Day by day, time passed.
Han Li spent his days in arduous cultivation, spending most of his time meditating and refining Qi, aside from nurturing spirit herbs and concocting the required “Yellow Dragon Pills” and “Golden Marrow Pills.” Of course, he also followed the insect-rearing insights of the Beast Taming Sect cultivator, regularly training the White Spider and other exotic insects, which served as his only source of amusement during his cultivation.
However, as Han Li had anticipated, it took him just over a year to reach the ninth layer of Qi Refinement—a speed that felt like flying compared to his previous progress.
Still, Han Li was somewhat dissatisfied with this pace. Upon reaching the ninth layer, he resolutely took three Foundation Establishment Pills in succession. Leveraging the potent medicinal effects, he spent another year or so to re-enter the Foundation Establishment stage.
Now, he could finally use Innate True Fire.
Thus, Han Li immediately stopped concocting low-grade pills and began refining the several types of pills suitable for the Foundation Establishment stage, following the prescribed formulas.
According to Han Li’s calculations, aside from the “Qi Refining Powder,” which had lost its effect on him due to excessive use, the other three pill formulas should suffice to advance his cultivation to the late Foundation Establishment stage without issue.
However, in accordance with his original plan, Han Li did not immediately focus on deepening his cultivation. Instead, he stockpiled the pills and shifted his efforts to cultivating the “Great Development Art” to prepare for refining his “Doppelganger.”
Initially, Han Li found cultivating the first layer of the “Great Development Art” surprisingly smooth, mastering it in just half a year.
This gave him some confidence. Although he knew his aptitude for comprehending the Five Elements spells was poor, he possessed considerable talent for the “Great Development Art.” Thus, he held great hope for mastering its second layer.
According to the half-complete manual, achieving the second layer of the “Great Development Art” would multiply his spiritual sense several times over and allow him to split his consciousness into over a hundred parts. Only at this stage, when combined with the Puppetry Art, would the terrifying power of the “Great Development Art” truly reveal itself.
Although Han Li knew the second layer would be far more challenging than the first, the time required far exceeded his expectations. Initially believing he could master the second layer in two or three years, he ultimately spent six years in day-and-night secluded cultivation before barely achieving it—nearly double the time he had anticipated, leaving him utterly frustrated.
During this period, the torment of forcibly tempering his spiritual sense—the splitting headaches and mental strain—left him pale and fearful whenever he recalled it.
In the third year of cultivating the Great Development Technique, the disciple of the middle-aged cultivator from the Ascension Pavilion—who had suffered a crushing defeat at Han Li’s hands during the Great Island merchant qualification dispute—arrived at Han Li’s Little寰 Island under his master’s orders to challenge him once more.
As a result, the disciple was trapped in Han Li’s grand formation for three days and nights before Han Li, who happened to exit seclusion, discovered and released him.
Due to the difficulties of cultivating the Great Development Art, Han Li had almost entirely forgotten about this matter.
Facing Han Li, who concealed his true cultivation level with the Nameless Qi Concealment Art, the frustrated and disheveled man was deftly defeated, leaving him with the impression that Han Li merely relied on superior magical instruments. He departed in a huff.
Three years after this incident, having mastered the second layer of the Great Development Art, Han Li prepared to cultivate the “Doppelganger” secret art.
After several days of rest to bring his primordial spirit to its peak state, he summoned Qu Hun to the cultivation chamber and sat cross-legged facing him.
With a wave of his hand, Han Li lowered the stone door of the secret chamber and gazed intently at Qu Hun for a long time without speaking.
Gazing at Qu Hun’s hideous yet familiar face, Han Li was overwhelmed by a wave of complex emotions. Memories of nearly forgotten past events flooded his mind—the Seven Mysteries Sect, the Rainbow Mountains, and countless familiar figures…
However, after a moment of staring into Qu Hun’s vacant, lifeless eyes, Han Li sighed and ceased hesitating. His hands formed a series of rapid seals, and a faint blue light emanated from his body, illuminating the secret chamber in an emerald glow.
Soon, Han Li’s face contorted slightly within the green light. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his eyes emitted a piercing white radiance too dazzling to behold.
“Hi!” Han Li suddenly roared, forming a strange hand seal. His body froze, but a thumb-sized green light sphere emerged from his nostrils, swiftly flying to Qu Hun’s nose and entering his body through his nostrils.
By now, Han Li’s face was deathly pale, and large drops of sweat rolled down his cheeks. Yet, the white light in his eyes grew even more intense, eventually shooting out two thin beams of white light that directly pierced into Qu Hun’s opposing eyes. Both their bodies trembled simultaneously…
The stone door of the cultivation chamber remained closed for over a month. It wasn’t until the middle of the second month that the door slowly opened, revealing an exhausted yet extremely excited Han Li.
