After parting ways with Yuan Yao, Han Li couldn’t resist taking out the Void Sky Cauldron. While flying, he eagerly tried to examine the treasures inside. However, it didn’t take long before he felt like vomiting blood. No matter what method he tried, the lid seemed to be cast as one with the cauldron itself, impossible to open even a crack.
Whether he poured spiritual power into it furiously or angrily blasted the cauldron walls with various magic treasures, it would only flash with blue light a few times and remain completely unmoved.
Han Li’s heart sank. Aside from being able to enlarge or shrink the Void Sky Cauldron, he had no way to handle it at all.
Frustrated by this discovery, Han Li spent half a day cursing wildly over the deserted sea, naturally directing his anger at the nonexistent master of the Void Sky Hall.
Clearly, there was something peculiar about this Void Sky Cauldron. Either only a Nascent Soul cultivator could activate it, or there was some other trick to opening it—it wasn’t as simple as just injecting spiritual power. Could it be related to the Dry Blue Ice Flames that had originally surrounded the cauldron?
Baffled, Han Li could only make wild guesses.
But upon second thought, this seemed normal. The Void Sky Cauldron was hailed as the number one secret treasure of the Scattered Star Seas, so it was only to be expected that it would have some tricks up its sleeve—nothing to be overly surprised about.
Yet, having such a treasure but being unable to use it frustrated Han Li immensely. In a fit of anger, he tossed the cauldron back into his storage pouch, planning to study it carefully later when he had time. Next, he took out the Wolf-Head Jade Scepter and began exploring its uses.
Surprisingly, in a short time, he managed to uncover two of its abilities. The simplest was injecting spiritual power directly into the scepter, which would summon a yellow-and-red protective shield around him. Han Li had personally witnessed this shield’s defensive capabilities in the Void Sky Hall—it had withstood a blow from the hand transformed by Qing Yi the Scholar without a scratch, proving it was anything but ordinary.
The other ability required Han Li to silently recite a few ancient incantations carved on one side of the scepter and extend his spiritual sense into the wolf heads on both ends. Depending on the situation, he could summon either a red or yellow wolf pup, or even a large silver wolf in one go.
The red pup seemed to be formed from extremely pure fire-attribute spiritual energy and innately knew several powerful fire spells.
The yellow pup, on the other hand, was earth-attribute and excelled at earth spells, including the Earth Escape Technique Han Li had always wanted to learn but never quite grasped. This came as a pleasant surprise.
As for the large silver wolf, Han Li found it somewhat troublesome—he couldn’t control it at all. Though it would react to his commands, its actions were always lazy and half-hearted.
When Han Li attempted to check what spells the wolf had mastered, it would play dumb and ignore him. Seeing the utterly human-like look of perfunctoriness in the silver wolf’s eyes, Han Li was left speechless.
He realized that both the yellow and red wolves were merely manifestations of the silver wolf, which was clearly the true artifact spirit of the jade scepter. As for why the silver wolf was so unruly, Han Li guessed it might be because it hadn’t been fully refined.
However, Han Li clearly remembered the surprised expression on Xuan Gu’s face when the old demon saw the silver wolf, even going so far as to release the Golden Lightning Bamboo Arrow. The silver wolf artifact spirit was undoubtedly something special.
So, undiscouraged, Han Li put the jade scepter away for the time being and began organizing the other treasures he had obtained from the Void Sky Hall.
He re-examined the rings given by the old demons, the Lingxi Pendant, the Ice Pearl, and other treasures. Though he found nothing amiss, he didn’t dare keep them on his person and stored them all in his storage pouch.
Only the “Imperial Scale Armor” from Barbarian Tyrant was an exception. Unable to part with its extraordinary defensive capabilities, Han Li decided to continue wearing it close to his body.
As for the “puppet parts fragments,” the small half-bottle of “Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk,” and the tiny root fragment of “Soul Nurturing Wood,” Han Li handled them with equal care.
