Chapter 1612: Yue Zong
Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal to stop the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven cold in its tracks.
The Fire Raven let loose a reluctant cry before revolving around the ball of spirit liquid in a wistful manner.
Prior to deciding how he was going to use this flawed batch of spirit liquid, he naturally wasn't going to allow his Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven to devour it.
He had only summoned the Fire Raven so it could assist him in testing the efficacy of the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid.
Han Li flicked his 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession, casting a series of incantation seals of different colors toward the ball of spirit liquid.
Some of these incantation seals disappeared into the ball of liquid in a flash while others were repelled amid flashes of red light. There were also some incantation seals that struck the ball of liquid with rumbling booms akin to dull thunderclaps, and Han Li's expression changed incessantly as he witnessed the spirit liquid's reactions to the incantation seals he'd cast toward it.
After the final white incantation seal struck the ball of liquid and exploded into a cloud of white mist, Han Li suddenly stopped what he was doing as he stroked his chin with a contemplative look on his face.
A few moments later, he suddenly flipped a hand over to summon a set of extremely intricate formation flags. These flags were only several inches in size each, and as he raised a hand, they transformed into several streaks of spiritual light that shot forth through the air before abruptly disappearing.
A light formation that was around 10 feet in size appeared in their place.
This was a five-colored light formation that had a wide top and a narrow bottom, making it resemble a massive funnel.
There was a series of runes of different sizes flashing near the light formation, giving it a very mysterious appearance.
Han Li let loose a low cry before making a grabbing motion toward the ball of fiery liquid that was hovering in mid-air, and it was instantly thrust into the light formation.
In the instant that the ball of liquid entered the formation, a low buzzing sound suddenly rang out from within the light formation, following which a five-colored light barrier that encompassed the entire formation appeared.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he flicked his 10 fingers toward the light formation, and a series of thin translucent threads shot forth from his fingertips before disappearing into the light barrier up ahead.
Han Li then curled his fingers inward slightly, and the translucent threads completely straightened out in response.
He began to chant something, and a film of light began to revolve around the translucent threads, as if something were being transmitted toward them from the light formation.
Han Li stared at the translucent threads with an intense unblinking gaze.
What he was unleashing now was a secret technique that had been invented by the Monarch of Soul Divergence, and the technique allowed him to combine the power of his spiritual sense with this formation in a synergistic manner.
Not only could the power of his spiritual sense be amplified significantly within the formation, the secret technique also possessed some other incredible effects that could be directly applied to the items within the formation.
The 10 translucent threads that had been manifested from the power of Han Li's spiritual sense began to tremor slightly at his behest.
At the same time, the light swirling around the translucent threads began to fluctuate in brightness.
If someone could see through the five-colored light barrier around the formation, then they'd be greeted by the sight of the ball of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid revolving rapidly at the center of the light formation.
There were countless runes of different sizes in the nearby area, and they were plunging themselves into the ball of fiery liquid in a frenzy. At the same time, there were countless other runes surging incessantly out of the ball of spirit liquid.
The rapid entry and exit of runes made the red light around the ball of liquid tumble and churn incessantly, as if it had reached its boiling point.
After a while, Han Li's expression finally changed, and some kind of outcome seemed to have been reached. After a brief hesitation, he flicked his 10 fingers through the air again, and the 10 translucent threads shattered in unison.
Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a loud buzzing sound rang out from within the light formation.
Five-colored light surged as a ball of fiery liquid that had shrunk significantly in size flew up into the air and out of the light barrier.
Han Li wore a serious expression as he pointed a finger at the ball of fiery liquid from afar, and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven appeared beside it in a flash before devouring the ball of liquid.
The Fire Raven then let loose a cry of elation as it turned around and flew directly toward Han Li. It transformed into a fireball mid-flight before disappearing into his body.
Han Li took a deep breath before abruptly waving a sleeve through the air, and a swath of azure light swept forth.
As the azure light passed through the five-colored light barrier, the latter gradually dissolved away to reveal the light formation within.
Han Li waved a hand toward the light formation in an expressionless manner, and several streaks of spiritual light shot forth from within before reverting back to a stack of formation flags that gently fluttered downward.
Han Li swept a sleeve toward the formation flags, and they disappeared amid a flash of spiritual light.
The light formation in the distance also rapidly disappeared in a soundless manner.
Moments later, the only thing that was left hovering in mid-air was a fist-sized ball of fiery liquid.
Han Li waved a hand toward the ball of liquid, and the white jade vial appeared above it in a flash.
The vial tipped itself over before a swath of light surged out of its opening, then drew the ball of spirit liquid into the vial.
After sealing and stowing away the vial, Han Li closed his eyes as he sat down with his legs crossed in a motionless manner.
However, from his tightly furrowed brows and his indecisive expression, it could be deduced that he was grappling with some kind of difficult decision.
