Unbeknownst to all of these powers, the fearsome newly-instated Star Palace guest elder wasn't actually meditating and cultivating within a certain secret chamber in Heavenly Star City as was proclaimed. Instead, he was traveling over the ocean countless kilometers away from Heavenly Star City as a streak of azure light.
The amused voice of a small child sounded beside Han Li's ears. "I didn't think that you'd agree to become the Star Palace's guest elder. Even though they offered you so many spirit stones, I thought that you'd be the kind of person to reject them regardless. Aren't you always trying to avoid trouble?"
"I do indeed try to avoid trouble as much as I can, but they're offering me a lot of spirit stones just to accept a false title without having to do any work in return; why wouldn't I accept such an arrangement? Besides, the situation in the Scattered Star Seas has mostly been stabilized; the Star Palace is merely hoping to use my name to intimidate all of the other powers. If I were to agree to join the Star Palace and actually stay there, all of the Star Palace elders would be much more concerned," Han Li replied with a cold smile.
"It's no wonder that they would be concerned; at your current level, it wouldn't be impossible for you to forcibly settle into the Star Palace. As long as you take care of all of the Star Palace elders, then develop a bunch of loyal followers, the Star Palace would be yours in about 200 to 300 years," the small child replied with a faint smile.
"If I had no aspirations of ascending to the Spirit Realm and only wish to establish a sect in the human world, that would indeed be a good option. Otherwise, what would I be doing all those useless things for? It would only hamper my cultivation." Han Li's reply was completely emotionless, as if he were entirely disinterested in such a prospect.
The small child was silent for a moment before heaving a faint sigh. "I greatly admire the firmness of your heart in your pursuit of the Great Dao, Fellow Daoist Han. Even if I were in your shoes, I would be extremely tempted to take over such a powerful force. I wonder if all cultivators who ascended to the Spirit Realm from your human world had such immense willpower."
"I'm no saint; I would be lying if I told you I wasn't tempted in the slightest by the prospect of taking over the Star Palace. However, I can't afford to waste any time on such trivial matters at present. You're a heavenly spirit beast, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, and your lifespan far outstrips mine, so you naturally wouldn't pay any heed to a few short centuries," Han Li replied calmly.
"That's true. However, it's a pity that you were unable to take the Divine Essencefused Mountain with you in the end."
"It's alright, I'll store it at the Star Palace for now. It's not like it's going anywhere, and I can come back for it when I truly need it for my cultivation. The only troubling thing is that I didn't think the mountain would be so troublesome to try and move. I've tried all types of methods, but was still unable to shrink it." Han Li's brows furrowed as he spoke.
"Indeed, you tried everything you could during those few days in that cave, but that mountain was like an indestructible object immune to all treasures and incantation seals. It doesn't appear as if anything exists in the human world that can shrink it." A thoughtful expression also appeared on the small child's face.
"Didn't you mention a powerful spatial treasure that could encompass this entire mountain?" Han Li suddenly asked.
"You're referring to the All-Encompassing Pouch that my true body in the Spirit Realm is carrying, right? Do you have a similar treasure to this? Let me make this clear to you now; a normal spatial treasure is definitely not going to be able to contain this Divine Essencefused Mountain," the small child cautioned.
Han Li was in a brief moment of silent contemplation before replying, "I don't have a complete treasure of this nature, but I do have half of one. I only recalled that I had it a short while ago, and I could perhaps be able to use it to move this mountain."
"Half a treasure?" The small child was a little dumbstruck.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he suddenly patted his storage pouch. Black light flashed, and a strange object immediately appeared before his eyes.
It was that incomplete Black Wind Flag.
This flag was an extremely powerful spatial spirit treasure, so it would naturally have no issues storing that mountain. The only concern was that there was only half of this flag left, so it was no wonder that Han Li was referring to it as half a treasure.
A faint cry of surprise escaped from the small child's lips upon seeing this item, and a ball of azure light immediately flew out from within Han Li's sleeve. The ball of light transformed into the projection of a small child in the blink of an eye, and he waved a hand toward the object that Han Li was holding.
The half of the Black Wind Flag swayed before flying directly toward the small child. The latter caught the flag and began to carefully appraise it.
"This item used to be a spirit treasure, right? Spatial spirit treasure is quite rare, even in the Spirit Realm. But how was this treasure reduced to this state? What a pity." The small child only tossed the flag back to Han Li with a grave expression on his face after examining it for a long while.
"Do you think this treasure can be repaired, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky?" Han Li asked.
"Seeing as this treasure used to be a spirit treasure, it would be very difficult to completely restore it to its former condition. However, if you were to refine it again, it wouldn't be impossible to change it into a spatial treasure of a slightly lower caliber. I recall that there's a spatial treasure known as the Crimson Soul Flag that was slightly similar to this treasure, but if you want to refine that treasure..." The small child's voice suddenly trailed off here.
"What is it?" Han Li asked.
