Chapter 356: Calamity and Blessing Intertwined

A quarter of an hour later, Han Li emerged from Stardust Pavilion at a leisurely pace.

He glanced back at the towering building, a mysterious, faint smile playing on his lips, then strode away.

Inside his storage pouch, the set of “Crimson Light Evasion Needles” and the jade slip recording the pill formula were safely tucked away.

Not long before, after casually inquiring about the price of thousand-year spiritual herbs from the young woman, he hadn’t shown her any spiritual grasses. Instead, he took out two “Beauty Preservation Pills,” which contained ingredients from thousand-year spiritual herbs, and handed them to her.

Han Li remembered clearly how the initially aloof young woman, upon understanding the age-defying effects of the Beauty Preservation Pills, instantly revealed a look of fervor. The stark contrast in her expression took him by surprise.

Soon after, the young woman summoned a pill refiner from Stardust Pavilion to personally authenticate these widely rumored but rarely refined pills.

Once it was confirmed that the pills were indeed Beauty Preservation Pills with genuine age-preserving effects, the young woman nervously called down Manager Lan from the fifth floor. After a hushed conversation between the two women, Han Li exchanged the two Beauty Preservation Pills and an additional thousand spirit stones for the pill formula and the magical instrument.

Thinking back on it, Han Li still found it somewhat amusing.

The promise of eternal youth was an irresistible temptation for women, utterly impossible to resist. Even someone as shrewd and highly cultivated as Manager Lan couldn’t help but show the same eager look in her eyes upon learning that Han Li possessed the Beauty Preservation Pills. This gave Han Li a profound understanding of how deeply women cared about their appearance.

However, this also drove the selling price of the Beauty Preservation Pills far beyond his expectations.

He had initially estimated they would be worth at most two thousand spirit stones, but the two women’s opening offer left him thoroughly satisfied. Naturally, he didn’t press his luck by haggling further. It seemed fortunate that the shop’s managers were women; if it had been a male manager, he might have been lucky to get a few hundred spirit stones.

After the transaction, Manager Lan, somewhat sobered from her fervor, couldn’t resist asking about the origin of the pills. Han Li brushed off the question with a casual “I stumbled upon them.”

As Han Li left Stardust Pavilion, he felt a twinge of reluctance.

He knew that since Stardust Pavilion could easily produce rare items like the “Crimson Light Evasion Needles” and the pill formula, they undoubtedly had even more precious treasures. Unfortunately, he had nothing else in the way of pills or spiritual herbs to exchange. If he revealed too much wealth, the consequences would be perilous—he didn’t need to think hard to realize that.

With a sense of regret, Han Li found an inn in the market that catered to cultivators and settled in. For the remainder of the day, he focused on refining his qi and meditating, preparing to visit Shopkeeper Xu the next day to have his magical instruments refined.

The following morning, Han Li arrived at the artifact refining shop as agreed.

Shopkeeper Xu had been waiting for some time. As soon as Han Li entered, he eagerly ushered him to the backyard. Han Li smiled faintly and followed.

…

Over half a month later, Han Li finally emerged from the shop. In stark contrast to his demeanor when he entered, his face was now clouded with gloom, as if he were in a terribly foul mood.

Behind him, Shopkeeper Xu followed with a look of shame, muttering incessantly under his breath.

Han Li let out a long sigh, seeming to feel slightly better, then exchanged a few gentle words with Shopkeeper Xu before slowly making his way out of the market, leaving the bewildered old man behind.

Not long after, Han Li passed beyond the market’s restriction zone and took to the air on his Divine Wind Boat, heading straight for Xin Ruyin’s nameless mountain.

Standing on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li’s expression darkened once again, all due to the repeated failures in artifact refining over the past half month.

He had overestimated Shopkeeper Xu’s refining skills. Precious materials were ruined left and right, and only one set of magical instruments was successfully refined. The materials from the mantis demon beast, which he valued most, were completely destroyed during the process. This left Han Li filled with regret, and he nearly gave in to the impulse to summon a magical instrument and strike Shopkeeper Xu.

However, seeing how utterly ashamed the old man was, he ultimately held back. He even offered a few words of comfort before leaving.

Sighing at the memory, Han Li patted his storage pouch, and five pristine white flying knives flew out, circling around him.

Seeing this complete set of magical instruments refined from the white spider’s legs lifted his spirits slightly.

Although three legs had been ruined in the refining process, and the imagined armor made from the spider’s shell never materialized, at least not all the materials were lost like those of the giant mantis. This was a small consolation in an unfortunate situation. Han Li could only console himself with a bitter smile.

From this refining experience, Han Li learned that the more advanced and rare the materials, the more skilled the refiner needed to be. The same person had successfully refined most of the Ink Flood Dragon materials last time!

As he flew on his instrument, Han Li fell into deep thought.

A few days later, Han Li appeared once again over the nameless mountain. This time, before he could use a transmission talisman, the mist shrouding the formation automatically parted to let him through.

Seeing this, Han Li smiled, knowing that Xin Ruyin had likely been awaiting his return these past few days, as the agreed-upon time was approaching.

A short while later, Han Li was seated in a bamboo house, across from the calmly smiling Xin Ruyin, who was still dressed in simple clothing.

“Senior Han, your timing is perfect. I just finished repairing the ancient teleportation formation yesterday. As long as you follow the blueprint, you can restore the ancient formation to working order,” Xin Ruyin said serenely, pulling out a jade slip and handing it to Han Li.

For her, repairing an ancient teleportation formation was a challenging task, and its success brought her a measure of joy.

Han Li accepted the jade slip, feeling immensely pleased. A rare, unreserved smile spread across his face. Although he had no immediate plans to use the ancient teleportation formation, it was undoubtedly a valuable contingency plan.

He immersed his spiritual sense into the jade slip for a brief look and confirmed it contained a complete repair method and detailed steps for the ancient teleportation formation.

“Miss Xin, I am in your debt!” Han Li said earnestly, offering sincere thanks without lengthy expressions of gratitude, then carefully stored the jade slip away.

“It’s nothing. I was quite interested in the ancient teleportation formation myself,” Xin Ruyin replied with a faint smile.

Then, as if remembering something, she took out a small storage pouch and handed it over, saying slowly, “I have at most a year or two left to live. These formation flags and disks, which Brother Qi and I refined together, will be of no use to me in the future. I offer them to you, Senior Han, in the hope that they may aid you in your cultivation.”

Stunned by such a generous gift and her calm demeanor, Han Li fell silent for a moment, studying her intently.

After a pause, he stood up and accepted the storage pouch with both hands, saying solemnly, “I, Han Li, am neither a benevolent gentleman nor a chivalrous hero. But I promise you once again, Miss Xin: once my power has grown enough to eradicate the Fu family, I will ensure their name is wiped from the world of cultivators.” His words were spoken with utmost seriousness.

Xin Ruyin smiled upon hearing this. She knew her goal in offering such a gift had been achieved. People like Han Li, who seldom made promises, valued the ones they sincerely gave more than anything.

“If you have no urgent matters, Senior, you are welcome to stay in my humble abode for a few days. I would very much like to discuss the art of formations with you,” Xin Ruyin said calmly.

…

Three days later, Han Li flew away from the nameless mountain on his artifact, heading straight for the nearby gathering place for cultivators—White Pond Mountain.

There, rogue cultivators and members of cultivation families often gathered to exchange rumors and news from the cultivation world, and sometimes trade items.

Han Li’s purpose was to gather information on the current state of the Yue Kingdom’s cultivation world—how dire the situation was, whether the Seven Sects still had a chance to turn things around, and so on. Only with this information could he decide on his next course of action.

The next gathering was soon to take place.

White Pond Mountain wasn’t far from Xin Ruyin’s nameless mountain. Xin Ruyin and Qi Xiaoyao had attended a few gatherings there before. Of course, such local gatherings were mostly attended by Qi Refining cultivators, with very few Foundation Establishment cultivators present.

A day later, Han Li arrived at the so-called White Pond Mountain.

The mountain was quite sizable, with three peaks of varying sizes. The highest and most perilous of them, the Western Peak, was where the cultivators gathered. Han Li, transformed into a streak of white light, headed straight for the summit.