Thus, Han Li and the blood soul were the only two people left in the room.
"Alright, you can go ahead and tell me what you want to say now," Han Li prompted with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Forgive me, Senior Han, but what I'm about to tell you next concerns very sensitive information. Would you like to know the true purpose of the Heavenvoid Cauldron? I'm planning to use it to make an exchange with you, Senior Han," the blood soul said with a serious expression.
"An exchange?" A hint of intrigue appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.
"That's right, I can assure you that learning this secret will benefit you immensely, Senior Han," the blood soul said.
"If this secret really is as useful as you proclaim, then I certainly wouldn't be opposed to an exchange, but you'll have to convince me first, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul," Han Li replied.
"I knew you'd be interested in this, Senior Han. Regarding the true origins of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, I'll have to go back to an opportunity I encountered in the human world. The cauldron is actually a treasure that I created while trying to replicate a treasure recorded on a page of the Golden Jade Tome, and its true purpose is not for battle. Instead, it's to be used as a key..." Thus, the blood soul began her story, and initially, Han Li listened with a faint smile, but his expression then gradually became more serious, and at the end, even a hint of astonishment had crept into his eyes.
Around half a day later, Han Li departed from the Xu Family and traveled toward the center of the human territory on a giant white ark.
"You spoke with Fellow Daoist Blood Soul for quite a long time, Brother Han; what did she discuss with you?" Silvermoon asked.
"Not much, we simply made an agreement," Han Li replied with a smile.
"An agreement?" A contemplative look appeared in Silvermoon's eyes.
"You can call it an exchange as well," Han Li added in a nonchalant manner.
Silvermoon merely smiled and didn't raise any further questions.
Li Rong was also very intrigued, but she knew that she couldn't compare with Silvermoon, so she made the wise decision to remain silent.
In contrast, Zhu Guo'er didn't think much of the matter, and asked, "Senior Han, where are we going next?"
"We'll be going to the holy island next. Fellow Daoist Li, I'll be counting on you to lead the way," Han Li said.
"Rest assured, Senior; I'll be sure to get us to the holy island as soon as possible," Li Rong hurriedly said in an elated manner.
Han Li nodded in response, and all of the sudden, the giant ark they were situated on accelerated by about twofold, almost instantly vanishing into the distance as a long streak of light.
......
Two months later.
In an extremely secluded mountain range on the border of the human and demon territories, there was a vast sea of mist that stretched as far as the eyes could see, and encompassed close to a third of the entire mountain range.
However, once one traveled close to 10,000 kilometers into the sea of mist, they would discover an island hovering several thousand feet in the air with hundreds of massive meteorite-like rocks slowly orbiting around it. Each giant rock was several acres in size, and there was a series of buildings situated on each rock alongside groups of armored warriors.
There were also some flying boats and carriages that occasionally entered and exited the giant island, patrolling the surrounding area.
A series of light barriers could be seen in the air around the island, spreading over virtually the entire sky.
This was none other than the revered holy island, and its defenses were truly quite formidable.
Within a hall at the center of the island, there were around a dozen Body Integration Stage elders in attires of different colors seated on two rows of chairs, and all of them wore anxious and uneasy expressions.
"Fairy Li should be here soon, right?" a clean-shaven man asked.
"Don't be so agitated, Fellow Daoist Xun; Fairy Rong has informed us in advance that she would arrive today, so she's definitely coming," an elderly man replied.
"I'm naturally aware of that, but it's already past noon now; I'm just concerned that they may have had an accident," the clean-shaven man sighed.
"Hehe, what could possibly go wrong with Senior Han accompanying them?" a woman in a white coat chuckled.
"Indeed, the powers displayed by Senior Han during his ceremony most likely place him above even Senior Mo and Senior Ao Xiao in terms of power. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have waited here for him for so long," the elderly man said with a wry smile.
"Having said that, rumors are still just rumors; none of us have ever seen Senior Han in action in person. If he really is powerful enough to severely wound the Black Owl Monarch of the Yaksha Race with ease, then that would be quite extraordinary," the clean-shaven man said with a hesitant expression.
"Even if the rumors are slightly exaggerated, it's definitely true that Senior Han is far more powerful than the average new Grand Ascension Stage being. On top of that, both Senior Mo and Senior Ao Xiao have disappeared in the Elder Devil Realm, and Senior Han is the only one we can count on to save them. Regardless of how we look at it, it's imperative for us to assist Senior Han with all our power," the elderly man said without any hesitation.
"That is indeed true, but we've already severely offended him by trying to take his disciple; Senior Han isn't going to exact revenge on our holy island, is he?" the clean-shaven man sighed with a wry smile.
Several of the other elders' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.
"Rest assured, Senior Han was able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, so he's definitely not a petty individual. On top of that, we were only doing what was best for our two races, so I'm sure Senior Han wouldn't blame us for that," the elderly man said in a nonchalant manner.
The other elders' expressions eased slightly upon hearing this.
