Han Li extended two fingers, deftly picking up one of the beads and bringing it before his eyes. After gazing at it for a moment, he returned the bead to its place and slowly closed his eyes. In his mind, an image from the jade slip appeared.
A fist-sized orb radiating five-colored light, surrounded by a dozen or so smaller beads floating around it. These beads were identical to the one in Han Li’s hand. The orb shimmering within the five-colored light was familiar to Han Li—it was the Heaven Mending Pill that had flown out of the Void Cauldron. This bizarre image was one of the few illustrations in the jade slip without any accompanying explanation, making it appear particularly mysterious.
When Han Li first glimpsed this image while scanning the jade slip at the Inch Gold Pavilion, he was naturally astounded. This was precisely why he had gone so far as to offer an additional talisman treasure to secure the jade slip from Gu Yu. Otherwise, he would have been content to offer a bottle of pills at most.
Aside from this image, the other unexplained illustrations in the jade slip depicted equally peculiar subjects. Some resembled magical tools or treasures, while others seemed to be demonic beasts or ghostly entities—all things Han Li had never encountered before. Considering that the Heaven Mending Pill was among them, these strange illustrations likely represented objects of extraordinary significance.
Han Li committed these images to memory, thinking that if he ever encountered any of these items in the future, he would know to treat them with the utmost seriousness.
For now, however, Han Li found himself somewhat perplexed as he looked at the beads in the box.
There was no doubt that these five-colored beads were closely related to the Heaven Mending Pill; otherwise, they would not have appeared in the same illustration. Considering that these beads were refined from Ji Xuan’s remains and that Ji Xuan had possessed a Bloodjade Spider, it seemed plausible that this other rebellious disciple of the Profound Bone Demon had also entered the Void Cauldron and obtained a Heaven Mending Pill to consume.
This would explain why his bones had turned five-colored after death and why these beads had been condensed when Han Li burned them with fire.
Based on Han Li’s extensive experience with pill consumption, it was highly likely that the properties of the Heaven Mending Pill had either not been fully refined or were too potent, requiring re-condensation and purification after ingestion.
From this perspective, perhaps these beads were the true form of the Heaven Mending Pill!
Otherwise, why would they appear so prominently in the illustration?
The practice of using a cultivator’s body as a cauldron to nurture pills, though rare in the current world of immortal cultivation, was something Han Li had witnessed firsthand.
The Black Fiend Cult’s “Blood Condensed Five Elements Pill” was one such brutal and domineering method.
However, all of this was merely Han Li’s conjecture. He was not reckless enough to immediately consume the beads.
After some thought, he left the secret room and headed to the insect chamber.
The insect chamber was no longer as simple as it had been in Heavenly Star City. Han Li had expanded it into five stone rooms of varying sizes, two of which were dedicated to nurturing two separate batches of Gold Devouring Beetles.
One batch consisted of tens of thousands of beetles that had demonstrated their prowess in the Void Palace Hall, devouring numerous Ironfire Ants. The other batch was the nearly thousand carefully selected beetles brought from his residence in Heavenly Star City. Han Li had intentionally kept these two batches separate.
Interestingly, perhaps due to consuming too many Ironfire Ants, the tens of thousands of beetles seemed to be evolving and reproducing again, with some already beginning to cannibalize each other. This was an unexpected but pleasant surprise for Han Li.
Of the remaining rooms, one housed his last remaining Bloodjade Spider, another was for the Soul Cry Beast, which spent its days sleeping soundly, and the last contained the Goldthread Silkworms he had collected in the Void Palace Hall.
The Bloodjade Spider needed no further explanation. As for the Soul Cry Beast, although Han Li possessed the Soul Cry Pearl, he felt uneasy about refining it and had temporarily set the matter aside.
After all, the beast appeared to be behaving normally for now.
Han Li’s decision to collect the Goldthread Silkworms had not been impulsive. These demon insects were also listed among the renowned exotic insects, albeit at a very low rank—far below even the Bloodjade Spider, positioned near the bottom of the list. However, few cultivators knew that Goldthread Silkworms were rare secondary evolution demon beasts. Given enough time, they could evolve into a type of flying insect known as the Illusory Flame Moth. This moth was far superior to the Goldthread Silkworm, ranking seventeenth among exotic insects and possessing innate illusory abilities.
