Thus, both Han Li and Lei Wanhe were both well aware of how Senior Martial Brother Lin’s primordial spirit met his end!
However, because his initial impression of Han Li was pretty good and he was too lazy to ask about this kind of matter, this fatty allowed the topic to pass somewhat carelessly. On the other hand, Han Li, who understood clearly what was happening, still pretended to be confused because he knew that no matter what his reasons were, if this matter were to spread, he could not escape from the offense of mutilating a cultivator from the same sect. This would be very unfavorable towards him.
But in this way, Han Li actually felt that this Martial Senior Lei was much more pleasant than his own master.
“Martial Nephew’s cave is truly too crude! How can you welcome outsiders in this way? Although we cultivators aren’t too concerned with these things, it still has to be at least barely passable!” For some reason, this Martial Senior Lei didn’t leave this location after finishing up his business; instead, he stood at the entrance to Han Li’s cave and began to slowly evaluate.
Upon hearing this, Han Li bitterly laughed for a moment; he had only used a few days to leisurely construct this cave; how could he find time to be meticulous? However, Han Li thought of another matter after hearing his Martial Senior mention this.
Thus, after laughing briefly, he respectfully said to Lei Wanhe:
“Martial Nephew has a few matters that I want to ask Martial Senior Lei about. Can Martial Senior Lei come into this disciple’s cave and rest for a moment so that this disciple can slowly explain it to Martial Senior Lei? In addition, this disciple has a few mature medicinal herbs; I want to ask Martial Senior to appraise them so that this disciple can use them to refine pills with reassurance.”
“Medicinal ingredients!”
The fatty’s expression originally did not change when he heard that Han Li had some questions for him and wanted him to enter his cave. However, when Han Li mentioned that he had a few old medicinal herbs, a trace of a smile appeared on his face, and he nodded in agreement.
Thus, Han Li invited Lei Wanhe into the hollow, large entrance hall; then, he said he would go and retrieve his spiritual herbs and asked Lei Wanhe to wait for a brief moment. Afterward, he hurried into his storage room and retrieved two six or seven hundred-year-old herbs, then returned to the lobby.
Han Li didn’t carry those few spiritual medicines inside of his storage pouch with him at all times to preserve their medicinal properties over a long period of time.
Using jade boxes or other similar magic tools to store spiritual medicines was only a temporary method; over long periods of time, its medicinal strength would still slowly leach away. Thus, practically every cultivator’s cave had a secret storage room. Only in this way could one guarantee the medicinal properties of the spiritual medicine would not be lost.
However, because Han Li was worried that this Martial Senior Lei’s spiritual sense was extraordinary, thus allowing him to see the items hidden in his storage room as well as the spirit well spring, he had activated the Five Elements Reversal Formation’s spiritual sense blocking magic much earlier.
Now, if this Martial Senior Lei wanted to snoop around, he would most likely be very disappointed at this moment!
That jade slip had made it very clear that breaking off one’s spiritual sense was very simple to implement as an additional ability, so when this ability had been refined into the set of magic tools, it was similar in strength to the complete formation, not weaker than it in the slightest. This was also the only effect in which it was comparable to the complete formation.
After Han Li had set up the large formation, he had once tested the strength of this ability; as expected, his spiritual sense could only spread a few feet around him. There was simply no way for him to further increase the range of his spiritual sense.
As for this Martial Senior Lei, even though he was a Core Formation cultivator and his spiritual sense would inevitably surpass Han Li’s, he most likely would not be able to search beyond the hundred-foot-long entrance hall. This was also the reason why he dared to invite the other person in. Otherwise, the other person could use his spiritual sense to sweep both the secret storage room and the spirit well spring that he had sealed up.
He believed that this Martial Senior Lei Wanhe most likely did not harbor any ill intentions.
However, it would probably have been worse if he hadn’t invited this Martial Senior Lei into his cave at the beginning, which would only serve to increase the fatty’s suspicions. After all, if a Martial Senior were to arrive in front of a junior’s cave but wasn’t invited into the cave, it would truly be somewhat out of the ordinary.
Even if the other person were to overlook it initially, once they thought about it carefully after the fact, wouldn’t it be even more of a disaster?
In addition, there were some things that Han Li actually wanted to ask this fat Martial Senior, and he genuinely wanted to develop some connections with this person. After all, he was a Core Formation cultivator; if Han Li were to build up a positive relationship with this Martial Senior, it would be very beneficial to him in the future.
As Han Li quietly thought this to himself, he held two medicinal boxes in his hand and walked into the entrance hall. Then, in front of Lei Wanhe, he took off the covers of the boxes one by one, asking the other person to perform the so-called identification.
At this time, Lei Wanhe felt very unhappy in his heart.
This was because he had actually sent out his spiritual sense when Han Li went to retrieve the medicinal ingredients, wanting to survey and size up the extent of his cave.
This wasn’t because he had any malicious intentions; rather, it was a subconscious action that he performed as a Core Formation cultivator.
However, his spiritual sense had only left his body a distance of roughly a hundred feet before it could not continue to disperse even an inch; it felt incredibly sluggish as if five hundred kilograms had been placed on his spiritual sense!
