The figure standing before him was another black-robed "Han Li". Aside from the fact that the color of its robes was different, it was completely identical to Han Li down to the very last detail.
Upon seeing this expression on Han Li's face, "Han Li" also adopted the same expression, making Han Li feel as if he were peering into a mirror.
Han Li was silent for a long while before his brows furrowed as he asked, "You're the Weeping Soul Beast?"
The black-robed "Han Li" put on a bashful smile as he replied, "Mas.... ter, I... I am... Weeping Soul!"
His voice was extremely coarse, but he spoke with the proficiency of an infant.
Han Li had already ascertained this being's identity through his connection with the Weeping Soul Bead, but he was still struck by a sense of shock upon hearing the beast's reply. "Have you taken on a permanent form or have you learned a transformation technique?"
The black-robed Han Li's mouth gaped open upon hearing this, and it seemed to be at a loss for how to reply.
Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a wry smile appeared on his face.
The Weeping Soul Beast had just attained intelligence, but how was it supposed to know everything straight away? He had to inject some knowledge into the beast's mind before it would be able to formulate a reply.
This was a rather difficult task for other cultivators, but it was very simple for Han Li.
He abruptly placed a hand over the top of his own head, following which black light flashed, and a black Nascent Soul that was around an inch in size appeared.
This was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul.
Back when Han Li had recovered his magic power, he had also materialized this second Nascent Soul again. However, this Nascent Soul still only possessed Nascent Soul Stage power, so it wasn't much use for Han Li in battle. As such, Han Li was planning to infuse it into a puppet to help him to look after the cave abode.
Thus, the Nascent Soul shot forth and disappeared into the body of the black-robed Han Li.
Black lightning flashed all over the black-robed Han Li's body, and a painful expression appeared on his face.
Chapter 1329: Minion
Han Li used the second Nascent Soul to inject some information about language and cultivation arts slowly into the Weeping Soul Beast's spiritual sense. Thankfully, he was able to do this with this second Nascent Soul as a medium. Otherwise, no other Deity Transformation cultivator would dare to adopt such an injection method.
After a while, the black-robed Han Li's wooden eyes gradually became clearer, seemingly having attained a lot of knowledge.
Han Li withdrew his hand seal before waving a hand toward the beast.
The second Nascent Soul immediately flew out of the Weeping Soul Beast's, yet the spiritual light shimmering from the former had dimmed significantly, looking as if it had expended a lot of energy during that process.
The Nascent Soul swayed before disappearing into Han Li's body again.
"You understand what I'm asking you now, right?" Han Li asked.
The Weeping Soul Beast blinked, and only after a long while did it reply, "I'm imitating Master's form, but I can transform into other forms as well."
Even though it had attained a lot of knowledge, the Weeping Soul Beast was still like a newborn infant, so it didn't even know how to lie. Furthermore, it had been nurtured by Han Li for a long time, and its attempt to escape from Han Li's control was only an unconscious resistant reaction. After attaining intelligence, it no longer had any intention to resist Han Li, and had become extremely respectful toward him instead.
That was why it had decided to transform into Han Li for its first transformation.
Through his connection with the Weeping Soul Bead, Han Li could roughly glean what the Weeping Soul Beast was thinking, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He opened his mouth, and the Weeping Soul Bead disappeared down his throat as a wisp of black smoke.
"Can you show me your transformation technique?" Han Li was feeling rather curious about the Weeping Soul Beast's abilities.
The black-robed Han Li nodded before letting loose a sharp cry. All of a sudden, it tore apart the black robes as thick long fur sprouted all over its body, At the same, it swelled drastically in size, transforming into a massive black ape around 20 feet tall in the blink of an eye.
Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this.
So its so-called transformation technique was just to switch back to its original form?
Just as a hint of disappointment was welling up in Han Li's heart, the giant ape suddenly let loose a loud harrumph as gusts of Yin winds and countless arcs of black lightning were swept up around it.
Immediately thereafter, its body expanded once again!
The fur all over its body began to turn red as three twisted horns slowly sprouted from above its head. A bulge also appeared on its glabella, following which a crimson demonic eye emerged. At the same time, its face elongated, and its teeth turned into sharp fangs.
It had transformed into a malicious spirit akin to the image on the Weeping Soul Beast's back except it appeared to be even more vicious. Furthermore, its massive body was around 60 to 70 feet tall, and filled up the entire beast room.
What came as even more of a surprise was that three black bone spikes had appeared on the Weeping Soul Beast's back, each of which was around 10 feet in length. There was also black Qi swirling around these spikes, and he could clearly recall that the malicious spirit in the pattern on the Weeping Soul Beast's back didn't possess those spikes.
However, the Deity Transformation Stage ghostly monarch that the beast had devoured was able to manifest similar bones pikes with its hands; could it be that the two were somehow connected?
Just as Han Li was contemplating this notion, the Weeping Soul Beast's body suddenly transformed into a dark cloud before shrinking to become a small black monkey. Immediately thereafter, it jumped onto the black cocoon, tearing it into pieces before feasting on it in large chunks.
Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a faint smile appeared on his face.
It didn't take long for the little monkey to devour the entire massive cocoon, following which it let loose an elated cry and leaped onto Han Li's shoulder, settling there in an intimate manner.
Han Li stroked the Weeping Soul Beast's furry head before stowing it away into his spirit beast bracelet.
After doing all that, he went to the nearby insect room to check on the Gold Devouring Beetles.
These beetles had reached half a foot in length each, and he was very excited to see this.
All of a sudden, he raised a hand, and azure light flashed as that small green vial appeared again.
He looked at the vial for a short while, stroking it silently with his finger.
Come to think of it, this mysterious little vial had become a lot more efficient here in the Spirit Realm.
In the past, it had taken seven days for it to produce a single drop of liquid, but that time had been shortened to three days in the Spirit Realm.
What was most surprising to Han Li was that the phenomenon manifested from the creation of the liquid at night had also been minimized.
In the past, as it basked in the moonlight, all types of strange phenomena would appear, but it only glowed with a faint white light under the moonlight now. Unless one was to inspect it from close quarters, it would be impossible to even identify the fact that it was glowing at all. Even if it didn't manage to catch someone's attention, they would only mistake it for a low-grade treasure anyway.
Han Li discovered this after he recovered his magic power.
It was almost certain that the seven moons in the Spirit Realm as well as the increased abundance of spiritual Qi here were responsible for these changes.
This was naturally good news for Han Li!
Not only was he able to extract green liquid from the vial with increased regularity, it had also become more understated and nondescript. He coul
d even use the small vial in public on some occasions and not be afraid of it being noticed by anyone.
Han Li contemplated the situation for a short while before stowing away the small vial. He also stored the Gold Devouring Beetles and Leopard Kirin Beast into his spirit beast bracelet before exiting the cave abode.
He knew that there were most likely people with their eyes on his plot of Spirit Land, so he naturally wasn't going to leave anything important behind in his cave abode.
Moments later, a streak of azure light emerged from within the five-colored mist, traveling toward Deep Heaven City.
Several days later, the streak of light passed over a massive city wall that was several tens of feet tall, thus arriving in Deep Heaven City.
On this occasion, Han Li was already familiar with this place, so he quickly arrived in front of the massive azure tower.
There weren't that many cultivators making their way in and out of the tower at this point in time, and Han Li strode in in a leisurely manner.
According to what Zhao Wugui had told him, there was no hurry for him to go and report his plot of Spirit Land. Instead, he visited a place in the tower known as the Heavenly Armor Hall first, and was assigned a suit of Dark Azure Armor.
During his battle for the Spirit Land against the man with the Weng surname, his opponent had also worn a suit of this armor, and it was what had buffered the force of Han Li's punch in the concluding stages of their battle.
He then sought out one of the Black Iron Guards within the tower and inquired about the whereabouts of the 56th squad in the third team, and he headed directly over to that location.
After a series of twists and turns, he finally stopped in front of a mundane-looking gate.
Above the gate was a sign that read "C56" in ancient text.
Han Li looked at the shimmering white restriction on the gate before flipping over his palm, following which an azure jade pendant appeared in his hand.
He waved the jade pendant toward the gate, following which a plume of azure light shot forth, and the white restriction on the gate was instantly dispelled.
With his other hand, he gave the gate a casual push, and it opened up quite smoothly.
He made his way through the gate and found himself in a spacious hall. There were some tables and chairs within the hall, as well as two passageways on either side of the hall, seemingly leading to someplace else.
At this moment, there were two cultivators clad in suits of black armor seated next to one another, discussing something in quiet voices.
Both of them immediately turned to Han Li with surprised expressions following his arrival.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the two men, upon which he immediately raised his eyebrows.
What a coincidence!
One of the two men was none other than the green-eyed man with the Zhuo surname who had taken Han Li to the Flying Spirit Palace.
A hint of recognition appeared on his face at the sight of Han Li, following which he hurriedly rose to his feet and extended respectful bow. "Greetings, Senior Han. Could it be that you're our new squad leader?"
"Indeed, I've been assigned the role of leader of the 56th squad. I'll be in your care from now on." Han Li smiled as he tossed his jade pendant casually through the air.
The man's heart jolted as he caught the jade pendant. He carefully inspected the jade pendant before returning it to Han Li in an even more respectful manner.
"Zhuo Chong of the 56th squad pays his respects to the squad leader!"
Seeing as Han Li's identity had been verified, the other man, who was a thin man that appeared to be in his thirties, also hurriedly rose to his feet. "Dongguo Feng pays his respects to the squad leader."
Han Li waved a hand to brush aside the formalities before asking, "Are you two the only ones here?"
"Aside from Daoist Priest Ma and Fairy Xu who aren't here, our other fellow Daoists are all meditating in the silent cultivation chamber. The two of us are here on patrol. Would you like me to alert everyone to your arrival, Senior?" Zhuo Chong asked.
"There's no need to disturb them. I've only just arrived in Deep Heaven City and I'm not too familiar with this place yet, so you can give me an introduction about our squad," Han Li replied with a smile.
"I'll be sure to tell you everything I know, Senior," Zhuo Chong immediately vowed.
During the following period of time, he introduced all of the members of their squad to Han Li, then also elaborated on the patrol missions assigned to their squad.
Just as Han Li was listening to his introduction, a burst of golden light suddenly flashed before rushing into the hall, hurtling directly toward the three of them.
Zhuo Chong and Dongguo Feng glanced at one another at the sight of the golden light, but neither of them did anything. In contrast, Han Li casually made a grabbing motion, and the golden light immediately fell into his grasp as a small golden sword, attached to which was a red jade slip.
Before Han Li had a chance to extricate the jade slip, someone suddenly pushed open the gate of the hall from the outside. At the same time, the refined voice of a man sounded.
"Hehe, was that a messenger sword from our higher-ups? Looks like I'm not too late, after all... Huh? You're..." A graceful Daoist priest strode into the hall before faltering at the sight of Han Li.
"Brother Ma, this is Senior Han; he's been assigned to be our squad leader," Zhuo Chong hurried introduced.
"Senior Han... This junior pays his respects to Senior Han!" A hint of surprise appeared on the Daoist priest's face as he hurried over to Han Li before extending a respectful salute.
"There's no need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Ma. Looks like you've reached the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage, which means you're only one step away from the Deity Transformation Stage. That's very much worthy of celebration!" Han Li carefully appraised the Daoist priest before a warm smile suddenly appeared on his face.
Chapter 1330: Floating Dawn Swamp
"You have a sharp discerning eye, Senior Han. Unfortunately, I've been stuck at this cultivation base for several hundred years already. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to take that final step before my lifespan runs out," the Daoist priest replied with a wry smile.
Han Li gave him a faint smile in response, and didn't say anything. He pulled the red jade slip off the small golden sword before examining its contents with his spiritual sense.
The other three cultivators waited patiently off to the side.
Moments later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and uttered the name of a place.
"Floating Dawn Swamp!"
"What? How could it be that place?!" Zhuo Chong exclaimed upon hearing this. Dongguo Feng and the Daoist priest were also shocked by this development.
"Why? Is there something wrong with that place?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.
"That's an understatement! That place is regularly frequented by beings of other races, and many of our fellow Daoists perish there every year! It's an extremely perilous place," Zhuo Chong explained in a grim voice.
"And we'll be the only squad patrolling this place?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise on his face.
"That most likely won't be the case. The Floating Dawn Swamp is an extremely massive place; even if we fly non-stop, it'll still take us half a month to fly a lap around it. Generally speaking, there would be four or five squads patrolling the place at once," Daoist Priest Ma explained.
"If we're not the only squad there, then we have nothing to complain about. We'll just need to take extra care," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.
"Senior Han, you won't be aware of this, but two years ago, Leader Xuan Guang of the 12th squad was attacked by Shadow Tribe beings in the Floating Dawn Swamp, and he perished on the scene along with two of his companions; Senior Xuan Guang was already a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator at he time!" Dongguo Feng explained with a fearful expression.
"Is that so?" Han Li's expression finally
changed slightly upon hearing this.
Right at this moment, the sound of footsteps rang out from the passageways on either side of the hall as a few more people emerged.
Among them were five men and a woman, two of which were elderly men, two of which appeared to be a middle-aged couple, and the remaining two were a young man who appeared to be in his late teens, as well as a boisterous-looking burly man.
These were clearly the squad members who had been meditating in the silent cultivation chambers, and they had emerged clearly because they had somehow been alerted to the arrival of the messenger sword.
All of them were naturally rather surprised to see Han Li before extending respectful bows toward him following introductions made by Zhuo Chong.
Han Li naturally responded politely in kind.
After sweeping his spiritual sense through these squad members, he took an extra glance at the teenager, who introduced himself as bearing the Ying surname.
This was at the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage, just like Daoist Priest Ma and Zhuo Chong.
Surprisingly, the two with the lowest cultivation bases were the pair of elderly men.
After learning of the fact that they were being deployed to patrol the Floating Dawn Swamp, all of them also became quite concerned.
"Alright, we can't change the orders issues by our higher-ups, so we'll just have to be more careful in the next few years. Let's set off tomorrow; make sure you're all prepared for our journey by then." Han Li issued a few instructions before making his way into one of the passageways.
He then found a silent cultivation chamber for himself and settled in there. Han Li's nonchalant reaction made all of the cultivators present even more concerned. Everyone turned to Zhuo Chong in the end.
The young man who appeared to be in his teens asked, "Brother Zhuo, did you inform Senior Han of the perils of the Floating Dawn Swamp?"
"Of course I did, but it appears that he hasn't really taken me seriously." Zhuo Chong heaved a faint sigh.
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