instantly reacted, raising his hand. A set of red threads flew off and shot towards the demon beasts vulnerable body.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li was inside the formation with a green orb the size of a chicken egg now in his hand along with a wide smile on his face.

Underneath his foot was the heavily damaged demon beast corpse with a fist-sized bloody hole on its body.

Go! Han Li didnt delay any longer. After storing the demon beasts corpse in his storage pouch, he set off and was immediately swept up by Crooked Souls yellow light and hastily taken to a different formation spell.

……

That was how Han Li spent an entire month on Red Coral Island.

He would periodically place a drop of green liquid on the Rainbow Skirt Grass, gradually increasing the range of the demon lure. This attracted demon beasts in intervals of two or three days, allowing Han Li and Crooked Soul to slay over a dozen grade five demon beasts, much to Han Lis great delight!

But when the Rainbow Skirt Grass had reached four hundred years old, it attracted a grade six demon beast by the name of Fowlcombed Flood Dragon. Han Li was very surprised and hastily cut off the scent of the Rainbow Skirt Grass with his formation spell. After the demon beast swam a few rounds nearby after the scent disappeared, it angrily left.

Frightened, Han Li discovered the Rainbow Skirt Grass was best used aged up to three hundred years. Maturing it past that point would attract even stronger demon beasts. When that time came, he hastily took out a new Rainbow Skirt Grass sprout and started over.

But as of current, nearly all the grade five demon beasts near Red Coral Island had perished. After having no demon beasts attracted within a week, Han Li and Crooked Soul immediately put away their spell formations and left the island. After flying for several days in the Outer Star Seas, they found another coral island and continued hunting demon beasts with the same method.

This exciting, repetitive, and dangerous lifestyle in the Outer Star Seas continued for five years!

During this time he had killed hundreds of grade five demon beasts. He had also encountered unfamiliar demon beasts rarely seen in the cultivation world. The first time Han Li had come across them, he had found himself caught on the thin line between life and death.

Were it not for the vicious fearlessness of Crooked soul and his puppets, he wouldve already met his end in the vast ocean, even with the assistance of his formation spells.

Furthermore, time wasnt the only thing that was consumed during those years. Not only were a vast majority of his puppets destroyed, but many of his tools for setting up formations had been destroyed or badly damaged by the more violent demon beasts.

Even his most impressive Five Elements Reversal Formation had been destroyed half a year ago when he had carelessly attracted a grade seven demon beast. He could only helplessly trap the demon beast inside while he and Crooked Soul made their escape.

While his losses during these five years were great, it was only natural that his returns were even more astonishing.

Apart from receiving several hundred grade five demon cores, Han Li also acquired an incredible quantity of rare demon beast materials. He even had to discard a few of his less valuable items from his storage pouch to make room for all of them.

In addition to killing several hundreds of demon beasts, he had also tempered his combat skills to perfection and developed quite a few minor techniques for killing demon beasts by himself.

As of now, Han Li could calmly face a lone common grade five demon beast without a trace of fear.

Chapter 395: Rainbow Skirt Grass

Red Coral Island! So this is the nearest coral island!

Han Li stood on the Divine Wind Boat and muttered to himself for a moment. Afterwards, he flew in a large circle around the island and made sure that the coral island didnt have any cultivators or demon beasts nearby before slowly descending with Crooked Soul.

The small ring-shaped island was composed of coral rings of differing sizes.

Han Li stood on a smooth surface and ground his shoes against the ground to make fine, dark-red grains of dust. He then lifted his head to examine the topography of the island. A short moment later, he narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

Ordering Crooked Soul to stand guard near him, he suddenly set off to walk around the island.

Under Crooked Souls protection, Han Li made a thorough inspection of the islands west and east coral rings. After making a full examination of the island, he even dove into the sea in the center of the island and didnt emerge until half a day later.

On the third day, Han Li completed his investigation and finally came to a decision.

He ordered Crooked Soul to place down his three great formations the Five Elements Reversal Formation, the Fierce Heavenly Wind Formation, and the Illusory Heavensifting Formation at his selected locations. The three formations all covered the center of Red Coral Island.

After placing down the three formations, Han Li additionally set up several small scale magic formations at the center of the Red Coral Island. With every direction sealed off from the center, it created an inescapable net.

Having done all of this, Han Li carefully examined his work and ensured that there was nothing he had overlooked. Then, he took out a jade box from his storage pouch and gently stroked it.

Han Li revealed a mysterious smile and slowly opened it, revealing a large medicinal herb that had thirteen leaves on its stalk. The leaves were completely curled up, making it appear quite peculiar.

Even more noteworthy was the white mist the plant carried that faintly released a rainbow light, making for a magnificent sight. It seemed to be of supernatural nature.

This was Han Lis greatest trump card, the Rainbow Skirt Grass.

Although the herb wasnt common, it couldnt be considered a rarity either. This item was able to be found on coral reefs in the Scattered Star Seas. However, if one attempted to plant this in ordinary soil, it would cause its surroundings to shine with color for one or two days before dying off. It was quite interesting.

What was most fascinating was that the color which shined would be the same as the environment it grew in, altering the color of its current location, whether it be blue, red, or any other color.

