Chapter 2110: The Twin Bottles

The pale silver surface of the pond was visibly receding at an astonishing speed, dropping by several feet in the blink of an eye.

This time, the swarm of insects wasn’t merely soaking in the Spirit Cleansing Pool—they were actively gulping down the spiritual water within.

Seeing that the pool’s water couldn’t be preserved for later use, Han Li steeled his heart and decided to let the Gold Devouring Beetles drink directly.

Of course, this was only possible because the mature Gold Devouring Beetles possessed the innate ability to devour all things, coupled with their nearly indestructible bodies. Otherwise, he would never have dared to take such a risk.

If it had been the Leopard-Qilin Beast or his spirit avatar, Han Li wouldn’t have even considered it.

Who knew what terrifying consequences might arise from directly consuming this water? If he had tried it with them, exploding into a bloody mist would have been the most likely outcome.

Han Li stood silently by the pond’s edge, watching as the water level dropped foot by foot. But when it had receded by about fifteen to eighteen feet, something bizarre happened again!

Despite the tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles drinking voraciously, the pale silver water surface remained fixed at its current level. Through his spiritual sense, Han Li could clearly perceive that every single beetle was still absorbing the water without pause.

This naturally left him deeply puzzled.

Frowning, he glanced up at the sky, briefly considered the dwindling time left, and then, with a determined expression, his body shimmered with cyan light as he transformed into a streak of azure light and plunged into the pond.

With the water level now nearly half of what it had been, the pressure inside the pond had greatly diminished, allowing Han Li to effortlessly reach the bottom.

His gaze swept across the scene, and his eyes instantly narrowed in focus.

At the center of the pond’s floor, which had originally been covered in fine white sand, several indistinct stone slabs had now emerged.

These slabs were inscribed with countless spirit runes, similar to those on the pond’s walls, appearing irregular and almost as if they had formed naturally.

Arranged in an overlapping pattern, the runes on these slabs coincidentally formed a small, incomplete array.

The array was only about ten feet wide, but at its center was a fist-sized hole from which a steady stream of silver liquid was gushing—identical to the water in the Spirit Cleansing Pool.

Seeing this, Han Li’s expression shifted between shock and delight as realization dawned on him.

Clearly, this was the source of the pond’s endless supply of water.

But there must be some treasure within that hole, capable of producing such vast quantities of spiritual liquid.

Without hesitation, Han Li reached out with one hand, summoning a cyan sword that materialized in a flash of green light. With a flick of his wrist, the sword transformed into a green serpent and slashed down toward the hole.

*Boom!*

A five-colored barrier shimmered into existence, deflecting the cyan sword light effortlessly.

His expression darkened. He then spat out a silver fireball, but the barrier flickered with five-colored radiance once more, repelling the attack just as easily.

Han Li’s expression grew grave. After a brief contemplation, he formed a hand seal, summoning hundreds of Gold Devouring Beetles that had been absorbing water nearby. They swarmed down onto the array.

Moments later, as the five-colored barrier reappeared, its surface was crawling with densely packed golden beetles.

Their fangs gnashed as they voraciously devoured the entire barrier.

Given the terrifying power of the Gold Devouring Beetles, the barrier should have been consumed in an instant.

A faint smile tugged at Han Li’s lips—but it froze the next moment.

Where the beetles’ fangs scraped, the barrier shimmered with crystalline light, leaving not a single mark behind.

The Gold Devouring Beetles couldn’t even scratch this five-colored barrier. Han Li’s heart pounded with alarm!

After a moment’s thought, he gritted his teeth and dispersed the mature beetles. With a flick of his sleeve, a dozen candidate Beetle Kings buzzed out.

These Beetle Kings descended upon the barrier, and this time, deep gouges appeared wherever their fangs passed.

Han Li exhaled in relief.

If even these candidate kings had failed, he would have been truly stumped.

But his relief was premature.

Under his watchful gaze, the marks left by the Beetle Kings on the barrier flickered faintly—then instantly repaired themselves.

Not only was this five-colored barrier incredibly resilient, it also possessed an astonishing self-repairing ability.

Han Li’s expression darkened completely.

If he had more time, he could have set up additional arrays to slowly dismantle this barrier. But now, he had no choice but to either abandon the idea or resort to drastic measures—expending a great deal of vitality to wield the Profound Heavenly Sword.

