First of all, this object absolutely couldn’t truly be a rib from the old demon Xuan Gu. Its current form was merely a method the old demon used to conceal its true nature. Not to mention its special material, just the faint spiritual energy emanating from it indicated that even if it wasn’t some kind of magical treasure, it was certainly an item that had been refined by someone. However, whether Han Li probed it with his spiritual sense or slowly infused spiritual power into it, the rib showed no reaction at all.
Frowning, Han Li immediately recalled that the old demon practiced the path of demons and ghosts. It was likely that this object required some Yin soul energy to activate.
Although Han Li himself didn’t possess Yin soul power, the Soul Gathering Bowl he had obtained in his early years was still on him. Although the Yin souls within the bowl had long been completely exhausted from crafting puppets, the residual Yin energy inside the bowl was still considerable.
So, he pressed one hand against his storage pouch, and a black circular bowl appeared in his hand.
Han Li casually glanced at the Soul Gathering Bowl, and the five fingers holding it suddenly flashed with blue light. Wisps of Yin energy were drawn into his body through his palm and then slowly transmitted to his other hand holding the bone fragment.
A mass of icy black Qi gradually took shape and soon enveloped the rib.
Han Li watched this scene without blinking.
The rib finally reacted. Its originally pure white and smooth surface began to turn black, and before long, the entire mass of Yin energy was absorbed into the bone, turning it half-white and half-black.
Seeing these changes, Han Li’s face showed no unusual expression; instead, he inadvertently raised an eyebrow. After closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, Han Li sat up straight on the bed. The hand holding the Soul Gathering Bowl erupted with even more dazzling blue light, while faint ghostly wails could be heard from his other hand as an even larger mass of black Yin energy took shape.
The rib, enveloped within, greedily devoured the Yin energy without hesitation. After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the continuous absorption of Yin energy gradually turned the object completely jet black.
Suddenly, a low hum emanated from the object, followed by threads of dark light radiating out. The room was instantly filled with an eerie, sinister aura.
Hesitantly, Han Li put away the Soul Gathering Bowl while loosening the grip of his other hand. The rib floated out of his hand, and the Yin energy enveloping it dissipated completely under the impact of the black light.
Watching this bizarre scene, Han Li’s eyes flickered incessantly.
However, aside from the continuous low hum in the air and the persistent flickering of black light, the black bone fragment showed no further changes.
After a while, Han Li’s expression shifted, and he suddenly beckoned toward the air.
With a “whoosh,” the rib was sucked back into his hand, where he held it steadily. Han Li then stared intently at the object, sending his spiritual sense into it. This time, there was no longer the previous sensation of being unable to penetrate it. His spiritual sense smoothly entered the interior of the rib.
As a result, after a flash of black light, large ancient characters and images appeared before his eyes one after another.
“A jade slip,” Han Li murmured to himself, not showing excessive surprise.
He had previously speculated that this object might be a specially made jade slip. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he began to carefully study it character by character.
“Profound Yin Great Method!”
After reading the first half of the somewhat familiar text, Han Li was completely certain of the content of the mantra. Although he had never practiced this renowned demonic path technique, the “Blood Refinement Divine Light” cultivated by his avatar was entirely derived from this method, so there were naturally many similarities in content. Thus, after reading the first part of the technique, he reached this conclusion based on the many cultivation methods that were largely identical with minor differences.
And this rib-like jade slip was the so-called “Profound Yin Sutra.”
To be honest, Han Li felt somewhat disappointed. Since he was already cultivating the Green Origin Sword Art, even though the Profound Yin Great Method was exceptionally domineering and more powerful, he wouldn’t foolishly switch to cultivating this technique.
However, he didn’t immediately withdraw his spiritual sense from the Profound Yin Sutra. Instead, he continued reading sentence by sentence because the latter half of the Profound Yin Sutra recorded some demonic path secret techniques, not all of which were impossible for him to cultivate.
As one incredible secret technique after another unfolded before him, Han Li’s expression shifted from initial disappointment to pleasant surprise, gradually mixed with a trace of solemnity, until finally, his entire face showed slight excitement.
The power of these secret techniques was truly unimaginable. He was confident that if he could cultivate the Green Origin Sword Art to the ninth layer and combine it with the secret techniques from the Profound Yin Sutra that he could practice, although he still wouldn’t be a match for Nascent Soul stage cultivators, he would at least have a chance to escape with his life. If he encountered old monsters like Ji Yin, he would no longer have to helplessly await death without any means to respond!
