The cultivators from the Poison Saint Gate naturally had no idea that their Junior Brother Yuan had long since perished at the jaws of the Silver Wing Yaksha. After a brief exchange, they accelerated their flying lights and pressed onward at even greater speed than before.
Arriving a single day earlier would prove enormously advantageous to them.
At Puyun Prefecture, in the vicinity of the small lake, several hundred cultivators of varying levels of cultivation had already gathered, clustering in small groups of three to five.
Many had taken to the air, circling silently around seven pillars of light as they searched for something.
Down on the ground, a rare few cultivators who possessed earth escape talismans or knew a bit of earth escape technique periodically burrowed in and popped back out, excitedly relaying their findings to their companions on the surface.
Clearly, the enormous seal hidden underground had already been discovered.
Compared to the sheer vastness of the seal itself, the single crack that the Ye family had forcibly pried open through a formation array had not yet been precisely located.
But even so, every cultivator present was practically bursting with excitement. Many had already sent voice transmission talismans to their respective families and sects, while some had flown off through the night to report the matter in person.
The cultivators here now were predominantly at the Foundation Establishment stage, with relatively few at the Qi Refinement or Core Formation stages. The majority were independent cultivators who had stumbled upon the anomaly and come to investigate, while the rest were scouts from various factions, both large and small, who had heard the news and rushed over from nearby.
As for Nascent Soul cultivators, none had yet appeared.
This was hardly surprising. The small lake was located in a desolate region with neither famous mountains and rivers nearby nor any major family clans or cultivation sects. Nascent Soul cultivators would not normally venture to such a remote backwater without cause.
Even the cultivators from the Poison Saint Gate, who had set out immediately upon hearing the news, were still two days' journey away.
However, the majority of level-headed, experienced independent cultivators, upon discovering the unimaginable scale of the underground seal, reluctantly but wisely departed one after another.
They knew all too well that no matter what treasures lay beneath the seal, a contest of this magnitude was far beyond what they could participate in. If they stayed and were caught in the crossfire between high-level cultivators, it would be nothing short of disastrous.
Naturally, a small number of young, hot-blooded low-level cultivators refused to leave. On one hand, they wanted to see what lay beneath the seal. On the other, they harbored illusions of luck — convinced that even though their cultivation was modest, if fortune smiled on them, they might just manage to profit from the chaos. They essentially wanted to take a gamble.
And so, for a time, this place became a motley mix of all manner of people, many harboring hidden agendas.
But none of this had anything to do with Han Li, who was already deep within the giant mountain beneath the seal.
At this moment, he and Bai Yaoyi were watching Old Man Fu, who sat cross-legged in the center of the cave, without so much as blinking.
Rather than watching the old man, it would be more accurate to say they were watching the gleaming golden cauldron floating in front of him.
The cauldron hovered three feet off the ground, slowly rotating in midair.
Old Man Fu was spewing wisps of emerald-green Infant Fire from his mouth while his hands formed seal after unfamiliar seal, continuously thrusting them into the cauldron. Each seal that struck the fire-washed vessel sent ripples of five-colored radiance cascading across its surface — a dazzling spectacle of color.
Waves of medicinal fragrance were already emanating from within the cauldron — a rich, intoxicating aroma that lifted the spirit and cleared the mind.
The old man's hand seals grew ever faster, his expression increasingly solemn. Clearly, the pill refinement had reached its critical moment.
Han Li, standing to one side, appeared perfectly calm, but his heart was equally taut with tension.
The Yin Zhi Ma and the other rare materials had all been fed into the cauldron over the past several days. If this batch of pills failed, they would not have a second Yin Zhi Ma to try again.
And so, even though Old Man Fu had spoken with considerable confidence about refining the Nurturing Infant Pills, now that he could see completion drawing near, Han Li couldn't help but feel a tangle of hope and anxiety.
Beside him, Bai Yaoyi likewise maintained her composed expression, but the eager glint that periodically flashed through her clear eyes betrayed the same restless hope churning within her.
Suddenly, the cauldron shuddered and stopped spinning. A deep hum resonated from within, and the medicinal fragrance grew threefold richer.
Old Man Fu's eyes lit up. His hand seals and the Infant Fire from his mouth ceased simultaneously as he flipped one hand over, producing a small vermillion gourd no more than four or five inches tall.
With his other hand, he flicked his middle finger. With a sharp crack, a bolt of white light struck the cauldron's lid.
The lid trembled and slid off.
The humming ceased. Immediately, five fist-sized spheres of light shot out from within, each containing a thumb-sized pill of glistening, almost dripping emerald green.
After hovering briefly above the cauldron, the luminous spheres scattered in every direction, each attempting to flee.
But Old Man Fu was already prepared. He shook the gourd in his hand, and a swath of radiant light sprayed forth. With a flash of spiritual light, it swept up all five spheres and drew them into the gourd.
"Done! A complete success!" Only then did the old man let out a long breath. He turned his head and addressed Han Li with a beaming smile.
"Many thanks, Brother Fu. I didn't expect we'd actually get five pills. I was worried the quantity would be too low!" Bai Yaoyi rose to her feet, her voice bright with delight, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, making her look all the more lovely.