Han Li flicked his finger, and a speck of green light flew into the fire. The flames "whooshed," surging several feet higher, and a voice suddenly emerged from within—short and clear.
"Come to Green Wave Cave at once. I have something to discuss with you."
As soon as the message ended, the firelight gave a soft "pop," scattered into a shower of sparks, and vanished without a trace.
Han Li listened calmly, then rubbed his nose and walked back into the bedroom.
Once inside, he pulled a small wooden chest from under the stone bed. The chest held over a dozen storage bags of various designs. He took out the one he was carrying, emptied out all the talismans he’d collected earlier, and sorted them by type and rank, placing them into different bags.
After pushing the chest back into place, Han Li hesitated for a moment before leaving the bedroom and heading straight for the cave’s entrance.
……
Standing atop the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li recalled the past four years of his cultivation and talisman crafting, his expression growing somewhat heavy.
When he first sealed the cave, he had cultivated while simultaneously excavating a highly concealed inner herb garden within the cave. Though small, it was sufficient for growing the herbs he needed for the Small Bottle’s growth-enhancing effect. The advantage was that during seclusion, he didn’t have to worry about anyone discovering the herbs he was cultivating. He could be entirely self-sufficient without ever leaving the cave.
To achieve this, he had carefully drilled countless tiny, hidden holes in the stone ceiling above the garden, allowing just enough sunlight to filter in for the Small Bottle to absorb spiritual energy. Naturally, these openings were situated within the protective formation’s coverage, so there was no risk of detection.
As for the larger herb garden outside, Han Li had planned to use it solely as a cover!
With the small garden secured, he felt at ease cultivating spiritual herbs while refining pills using his innate True Fire. Although True Fire was slightly inferior to earth fire, it was safe and reliable, and he didn’t have to fear the number of failed attempts.
The pills refined from ancient formulas were truly extraordinary.
When Han Li took the Qi Gathering Powder he’d refined, he experienced the same explosive surge of spiritual energy as during his Foundation Establishment. Startled, he immediately sat down to meditate and absorb it, not daring to delay even for a moment.
Such astonishing effects naturally allowed his magical power to advance by leaps and bounds during that first year, far exceeding his expectations.
This extravagant consumption method saved Han Li the time he would otherwise spend absorbing spiritual energy from the environment, letting him devote himself entirely to converting it into magical power. The efficiency of his progress naturally multiplied several times over!
This once filled Han Li with indescribable joy! Refining the Green Element Sword Art three more times seemed entirely possible!
The Green Element Sword Art, as others had noted, did indeed cause periodic drops in magical power every few days. However, with him taking a packet of Qi Gathering Powder every six or seven days, that flaw could be completely ignored.
During this period, Han Li also tried taking a Foundation Establishment Pill out of curiosity, but its effect was negligible, completely extinguishing that particular line of thought.
But over the next three years, something unexpected happened.
Starting from the second year, the feeling of abundant spiritual energy after taking the Qi Gathering Powder gradually diminished, year by year. By the fourth year, it had become entirely ineffective—just like his earlier experience with the Yellow Dragon Pill and Gold Marrow Pill. No matter how many packets he took, he felt no spiritual energy whatsoever.
This left Han Li both frustrated and bewildered!
Because this couldn’t be due to his increased magical power making the Qi Gathering Powder insufficient. Given the pill’s potency, it should have continued to work even into the later stages of Foundation Establishment—after all, it was refined from an ancient formula! It might even have been useful for cultivators who had reached the Core Formation stage!
This was completely different from when the Yellow Dragon Pill and Gold Marrow Pill had stopped working. That had been because their medicinal power couldn’t keep up with his cultivation level, something he had long anticipated.
After extensive pondering, Han Li used his medical knowledge to reach a conclusion—one he couldn’t be sure was correct. Perhaps because he had taken the extremely potent Qi Gathering Powder too frequently, his body had developed a tolerance to it, causing the pill to gradually lose its effect.
Once he arrived at this conclusion, Han Li couldn’t verify its accuracy. In the entire cultivation world, no one had ever taken pills every few days as he did! There was no precedent or experience to draw upon.
Still, Han Li held out hope that if he stopped taking the pill for a while, the Qi Gathering Powder might become effective again.
With this in mind, he ceased taking the pills entirely during the final year, switching instead to the normal methods of cultivating the Green Element Sword Art.