Chapter 1206: Same Transformation

Even with the assistance of numerous elixirs, forming a Nascent Soul remains a matter of destiny. Mu Peiling’s chances of achieving this are, in fact, quite low.

Mu Peiling was momentarily stunned by Han Li’s words. Her red lips parted, about to speak again, but Han Li waved his hand, cutting her off.

“Alright,” he said, “I’m not asking you to make an immediate decision. You can consider this for a few more years. For now, I need to enter secluded cultivation. During this period, I will provide you with some elixirs so you can attempt to break through to the mid-stage realm. Additionally, please guide Qin’er with her foundational cultivation techniques on my behalf.”

“Yes, I will respectfully obey your command!” Mu Peiling replied, still somewhat reluctant, but Han Li’s firm tone left her with no choice but to comply.

Han Li nodded, then took out some elixirs and handed them to her. After giving Tian Qin’er a few instructions, he dismissed both women from the cave mansion.

Once the hall was empty, Han Li slowly closed his eyes and sighed softly. His state of mind appeared to be somewhat disturbed.

He remained seated in the hall for a full fifteen minutes. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had become serene, as if his mind had returned to its original calm state.

Suddenly, he slapped his waist, and a silver light flashed before him. A humanoid puppet mysteriously materialized, standing perfectly still.

Han Li examined the humanoid puppet. With a thought from his divine sense, a layer of silver light suddenly appeared on the puppet’s face. Its original middle-aged features blurred, and as the silver light cleared, its face had transformed to become identical to Han Li’s, as if it were his own reflection.

Almost simultaneously, the humanoid puppet’s body trembled, silently growing several inches taller until its build became identical to Han Li’s.

Han Li looked at the puppet again, nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand at it.

The expressionless humanoid puppet instantly blurred, then vanished within the silver light, making it impossible to discern where it had hidden.

Han Li lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then rose and strode out of the hall, heading directly for the secret chamber within the cave mansion.

But halfway there, he suddenly spoke, without any warning:

“Is my second Nascent Soul behaving itself in the cauldron? It hasn’t caused you any trouble, has it, fellow Daoist?”

“Hehe, what trouble could a mere mid-stage Nascent Soul, lacking a physical body, cause this old man?” an ancient voice chuckled from the sleeve. “It’s just that with another fellow in here, the cauldron feels a bit cramped.” The ancient voice of the young boy came from his sleeve; Han Li had, without realizing it, placed the Xutian Cauldron inside his sleeve at some point.

“Daoist Tian Xie, please bear with it for a moment,” Han Li said. “I will re-assimilate this second Nascent Soul and retrieve it immediately. Once it’s done, you will naturally be free of these troubles. And as soon as this matter is concluded, I will protect you as you undergo the human transformation lightning tribulation, so you can reshape your body into human form. You have no objections, do you, fellow Daoist?”

“Daoist Han still remembers this matter! How could this old man possibly have any objections?” the Saint Beast Tian Xie replied with great joy upon hearing Han Li’s words.

Han Li smiled faintly, then stopped conversing with the Saint Beast Tian Xie and, with a flash, entered the secret chamber.

The stone door silently closed behind him.

Han Li slowly walked to the center of the secret chamber, then, without a word, flicked his sleeve.

A ball of green light shot out, swirled once, then transformed into a clear, small cauldron, hovering before him.

Green light flashed on the cauldron, and the blurry figure of the young boy materialized. Grinning, he sat cross-legged on the cauldron lid, appearing ready to enjoy a spectacle.

Han Li’s expression remained impassive; he ignored the young boy. Instead, he slapped his storage pouch, and immediately a stack of formation flags appeared.

With a flick of his hand, a dozen or so formation flags swiftly flew to the perimeter of the secret chamber. Immediately, a faint yellow light curtain shimmered into existence, enveloping the entire room.

Han Li, expressionless, formed a hand seal with both hands, then lightly pointed a finger at the Xutian Cauldron before him.

With a whoosh, the cauldron lid shot off, flying high into the air.

The young boy, quick-witted, had already flickered to the side, watching the small cauldron with an unchanging smile.

Apart from a rumbling hum emanating from within the cauldron, nothing else unusual occurred.

Han Li’s face darkened. As he chanted a spell, he cast a magic art onto the cauldron.

Immediately, the Xutian Cauldron trembled slightly, and a misty green object slowly rose from within. Roughly half a foot long, it was densely wrapped in countless clear threads, resembling a green cocoon.

“Break!” Han Li uttered a low cry.

A peculiar scene unfolded.

The clear threads wrapping the object instantly snapped one by one, inch by inch, and in the blink of an eye, transformed into flickering points of light that vanished into thin air.

The black-green figure of the second Nascent Soul immediately appeared.

At this moment, its eyes were tightly shut, and it floated motionless in the air, seemingly still unconscious.

Upon seeing this, Han Li’s eyes narrowed, and he unhesitatingly made a grabbing motion in the air with one hand.

Several shimmering silver needles immediately appeared between his fingers. He gave the hovering Nascent Soul a cold glance, then flicked his wrist.

A dozen or so silver threads vanished in a flash.

The previously unconscious Nascent Soul suddenly flashed with black light, then strangely flickered out of sight from its spot.

Han Li, however, was not startled; instead, a cold smile played on his lips as he pointed towards the Xutian Cauldron.

From a corner of the secret chamber, a cluster of green threads suddenly shot out.

Amidst a burst of green light, it enveloped a particular spot in the empty space below.

A muffled groan was heard, and amidst the flashing clear threads, the black-green Nascent Soul reappeared. However, at this moment, its limbs and neck were tightly bound by the green threads, unable to move an inch.

