Chapter 1257: Entering Deity Transformation
After the battle with the Elder Devil at Devilfall Valley, the restrictions outside the valley gradually decreased. After so many years passed, the valley became open to any cultivator who wished.
But after so many cultivators scoured the outer valley for treasure, spiritual medicines, ores, and other rare materials until near depletion. Only the most secret and yet discovered corners of the valley might still have something hidden. Perhaps one may find something if they are lucky enough.
As such, cultivators that seek treasures in the valley became increasingly sparse and now the valley had hardly any difference to an ordinary spiritual area.
On the other hand, Devilfall Valley’s interior depths still possessed its ominous reputation.
The restrictions in the valley depths hadn’t weakened despite the many years that had passed. The spatial tears it possessed were as numerous as ever. In addition, in the most recent couple hundred of years, an odd white mist mysteriously filled the area.
Although the mist didn’t directly harm cultivators, anyone who entered it would immediately feel dizzy and have their spiritual sense greatly restricted. If they wanted to head in any further, they would lose their sense of direction.
This strange appearance caused a commotion in the Heavenly South for a time.
Many cultivators determined that a rare treasure descended upon the world in the valley and that this mist was a heavenly omen. But no matter how good a treasure is, it can’t be more important than one’s own life. Many high-grade cultivators hesitated to enter the valley, not daring to charge into it.
But not long after, several vagrant Nascent Soul cultivators were driven by greed and joined hands to enter the valley depths.
As a result, they were trapped inside the mists for several years and the treasures they relief on to guide them through the mist’s confusion were completely ineffective. Eventually, after wandering randomly, they managed to desperately escape.
Later on, several confident cultivators also entered the valley depths, but they met an even worse end, either by running into a spatial tear or being trapped for even longer.
The longest known case had wandered mindlessly in the mist for over fifty years. If it weren’t for the rich spiritual Qi in the valley, this person wouldn’t have been able to sustain himself until he managed to escape.
The rumors came as a shock to many Nascent Soul cultivators, and none dared to rush into the valley.
As a result, the depths of Devilfall Valley once again became a forbidden zone in the Heavenly South and would rarely have anyone enter it.
As time passed by, the cultivators of the Heavenly South became accustomed to the mist. Cultivators who entered the valley believed the mist to be natural and none investigated its source.
But who could’ve known that inside a hidden corner of the valley, there was a small-scale cave residence carved out of jade.
To the side of the residence, there was what appeared to be a common medicine garden over three hundred meters wide. It contained countless rare spirit medicines that would’ve driven cultivators on the outside mad with envy. And these spirit medicines aged anywhere from several hundred years old to over a thousand, releasing a captivating medicinal scent.
Nearby the small valley, there were layers upon layers of restrictions that could easily prevent any Nascent Soul cultivator who entered it from escaping.
At the center of the medicinal garden, there was a stone building. It was empty apart from a woven mat.
A cultivator was sitting cross-legged on it, as still as a statue.
An unknown amount of time passed before the person began to move. He stood up and slowly stroke out the building.
Underneath the sunshine, the person’s face was made clear. The face belonged to Han Li, but
it was expressionless and incredibly stiff.
Han Li strode to the corner of the medicine garden and reached down, digging out a small green bottle from the dirt. Afterwards, he walked to another corner of the garden until he arrived in front of a few especially green vines and poured a drop of green liquid on its roots.
The vines absorbed the liquid nearly instantly and Han Li turned around, placing the bottle back where it was originally, and head back to the building to meditate.
But suddenly, he stopped and he held out his hand. A white formation plate was flying towards him.
He caught it and looked down. Large amounts of azure text floated off of it.
After heading it, Han Li took to the skies and flew off to another hidden corner of the valley.
Eventually, he arrived at his destination, in front of a three-meter-wide small-scale spell formation.
He took a seat and uttered not a word.
A short moment later, the teleportation formation glowed with trembling light and an azure silhouette walked out from it.
The person took large steps forward from the teleportation formation, revealing himself to be another Han Li.
The newly appeared Han Li appeared to have the same one that was waiting. He smiled and said, “I’ve troubled you much these past few years. If it weren’t for you delivering spirit medicines to the teleportation formation every day, I feared I wouldn’t have been able to cultivate to the peak of early-Deity Transformation stage in such a short amount of time.
“I am you and you are me. What difference is there?” The first Han Li spoke with an indifferent expression. He was the second Nascent Soul that controlled the human-like puppet.
The newly arrived Han Li was the original and had just emerged from secluded cultivation from within the spatial pocket.