Among these secret techniques, Patriarch Ji Yin’s “Celestial Capital Corpse Fire” was prominently included. As for the “Celestial Capital Demon Corpse,” it was merely a refined corpse produced as a byproduct of cultivating this technique.
Unfortunately, this secret technique required the Profound Yin Great Method as a foundation and cultivation at the Nascent Soul stage or higher to practice. Otherwise, he would have been interested in trying it, especially since he had witnessed the power of the Celestial Capital Corpse Fire firsthand—it was indeed incredibly fierce.
Even so, the weaknesses of the Celestial Capital Corpse Fire were clearly revealed in the cultivation mantra.
When Han Li saw this, he inwardly sneered. If Ji Yin used this demonic fire against him again, he would definitely be able to shock his opponent!
After reading a bit longer, Han Li memorized two or three secret techniques that caught his interest and could be cultivated at the Core Formation stage, planning to start practicing them when he had time later.
Carefully storing the small rib fragment containing the Profound Yin Sutra, Han Li was very satisfied with this gain, though he still felt a bit of barely suppressed excitement.
After some thought, he touched the Void Heaven Cauldron in his storage pouch, and his curiosity burned fiercely.
He immediately set off for the secret room of his cave abode.
If he could open the Void Heaven Cauldron in one go, not to mention the Heaven Mending Pill, even acquiring a few more ancient treasures would significantly boost his strength.
With this in mind, aside from his daily routine of checking on the Gold Silk Silkworms, Han Li spent his days tirelessly studying the small cauldron, frequently consulting various ancient texts to see if he could find any clues on how to open it.
Unfortunately, half a month later, after exhausting all his ideas and methods, Han Li had to admit that the Void Heaven Cauldron, renowned as the number one secret treasure of the Chaotic Star Sea, was indeed not something he, a Core Formation stage cultivator, could open.
This cauldron was truly remarkable! Not to mention exposure to fire and water, Han Li had tried all his magical treasures and ancient treasures, yet couldn’t leave even the slightest mark on its walls. Even the newly restored sliver of Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning from the Green Bamboo Cloud-Swarm Sword had no effect when struck against the cauldron.
As for other unimaginable methods to open the cauldron, Han Li tried them one by one, but it was all in vain.
In the end, Han Li had no choice but to reluctantly store the small cauldron back into his storage pouch.
As for the Dry Blue Pearl, which Han Li suspected was closely related to opening the Void Heaven Cauldron, he didn’t dare to touch it lightly. The Dry Blue Ice Flame was something even Nascent Soul stage old monsters feared immensely. Before reaching late Core Formation stage or forming a Nascent Soul, he had no intention of attempting to refine or control this pearl. Han Li still had this much self-awareness.
During this period, the two Gold Silk Silkworms that had ingested the five-colored pellets showed no significant changes, similar to before. It seemed the medicinal properties hadn’t yet taken effect. On the other hand, in another insect room, tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles had finally begun large-scale cannibalism. It appeared that new Gold Devouring Beetle eggs were about to be born, which delighted Han Li immensely.
Now, his next task was to refine the seventy-two Green Bamboo Cloud-Swarm Swords once more.
He had no intention of wasting any of the Refining Crystal obtained on the Molten Rock Road, planning to gradually refine it into the flying swords. This way, although he wouldn’t go so far as to claim his Green Bamboo Cloud-Swarm Swords were indestructible, there would be very few things in this world capable of damaging them. This would be greatly beneficial for his future battles against high-level cultivators.
However, refining the Refining Crystal was an extremely arduous task.
Given its special material, although ancient texts didn’t elaborate much, Han Li estimated it would take at least half a year to slowly refine the crystal with the aid of a formation. If his spiritual power were to fail midway and he couldn’t sustain the process, the crystal would be completely ruined.
This was no joking matter!
If he were still at the early Core Formation stage, even with various spiritual medicines to assist him, he wouldn’t have risked attempting it. But now, with the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Liquid—though he had used a portion earlier—the remainder ensured he wouldn’t have to worry about insufficient spiritual power.
Moreover, considering the dangers he would likely face while venturing out to sea to hunt demons, having more powerful magical treasures would undoubtedly be better.
Thus, reforging the flying swords was something Han Li was determined to do.
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