After several nights of restless torment, Han Li gradually leaned towards the latter option between wisely preserving his life but forever losing the chance of immortal cultivation, and daring to take great risks just to succeed in Foundation Establishment. After all, he was absolutely unwilling to live such a mediocre life!
But being cautious by nature, he still made a trip to the Yuelu Hall before making his decision. After confirming once again from the greedy old man that there would be no heavenly or earthly spirit herbs outside the forbidden area, and that the Blood Forbidden Trial was truly brutal, this finally made him completely abandon any thoughts of luck.
Since he understood there was absolutely no way to retreat, Han Li finally steeled his heart and decided to participate in the Blood Forbidden Trial to give it his all. Either he would successfully find the spirit herbs and succeed in Foundation Establishment, or he would perish in this struggle for the forbidden area!
With this clear life-or-death goal, Han Li began to prepare for the forbidden area journey half a year later. He wanted to use this short period of time to elevate his strength another level, so that his chances of survival would increase a bit.
The eleventh layer of the Changchun Technique could not be broken through without the assistance of pills. If he wanted to increase his strength, the only options he could think of were to learn several new techniques and purchase some powerful talismans and magical tools.
New techniques were not a problem; he figured Senior Brother Wu would not refuse to teach him. However, with his aptitude, in half a year he could at most learn two more basic low-tier techniques, or barely master one basic mid-tier technique. As for high-tier techniques, he shouldn't even think about them. Therefore, the fastest way to increase his strength was still through talismans and magical tools.
Speaking of magical tools, Han Li actually had quite a few now. But among those that could be of great use, besides the ring and small flag given by Uncle Ye, only the two items harvested from the two yellow-robed men who had tried to kill him were still usable—the long blade that could transform into a rope, and the gourd that could spray out spheres to attack automatically.
As for the items he received when he first joined, like the Scorching Sun Sword and Cold Moon Blade, those were just the most basic magical tools with fire and cold attack attachments on the swords, completely unsuitable for serious use.
Regarding talismans, Han Li had originally been extremely lacking. But fortunately, that Uncle Ye who had embezzled many of his things, despite skimming on the quantity of talismans, had not faked the quality and had actually given him over ten basic mid-tier talismans and two rare high-tier talismans, which greatly boosted his confidence.
There was also that talisman with the small sword drawn on it that Han Li still hadn't figured out. This item, which the yellow-robed man he had killed had exclaimed was a "talisman treasure," must be something of significant origin. But as stolen goods that couldn't see the light of day, he had never dared to let others know about this talisman. He had just secretly taken note of the term "talisman treasure," planning to find a suitable opportunity to ask others about its meaning.
Of course, facing the extremely terrifying "Blood Forbidden Trial," these things alone were definitely not enough. So Han Li planned to leave the sect gate once and go to the market town near the mountain range to purchase some top-tier magical tools and talismans.
However, without a large amount of spirit stones as backing, this purchasing trip would definitely not go smoothly.
Although Han Li could barely afford these spirit stones given his assets, these spirit stones were also important tools for survival in the upcoming prolonged battle in the forbidden area, which made him very reluctant to part with them.
After much deliberation, Han Li decided to cultivate several rare thousand-year-old medicinal herbs in the short term to exchange for spirit stones or simply trade them directly.
Actually, refining the Ageless Pill would be a better choice, possibly more valuable. But the Ageless Pill required too many medicinal ingredients, and there wasn't enough time to gather all the raw materials. So he could only exchange the herbs directly.
But to avoid attracting the attention of others within the sect, when Han Li made this plan, he secretly decided to only sell the cultivated herbs to foreign cultivators, and never trade directly with anyone from his own sect, to avoid drawing the attention of those with ulterior motives.
Thus, with a plan in mind, Han Li began to get busy.
He first selected the most practical "Qi Concealment Technique" from the many basic techniques offered by Wu Feng. This was a mid-tier auxiliary technique that could completely counter the Heavenly Eye Technique. As long as one was not seen by the naked eye after using this technique, it could completely achieve the goal of concealing one's spiritual energy and hiding oneself.
Of course, this technique would definitely have no effect on cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage or above. It was purely a means of confrontation among high-level cultivators at the Qi Condensation stage, and was much more practical than the Concealment Technique.
However, Han Li's decision not to choose other offensive or defensive techniques was entirely based on his own practical combat experience.
Because that single fight with other cultivators had shown him that the opportunities for cultivators to formally recite incantations and cast mid-tier techniques in battle were really too few. Most relied on low-tier techniques with the shortest casting time, as well as magical tools and talismans, to quickly launch attacks or defenses. So if one wanted to use techniques above mid-tier in combat, using talismans was more practical. Of course, if a companion secured the casting time for you, that was another matter entirely.
After obtaining the cultivation incantations for this technique and asking Wu Feng in detail about the tips for practicing it, Han Li began to practice with all his heart. However, as a mid-tier technique, this Qi Concealment Technique was completely different from the auxiliary techniques he had learned before, like the "Wind Control Art" and "Concealment Technique." It was extremely difficult and awkward to practice, and it seemed that mastering it completely within half a year would truly be quite a challenge.
Thus, Han Li practiced the "Qi Concealment Technique" diligently during the day, and at night collected the emerald-green liquid to focus on cultivating several commonly used spirit herbs. Moreover, to prevent Uncle Ma from discovering these herbs, he deliberately timed his cultivation to avoid the uncle's usual herb collection times, and transplanted them to a very secluded corner of the herb garden. After all, herbs over a thousand years old always emitted a medicinal fragrance that was slightly different from the ordinary.
But fortunately, this Uncle Ma had always been so punctual in coming to collect his things—neither early nor late, always coming in a hurry and leaving in a hurry, as if he were perpetually busy. Han Li had no idea what he was actually busy with.
As for what the other party was doing, Han Li had no interest in knowing. For him, it would be best if Uncle Ma could continue being this busy, so he wouldn't interfere with Han Li's little schemes and allow him to complete his herb-cultivating plan.
By the time Han Li had初步 mastered the "Qi Concealment Technique," more than four months had already passed.
And he had finally cultivated two thousand-year-old spirit herbs. He believed that in today's cultivation world where even hundred-year-old herbs were hard to find, these would surely bring a small surprise to the market town of Yellow Maple Valley.
Han Li obtained an exit token from Steward Yu of the Hundred Mechanisms Hall, whom he was familiar with, and left the sect gate.
Disciples of Yellow Maple Valley actually had one opportunity to leave the sect each year, but as cultivators, no one would waste time going outside, so very few disciples actually applied to go.
After flying out of the sect gate's restriction formation, Han Li set his direction northeast and flew straight toward the market town.
Speaking of which, the market town of Yellow Maple Valley was actually quite famous, much more prosperous than the market towns of other sects.
This was because Jianzhou, where the Taiyue Mountain Range was located, was right next to the Yuanwu Kingdom to the north, and the cultivation world of Yuanwu was not hostile to that of the Kingdom of Yue. Therefore, cultivators from Yuanwu would often appear in the Yellow Maple Valley market town to trade, bringing many special items not found in the Kingdom of Yue. This was truly an unexpected surprise, attracting many independent cultivators and members of cultivation families who came drawn by its reputation.
This market town was built on the northeastern edge of the Taiyue Mountain Range, so after flying for most of the day, Han Li arrived at his destination.
After landing nearby, Han Li did not immediately head over. Instead, he changed into a gray cloth shirt and put away all the items that could identify him as a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley, making himself look like an ordinary cultivator before walking toward the market town.
According to the conventions of the cultivation world, cultivators were not allowed to fly within five li of a market town. So as Han Li walked, he encountered many hurrying passersby, a few of whom were dressed quite strangely, making Han Li suspect they might be cultivators from the Yuanwu Kingdom. It seemed this market town really did have quite a bustling atmosphere.
Just as Han Li was pondering to himself, he had already arrived at the entrance of the market town's street.