Before taking the spiritual medicine, Li first meditated in the secluded chamber for several days, adjusting his true essence to its optimal state. Only then did he take out the small bottle containing the Heavenly Fire Liquid. Drunk Dew Academy.
He tilted his head back and carefully dripped a few drops into his mouth, then quickly put the bottle away, closing his eyes to wait for the medicine's effect to take hold.
Before long, Han Li's meridians began to scald, and the true essence within his body surged like boiling water, flowing rapidly through his meridians.
Feeling somewhat alarmed, Han Li hurriedly pulled out a packet of unknown spiritual medicine from his body, poured it into his mouth without hesitation, and began to calmly cultivate the Qingyuan Sword Art to break through the bottleneck.
When the seventh layer of the Sword Art was perfected, that would be the day Han Li successfully formed his core.
Of course, before this, Han Li had already used his spiritual sense to instruct Qu Hun in the neighboring room to also consume the "Heavenly Fire Liquid" and the auxiliary spiritual medicines.
Qu Hun cultivated the "Blood Refining Divine Light," a type of demonic cultivation method that allowed for rapid progress. Under normal circumstances, there was no possibility of forming a core, but with the "Blood Condensation Five Elements Pill," it was a different story. Therefore, his core formation process was vastly different from Han Li's.
Qu Hun did not use a particular technique to condense his golden core. Instead, he took the "Blood Condensation Five Elements Pill" one after another, directly refining the pill's power to condense a Sha Dan.
Relatively speaking, his core formation process was much simpler than Han Li's.
Therefore, after giving specific orders, Han left Qu Hun in the neighboring room and did not distract himself further.
Although Han Li's own chances of forming a core this time were slim, he had to give it a serious try.
Even if he couldn't succeed, he could gain more experience for his next attempt.
Thinking this, Han Li gradually shut off all sensory input from the outside world and completely immersed himself in the arduous cultivation of Qi refinement.
At this point, the passage of time outside became meaningless to Han Li.
Days turned into nights!
Spring gave way to winter...
Four years later, on a certain day, Sea Ape Island remained as chaotic as ever. The port and the island's only city were in a mild state of excitement.
Because this was the season when numerous sea apes surfaced to mate. Many low-level cultivators hurriedly came and went from the island.
The cultivators were obviously making spirit stones with smiles on their faces, and the merchants were also beaming with joy as they continued to purchase.
But at noon, on a certain desolate mountain on the island, a scene unfolded that left the cultivators nearby stunned.
They saw that the originally cloudless azure sky suddenly changed color!
A large mass of dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, covering the desolate mountain. Silver lightning and deafening thunder danced wildly like frantic snakes.
At the same time, spiritual energy from all directions began to rotate and howl, centered on the desolate mountain, forming a giant vortex several miles in diameter under the black clouds. It absorbed all the spiritual energy within dozens of miles, shocking the scattered cultivators.
They unanimously walked out of their cultivation abodes and hurried toward the desolate mountain where the phenomenon was occurring.
Even the most ignorant cultivator knew at this moment that such a startling heavenly phenomenon clearly indicated that a senior cultivator was about to successfully form a golden core.
The Chaotic Star Sea was about to gain another core formation cultivator!
However, for someone to form a core in such a spiritually deficient place was completely unexpected for the scattered cultivators.
Amid their envy and astonishment, they naturally wanted to see what was happening.
If they could form a connection with this expert, or even be accepted as disciples, wouldn't that be wonderful?
But before these people could reach the location, the spiritual vortex in the distance seemed to have absorbed enough spiritual energy. With a clear phoenix cry, it completely collapsed.
Amid the chaotic spiritual energy, five-colored auspicious light was faintly visible, appearing exceptionally beautiful.
Then the clouds dispersed, the thunder and lightning vanished, and everything returned to normal, still a pleasant and sunny day.
At this moment, those scattered cultivators had just reached the vicinity of the desolate mountain. But before they could get close, a voice of extreme coldness rang in their ears.
"Those who approach this mountain without permission will be killed!"
This ice-cold statement was utterly devoid of emotion, causing the expressions of the dozen or so low-level cultivators to change drastically. They unanimously stopped their movement, exchanging glances.
Obviously, this senior who had just successfully formed his core did not like being disturbed.
After looking at each other for a while, they naturally wouldn't continue forward knowingly, and they all turned back silently to leave.
But soon after, news that a cultivator had successfully formed a core on Sea Ape Island spread immediately.
This left the other cultivators on the island who hadn't heard about it stunned for most of the day.
For a cultivator to choose to form a core on Sea Ape Island was truly baffling!
Immediately, many low-level cultivators established new cave abodes centered around that desolate mountain.
Although they didn't dare to approach the mountain recklessly due to the warning from the core formation cultivator, those scattered cultivators with various intentions believed that if they stayed nearby, they might still have a chance to meet this core formation expert!
For a time, the area became very popular.
But no one knew that in a certain cave abode on that desolate mountain, it had long been vacated. The person who truly formed his core was flying high in the sky thousands of miles away.
With him was a young man with a calm expression, none other than Han Li, who had failed to form his core.
Han Li looked at Qu Hun sitting cross-legged beside him. Although his expression remained normal, he felt a sense of relief in his heart.
Actually, he had already stopped his secluded cultivation a year ago.
Because after three years of taking spiritual medicine and meditating to refine Qi, he had to admit that there was no hope of successfully forming a core this time. There wasn't even a trace of true essence solidifying.
So he simply stopped cultivating and focused on assisting Qu Hun's core formation!
As a result, with the forced assistance of numerous spiritual medicines, Qu Hun truly did not disappoint Han Li's expectations. A few days ago, when the dragon and tiger converged, he finally condensed a Sha Dan.
The smoothness of the process even surprised Han Li himself!
After his joy, Han Li drove away the scattered cultivators who came to spy.
Then he immediately abandoned this cave abode, taking Qu Hun and secretly fleeing from Sea Ape Island.
He now needed to return to Xiaohuan Island to check if his real cave abode still existed.
He believed that after four years, no matter how patient those people were, it was impossible for a core formation cultivator to still be watching Xiaohuan Island.
If it was intact, he would naturally take the strange insects from the abode and then travel far away, completely leaving this southwestern sea region.
The Chaotic Star Sea was so vast. With Qu Hun's early-stage core formation cultivation, how could there not be a place for Han Li?
Moreover, although Qu Hun couldn't use the "Green Radiance Sword" due to mismatched spiritual root attributes, he could barely manipulate the ancient elder's treasure, the "Primordial Bowl"!
Even if he couldn't fully refine this treasure and unleash its full power, at least he could fight with other core formation cultivators using a magic treasure.
Furthermore, he had given Qu Hun the golden small sword talisman treasure and the golden skull talisman treasure he had obtained previously, keeping only the small knife talisman treasure.
With Qu Hun's core formation cultivation, he didn't need to channel spiritual power for a long time to activate the talisman treasures. He could instantly drive them to attack enemies, compensating for the insufficient power of his magic treasure.
Thinking this, Han Li urged the Divine Wind Boat with all his might, transforming into a white light heading toward Kuixing Island.
...
More than a month later, Han Li and Qu Hun's figures appeared above Xiaohuan Island.
Han Li first used his spiritual sense to search the surroundings of Xiaohuan Island and didn't detect any other cultivators. Only then did he and Qu Hun safely drive their magic tools, entering the island from the port and flying toward the mountain where his cave abode was located.
The two mountains, one tall and one short, were still far away, but Han Li's spiritual sense had already scanned both mountains.
While on the flying tool, Han Li was stunned!
Not only were both the real and fake cave abodes intact, but even the three external formations were completely undamaged.
This was completely beyond his expectations!
However, this strange sight made Han Li even more vigilant.
When they were a few miles away from the mountain, the Divine Wind Boat stopped.
He didn't rush to enter the formation directly. Instead, his face darkened as he looked left and right.
There was indeed nothing unusual inside and outside the mountain or around it. After thinking for a while, Han Li suddenly raised his eyebrows, stepped on the Divine Wind Boat, and finally flew into the great formation.
The formation was indeed still as Han Li had left it four years ago, with no signs of change.
After a brief inspection, Han Li hesitated no longer and entered the cave abode.
He naturally didn't care about the fake cave abode on the shorter mountain. Instead, he went directly into the real cave abode through the underground passage.
Then he strode toward the secret chamber where the strange insects were raised.
But when Han Li arrived in front of the secret chamber, he was greatly shocked with his mouth slightly open! The scene before him left him stunned.