This caused Lei Wanhe’s large face to immediately reveal an expression of shock.
It wasn’t that he had never been in circumstances where his spiritual sense was limited. He had experienced these circumstances many times in the caves of cultivators he had good relations with. This meant that there were some restrictions in place that could cut off one’s spiritual sense.
However, his friends were all Core Formation cultivators; the fact that their caves had these kinds of restrictions was not so strange. However, this Martial Nephew was clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and this cave appeared to have been constructed not long ago. For this kind of restriction to appear in this cave was quite strange indeed!
Lei Wanhe did not actually connect the appearance of this restriction with the formation outside of the cave.
This was because to him, it was already very impressive for the large formation outside the cave to have such a strong defense. If it could also be manipulated to break off one’s spiritual sense, wouldn’t it be similar to the great protector formations of some small sects?
How could such a strong restrictive formation appear outside of a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s cave!
This Lei Wanhe most likely never could have imagined that Han Li’s formation was actually the simplified version of the widely known “Five Elements Reversal Formation”! Even if its magic power was only one-tenth that of the original formation, it would not be much worse than a city faction’s great formation!
Thus, when Han Li opened the medicine boxes for him to look at, the fatty’s heart was still pondering this matter. His gaze did not actually immediately go towards the contents of the box. It was as if it didn’t matter whether he looked inside the box or not!
However, when his gaze finally landed upon the two six or seven hundred-year-old medicinal herbs, his originally laid-back attitude immediately disappeared! As for restrictions and spiritual sense, he tossed these to the back of his mind.
&n
bsp; At this time, Lei Wanhe’s eyes existed solely for these two medicinal herbs that released a very pressing Spiritual Qi!
“This disciple bought these two spiritual medicines in the secular world for quite a few spirit stones; however, Martial Nephew’s experience was too shallow, and I had no way of determining the age of the medicine, which is why I never used them. Martial Senior Lei’s arrival today is very timely; you can help Martial Nephew identify them!”
“Mn! ......”
Lei Wanhe didn’t hear what Han Li said at all! He carelessly “Mn”ed a few times before carefully picking up a spiritual medicine and scrutinizing it in detail.
Han Li secretly watched the other person’s expressions very carefully and lightly smiled in his heart. It seemed he had picked the correct spiritual medicines!
He had heard others mention that Core Formation cultivators’ need for spiritual medicine greatly surpassed that of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
After reaching the realm of Core Formation, one mustn't easily say that they wished to turn their Core into a Nascent Soul. It wasn't a matter of simply cultivating one's magic power a layer higher, it was a matter that was beyond difficult.
Thus, taking lots of medicinal pills became the common way for Core Formation cultivators to raise their magic power.
Chapter 235: Han Li’s Intentions
The common medicine pills of this world were of no use to a Core Formation cultivator.
Only medicine pills refined with medicine ingredients that were aged over several hundred years and a few spiritual medicines that were born from Heaven and Earth could increase the speed of their cultivation. Thus, Core Formation cultivators would have to travel far and spend a majority of their time to search and scrape together extremely rare medicinal ingredients.
This was also why when Li Huayuan saw the great amount of spiritual medicines Han Li took out from the forbidden area, he fundamentally thought of every means to immediately accept him as a disciple. He was truly too covetous toward these spiritual medicines of Heaven and Earth!
Actually, even if Li Huayuan hadn’t been the one to bring the group to the forbidden area and it was instead Lei Wanhe or another Core Formation cultivator, it was unlikely they would’ve let a portion of Han Li’s spiritual medicines slip by. In most cases, they would’ve used a similar trick. Li Huayuan, on the other hand, was truly a bit stingy and only made Han Li an in-name disciple!
However, taking medicine pills was only of assistance toward progressing one’s magic power. They still had to seclude themselves in meditation and absorb Spiritual Qi for a time. Bitter and diligent cultivation was the true way to turn Spiritual Qi into one’s own magic power!
Otherwise, if one took medicine pills and didn’t spend time to refine Spiritual Qi afterwards, it would be of no effect and wouldn’t increase one’s magic power in the slightest. After all, external Spiritual Qi and one’s magic power were fundamentally two different things.
There were also ancient records of people who took-heaven defying medicine pills, resulting in their bodies exploding. As a result, wanton use of medicine pill beyond one’s limits could be extremely dangerous.
In addition to increasing magic power, when one encountered a bottleneck, using the spiritual power of the medicine pill to break through was a common action taken by many cultivators; its common use further proved its efficacy.
Cultivators who could break through bottlenecks without drawing the support of medicinal power were far too few in number in the cultivation world. Furthermore, they were all geniuses who appeared only once every hundred years.
Those possessing heavenly spiritual roots were the ones with the greatest aptitude, but when those possessing mutated spiritual roots came across a bottleneck, they had no method to break through without using medicine pills; they were similar to those possessing ordinary spiritual roots in this aspect.
