The Starfall Sect and the Formation

Chapter 221: The Starfall Sect and the Formation

Spirit Eye treasures were so miraculous, they naturally drove cultivators who pursued the Heavenly Dao to madness. Every time such a treasure appeared, it would inevitably stir a storm of bloodshed within the local cultivation world.

However, in the present day of the Yue Kingdom’s cultivation world, these Spirit Eye treasures had long since fallen into the hands of the Seven Great Sects. After all, even if a smaller sect or clan managed to obtain such a treasure, it would only bring about their own destruction.

Yellow Maple Valley, for instance, possessed a Spirit Eye Stone and three Spirit Eye Springs, among several other such treasures. All of these had been cleanly divided among the Core Formation elders and above; even Sect Leader Zhong had no claim to a single one.

Naturally, the founding ancestor at the Nascent Soul stage had taken the largest share for himself.

Now, Han Li had never imagined that, by simply bringing an ordinary Double-Pupil Rat with him for just over a day, he would so easily stumble upon a Spirit Eye treasure nearby.

Though it was merely a Spirit Spring, the lowest grade of such treasures, and this particular spring was pitifully small, its efficacy likely quite limited, a Spirit Eye treasure was still a Spirit Eye treasure. At the very least, it would allow for much faster cultivation than an ordinary spirit vein location. Even if it only increased his cultivation speed by half a percent, that was still a boon.

However, after his initial surprise and delight, Han Li felt a twinge of confusion.

Wasn’t it said that Spirit Eye treasures could only form in places with the densest spiritual qi? The spiritual qi around this mountain peak was hardly dense at all. How could it have formed here? And to appear in such a miniature Spirit Spring… While overjoyed, Han Li could not help but feel a trace of regret.

But since a gift had fallen from the heavens, Han Li was hardly going to let it slip through his fingers.

Although a Spirit Eye Spring could be moved, that was a technique only available to Core Formation cultivators. Han Li did not have ability on such a scale. So, as a matter of course, he decided to build his cave dwelling right here, designating the grotto with the spring as his secret cultivation chamber, to be hidden away.

Han Li immediately began expanding the tunnel he had created.

Wielding his silver sword in one hand and controlling several golden blades with the other, Han Li embarked on the grand project of carving out his cave dwelling. As for the Double-Pupil Rat, it had plunged headfirst into the Spirit Spring and refused to come out, falling fast asleep directly in the spring water.

Relying on the sharpness of his silver sword and the quantity of his golden blades, after half a day of hard labor, the rough outline of a substantial cave dwelling began to take shape. In total, he excavated thirteen rooms of varying sizes and three halls, each over an acre in area.

Although the walls of the rooms were still rough and had not received any fine finishing, at least it was habitable. Han Li breathed a sigh of relief and stopped his work.

It was then that he suddenly remembered the Double-Pupil Rat. He hurried back to the Spirit Spring, grabbed the still-slumbering little beast by the scruff of its neck, and flew several hundred li before releasing it, letting it find its own way back to the Qilin Pavilion.

For the time being, Han Li’s new cave dwelling only had one entrance. After returning, he quickly set up a small Illusory Maze Formation using five small flags and a dozen or so low-grade spirit stones, following the instructions on his jade slip, completely concealing the entrance behind this formation. From the outside, it still looked like a solid cliff face, making it impossible to detect that a cavern had appeared there.

Only after setting up this basic layer of protection did Han Li use his silver sword to carve out a simple stone bed. He threw himself onto it and sank into a deep slumber. He was truly exhausted.

In the days that followed, Han Li remained constantly busy.

First, he found a patch of level soil in a secluded spot near his cave dwelling and scattered some spirit herb seeds there.

Among them were both ordinary medicinal herb seeds he had brought from the mortal world and seeds of strange and rare grasses he had collected over the years from the Hundred Herbs Garden. This place was to be his own personal herb garden; from now on, all the matured spirit herb sprouts would emerge from this very soil.

In his remaining time, Han Li found some hard bluestone on the mountain and carved out items like stone tables and stone chairs, placing a set in each room. Finally, he carefully smoothed all the walls and inlaid some Moonlight Stones, making the cave dwelling as bright as day.

Thus, Han Li’s cave dwelling was initially completed.

However, it was clear that the defensive capabilities of this cave dwelling were pathetically weak, unlikely to withstand even a single blow. This left Han Li unable to cultivate in peace. In his opinion, he needed at least a comprehensive restrictive formation like the one at the Hundred Herbs Garden; otherwise, what if an enemy invaded while he was in seclusion? That would be a disaster.

Han Li was an outsider when it came to formations. He couldn’t even arrange the most basic formation, let alone a more powerful restrictive one.

But he had no intention of learning! The art of formations was as vast as an ocean. To focus on it would require at least a decade or two just to achieve minor mastery. And his own cultivation would definitely suffer as a result—a loss Han Li simply could not afford.

Perhaps there were geniuses in this world who could delve deeply into formations without neglecting their own cultivation, or even use the study of formations to advance their cultivation path. Such freaks of nature were not impossible. But Han Li knew with certainty that he was not one of them.

If he allowed himself to be even slightly distracted by this, he would surely extinguish his final hope of reaching Core Formation.

Fortunately, there existed in this world tools like Formation Banners and Formation Disks—array-type magic tools that were easy to carry and set up.

Although it was generally impossible to deploy truly powerful, high-tier restrictive formations this way, at this stage, Han Li only needed formations of ordinary quality to guard his cave dwelling. That would be enough to set his mind at ease. Besides, if worst came to worst, he could always set up multiple layers. Quantity could compensate for some of the gaps in defense.

As it happened, the Starfall Sect of Yuanwu Kingdom was renowned throughout the cultivation world of the surrounding nations for its formations. Every year, they refined a large number of Formation Banners and Formation Disks—these formation-type restrictive magic tools—which they circulated through the cultivation world to exchange for spirit stones, materials, and other necessities.

Han Li now had his sights set on the Starfall Sect’s market. He was certain he could find the formation-type restrictive tools he needed there.

So, in the following days, as soon as Han Li saw that a few of his planted herbs had sprouted, he immediately began using the Green Liquid to accelerate their growth. His plan was to use another millennium-aged spirit herb to exchange for what he needed at the Starfall Sect market. This time, he would only reveal a single millennium-aged herb to avoid drawing the suspicion and unnecessary trouble that releasing too many would cause.

Within just over two months, Han Li had ripened a millennium-aged spirit herb.

Then, carrying this herb and other items he was willing to trade, he headed north. These included the materials from the Ink Flood Dragon’s body and the centipede’s hard carapace. If the price was right, Han Li had no objection to trading them away; after all, he had no intention of learning artifact refinement either.

While flying on his magic tool, Han Li wore a wide bamboo hat, just to be safe.

A distance of over a hundred li was nothing to Han Li now that his magical power had greatly increased. He arrived in less than half a day.

As soon as he entered Yuanwu Kingdom, Han Li began scanning the scenery from the air. Partly, he was searching for the Starfall Sect’s market, and partly, he was simply curious about everything in Yuanwu Kingdom. But from the landscape, it seemed there wasn’t much difference from Yue Kingdom.

Yuanwu Kingdom was, like Yue Kingdom, a medium-sized nation in this region.

Although these two nations were not even a third the size of the great nations Tianluo and Fengdu, they were far more powerful than smaller nations like Jiang Kingdom and Shayun Kingdom.

In this region, there were only two great nations, but there were over a dozen medium-sized ones. As for the smaller ones, dozens were densely scattered throughout the area. And it was said that even further away, there existed super-giant nations, so vast as to be nearly unbelievable.

As for the cultivation world of Yuanwu Kingdom, the righteous and demonic factions were evenly matched, locked in a stalemate. The Starfall Sect was one of the core pillars of the righteous faction, possessing strength no less than that of Yellow Maple Valley.

As Han Li was pondering these matters regarding the Starfall Sect, the leaf-shaped magic tool beneath his feet suddenly sank, slowly descending towards the ground. It seemed to have instantly lost its flying capability.

Instead of being alarmed by this adverse situation, Han Li’s face showed a hint of satisfaction. It seemed he had finally arrived near the Starfall Sect’s market. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be an anti-flight restrictive formation in effect.

Sure enough, after landing, Han Li walked north for about seven or eight li before a cluster of buildings appeared before him, even larger by a third than the market at Yellow Maple Valley.

The Starfall Sect’s market was quite peculiar, completely different from Yellow Maple Valley’s. It was centered around a massive pavilion twenty to thirty zhang in height, surrounded by other buildings only a tenth as tall. The entire market was laid out in a radial, circular pattern.

The plaque on the central pavilion was so enormous that Han Li could clearly make out the three large silver characters, “Star Dust Pavilion,” from a li or two away. There was no need to ask; that pavilion was obviously the Starfall Sect’s own shop.

A distance of one or two li was covered in the blink of an eye.

Following his usual habit, Han Li did not act recklessly. Instead, he strolled slowly around the perimeter of the market, getting a general sense of the place.

He had to say, there were a few shops here that truly opened his eyes and made him eager to try his luck.

One was an artifact-refining establishment. It accepted materials from cultivators and would refine various magical tools according to the owner’s specifications. The sign it had hung out was quite bold, claiming it could refine everything from low-grade to top-grade magic tools. And if the refinement failed, it would compensate the owner with spirit stones at double the material’s value. Of course, if you didn’t have the materials and simply wanted to commission a custom tool, that was possible too, but the price would certainly not be cheap.

Another shop specialized in talisman-making, with a business model nearly identical to the artifact-refining shop, also accepting custom orders for talismans.

Among the other slightly more unusual establishments was a spirit beast courtyard, which specialized in selling a variety of tamed demonic beasts. There were even a few first-tier high-grade demonic beasts inside. Buying one to serve as a guardian beast for one’s residence didn’t seem like a bad idea.