Perhaps blessed by the god of luck, a sudden spark of inspiration flashed through Han Li’s mind.
He swiftly dashed toward the bag that had been tossed aside, reaching it in a few quick strides. Bending down, he picked up the bag, hurriedly opened it, and pulled out the peace talisman his parents had given him.
The moment his palm touched the talisman, a soothing sensation flowed from his hand, calming his entire being. His restless mind immediately settled, and all the feelings of frustration and discomfort vanished without a trace. The various abnormal phenomena in his body also subsided silently, as if everything had returned to normal.
Han Li paid no attention to the changes occurring within him. He simply held the peace talisman gently in one hand, bringing it close to his eyes, and with his other hand, he softly, slowly caressed it, completely absorbed in gazing at it.
After a long while, Han Li let out a sigh, stopped his gentle stroking, and shifted his gaze away from the talisman.
Unbeknownst to him, the life-threatening ordeal he had just experienced wasn’t “qi deviation” but rather an “invasion of the heart demon,” a danger faced by cultivators. Had he not acted quickly and used an external object to expel the heart demon, it would have soon invaded his primordial spirit, trapping him in illusions and manipulating his body until he danced himself to death. Of course, he only learned this later, after embarking on the path of cultivation.
Han Li circulated his energy to check his entire body, finding everything in order. To his delight, his cultivation had unexpectedly advanced significantly. Though he hadn’t broken through from the third layer to the fourth, he had reached the peak of the third layer, with the fourth layer not far off.
This unexpected progress brought a faint smile to Han Li’s face, but he quickly suppressed his excitement, fearing that emotional instability might trigger another dangerous qi deviation. He wasn’t confident he could safely navigate such an ordeal again. Holding the bag that contained the peace talisman, he prepared to store the talisman, which had played a crucial role, back inside and keep it safe.
“Hm?” Han Li suddenly noticed an item in the bag he had long forgotten—a collectible he had stored away years ago: the mysterious small bottle.
The bottle had completely slipped his mind, and if he hadn’t seen it now, he wouldn’t have remembered it at all.
Compared to four years ago, Han Li’s knowledge and insight had grown tremendously. Through studying the various books in Doctor Mo’s collection, his understanding had deepened, and his mind, sharpened by cultivating the technique, was far keener. He could now easily deduce from the bottle’s various anomalies that it was an extraordinary, rare object with remarkable functions.
His task now was to thoroughly uncover the bottle’s value and determine if it could benefit him. He couldn’t let it languish in the bag, its mysterious potential wasted.
Han Li took out the bottle but didn’t rush to open it. Instead, he examined it anew with the perspective of four years’ growth, checking for anything he might have overlooked before.
Unfortunately, after carefully inspecting it several times, he found nothing new.
No longer wasting time, Han Li carefully opened the bottle’s cap. The drop of emerald-green liquid remained quietly at the bottom, unchanged from four years ago.
Han Li was certain that the bottle’s secrets likely lay in this tiny drop of green liquid. It must have some special function he had yet to discover. To unravel its mystery, he would need to find small animals for some cruel live experiments.
It was nighttime, and the darkness outside made it inconvenient to search for living creatures. After the exhausting events of the afternoon and earlier night, Han Li felt drained. Besides, even if he found animals, the dim lamplight would make it hard to observe any subtle changes clearly, rendering the effort pointless.
After careful consideration, Han Li decided to sleep and rest for the night. He would conduct the experiments tomorrow with a clear mind. Perhaps a great surprise awaited him after tonight, he thought hopefully before drifting off.
The next morning, after waking and washing up, Han Li went to the large kitchen outside the valley for a simple breakfast. When Doctor Mo was on the mountain, the kitchen staff delivered meals directly to the God Hand Valley, and Han Li benefited from this arrangement. Now, with Doctor Mo gone, the kitchen naturally stopped sending food, leaving Han Li to marvel at the kitchen manager’s snobbery and the perks of power.
After breakfast, Han Li didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he approached the kitchen manager, paid a few pieces of silver, and acquired two lively gray-furred wild rabbits, which he brought back to the God Hand Valley.
Back in the valley, Han Li tied the rabbits with rope in a spacious area of the herb garden, leaving them to bake under the sun.
When the rabbits were listless and parched from the heat, he fetched a large porcelain bowl, carefully poured the green liquid from the bottle into it, and mixed it with some ordinary water.
The tiny bead-sized green liquid easily dissolved into the water, turning the entire bowl a vibrant emerald green. The lush green hue evoked a deep, refreshing coolness from the heart.
Han Li carried the diluted water to the thirsty rabbits and placed the bowl beside them.
The dehydrated rabbits eagerly crowded around, lapping up the water in big gulps. Not wanting them to drink too much at once, Han Li took the bowl away after they had consumed about half. Then, holding the bowl, he stood aside, patiently waiting to see if the rabbits would exhibit any interesting changes.
It didn’t take long—barely the time it takes for an incense stick to burn—before the rabbits began to hop restlessly. Their movements grew increasingly frantic and forceful. Then, startling changes appeared: egg-sized lumps began protruding under their fur, multiplying rapidly until they covered their bodies. The lumps merged, making the rabbits’ bodies appear inexplicably swollen, comically disproportionate to their small heads.
The rabbits’ bloated bodies lasted only a moment before they slowly began to inflate further, the swelling accelerating over time. It was as if some gas was continuously being pumped into them, causing their bodies to grow larger and rounder. Eventually, they resembled two large watermelons, their bodies stretched into round, bloated spheres.
Watching the rabbits’ bizarrely distorted bodies and hearing their pained cries, Han Li was stunned.
What was happening far exceeded his expectations. If the unknown liquid had been a deadly poison or a miraculous elixir to boost cultivation, that would have been within his imagination. But he never could have anticipated the chilling scene before him—the rabbits’ bodies inflated as if blown up, becoming utterly terrifying.
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