Just as the elderly man was about to say something else, a pleasant voice suddenly rang out from outside. "Looks like everyone's all here. In that case, I won't have to inform all of you of my arrival one by one."
As soon as this voice trailed off, three women strode into the hall.
They were none other than Li Rong, Silvermoon, and Zhu Guo'er, and Li Rong was the one who had just spoken.
However, Han Li and Daoist Xie were nowhere to be seen.
"Ah, Fairy Li, Fellow Daoist Ling Long, has Senior Han already arrived?" the elderly man immediately asked as he rose to his feet.
"Senior Han has indeed already arrived at our holy island, but he's gone somewhere else first. Rest assured, he'll be joining us soon," Li Rong replied with a smile.
Chapter 2213: Heavenly Tome Library
Meanwhile, at the foot of a tall cliff at the center of the holy island, Han Li was staring intently at a massive crystalline wall that was around 1,000 feet tall.
Daoist Xie was standing beside him, and he was also appraising the giant wall.
Around 80 feet away from the two of them, there were two green-robed elderly men standing off to the side with overawed expressions.
They were naturally the guards of this place, and they were both at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.
As soon as Han Li arrived, he released a sliver of his Grand Ascension Stage spiritual pressure, and the pair of elderly men immediately granted him access.
At this point, Han Li had already cast his gaze over the contents of the entire crystalline wall, and his attention was currently focused on several ancient golden characters that were ranked third on the list.
"Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword," Han LI murmured to himself as he reflexively began to stroke his own forearm.
A certain diagram on his forearm began to heat up and throb slightly under his fingertips.
Han Li exhaled before suddenly asking, "Is this Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword the newest Profound Heavenly Treasure on the roll? I heard that all races on the Tian Yuan Continent
had been scrambling to search for it when it first appeared."
The two green-robed elderly men exchanged a glance before one of them stepped forward, and replied, "Indeed, Senior. When this Profound Heavenly Treasure first appeared on the roll, even some super races from other continents had sent people to search for it, but for some reason, none of them managed to find it, and no news of it arose thereafter. However, I'm sure those major races are still searching for it in secret."
"Perhaps so. Let's go now, Brother Xie," Han Li said with a smile, then immediately departed.
"We are greatly honored by your visit, seniors!" The pair of green-robed elderly men hurriedly extended respectful bows as they spoke.
Shortly after their departure, Han Li suddenly asked, "Brother Xie, do you know anything about this Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll?"
"I have no recollection of this object, and nor have I ever heard my past master mention it, but I did sense a hint of immortal spiritual Qi within it just now."
"Immortal spiritual Qi?" Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.
"Indeed. It's far from abundant, but it's extremely pure, no less so than the immortal spiritual Qi in the spirit liquid you've been providing me with," Daoist Xie replied.
"That's quite interesting. It's been many years since our Spirit Realm lost contact with the True Immortal Realm, but it seems that some things can't be completely severed," Han Li mused.
Daoist Xie's expression remained unchanged, and he offered no response to this.
The holy island wasn't very large, and with the map provided to him by Li Rong, Han Li soon arrived in front of a small teleportation formation.
He stepped into the teleportation formation with Daoist Xie, then made a hand seal, and a buzzing sound rang out as white spiritual light erupted from the formation, following which the duo instantly vanished.
In the next instant, white light flashed in front of a pavilion that was around 800 feet tall, and Han Li and Daoist Xie reappeared in another formation.
"Heavenly Tome Library"
Han Li looked up at the massive plaque hanging above the entrance of the pavilion, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes as he said, "Please wait for me here for now, Brother Xie; I'll be back soon."
"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie replied without any hesitation.
Han Li nodded in response before making his way toward the entrance of the pavilion.
Moments later, he found himself standing in front of a pale-faced elderly woman. "I've heard that the Heavenly Tome Library holds countless secret techniques; would you be able to open the restriction and grant me access, Fellow Daoist?"
The elderly woman was seated at the center of a spacious hall on the first floor, and she appraised Han Li with her brows slightly furrowed as she said, "You're very unfamiliar; have you only just arrived on the island? Seeing as you've come here, I'm sure you're already aware of the rules of our Heavenly Tome Library."
She was unable to detect this person's exact cultivation base, and that naturally came as quite a surprise to her.
"In order to learn a secret technique, I have to offer a sum of spirit stones or exchange for it with another secret technique not yet in the library's collection, correct?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"That's right. You're planning to issue spirit stones, right? Each secret technique is extremely expensive, but it's easier than offering another secret technique in exchange. There are already over 10,000 secret techniques in the library's collection, so it won't be that easy to find new ones," the elderly woman chuckled.
"I see. I actually do have quite a few secret techniques I collected from foreign races; you can examine them to see if there are any new ones," Han Li said with a smile.
Before the elderly woman had a chance to respond, Han Li suddenly swept a sleeve through the air, releasing close to 100 jade slips of different colors that hovered before the elderly woman.
The elderly woman's mouth gaped open in shock, and only after a long while did she ask, "These jade slips were all collected from foreign races?"
"That's right. Go ahead and examine them, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied.
"Please give me a moment, Fellow Daoist," the elderly woman said as she finally regained her composure.
After that, she quickly grabbed a jade slip before injecting her spiritual sense into it.
"Origin Light Splitting Technique; isn't this a renowned secret technique of the Flying Spirit Race? I've heard that only the core Flying Spirit beings with the purest bloodlines are able to learn this technique. This is indeed a secret technique that our Heavenly Tome Library does not yet possess," the elderly woman said with a stunned expression after a brief examination.
"Oh? It seems like you're very familiar with foreign secret techniques. This was indeed a secret technique I obtained from the Flying Spirit Race, but it's not suitable for me to cultivate, so I've never used it," Han Li said with a slightly surprised expression.
"Hehe, I'm renowned as the leading secret technique expert among our two races. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been assigned with the task of looking after this Heavenly Tome Library," the elderly woman said in a pleased manner.
After that, she stowed the jade slip away before taking another one for examination.
"Nine Flame Devilish Technique; this seems to be a devilish secret technique that's also a new addition to our library."
"Heavenly Light Azure Wood Arts; this is a Wood Tribe secret technique that our library already has."
The elderly woman was able to determine the origins of most of these jade slips, and it seemed that she wasn't exaggerating about her status as the leading secret technique expert of the two races.
After looking through only around a dozen jade slips, the elderly woman was already in shock.
Not only did these secret techniques come from a diverse range of origins, around two-thirds of them were new to the Heavenly Tome Library.
Generally speaking, one would only be able to bring out one or two types of secret techniques to be exchanged at the Heavenly Tome Library; such a large number of secret techniques being offered at once was unheard of.
After about 15 minutes, the elderly woman finally examined all of the jade slips, and she exhaled before asking, "Among these secret techniques, 61 of them are new to the Heavenly Tome Library; are you planning to exchange all of them?"
"61, eh? That's not bad; I'll use them to exchange for 61 of the secret techniques in this library," Han Li replied with a smile.
"In that case, I'll open the restriction right away for you to select other secret techniques. I must remind you that you have to come out right away after completing your selection, and these secret techniques can only be cultivated by yourself; they're not to be given to others. Otherwise, if the holy island is made aware of your transgression, you'll be punished by our enforcers," the elderly woman warned.
"Rest assured, I'll only be referencing most of these secret techniques and will only truly cultivate a few of them, and I won't give them to anyone else," Han Li replied as he swept a sleeve through the air to recover all of the jade slips that were rejected by the elderly woman.
"Good. I'll be opening the restrictions now," the elderly woman said before opening her mouth to release a shimmering golden badge.
She then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the badge, which immediately released a burst of silver light that surged toward the stairwell.
A dull thump rang out from the stairwell as if several invisible restrictions had been opened, and Han Li quickly vanished up the staircase, leaving the elderly woman alone on the first floor.
Han Li didn't stay in the pavilion for too long before he re-emerged in a calm manner, then cupped his fist in a salute toward the elderly woman before departing.
"Who was that? He definitely doesn't seem like an ordinary new Body Integration cultivator that's just come onto the island. Even I was unable to ascertain his cultivation base, and he was able to bring out so ma
ny foreign secret techniques at once. Could it be that he's..." the elderly woman murmured to herself, and as she did so, her eyes gradually lit up with a hint of realization.
Meanwhile, Han Li had just emerged from the pavilion when three balls of golden light suddenly appeared in the air above him.
Chapter 2214: Entering the Elder Devil Realm Again
Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he merely swept a sleeve upward, upon which the balls of golden light instantly disappeared down his sleeve.
Han Li then flipped a hand over, and a fist-sized golden beetle appeared on his palm.
This was none other than one of three faux beetle monarchs that he had sent after the Black Owl Monarch.
Han Li appraised the golden beetle momentarily before his brows furrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "So the Black Owl Monarch managed to escape. Having said that, close to half of his body was devoured, and he was wounded far more than I anticipated, so this isn't a bad result."
After that, Han Li stowed the beetle away before a jade slip appeared in his grasp amid a flash of green light.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the jade slip, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Even though he had witnessed quite a few powerful techniques in the Heavenly Tome Library, his true objective was the second half of the Lightningwield Technique.
Back when he had obtained the Lightningwield Technique from the demon monarchs of the earth abyss, it was an incomplete version. The Divine Devilbane Lightning that it could unleash was extremely powerful, but it took a very long time to set up and had no use in practical battles.
After learning from Master Black Rain that the holy island had the second half of the Lightningwield Technique, he had immediately made up his mind to get his hands on it.
After finding the second half of the Lightningwield Technique and discovering that it could match up with the first half, he was naturally ecstatic and immediately took a jade slip containing this technique.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1269