A short while later, his furrowed brows smoothed out as he opened his eyes again, then suddenly extended a hand.
A ball of silver flames instantly flames emerged over the center of his palm, and Han Li narrowed his eyes as a small crimson flame suddenly appeared within the ball of silver flames.
After appraising the wisp of red flames for a short while, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light.
An incredible scene ensued.
As soon as the ball of silver flames came into contact with the azure light, the former abruptly exploded.
Immediately thereafter, a ball of silver flames that was around 10 times the size of the original one appeared in its place.
Han Li nodded upon seeing this before opening his mouth, and the massive fireball was instantly devoured by him as a streak of silver flames.
"Looks like this flawed spirit liquid really does possess all of the main functions of a perfectly refined batch of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid. The only problem is that there are a few types of unknown impurities intermingled into the liquid. I wonder if this will be enough to satisfy that man. After devouring this thing, the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flame has gained the ability to draw upon pure spiritual Qi in order to temporarily enhance its own powers. With a sufficient supply of spiritual power, it could even enhance its own power by twofold in battle," Han Li murmured to himself.
After that, Han Li meditated for a while longer while contemplating what he had seen during the Four Races Auctions. After ascertaining that he didn't seem to have done anything wrong, he heaved a long sigh before pulling out a small vial and tipping out a Rising Dragon Pill for consumption.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li began to focus on his cultivation.
The time for the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm wasn't set, so the day could arrive as long as a century later or as short as just a few years later.
As such, he naturally had to focus as much of his time on cultivation as possible.
Even if he didn't want to use the abundant spiritual Qi in the Vast Glacial Realm to break through a bottleneck, it would certainly be in his best interest to become more powerful before entering the perilous realm.
Three months later, Han Li was still situated in the same secret chamber with his Provenance True Devil Projection behind him, and he was making a hand seal while engaging in arduous cultivation.
However, moments later, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and the golden light around his body abruptly faded.
He rustled his sleeve, and a jade badge flew out from within amid a flash of spiritual light. The badge circled around in the air before landing in his grasp, revealing itself to be a Myriad Distance Talisman.
The surface of the talisman was shimmering with spiritual light, and rows of ant-sized text were gradually appearing on it.
Han Li took a glance at it, and murmured to himself, "So it's already opened! Looks like I'll have to make a trip there, then."
Thus, he stowed the Myriad Distance Talisman away before emerging from his secret chamber.
Several hours later, Han Li disembarked from a beast-drawn carriage and arrived on a street that he'd already been to once before.
He looked around before immediately making his way toward a nearby shop.
Strangely enough, the doors of the shop were tightly shut, and it didn't seem to be open to any customers.
However, Han Li paid no heed to this as he strode over to the door before raising a hand, casting an incantation seal that flew directly through the door and into the shop.
Moments later, the door was opened from the inside, and Han Li strode into the shop to find a woman with a shimmering white crystal on her glabella waiting for him in there.
It was none other than the Crystal woman, Xian Xian.
Xian Xian extended a respectful curtsey with a smile on her face as she greeted, "Welcome, Senior. I didn't think that you'd get here so quickly, so I didn't head out to greet you; I hope you may forgive me."
"Hehe, cultivators like us aren't fixated on such trivial formalities anyway. I came here as soon as I received notification from you," Han Li replied with a faint smile.
Xian Xian smiled, and continued, "This isn't a good place to talk, Senior; let's continue this in my secret space. There's another fellow Daoist waiting for us in there, and I'd like to introduce him to you."
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he merely nodded without saying anything.
Xian Xian closed the doors to her shop again, then flipped a hand over to produce a formation plate.
She made a hand seal and began to chant something while pointing a finger at the formation plate.
Brilliant light instantly flashed from the formation plate, following which a vast expanse of five-colored light swept forth in all directions, enshrouding Han Li and the woman within.
This five-colored light then swirled before forming a five-colored light formation.
In the next instant, Han Li felt his surroundings blur, following which he found himself in a murky grey space. This was none other than the private spatial rift that Xian Xian had opened up.
Han Li looked around and immediately caught sight of a humanoid figure that was standing nearby.
"I pay my respects to Senior Han," the humanoid figure greeted in a polite manner as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.
Han Li inspected the humanoid figure through narrowed eyes to discover that this was a musclebound black-robed man with several faint purple scars on his face. His entire body was emanating a fierce aura, and after sweeping his spiritual sense toward the man, Han Li discovered that he was a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator.
"What can I refer to you as, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked in a calm voice as he emerged from the teleportation formation.
"My name is Yue Zong," the man replied.
"Brother Yue is the most renowned devilish beast hunter in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. If we want to have a smooth trip into the mountain ranges, we'll have to enlist the help of Fellow Daoist Yue's abilities," Xian Xian explained.