After obtaining the location of the Gale Wind Beast's lair from Wen Siyue, Han Li casually left the woman a bottle of pills for her to take and refine. Wen Siyue was naturally filled with gratitude, and immediately withdrew into seclusion with great joy to refine the medicinal power.
Han Li, meanwhile, entered another secret chamber, intending to study the copper tablet he had just obtained.
He sat cross-legged in the chamber now, carefully examining the object in his hand.
Inscriptions were carved on only one side of the copper tablet. The other side bore an extremely peculiar picture — a depiction of a monster with three heads and six arms.
The monster's three heads glared with fury, and all six arms were raised skyward. The meaning behind this was anyone's guess.
After frowning over it for a while, Han Li pulled out the beast-hide scroll and compared the text on the two objects.
Only then did he realize that the characters on the copper tablet and those on the beast-hide scroll shared mostly the same structure, yet differed in subtle details. They seemed to originate from the same source but had evolved into distinct scripts.
Unable to glean anything further from a surface examination, Han Li hesitated no longer and channeled Magical Power into the copper tablet.
As the Magical Power surged in, the copper tablet emitted a low, clear hum and began to tremble on its own.
Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted, and a hazy yellow beam of radiance shot from the half of the tablet bearing inscriptions, blasting straight onto the stone wall opposite him.
An animated, ancient scroll of sorts immediately materialized.
Han Li was initially delighted, but upon looking more closely, he froze.
A humanoid beast covered head to toe in scales, with a single horn growing from its forehead, appeared first in the picture. The creature looked exactly like the three-headed, six-armed monster carved on the back of the copper tablet — except that at this point it still had only a single head.
Han Li was still puzzling over this.
After a flash of light, the beast in the picture sat down on the ground, forming a strange hand seal with both hands. Its entire body twisted slightly as it settled into an odd posture.
Han Li's expression turned to one of astonishment.
After a short while, the beast's hand seal changed. Its body twisted once more, adopting yet another peculiar seated position.
In this manner, the humanoid beast shifted into a new inexplicable posture and hand seal at regular intervals, as though it were practicing some cultivation technique.
A full half-hour passed before the copper tablet's glow dimmed and the picture vanished.
Han Li had taken careful count — the beast in the picture had assumed a total of thirty-six different postures.
He rubbed his nose and looked at the object in his hand, his face full of a strange, baffled expression.
Although he had no idea what the text on the copper tablet actually said, judging by the picture alone, this object was certainly not something created by human cultivators. What it recorded was actually a cultivation technique for demon beasts.
He had never previously known that high-level demon beasts possessed cultivation techniques of their own. Weren't demon beasts born with the ability to inhale spiritual energy and cultivate on their own?
And given that the technique in the picture was being practiced by a beast capable of transforming into humanoid form, this technique had to be no ordinary art.
However, Han Li looked at the copper fragment in his hand, his expression shifting to one of bemused resignation.
Even if he could decipher the script, it was a cultivation technique for demon beasts—would he dare practice it himself?
Besides, he was hardly lacking for high-level techniques. The complete Extreme Yin Arts were still sitting safely in his storage pouch.
Thinking about it this way, it was no wonder that black-skinned cultivator had presented this item with such mystique for trade—it was fundamentally useless!
Han Li felt as though he'd been taken for a small, irritating con, and a touch of gloom settled in his heart.
Since the script on the copper fragment was the exclusive heritage of demon beasts, no amount of searching through human texts would yield any clues.
By that logic, the contents of the beast skin book were probably not worth the effort to decipher either. He guessed it was just another demon beast technique.
Han Li let out a long sigh, his face full of ill luck, and tossed both items into his storage pouch before leaving the stone chamber.
With his expectations dashed, Han Li naturally felt somewhat disappointed.
However, he quickly adjusted his mood, preparing to leave this place and head for the Abyssal Sea.
The matter of the Spirit Companion Grass was his absolute priority, directly concerning whether he could ascend further on the path of Cultivating Immortality!
And ever since he had ingested the Five-Colored Bead, he felt his cultivation aptitude had been steadily improving over these years.
Now, although he still couldn't compare to those with heavenly talents like a "Heavenly Spirit Root" or a "Unique Spirit Root," his ability to absorb spiritual energy and convert it into magical power was roughly on par with a cultivator possessing three Spirit Roots.
The Heavenly Spirit Pill truly lived up to its reputation! It had given Han Li a little more hope for condensing his Nascent Soul.
When Han Li emerged, Wen Siyue was still in seclusion refining the medicinal power within her. He estimated it would take another two or three months before she emerged.
Han Li did not disturb the woman. After a moment's thought, he left several magic artifacts and the verbal commands to control the cave dwelling's protective formations in her bedchamber, then departed alone.
Above the island, Han Li glanced around, got his bearings, then transformed into a streak of azure light and soared toward the direction of the Abyss.
Along the way, Han Li encountered several demon beasts, which he ruthlessly destroyed without a second thought.