"Take you as my disciple? I don't take disciples. And do you really think I would take a Foundation Establishment female cultivator as my follower? Out of respect for what little goodwill once existed between us, I'll overlook this rash intrusion of yours. Behave yourself well from now on!" Han Li regarded the beautiful woman who had suddenly appeared before him and rejected her flatly, his expression cold and indifferent.
"Senior, I—" The woman surnamed Mu heard Han Li's words, and a trace of panic crossed her face as she hurriedly tried to say something more. But Han Li merely brushed his sleeve lightly, and a violent gust of wind surged forth, sending the woman stumbling sideways. The words that had been about to escape her lips were instantly forced back down her throat by the fierce wind.
By the time she steadied herself and looked for Han Li again, the space before her was empty — he had vanished without a trace at some point.
At this, the woman's face was filled with dejection. She stood rooted to the spot in a daze for a long while, unwilling to leave just yet.
After all, this "Senior Han" who had suddenly appeared was the only lifeline she could cling to at this point.
By this time, Han Li had already appeared inside his cave dwelling within the small stone mountain. Without hesitation, he headed straight for the insect chamber. Nearly ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles were stored there, their bodies almost entirely the color of pure gold. These were the gold-and-silver Gold Devouring Beetles that had successfully hatched and undergone another evolution over twenty years ago.
The silver coloring on these flying insects' carapaces had now been reduced to nothing more than a few tiny, pin-sized speckles. Unless one held them right up to one's eyes for a careful look, it was impossible to discern with the naked eye that there were still faint glimmers of silver amid the gold.
This indicated that these Gold Devouring Beetles were but a single step away from complete maturity — the final stage.
This left Han Li both excited and slightly disappointed.
And yet, the ferocity of these gold-colored beetles had truly opened Han Li's eyes. He had once placed over a hundred tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles together with the newly evolved golden ones, and within moments, the tri-colored flying insects had been devoured clean by their larger brethren.
Whether in terms of devouring ability or physical resilience, these new Gold Devouring Beetles far surpassed the tri-colored variety. Moreover, as they approached maturity, they began radiating a fierce, terrifying aura that sent chills down one's spine. They had also developed a taste for blood and flesh, becoming so bloodthirsty and savage that they were virtually unrecognizable compared to before.
He was certain that had he not placed Soul Control Restrictions on them in advance, these flying insects would have turned on him without the slightest hesitation.
Even so, Han Li could faintly sense signs that the new Gold Devouring Beetles were slipping beyond his control.
It seemed that should they evolve once more, ordinary restriction techniques would be insufficient to restrain these ferocious insects whose true nature had been laid bare.
Despite these thoughts, Han Li still followed his old method, selecting another batch of the largest gold-and-silver beetles and raising them in isolation to accelerate their maturation. He wanted them to evolve into the mature-form spirit insects that had only appeared during the primordial era as quickly as possible.
However, judging by the fact that each successive evolution of the Gold Devouring Beetles took longer than the last, it would likely take over a hundred years before they could complete the final step. Still, this buffer of time was actually welcome — it would give him the leisure to find a better method of controlling spirit insects.
While mulling these thoughts over in his mind, Han Li carefully collected the Gold Devouring Beetles from the insect chamber. He then made his way to the herb garden and delicately transplanted the Spirit Eye Tree — which had grown to nearly the same height as himself — and the Nine Curve Spirit Ginseng.
There was nothing much to say about the Nine Curve Spirit Ginseng — although the recent pill-refining had depleted a considerable amount of its vital essence, Han Li had later used the Green Liquid to restore most of the damage. It was now fully recovered.
As for the Spirit Eye Tree, after so many years of accelerated growth, the day it would begin to exude its rich elixir was not far off.
Han Li greatly anticipated using this elixir to prepare a large quantity of Clear Bright Spirit Water. After washing his eyes with it, what sort of supernatural abilities would manifest — he was very eager to find out.
Apart from the spirit insects and the spirit herbs in the garden, Han Li couldn't be bothered to deal with the rest of the miscellaneous belongings. He simply flew out of the cave dwelling on the spot.
As he passed over the herb garden from high above, Han Li instinctively glanced down. The woman surnamed Mu was still standing in front of the garden, gazing in the direction of the stone mountain, biting her pearly teeth in frustration — her face etched with unwillingness. She had not noticed Han Li, who had deliberately concealed his presence as he flew overhead.
Han Li shook his head lightly. Resolving this sort of matter seemed like nothing more than a simple gesture for him, but he had no desire to create the impression that, having just become the Supreme Elder of the Falling Cloud Sect, he was the type to throw his weight around. After all, both the Mu family and the Yan family were fairly prominent cultivation families in the State of Xi.
Besides, given the plain and unremarkable nature of his relationship with this woman, he had no reason to interfere. He couldn't very well take on every problem that came his way just because some Falling Cloud Sect disciple who happened to know him came asking for help.
Matters within a family's own affairs — Han Li truly had no interest in forcing his way into such things.