As soon as the stone door rumbled open, the Crab Daoist immediately sensed it. In a flash, he appeared before Han Li, his silver eyes gleaming as he scrutinized him up and down.
By now, the Crab Daoist had long since regained his Mahayana-level strength, and a single glance from him was as sharp as a blade!
Han Li couldn’t help but feel slightly uneasy under his gaze.
“Fellow Daoist Han is preparing to break through the Mahayana bottleneck!” This puppet, who rarely spoke, seemed to have discerned something from Han Li and slowly initiated the conversation.
“Brother Crab has seen through it. Indeed, I intend to take this step,” Han Li replied solemnly, unsurprised.
“Your essence and body are currently in peak condition. If you attempt to break through the Mahayana bottleneck now, you should have more than a fifty percent chance of success. Such odds are exceedingly rare, even in the Immortal Realm,” the Crab Daoist said after a flicker of strange light in his eyes.
“With Brother Crab’s words, I feel much more at ease. However, the commotion during the breakthrough will likely attract unwanted attention. I hope you can help guard me during that time,” Han Li said with a pleased expression, clasping his hands in request.
“Since you ask, I will naturally ensure your safety. But the resources consumed during this period will be deducted from your offerings,” the Crab Daoist replied indifferently after a nod.
“That’s only fair. I’ll leave it to you then,” Han Li agreed readily with a faint smile.
Just as he was about to leave, a muffled sound came from another nearby chamber as its door opened, and a graceful figure emerged—Silvermoon, who had also been in seclusion nearby.
Her face was slightly pale, but as soon as she appeared, her beautiful eyes fixed on Han Li with an unusual gleam. She gave a slight nod and asked softly,
“Congratulations on your progress, Brother Han. But isn’t it a bit early to attempt the Mahayana breakthrough now? Perhaps you should consolidate your cultivation for a few more years.”
Clearly, Silvermoon was not deeply affected by the Emotion-Severing Art at this moment.
“Silvermoon, it’s been years since we last met, and your cultivation has also improved. It seems Senior Ao Xiao’s technique is indeed effective. Right now, both my state of mind and essence are in a peculiar condition. If I can’t break through now, even a hundred or a thousand more years wouldn’t make a difference,” Han Li replied with a smile after scanning her with his spiritual sense.
“Brother Han’s cultivation and insight are far beyond mine. If you say so, it must be justified. Then I shall join Brother Crab in guarding you, lest any petty individuals interfere,” Silvermoon said decisively after a moment’s thought.
“Having your assistance is naturally a welcome boon. By the way, where is Guo’er? She doesn’t seem to be in the cave,” Han Li thanked her with a pleased expression but then asked in surprise after scanning the cave with his spiritual sense.
“Guo’er recently encountered a bottleneck in her cultivation. She must absorb the essence of the rising sun daily to overcome it, so she moved to a nearby mountain peak years ago to train alone,” Silvermoon explained clearly.
“I see. The Maiden’s Reincarnation Art is indeed different from ordinary techniques. She has her own path—no need for us to interfere,” Han Li nodded, reassured.
With that, Han Li, the Crab Daoist, and Silvermoon flew out of the cave, transforming into three streaks of light that circled the sky before shooting off in a certain direction.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the three streaks of light descended into a basin tens of thousands of miles from Han Li’s original cave, revealing their figures.
Han Li surveyed the desolate surroundings and the faintly visible distant peaks before nodding in satisfaction. “This will do. Please wait nearby while I set up some formations and make preparations. Though these external measures won’t directly shield me from the heavenly tribulation, they can obscure the celestial phenomena and delay outsiders from finding this place.”
Silvermoon and the Crab Daoist naturally had no objections. They nodded and transformed into two streaks of light, landing on nearby peaks where they sat atop boulders, watching Han Li’s movements from afar.
Han Li took a deep breath and flicked his sleeve, releasing over a dozen white lights that transformed into giant ape puppets. Each held arrays of formation flags and plates in their hands.
“Go!”
At his command, the puppets scattered in all directions, carefully arranging the formations on the ground and in the air.
Meanwhile, Han Li flew along the basin’s edge, producing fist-sized top-grade spirit stones from his palm and raining them down onto the ground.
Before long, layers of formations took shape in the basin.
Han Li flashed back to the center and retrieved dozens of glazed treasures from his person, tossing them to key points in the formations. These were spoils from slain Demon Clan Venerables and Saint Ancestor avatars—each extraordinary and of great origin. Any ordinary Body Integration cultivator would covet them, but here, Han Li used fifty or sixty as mere formation stabilizers to enhance the arrays’ power.
After this, he released a mountain of formation materials from his storage bracelet before sitting cross-legged.
The ape puppets returned for more materials as they exhausted their initial supplies, continuing their work tirelessly.
These grand formations were no ordinary arrays. Even with pre-made components, their setup took half a day.
Once complete, the puppets returned to Han Li, standing motionless before him.
Expressionless, he waved his sleeve, sweeping them away with a burst of azure light. Then, with a flash of pale yellow light from his body, he formed a seal with one hand and sent a profound incantation into the ground.
“Rise!”
The earth trembled violently as a square earthen platform, roughly an acre in size, erupted from the ground, rising like a small mountain to a height of thirty zhang.
Han Li changed his hand seal and spat out a silver fireball, which transformed into a foot-long silver firebird. With a flap of its wings, it swelled to over ten zhang in size.
At his mental command, the giant firebird let out a clear cry, soaring into the sky before diving toward the platform.
With a *whoosh*, the silver flames engulfed Han Li and the platform before they even touched down.
Han Li stood unflinching as the flames licked harmlessly past him, but the earthen platform melted and crystallized under the intense heat.
After a few breaths, his eyes flashed, and he flicked his sleeve, summoning a gale that extinguished the silver flames in an instant.
Now, the platform gleamed like white jade, its surface transformed into crystalline stone that shimmered brilliantly under the sunlight—a sight akin to a jade palace.
Ordinary earth, refined by spiritual flames, had become as sturdy as refined materials.
A chorus of sword hums erupted as seventy-two small azure swords shot from Han Li’s body, circling above before transforming into seventy-two streaks of green sword light.
With a point of his finger, the sword lights darted down, weaving intricate patterns into the platform’s surface with lightning speed.
In the blink of an eye, the entire platform was engraved with dense, arcane runes that induced dizziness upon prolonged gaze.
Satisfied after a sweep with his spiritual sense, Han Li produced four tiny, shimmering banners that vanished with a flick of his wrist.
Moments later, four towering banners—crimson, green, yellow, and purple—erupted from the platform’s corners, each emblazoned with a lifelike, ferocious beast.
“The Ascension Platform is complete. I hope Senior Mo’s method proves useful,” Han Li murmured, eyeing the banners with a trace of emotion.
He then formed another seal, sending the swords into the sky, where they multiplied into over a thousand identical sword lights before vanishing into the void.
Now, anyone approaching within a hundred zhang of the platform would feel an oppressive, bone-chilling aura.
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