In the pill refining room of the cave dwelling on Little Stone Mountain, Han Li breathed out a wisp of cyan pill fire as thick as a finger, ceaselessly enveloping a small silver-white cauldron about half a foot in size.
The cauldron floated upon a magical formation at the center of the pill room, tumbling and spinning without cease.
And across Han Li's entire body, spiritual light flickered, his expression taut with tension.
As time trickled by, a faint medicinal fragrance began to rise within the pill room. After inhaling only a few breaths of this scent, Han Li felt his spirits soar, a look of delight crossing his face.
When the fragrance finally deepened from faint to rich and dense, a sharp gleam flickered in Han Li's eyes. He suddenly formed hand seals with both hands, and the pill fire vanished in an instant. A soft "Open" escaped his lips.
A spell shot forth, striking precisely at one corner of the magical formation.
The formation emitted a low hum as several beams of interwoven red and green light erupted simultaneously, shooting toward the silver cauldron.
The small cauldron trembled several times, and its lid opened of its own accord. A milky-white pill floated out from within.
The pill was about the size of a thumbnail, entirely crystalline and translucent, pulsing with spiritual light. Wisps of milky spiritual mist hovered around it, ethereal and elusive — a heavenly omen of a divine medicine.
Seeing this pill, Han Li could barely contain the ecstatic joy on his face.
The Nine Curve Spirit Ginseng Pill had actually been successfully refined. He had already failed several times in a row, and had this attempt also failed to produce a pill, the agate horn and demon companion grass would truly have been unable to sustain another attempt.
As for the most crucial ingredient, the Nine Curve Spirit Ginseng itself — Han Li was not worried about running out.
It turned out that when Han Li had used the Nine Curve Spirit Ginseng to refine pills, he had not been willing to sacrifice the entire plant. Instead, he had drawn only a small amount of ginseng liquid from the body of the ginseng, sparing the life of this spiritually awakened creature. Of course, doing so did not kill the spirit ginseng immediately, but it severely depleted its vitality. The white rabbit form it had manifested became listless and feeble.
Seeing this, Han Li deliberated for several days. Ultimately, after setting up several additional layers of restrictive formations, he dripped the Green Liquid onto the spirit ginseng to accelerate its growth. As a precaution, he initially used only diluted Green Liquid, gradually increasing the dosage in tiny increments, terrified of causing some mishap.
After all, this was a natural spiritual treasure capable of manifesting a physical form — it was fundamentally different from ordinary spirit herbs.
As it turned out, once the Green Liquid was applied, the spirit ginseng's vitality recovered considerably, with no signs of distress appearing.
Only then did Han Li feel at ease, and he began truly applying the Green Liquid to the plant.
And so it went — every time Han Li drew some ginseng liquid, he would use the Green Liquid to fully restore the plant's vitality before drawing again. In this manner, the supply of Nine Curve Spirit Ginseng liquid became virtually inexhaustible.
However, this method seemed to work only on the Nine Curve Spirit Ginseng. On a sudden whim, Han Li tried it on other spirit herbs, but the results were unimpressive — it was actually faster to simply use the liquid for direct maturation.
Now, Han Li held the milky-white pill between two fingers, raising it before his eyes for careful examination.
Its appearance and fragrance seemed identical to what was recorded in the alchemy formula, but as for its actual efficacy — he would only know after swallowing it during the formation of his Nascent Soul.
With a soft sigh, Han Li carefully placed the hard-won pill into a jade box he had prepared beforehand, stored it safely, and walked out of the pill room.
The fourth layer of the Great Development Technique — Han Li had mastered it five or six years ago, forcefully expanding his spiritual sense by a considerable margin.
As for the Green Essence Sword Art, he had also brought it to the grand completion of the ninth layer several months ago, finally advancing his cultivation into the False Nascent Soul stage.
Now, with both pills and techniques fully prepared, Han Li had everything he needed. All that remained was the right moment.
However, Han Li would not rush to form his Nascent Soul the very instant the Spirit Ginseng Pill was complete. Instead, he left his cave dwelling and, alone, found a secluded spot of scenic beauty along the eastern range of the Yunmeng Mountains, where he sat in perfect stillness, utterly motionless.
During this time, he revisited his entire life's journey, savoring each memory from beginning to end.
The warmth of childhood at his parents' knees. The playful days of youth with his little sister. And when he grew older, Third Uncle's recommendation had brought him into the Seven Mysteries Sect, where he met Li Feiyu and others. It was there that his chance encounter with Doctor Mo led him to cultivate the Eternal Spring Technique. Later, with the Tainan Tournament, he truly set foot in the cultivation world…
As his memories transitioned from their original haze to vivid clarity, Han Li's expression shifted between joy and anger, his composure cracking in a way it never had before — he who had always kept his emotions carefully hidden.
After three days like this, Han Li closed his eyes, his expression settling into perfect calm, and he began, free of all thought, quietly comprehending the Dao of Heaven and Earth.
After another month, when Han Li emerged from his secluded retreat, both his body and mind — and his magical power — were in an optimal state of peak fullness. The tempering of his spirit had ascended yet another level.
With a heart as still as undisturbed water, Han Li returned to his cave dwelling and activated every single grand formation and restriction protecting it. Then he said only two brief sentences to Silver Moon, who had been standing guard: "Guard the entrance. Don't disturb me even if the sky falls."
With those words spoken, Han Li stepped into the meditation chamber, his green robes drifting behind him.