Always cautious, Han Li still embarked on his journey back to Ningcui Island. He knew all too well that without the aid of formations and puppets, relying solely on himself, Qu Hun, and the two Jadeblood Spiders to wander recklessly through the Outer Star Sea was far too dangerous.
Even if they could easily handle fifth-level demon beasts, if they were targeted by a sixth-level or higher demon beast, death would be inevitable.
Moreover, he estimated that the demon cores he had collected would be more than enough for his second or even third revolution. Hundreds of fifth-level demon cores were worth at least several hundred thousand spirit stones, not to mention the many extremely rare varieties among them, which likely doubled their value.
Han Li was not greedy. Everything he did was to advance a little further on the path of immortality. So, the moment he realized that continuing to lure and kill demon beasts had become perilous, he immediately decided to stop and return.
By now, they had ventured deep enough into the Outer Star Sea. Had he not recorded every unfamiliar island on his sea chart, he might have lost his way back entirely.
The return journey took Han Li several months. Carrying such valuable treasures, he was deeply afraid of encountering powerful demon beasts or the legendary robbers along the way.
Demon beasts were one thing—he could usually evade them by taking detours, as they rarely pursued relentlessly. But if they encountered malicious cultivators, they would certainly not let a lone target like him escape. In that case, not only would he lose the demon cores, but his life would likely be forfeit as well.
Thus, he and Qu Hun remained highly vigilant throughout the journey, immediately hiding or fleeing at the first sign of other cultivators.
Fortunately, they managed to return to Ningcui Island without incident, and Han Li breathed a sigh of relief.
Han Li walked into the dilapidated little street. Aside from two new shopkeepers, everything else remained exactly as it had been when he left.
Ignoring the curious glances from the crowd, he headed straight into the stone teleportation hut.
The Star Palace cultivator inside had been replaced by a kindly-looking middle-aged man. As soon as Han Li and Qu Hun entered, the man smiled and asked, “Fellow Daoists, would you like to teleport?”
…
Han Li collapsed onto the large bed in front of him and fell into a deep sleep.
He had returned to his cave abode on the thirty-ninth floor of Heavenly Star City. Exhausted both physically and mentally, he paid no heed to anything else and slept soundly for several days before waking up refreshed.
This trip to the Outer Star Sea had truly worn him out.
After waking, Han Li strolled around his cave abode. Though he had been away for years, everything felt familiar and comforting.
However, when he checked the insect room, he found the Gold Devouring Beetles had once again formed a massive silver sphere, hanging upside down from the ceiling in a deep slumber. He couldn’t help but shake his head at the sight.
Next, Han Li visited the market, stopping at several shops to purchase every available pill recipe. He then returned to his abode and immersed himself in the busy work of pill refining.
For two full years, Han Li stayed in his cave abode, using the collected recipes to refine a wide variety of pills by combining the demon cores with his accelerated spiritual herbs. The previously troublesome issue of pill resistance was finally no longer a problem.
During this time, he also slowly sold off the unused demon beast materials to small merchants who weren’t permanent residents of Heavenly Star City, earning a substantial amount of spirit stones in return. For the time being, he no longer had to worry about spirit stones.
After completing these tasks, Han Li sealed his cave abode and began preparations for dissipating his cultivation. However, while reorganizing the pills and remaining demon beast materials in his storage pouch, he stumbled upon something that gave him a headache.
These were the large quantities of several-hundred-year-old Rainbow Skirt Grasses he had accelerated while luring demon beasts in the Chaotic Star Sea.
Selling them wouldn’t fetch many spirit stones, and destroying them felt wasteful, given the amount of green liquid he had used to accelerate their growth. Moreover, he had always been curious about why these grasses exerted such a powerful allure over demon beasts when their leaves unfolded and had wanted to study them carefully.
As Han Li looked at the pile of Rainbow Skirt Grasses before him, a strange idea inexplicably surfaced in his mind, growing increasingly persistent and impossible to suppress. This surprised him.
After tilting his head in thought, he suddenly gathered the grasses, brought them to the insect room housing the Gold Devouring Beetles, and casually tossed one several-hundred-year-old Rainbow Skirt Grass inside. However, the slumbering beetles showed no reaction.
