With that in mind, Han Li closed his eyes again and immediately began fortifying his new cultivation base, as well as to recover the huge amount of energy he had lost during his tribulation transcendence.
Due to the fact that he had to expend a lot of magic power and spiritual sense to combat the inner demon, he was forced to use many treasures to help him transcend the tribulation.
The late-Body Integration Stage tribulation was far more fearsome then he had imagined, and he was forced to detonate over 10 top-grade treasures that he had obtained over the years. Even his 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had been damaged as he had pushed them too far.
If it weren't for the fact that his two extreme mountains possessed a resistance toward heavenly lightning and shielded him from the final few waves of lightning strikes, he definitely would've been severely wounded, even if he had still managed to successfully transcend this tribulation.
However, following this late-Body Integration Stage tribulation transcendence, Han Li's confidence in the five extreme mountains was boosted even further, and his determination to refine the remaining three extreme mountains was reaffirmed.
His Grand Ascension Stage tribulation was only going to be even more fearsome than this late-Body Integration Stage tribulation; without the five extreme mountains, he wasn't confident about his chances of success at all.
On top of that, the five extreme mountains were also going to be extremely important for the periodic major heavenly tribulations that would befall him in the future.
After lingering on this final thought for a moment, Han Li completely relaxed and immersed himself in his cultivation. Warm magic power flowed throughout his entire body, and he meditated for around half a month without awakening even once.
On this day, the door of the secret chamber was suddenly opened on its own by a gust of fierce wind, and azure light flashed as Han Li emerged from within, then cast his gaze over the surrounding area.
"We pay our respects to Master!"
"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Brother Han!"
Qi Lingzi, Hai Yuetian, and the Ice Phoenix were all standing guard nearby, and as soon as Han Li emerged, they immediately converged toward him with elation etched on their faces.
"Hehe, without your assistance, I'm not sure I would've made it. Let's continue our conversation in the hall. You two can come along as well," Han Li said to the trio.
The trio naturally had no objections, and they immediately followed Han Li to the top floor of the pagoda.
A short while later, Han Li and the Ice Phoenix had taken a seat in the hall on the top floor, while Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were standing respectfully off to the side.
They seemed to be even more excited than Han Li was about his breakthrough.
With such an incredibly powerful master, no one would dare to look down on them again; even beings with far higher cultivation bases than them would have to treat them with respect.
"Brother Han, I had thought that with my heavenly phoenix bloodline, my aptitude wouldn't be inferior to anyone, but now, I truly don't know what to say. I bet even you didn't anticipate that you would make such incredible progress back when we joined forces to ascend to the Spirit Realm through that spatial node. With your formidable abilities, you're most likely the most powerful being in both the human and demon races below only those two Grand Ascension Stage seniors. I can't help but be a little envious," the Ice Phoenix said in a slightly awestruck manner.
"My progress up to this point was heavily dependent on luck. With your true spirit bloodline and exceptional cultivation aptitude, it's only a matter of time before you reach the same level, so there's certainly no need to be envious of me," Han Li replied with a calm shake of his head.
"I certainly hope so. During my recent cultivation, I can feel that I'm approaching a bottleneck; it looks like I'm also not far away from making a breakthrough," the Ice Phoenix replied with a nod.
"Hehe, then I'll have to congratulate you in advance," Han Li said with a smile.
The Ice Phoenix smiled in response, but gave no further reply.
"Qi Lingzi, has anything happened during my time in seclusion?" Han Li asked.
"Recently, many cultivators have been mobilized in the city, and there are rumors going around, stating that the devilish army is about to launch an all-out attack against the city. Also, following your tribulation transcendence, many of the sects and powers in the city sent congratulatory messages and presents; I've tallied up all of the presents and stored them away for you to inspect when you're ready. By the way, the elders of the city have also sent congratulatory presents, and Senior Jin invited you to go and meet the panel of elders right away after you come out of seclusion; he says that they have something important to discuss with you," Qi Lingzi replied in a respectful voice.
"I'll take a look at all of the presents later. As for Fellow Daoist Jin's invitation, that most likely has something to do with the devilish army; it seems I'll have to make a trip there. Seeing as the matter seems to be quite urgent, I'll head over there right away," Han Li said as he a rose to his feet.
Qi Lingzi and the others were slightly surprised to see Han Li leaving in such a hurry, but they naturally didn't dare to stop him.
Thus, Han Li gave them a slight nod before he flew out of the hall as a streak of azure light.
By the time Han Li arrived at the conference hall for the panel of elders, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were already waiting at the entrance, seemingly having received news of his arrival in advance.
As soon as the three took a seat, the white-robed elderly man immediately offered his congratulations and swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which he was given quite a shock.
Han Li's current powers were as unfathomable as an ocean, and even the white-robed elderly man was completely unable to ascertain his exact cultivation base.
How was this possible? He was a mid-Body Integration cultivator; even if his powers were inferior to those of a late-Body Integration cultivator, there shouldn't be such a massive disparity.
There were only two possible explanations for this, the first of which was that Han Li was using some type of secret technique or treasure to disguise his own cultivation base; the second possibility was that Han Li's magic power had truly become too unfathomable for his spiritual sense to properly detect.
The white-robed elderly man's expression remained unchanged, but he immediately ascertained that the first possibility was quite implausible.
After all, if Han Li had a way to disguise his own cultivation base, then he would've used it back when he was a mid-Body Integration cultivator; why would he do something like this now, when everyone already knew that he was at the late-Body Integration Stage? If it were the latter...
The white-robed elderly man couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, and the tone of his voice unconsciously became even more polite.
Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's expression also remained unchanged, but his astonishment was no less potent than that of the white-robed elderly man. Even though he already had a very high estimate of Han Li's powers, it appeared that he had still underestimated him.
After making some brief small talk, Han Li said, "I've already received the congratulatory presents the two of you have sent to me; allow me to offer my thanks. Now then, I'm sure you've invited me here to discuss an urgent matter, so let's cut straight to the chase."
The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue exchanged a glance before the former said, "In that case, I won't delay any longer either. Following your progression to the late-Body Integration Stage, you are already the most powerful cultivator in the city. Forgive me for being blunt, but what would you estimate your own chances to be if you were to go up against a Sacred Ancestor clone?"
"A Sacred Ancestor clone? That's hard to say. After all, the Sacred Ancestors all possess different powers and abilities. I don't know anything about the Sacred Ancestor clone outside the city, so
I can't say anything definitive about it, but if it's anything like the Sacred Ancestor clones I've faced in the past, then I should have a decent chance of securing victory," Han Li replied after a long pause for contemplation.
Chapter 1996: Heavenly Halberd Talisman
"The Sacred Ancestor clone that's ruling over the devilish army outside has never shown itself, so we don't know much about its powers and abilities. However, according to the information we've managed to gather, it should be no more powerful than the clone that you were pursued by. These two clones both stem from that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, so even if there are some disparities between their abilities, they should all be somewhat connected. Having faced a clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang already, it should be easier for you to face this clone compared to clones of other Sacred Ancestors," the white-robed elderly man said.
"Oh? Are you planning to get me to face this Sacred Ancestor clone, Brother Gu?" Han Li asked in a calm manner, seemingly unsurprised by this arrangement.
"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Han. Under normal circumstances, I definitely wouldn't ask you to take such a huge risk, but the devilish army outside is extremely powerful, and just the number of devilish lords in the army alone is almost twice the number of elders in the city. The other elders and I have racked our brains to try and come up with a strategy, but the Sacred Ancestor clone is going to be more powerful than even the average late-Body Integration cultivator; there really is no good way for us to counter it. If it were to force its way through a weak point in the city's defenses and allow the devilish army to storm into the city, we would be in a dire situation," the white-robed elderly man replied.
Han Li was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "How was the panel of elders initially planning to address this Sacred Ancestor clone? Don't tell me you had no plans at all!"
"What plans could we have other than to rely on our advantage in numbers and our restrictions? Our initial plan was that once the battle commenced, we would send someone to lure the clone into a formation that we had prepared in advance, then trap him in the formation. We wouldn't be able to kill it that way, but at the very least, we'd be able to keep it out of the battle for a while. Unfortunately, the plan sounds simple, but it's actually very difficult to execute, so the chances of success are not very high," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue explained.
"Indeed. All of the Sacred Ancestor clones are extremely cunning; luring one into a formation certainly wouldn't be an easy task," Han Li replied with a solemn nod.
"That's right. Fellow Daoist Jin and I had planned to ask you to lure the Sacred Ancestor clone into the formation, but with your past cultivation base, the plan was too risky for you, so we didn't propose it to you. However, now that you've progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage, there's no need for such concerns. We're not asking you to defeat the Sacred Ancestor clone, Brother Han; all that we ask is that you keep it occupied once the battle begins so it can't attack the city's restrictions. As for the devilish army and devilish lords, our panel of elders will face them. The survival of the city is at stake here, so please don't turn us down, Brother Han," the white-robed elderly man said in an earnest manner.
Han Li pondered this for a moment before replying with a smile, "I agreed to do everything in my power to help the city ward off the devilish army, and I'm certainly not going to eat my words. If all I need to do is hold off the Sacred Ancestor clone, then that should be within my capabilities; leave the Xue Guang clone to me."
The white-robed elderly man was ecstatic to hear this. "Thank you for being so selfless, Brother Han! If we can ward off the devilish army, we'll definitely reward you handsomely for your efforts."
"It's alright, I'm just doing what's expected of me. The fate of the entire human race hinges on this battle, so I'll naturally be giving it my all. If that's everything that needs to be discussed, then I'll be taking my leave now. I only recently completed my breakthrough and still need to consolidate my cultivation base," Han Li said as he rose to his feet.
The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were rather surprised by this, but there was no reason for them to keep Han Li any longer, so they accompanied him out of the hall.
Following Han Li's departure, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's smile faded, and he asked, "Brother Gu, why didn't you try to recruit Fellow Daoist Han to join our city? That was a great opportunity just now."
"Do you think there's any point in doing so? I was holding onto some hope, but as soon as I saw Fellow Daoist Han today, I knew that there was no way he would agree to join any power. With his current powers, how do you think he ranks among all of the late-Body Integration cultivators of our two races?" the white-robed elderly man asked.
Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's heart stirred upon hearing this, and only after pondering the question for a long while did he reply, "I've met all of the late-Body Integration Stage fellow daoists of our two races, but none of them have been unfathomable to me as Fellow Daoist Han was. On top of that, he slew multiple devilish lords at the mid-Body Integration Stage and even faced a Sacred Ancestor clone; judging from all that, I would speculate that Fellow Daoist Han is already the most powerful being among our two races aside from Senior Mo and Senior Ao."
"There you go. With Fellow Daoist Han's powers, why would he bind himself to any power for no reason? Also, what can our Deep Heaven City offer to tempt someone of his powers? I would only risk offending Fellow Daoist Han by trying to recruit him to join our city again, so I naturally decided against it," the white-robed elderly man said with a wry smile.
"That's true. It's incredible to think that someone who was an ordinary guard of our city less than 2,000 years ago has since surpassed us on the path to pursuing the Great Dao," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed in a slightly wistful manner.
"Hehe, life is always unpredictable. Alright, this isn't the time for us to be discussing something like this; let's continue where we left off before. I still think that we should set up those powerful treasures atop the city wall to repress those low-grade devilish beasts..." the white-haired elderly man said in a serious manner.
However, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue immediately shook his head in response. "Those treasures are trump cards that we refined after expending extensive painstaking efforts; we can't use them on devilish beasts. Once we expose them, the devilish army will know what to expect, and their potency will be greatly hampered..."
"But there are simply too many low-grade devilish beasts; if we don't use them..."
Thus, the two of them began to debate the topic in the hall.
Han Li was naturally completely unaware of this, and he immediately flew back to his own abode.
He would have to expend quite a bit of time to truly consolidate his late-Body Integration Stage cultivation base, so the more time he had to cultivate prior to the commencement of the battle, the more he would be able to consolidate his powers. Furthermore, after reaching the late-Body Integration Stage, he was close to attaining full mastery of his Provenance True Devil Arts, and there were also some powerful abilities that he would finally be able to unleash.
However, if he wanted to use these abilities in battle, then he would have to take some time to familiarise himself with them first.
Thus, he had immediately chosen to depart after his conversation with the two elders.
After returning to his abode, Han Li issued a few instructions to Qi Lingzi and the others before entering his secret chamber again.
He sat down with his legs crossed on the futon at the center of the secret chamber, but instead of going into a meditative state, he flipped a hand over to produce a pair of thumb-sized white jade badges that were covered in silver runes.
These were none other than the two outer pages of the Golden Jade Tome that Han Li had obtained back in the human world.
One of the pages contained the refinement method for several types of profound talismans, while the other contained the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.
The pages weren't complete, but
through his own research, Han Li had managed to refine most of the talismans. Now, there was only a Heavenly Halberd Talisman that he was still yet to refine.
This was the final talisman recorded on the outer page, and it was also the only offensive talisman. Apparently, it was incredibly powerful, but unfortunately, it was several times more difficult to study this talisman than the previous ones.
If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had encountered many talisman masters of foreign races and exchanged a lot of ideas and experiences with them, it would be virtually impossible for him to refine this talisman.
Han Li had already mastered the refinement method long ago, but the materials required were quite difficult to find, and there was also an astonishing demand on the level of magic power of the person refining the talisman.
Back when Han Li was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, he didn't possess enough magic power to refine this Heavenly Halberd Talisman, and that had been very frustrating to him.
However, it did make sense. Considering how fearsome the description of this talisman made it out to be, it was most likely quite a renowned talisman even in the True Immortal Realm, so it was only normal that beings of lower realms like himself would find it extremely difficult to refine such a talisman.
Thankfully, he had assigned the task of gathering materials to his disciples, and they had managed to gather all of the materials over the past several centuries.
Now that he was at the late-Body Integration Stage, he possessed sufficient magic power to support the refinement of this talisman, so he was planning to refine it during this period of seclusion.
As for the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra enclosed in the other outer page, that was a body refinement method of the True Immortal Realm that allowed one to refine their physical body like a treasure.
Unfortunately, this secret technique had extremely high demands on one's physical body; Han Li had only been able to just barely cultivate some of the secret technique after cleverly refining the Extreme Essencefused Mountain and some other treasures to become a part of his body.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1152