However, it didnt possess any significant medicinal effects for cultivators. Apart from its attractiveness, common cultivators would only view it as an ingredient used in some low grade medicine pills. However, Rainbow Skirt Grass had another name, Demonlure Grass, and had previously caused a large amount of uproar in the cultivation world of the Scattered Star Seas.

At the time, an unknown cultivator had unexpectedly discovered that every hundred years, one of the thirteen curled leaves of this extremely beautiful medicinal herb would gradually unfold. Upon fully unfolding, it would release a strange scent that lasted an entire week.

The scent didnt have any effect on cultivators, but to the many demon beasts in the sea, it was an extremely enticing aroma. With the slightest smell, the demon beasts would instantly search for it, racing to be the first to find and devour its source.

In addition, the older the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the farther its scent traveled, and the more powerful the demon beasts it would attract.

It was said that a Nascent Soul expert had previously found a stalk of thousand year old Rainbow Skirt Grass in the depths of the Outer Star Seas that had just unfolded its eleventh leaf. As a result, this expert had personally seen several tens of grade six and grade seven demon beasts mount a simultaneous charge towards it, forcing the expert to flee.

When this was later made known in the cultivation world, many cultivators had thoughts of using this herb to lure demon beasts for easy hunting, as high grade cultivators would often go months in the Outer Star Seas without encountering a single demon beast.

Towards a majority of cultivators, grade five demon beasts were the best targets, as hunting grade six and seven demon beasts posed too great a risk of death. As for any demon beasts grade eight and higher, only old Nascent Soul eccentrics wouldnt flee at the sight of them. Anybody else would merely become demon beast food.

The number of demon beasts in the Outer Star Seas were truly great. However, they were truly difficult to find as they rarely ever left their concealment from the deep seas. Unless high level cultivators flew thousands of kilometers day by day over the ocean or possessed remarkable ability for searching the sea with their spiritual sense, roaming the Scattered Star Seas for half a year without encountering a demon beast was a very common occurrence.

After all, the Outer Star Seas were truly vast and the various demon beasts each had their own methods of concealment. It was quite easy to overlook them even when searching with spiritual sense.

When it was discovered that Rainbow Skirt Grass could attract demon beasts, it caused quite an uproar. For a time, well-aged Rainbow Skirt Grass was quite precious.

However, it was soon discovered that this idea was but a mere fantasy. First of all, there was no method to predict the exact moment its leaves would uncurl. It is said to uncurl one of its leaves every hundred years, but there was often a variance of three or two years. As such, there was no way for cultivators to effectively make use of it while they were at sea.

Secondly, there was the depressing discovery that Rainbow Skirt Grass lost its ability to uncurl its leaves and release its unique scent a hundred years after being picked.

As such, any thoughts of transporting it to the Outer Star Seas were extinguished. As for its name as Demonlure Grass, it was quickly discarded, and it returned to being called Rainbow Skirt Grass.

When Han Li found this mocking, understated record in a jade slip, his eyes flashed with inspiration. The small bottles ability was just waiting to be combined with the spiritual herb!

He immediately purchased a stalk of Rainbow Skirt Grass from the city market and experimented with it in his cave residence. As a result, the Rainbow Skirt Grass gradually uncurled its leaf over the course of five days under the effects of the green liquid. Afterwards, it released a strange scent that couldnt be described as either pleasant or foul, but it did leave quite the impression.

Doubtfully, Han Li placed his two Bloodjade spiders into the medicine garden. As a result, the two demon beasts immediately leapt towards the Rainbow Skirt Grass and completely devoured it without the slightest hesitation.

Soon after, the scent faded away and the two white spiders returned to normal.

While this result came as a pleasant surprise, he also felt worried about his Bloodjade Spiders. After carefully examining them for the next few days and finding that nothing strange had occurred, he finally felt relieved.

With this trump card in hand, he was suddenly filled with confidence in hunting demon beasts for their cores. After making another round of preparations, not only did Han Li bring a large amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass, but he also visited the many coral islands in Deep Jade Islands territory after arriving. After all, Rainbow Skirt Grass could only survive on coral islands.

As such, after laying down his inescapable net on Red Coral Island, he waited for the Rainbow Skirt Grass to mature and have demon beasts come knocking on his door.

Han Li had found an isolated coral reef in the sea at the center of the ring-shaped red coral island and planted his Rainbow Skirt Grass sprout on it.

Although he knew that the older the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the greater area of effect it would have, he started off with hundred year old Rainbow Skirt Grass to be safe.

Han Li took out a small bottle from his body and carefully dripped the green liquid onto the spirit herb. He then meditated on a nearby coral island with Crooked Soul by his side, both of them preserving their strength for what was to come.

Three days later, the Rainbow Skirt Grass had unfolded a leaf before Han Lis eyes and released a bizarre scent.

Han Li silently waved his hand. With a flash of radiance, glowing formation flags of various colors appeared embedded in the ground around him.

Han Li gazed at the formation flags for a moment before calmly closing his eyes once more. He had already decided that if no demon beasts appeared in the next few days, he would give the Rainbow Skirt Grass another drop of the green liquid and increase the range of its demon luring effect. With this, demon beasts were bound to visit.