The always-cautious Han Li finally set off on his flight back to Ningcui Island.
He knew full well that without the assistance of formations and puppets, venturing through the Outer Star Sea with only himself, Qu Hun, and two Blood Jade Spiders was far too dangerous.
Even though they could easily deal with fifth-rank demon beasts, if they were ever targeted by a sixth-rank or higher beast, death would be unavoidable.
Moreover, from his estimation, the demon cores he had collected should be more than sufficient to support his second and even third revolution of the Three Revolutions Technique with plenty to spare.
Several hundred fifth-rank demon cores were worth at least several hundred thousand spirit stones at minimum, not to mention that many were of extremely rare species — their value would likely double.
Han Li was not greedy!
Everything he did was in order to walk a little further on the path of immortality. So the moment he sensed that continuing to lure and slay demon beasts had become fraught with danger, he immediately decided to stop and head back.
By now, they had ventured deep enough into the Outer Star Sea.
Had he not carefully marked his sea charts whenever passing each unfamiliar island, he might not even have been able to find the way back.
The return journey took Han Li a full several months of flight.
Carrying such precious treasures, he feared encountering powerful demon beasts or legendary bandit cultivators along the way.
Demon beasts were one thing — at worst, he could take a detour, and they generally wouldn't pursue relentlessly.
But if he encountered cultivators with ill intentions, they certainly wouldn't let a lone traveler go.
In that case, not only would his demon cores be lost, but his life would most likely be forfeit as well!
So throughout the journey, he and Qu Hun remained on high alert, and the moment they detected any traces of other cultivators, they would immediately conceal themselves or flee to a distance.
In this way, they finally returned safely to Ningcui Island with all their demon cores intact, which brought him tremendous relief.
Han Li walked into that extremely rundown little street. Apart from two shopkeepers who had been replaced by unfamiliar faces, everything else was just as he had left it.
Ignoring the slightly surprised looks from the onlookers, he walked straight into the teleportation stone chamber.
The Heavenly Star Palace cultivator inside had already been replaced by a kindly-faced middle-aged man.
Upon seeing Han Li and Qu Hun enter, he smiled and asked:
"Fellow Daoists wish to teleport?"
...
Han Li collapsed face-first onto the large bed before him and fell into a deep sleep.
He had now returned to his cave dwelling on the thirty-ninth floor of Heavenly Star City. Exhausted in both body and mind, he paid no attention to anything else and simply slept soundly for several days before waking up fully refreshed.
This trip to the Outer Star Sea had truly worn him out!
After waking, Han Li wandered around his cave dwelling and felt a sense of warmth and familiarity upon seeing everything just as it had been after years away.
But when he checked the insect chamber, he found that the Gold Devouring Beetles had once again transformed into a giant silver sphere, hanging inverted from the ceiling of the chamber, deep in dormancy.
This sight drew a shake of his head.
Afterwards, Han Li made a trip to the market district, visiting several shops to purchase copies of all the pill recipes available there.
He then immediately returned to his cave dwelling and threw himself into the busy work of pill refinement.
For a full two years, Han Li used the collected pill recipes to refine the demon cores together with the force-grown spirit herbs, producing a large quantity of various pills.
The problem of pill resistance that had once given him such a headache was finally no longer an issue.
During this period, he also slowly sold off the useless demon beast materials he had on hand through small merchants who did not permanently reside in Heavenly Star City, and managed to exchange them for a large amount of spirit stones.
For the time being, he no longer needed to worry about spirit stones!
After completing all of this, Han Li thoroughly sealed off his cave dwelling and began making preparations for his cultivation dissipation.
However, while reorganizing the pills and remaining demon beast materials in his storage bag, he unexpectedly came across some special items that gave him a slight headache.
These were the large quantities of Nebula Grass he had force-grown during his demon luring in the Outer Star Sea, each several hundred years old.
Selling these would not fetch many spirit stones, and destroying them would be rather wasteful, given that they had been cultivated using a considerable amount of green liquid.
Moreover, he had always been quite interested in the fact that the Nebula Grass had such an extraordinary attractiveness to demon beasts when its leaves unfurled, and had been wanting to study it in detail.
Staring at the numerous stalks of Nebula Grass before him, Han Li felt an inexplicable and peculiar notion rising in his mind, growing stronger and stronger until he could not suppress it. This left him feeling somewhat bewildered.
After tilting his head in thought for a moment, he suddenly repacked the Nebula Grass and carried it to the insect chamber where the Gold Devouring Beetles were kept.
He casually tossed a stalk of several-hundred-year-old Nebula Grass into the chamber.
But the Gold Devouring Beetles, deep in dormancy, showed no reaction whatsoever.
Seeing this, Han Li let out a few self-deprecating laughs.
However, after a moment's hesitation, he still had Qu Hun move the Nebula Grass to several large coral reefs in the herb garden.
Not long after, Han Li entered the secret chamber and, following the dissipation technique provided by the Three Revolutions Technique, began carefully dissipating his cultivation.
For the sake of stability, Han Li proceeded with his cultivation dissipation at an extremely slow pace.
The entire process lasted a full half month, as he gradually lowered his cultivation level to the early Foundation Establishment stage before it was finally and successfully completed.
At this point, Han Li temporarily emerged from seclusion to let his post-dissipation cultivation stabilize a bit before taking pills to cultivate the Three Revolutions Technique.
During this period, Han Li, almost as if guided by some strange impulse, used green liquid to force-grow another stalk of Nebula Grass and, while it was emitting its peculiar aura, tossed it into the insect chamber.
He then stood outside the chamber, peering through the tiny hole with focused attention for a while, but felt somewhat disappointed!
The silver sphere formed by the Gold Devouring Beetles remained completely motionless, appearing no different from before.
This outcome surprised Han Li somewhat, yet was not entirely strange either.
After all, the Nebula Grass was not attractive to all demon beasts.
And the Gold Devouring Beetles ranked so highly — it would be perfectly normal for them not to be among those susceptible to its lure.
Han Li let out a light sigh, preparing to stop wasting time and green liquid on this grass. It would be far more worthwhile to focus all his efforts on refining Spirit Transformation Pills and try to upgrade the two Blood Jade Spiders once again.
Just as he was thinking this, the silver sphere inside the insect chamber suddenly split apart!
Several hundred Gold Devouring Beetles, their eyes gleaming with red light, swarmed forward toward the Nebula Grass emitting its peculiar aura and devoured it completely in an instant, leaving not a trace behind. Then they continued buzzing incessantly, seemingly becoming somewhat agitated.
Seeing this scene, Han Li was momentarily stunned, but a hint of joy soon appeared on his face.
It seemed this experiment could still be continued!
In high spirits, Han Li left the insect chamber and instructed Qu Hun to toss in a similar stalk of Nebula Grass at regular intervals from now on.
He wanted to see exactly what effect the Nebula Grass had on demon beasts, to satisfy the question that weighed on his mind.
Not long after, Han Li entered the secret chamber carrying all of his pills and sealed himself in for life-or-death cultivation.
Han Li had completely fasted now. In order to focus wholeheartedly on cultivation, he had resolved not to take a single step outside the secret chamber until his cultivation was fully restored.
As for everything inside the cave dwelling, since he had his clone Qu Hun to manage remotely, there was no need for him to worry.
So Han Li took out a bottle of pills from his storage bag, swallowed one, then slowly closed his eyes and entered a state of selfless cultivation.
From that point on, aside from contacting Qu Hun outside the secret chamber once each day, Han Li devoted all his attention to circulating his qi and sitting in meditation.
As time passed, Han Li naturally became completely focused and free of distractions. Whenever he felt the spiritual energy in his body was insufficient, he would casually pull out a pill, swallow it, and continue cultivating.
In this way, the time naturally passed quickly!
Year after year of monotonous cultivation — cultivating, cultivating, and more cultivating — this dull life, driven by Han Li's intense desire to achieve Core Formation, passed by without his notice.
Ten years flashed by, and the doors to the secret chamber remained utterly still!
Twenty years passed, and the doors were still tightly shut!
Thirty years...
Time flew like an arrow, days and months like a shuttle!
Then one day, sixty years later, above Han Li's cave dwelling, dark clouds suddenly descended from the sky, silver lightning danced wildly, and the heavens transformed in an instant.
At the same time, the wisps of spiritual energy within a radius of over a hundred miles all surged frantically toward Han Li's cave dwelling, converging into a spiritual energy vortex visible to the naked eye.
Startled by this, all the nearby cultivators — whether passing through or residing in the vicinity — stopped in their tracks or stepped out of their cave dwellers, gazing in astonishment at the source of the extraordinary phenomenon.
"Core Formation! Someone else has achieved Core Formation!"
Many cultivators stared blankly at the sight, murmuring to themselves, their faces displaying a rich tapestry of emotions...
Some felt jealousy, some were dazed, and many more revealed looks of intense envy...
At the same time, the numerous cultivators at Core Formation stage and above within the city, though they had not witnessed the spectacular heavenly phenomenon with their own eyes, could not escape the detection of their powerful spiritual senses sensing the abnormal fluctuations of spiritual energy throughout all of Heavenly Star City!
After glancing in the direction of Han Li's cave dwelling, some remained expressionless, some showed a hint of excitement, and still others furrowed their brows...