Fame Spreads Far and Wide; The Ghost-Devouring Beast Awakens

Chapter 634: Fame Spreads Far and Wide; The Ghost-Devouring Beast Awakens

“You make a fair point, Senior Brother. Still, since that Du Dong fellow has the Cold Moon Wheels, it’s no surprise he made it to the finals. But what about that Han Li? Surely he doesn’t have a high-grade magic tool as well?” the goateed middle-aged man asked again.

“Not at all. Whether or not that Han Li possesses a high-grade magic tool is unknown, but this particular junior is certainly generous with his spending,” the late Foundation Establishment man replied with a wry smile.

“What do you mean? What does generosity have to do with the competition?” This time it was the sallow-faced elder who asked, showing some interest.

“In his very first match, this Junior Han tossed out over thirty Fireball Talismans at once. His opponent’s protective barrier shattered before he could even sacrifice his magic tool, and he was defeated. In the following rounds, he employed some mortal martial arts techniques and a clever method of manipulating flame, supplemented by more talismans, and barely managed to scrape by with a victory,” the man explained.

“We can set aside the martial arts and techniques; there’s nothing strange about that. Many people come to join the sect already possessing some skills. But using that many talismans at once does require a fair number of spirit stones. It’s nothing to us, naturally, but for a Qi Condensation disciple, it’s a bit extravagant. Has this disciple been looked into?” the white-bearded elder asked, his expression turning slightly grave.

“We have. From what some low-level disciples who have interacted with him say, although he is a rogue cultivator, he seems to be quite skilled in talisman crafting and has a fair amount of wealth. That’s how he can so lavishly use low-grade talismans,” the young man replied respectfully.

“Oh, that explains it. It seems there’s nothing suspicious about either of them. However, since he knows something about talisman crafting, it would be more suitable to assign him to the Blazing Flame Peak,” the white-bearded elder murmured, his expression having softened.

“Brother Feng, that’s not quite right. Our Heavenly Springs Peak also has disciples skilled in talisman crafting. We could still manage to take him on. Brother Duan, you wouldn’t actually try to take him, would you?” the man named Xin said with a faint smile.

“Haha! Our Blazing Flame Peak has more than enough talisman-crafting disciples. One more or one less makes no difference. I wouldn’t steal Brother Xin’s disciple,” the red-robed cultivator said with a dismissive wave.

The middle-aged man named Xin smiled and fell silent.

With that, the Core Formation cultivators discussed a few more sect affairs before taking their leave.

Han Li had already returned to his cave dwelling on the small stone mountain. With a rare expression of gravity, he stood outside the spirit beast room, staring fixedly into the stone chamber, his eyes flickering with thought.

Not long ago, he had just finished his final round of competition. While speaking with a few Heavenly Springs Peak disciples who had come to congratulate him on his victory, he suddenly felt the Crying Soul Pearl within his body grow scorching hot. Startled, he immediately understood: the Crying Soul Beast in his cave had finally completed its advancement and was calling for him.

Surprised and delighted, Han Li naturally had no reason to tarry with the Heavenly Springs Peak disciples. After a hasty farewell, he immediately returned to his cave.

Upon arriving and standing before the spirit beast room, he was shocked by what he saw inside.

The stone chamber had somehow become dim and lightless, eerie and terrifying. Black, ghostly qi danced everywhere, and an icy Yin energy seemed to seep out from the room itself.

The Crying Soul Beast was nowhere to be seen. In a corner of the room, however, a massive, elliptical cocoon, about ten feet in size, had appeared. It was pitch black and glossy, with black, thorny light flickering across its surface, as if something were gestating within.

Without needing to guess, Han Li knew the Crying Soul Beast was inside that black cocoon.

A flicker of excitement passed through him, but his expression grew more cautious.

He did not rashly enter the stone chamber. After a moment’s thought, he sat down cross-legged just outside the spirit beast room.

According to the classics he had read, when a spirit beast advanced, it was best for its master to remain nearby, but not to interfere lightly with the process. Only if the beast’s advancement failed and its life was in peril should the master intervene.

He planned to follow this advice.

And so, with a tense heart, he waited. Time passed slowly.

Han Li had originally estimated it would take at least several days for the Crying Soul Beast to finish its evolution and break out of its cocoon. But to his surprise, by the morning of the very next day, the black cocoon had already begun to change.

He was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, resting, when he suddenly heard a crisp cracking sound. Though it was very faint, his heart leaped with joy, and he opened his eyes.

In the stone chamber before him, the Yin-cold ghostly qi was being drawn in by some powerful force, surging toward a corner of the room—the location of the black cocoon.

A brilliant black light then flared up, dazzling to the point where Han Li shut his eyes reflexively. The next moment, a somewhat familiar, yet unfamiliar, aura suddenly appeared in the chamber.

Han Li’s brows shot up. Without a second thought, he stood and gently patted the stone door with both hands. The door to the spirit beast room slid open.

Standing at the entrance, he swept his gaze across the room. The black cocoon had already shriveled into two dry husks, completely empty inside.

There was nothing else in any of the room’s other corners.

Han Li was taken aback. He was about to release his spiritual sense to investigate when a black light flickered into existence in one corner of the room. A low cry rang out, and a mass of black shadow shot straight toward him.

Startled, Han Li instinctively wanted to dodge, but a thought flashed through his mind, and he forced himself to stay rooted to the spot.

A small, cold object flew into his arms, and he caught it.

“This is…?” Han Li grabbed the little thing, a look of surprise on his face.

In his hand was a miniature monkey, no larger than a fist. It was undoubtedly the evolved Crying Soul Beast. At first glance, apart from its fur having turned from silvery-white to jet-black, nothing else seemed to have changed.

But after a careful examination, he finally noticed two differences from before.

On the lower part of the Crying Soul Beast’s large nose, between its two nostrils, there was now another tiny hole. A careless observer would never even notice it.

The Crying Soul Beast had always relied on the ghost-devouring light sprayed from its nose to suppress evil spirits and fierce ghosts. Could this extra hole mean it was even more powerful now?

Han Li felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, but he decided to hold out some hope for it.

The other peculiarity was on the beast’s back. Sometime during its evolution, a blood-red demonic ghost pattern had appeared in its fur, resembling a spectral shadow.

The ghost in the pattern had a single horn on its head and three eyes. Though faint, it was incredibly lifelike, giving off a menacing and oppressive feel at first glance.

Even Silvermoon was amazed by the Crying Soul Beast’s transformation, murmuring in wonder from within Han Li’s mind. However, she could offer no useful insights.

Because he had refined the Crying Soul Pearl, the beast was noticeably more affectionate toward him. It kept rubbing its furry little head against the lapel of his robe.

Han Li held the pitch-black little monkey in one hand, sensing a subtle connection to its emotions. He couldn’t help but let out a light laugh.

He played with the beast for a while, taking some interest in it, until it seemed to grow tired and yawned. He then carefully placed it back into his spirit beast pouch.

After leaving the spirit beast room, he went to the insect chamber next door to have a look. The golden-silver Gold Devourer Beetles inside had dwindled to just a few dozen. They had nearly finished devouring each other and were now preparing to lay eggs.

Looking at these beetles, which were noticeably larger than before, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He left the insect chamber and entered his meditation room to begin his routine cultivation.

After his victory in the selection competition that day, the referee who had announced his win had told him that selected disciples could receive one-on-one guidance from several Core Formation cultivators. However, until then, they would have to cultivate on their own. The guidance period would only last a few days. When it was his turn, he would be notified via a sound transmission talisman.

Han Li wasn’t particularly concerned about receiving guidance from Core Formation cultivators. When the time came, he would simply go and deal with it for a few days.

For now, he held the Spirit Eye Jade in both hands and silently cultivated within his secret chamber.

As for the artifact spirit Silvermoon, he had released her. She had possessed the demon fox’s body and was cultivating in the next room.

Speaking of which, Silvermoon’s method of cultivation through possession was quite astonishing.

According to her, while her artifact spirit’s cultivation was at the late Core Formation stage, the demon fox body she possessed was only at the level of a low-grade demon beast—barely at the threshold of a first-grade demonic beast.

Thus, while she could use the fox body to unleash formidable power, it could only be sustained for very short periods. Furthermore, she could never increase her artifact spirit’s cultivation through training. The fox body’s cultivation, though shallow, could be slowly improved over time, which would be her true foundation for her future existence.

After possessing the fox body, Silvermoon used some of the low-grade pills Han Li provided. Under this regimen, her cultivation advanced at an astonishing rate, growing stronger by the day.

(A/N: Whoa. I took a look at the comment section today, and it’s really heated in here. That’s fine, though. It shows everyone is still invested in my story. It’s just that you’re a bit impatient when the plot doesn’t go your way. Honestly, I think the main reason some of you feel the pace is a bit slow is that I haven’t been updating enough in one go. Now that we’re back in Tiannan, everyone wants to see Han Li get his moment of glory quickly. Hehe, I understand that feeling. So, I’ll try to speed things up a bit. Entering the Nascent Soul stage is not far off now. I hope all my fellow readers can be just a little more patient!)