This object was round and resembled a peculiar silkworm cocoon, emanating an eerie black glow. However, on its surface was a blood-red pattern of a ferocious ghost.
The ghost had a single horn on its head, three eyes, and an exceptionally hideous appearance.
This cocoon was naturally the transformed form of the Soul-Crying Beast. Back when the beast underwent a leap in evolution, it had similarly turned into a black cocoon of this shape. The ghostly pattern on the cocoon was identical to the one on the beast’s back.
Han Li observed the cocoon, stroked his chin, and revealed a hint of delight in his eyes.
On the day of the battle, when he was drawn into the ghostly space, he immediately sensed the dense yin energy permeating the area. Countless malevolent spirits materialized and, led by a towering ghost king, charged straight at him.
Seeing this, Han Li wasted no time in releasing the Soul-Crying Beast.
With its innate ability to devour souls, the beast spewed radiant light from its nostrils, effortlessly swallowing ordinary spirits. Only the ghost king proved troublesome, having cultivated its body to a near-solid state, making it temporarily impervious to the beast’s light.
However, when Han Li used his Wind and Thunder Wings to unexpectedly teleport behind the ghost and struck it with a Divine Exorcism Lightning, the situation changed drastically.
Injured, the ghost could no longer maintain its solidified form and, after a struggle with Han Li, was ultimately sucked in by the Soul-Crying Beast.
Having devoured so many malevolent spirits and a ghost king with power comparable to a Deity Transformation cultivator, the Soul-Crying Beast immediately broke through its evolutionary bottleneck and transformed into this black cocoon.
Fortunately, Han Li had witnessed a similar evolution before, so while surprised, he remained composed.
Without bothering to exterminate all the spirits, he used his Destruction Eye to forcibly tear open the space and escaped with the cocoon.
Now, he placed the giant cocoon in the beast chamber, waiting patiently for its evolution to complete, just as before.
After giving it one last deep look, Han Li left the room and made a round through the medicinal garden.
Rare spiritual plants like the Nine-Curve Spirit Ginseng and Dragon Scale Fruit Tree, even in the Spirit Realm, required his utmost care.
The only missing plant was the carefully cultivated Profound Heavenly Vine.
Back in the human world, once it bore fruit and Han Li harvested it, the entire vine withered and turned to ash.
Even more astonishingly, several cuttings taken from the vine also withered simultaneously, dashing his hopes of reusing them.
Han Li believed that not only were his cuttings destroyed, but any others in existence must have met the same fate.
It seemed the laws of a realm were unique—there could never be two identical Profound Heavenly Vines or two similar sets of natural laws in a single world.
Even Deity Transformation and Void Refinement cultivators in the Spirit Realm could only slightly adapt to these laws and harness the world’s spiritual energy. True mastery of the laws likely belonged only to those at the Body Integration stage, nearing their tribulation.
Or perhaps beings like the True Spirals of Heaven and Earth could wield some control.
This only underscored the heaven-defying nature of Profound Heavenly objects.
Thinking of the Profound Heavenly treasure he had spent centuries obtaining, Han Li felt a surge of excitement.
Due to his ascension and loss of cultivation, he had never had the chance to study it thoroughly.
Now, with time before returning to Tianyuan City, he could finally examine the fruit of the Profound Heavenly Vine.
After setting up all necessary restrictions outside his cave, Han Li entered the secret chamber and sat cross-legged on a green cushion.
With a flip of his hand, a pristine white jade box appeared, its surface densely covered with seven or eight restriction talismans glowing in various colors.
After a moment’s hesitation, Han Li removed the talismans and slowly opened the box.
Inside lay an object several inches long, emitting a faint white light.
He picked it up and examined it closely, running his fingers over its surface.
The object was slender, slightly flattened, and smooth, with a pale yellow hue. One end was blunt, while the other was flat, as if cut by a knife—resembling a small, flattened wooden stick.
It was only half a foot long.
Strangely, its surface was covered in dark green patterns, neither metallic nor wooden in appearance, slightly elastic to the touch, and cool.
This peculiar stick was the fruit Han Li had harvested from the Profound Heavenly Vine.
According to the humanoid puppet that tended it, the fruit had initially been a round, white-glowing object. But after years of nurturing with green liquid, it had inexplicably taken this form.
When Han Li first saw it, he was at a loss for words.
Upon obtaining it, he had briefly examined it and marveled at its oddities. But preoccupied with his ascension, he hadn’t studied it further.
After a moment’s thought, Han Li held the object in one hand and pressed a finger against it, channeling a wisp of cyan spiritual light.
The light flickered as if repelled, scattering without penetrating the surface.
Han Li raised an eyebrow, unsurprised.
This Profound Heavenly object had always rejected spiritual energy, no matter the type.
Pondering further, he tightened his grip, his fingers glowing gold.
Strangely, the object deformed under his grasp like dough but instantly regained its shape when released.
Its elasticity was astonishing.
Han Li’s lips twitched. Suddenly, he spat out a golden thread that circled the object before returning to his mouth.
The “stick” showed no marks, as if the Emerald Swarm Sword’s attack had been an illusion.
This time, Han Li was visibly impressed. Without hesitation, he flicked a finger, releasing a golden lightning arc that struck the stick.
With a soft “puff,” the lightning rebounded, exploding in a corner of the chamber with a thunderous boom that shook the room.
Frowning, Han Li summoned a silver fireball the size of an egg in his other hand and tossed the stick into it.
To his frustration, the fireball scattered into silver flames upon contact, reforming into the Spirit Devouring Firebird a few feet away.
The firebird stared at the Profound Heavenly object in terror, emitting panicked cries.
Han Li’s brow furrowed deeply as he retrieved the stick.
The Spirit Devouring Heavenly Fire, born from the balance of yin and yang, was terrified of this “wooden” object—something he hadn’t anticipated.
Could the Profound Heavenly object’s mysteries exceed his expectations?
Next, Han Li tried flames, extreme cold, wind blades, and other attacks, but the “stick” remained unaffected, like an indestructible lump.
He even placed a few Gold Devouring Beetles on it, but the normally insatiable insects fled in fear, refusing to bite it.
Even his Destruction Eye’s attack proved futile.
Despite his vast abilities, Han Li could only scratch his head in bewilderment.
Unwilling to give up, he channeled his full spiritual power into his eyes, which emitted deep blue light, attempting to peer inside the object.
To his surprise, his vision pierced through, revealing a tiny, faintly glowing white dot—barely noticeable.
Encouraged, Han Li continued observing but found nothing else unusual.
Over the next ten days, he racked his brain for solutions, even setting up intricate arrays in an attempt to refine the object.
Naturally, nothing worked.
By the final night, Han Li’s anxiety faded as he calmly stroked the Profound Heavenly fruit.
It seemed that without fate’s favor, even possessing such a treasure was futile.
Yet, the frustration and helplessness had tempered his mind, elevating his mental state.
Though he hadn’t made progress, he had gained something intangible. Tomorrow, he would return to Tianyuan City.
As his thoughts cleared, his gaze drifted to the dark green patterns on the fruit—patterns he had previously overlooked.
Suddenly, his eyes flashed with a strange expression, as if recalling something unbelievable.
The color and design of these patterns reminded him of another object.
Upon reflection, the patterns on that other item weren’t identical but bore a striking resemblance—70-80% similar.
How had he not noticed this before?
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