The person Han Li had in mind was naturally Qi Xiaoyu, with whom he had made an agreement to meet again in a few years. Since Qi Xiaoyu’s array master friend was proficient in the “Inverse Five Elements Formation,” he likely had extensive knowledge of other formations as well. Given that this ancient teleportation formation was also a type of array, perhaps his friend could repair it?
As Han Li pondered this, he grew increasingly intrigued. He calculated the time and realized the agreed-upon meeting date was not far off. However, with tasks from his sect likely to be assigned at any moment, he couldn’t leave immediately to seek him out. It seemed he would have to find another way later.
After some thought, Han Li felt disheartened and no longer had the patience to continue reading the formation books. He left the Tianzhi Pavilion and returned to his cave dwelling.
Back in his cave, Han Li noticed that the spider eggs seemed to have grown slightly larger. It appeared that the Spirit Spring was indeed effective in accelerating their incubation.
Seeing this, Han Li immediately drew a simple Mind Control Formation—a basic method used by cultivators to control demon beast eggs. He then dripped a few drops of his essence blood into the formation and placed the spider eggs inside. Once the formation took effect and the two white eggs had absorbed all the essence blood, he returned them to the Spirit Spring.
Just as Han Li finished this task, he received a transmitted message via a flying talisman, summoning him to the Assembly Hall for an urgent gathering.
A sense of foreboding washed over him—he knew the mission had finally arrived.
…
On the main battlefield between the Seven Sects and the Six Clans, amidst a patch of scattered rocks in the Jin Gu Plains at the border of Yue Kingdom and Cheqi Kingdom, Han Li commanded two Black Dragon Daggers transformed into black beams and several golden blades, relentlessly besieging an early Foundation Establishment disciple of the Ghost Spirit Sect.
Although the opponent was enveloped in rolling black smoke, appearing quite intimidating with faintly howling skulls swirling around him, Han Li quickly found an opening under the storm-like assault of the two sets of magical instruments and sliced him into several pieces.
With practiced ease, Han Li snatched the opponent’s storage pouch and vanished into the vast wilderness.
He had already achieved his goal for the day, and as dusk approached, it was time for the Core Formation experts from both the demonic and righteous paths to emerge for their nightly battles. If he were caught in the crossfire, it would be a truly unjust death!
The mere thought of the battles between Core Formation experts he had witnessed sent shivers down his spine. During one clash between experts from the Hua Dao Wu and the Yu Ling Sect, the entire area within several miles was turned upside down, nearly pulling him in despite being seven or eight miles away.
Since then, he had made it a habit to return early as soon as the sky began to darken, even if it meant returning empty-handed.
A year ago, he had been ordered to escort a shipment of spirit stones to this location along with others. Since then, he had been stationed here, becoming a high-ranking cannon fodder for the Seven Sects. Not only had he participated in several large-scale battles involving thousands of cultivators, but he had also frequently ventured deep into the Jin Gu Plains to engage in skirmishes with scattered enemies.
Strangely enough, after the second major battle between the demonic and righteous paths ended in another stalemate, the two sides had settled into a peculiar pattern of warfare: one large-scale battle per month and daily minor skirmishes.
The large-scale battles involved each side deploying over a thousand cultivators to clash with one another. The minor skirmishes, on the other hand, involved both sides sending out small groups or individual cultivators to hunt each other in the central area of the Jin Gu Plains.
In the large-scale battles, unless both sides were fighting to the death, casualties were minimal. Once protective barriers were activated, it was difficult for either side to inflict significant harm.
For the minor skirmishes, after some initial probing, both sides tacitly agreed to reserve the time from dawn to dusk for Foundation Establishment cultivators to battle. At night, Core Formation experts would take to the field for their own clashes.
In one-on-one battles between Core Formation experts, defeating or even severely injuring an opponent was possible, but killing them was exceedingly difficult. After all, a Core Formation expert fleeing at full speed was astonishingly fast!
As a result, over the past year, both sides had lost hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators, but not a single Core Formation expert had fallen. This left the leaders of both sides frustrated and pained.
As for Qi Refinement cultivators, due to their low spiritual power, they were kept as reserve forces and remained largely intact.
