The person Han Li was thinking about was, of course, Qi Yunxiao—with whom he had made an appointment several years ago.
Qi Yunxiao's formation master friend, since he was proficient in the "Five-Elements Reversal Array," presumably knew other formations just as well. And this ancient teleportation array was also a type of formation. If so, perhaps that friend of his could repair it?
Han Li pondered this, greatly tempted. He calculated the time—the day of their promised reunion wasn't far off. But with missions constantly being assigned within the sect, he naturally couldn't go looking for the other party right away. It seemed he would have to find another way later.
After thinking it over, Han Li felt somewhat dispirited and lost interest in flipping through these formation books. He left the Tianzhi Pavilion and returned to his cave dwelling.
Back in his cave, Han Li noticed that the spider eggs seemed to have grown slightly larger. It appeared that the Spirit Eye Spring really was effective at accelerating hatching.
Seeing this, Han Li immediately drew a simple Soul-Control Array—a basic method for cultivators to control demon beast eggs. He then dripped several drops of his essence blood into the array and placed the spider eggs within it. Once the array took effect and the two white eggs had absorbed all the essence blood, he placed them back into the spirit spring.
Just as he finished this task, he received a message talisman, summoning him to assemble quickly at the Council Hall.
A chill ran through his heart. He knew the mission had finally arrived.
...
On the main battlefield between the Seven Sects and the Six Demonic Sects, among a stretch of jagged rocks at the border between the Kingdom of Yue and the Kingdom of Cheqi on the Jingu Plain, Han Li directed two streaks of black light transformed from the Black Dragon Snatch and several golden blades, trapping and relentlessly attacking an early-stage Foundation Establishment disciple of the Ghost Spirit Sect.
Although black qi rolled thickly around the other party—a terrifying sight—accompanied by the faint wailing of several skull heads, the disciple was still quickly exposed to a flaw under the ferocious barrage of these two sets of magical treasures. Han Li seized the opportunity and sliced the enemy into several pieces in one decisive blow.
Han Li expertly snatched the storage pouch from the corpse, then vanished into the vast wasteland.
He had already made his harvest for the day, and the sky was growing dark. According to convention, this was when the Core Formation cultivators of the Demonic Path and the Seven Sects would come out to clash.
What if he got caught in the crossfire? That would be a death most unjust!
Just thinking about the Core Formation cultivator battle he had once witnessed filled Han Li with lingering fear.
Within a radius of several whole li, the clash between the Saber Transformation Dock and Spirit Beast Mountain cultivators had turned everything upside down, nearly sweeping him in even though he was hiding seven or eight li away.
Since then, whenever the sky darkened even slightly, he would head back early—even if he had found nothing.
One year ago, he had been ordered to escort a batch of spirit stones to this location with others. Then he had been stationed here, becoming a high-level cannon fodder for the Seven Sects. Not only had he participated in several large-scale battles involving over a thousand people, but incidents like the one just now—venturing deep into the Jingu Plain to fight scattered enemies—had happened repeatedly.
Come to think of it, it was rather strange. Ever since the Demonic Path and the Seven Sects had once again ended their second major battle in a draw, both sides had been facing each other from opposite ends of the Jingu Plain. A peculiar kind of warfare had gradually formed—one major battle per month, with smaller skirmishes every single day.
The so-called "major battles" meant each side sending out teams of over a thousand to fight each other. The "small battles" meant each side sending cultivators—some in groups of three to five, some alone—to the center of the Jingu Plain to hunt down enemy cultivators.
The major battles went without saying. Although both sides fought with great intensity, the actual casualties were few. Unless someone was truly desperate to fight to the death, once both sides activated their protective barriers, no one could easily harm the other.
As for the small battles, since Core Formation cultivators and Foundation Establishment cultivators were far apart in strength, both sides had tacitly agreed to reserve the hours from dawn to dusk for Foundation Establishment cultivators to slaughter each other. At night, the Core Formation experts would then emerge for a grand battle.
In a one-on-one duel between Core Formation cultivators, defeating one's opponent was relatively easy—even severely wounding them was achievable. But truly taking the other party's life was a different matter entirely. After all, when a Core Formation cultivator fled at full speed, the sheer velocity was truly staggering!
As a result, after a full year, both sides had lost several hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, while not a single Core Formation cultivator had perished. This left the leaders on both sides both pained and somewhat frustrated.
As for the Qi Condensation cultivators, since their magical power was meager, they could only serve as reserve forces, and so their numbers had been preserved almost intact.
However, the year's major battlefield battles and the never-ending raids and harassment had already pushed both the Six Sects and Seven Sects cultivators to their limits! While desperately trying to weaken the other side, both were accumulating their strength. They all knew that the decisive battle was fast approaching.
Han Li piloted his Wind Vessel and appeared in his own side's camp an hour later.
Wooden and stone houses of various sizes loomed in and out of view within the protective formation array, arranged in complete disorder with no discernible pattern whatsoever. These were temporary dwellings built on the spot by the cultivators who had come here using wood or earth techniques. Of course, they were divided into areas by sect.
Han Li first went to his own residence—a small stone house.
After closing the door, he used a set of Spirit-Sealing Array flags to temporarily seal the house.
Then Han Li poured out the contents of the storage pouch he had obtained that day and began sorting through them.
"Skull heads and small banners galore again! These creepy things—who else would use them except the Ghost Spirit Sect people? They can only be traded for a bit of material money! Oh, this sword is nice. I'll keep it as a spare. This one..." After muttering to himself as he rummaged through the pile, Han Li quickly set aside the useful magical treasures and items, placing everything worthless or unnecessary into a separate storage pouch.
Stuffing this storage pouch into his robe, Han Li removed the array flags and walked out of his residence.
After a few turns, he headed toward the most conspicuous building in the cluster of houses.
This wooden structure covered an area of fifty to sixty zhang and was painted entirely in gold. Under the setting sun, it gleamed and shimmered as though it were made of pure gold.
Han Li pushed open the door and walked in without ceremony. Inside, the place was bustling with activity—dozens of cultivators were running stalls, trading various goods, while many others were haggling with stall owners or browsing the wares on display.
Like an old hand who knew the ropes, Han Li quickly visited several stalls, and the items in his storage pouch rapidly turned into a pile of spirit stones. By the time he had traded everything away, nearly a hundred spirit stones had accumulated in his hands.
Han Li paid no further attention to anyone else and made straight for the largest stall in the room.
This stall was seven or eight zhang long—three or four times the size of the others. The owner was a plump, mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Without any preamble, Han Li immediately tossed the storage pouch containing the spirit stones to the fat man and said bluntly:
"Brother Chen, trade for the Dragon Chant Grass. I've gathered five hundred spirit stones."
"Heh heh, so it's Brother Han! Truly impressive—getting spirit stones so quickly. Let me count them!" The moment the fat man saw it was Han Li, his face broke into a beaming smile. Then, using his chubby hands, he grabbed the storage pouch and immersed his consciousness within it to sense the number of spirit stones.
"Not bad, not bad! A full five hundred spirit stones indeed! Here is the Dragon Chant Grass—keep it safe!" Chen Fatty grinningly produced a jade box from within his robes and handed it to Han Li.
Han Li took the small box, opened the lid directly for a quick glance, then nodded and stored it away. With a trace of anticipation, he continued:
"What about the pill formula I asked about last time? Still no news? If you can get me a formula, I can stretch my budget a bit more on the price!"
"Brother, pill formulas are absolute rarities. Even we Foundation Establishment cultivators might have a few, but we guard them like treasures. Who would ever take one out to sell? And you're specifically looking for a formula useful for Foundation Establishment cultivators—now that's even harder. I've tried my best, but I really can't get my hands on one!" Upon hearing this, Chen Fatty's face fell into a bitter expression, and he poured out his grievances.
Han Li felt somewhat disappointed inside, but he smiled faintly on the surface and said:
"It's fine. No worries if you can't find one. I should still thank you, Brother Chen, for managing to get me two already!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Fatty chuckled:
"Those two were practically useless formulas that had been sitting on my shelf for years. That you actually wanted them—I honestly couldn't believe it at the time! But for you to take them back for experimentation and refinement, that's really not something an ordinary person would dare attempt. The time and effort required is enormous—it might take several generations to complete!"
As Chen Fatty spoke, he grew somewhat emotional.
Han Li listened with a faint smile but said nothing.
Ever since settling in here and discovering this temporary trading post within the camp, Han Li had been astonished to find that it actually contained many rare items that were virtually impossible to find in marketplaces—from medicinal herbs and raw materials to magical treasures and cultivation techniques, it had practically everything.
The medicinal ingredients he needed for the Spirit Gathering Pill had been easily gathered here. All he had to do was grow them when he got back, and his magical power would soon surge forward once more.
He had even purchased the two ancient pill formulas he had been dreaming of from the fat man for just under a thousand spirit stones. This had sent Han Li into a state of wild elation.