In that case, the significance of this acquired Profound Heavenly Treasure to Han Li was naturally extraordinary. Even if he couldn’t fully refine all five mountains, possessing just two or three of them would still help him resist the power of the heavenly tribulation.
Now that he had reached the Void Refinement stage, he would face a major heavenly tribulation every three thousand years. While the interval seemed longer, the severity of these tribulations was far beyond the minor ones faced during the Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation stages.
For Void Refinement cultivators, the first major tribulation could generally be overcome safely. However, by the second or third tribulation, casualties began to appear. By the fourth or fifth tribulation, those who survived were typically late-stage Void Refinement cultivators with lifespans exceeding ten thousand years, but even among them, only two or three out of ten would make it through.
As for the subsequent tribulations, each round would claim the lives of seven or eight out of ten surviving cultivators. Legend had it that since the human race established itself in the Spirit Realm, no Void Refinement cultivator had ever survived the ninth major tribulation. Those who surpassed nine tribulations were all at the Body Integration stage or higher. Even the most exceptional Void Refinement cultivators, unless they advanced to the Body Integration stage, would inevitably perish when the ninth tribulation arrived.
Of course, this was the situation for human cultivators. For demonic beings, once they took human form, their tribulations became similar to those of humans. However, other races in the Spirit Realm, due to differences in lifespan and innate talents, faced tribulations at varying intervals and intensities. Some powerful races endured tribulations only once every ten thousand years, but their severity far surpassed that of human tribulations. Conversely, some races with much shorter lifespans faced tribulations every few decades, though their power was only a fraction of human tribulations.
Once a cultivator reached the Body Integration stage, the power of the major tribulations became incomparably greater than those at the Void Refinement stage. Each tribulation was like a life-or-death trial. Those who failed were reincarnated, while survivors emerged reborn, often with slightly increased cultivation. A rare few might even break through their bottlenecks under the baptism of the tribulation lightning.
Thus, Body Integration cultivators rarely ventured outside unless matters concerned the survival of their race, dedicating almost all their time to cultivation and preparing for the next life-and-death trial.
Of course, these major tribulations weren’t solely composed of lightning, but without exception, lightning was always present and dominant.
This made the importance of the Five Extreme Mountains, which could reduce the power of lightning tribulations by nearly half, self-evident. Successfully refining this treasure would increase his chances of survival during tribulations by a significant margin.
However, apart from the Magnetic Divine Mountain he already possessed, Han Li had no leads on the other four mountains. Moreover, the auxiliary materials required for refining were all exceedingly rare. Some he had only heard of but never seen, which left him deeply frustrated.
After pondering in his chamber for a long time, Han Li’s expression gradually calmed. Glancing at the jade slip in his hand, he flipped his other hand, summoning a jade box. He placed the slip inside, sealed it with a talisman, and stored it away.
Even with the refining method, he had no confidence in successfully refining even two or three of the mountains. Such treasures were largely a matter of fate, dependent on whether he would encounter the necessary opportunities in the future.
Having resolved this matter, Han Li sat quietly for a while longer until his mind was completely at peace.
Suddenly, he flicked his sleeve, and a ring flew out. After a brief hover, it released a beam of light, and a small black figure floated to the ground—a curled-up black monkey, the Soul Devouring Beast.
After its astonishing feat of slaying the cave spirit possessed by the Heavenly Devil’s avatar in the Demon Mountain Range, the beast had collapsed from exhaustion and remained unconscious until now.
Frowning, Han Li reached out, and a green mist enveloped the monkey, lifting it before him. Narrowing his eyes, Han Li released several crystalline threads from his brow, which silently pierced the monkey’s body.
To understand the beast’s condition, Han Li had condensed his spiritual sense into threads to examine it directly. The monkey remained unresponsive, but Han Li, half-closing his eyes, meticulously inspected its internal changes.
After a while, he muttered in disbelief, “Impossible… How could this be?”
Not only had the beast’s depleted mana fully recovered, but its physical strength and the mana in its meridians had also increased by more than half. Moreover, the changes within its body were still progressing, albeit slowly.
“Could it be advancing again?” Han Li stared at the monkey, his expression odd.
The beast hadn’t consumed any nourishing treasures recently, so why this sudden surge? Could it be related to its extraordinary performance in the Demon Mountain Range?
Deepening his inspection, Han Li suddenly exclaimed, “Wait, what’s this? It wasn’t there before!”
Deep within the beast’s dantian, he discovered countless nearly invisible crystalline particles, each no larger than a tenth of a grain of rice, enveloped by soul-absorbing mist and seemingly being refined.
Han Li immediately recalled the beast devouring the cave spirit’s soul in the Demon Mountain Range. Were these particles remnants of that soul or something left by the Heavenly Devil?
The Soul Devouring Beast had never exhibited such changes after consuming other spirits. Could it be…?
A thought struck him, and his expression changed dramatically. Without hesitation, he extracted one particle with a crystalline thread and examined it under his enhanced vision.
After a long while, he sighed and stored the particle in a small jade vial, which then vanished into his palm. He then collected the unconscious beast into the spirit beast ring and hurried out of the chamber.
Exiting, he sent a mental command to the “doll” in the herb garden to guard the cave, then transformed into a green streak, heading straight for the city center.
Over the next ten days, Han Li scoured every bookstore in Cloud City, purchasing obscure texts on a wide range of topics, from cultivation techniques to rare artifacts and anecdotes.
Returning each night, he would rapidly scan the texts as if searching for something, only to emerge disappointed the next morning and repeat the process. The sheer volume of texts and the cost in spirit stones were staggering.
Finally, one day, as he perused an ancient jade slip, his face lit up with excitement. “Found it! I knew even the rarest knowledge like True Spirit Origin would be recorded in some ancient texts.”
He immersed himself in the slip, motionless for hours, until he finally sighed and tossed it aside, his face filled with bitter disappointment. “How could this be? Such a monumental opportunity slipped right through my fingers.”
With a wry smile, he produced the vial containing the crystalline particle, staring at it with mixed emotions.
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