Han Li gently pinched a pill between two fingers, raising it before his eyes. After examining it intently for a moment, a faint smile appeared on his face.
This desperate gamble had finally paid off. With these few “Falling Dust Pills,” the chances of both Qu Hun and himself forming their Golden Cores had increased slightly.
After carefully storing the pills, Han Li placed the vial back into his storage pouch. Now, he needed to find a place with spiritual energy that was also safe to attempt his Core Formation. Whether it was Qu Hun or himself, as long as one of them reached the Core Formation stage, they would have a fighting chance against pursuing Core Formation cultivators.
However, Core Formation was not something that could be accomplished in a short time. Except for those prodigies with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, most cultivators required sufficient spiritual medicine and time to break through the bottleneck.
The “Snow Spirit Water” and “Skyfire Liquid” he had intended to purchase earlier were two essential spiritual substances for Core Formation. While it wasn’t impossible to form a core without them, the success rate would be devastatingly low—reportedly far less than one percent, though no official statistics existed.
In addition to these two, other spiritual medicines could be taken during Core Formation. The more varieties used, the higher the chances of success, though none were as impactful as Snow Spirit Water and Skyfire Liquid. Like those two, however, taking multiple doses of the same medicine was ineffective. After all, this wasn’t like Qi refining through meditation—taking the right amount of different medicines was best, as overdoing it could backfire.
Ironically, while other medicines were far less effective than Snow Spirit Water and Skyfire Liquid, they were even harder to find and rarer. Most required one or even several thousand-year spiritual herbs as ingredients to concoct. Ordinary cultivators could hardly afford such extravagance—at most, they might manage one or two additional medicines besides the two essentials, which was already considered extremely luxurious.
For Han Li, however, this wasn’t a major issue. Except for a few rare herbs he lacked or had never heard of, he had already nurtured the rest during his years of cultivation at Little寰 Mountain and concocted over a dozen auxiliary Core Formation medicines, which were safely stored in one of his storage pouches.
Surprisingly, these medicines didn’t require refinement with a cultivator’s innate true fire—they could be prepared simply, like ordinary mortal medicines, and their recipes were easily found in various texts. This had puzzled Han Li for a long time, and he still didn’t fully understand it.
The five Falling Dust Pills he had obtained were likely another auxiliary medicine for Core Formation in the Scattered Star Seas, hence their rarity and value.
That said, taking these auxiliary medicines didn’t instantly grant a significantly higher success rate compared to other cultivators. Based on Han Li’s research, even with his extravagant approach, his chances were only about 10-15% higher than others. Still, it was better than nothing—though this was just his own speculation.
Moreover, the Core Formation process wasn’t something that could be completed in ten days or half a month. According to various texts and Li Huayuan’s past advice, the entire process could take three to five years, depending on one’s aptitude. During this time, it was crucial to avoid extreme emotions and engaging in battles, while also absorbing a certain amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
Thus, finding an island with some spiritual energy to go into seclusion for Core Formation was imperative for Han Li.
With this in mind, Han Li took out a jade slip containing a vast sea map centered around three major islands, including Kuixing Island. After immersing his consciousness into it and spending considerable effort, he determined his approximate location and began searching for remote small to medium-sized islands with annotations.
After the time it takes to finish a meal, Han Li withdrew from the jade slip, deep in thought. He glanced at the surrounding sea and the blazing sun above, narrowed his eyes to adjust his direction, and then turned into a streak of white light with Qu Hun, disappearing into the horizon.
Along the way, Han Li would land on any deserted island he encountered to restore his magic power, while avoiding islands occupied by cultivators or humans, fearing to leave any traces that could be tracked. After changing directions several times, he finally flew at high speed toward his true destination.
…
Two months later, Han Li and Qu Hun appeared over an extremely remote island. Though far smaller than Kuixing Island, it was larger than typical small islands, barely qualifying as a medium-sized island. This was their destination after the long journey: “Sea Ape Island.”
Aside from a small number of mortals, the island was mostly populated by low-level cultivators who hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment, and there was no island ruler to speak of—it was a completely free zone where anyone could come and go. The island got its name from a unique low-level demon beast in the nearby waters: the “Sea Ape.”
These beasts resembled ordinary apes but could use low-level spells like “Water Arrow” and possessed high intelligence. Adults had the wisdom of seven or eight-year-old children and could dive into the deep sea to catch fish, making them highly sought after by cultivators for use as cave attendants.
Though classified as demon beasts, Sea Apes could easily be defeated and captured by Qi Refinement cultivators at the fifth or sixth layer. Thus, small ships from various places would dock here yearly, hiring low-level cultivators to capture and sell them. Some small businesses even pooled resources to set up formations on the island and established permanent shops, buying live Sea Apes at low prices year-round and shipping them out in bulk when ships arrived.
Naturally, this attracted low-level cultivators looking to earn spirit stones. After the formations were set up, other rogue cultivators quickly settled here long-term because Sea Ape Island had a passably large spiritual vein. Though the quality of the spiritual vein was mediocre, it was vast enough that low-level cultivators could practice almost anywhere on the island.
The so-called spiritual eyes and areas with slightly denser spiritual energy weren’t significantly different from the rest of the island, so high-level cultivators had no reason to fight over them. With its sparse spiritual energy and only Sea Apes as a unique resource, this remote island was beneath the notice of major powers, making it a free haven for low-level cultivators. Although Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivators occasionally passed through, they were usually just travelers.
It was the perfect place for Han Li to hide and attempt Core Formation.
…
Two days later, Han Li stood in a desolate mountain at the corner of the island, looking at his newly opened temporary cave dwelling with great satisfaction. The new cave had a simple medicine garden and two hidden chambers, with no other complex structures.
Of course, Han Li used a set of formation tools to set up an ordinary concealment formation at the cave entrance. He also carefully released two “Blood Jade Spiders” from a special spirit beast pouch to guard the cave door.
After years of cultivation, these white spiders had grown to the size of a human head and advanced by two stages, reaching the early upper tier. They could easily handle ordinary Qi Refinement cultivators. They were the only exotic insects Han Li had brought with him from his cave on Little寰 Island.
As for the other strange insects and demon beasts, they remained in the true cave dwelling on Little寰 Island. Han Li suspected that if those scheming individuals were still intent on killing him to silence him or avenge the surnamed Gu cultivator, they would eventually track down his cave on Little寰 Island.
Although the true and false caves were protected by three large formations, they likely wouldn’t hold up long against a Core Formation cultivator’s assault. The true cave would undoubtedly be exposed. As for the false cave, Han Li estimated a fifty-fifty chance of it being discovered.
The tunnel to the true cave wasn’t concealed by easily detectable formations but by mortal-world mechanisms—a cleverly carved stone chair blocking the entrance. If searchers only scoured the mountain where the false cave was located, Han Li was confident they wouldn’t notice anything amiss. But if the searchers were meticulous and thorough, it was hard to say.
After all, the unique aura of the strange insects in the other mountain couldn’t escape the powerful spiritual sense of a Core Formation cultivator. Thus, though somewhat reluctant to abandon those untamable insects, Han Li could only leave it to fate.
If they remained undiscovered and went unfed for five or six years, those resilient insects likely wouldn’t die—they had precedents of surviving for years without food.
With these calm thoughts, Han Li and Qu Hun each entered a separate chamber.
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