With the power of the Profound Heavenly Sword sealed in his arm, no matter how mysterious this five-colored barrier was, a single slash would surely obliterate it. Given the Spirit Cleansing Pool’s secrets and the natural array’s profound nature, any treasure hidden within that hole would undoubtedly be invaluable.

But then again…

After leaving this space, he still had to face the two Demon Ancestors. If he exhausted his vitality now, confronting them would be extremely perilous.

The dilemma left Han Li’s expression shifting between hesitation and resolve.

“Forget it! No treasure can truly compare to a Profound Heavenly Treasure. I already have the chance to advance to the Body Integration stage. Once I take that step, I’ll fully master the Profound Heavenly Sword. There’s no need to take such a huge risk now. What a shame—if I’d discovered this anomaly a day earlier, I might have gambled on it.”

With a long sigh, Han Li muttered regretfully to himself, ultimately deciding against further risk.

Turning around, he waved his sleeves, recalling the countless Gold Devouring Beetles that vanished into his robes.

Then, with a flash of light, he soared out of the pond as a streak of azure, circled briefly in the air, and shot off into the distance.

Without the beetles’ consumption, the silver-white water in the Spirit Cleansing Pool began to rise slowly once more.

High above, clusters of five-colored clouds silently materialized, rumbling faintly as arcs of lightning flickered within.

Meanwhile, Han Li’s azure streak flickered several times before arriving at a platform resembling an altar in a corner of the space.

At its center was a pale silver teleportation array—the same one he had used to enter.

As soon as he appeared on the platform, Han Li didn’t immediately step into the array. Instead, he looked up at the sky.

By now, he could feel the intense pressure of the world’s power bearing down on him. If he delayed any longer, he truly might be trapped here, just as Bao Hua had warned.

With a soft sigh, Han Li stepped into the silver array and flicked a cyan spell seal into it.

The teleportation array hummed, erupting in milky-white light that enveloped him completely.

Feeling the spatial energy within the array churning violently, Han Li knew the teleportation was imminent. He closed his eyes, ready to be whisked away.

But the moment his eyelids shut, a burst of green light erupted from his chest.

His eyes snapped open in shock, and his hand shot to his chest, grabbing something hidden beneath his robes.

Before he could react further, a flash of white light swallowed him, and he vanished from the array.

At the same time, the water in the Spirit Cleansing Pool had just returned to its original level. At the bottom, the stone slabs glowed brilliantly, obscuring everything within the array.

Amid the dazzling radiance, a small, deep-yellow vial—only a few inches tall—slowly floated out of the hole. Its surface was covered in dark-green patterns, and from its mouth, a finger-thick stream of milky-white spring water gushed forth, gradually thinning.

When the spring finally stopped, the yellow vial flickered a few times, and a pair of bean-sized black eyes appeared on its surface. They darted around before settling into an eerily human expression of profound disappointment.

The eyes vanished as abruptly as they had appeared.

The vial blurred, then dropped back into the hole, disappearing without a trace.

The stone slabs, meanwhile, dissolved into motes of five-colored light, scattering into nothingness.

They weren’t physical objects at all—just manifestations of condensed spiritual energy.

The hole at the center of the slabs vanished as well, as if it had never existed.

High above, the five-colored clouds that had filled the space dissipated slowly, restoring the realm to its original tranquility.

Han Li reappeared in midair at a corner of the Bitter Spirit Island. After scanning the surroundings and confirming no one was nearby, he raised his arm and opened his clenched fist, revealing what he had been gripping so tightly.

It was a black leather pouch the size of a palm, sealed with several gold and silver talismans!

With practiced ease, he pinched a corner of the pouch and shook it, causing the talismans to silently fall away. A small green vial tumbled out.

It was none other than the mysterious vial capable of accelerating the growth of all plants!

Han Li quickly lifted the vial, examining it closely.

The dark-green patterns on its surface were now pulsing with faint emerald light.

But as he watched, the glow rapidly faded.

Within a few breaths, the vial returned to normal.

Han Li’s brow furrowed, his expression flickering between suspicion and astonishment. Then, suddenly, he looked up, his gaze sweeping toward a distant direction.

With a flick of his wrist, he stowed the vial back into the pouch, and the talismans reattached themselves in a flash.

Tucking the pouch back into his robes, he vanished it from sight.