Moments later, delightful music began to play in the hall, and the beautiful women put on a mesmerizing dance.
Their five-colored dresses fluttered through the air as they danced gracefully around the hall, sending the peculiar fragrance they were emitting spreading to all directions.
Han Li sat still in his chair, seemingly have been completely entranced by these gorgeous dancing figures as he remained silent with his eyes narrowed.
The two crimson-robed figures glanced at Han Li out of the corners of their eyes, and both of them then looked at one another after witnessing Han Li's seemingly intoxicated state.
After a while, the music stopped and the 12 women also stood motionlessly on the spot.
"What do you think of these spirit servant dancers, Fellow Daoist Han? Even though they're not spirit servant guardians, all of them are proficient in hundreds of types of rare dances, and it took me quite a bit of effort to refine them," one of the crimson-robed figures suddenly said with a smile.
"They are indeed quite extraordinary. At the very least, I can't tell them apart from real living beings," Han Li praised in response.
"Hehe, seeing as you like them, I'll give you these 12 spirit servant dancers and 24 spirt servant musicians as a gift," the crimson-robed figure said with a smile.
The other crimson-robed figure then raised a hand before Han Li's surprised eyes, and flicked his fingers in quicks succession toward the dancers and musicians.
Plumes of crimson threads shot for from his palm, instantly puncturing all of the spirit servants.
After the crimson threads were withdrawn, all of the spirit servants fell to the ground, completely motionless, as if they had truly become inanimate objects.
At this moment, the crimson-robed figure made a grabbing motion with his other hand.
All of these spirit servants instantly shrank down to wooden puppets that were only around an inch in size each, then flew onto Han Li's table and arranged themselves in a line.
"I've withdrawn the seals within the bodies of these spirit servants. You'll only have to refine them again with the secret technique that I'm going to give you, and you'll be able to control them," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.
"I can't accept this gift, Senior; I've done nothing to deserve it!" A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he looked at the line of wooden puppets on his table.
"Hehe, they're just a few little toys, so feel free to accept them. Unless, are you unwilling to accept them because you think they're not a worthy present?" The crimson-robed figure's expression darkened slightly.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he cupped his fist in a salute. "In that case, I'll have to accept your kindness, Senior."
Thus, he swept a sleeve over the table, and azure light flashed, following which all of the spirit servant wooden puppets disappeared.
"Haha, you should've accepted them from the start. Here's the spirit infusion secret technique I was referring to earlier; you can take it and have a good look at it tonight. It'll be beneficial to my puppet refinement later on if you could master this secret technique," the crimson-robed figure chuckled with a content nod before raising his hand to send a black bamboo tube flying toward Han Li.
"Thank you, Senior." Seeing as these two were essentially forcing these presents on him, Han Li made no further efforts to turn them down as he made a grabbing motion to catch the object in his grasp.
Chapter 1471: Purpleblood Puppet
After Han Li put away the bamboo tube, Eccentric Di Xue enthusiastically chatted with Han Li for over an hour in the Yinflame Palace before the banquet was over.
Afterwards, with the guidance of the servant behind him, he was led to a quiet side chamber.
Han Li closed the door to the side chamber and immediately took out a set of formation flags with a flip of his hand. Then, he released them into the air, disappearing in a dozen streaks of light.
A barrier of rainbow light suddenly appeared in the room’s walls.
Han Li sighed and sat down cross-legged on a mat before his mind drifted off in thought.
Eccentric Di Xue’s courteous tone was truly out of place considering he was a Body Integration-grade demon monarch. It left Han Li with an odd feeling.
Could it be that the eccentric had spoken to him in that way because assisting in the puppet refinement would be incredibly difficult?
Han Li shook his head, feeling that it was unlikely. Even if Di Xue didn’t do that, Han Li wouldn’t have dared to hold back.
Apart from the mysterious Liu Zu, the beautiful woman surnamed Lan, Mu Qing, and Yun Yao were trying their best to entice him. Mu Qing in particular seemed entirely unwilling to let him contact the white-haired beauty.
It seemed in addition to having him eliminate the infernal river restriction, they had another reason for roping him in, most likely having to do with his Divine Devilbane Lightning.
As thoughts quickly formed in his mind, he began to analyze most matters related to this.
After a long while passed, he sighed and he closed his eyes once more.
Although he didn’t know what the demon monarchs of the earth abyss were conspiring, if he understood what actions he should take, he wouldn’t need to fear for his safety.
Han Li’s eyes flickered and soon after, he shook his sleeve, releasing tens of various styled and colored wood puppets. They circled in front of him as they floated in the air.
Blue light shined from his eyes and he began to examine the puppet.
From a long distance away, he wasn’t able to grasp the marvels of the spirit servant puppets, and he had no trouble pouring his spiritual sense into one of the puppets through his hand.
A short moment later, Han Li wore an odd expression as he tossed the puppet away and took another.
And he did it again, repeatedly. A while later, Han Li examined every one of the puppets.
The spell formations inside the puppets were profound and complex. With his current attainments in spell formations, he wasn’t able to see through their designs, but he was able to leave behind his imprint with ease.
But even Han Li wasn’t completely sure of this. After all, puppet techniques involving spirit servants were knowledge far beyond that of the mortal world.
Fortunately, Di Xue had given all related refinement techniques over to him. So long as he wholeheartedly studied them, he’d eventually come to understand them.
When that time came, he’d fully understand any problems related to them.
But before then, he didn’t need to waste any more thought on them. Furthermore, after careful consideration, he would be protected from any surprises.
With that thought, Han Li swiped his hand past his storage bracelet and produced a faint golden box.
The surface of the box was filled with odd decorative designs. From the faint talisman characters roaming on its surface, its mysteriousness was clear to see.
Han Li opened the box and waved his hand to the puppets floating in the air.
Suddenly, a cloud of azure Qi flew out from the box and wrapped around all the puppets, dragging the puppet back into the box.
Once the box was closed, Han Li flipped his free hand and produced several various-colored talismans.
In a flash, the talismans stuck onto the surface of the box and sealed.
With that done, Han Li felt more at ease and took out the bamboo tube recording the refinement process of spirit servants. He inserted his spiritual sense into it and began to study it in detail, quickly immersing himself in the mysteries of this new technique.
It was only when a few light knocks sounded from his door that he suddenly woke up. He stood up, folding the tube into his sleeve with slight reluctance.
He opened the door to reveal a spirit servant shrouded in grey mist.
This spirit servant couldn't’ speak, but it raised its hand and a blood light burst from its hand. Di Xue’s relaxed voice sounded
out.
“Fellow Daoist, please follow the spirit servant for a meeting at the Blood Refinement Hall. I want to officially discuss the matter of the puppet refinement with you.”
Afterwards, Di Xue’s voice came to a stop and the blood light faded.
“Lead the way,” Han Li bluntly commanded.
The spirit servant bowed and promptly twirled around and gently walked, producing no sound as if nothing were there.
If he hadn’t comprehended Di Xue’s secret puppet techniques the day before, Han Li might’ve found this interesting, but now Han Li glanced at the puppet with seemingly no interest.
After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li appeared at a secret underground area in Bloodflame Palace. When he looked around, he couldn't help but betray his astonishment.
The so-called Blood Refinement Hall was a huge underground hall carved out of crystal. It was over a kilometer wide, and its walls sparkled with white light.
The flowing red lava roiled behind the walls, but the walls were completely stable and the hall was absent of scorching heat.
But what truly surprised Han Li was the three-kilometer-tall puppet standing in the lava underneath the crystal hall.
The giant puppet wore jet-black armor, arms that stretched below the knees, sparkling purple-red flesh, and bowl-sized scales.
But when Han Li looked at its head, he felt his heart tremble.
Not only did the puppet have a single white horn on its head, but it also had a mouthful of lion’s teeth and six blood-red eyes. Two of them were where one would expect but it also had two on either cheek and two on the back of its head.
Each of the blood-red eyes were slowly looking around, each of them giving off an eerie blood-curling glint.
Having studied the huge puppet for a long while, Han Li deeply sighed and said, “This must be Senior’s Purpleblood Puppet. It seems to have some intelligence. Could it be he used a secret technique and fused it with a spirit body?”
A crimson robed figure appeared in the crystal hall and strangely laughed when he saw Han Li’s shocked face. “Hehe, it seems Fellow Daoist had spent the night studying the secret puppet techniques I gave him. That’s right, this Purpleblood Puppet is infused with a spirit. However, it isn’t a weak spirit body like a spirit servant. Rather, it uses a trace of my spiritual sense.”
Han Li wryly smiled and said, “So it was like that. I think its an astonishing puppet. Ordinary spirit bodies wouldn’t be able to control it. With Senior’s immense spiritual sense, even a trace of it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Now that Fellow Daoist Han has seen this puppet, you should know why I’ve had you come to the Bloodflame Palace. I don’t want anything from you apart from having you infuse your Divine Devilbane Lightning with your grey armor. Afterwards, I’ll change the divine lightning in accordance to the talisman formation. During this process, there can’t be any loss of focus or everything will be lost.”
Han Li felt his heart trembled and he readily answered, “When the time comes, I’ll follow your instructions to the best of my abilities!”
Di Xue cheerfully laughed when he heard this and said, “Very good. Don’t worry, Fellow Daoist; I won’t have you work for free. Once the puppet is finished, I’ll hand over a few things to you in addition to the spirit servant refinement method.”
Soon after, Di Xue formed an incantation gesture and chanted a few words.
Suddenly, the huge puppet underneath them began to move. As its six eyes stirred, it formed an incantation gesture with its hands and completely enveloped its body in purple light.
As purple light shined, the lava gradually withdrew, creating a huge purple realm underground.
At that same moment, white light flashed from underneath Han Li and Di Xue and the crystalline floor vanished as if it were an illusion; the two suddenly fell.
Although Han Li was surprised, his wings flapped and slowed his descent.
As for Di Xue, crimson light flashed from his body and steadied himself like a mountain.
Han Li flew quickly and landed on the top of the Purpleblood Puppet. At that moment, one of the blood-red eyes turned and stared at Han Li.