At this moment, the dozen or so silver threads that had missed their target circled in the distance, then shot back.

With a few soft ‘thuds,’ the silver threads that had missed their mark circled back and, in the blink of an eye, embedded themselves into various parts of the Nascent Soul’s body. This caused the Nascent Soul’s body to tremble as its spiritual power immediately lost control, becoming impossible to mobilize.

Despair immediately contorted the second Nascent Soul’s small face.

“Don’t harbor any illusions of escape,” Han Li said, his voice calm and unhurried, as if speaking to a close friend. “All your cunning schemes are merely copies of my past self, so how could I possibly give you an opportunity to outmaneuver me? I have no intention of obliterating your existence; I simply wish to re-assimilate you once more. Why resist so stubbornly?”

“What do you mean you won’t obliterate my existence? If I no longer possess independent consciousness, will I still be myself? How is that any different from vanishing from this world?” The second Nascent Soul, realizing it was trapped by the restriction and couldn’t escape this time, simply gave up struggling, but it shrieked at Han Li with extreme bitterness.

“What you say holds some truth!” Han Li replied coldly, an eyebrow twitching. “But you were originally my second Nascent Soul, and you shouldn’t have possessed independent consciousness in the first place. If I erase your independent consciousness, you have nothing to complain about. If you must blame something, blame the fact that you were never meant to exist.” Without another word, he formed a hand seal with both hands. The green threads binding the second Nascent Soul flared with spiritual light, and the second Nascent Soul felt its vision go dark, truly falling unconscious.

Only then did Han Li’s expression relax. As if remembering something, he turned his head to glance at the young boy beside him.

The young boy was indeed well-behaved; seeing Han Li’s cold gaze upon him, he immediately blurred and, without a word, his body dissipated on its own.

Han Li nodded, then pointed at the cauldron lid in the air.

The lid immediately fell, and the Xutian Cauldron, flashing with clear light, closed itself once more.

Almost simultaneously, Han Li opened his mouth, and a stream of green mist shot out, coiling around the small cauldron. The cauldron rapidly shrank within the mist, and after a few flashes, he absorbed it into his abdomen.

Han Li let out a soft breath, then sat down cross-legged. At the same time, he seemingly casually made a grabbing motion with one hand towards the second Nascent Soul in the distance.

A huge suction force materialized out of thin air, pulling the Nascent Soul towards him. It paused, then hovered about a zhang away in front of Han Li.

Han Li then carefully probed the black-green Nascent Soul’s condition with his divine sense. Only after confirming that its divine sense was indeed far inferior to his own did he relax, close his eyes, and tap the crown of his head.

Immediately, green light flickered above Han Li’s head, and a misty green Nascent Soul, several inches tall, silently appeared. This Nascent Soul stood atop a clear, small cauldron, held a green wooden ruler in its hands, and had a misty white spherical pearl hovering above its head. Between its eyebrows, a faint wisp of black mist was vaguely discernible, and dozens of miniature golden swords continuously circled around its body.

This was Han Li’s main Nascent Soul, the fruit of over a hundred years of arduous cultivation.

This Nascent Soul’s face showed neither joy nor sorrow; it merely cast a calm glance at the second Nascent Soul before it. The small cauldron beneath its feet flashed with clear light, then slowly carried it towards the other.

When it was only about a foot away from the black-green Nascent Soul, Han Li’s Nascent Soul stopped. Its gaze shifted to the green threads on the opposite Nascent Soul, and suddenly, its tender little foot lightly tapped the small cauldron beneath it.

Immediately, the small cauldron hummed, and the green threads on the second Nascent Soul vanished in a flash, leaving only the black-green Nascent Soul suspended in the air.

Then, the Xutian Cauldron beneath its feet suddenly began to slowly enlarge. Han Li’s Nascent Soul calmly sat cross-legged upon it, then tossed the green ruler in its hand into the air. Forming hand seals with both hands, it began to chant a low, inaudible spell.

Green light flared brightly from Han Li’s Nascent Soul. Its eyes slowly closed, but the cluster of black mist between its eyebrows spun rapidly, condensing into a dark, third eye. It shone brightly, emitting an eerie light, and with a slight rotation, it fixed its gaze intently on the second Nascent Soul opposite it, not shifting even an inch.

Just then, Han Li’s Nascent Soul suddenly stopped chanting. The third eye between its eyebrows flashed with black light, and a black spiritual mist erupted from it, striking the opposite Nascent Soul.

Immediately, the black-green Nascent Soul’s body trembled, and it actually opened its eyes. However, its pupils were blank, as if it were dazed or unconscious.

At this very moment, Han Li’s tightly closed eyes also opened. A sharp light flashed in his pupils, and two beams of green light shot out from his eyes simultaneously, directly entering the opposite Nascent Soul’s eyes, as if forcefully injecting something into its body.

Meanwhile, the second Nascent Soul’s limbs hung limply, but its body continued to tremble slightly. Simultaneously, an expression of extreme pain appeared on its previously blank face. It seemed to want to scream but couldn’t utter a sound.

Han Li’s Nascent Soul, however, remained expressionless, continuously emitting green light beams from its eyes, ignoring all the abnormalities of the second Nascent Soul…

(First update!) (To be continued)

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**Comments:**

April 30, 2010, 01:00 AM, 211.138.184.4, 4th FloorI'll support it! And I even snagged the sofa.

April 30, 2010, 07:35 AM, 218.200.247.5, 5th FloorThose who believe in A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality shall live forever.