Even with the aid of copious elixirs, condensing a Spirit Infant is ultimately a matter of fate. Mu Peiling’s chances of forming an infant are truly not high.
Upon hearing Han Li’s words, Mu Peiling froze, her red lips parting as if to speak again. But Han Li waved his hand, cutting her off. “Enough, I’m not asking you to make a choice immediately. You may take a few years to consider. For now, I need to enter seclusion for a period. During this time, I will give you some elixirs to attempt a breakthrough to the mid-stage. As for Tian Qin’er’s foundational cultivation, I’ll leave her guidance to you.”
“Yes, as you command, Young Master!” Though still reluctant, Mu Peiling could only comply helplessly as Han Li’s tone turned firm.
Han Li nodded, retrieving several elixirs and handing them to her. After a few more instructions to Tian Qin’er, he dismissed both women from the cave.
Once the hall was empty, Han Li slowly closed his eyes and sighed softly, his mind seemingly unsettled.
He sat in silence for a full quarter-hour before reopening his eyes, his gaze now calm and composed, as if his turmoil had subsided.
Suddenly, he slapped his waist, and a flash of silver light materialized before him—a humanoid puppet eerily appearing, standing motionless.
Han Li examined the puppet, and with a flick of his divine sense, a layer of silver light shimmered over its face. The middle-aged features blurred, then sharpened again, now identical to Han Li’s own, as if it were his mirror image.
Simultaneously, the puppet’s body trembled imperceptibly, growing several inches taller until its stature matched Han Li’s perfectly.
Han Li studied the puppet for a moment, nodded in satisfaction, and waved his hand.
The puppet’s expression remained blank as it vanished in a silver flash, its whereabouts now undetectable.
Han Li lowered his head in thought, then stood and strode out of the hall, heading straight for the cave’s inner chamber.
Midway, without warning, he spoke:
“My second Spirit Infant—has it been behaving in the cauldron? Has it caused you any trouble?”
“Heh, a mere mid-stage infant without a body—what trouble could it possibly cause me? Though with another occupant, the cauldron is feeling a bit cramped.”
The childlike yet aged voice emerged from Han Li’s sleeve—he had somehow concealed the Void Heaven Cauldron there.
“Endure it a little longer, Fellow Daoist Tianlan. I will soon assimilate the second infant and reclaim it. Then your troubles will be over. Once this is done, I will assist you through your tribulation to assume human form. You have no objections, I presume?”
“How could I object when you remember your promise, Fellow Daoist Han?” Tianlan the Sacred Beast replied joyfully.
Han Li smiled faintly and said no more, stepping into the chamber as the stone door silently closed behind him.
He walked to the center of the room and flicked his sleeve without a word.
A sphere of azure light shot out, swirling before transforming into a small cyan cauldron hovering before him.
With a flash of light, the blurry figure of the child appeared atop the cauldron’s lid, grinning as if anticipating a spectacle.
Han Li ignored him, expressionless, and instead retrieved a set of formation flags from his storage pouch.
With a wave, a dozen flags vanished into the chamber’s surroundings, and a faint yellow barrier shimmered into existence, enveloping the room.
Han Li then formed a seal with his hands and pointed at the Void Heaven Cauldron.
With a whoosh, the lid flew off, soaring into the air.
The child, quick-witted as ever, had already dodged aside, watching the cauldron with amusement.
Apart from a low, rumbling hum, nothing unusual emerged from the cauldron.
Han Li’s expression darkened as he chanted an incantation and struck the cauldron with a spell.
The Void Heaven Cauldron trembled slightly, and a mass of cyan mist rose from within—a half-foot-long bundle tightly wrapped in countless azure threads, resembling a cocoon.
“Break,” Han Li commanded softly.
A bizarre scene unfolded.
The threads binding the bundle snapped one by one, dissolving into motes of light that vanished into the void.
The second Spirit Infant, its form black-green, was revealed.
Yet it hung motionless in the air, eyes closed, as if unconscious.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and reached out, summoning several silver needles between his fingers.
With a cold glance at the infant, he flicked his wrist.
A dozen silver threads shot forth—only to pierce empty air as the infant vanished in a flash of black light.
Unfazed, Han Li smirked and pointed at the cauldron.
A burst of azure threads erupted from a corner of the chamber, ensnaring a patch of empty space.
A muffled grunt sounded as the black-green infant reappeared, limbs and neck tightly bound, immobilized.
The silver threads, having missed their mark, circled back and embedded themselves into the infant’s body, sealing its mana.
The second infant’s face twisted in despair.
“Don’t delude yourself. Every trick you know is copied from me—how could I leave you an opening? I have no intention of erasing you, only assimilating you once more. Why resist?” Han Li’s tone was calm, as if speaking to an old friend.
“No intention to erase me? Without my consciousness, will I still be me? What difference is there from vanishing from this world?” the second infant spat venomously, knowing escape was impossible.
“True enough. But you were never meant to have independent will. You were born as my second infant—your existence itself is the anomaly.” Han Li replied coldly, forming another seal.
The azure threads flared, and the second infant’s vision darkened as it lost consciousness.
Han Li relaxed slightly, then glanced at the child, who wisely dissipated without a word.
Nodding, Han Li pointed at the floating lid, which descended, sealing the cauldron with a flash of cyan light.
He then opened his mouth, exhaling a stream of azure mist that engulfed the cauldron, shrinking it until it vanished into his abdomen.
Exhaling slowly, Han Li sat cross-legged and casually beckoned the second infant.
An invisible force yanked it toward him, suspending it a few feet away.
After scrutinizing it with his divine sense and confirming its weakened consciousness, Han Li closed his eyes and tapped his forehead.
A three-inch-tall cyan infant emerged from his crown, standing atop the small cauldron, holding a green wooden ruler, with a white pearl hovering above its head. A wisp of black energy flickered between its brows, and dozens of miniature golden swords orbited its body.
This was Han Li’s primary Spirit Infant, cultivated for over a century.
Expressionless, it gazed at the black-green infant before it, then glided forward on the cauldron.
Stopping a foot away, it glanced at the binding threads and lightly tapped the cauldron.
The threads vanished, leaving the second infant suspended.
The Void Heaven Cauldron beneath Han Li’s infant expanded, allowing it to sit cross-legged. It tossed the wooden ruler into the air, forming seals as it chanted under its breath.
Cyan light erupted from its body as its eyes closed—but the black energy between its brows coalesced into a third eye, gleaming with eerie light, fixated on the second infant.
The chanting ceased.
The third eye flashed, unleashing a beam of black light that struck the second infant.
The black-green infant shuddered, its eyes snapping open—but its pupils were vacant, devoid of awareness.
Simultaneously, Han Li’s eyes opened, twin beams of cyan light shooting forth, piercing the second infant’s eyes as if forcibly injecting something into it.
The second infant hung limply, trembling violently, its face contorted in silent agony.
Han Li’s infant remained impassive, unceasingly channeling the cyan light, indifferent to its counterpart’s suffering…
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