"There are certain secondary materials required to refine this treasure, which won't be a problem for you to obtain with your current status. However, the flag requires the sacrifices of a large number of living souls in order to be refined. The power of the flag will also be directly and completely dependent on the number of living souls sacrificed during the refinement process. It's one of the Spirit Realm's seven sinister treasures, and barely ever is it refined, even in the Spirit Realm. If you want to be able to store the Divine Essencefused Mountain into the flag, you'd need to sacrifice at least several million living souls. As for changing this flag into other types of spatial treasures, that would theoretically be possible, but you wouldn't be able to source the materials required in this world. Only the Crimson Soul Flag is a viable option for you. Otherwise, you won't be able to refine such a treasure in your human world," the small child explained.
Chapter 1224: Attempting a Breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage
"It requires that many living souls to be sacrificed?" Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.
"Hehe, I was already giving you a conservative estimate. If you want to truly unleash the power of the Crimson Soul Flag, you'd require tens of millions of living souls. I was only giving you an estimate of several million as you're only looking to use the flag to store an object. A true Crimson Soul Flag isn't a Divine Spirit Treasure, but it won't be too far away from a normal spirit treasure, either. It's sought after by countless cultivators for its spatial abilities," the small child chuckled.
"Tens of millions of living souls? Unless I demolish an entire large city or island, there's no way I'd be able to gather so many living souls! Wait... maybe I can gather those souls without having to do something so heinous." Han Li firmly shook his head initially, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him.
"Have you found a feasible method, Fellow Daoist Han?" The small child was rather taken aback by Han Li's reaction.
Han Li didn't give an immediate reply to the small child's question. Instead, he patted his storage pouch again, and green light flashed, following which two small green flags appeared in his hands.
Each flag was only several inches in size, but they were shimmering with green light and covered in runes, indicatin
g that they were clearly remarkable treasures.
These were the two Ghost Sifting Banners that he had obtained during his journey to the Great Jin, and one of them had even been taken from Old Devil Qian himself. As for the other one, it had undergone devilfication from injection of devilish Qi, and had been in the possession of the second Nascent Soul.
"What are these?" A faint light flashed through the small child's eyes, but he didn't recognize these flags. It was no wonder that this was the case. During Han Li's journey to the Kunwu Mountains in the Great Jin, the avatar of the Endless Sky Beast hadn't developed intelligence yet, so it naturally wouldn't have seen Han Li obtaining these two treasures. However, it could naturally detect the astonishing soul Qi emanating from the two Ghost Sifting Banners.
"Will I be able to refine the Yin souls on these banners again and use it to create the Crimson Soul Flag?" Han Li asked.
The small child carefully examined the Ghost Sifting Banners in Han Li's hands before replying, "That is indeed possible. However, even though these two treasures aren't of the same caliber as a Crimson Soul Flag, they're still extraordinary items in their own right. If you do that, they would be completely ruined. Furthermore, the souls contained within these banners are nowhere near enough to refine the Crimson Soul Flag."
"It's alright, these two treasures are indeed quite powerful, but I already possess more than one spirit treasure, and they're no longer very useful to me at my current cultivation base. As for the lack of souls contained within these banners, if I had a dozen or so of these banners, that'd be enough, right?" Han Li asked in a meaningful voice as he stroked his chin.
"A dozen or so? I get it now; these are just two banners that are a part of a whole set, right? Does that mean you have even more of them with you?" The small child was rather surprised after arriving at this revelation.
"I don't have any other flags like this at the moment, but I know where the rest can be found. In reality, I know of another type of treasure containing far more souls than these Ghost Sifting Banners. It's a pity that the treasure is currently in the possession of a Deity Transformation Stage demon beast. That's not someone I can mess with at the moment." Another thought occurred to Han Li, and a rather forlorn expression appeared on his face.
He was naturally referring to the Myriad Demon Flag in the possession of that old devil from the Myriad Demon Valley. He had personally experienced the immense might of that flag, and he knew that the demonic souls contained within that flag were of a far greater quantity and quality than those stored within the Ghost Sifting Banners. That treasure would undoubtedly be more suitable for refining the Crimson Soul Flag.
The small child naturally wasn't aware of what treasure Han Li was referring to, and he had no intention of asking about it, either. He merely said in an indifferent voice, "If you can gather enough souls, then I'd be willing to bestow the Crimson Soul Flag's refinement method upon you free of charge. This Divine Essencefused Light is quite interesting, and I'm also curious to see how powerful it would be after you master it. Are you planning to set about gathering those banners as soon as you return to the Heavenly South Region, Fellow Daoist Han?"
"There's no hurry. Everything will have to wait until I reach the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage and completely refine my Glacial Flame Cinque Devils first. After all, the remaining Ghost Sifting Banners are in the possession of a Nascent Soul Stage devilish cultivator as well, so I'll work on improving my cultivation base first. Let's return to the Heavenly South Region for now," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.
"Alright, we'll do as you wish. After we get back, I'll give you the Crimson Soul Flag's refinement method so you can gather all of the secondary materials and won't have to waste time on that later." The small child shrugged nonchalantly before the projection of its body vanished.
Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he accelerated through the air, quickly disappearing into the distance.
Several months later, Han Li returned to the Heavenly South Region using that ancient teleportation formation.
He stowed away the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes guarding the teleportation formation before destroying the formation once again and departing from the cave.
Another two months later, Han Li returned to the Dreamcloud Mountains in the State of Xi. He merely informed Lü Luo of his return through the use of his voice transmission talisman before immediately flying back to the interconnected peaks. At this point in time, Nangong Wan was still in seclusion.
Han Li naturally didn't go to disrupt her cultivation. A few short years of separation was nothing to cultivators like them.
The entire cultivation world in the Heavenly South Region wasn’t even aware that the number one cultivator of their region had departed from the Drifting Cloud Sect at all.
However, Lü Luo heaved a long sigh of relief upon receiving news of Han Li's return. The Drifting Cloud Sect was being held up entirely by Han Li's reputation. Unless three or four more Nascent Soul cultivators appeared in the sect, the Drifting Cloud Sect's status as a super sect would be in question if Han Li weren't around.
As soon as Han Li returned to his cave abode, he deployed a flying sword to send a jade slip to Liu Yu. The jade slip contained a list of secondary materials required to refine the Crimson Soul Flag, and he was requesting for her to try and gather those materials during his period of seclusion.
After that, he entered the secret chamber again and continued to cultivate the final layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art, as well as to refine the Glacial Flame Cinque Devils.
Time passed by like flowing water.
50 years flashed past in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Han Li sensed that Nangong Wan had emerged from seclusion once, and he immediately also temporarily concluded his cultivation to meet her. The two of them then traveled together for half a year.
During their travels, Han Li completely basked himself in his intimate relationship with Nangong Wan and after the two of them returned, they began their bland seclusion again.
Come to think of it, cultivators were rather pitiful beings. On one hand, they possessed powerful abilities and lengthy lifespans far beyond the reach of mortals, but on the other hand, they were like hamsters galloping on a wheel, constantly cultivating prior to the conclusions of their lifespans to try and grasp the extremely infinitesimal chance of attaining immortality.
This lifestyle would be bearable for those who were naturally born with immense willpower, but it was enough to drive some normal cultivators insane.
If they were to continue cultivating, their chances of attaining the Great Dao were impossibly slim anyway, and they really didn't want to spend the rest of their lives in seclusion like this. However, they had already embarked on the path of cultivation and were unwilling to give up on the opportunity to attain immortality, no matter how negligible their chances were.
Furthermore, it was also extremely tempting to progress in one's cultivation base as doing so would further extend their lifespan.
As such, there were two extremes that existed in the cultivation world.
There were some mid-grade cultivators with lowly aptitude and cultivation bases who weren't optimistic about their chances of making further breakthroughs, so they gave up on cultivation altogether. Some of them lived leisurely lives surrounded by concubines and enjoyed themselves until the ends of their lifespans, while others returned to their hometowns, founded an aristocratic family there, and ruled over the place from which they had hailed.
On the other end of the spectrum, there were high-grade cultivators who felt themselves to be much closer to the ultimate objective of attaining immortality, and were unwilling to waste any time. They were completely absorbed in their cultivation, and paid no heed to anything else.
Han Li and Nangong Wan were clearly part of the latter group. One of them was at the late-Nascent Soul Stage while the other was at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, so they stood at the tip of the pyramid
among cultivators of the human world. As long as they could ascend to the Spirit Realm, they really wouldn't be far away from immortality.
As such, even though the two of them loved each other very much, they were able to exercise a lot of self-restraint when it came to indulging in their relationship.
Dual cultivation was useful for advancing one's cultivation base, but the cultivation arts they were using didn't involve dual cultivation as a device of progression, and the improvements in magic power that dual cultivation brought about were quite negligible to them at their current power levels. The two of them were concerned that excessive indulgence in dual cultivation would negatively affect their mindsets and their determination in their pursuit of the Great Dao, so they had to hold back when it came to the physical aspect of their relationship.
Instead, due to their common pursuit of the Great Dao, the two of them had formed a very strong tacit understanding of one another, so even though they were exercising celibacy to a certain extent, the bond between them was still extremely resolute.
Thus, after going into seclusion again, neither of them were quick to come out again.
One day, a thunderclap suddenly erupted amid clear skies in the air above the interconnected peaks. All of the world's origin Qi within a radius of several hundred kilometers around the main peak was suddenly triggered.
Countless fist-sized balls of light of different colors emerged from the ground, the rocks, and the threes, then converged rapidly toward the main peak, creating a shimmering spiritual cloud several hectares in area, putting on a spectacular light show to behold. Han Li's cave abode stood at the very epicenter of this marvelous phenomenon.
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