However, the year of large-scale battles and incessant raids and harassment had taken a toll on both the Six Clans and the Seven Sects. While both sides were desperately trying to weaken each other, they were also conserving their strength. Everyone knew that the final decisive battle was drawing near.
Han Li rode his Divine Wind Boat and arrived at his faction’s camp within an hour.
Wooden and stone houses of varying sizes flickered in and out of view within the protective formation, arranged in a chaotic and patternless manner. These were temporary dwellings built by the cultivators stationed here using wood or earth attribute techniques. Of course, the areas were divided according to sect affiliations.
Han Li first returned to his own dwelling, a modest stone house.
After closing the door, he sealed the stone house temporarily with a set of Minor Restriction Array Flags. Then, he emptied the contents of the storage pouch he had acquired that day and began sorting through them.
“Another pile of skulls and small banners! Who besides Ghost Spirit Sect disciples would use these things? They can only be exchanged for some material funds! Hmm, this sword isn’t bad! I’ll keep it as a spare. This…” Han Li muttered to himself as he sifted through the items. He quickly set aside the useful magical instruments and items, while the worthless or unusable things were placed into another storage pouch.
Pocketing this storage pouch, Han Li removed the array flags and left his dwelling. After turning a few corners, he headed toward the most conspicuous house in the area.
This wooden house covered an area of fifty to sixty zhang and was painted golden, shimmering under the setting sun as if made of pure gold.
Han Li pushed the door open without ceremony and entered. The interior was bustling and noisy, with dozens of cultivators setting up stalls and trading goods. Many others were haggling with stall owners or browsing the items on display.
Like an old hand, Han Li quickly made his way to several stalls, converting the contents of his storage pouch into spirit stones. By the time he had sold everything, he had nearly a hundred spirit stones in hand.
Without bothering with anyone else, Han Li headed straight for the largest stall in the room.
This stall was seven to eight zhang long, nearly three to four times the size of other stalls. The stall owner was a portly mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Without any preamble, Han Li tossed the storage pouch containing the spirit stones to the fat man and said bluntly, “Brother Chen, I’m here to exchange for the Dragon Cry Grass. I’ve gathered five hundred spirit stones.”
“Heh, so it’s Brother Han! Impressive, you’ve acquired the spirit stones so quickly. Let me count them!” The fat man, upon seeing Han Li, immediately broke into a smile. He picked up the storage pouch with his plump hand and immersed his consciousness into it to verify the number of spirit stones.
“Excellent, excellent! It really is five hundred spirit stones! Here’s the Dragon Cry Grass. Take good care of it!” Chen the fat man beamed as he pulled out a jade box from his person and handed it to Han Li.
Han Li took the small box, opened the lid to take a quick glance, nodded, and stored it away. Then, with a hopeful tone, he asked, “Any news on the pill formula I asked about last time? If you can get it, I’m willing to offer a better price!”
“Brother, pill formulas are truly rare treasures. Even though some Foundation Establishment cultivators might have them, they guard them jealously. Who would be willing to sell them? Moreover, you’re looking for a pill formula useful for Foundation Establishment—that’s even more difficult. I’ve tried my best, but I really can’t get my hands on one!” Chen the fat man’s expression turned bitter as he complained to Han Li.
Han Li felt disappointed but maintained a calm demeanor. “It’s alright if there aren’t any. Thank you for helping me acquire the two formulas earlier!”
Chen the fat man chuckled. “Those two formulas are practically useless. They’ve been sitting with me for years. I was really surprised when you wanted them! But if you’re planning to take them back for experimentation and improvement, that’s not something ordinary people would dare to do. The time and effort required are immense, and it might take several generations to succeed!”
As he spoke, Chen the fat man grew somewhat sentimental.
Han Li smiled faintly but said nothing.
Since settling here and discovering this temporary trading post in the camp, Han Li had been astonished to find many rare items that were unavailable in ordinary marketplaces. From medicinal herbs to magical instruments and techniques, almost everything could be found here.
The ingredients he lacked for the Spirit Gathering Pill were easily acquired at the trading post. All he needed to do was return and accelerate their growth, and his spiritual power would soon make another leap forward.
Moreover, from the fat man, he had even managed to buy two ancient formulas he had long dreamed of for nearly a thousand spirit stones. This had filled Han Li with ecstatic surprise.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage