Two Years Later

Han Li was seeing mid-grade spirit stones for the first time. One was a gleaming red fire-attributed stone; the other was a deep yellow earth-attributed stone. Both were among the most common types of mid-grade stones.

They looked nothing like the low-grade stones, which had only a faint hint of their attribute's color. Not only were the hues different, but the spiritual wave emanating from them was so strong that no one could possibly mistake them for their lesser counterparts.

The three magic tools were also excellent—worthy of having been forged by Foundation Establishment cultivators. They were vastly superior to the junk Han Li had seen at the Tainan Assembly.

The first was a ring seemingly made of refined steel. When activated with magic power, it would fly out on its own to bind an enemy, and it could expand and contract within a certain range. On a whim, Han Li had once poured all his magic power into it, and the ring, glowing faintly yellow, expanded to a terrifying size large enough to encircle the thatched hut he lived in. He could only gape in astonishment.

The second was a jet-black triangular banner. Its use was even simpler: inject spiritual power into it, wave it once, and thick black mist would immediately rise around the wielder, blinding any enemy attacking from the front while concealing the user's own tracks. It was an excellent defensive tool.

The first two tools were already fine pieces rarely seen in the outside world, but the one that thrilled Han Li the most was the third—a support-type magic tool: a brass bottle that could preserve the spiritual power of any item placed inside it.

The bottle-shaped tool had barely touched his hand before Han Li instantly thought of the pressing problem of storing the mysterious green liquid.

Ever since he had learned of the existence of spiritual power, he had long suspected that the little vial was absorbing and condensing the natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth during the night. But without a way to prove it, that suspicion had remained buried as mere speculation.

Now, with the brass bottle in hand, he finally had a way to test his guess. That very night, he placed the condensed green liquid into the brass bottle to see if it could preserve the liquid.

But the result disappointed him again.

The brass bottle only extended the liquid's preservation time from the original quarter of an hour to a full day. After that, the liquid would still vanish without a trace from the bottle. It seemed that the liquid was not merely concentrated spiritual energy—something far more complex was mixed into it.

After this test, Han Li knew his limits well. He understood that this riddle was not something he could solve at his current stage. So he simply stopped wasting energy on the question, deciding to let the matter drift and see where fate took him. After all, the vial's current function was already more than enough for his needs.

With that burden lifted, Han Li used the green liquid's properties to brew batches of "Yellow Dragon Pills" and "Golden Marrow Pills." His plan was to first consume these greatly weakened pills while seeking out better pill formulas within the valley.

But Han Li knew better than to rush.

As a newly inducted disciple, openly inquiring about pill formulas would be as good as shouting, "I have a secret!" It would immediately arouse suspicion and speculation—and most likely lead to death.

So he decided to cultivate quietly in the herb garden for a few years, wait until he had thoroughly learned the sect's ways and become an old face no one paid attention to, before considering the formula problem.

As for the herbs he had to turn in periodically, he had no worries at all. With the diluted green liquid, what medicinal herb couldn't he force to ripen overnight? It was trivial. He had already decided to settle in the herb garden for the long haul, and he assumed Senior Martial Uncle Ma wouldn't object.

Thus, Han Li kept himself busy every day on a regular schedule.

After finishing the old man's notebook notes during the day, he frequently visited the teaching senior, Wu Feng, where he learned the practical incantations for several basic spells, then returned to the garden to study and comprehend them on his own.

Furthermore, Han Li consumed the Yellow Dragon Pills and Golden Marrow Pills as if they were snacks. In his own reasoning, if quality wasn't enough, he could make up for it with quantity! Accumulating these pills bit by bit should still yield some effect.

Thus time flew. Before he knew it, Han Li had been a member of Yellow Maple Valley, one of the seven great immortal sects, for over two years.

Many things had happened during these two years. Shortly after Han Li went into seclusion, the sect held its decennial recruitment of new disciples. From various related immortal families, over a thousand youths with excellent bone structures and spiritual roots were admitted into Yellow Maple Valley. Among them were even a pair of twins with the same "mutated spiritual root"—the "Lightning Spiritual Root," famous for its destructive power.

The appearance of these twins completely captured the high-level attention of the valley. Even a Core Formation elder who had been in secluded cultivation for a long time broke his seclusion to examine the twins' aptitudes. He publicly declared that if they could successfully establish their foundations, he would take them as his personal disciples.

This declaration naturally aroused envy among the other disciples. But besides these twins, several other geniuses with extraordinary aptitudes appeared in this batch.

For instance, a young man surnamed Li from a small family had, at barely eleven or twelve years of age, already reached the ninth-layer peak of the basic cultivation technique without taking any pills. His speed was astonishing and seemed no less remarkable than that of mutated spiritual root holders.

Another child, a seven- or eight-year-old surnamed Wang, was even more incredible. Not only was he a direct bloodline descendant of the powerful Wang immortal clan, but he was also born with the "Profound Yin Eyes," which allowed him to cultivate the long-lost "Shining Eye Divine Light," a technique capable of restraining all yin spirits and ghosts in the world.

Besides these two, there were several other outstanding talents who clearly stood above ordinary disciples. Compared to previous recruitments, this batch was a tremendous harvest, leaving Sect Leader Zhong beaming with joy for days. He even began to wonder if the heavens had opened their eyes, intending to let Yellow Maple Valley tower over the other sects.

But when news arrived from outside the valley that the strongest of the seven sects, the "Moon-Masking Sect," had discovered a "Heavenly Spiritual Root" little girl among their new disciples, the ambitious Sect Leader Zhong was left speechless for half a day.

Regardless, this batch of new disciples completely captured the attention of everyone in Yellow Maple Valley, high and low. Even the senior low-level disciples gossiped daily about which genius junior had made progress in their basic technique or performed some startling feat.

Under the radiance of so many dazzling new stars, Han Li—a disciple who had only entered with an Ascension Token—was completely forgotten by Sect Leader Zhong and the valley's stewards.

On top of that, Han Li spent all his time inside the herb garden and rarely went out to meet people. Very few even knew him. Perhaps only the teaching senior, Wu Feng, and Steward Yu of the Hundred Art Hall occasionally remembered Han Li's existence, since they met him when he asked about techniques and collected his monthly spirit stones.

No matter how others saw him, Han Li was very satisfied with his semi-secluded cultivation. As for the old man who came every few months to collect herbs, he was even more satisfied! After all, where else could he find a garden steward like Han Li, who turned in his quota on time without any arrears?

So, to keep this rare talent in the garden, the old man kept increasing his spirit stone reward—from the original two low-grade stones per month all the way up to five per month. This made Han Li a genuinely high-earner among low-level disciples, considering the average income for other ordinary disciples was only three stones per month. Han Li's goodwill toward Senior Martial Uncle Ma grew even greater.

As for Hall Master Ye—the one who had reneged and swallowed most of Han Li's items—it was said that his cherished grand-nephew, after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, still failed to establish his foundation. Helplessly stuck at the Qi Condensation peak, the boy brought great frustration to his uncle. When Han Li heard this news, he chuckled to himself, feeling considerably more cheerful.

Moreover, under the relentless force of countless pills, Han Li's Eternal Spring Art finally managed to stubbornly break through two layers in succession, reaching the eleventh-layer stage. This placed him at the mid-level among the valley's low-grade disciples. But by this point, the Yellow Dragon Pills and Golden Marrow Pills had completely lost their effectiveness. No matter how many more he took, they produced not a trace of benefit.

Thus, Han Li was forced to advance his plans and turn his attention to other pills.

Fortunately, by now, no one in the valley would take any interest in an unknown junior like him. As long as he was a little careful, his actions would no longer draw attention.