During this process, Han Li accidentally came across some small five-colored beads. This gave him pause, and he soon remembered their origin—they were the strange remnants left behind after incinerating the five-colored skeleton near the teleportation formation in the South Sky. Given the Bloodjade Spider nearby, that skeleton was most likely another rebellious disciple of Xuan Gu, “Ji Xuan.”
Why the skeleton was five-colored and what connection it had to the Yue Emperor still puzzled Han Li.
Looking at these beads, Han Li inexplicably thought of the Heaven Mending Pill that had flown out of the Void Sky Cauldron. They were the same color, though the Heaven Mending Pill was much larger and shone more brilliantly.
Han Li gazed at the beads in his palm for a long time before solemnly putting them away. Afterward, he confirmed his direction, took out the blood-colored cloak, and flew at full speed. Enveloped in a blood-red light, he shot through the sky like a meteor toward Heavenly Star City.
Though this consumed a great deal of spiritual power, his speed was several times faster than that of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. He needed to return to his cave dwelling in Heavenly Star City before the other cultivators emerged from the Void Sky Hall.
He could abandon everything else, but he absolutely couldn’t leave behind a single Gold Devouring Beetle. He didn’t want these insects falling into the hands of the old demons who might come looking for him later. Who knew if those old demons had some secret technique to breed these strange insects as well?
Moreover, he had already planned to abandon his cave dwelling immediately upon returning to Heavenly Star City and use the city’s teleportation formation to travel to the Outer Star Sea.
There, he would hunt demon beasts to collect demon cores while lying low from the aftermath of the treasure hunt, focusing on breaking through to the mid-Core Formation stage as soon as possible.
After flying like this for a while, Han Li felt his spiritual power depleting significantly and switched back to ordinary flight, holding a mid-grade spirit stone to slowly recover his energy.
Once his spiritual power was mostly restored, he used the blood-colored cloak artifact to continue his journey.
With this method, Han Li’s speed was astonishing. In just a few days, he covered a distance that would normally take half a month.
Along the way, he did encounter other cultivators, but they were all low-level Foundation Establishment or even Qi Condensation cultivators. Han Li ignored them, flying past without a second glance. These cultivators, seeing the speed of his flight, naturally knew they had encountered a Core Formation expert and didn’t dare bother him.
However, as he drew closer to Heavenly Star City, he began encountering more cultivators on the road. Some traveled in groups of several or even a dozen, clearly part of larger factions.
After a month, Han Li saw his first Core Formation cultivator on the road.
But as soon as this cultivator spotted Han Li, they grew extremely wary and quickly flew away, showing no intention of engaging in conversation. One such encounter was understandable, but after meeting two more Core Formation cultivators with the same reaction over the next few days, Han Li sensed something was wrong.
Could it be that something major had happened in the Scattered Star Seas while he was busy retrieving treasures in the Void Sky Hall? Once this thought occurred to him, Han Li could no longer focus solely on his journey.
So, one day, as Han Li flew slowly over the sea while holding a spirit stone, a group of seven or eight cultivators approached from another direction. All were at the Foundation Establishment stage, clearly members of some faction.
Without a word, Han Li transformed into a green streak of light and flew straight toward them.
He made no attempt to conceal his flight, so the cultivators grew restless upon seeing him approach. However, under the scolding of their leader, an elderly man, they all stood still respectfully.
“Esteemed senior, is there something we can assist you with?” the gray-haired but spirited old man asked, bowing before Han Li even reached them. His respectful attitude left no room for criticism.
The green light faded, and Han Li appeared before the group. He glanced at them indifferently and asked calmly, “Where are you cultivators from, and where are you headed?”
“We are disciples of the Three Immortals Sect, under orders from our sect leader to proceed to Heavenly Star City!” the old man replied respectfully.
“Heavenly Star City? I’ve noticed an increase in cultivators heading there recently, and the atmosphere seems tense. What’s going on?” Han Li frowned, pausing for a moment before speaking slowly.
“Heh, it seems the senior has been in seclusion recently and hasn’t heard the news. Not long ago, a major event occurred in Heavenly Star City, and nearly every sect and faction is sending people there now!” The old man relaxed slightly upon hearing this and replied with a smile.
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