Chapter 414: Formation

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingers trembling gently as ten spirit threads severed on their own.

He then lightly patted his storage pouch, from which over a dozen streaks of white light flew out, arranging themselves in a circle beneath the liquid. They were twelve identical small jade boxes.

These boxes were all crafted from flawless white jade, exquisitely made and only a few inches in size.

With a gentle flick of his sleeve, Han Li moved all the lids aside. Then, he uttered the word “fall,” and the thick green liquid floating in the air dropped instantly. Each jade box caught exactly one portion, no more and no less.

Only after Han Li resealed the lids did his expression relax, and he finally felt at ease. Although he had the support of spirit stones and medicinal pills, his magical power was nearly depleted.

After several days of meditation to restore his condition to its peak, Han Li began refining the remaining five Heavenly Lightning Bamboos.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed. With immense effort, Han Li finally refined all the Heavenly Lightning Bamboos into an extremely pure liquid form.

After a brief rest, he began setting up an extremely complex formation within the secret chamber.

Han Li did not know the name of this formation, only that it was essential for refining the “Emerald Swarm Sword.” This was repeatedly emphasized in the refinement method described on the golden page, indicating its critical importance.

Although Han Li had memorized the setup method and had even attempted it several times, he remained extremely cautious, not daring to make the slightest mistake. After all, even a single misplaced rune could lead to unpredictable accidents during the refinement process.

Thus, it took Han Li a full half-month to complete the formation under tense and careful conditions. After testing it with over a dozen mid-grade spirit stones and confirming it operated normally, he finally felt reassured.

Instead of immediately starting the refinement process, Han Li temporarily left the secret chamber.

After half a year of continuously using his core flame and maintaining intense mental focus, even a Core Formation cultivator like Han Li found it overwhelming and needed some adjustment.

The next step was the most critical part of refining the treasure.

However, upon leaving the secret chamber, Han Li was met with another pleasant surprise.

The “Gold Devouring Beetles,” after being intermittently fed with “Rainbow Skirt Grass,” had finally begun cannibalizing each other again. This delighted Han Li greatly!

Once the number of Gold Devouring Beetles had reached tens of thousands, the small amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass was no longer sufficient to induce spawning and evolution. Over the years, most of the green liquid had been used to accelerate the growth of the Heavenly Lightning Bamboos, making it even harder for the beetles to undergo any changes.

However, once the Heavenly Lightning Bamboos were fully matured, Han Li immediately instructed Qu Hun to intensify their cultivation. After all, Han Li held high hopes for these peculiar insects.

Upon receiving this news from Qu Hun, Han Li promptly visited the insect room.

The shells of the cannibalized Gold Devouring Beetles were now half-covered with golden spots. Han Li estimated that the next generation would likely have even larger golden spots.

However, after observing for a while, the joy on Han Li’s face gradually faded, replaced by a slight frown. At this rate, the prospect of all the Gold Devouring Beetles turning completely golden seemed rather bleak.

Their numbers multiplied with each evolution, while the green liquid could only accelerate a limited amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass. It was impossible to evolve tens of thousands of beetles at once. At this pace, the next evolution might take an unforeseeably long time!

Han Li fell into deep thought outside the insect room.

It seemed he would have to focus on cultivating only a small portion of them first. Otherwise, he doubted he would ever get to see the golden “Gold Devouring Beetles.”

Having made up his mind, Han Li reached a decision.

However, this plan could only be implemented after the beetles laid eggs. For now, he could set it aside and focus on refining his treasure.

After a month of rest, Han Li finally selected an auspicious day. He spent two days in his bedroom burning incense and praying to achieve a state of serene tranquility before returning to the secret chamber and taking his place at the formation’s core.

With a solemn expression, Han Li waved both hands, and dozens of jade boxes containing the Heavenly Lightning Bamboo liquid landed at various points in the formation, arranged according to a specific pattern.

Next, various other boxes and wooden cases flew out of his storage pouch one after another, landing in front of him and opening on their own to reveal pre-processed auxiliary materials.

Han Li glanced at these materials, took a deep breath, and slowly sat cross-legged, closing his eyes and entering a meditative state.

After the time it takes to finish a meal, Han Li opened his eyes, and a blue glow emanated from his body.

As soon as this glow appeared, the spirit stones embedded in the formation shone brightly, and the entire formation began operating with a low hum.

Han Li remained still, but his fingers flew into motion, using spirit threads to guide the green Heavenly Lightning Bamboo liquid out of the boxes.

A series of “puff” sounds echoed from the formation as thick, bowl-sized beams of light shot out from various points, trapping the liquid within and immobilizing it.

Seeing this, Han Li closed his eyes again and calmly released his powerful spiritual sense, taking control of all the light beams. Instantly, the beams seemed to come alive, flickering and changing colors.

A bizarre scene unfolded: after countless color changes, the beams gradually converged to a uniform hue. Finally, after one last shift, all the beams solidified into a fiery red, making the encapsulated green liquid appear even more vibrant and emerald-like.

Expressionless, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a stream of green core flame, which landed directly on one of the light beams.

With a “whoosh,” the entire beam burst into fierce flames, instantly transforming into a crimson pillar of fire.

Without hesitation, Han Li spat out streams of core flame one after another, igniting all the light beams. Seventy-two two-zhang-tall pillars of fire now flickered with dazzling red light in the secret chamber.

He sighed softly.

In terms of flame potency, his core flame was far stronger than these seemingly flashy pillars of fire. However, refining flying swords was not about having the most powerful flames.

This forced him to expend a significant amount of core power, temporarily weakening himself.

Feeling somewhat frustrated, Han Li watched as the green liquid within the pillars of fire began to slowly reshape under the influence of his spiritual sense and the formation’s power. Gradually, the spherical blobs elongated and flattened, taking on the initial forms of four-to-five-inch-long sword embryos.

Though it sounded simple, it took Han Li a full day and night to fully shape seventy-two gleaming green liquid flying swords within the pillars of fire.

Han Li let out a sigh of relief, feeling a slight easing of his mental strain, though a dull ache persisted in his head. He couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Simultaneously controlling the formation of seventy-two flying swords was an extremely taxing task, even for someone with spiritual sense as powerful as his.

Even though the critical shaping process was complete, Han Li dared not relax.

With a hand seal, all the pillars of fire flickered a few times before vanishing into thin air, leaving only the emerald small swords suspended mid-air.

Han Li pointed repeatedly, and all the small swords slowly flew over, encircling him.

Looking at the seventy-two small swords around him, he bit the tip of his tongue lightly, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood that condensed into an egg-sized sphere in front of him.

Under his control, the blood sphere dripped several drops onto each sword embryo.

As soon as the essence blood touched the liquid flying swords, it quickly seeped in and disappeared without a trace.

After completing this task, Han Li pointed at a box of silver powder among the auxiliary materials on the ground. The powder flew up and evenly coated each sword embryo, giving them a silvery sheen.

Next came a box of black powder…

Carefully following the refinement method, Han Li added each auxiliary material to the seventy-two sword embryos one by one. He then summoned the seventy-two pillars of fire again, allowing the flying swords to enter them for further refinement.

This time, Han Li did not refine all the swords simultaneously but instead worked on them one by one with meticulous care.

Mimicking the instructions, he used his spiritual sense to engrave miniature formations onto the flying swords—formations he did not fully understand—ensuring they matched the diagrams on the golden page exactly.