The extent of this ability was vaguely described in the records, as these moths were rarely seen even in ancient times, with no detailed accounts available. Still, given their high ranking, even if the descriptions were exaggerated, they were undoubtedly extraordinary.
This was why Han Li had collected these half-dead Goldthread Silkworms, disregarding the strange looks from other old monsters.
However, since Wan Tianming had abandoned them without hesitation, the Goldthread Silkworms were indeed on the brink of death, with very little vitality remaining.
After acquiring them, Han Li had continuously fed them rare spiritual medicines like “Spirit Nurturing Pills,” but he could only barely keep them alive. Their condition continued to deteriorate, leaving Han Li helpless.
Now, an idea occurred to Han Li, and he went straight to the Goldthread Silkworm chamber. Peering through the enchanted window, he frowned at what he saw.
The giant green silkworms lay motionless on the ground like lifeless objects. If not for the faint spiritual energy he could still sense from them, Han Li would have thought they had already perished.
Without hesitation, Han Li entered the room. After circling the insects a few times, he selected a pair of the largest and seemingly most energetic male and female Goldthread Silkworms. He then took out the jade box and fed one five-colored bead to each of them before leaving the chamber.
Han Li’s idea was simple!
Since these insects seemed beyond saving, he might as well use them to test the effects of the beads. Given the renowned reputation of the Heaven Mending Pill, its properties ought to be miraculous.
If the beads were indeed the true Heaven Mending Pills as he suspected, they would not worsen the condition of the Goldthread Silkworms, even if they couldn’t save them.
Of course, if the silkworms showed adverse reactions after consuming the beads, Han Li would naturally disregard the beads entirely.
In the following days, he also attended to the special existence of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, a crucial asset for his future plans to form a Nascent Soul. He needed to care for it with the utmost caution.
In the center of the medicine garden, Han Li designated a small plot of land. He surrounded it with several sets of restriction array flags, sealing it off completely and transforming the nearby ground into a metal-like substance.
Only then did he feel assured enough to transplant the main body of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng there.
As for the ginseng’s incarnation—the white rabbit trapped in a jade box—Han Li had no intention of confining it for long. Even as an incarnation, prolonged confinement could potentially affect the main body.
Han Li brought the jade box, covered in various talismans, to the main body of the spirit ginseng in the medicine garden and removed the talismans.
Before he could even open the lid, a beam of white light shot out of the box, circled once, and vanished into the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng nearby.
Seeing this, Han Li couldn’t help but smile knowingly.
It seemed that after being captured once, the white rabbit incarnation had become timid and fearful.
However, as Han Li gazed at the main body of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, he pondered whether the green liquid from his small bottle could have any miraculous effects on it.
This thought had occurred to him ever since he obtained the spirit ginseng, but with many other uses for the green liquid, this experiment was not urgent.
Moreover, if using the green liquid caused the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng to suddenly gain enhanced abilities, mutate, or even escape from the restrictions, he would regret it immensely.
This was no ordinary plant but a legendary immortal spirit medicine with an incarnation. It was better to err on the side of caution.
With this in mind, Han Li left the spirit ginseng alone after settling it.
As for the newly produced green liquid, Han Li used all of it to accelerate the growth of the Soul Nurturing Wood, one of the three great divine woods. Although it was only a small root cutting, Han Li believed that within a few years, a ten-thousand-year Soul Nurturing Wood would be restored.
Originally, Han Li planned to study the Void Cauldron next to see if there were other ways to open it.
However, a small rib bone he accidentally found in his storage bag piqued his interest. Recalling how this rib of the Profound Bone Demon had remained unscathed under the terrifying Asura Sacred Fire, he knew it was no ordinary object.
Lying on his bed in the bedroom, Han Li held the pure, crystalline object in his hand, examining it with intense curiosity.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage