Chapter 490: The Cauldron’s Reappearance
The Bone Sage coldly said, “Youngster Han, don’t you wish to condense a Nascent Soul? The Heavenmend Pill’s greatest effect is that it purifies a Core Formation cultivator’s innate spiritual roots, allowing a cultivator to enter the Nascent Soul stage with greater ease.”
Han Li was silent for a moment before turning around. He narrowed his eyes and spoke with disbelief, “Purify one’s spiritual roots? You must think I am a child! How could there be such a legendary, heaven-defying medicine?”
“Hehe, it’s up to you whether or not you believe it. Do you think that I have lived my many years idly? Back then, I had captured a Star Palace elder and used soul searching techniques to acquire this information. The outside rumors that this pill can break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage, causes a ma.s.sive increase of one’s magic power, and can lengthen one’s life are completely false. It had been proven when a Star Palace Master had personally consumed the Heavenmend Pill.”
The Bone Sage calmly continued with a careless expression, “And since you’ve already acquired the Ninecurl Ginseng, with the complimentary effects of the Heavenmend Pill, your odds of condensing a Nascent Soul will reach forty percent. If you wait another three hundred years to acquire a Heavenmend Pill, its effects will be of little use by then. This is due to the long process of spiritual root purification. It will take over a hundred years for the effects to be fully displayed.”
“A forty percent chance at Nascent Soul condensation?” Han Li felt giddy with excitement.
As if having seen through Han Li’s thoughts, the Bone Sage smiled and added, “As for your worries that the tremors would be far too noticeable, even if a great catastrophe struck, there would be no way they could possibly know unless they saw it for their own eyes; the barrier completely isolates any disturbances that occur from within. They can’t use their spiritual sense to observe what happens in here either. Why else would this Tailstar Barrier have been so renowned even in the era of antiquity! And if you’re worried about your single Bloodjade Spider being unable to lift the cauldron, don’t forget that I am Zenith Yin’s master. Even as a demon ghost, I am still capable of refining corpses.”
With that said, the Bone Sage immediately opened his mouth and spat out a fist-sized ball of glimmering light towards the Bloodjade Spider’s corpse next to the altar. In the blink of an eye, a dense, green mist enveloped the spider corpse that quickly absorbed it. A short moment later, the two halves of the spider began to join together. Green light flashed from the point of incision, and the Bloodjade Spider shakily stood up, whole once more.
Although Han Li managed to maintain a calm expression as he watched the scene, he was inwardly overwhelmed with shock. The world of cultivation truly had no shortage of extraordinary things! There was even such a technique that can refine a corpse in nearly an instant.
The Bone Sage made the spider corpse walk several steps before he turned to Han Li and confidently said, “My corpse refinement technique is pa.s.sable, yes? Although the refined spider corpse won’t last for long, and it is somewhat weaker than when it was alive, it will have no problem lifting the cauldron with your surviving Bloodjade Spider. After we acquire the treasure, I will give you all the Heavenmend Pills as I have no need of them. Also, I will cede half of the Heavenvoid Cauldron’s other treasures to you, but the cauldron is mine. How do you feel about this trade?”
“Humph! Your words may be extravagantly beautiful, but how do I know you won’t immediately attack me after the Heavenvoid Cauldron is secure? After all, your cultivation and techniques are both an entire realm above me.”
When the Bone Sage heard this, he inwardly rejoiced. Although Han Li’s tone was quite harsh, it was clear he was on the cusp of agreeing. Now, it was only a matter of haggling over price.
As a result, the Bone Sage smiled and hastily said, “Han Li, you’re being far too humble! If I guessed correctly, if we were to fight to the death, the odds would be fifty-fifty. Moreover, such a battle wouldn’t be concluded in a short amount of time, allowing an increased window for the others to return. Do you truly believe me to be so foolish as to bring about both of our deaths? Naturally, so long as you agree to help me acquire the treasure, I will hand over the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng refinement formula over to you as a token of our sincere cooperation.”
After this was said, the Bone Sage flipped his hand and tossed a white jade slip with an ancient aura towards Han Li.
Han LI quickly raised his hand and beckoned to the approaching jade slip. With an azure flash, a ball of azure light enveloped it, quickly bringing it to his palm.
The Bone Sage responded to Han Li’s great carefulness with a chuckle and said nothing else.
Han Li quickly swept through the contents of the jade slip with his spiritual sense. Although he didn’t have enough time to mull over whether or not the pill formula was genuine, it did mention the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng as well as three supplementary medicinal ingredients Han Li had never heard of before.
After some consideration, Han Li bluntly put the jade slip into his storage pouch and raised his head. He calmly gazed at the Bone Sage and said, “Fine, I will agree to these conditions. Let’s immediately start retrieving the cauldron!”
Since he had agreed to act, Han Li no longer delayed, as it would only allow their enemies more time to return. He quickly pat his spirit beast pouch causing his other Bloodjade Spider to appear with a flash of light.
“Very good, you made the right choice.” With an expression of excitement, the Bone Sage approached the hole and ordered the refined spider corpse to spit out a web at the cauldron, finis.h.i.+ng his preparations first.
Han Li followed suit, calmly ordering his Bloodjade Spider to shoot a web at the Heavenvoid Cauldron as well.
The Bone Sage cast several magic seals of varying colors at his Bloodjade Spider as he gave an explanation, “Let’s be quick. We don"t have much time. Although I cannot make use of the Berserking Technique in my current form, I can still use other slightly weaker supplementary techniques.”
Suddenly, the Bloodjade Spider entered a frantic state. Apart from its blood-red sh.e.l.l, distinct black and green radiance were interweaved, making for quite a strange display.
Han Li frowned but remained silent. After all, without these supplementary techniques, the Bloodjade Spider would be incapable of lifting the Heavenvoid Cauldron.
With the combined power of the Bloodjade Spider and the spider corpse, the cauldron began to rise with violent quakes and flares of blue light.
Without the protection of Layman Qing Yi, Han Li could only rely on himself. He hastily cast a fire attribute barrier around himself and utilized the White Rhino Emblem to its maximum potential, immersing him in a blistering white light. And for the innermost layer, he released the Azure Essence Swordbarrier. A layer of azure radiance appeared close to Han Li’s body with faint sparks of gold mixed within.
As for the Bone Sage, green Qi violently surged from his body, enveloping him in a dense ghostly barrier.
‘I can still hold!’ Although the cold glacial Qi filled Han Li with a bone-chilling sensation, the full-strength circulation of the Azure Essence Sword Art allowed him to painstakingly avoid being frozen.
This allowed Han Li to personally experience the ma.s.sive gap between the Core Formation and Nascent Soul stages. Previously, all it had taken was a casual wave of Qing Yi’s hand to produce a barrier that completely s.h.i.+elded him from the cold.
Han Li sighed and focused a majority of his attention on the hole. His remaining attention was focused on the Bone Sage. Despite the Bone Sage’s extravagant words, Han Li felt a need to remain vigilant of the old devil.
With the strength of the frenzied Bloodjade Spider, the Heavenvoid Cauldron began to slowly rise once more.
But for some unknown reason, Han Li felt that it was unbearably slow in comparison to the last attempt. It was as if every inch it was raised took an excruciatingly long time, much to Han Li’s irritation. If any of the old Devils returned to this scene, it would make for a terrible situation.
The Bone Sage appeared completely undisturbed, but once the blue light from the hole grew increasingly brilliant, a fervent expression began to appear on his face.
As the two stared down, their perception of the pa.s.sage of time grew even slower with every rise of the Heavenvoid Cauldron.
While it was still unknown where the Nascent Soul eccentrics had wandered off to, their absence inspired both fear and delight in Han Li’s mind.
Suddenly, Han Li and the Bone Sage both shot to the sky as the blue flames had reached the top of the hole. Huge blue flames had blossomed yet again and immersed the world in blue frost.
As Han Li stared at the vague shadow contained inside the icy flames, he could hear his own heart thumping in antic.i.p.ation.
The last time the cauldron had appeared, he had been entirely focused on the old devils and hadn’t examined the cauldron in the slightest. Now, he had the opportunity to witness its true appearance with his own eyes.
Although only some of it was exposed, Han Li was still able to make it out.