Seeing this, Han Li chuckled self-deprecatingly.
But after some hesitation, he still instructed Qu Hun to move the Rainbow Skirt Grasses to a few large coral reefs in the medicine garden.
Soon after, Han Li entered his secret chamber and began carefully dissipating his cultivation according to the method provided by the Triple Revolution Profound Art.
For safety’s sake, Han Li’s dissipation process was extremely slow, taking half a month to gradually reduce his cultivation to the early Foundation Establishment stage before concluding successfully.
He then emerged from seclusion briefly to stabilize his newly reduced cultivation before taking pills to practice the Triple Revolution Profound Art.
During this time, as if guided by some unseen force, Han Li used the green liquid to accelerate another Rainbow Skirt Grass. He tossed it into the insect room just as it began emitting its peculiar aura. Standing outside the insect room, he peered through a small hole, watching intently for a while before feeling somewhat disappointed.
The silver sphere formed by the Gold Devouring Beetles remained motionless, seemingly unchanged. This outcome was both unexpected and unsurprising. After all, Rainbow Skirt Grass didn’t allure all demon beasts, and it was only natural that the highly ranked Gold Devouring Beetles would be immune.
With a light sigh, Han Li decided not to waste any more time or green liquid on these grasses. Instead, he focused on refining Spirit Nurturing Pills, hoping to upgrade his two Jadeblood Spiders, which seemed far more worthwhile.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the silver sphere in the insect room suddenly cracked open!
Hundreds of Gold Devouring Beetles, their eyes glowing red, swarmed toward the Rainbow Skirt Grass emitting its strange aura. In an instant, they devoured it completely, then continued buzzing restlessly, as if agitated.
Han Li was momentarily stunned but soon revealed a hint of delight. It seemed this experiment could continue after all.
In high spirits, Han Li left the insect room and instructed Qu Hun to toss in another Rainbow Skirt Grass at regular intervals. He wanted to see what effects these grasses had on demon beasts to satisfy his curiosity.
Not long after, Han Li entered the secret chamber with all his pills and began closed-door cultivation, sealing himself off from the world.
Han Li had completely abstained from food. Determined to focus solely on his cultivation, he vowed not to leave the chamber until he had restored his power. As for matters outside, he entrusted them to his avatar, Qu Hun, who could handle them remotely, sparing him any worries.
Thus, Han Li took out a bottle of pills from his storage pouch, swallowed one, slowly closed his eyes, and immersed himself in forgetful cultivation.
In the days that followed, aside from daily communication with Qu Hun outside the chamber, Han Li devoted all his energy to refining qi and meditating.
As time passed, Han Li naturally focused entirely on his cultivation. Whenever he felt his spiritual energy depleting, he would casually take a pill and continue cultivating.
Time flew by under such circumstances!
Year after year, the monotonous and tedious cultivation life passed almost imperceptibly, driven by Han Li’s burning desire to form his Golden Core.
Ten years flashed by, and the door to the secret chamber remained unmoved.
Twenty years passed, and the door stayed tightly shut.
Thirty years…
Time flowed on, swift as a shuttle.
On a certain day sixty years later, dark clouds suddenly gathered above Han Li’s cave abode, silver lightning danced wildly, and the weather underwent a drastic change.
Simultaneously, strands of spiritual energy from within a hundred-mile radius frantically converged toward Han Li’s cave abode, forming a visible vortex of spiritual energy.
All cultivators in the vicinity, whether passing by or residing nearby, halted in astonishment or emerged from their abodes to gaze in amazement at the source of the phenomenon.
“Golden Core formation! Someone has formed a Golden Core!” Many cultivators murmured in awe, their expressions a complex mix of emotions—envy, bewilderment, but most of all, extreme admiration…
At the same time, the numerous Golden Core stage and above cultivators in the city, though unable to witness the celestial phenomenon directly, could keenly sense the abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations throughout Heavenly Star City with their powerful spiritual awareness!
Glancing in the direction of Han Li’s cave abode, some remained expressionless, others showed slight excitement, while a few frowned…
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