Chapter 1526: Reforging the Sacred Mountain

A moment later, Han Li entered the secret chamber, sat cross-legged, and swept his gaze around.

His pupils slightly contracted as he spotted three grayish-white stone blocks in one corner of the chamber.

These were the fragments of the peculiar stone pedestal he had obtained years ago from the underwater cave of the Blue Flood Dragon. Back then, he had used his Gold Devouring Beetles to break them apart, but due to his focus on cultivation, he had not had the chance to deal with them.

To be honest, these stones were incredibly heavy. Han Li had originally planned to refine them into a purely offensive treasure, but later, the Gold Devouring Beetles that had consumed the fragments unexpectedly began to mutate one after another.

This made Han Li hesitate.

The fact that mature Gold Devouring Beetles could undergo further mutation indicated just how rare these stones were. However, mutations in spirit insects were not always beneficial. While most mutations led to advantageous evolutions, some could weaken the insects instead.

At the very least, among the thousand or so mutated Gold Devouring Beetles Han Li possessed, aside from their increased resilience and weight, he had yet to discover any other remarkable abilities.

Moreover, generally speaking, spirit insects that had mutated once were unlikely to undergo a second mutation.

Thus, back then, he had refrained from feeding all his mature Gold Devouring Beetles with these stones, finding it difficult to decide their ultimate use.

But now, after hearing the old man surnamed Jiang speak of the Gold Devouring Beetle King, Han Li became deeply intrigued and was even more reluctant to allow his mature beetles to mutate further. Otherwise, if he were to obtain a proper cultivation method in the future but found his beetles unable to evolve into a king due to mutation, he would surely regret it immensely.

Besides, during this trip, Han Li had conceived a better idea for utilizing these extraordinarily heavy stones.

A flash of blue light appeared in Han Li’s eyes as he raised his arm, revealing a pitch-black palm from his sleeve.

His fingers trembled slightly, and a black glow flickered in his palm as a miniature mountain, several inches in size, emerged.

In the blink of an eye, the mountain expanded to about ten feet in size, hovering ominously in the low air before him.

A golden light flashed across Han Li’s body as the illusory image of a three-headed, six-armed figure appeared behind him. With a low shout, the six arms of the Dharma Form simultaneously reached out toward the stone fragments in the corner.

Had this been years ago, before Han Li had fused the blood of the Kun Peng and the Five-Colored Peacock, he might not have been able to lift these gray-white stones with a mere telekinetic grasp.

But now, not only had his cultivation advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, but his physical strength had also reached new heights due to the two types of true blood.

Thus, with a single pull, one of the stones trembled slightly, causing the entire chamber to shake as it slowly rose into the air and drifted toward Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li slightly curled the fingers of his black palm. Instantly, the Magnetic Divine Mountain before him radiated a gray light, and countless strands of gray mist shot out, tightly wrapping around the approaching stone until it was completely enveloped.

Simultaneously, the six golden arms of the Vajra Dharma Form behind him moved, propelling the gray stone directly toward the black mountain.

At this moment, Han Li’s eyebrows twitched as he chanted an incantation and pointed solemnly at the mountain.

The Magnetic Divine Mountain expanded slightly, and a large hole mysteriously appeared on its surface facing the gray stone, emitting a dazzling gray light.

This was a secret technique Han Li had comprehended after fully refining the mountain into his palm and reaching a certain level of cultivation.

Before cultivating the Hundred Meridians Treasure Refinement Art, or even before leaving the giant island, he would not have been able to achieve this.

With a thunderous boom, the gray-white stone, wrapped in light and propelled by immense force, plunged into the hole in the Magnetic Divine Mountain.

The impact sent the mountain flying several feet backward before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Another deafening thud followed, shaking the chamber’s floor and walls as the mountain sank a foot deep into the ground.

Despite the Magnetic Divine Mountain’s considerable weight, it could not withstand the extraordinary heaviness of the stone in its normal state.

Fortunately, Han Li had reinforced the entire chamber with formations beforehand, preventing it from collapsing.

Han Li now gazed at the hole in the Magnetic Mountain with a peculiar expression. He formed a hand seal with both hands and opened his mouth, spitting out a silver fireball.

The fireball spun in midair, transforming into a fiery bird that circled once before diving into the gaping hole of the Magnetic Divine Mountain under Han Li’s guidance.

Without hesitation, Han Li flicked his wrist, and his storage bracelet detached, flying into the air.

With a flash of spiritual light, various bottles, jars, wooden boxes, and other containers were swept out by a radiant mist, landing neatly on the ground before him.

Han Li’s divine sense swept over the items, causing their lids to open on their own, revealing an assortment of rare auxiliary refining materials.

Most of these had been acquired in Sky Abyss City in exchange for large quantities of spirit stones and medicinal herbs, while the rest had been gathered in the human world and during his brief stay with the Sky Peng Clan.

Han Li’s eyes scanned the materials, quickly identifying the ones he needed.

With a wave of his sleeve, a blue mist swept out, lifting over a dozen prepared or semi-prepared materials from their containers and sending them into the mountain’s opening.

A melodious cry echoed from within, followed by a flash of silver light and an intense wave of scorching heat that distorted the surrounding air.

Han Li’s expression turned solemn as he raised a hand, gray light glowing in his palm.

In response, the Magnetic Divine Mountain shimmered with gray radiance, and the hole on its surface slowly sealed shut, the searing heat vanishing instantly.

Han Li had actually used the Magnetic Mountain itself as a furnace, intending to refine the gray-white stone into it with the Devouring Spirit Firebird.

This way, not only would the indestructible nature of the stones enhance the mountain’s defensive capabilities, but their immense weight alone would turn it into a devastating weapon.

Of course, even with the power of the Devouring Spirit Heavenly Flame, melting these stones would not be easy. Otherwise, Han Li would have placed all three stones inside at once, rather than just one-third.

Even so, fully integrating the stone fragments into the Magnetic Divine Mountain would take thirty to forty years, and refining all three would require at least a century.

Such a lengthy process would be impractical if Han Li had to rely solely on his Nascent Soul’s fire. But with the Devouring Spirit Heavenly Flame handling the task automatically, it was no longer a concern.

At most, he would simply refrain from using the Magnetic Divine Mountain for the next hundred years.

With these thoughts in mind, Han Li muttered an incantation and sent a spell into the mountain. The six golden palms of the Dharma Form behind him also reached out, grasping and releasing toward the mountain.

The mountain shrank rapidly to about a foot in size before drifting to a corner of the chamber and settling down.

Until the stone inside was fully refined, Han Li could not reclaim the mountain into his body and had to leave it aside for now.

Next, Han Li pondered briefly before reaching out toward the floating storage bracelet. A white jade box flew out, landing steadily in his palm.

With a flick of his other hand, the lid of the box flew open, revealing a thumb-sized crimson seed and releasing an intense medicinal fragrance.

This was the seed of the Green Luo Fruit he had obtained from the Sky Peng Clan!

With this seed and the aid of the small vial, he could easily cultivate a genuine Green Luo Fruit and refine the legendary “Heavenly Luo Pill.” If this pill could enhance the efficacy of the Black Flame Pill when taken together, his chances of breaking through his bottleneck would increase significantly.

Han Li pinched the seed between two fingers, examining it closely with narrowed eyes before releasing his divine sense beyond the chamber.

Moments later, the glowing green barrier around the chamber rippled, and a streak of black light shot in—his second Nascent Soul.

Without a word, Han Li placed the seed back into the jade box and tossed it over.

The second Nascent Soul deftly caught the box with a small hand before vanishing back into the barrier.

Having settled these two pressing matters, Han Li exhaled deeply and slowly closed his eyes.

Next, he would study the newly acquired sword art to determine whether the first set, the “Spring Dawn Sword Array,” was truly as formidable as rumored. Based on his findings, he would decide whether to abandon the Great Geng Sword Array and refine his seventy-two Emerald Swarm Swords.

The “Spring Dawn Sword Array” was designed for mid-to-late Nascent Soul cultivators, and its complexity far surpassed that of the Great Geng Sword Array.

Time passed slowly. Three months later, Han Li’s eyes flickered open as he emerged from meditation.

Yet his expression was peculiar, filled with hesitation.

“So that’s what ‘Spring Dawn’ means. No wonder it had such an odd name—it’s actually a sword array primarily based on illusions. This is truly unexpected. If that’s the case, the array’s power would depend on the target’s resistance to illusions, both in terms of divine sense and cultivation techniques. How am I supposed to judge that?” Han Li frowned, his face shifting between uncertainty and contemplation.

He remained silent for the time it takes to eat a meal, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

Eventually, his expression hardened with resolve.

Given Qing Yuanzi’s genius in creating the Qing Yuan Sword Art, if he had chosen to abandon the Great Geng Sword Array in favor of an illusion-based sword array, the “Spring Dawn Sword Array” must possess unique advantages. While the Great Geng Sword Array was more than sufficient against opponents of the same level, it would struggle against Soul Formation cultivators.

More importantly, the subsequent “Green Coil Sword Array” also required refined flying swords to deploy.

Thus, after careful consideration, Han Li had no choice but to reluctantly abandon the Great Geng Sword Array.

As for forging an entirely new set of flying swords, Han Li dismissed the thought outright.

After all, more swords did not necessarily mean better results—having enough to form the array was sufficient.

An excessive number would only slow down their refinement.

Han Li had no intention of letting his lifebound treasures become mediocre in the end.