He raised his hand and cast a Levitation Spell on the golden page that had fallen to the ground, causing it to hover several zhang high in the air as a target. Then, he began to strike it bit by bit with small bursts of Azure Essence Sword Energy, eagerly watching as the page absorbed all the sword energy like a bottomless pit.
During this process, Han Li also tried shooting an ice arrow at it to see if it could absorb spells as well. However, the arrow sent the page flying, startling Han Li so much that he quickly stopped such risky actions and obediently continued injecting sword energy into it.
According to logic, the fourth layer of Han Li’s Azure Essence Sword Energy should have been quite powerful. Yet, even as his spiritual energy was nearly depleted, the page showed no reaction, causing Han Li to inwardly groan in frustration.
He truly did not know whether failing to satisfy the page’s absorption of sword energy in one go would render all his efforts futile.
Just as Han Li was caught in a dilemma, the page finally began to change. A golden light burst forth from its surface, and it no longer absorbed the sword energy but instead rebounded it, piercing a hole through the bedroom wall.
Suppressing his excitement, Han Li stared unblinkingly at the changes occurring on the page.
The light on the page gradually converged, forming tiny glowing characters as small as ants, dotting the page like countless stars in the sky. Han Li was utterly astonished.
Then, with a soft “thud,” the Levitation Spell suddenly lost its effect, and the golden page fell straight down. Startled, Han Li instinctively reached out and caught it in his hand.
However, the moment his fingers touched the page, the glowing characters on it seemed to find an outlet. They frantically surged through his hand and into his entire body.
This shocked Han Li greatly! He hurriedly tried to shake off the page, but it clung to his hand as if alive, refusing to budge.
The transmission of the glowing characters was incredibly fast. In an instant, they covered Han Li’s entire body, making him shimmer with an eerie glow.
Just as Han Li was at a loss, terrified and trembling, all the glowing characters suddenly surged toward his head as if obeying a command, seeping into it one by one. In an instant, his mind was flooded with an overwhelming amount of information, causing him to clutch his head and let out a painful scream.
If this had lasted any longer, Han Li’s head might have burst from the strain. Fortunately, the pain was brief. After a short while, all the characters had been transmitted, and Han Li collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
It took a full quarter of an hour before Han Li regained some strength and could barely stand up. Although the pain in his head had lessened, it still buzzed incessantly, and his nerves felt tightly wound.
Han Li quickly climbed onto the stone bed and closed his eyes to meditate, allowing his mind to fully relax.
This meditation session lasted three full days and nights. Not only did the discomfort in his head completely disappear, but he also finally understood the meaning of the glowing characters that had flooded his mind.
“Azure Essence Sword Art”—a complete set of techniques from the first to the thirteenth layer, without any omissions, allowing cultivation all the way to the legendary Deity Transformation stage. This was the main content conveyed by the glowing characters.
When Han Li first received this information, he was momentarily stunned but did not show much excitement.
However, in addition to this, there was also an auxiliary technique called the “Triple Revolving Essence Art,” which piqued Han Li’s interest. He casually glanced through it.
When Han Li first read the introductory explanation, he was taken aback, thinking he had misunderstood. But after rereading that section several times, he confirmed that his initial understanding was correct, sending him into a wave of ecstatic joy.
The “Triple Revolving Essence Art” actually had the astonishing effect of bypassing the Core Formation bottleneck. This news felt like a message from the heavens, leaving Han Li in a dreamlike state of disbelief.
Since entering the world of cultivation, almost every cultivator he had met would sigh and shake their heads when discussing Core Formation. They all said that breaking through to the Core Formation stage depended largely on one’s destiny, determined entirely by heaven’s will! Of course, this referred to those with exceptional talent who had already reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage and were qualified to form a core. Additionally, those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots naturally had no such worries.
To be honest, Han Li had almost no confidence in his ability to form a core. He had merely found a path to immortality and was unwilling to give up passively. The slimmer his hopes, the more he yearned for Core Formation and the more determined he was to risk everything.
Now, with a path laid out before him that could directly lead to Core Formation while bypassing the bottleneck, how could he not be overjoyed?
In truth, this technique could not be considered a shortcut. It was almost like an unverified conjecture.
The master who created this technique and the Azure Essence Sword Art had long since passed the Core Formation stage. The creation of this technique was merely a wild speculation about Core Formation. He himself stated at the end of the technique that even if one followed all its requirements perfectly, the probability of immediately forming a core was only fifty percent.
However, this was more than enough for Han Li! Even if the probability were only one-tenth, he would not hesitate to dive in headfirst.
But after his initial euphoria, when Han Li carefully studied the technique, even someone as strong-willed as him felt as if he had been struck hard, his face growing increasingly pale.
To cultivate this technique, one naturally had to first cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art, as it was originally created to assist the sword art. Although the Azure Essence Sword Art was extremely difficult to master, that was not the main issue. What made Han Li’s face turn grim was that, true to its name, the technique required the cultivator to dissipate their cultivation once when reaching the sixth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art and start over.
According to the creator, only by doing so could one use the “Triple Revolving Essence Art” to compress the newly cultivated spiritual energy and true essence, refining them several times over. After repeating this process three times, a cultivator who returned to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage could easily form a core in their dantian.
The creator hypothesized that a golden core was formed from solidified true essence. If one already had nearly solidified true essence, forming a core would naturally be effortless.
However, the idea of dissipating one’s cultivation made Han Li hesitate, even if he found the creator’s reasoning sound.
It wasn’t that Han Li feared the hardship of dissipating and re-cultivating, but he lacked confidence in accomplishing three rounds of re-cultivation within his lifetime.
Even with the aid of his mysterious small bottle, this was an extremely risky endeavor! After all, according to the creator’s conception, each round of re-cultivation would take longer than the previous one, as the amount of true essence that needed to be compressed and condensed increased each time.
Of course, the benefits of doing so were also immense! It would allow him to possess several times more true essence and spiritual energy than an ordinary cultivator. However, achieving this would undoubtedly require several times more time than an ordinary cultivator.
With a lifespan of barely two hundred years, could he accomplish all this? Han Li truly had no confidence.
Temporarily unable to make a decision, Han Li turned his gaze to another golden page he had directly taken from Li Huayuan’s cave. It seemed he would have to examine its contents before deciding.
As a result, after enduring the same process of injecting sword energy and the same brain-drilling pain, Han Li accepted the contents of the other golden page.
“Emerald Bamboo Cloud-Piercing Swords!” These words popped into Han Li’s mind as soon as he read the information.
His curiosity piqued, Han Li patiently organized all the glowing characters before understanding what it was about.
It turned out that this golden page entirely taught Core Formation stage cultivators how to refine a type of flying sword treasure called the “Emerald Bamboo Cloud-Piercing Swords.” This wood-attribute flying sword treasure was very similar to Han Li’s “Golden Silkworm Blade” magic tool, as it was refined in sets.
At least twelve wood-attribute flying swords were needed to form a set, making it quite unique. Of course, if one could gather enough materials and had sufficient true essence, refining a set of thirty-six or even seventy-two swords was theoretically possible.
The page did not specify the power of these flying swords, but Han Li did not need to guess to imagine how terrifying this treasure would be. Just the thought of being attacked by dozens of flying swords at once was enough to horrify him.
Naturally, these things were of no use to Han Li at his current stage. Only after reaching the Core Formation stage would they become valuable to him.
However, this strengthened Han Li’s resolve to cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art. It was clear that pairing these wood-attribute flying swords with the Azure Essence Sword Art would undoubtedly multiply their power! By the time he reached the sixth layer of the sword art and the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, he could first attempt to form a core. If it failed, he could always dissipate his cultivation later.
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