Han Li felt a chill run down his back as his body became sluggish as if an invisible force was covering him.
In the blink of an eye, Han Li’s expression changed and a layer of sweat appeared on his brow.
Fortunately, the three-meter-wide demon eye flashed and looked at something else, returning Han Li to normal.
Han Li deeply sighed and wiped away the sweat on his head. From this experience, he came to view Di Xue’s puppet with greater importance.
The might of this Purpleblood Puppet might even be a fraction greater than that of the old eccentric himself; why else would a mere look force such pressure onto him?
In that moment, he was nearly forced to use his Law Destruction Eyes out of helplessness to resist that fearsome gaze.
But with the support of the Great Development Technique, he had forced himself to endure it. From this, it can be seen that not only was the puppet extremely powerful, but even the power of its spiritual sense was profound.
Dumbstruck, Han Li didn’t dare to linger near the top of the puppets head and quickly descended.
Soon, Han Li arrived in front of the puppet’s chest where Di Xue was waiting.
Han Li swept his gaze past the black armor and felt stunned. He revealed a trace of doubt.
When he arrived near the armor, he saw that its surface was as shiny as a mirror and that a talisman formation appeared to be absent.
‘Could it be that the eccentric...’ Han Li muttered apprehensively.
“Fellow Daoist Han, Because I need to conform with the Divine Devilbane Lightning, I will explain a simple explanation about the talisman formation I want to place on the armor. After this is all done, I will seal the talisman formation’s power and the lightning together. If anything goes wrong, I’ll tell you at the time.”
Chapter 1472: Two Talismans
Han Li was greatly surprised by what Di Xue said. Infusing Divine Devilbane Lightning into a complete formation and infusing lightning during the formation engraving process were two entirely different things.
The former was far easier and the latter required step by step coordination. It would require much attention as one would imagine. Could that be the reason why Di Xue was kind earlier?
Han Li still felt uncertain, but his face remained unchanged and he readily agreed.
Di Xue nodded with a satisfied expression in response to Han Li’s respectful display.
He then flew off several steps to the side of the puppet.
He shook his sleeve and summoned a faint red bottle from his sleeve.
Di Xue raised his hand and flicked the bottle.
Its lid opened, shooting out a ball of purple liquid. It circled once in the air before stopping and shining with a faint light.
Di Xue shrouded himself crimson robes, but his eyes turned grave as his hands formed a chain of mysterious incantation gestures.
A strange voice suddenly sounded from behind Han Li, “Fellow Daoist Han, be careful! The set of talisman formation inscriptions will cause wonders to emerge from the puppet. I’ll explain a bit more in a moment. It’ll depend on you how many mysteries you’ll be able to comprehend. The more you understand, the easier it’ll be to cooperate with me.”
In his alarm, he turned around to find another crimson-robed man. He seemed to be there this entire time, but Han Li hadn’t detected his presence.
Han Li cupped his hand and respectfully said, “Many thanks, Senior, for imparting the talisman formation to me. I will be diligent.”
The crimson-robed man waved his hand, signaling hat Han Li should be paying attention to the actions of the other crimson-robed man.
Han Li looked back over and saw that he was holding a different incantation gesture with one hand. He was chopping his other hand at the ball of purple liquid.
A bang s
ounded and a small fraction of the purple liquid slit off and burst into fist-sized talisman characters, then shooting off towards the huge armor.
In a flash of light, a series of talisman characters disappeared into the armor, but a series of low hums immediately sounded immediately after and the talisman characters reappeared on the armor’s surface.
Seeingly waving his fingers with the weight of a boulder, the talisman characters began to reorganize. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into a three-meter-wide purple outline of the formation.
A few talisman characters repeatedly transformed inside as if they had yet to take shape.
As Han Li was entranced, the crimson-robed man to the side explained, “This talisman formation is called golden engraving. It has no other use than to make the armor more durable, allowing it to withstand attacks from ordinary magic treasures without damage. The formation is divided into three layers. The first layer is...”
As someone with deep attainments in puppet and spell formation techniques, Han Li repeatedly shifted his gaze between the man drawing the formation and one that was giving a lecture. A lecture and demonstration by a Body Integration-grade existence was incredibly rare.
Although Di Xue was only giving a shallow explanation, a few problems that had perplexed Han Li on the topic for ages had suddenly been solved.
In the time it took to finish a meal, Di Xue had finished refining most of the talisman formation and was about to begin solidifying.
The crimson-robed man to the side sullenly said, “Youngster Han, it’s now. You will just have to fuse Divine Devilbane Lightning into the last layer’s formation core.”
Although his voice wasn’t loud, Han Li immediately woke up from his scholarly trance.
He wordlessly flew over and clapped his hands together. Rolls of thunder loudly sounded as bolts of golden lightning were released, causing the nearby scales to shine with golden light.
When the crimson-robed man saw the lightning in Han Li’s side, a trace of astonishment briefly appeared from his eyes.
...
Half a month later, Han Li once again appeared in a secluded room in the Wood Essence Cave.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 827