After enduring immense hardship, the refinement of the Doppelganger had finally succeeded. Although its effects were still unknown, at the very least, there was no failure or backlash from the technique, which greatly relieved Han Li.
However, immediately upon exiting the secret chamber, Han Li entered another stone room to begin closed-door cultivation again. The refinement process had significantly damaged his vitality. If he didn’t immediately take medicine and refine Qi, he risked falling back to the Qi Refinement stage.
As for the doppelgänger “Qu Hun,” since the split consciousness had not yet fully mastered the body, it remained in the secret chamber, gradually adapting and acclimating.
Within a few months, Han Li recovered his damaged vitality but did not exit seclusion. Instead, he directly began studying the cultivation method of the “Triple Revolving Cultivation Art.”
The cultivation method of the “Triple Revolving Cultivation Art” was clear: when the cultivator reached the late Foundation Establishment stage, they were to disperse most of their cultivation from the “Green Origin Sword Art,” restart from the early Foundation Establishment stage, and simultaneously compress and condense their true essence. This process aimed to bring the liquefied true essence of the Foundation Establishment stage as close to solidification as possible, thereby reducing the bottleneck resistance encountered during Core Formation.
According to the esteemed founder of this technique, repeating this process three times should grant a fifty percent chance of forming a Golden Core.
Although Han Li had not reached the late Foundation Establishment stage when he dispersed his cultivation—accidentally doing so at the mid-stage—he was not concerned. In his view, the difference between dispersing cultivation at the late versus mid-stage merely involved the amount of true essence compressed and condensed. As long as the core concept of compressing and solidifying true essence remained unchanged, and he ensured to disperse his cultivation at the late stage in the subsequent two cycles, it should pose no major issue.
After delving deeply into the “Triple Revolving Cultivation Art” for several months, Han Li felt he had thoroughly comprehended the technique. Carrying a large quantity of pills, he entered the secret chamber.
This time, he was determined not to leave the cave dwelling until he had completed the first cycle of this technique and reached the sixth layer of the Green Origin Sword Art.
As for Qu Hun, who had merged with the body, Han Li had him continuously take pills and refine Qi in preparation for Foundation Establishment. Since Qu Hun possessed a “Triple Spiritual Root” attribute—far superior to Han Li’s aptitude—his cultivation advanced rapidly with the aid of pills, nearly matching Han Li’s speed during his re-cultivation.
Han Li estimated that Qu Hun would be ready for Foundation Establishment in just two years.
Moreover, Han Li had long since selected the demonic technique “Blood Refining Divine Light,” cultivated by the Yue Emperor, from the jade slip emitting gray-white energy, for Qu Hun to practice after Foundation Establishment. After all, he had witnessed firsthand the power of this demonic technique when used by the Yue Emperor.
As for the issue of lacking subsequent techniques after Core Formation, preventing further advancement, Han Li wasn’t particularly concerned. Even if a Murder Core formed, this Doppelganger Qu Hun could only maintain early Core Formation stage cultivation. Whether or not there were follow-up techniques made little difference.
Han Li’s cultivation this time lasted exceptionally long.
As the saying goes, cultivation knows no time. In the blink of an eye, over twenty years passed.
Throughout these long years, Han Li truly never left the cave dwelling, nor did he reappear before the island’s residents. For the several hundred residents of Little寰 Island, the arrival of Immortal Master Han had almost no impact. They continued fishing and farming as usual!
Of course, the initially clearly visible twin peaks became obscured by dense white mist, which took some getting used to for the mortal residents of Little寰 Island.
But as years passed, the townspeople grew accustomed to the sight and eventually regarded it as normal.
However, adults in the town still warned their mischievous children never to approach the white mist near the mountains. Anyone who entered would become completely disoriented and unable to find their way out. Only after being trapped for several days, suffering greatly, and shouting “Immortal Master Han” several times would a path reappear, allowing them to escape.
After several such incidents, the townspeople naturally learned their lesson, understanding that Immortal Master Han disliked being disturbed.
However, gathering firewood or picking fruit near Little Huan Mountain, without approaching the peaks, posed no problem whatsoever.
Moreover, whenever the town’s protective formation lacked spirit stones, the town chief only needed to shout toward the mountain direction outside the white mist. A year’s supply of spirit stones would automatically fly out from the mist on a tray for the bearer to take back, never once failing to appear.
Of course, after twenty years, the original town chief had long since passed away. The current town chief was the dark-faced fisherman Hei Gui, whom Han Li had met upon first arriving at Little寰 Island. Yet, when Hei Gui went to request spirit stones, it proved equally effective.
Thus, while the residents of Little寰 Island couldn’t be said to revere Immortal Master Han exceedingly, most held a favorable impression of him.
But on this day, Han Li finally emerged from his cave dwelling.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage