Daoist Xie seemed to have identified something during his inspection, and he asked, "Are you preparing to make a breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage, Fellow Daoist Han?"
Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this question, and he replied, "Indeed."
"You're currently in peak condition in all areas, so your chances of making a successful breakthrough should at least exceed 50%; such a high probability is very rare even in the True Immortal Realm," Daoist Xie said.
"That's very reassuring to hear. My breakthrough is going to cause quite a commotion, so it'll most likely attract some bystanders; please keep a lookout for me, Brother Xie," Han Li requested as he cupped his fist in a salute.
"I can do that, but if I have to expend any energy to protect you, then that will be coming out of the elixir you've supplied to me," Daoist Xie said with an indifferent nod.
"Of course, I'll be counting on you then, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a smile.
Just as he was preparing to leave, the door of the other secret chamber also opened with a dull thump, and a beautiful woman emerged from inside; it was none other than Silvermoon.
Her complexion was slightly pale, but she wore an elated expression as she cast her gaze toward Han Li.
"Congratulations on making such large strides in your cultivation base, but isn't it too early to be attempting a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough? Why don't you consolidate for a few more years?"
It was clear that Silvermoon currently wasn't being afflicted by the effects of the Art of Indifference.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward Silvermoon, and replied with a smile, "Your cultivation base has also progressed during these past few decades; it looks like the cultivation art provided by Senior Ao Xiao has been quite effective. I'm currently in a very special state, so if I can't successfully make a breakthrough now, then I'll most likely still fail even if I were given 1,000 more years to prepare."
"Your cultivation base and experience far exceeds my own, so I'm sure you have your reasons for making this decision. Let me keep a lookout for you alongside Brother Xie to prevent any pesky individuals from disrupting you," Silvermoon offered.
"That would naturally be more than welcome. By the way, where is Guo'er? She doesn't seem to be in the cave abode right now," Han Li asked.
"Guo'er had recently encountered a bottleneck in her cultivation and needs to absorb the essence of the rising sun daily to make a breakthrough. Hence, she moved out of the cave abode a few years ago and is cultivating by herself on a nearby mountain," Silvermoon explained.
"I see. The Greater Incarnation Arts are indeed different from normal cultivation arts, so it would be best for us to not interfere with her cultivation," Han Li replied with a nod.
Thus, Han Li's trio flew out of the cave abode, then decided on a certain direction before flying toward it together.
Around 15 minutes later, the three of them descended into a basin tens of thousands of kilometers away from the cave abode.
Han Li inspected the spacious surroundings and the mountains far away in the distance before giving a satisfied nod.
"This is a suitable place. Please wait here while I set up a few formations and make some preparations. They won't be able to help me transcend my heavenly tribulation, but they'll disguise some of the phenomena that'll arise during my breakthrough, making it more difficult for outsiders to track us down."
Silvermoon and Daoist Xie naturally had no objections to this, and they flew away to a pair of nearby mountains before landing upon them.
The two of them then sat down on a giant rock each and appraised Han Li's actions from afar.
Han Li took a deep breath before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing around a dozen balls of white light, which transformed into a series of giant ape puppets, all of which were holding different types of formation tools.
"Go," Han Li instructed, and the puppets rose up into the air before carefully setting up the formation tools in the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Han Li rose from the edge of the basin, then flipped a hand over to summon a series of translucent top-grade spirit stones, which he sent raining down from above.
Soon, a series of formations had taken shape within the basin.
After doing all that, Han Li returned to the center of the basin, where he produced a series of shimmering treasures that he tossed toward all parts of the formations.
Most of those treasures had been obtained by Han Li from the many devilish lords and Sacred Ancestor clones he had killed, and all of them were extremely powerful. In the eyes of a normal Body Integration cultivator, even just one of those treasures would be regarded as an extremely prized asset, but Han Li had brought out over 50 of them, and they were only being used to bolster the formation cores and enhance the formations he had just set up.
After that, Han Li flicked a wrist to release a huge pile of formation materials from his storage bracelet, and only then did he take a seat with his legs crossed.
After setting up the formation plates and formation flags in their hands, the giant ape puppets immediately collected more formation materials from the pile before returning to work.
These formations were clearly no ordinary formations, and even with the assistance of the formation tools, it still took close to half a day to complete them, after which all of the giant ape puppets returned to Han Li and stood before him in a still manner.
Han Li swept a sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner, releasing a burst of azure light to stow the puppets away. At the same time, yellow light flashed from his body, and he made a hand seal before casting a profound incantation seal onto the ground.
The incantation seal vanished into the dirt in a flash, upon which Han Li yelled the word "rise"!
The ground immediately tremored as a square platform that was around an acre in area rose up from the ground, instantly reaching a height of around 300 feet.
Han Li then made a different hand seal and opened his mouth to expel a silver fireball.
The silver fireball quickly transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size, which then swelled drastically to over 100 feet.
The giant Fire Raven soared up into the air at Han Li's behest, then swiveled around and plunged down toward the platform.
As the silver Fire Raven approached the platform, it transformed into a vast expanse of silver flames that inundated both the platform and Han Li.
Han Li stood ramrod straight within the silver flames in a completely still manner, and the silver flames merely flashed past him, leaving him completely unharmed.
However, the platform quickly melted under the flames, and its surface began to rapidly crystallize.
After the span of just a few breaths, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, sweeping up a gust of fierce winds that snuffed out all of the silver flames.
At this point, the platform had become completely translucent and covered in a layer of white crystalline material. Under the light of the sun, the platform gave off a stunning radiance, and it appeared to be a jade structure from afar.
After being briefly refined by the spirit flames, the ordinary stone platform had become as resolute as normal tool refinement materials.
All of a sudden, 72 small azure swords flew out of Han Li's body, then rose up into the air before transforming into streaks of azure sword Qi.
Han Li pointed a finger up at the streaks of sword Qi, and all of them descended toward the platform in unison.
Streaks of azure light revolved around the crystalline platform, scratching away countless scraps of crystalline material while creating a series of spirit patterns.
The streaks of sword Qi were as fast as lightning, and they covered the entire area of the platform in the blink of an eye before rising back up into the air, where they reverted back into 72 small azure swords.
At this point, countless profound spiritual patterns had appeared on the surface of the platform, and one would be struck by a
peculiar sense of dizziness if they were to behold the spirit patterns for too long.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense over these spirit patterns, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face. He then flipped a hand over to produce four small flags, each of which was around an inch tall, and all of them instantly disappeared.
In the next instant, a burst of mist rose up from each of the four corners of the platform, manifesting into four giant flags that were over 100 feet tall. The flags were of different colors comprised of red, green, yellow, and purple, and there were extremely life-like monsters engraved onto each of them.
"The Heaven Defying Platform is finally complete; I hope that this really will assist me in my breakthrough as Senior Mo says it will," Han Li murmured to himself as he inspected the four giant flags.
Immediately thereafter, he cast an incantation seal toward the flying swords up above, and they transformed into over 1,000 streaks of identical azure sword Qi.
They then scattered in different directions before vanishing into thin air, but if anyone were to reach within 1,000 feet of the platform, they would immediately be struck by a bone-chilling sense of peril.
Chapter 2180: Spirit Tide
Han Li paused momentarily before sweeping a sleeve upward, and three small mountains immediately appeared overhead amid a flash of light.
The three mountains then descended toward the edges of the crystalline platform down below at his behest, then crashed heavily down onto the ground, where they instantly swelled to over 1,000 feet tall each, enclosing the platform within a giant barrier of mountains.
After that, Han Li sat down onto the ground and began to meditate.
Day transitioned to night, and night transitioned back into day...
On the two mountains in the distance, Daoist Xie and Silvermoon were constantly appraising Han Li with different expressions.
Daoist Xie's expression was very placid and tranquil, while Silvermoon constantly had a hint of concern in her eyes.
Four hours later, just as the first ray of sunlight appeared above a nearby mountain, Han Li opened his eyes before making a hand seal, and an enormous aura erupted from his body as his Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.
The Provenance True Devil Projection then swelled to over 1,000 feet in size at his behest before opening its eyes and making a different hand seal with each of its six hands.
A string of loud rumbling booms rang out as fierce winds swept through the air, bringing with them a blanket of dark clouds.
Han Li completely disregarded all of this as he sat on the platform and merely cast another incantation seal.
All of a sudden, the spirit patterns on the surface of the giant platform seemed to have sprung to life, forming hundreds of formations of different sizes that fluctuated erratically in brightness.
The world's origin Qi nearby surged violently, and countless specks of five-colored light appeared in the air, stretching as far as the eyes could see and creating a breathtaking sight to behold.
After doing all of this, Han Li closed his eyes in an expressionless manner and began to meditate once again.
As the formations on the platform flashed, his aura was slowly climbing virtually with each passing moment.
Even though this rate of enhancement was very slow and almost unnoticeable, it would still amount to a significant increase given sufficient time.
Meanwhile, the projection behind Han Li also began to slowly expand, growing around 10 feet taller per two hours.
At this rate, the projection would be able to grow over 100 feet taller in a day, and as it grew, its projection-like body also became more and more substantial.
Time slowly passed by, and Han Li's aura continued to swell with no signs of stopping...
Half a month later, Han Li's aura had swelled to a point that would be enough to strike fear into the hearts of all Body Integration cultivators, and his Provenance True Devil Projection had grown to over 3,000 feet tall while adopting an extremely substantial form.
The sky had become pitch-black under the dense blanket of dark clouds, and the entire basin had been plunged into complete darkness, giving the area an air of eeriness.
The only sources of light came from the specks of light formed by the world's origin Qi that were hovering in mid-air, and they had also grown from pea-sized specks of light to around the size of eggs.
From a distance, it looked as if there were countless giant fireflies hovering still in mid-air, giving off a gentle light.
At this moment, Han Li finally opened his eyes, and piercing blue light was flashing within his pupils. He immediately laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a golden Nascent Soul that was several feet tall emerged amid a flash of golden light.
The Nascent Soul wore a slightly tense expression, and it immediately pointed a finger upward as soon as it appeared.
Silver light flashed within the dark clouds up above, and a thick bolt of lightning came crashing down amid a rumbling thunderclap.
The golden Nascent Soul narrowed its eyes slightly, and instead of taking evasive measures, it opened its mouth to expel a burst of azure light.
The huge bolt of lightning was allowed to crash down without any impediment, only to be completely devoured by the Nascent Soul. Immediately thereafter, the golden Nascent Soul rubbed its hands together, and countless arcs of lightning erupted from its body, forming a series of massive silver lightning runes that shot forth in all directions.
A string of resounding booms rang out, and the lightning runes all vanished into the surrounding space.
In the next instant, a burst of invisible power exploded throughout the nearby space, following which a stir ran through all of the surrounding balls of five-colored light.
The balls of light then began to revolve through the air, while the golden Nascent Soul sat down in mid-air before making a hand seal.
All of a sudden, an enormous aura erupted from Han Li's physical body, and a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure instantly descended upon the basin.
A massive invisible vortex abruptly appeared in the air with the giant platform at its very center, and the surrounding balls of light were drawn into the vortex in a frenzy before being funneled downward as streaks of spiritual light. Right at this moment, a series of shimmering silver spirit patterns suddenly appeared on Han Li's physical body and the golden Nascent Soul, and as soon as the five-colored light came into contact with his skin, it instantly vanished into those silver spirit patterns.
The balls of light in the air above the basin were constantly being swept into the giant vortex, then injected into Han Li's physical body and Nascent Soul in a relentless stream.
As time passed, the Nascent Soul gradually brightened, while the skin of Han Li's physical body became smoother and more translucent.
Shortly thereafter, the golden Nascent Soul was concealed within a layer of golden light, while Han Li's entire body had taken on a jade-like appearance.
At this point, all of the balls of light above the basin had finally been cleared away, leaving behind a vast expanse of empty space.
The golden Nascent Soul's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and one of the heads of the massive golden projection behind it suddenly let loose a low cry.
Immediately thereafter, it withdrew the hand seals it was making, and a huge ball of golden light appeared over each of its palms before being tossed upward in unison.
The six balls of light instantly shot upward before combining as one to form an even more massive ball of golden light.
The Nascent Soul waved a chubby hand toward the giant ball of light, and it flashed a few times before exploding with a rumbling boom.
Countless golden runes surged forth in a frenzy, forming another huge golden vortex that instantly fused as one with the original vortex.
The Provenance True Devil Projection then began to chant something as golden light flashed within its hands, and si
x pillars of golden light that were as thick as water tanks erupted forth before vanishing into the bottom of the vortex.
The golden vortex instantly swelled drastically in size amid a loud buzzing sound, and within the span of just a few breaths, it had become so massive that it was taking up virtually a third of the entire basin.
A hint of elation appeared on the golden Nascent Soul's face upon seeing this, and it made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the vortex.
The buzzing within the vortex immediately subsided, only to be replaced by delightful heavenly music. At the same time, bursts of enormous suction force that threatened to tear the entire heavens apart swept forth in all directions from it.
A short while later, an even more astonishing boom rang out in the distance, and it was as if a tsunami wave were approaching.
Spiritual light flashed, and a hint of dazzling radiance appeared in the distant sky, following which a boundless expanse of dazzling light came surging forth.
The golden Nascent Soul's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and blue light flashed through its eyes, allowing it to instantly identify the spirit tide as an incredible phenomenon formed by countless five-colored balls of light.
A hint of elation appeared on the Nascent Soul's face upon seeing this, and it took a deep breath as the giant golden projection behind it raised its six hands again, unleashing around a dozen more pillars of golden light that shot directly into the golden vortex. As a result, the vortex swelled even further in size and released several more bursts of enormous suction force.
In the face of such tremendous suction force, the incoming waves of suction light were all drawn into the golden vortex, and the silver spirit patterns on the Nascent Soul and Han Li's physical body began to absorb the five-colored light once again.
Their bodies were like insatiable voids, seemingly with an infinite appetite for world's origin Qi.
Meanwhile, the giant vortex had forcibly gathered all of the world's origin Qi within a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers, creating a spirit tide that also appeared as if it would never subside.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1251