After Han Li reached mid Core Formation stage, he secluded himself in a cultivation chamber for over twenty more years before emerging. During this period, he hadn’t consumed all of his spiritual medicine, leaving a small portion still stored in his pouch.
This wasn’t due to impatience or eagerness to exit before fully refining the pills. Rather, as he approached late Core Formation stage, he encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation. Without breaking through this barrier, even consuming more spiritual pills would yield little progress in his cultivation.
Methods to break through such bottlenecks depend on individual fate or opportunity and the characteristics of one’s cultivation technique, with no fixed rules. Past cultivators at this stage had breakthroughs during meditation, while traveling through landscapes that inspired realizations, or in life-and-death struggles where they unexpectedly advanced.
Thus, Han Li saw no point in wasting time in seclusion and decided to search for the rumored Companion Beast Grass. He also hoped that during his travels, he might coincidentally break through the bottleneck.
Uncertain of how long this would take, Han Li dared not leave the Nine Twist Spirit Ginseng unattended in his cave abode. He planned to abandon his cave dwelling on this misty island.
As for the Spirit Ginseng’s need for periodic nourishment from earth and stone qi—this had been troublesome before Han Li reached mid Core Formation. But now, he could extract essence from the island’s soil and rocks to infuse into the ginseng, ensuring its well-being.
Han Li was currently flying toward the market island the young woman had mentioned. Only in such a place, frequented by many cultivators, could he hope to obtain news of an eighth-grade demon beast. He would then find a way to acquire the Companion Beast Grass. He held no illusions about directly purchasing such a spiritual herb at the market; such good fortune was unlikely.
His flying speed was extremely fast. Though the young woman said it would take half a month to reach the market island, Han Li could make the journey in just a few days at full speed.
Two days later, as Han Li sped over the ocean, a red streak of light suddenly shot diagonally from afar, pursued closely by several gray-white clouds.
Seeing this, Han Li raised an eyebrow. With a thought, he muttered an almost inaudible incantation. A series of faint, rapid cracking sounds came from his body as a blue glow surfaced on his face.
Moments later, Han Li’s figure grew several inches taller. The blue light dispersed, revealing a slightly yellowish, unfamiliar face.
This was the result of “Transformation Art,” a secret technique from the Profound Yin Manual that Han Li had practiced during seclusion. It allowed him to stretch or shrink body parts at will, control muscle relaxation, and instantly change skin color—making it a top-tier disguise technique.
Han Li estimated it was on par with other legendary disguise arts. Even cultivators with higher spiritual sense would find it hard to see through, hence its inclusion in the Profound Yin Manual.
The only drawback was that once activated, he could use at most seventy percent of his magic power. Exceeding this during combat would cause the transformation to fail, reverting him to his original appearance.
But Han Li didn’t mind. When hiding his identity, he usually didn’t want to reveal his full strength anyway, so the limitation wasn’t a big issue.
Just as Han Li completed his transformation, the red streak noticed him and rushed over desperately like a drowning man grasping at straws.
Seeing this, Han Li stopped and sighed lightly. It wasn’t the approaching trouble that made him sigh, but the fact that the fleeing cultivator, without considering whether Han Li could help or not, immediately tried to drag him into the mess—showing poor character.
As for the pursuing gray-white clouds, they were clearly just a few third or fourth-grade demon beasts.
Having been deeply moved by Gongsun Xing’s filial piety earlier, Han Li now felt that human nature was truly complex and unpredictable.
Indeed, you can’t generalize!
“Fellow Daoist, save me! I, Huang Mingli, will richly reward you!” shouted a thin, shifty-eyed old man within the red light, pleading in panic before even reaching Han Li.
Quick-witted, though not yet clear on Han Li’s cultivation level, he sensed stability in Han Li’s demeanor and knew his life might be saved.
Han Li remained calm. Only when the old man flew closer did he lazily raise a hand and release five faint blue sword beams, intercepting and engaging the five pursuing demon beasts.
Relieved, the old man exhaled deeply and joined the fight with a fiery ring magic tool.
Han Li glanced sideways at him. The old man was at false core stage, nearing Core Formation—no wonder he’d survived attacks from several third and fourth-grade demon beasts.
Han Li directed his sword beams to gradually trap the beasts, not rushing to kill them and reveal his strength. Even so, the old man was encouraged, fiercely attacking the cornered beasts with his fire tool.
After a while, Han Li decided it was time and swiftly dispatched the demons with his Azure Essence Sword beams.
“Thank you, Senior, for saving me! Are you heading to Nanli Island market?” The old man, now sure Han Li was a Core Formation cultivator, approached respectfully with a flattering smile.
“Yes, I intended to trade some items there,” Han Li replied neutrally.
“Then Senior needn’t go. It’d be a wasted trip,” Huang Mingli said with a bitter smile, blinking his small eyes.
“What happened?” Han Li asked, surprised.
“Days ago, low-grade demon beasts accidentally discovered Nanli Island’s market. Though most were killed on spot, the escaped ones returned with many fourth and fifth-grade high-level beasts the next day. Many cultivators were wounded, forcing everyone to break out separately. I was one of them. I just didn’t expect to run into this group of beasts midway,” the old man explained cautiously.
“So, I’ve come all this way for nothing?” Han Li frowned, his expression darkening.
“Well… if Senior truly wishes to trade, I can suggest another place. They deal only in rare items, accessible only to Foundation Establishment cultivators and above. But it requires a referral, and the location changes often. I happen to have referral privileges. To repay your kindness, I can guide you there,” Huang Mingli said mysteriously, revealing a mouth of yellow teeth.
“A place like that… are you referring to a secret market?” Han Li asked thoughtfully after a pause.
“Senior flatters me. These days, with demon beasts around, all markets operate in fear. Once discovered, the outcome is the same,” the old man explained awkwardly.
“True enough,” Han Li chuckled dryly. “How far is this place from here?”
“If we travel diligently, we can reach it in over half a month—just in time for the market opening,” Huang Mingli replied without hesitation, seeming very familiar with it.
“Very well, I’ll go with you,” Han Li agreed after a brief consideration.
“Excellent! Ah, Senior, wait a moment!” Instead of leading the way immediately, Huang Mingli blinked and suddenly remembered something.
Apologizing, he dove down toward the demon beast corpses floating on the sea.
Han Li was briefly puzzled, then understood and smiled faintly.
Soon, the old man skillfully dismembered the beasts, stored the parts in his pouch, and flew back elated.
“Forgive my laughable behavior, Senior. These beasts are nothing to you, but they’re a great gain for me,” Huang Mingli said sheepishly, since Han Li had killed them.
“It’s fine. I have no use for them. Let’s go,” Han Li said indifferently, urging them onward.
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