It was now three hundred years since Han Li left the Drifting Cloud Sect.
At the time, he brought Nangong Wan and his disciples away from the sect to an ancient teleportation formation. They then journeyed to the Scattered Star Seas and occupied a small remote island with decent spirit veins. After they were settled there, Han Li made the journey back to the Heavenly South’s Devilfall Valley and entered the spatial pocket where he began to cultivate the Divine Essensefused Light.
But before he entered the spatial pocket, he released his hidden fortune mansion, depositing his spirit beasts and insects there and arranging his medicine garden as well. The Profound Goddess’ Palm and the Dragon Scale Fruit were also placed within it.
Finally, he had the human-like puppet remain behind and gave it the small mysterious bottle, leaving the garden entirely in its care.
But he still felt ill at ease, fearing that cultivators would discover traces of him in the valley.
After a year of effort, he placed down a huge ancient formation that released a bewitching mist that manipulated a cultivator’s senses and perception, covering most of the valley depths with it.
Then with that finished, he gave his second Nascent Soul several commands and teleported into the spatial pocket through his formation.
Before he began cultivating, Han Li first refined the Golden Wyrm King’s core in accordance with the Soaring Sky Beast incarnation’s suggestion. Using a peculiar method, he turned it into a metal-attributed core spirit root, allowing him to refine the Divine Essencefused Light with greater ease.
But Han Li and the boy couldn't have possibly known that this unintentional action solved the fatal flaw in cultivating the Divine Essensefused Light. This could be considered a brilliant stroke of luck.
Otherwise, it would’ve taken Han Li over a hundred years of cultivation before he discovered something amiss. When that time came, even if he began cultivating again, the harm would be too great.
But even with this and the aid of the Essensefused Mountain, Han Li’s cultivation still didn’t go smoothly.
The cultivation of the first several layers went well enough, breezing through them quickly with the aid of the mountain. But during the later stages, he would often run into bottlenecks and nearly undergo Qi deviation which would result in great harm to his vitality.
If it weren’t the countless spirit medicines in hand and that mysterious bottle, he feared his cultivation would’ve come to an end.
Lastly, what caused him the most pain was cultivating the power of the five elements and the Essensefused Mountain, and fusing them together. For several tens of years, he wasn’t able to take a half-step away from the mountain where he experienced hardship that outsiders would never know.
Had it not been for Han Li’s extreme wisdom and perseverance, he wouldn’t have been able to continue.
As such, his diligent cultivation continued inside the spatial pocket for two hundred years. Eventually, his cultivation succeeded and the Essensefused Mountain was completely refined. He was able to take it into his body as a precious treasure.
It was now that things finally began to go smoothly.
Han Li found an appropriate opportunity to take the Devil Essence PIlls and other spirit medicines. With the additional assistance of the peak grade spirit stones and five glacial flames, he succeeded in breaking through to the Deity Transformation stage.
Now that he was a Deity Transformation cultivator, Han Li was able to manipulate worldly origin Qi, commanding wind and rain. His abilities were now on part with an Immortal god from the secular world. It could be said, he has completely elevated his existence.
Han Li was overcome with joy and immediately departed from the valley, making his way to the Scattered Star Seas.
He discovered Nangong Wan and his disciples were safe and sound. His disciples even developed a significant faction in the Scattered Star Seas, directly controlling several tens of the nearby cultivator islands.
Nevertheless, he didn’t hold much of a strong opinion on this and remained neutral on the matter.
When Nangong Wang and his disciples saw that he truly entered Deity Transformation stage,
At that moment, with the aid of the large quantities of medicine pills Han Li left for her, Nangong Wan had already entered late-Nascent Soul stage. For the time being, she was strenuously cultivating so that she may one day reach the peak of late-stage and break through as well.
Shi Jian was also a person possessing exceeding aptitude. After several hundred years, he also succeeded in condensing a Nascent Soul, much to Han Li’s joy.
However, there was also misfortune during this time. Since Mu Peiling’s lifespan was approaching the end, she was in a rush to breakthrough to Nascent Soul-stage. As a result, her state of mind entering seclusion was unstable and her inner demons caused her death through a backlash of magic power.
When Han Li heard this, he was somewhat saddened.
In preparation for her breakthrough to Nascent Soul stage, he also gifted her supplementary medicine made from the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, but her fate can only be said to be the will of the heavens.
As she was his in-name concubine, Han Li naturally paid a visit to her grave.
At that moment, Han Li arrived back on the main island and properly accompanied Nangong Wan for well over a decade before returning to the Heavenly South to continue his cultivation.