This cultivator Lei Wanhe happened to have come across this sort of bottleneck. Thus, in order to refine supplementary medicine pills, he had gone on a search in the secular world and had just returned.
However on this trip, he didn’t have much luck at all. Apart from two medicinal herbs that were slightly older than four hundred years old, he had ended up empty handed. This caused him to hold a belly full of grievances!
This was also the primary reason why he immediately killed the cultivators from the Thousand Bamboo School when he laid eyes on them. If he hadn’t vented his feelings at that very moment, his mood would likely not have improved for quite a long time. It could only be said that Huang Long and his company were too unfortunate and happened to run into this foul-mooded demon.
Up to this moment, Lei Wanhe’s mood was continuously fluctuating
In his three-hundred-year-long experience as a cultivator, he had never seen such spiritual herbs before. When these two spiritual herbs entered his eyes, he immediately made an accurate judgement of their age. He couldn’t help but become exalted after doing so.
He was currently planning to refine Soul Strengthening Pills but was lacking medicinal herbs that had reached a maturity of five hundred years; thus, he went on this trip that had nearly taken a full year. However, after browsing everywhere, including the State of Yue’s large and small market cities as well as the great medicine stores of the mortal world, he still hadn’t found any medicinal ingredients that satisfied him.
He could only reluctantly take the two mediocre four hundred year-old herbs and make his preparations!
However, he knew in his heart that using these spiritual herbs to refine the Soul Strengthening Pills wouldn’t be enough. Perhaps their medicinal efficacy would be greatly reduced when he created them and wouldn’t be of much assistance to him. However, he truly did not have any appropriate core medicines at hand; could he even refine them?
He continued his search, but he only ended up squandering his time.
Even if a great medicinal ingredient had actually appeared somewhere, it would have long been hastily acquired by a cultivation sect or clan. By the time he arrived, there wouldn’t be a single strand of medicine left. As for the cultivation worlds of nearby countries, looking there would be even more uncertain!
That was why when he heard that this Martial Nephew had medicinal ingredients of a certain maturity, his heart beated. He decided to take a look, entering the incomparably crude and simple cave dwelling.
Actually, Lei Wanhe thought to himself, “How could a Foundation Establishment disciple possibly stumble on good medicinal ingredients? It’s most likely a two or three hundred year-old medicinal herb.”
After all, he had searched for such a long time but could only acquire four hundred year-old medicinal ingredients. This was also because he was a Core Formation Expert; no one dared to compete with him over them.
All of a sudden, this pair of six to seven hundred year-old medicinal herbs before him. This caused him to become absolutely baffled and overly joyous from the surprise!
Thus, although it seemed that his eyes were staring at the two medicinal herbs, appraising it, he was actually already considering how he would ask this Martial Nephew to hand it over to him.
After all, leaving such rare items in this Martial Nephew’s hand would be far too much of a waste! They would reach their greatest potential in the hands of this great cultivator Lei if he refined them into pills.
However, he was also an old fox of many years; he had already thought of a good excuse in the blink of an eye.
He coughed two times, and after reluctantly returning the medicinal herbs to the case, he turned his nearly obscured neck toward Han Li and amiably said, “These two medicinal herbs are truly rarely-seen items of value; they are over six and seven hundred years of age! Martial Nephew must have spilled quite a bit of blood to acquire them!”
“That’s right. This disciple spent quite a bit of strength to acquire them from an auction at a secret store! At that time, there was also a thousand year-old spiritual herb that appeared; un
fortunately, this disciple lacked the power to acquire it. He could only helplessly look on as others bought it. This caused disciple to feel rather regretful!” Han Li replied with half-truths.
“A secret store even had thousand year-old herbs!”
When the fatty heard this, he nearly jumped up from his stone seat!
Hearing Han Li speak of this regretful affair, he felt so much distress. It was as if his heart was being gouged out.
To think that a Core Formation Cultivator who racked his brain on how to find spiritual herbs and spiritual medicines and visited secret stores of all locations and even seven or eight clans, could miss such a fortuitous event such a this? If he had been there, no such treasure would be able to escape his grasp! Even if he had to spend more spirit stones, he absolutely would be willing to!
As he thought of such an extremely rare and great opportunity, he looked at the brat before him who had let it go. Panting with rage, the fatty wanted to boldly hold Han Li’s neck in his hands and interrogate him! He would do this despite clearly knowing that the other party was a Foundation Establishment Disciple who couldn’t afford such an extremely expensive item.
“Fine. A miss is a miss! Perhaps there will be another opportunity in the future!”
The fatty eventually calmed himself down and had no choice but to reluctantly say a few words of comfort toward Han Li. After all, he still planned to acquire his two spiritual herbs! He couldn’t let these herbs slip from his fingers.
“Martial Nephew Han, how do you intend to use these two spiritual herbs? Could it be that you’re thinking of handing it over to the sect’s pill-refining experts? But as your Martial Senior, I must warn you that the pill-refining experts in our Yellow Maple Valley are truly terrible! If you were to deliver such precious items to them, they would absolutely extort you. Your losses would be truly great!” the fatty advised, using the sincere and earnest manner of an elder.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 123