Chapter 1368: Hundred Veins Treasure Refining Technique

"However, the space here was very stable beforehand, with no signs of an imminent storm. How did a spatial storm suddenly appear? Who is the cultivator residing nearby?" The female cultivator furrowed her brow and asked again.

"What's so strange about that? Micro spatial fluctuations are inherently difficult to predict. Even the wondrous Qiankun Plate cannot foresee everything. Such occurrences are not uncommon. As for this location, it appears to have just been assigned to a Spirit Transformation cultivator; its owner should be a Cyanwood Guard," the man replied calmly, stroking his beard.

"The Alien Spirit Plate didn't detect any alien presence. It seems no aliens took the opportunity to infiltrate this area. Should we summon this nearby Cyanwood Guard and question him more thoroughly? See if he knows anything about the spatial storm?" The female cultivator raised her hand, conjured a shimmering dharma plate, and after performing a ritual, suggested with a furrowed brow.

"Why bother with such trouble? As long as there's no alien infiltration, even if there's something peculiar about this spatial storm, it doesn't concern us much. Don't forget, we're not idle; there's another location we need to inspect. The Qiankun Plate predicts a high probability of a major spatial storm erupting there," the long-bearded cultivator said, shaking his head with a serious expression. "Brother Ma is right; I was being a bit too persistent. Let's go," the female cultivator agreed with a smile after a slight hesitation, as if remembering something. The long-bearded Daoist seemed pleased with her reply, nodding slightly before transforming into a yellow rainbow and flying back to the Golden Pavilion Boat. The female cultivator cast one last look around, then without further delay, also returned to the boat.

Moments later, the Golden Pavilion Boat shimmered within the light array and vanished into thin air. The teleportation array below also dissipated and disappeared.

Han Li, inside his cave abode, was unaware that two Void Refinement Heavenly Guards had come to investigate in such a short time. They had even departed hastily without performing the routine summoning to question him.

However, as a precaution, upon returning to his cave abode, he immediately shut down the magic array and temporarily ceased all monitoring by his Myriad Jewel Beads, fearing that some powerful expert might discern something. He then plunged into his secret chamber to study the newly acquired bone hand. While the bone hand itself was quite unique, appearing to have been refined using an unknown artifact forging technique, Han Li wasn't overly concerned with that. Instead, he unceremoniously opened his mouth and spat out a small, golden sword, several inches long. With a tremor, the small sword transformed into a thin golden thread, swiftly wrapping around the bone hand. The bone hand's thumb was silently severed into two pieces. A small jade tablet, about an inch long, emerged from within. With a slight tremor, it became sentient and attempted to fly away.

Han Li, however, had anticipated this. With a backhand grab, an invisible restriction appeared out of thin air, instantly binding the jade tablet, rendering it motionless. Grasping the milky-white jade tablet, Han Li's eyes flickered with blue light as he began to examine it closely.

The tiny silver script on the jade tablet recorded an artifact forging method he had never encountered before. The principles it elucidated completely overturned most of Han Li's previous understanding of artifact forging, immediately captivating him. However, this silver tadpole script was vastly different from ordinary ancient texts. Had he not diligently studied another fragmented page previously, he likely wouldn't have understood a single bit upon first encountering this true script.

Even so, Han Li spent three days and three nights continuously researching this newly acquired jade scroll page in his secret chamber before finally grasping its general contents. Besides expounding on artifact forging techniques, its most significant content was a divine ability called the "Hundred Vein Treasure Forging Art."

This divine ability was an incredible secret art that involved refining one's own meridians, flesh, bones, and other body parts into different magical treasures.

Had Han Li not read the preceding artifact forging techniques, he would have dismissed this art as utter nonsense.

However, the new artifact forging principles explained earlier suddenly enlightened him, causing him to believe in this art for the most part.

Moreover, the bone hand he acquired clearly must have been cultivated using this technique; otherwise, how could a mere bone hand have escaped a spatial storm and become sentient on its own?

According to the jade scroll, practitioners of this divine ability could either refine their entire body into a treasure at once or cultivate it gradually, part by part. Regardless of the method, the ultimate goal was to cultivate the body to an immortal-like state, akin to the indestructible Vajra body of Buddhism. Upon achieving mastery of this secret art, regardless of one's magic power cultivation, the physical body alone would possess immense divine powers capable of shaking heaven and earth with every move, approaching an undying state. Although the jade scroll's description of mastering this art was exceptionally brief, Han Li still gasped as he read the implicit information.

Even if the descriptions were somewhat exaggerated, the power of this divine ability was evident.

Of course, this method of refining the body into a treasure placed almost unbelievably high demands on the cultivator's physical strength. With Han Li's current Vajra Art perfected physique, he could barely begin practicing this art. To further temper various body parts and truly unleash the immense divine powers described in the jade scroll, he would need to progressively strengthen his physical body. Otherwise, if the body couldn't withstand the refining effects, the cultivator would self-destruct and perish. After all, refining one's body into various treasures was an incredible, almost heaven-defying feat. He stroked the jade tablet with one hand, falling silent for a long moment. "It seems there's no need to search for other cultivation techniques anymore. It appears I must choose a dual cultivation method of both magic and body," Han Li sighed softly, muttering to himself. The appearance of this "Hundred Vein Treasure Forging Art" became the final straw.

It made him, who had been hesitant about choosing a cultivation technique, finally make up his mind: he would cultivate the dual cultivation method that had been jointly modified by both human and demon races. He suddenly put away the jade page in his hand, applied a restriction talisman to it, then returned it to his storage bracelet. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a light red jade slip.

Han Li had copied all the incantations of the Heaven-Supporting Demonic Art, which he obtained from Barbarian Beard, into this slip to prevent forgetting any parts over time. "Since this cultivation technique is divided into three parts and each is so unique, let's just call it the 'Brahma Sacred Grinding Art,'" Han Li mused quietly, glancing at the jade slip.

He then pressed the jade slip against his forehead, closed his eyes, and began diligently comprehending the cultivation technique. The last time he had briefly attempted to practice this demonic art in the Stone Pagoda of Tianyuan City, he had little success without the aid of elixirs.

Consequently, for the following several months, Han Li spent most of his time in the secret chamber. During this period, he also dedicated some time to refining Jade Purity Pills after some of his spirit herbs had been ripened. This elixir truly lived up to its reputation as a Spirit Transformation-grade spiritual pill; even after using an astonishing quantity of spirit herbs, Han Li only managed to refine two or three bottles. However, he wasn't bothered by this. For him, the more he refined, the more proficient he would become. Given enough time, his success rate would naturally increase. The amount of pills he refined now was sufficient for his later cultivation.

Naturally, while cultivating the Heaven-Supporting Demonic Art, Han Li also found time to comprehend the "Hundred Vein Treasure Forging Art." Just like that, the entire period of seclusion passed in a blink.

During this time, no one disturbed Han Li's peaceful cultivation. It seemed that without any conflict of interest, Old Devil Ming, Old Freak Jin, and others were too lazy to bother him further. Han Li was naturally delighted by this.

Thus, a few days before his half-year period was up, a green rainbow shot out from the extraordinarily vibrant miasma. After circling in the nearby sky, it abruptly broke through the air and sped towards Tianyuan City.

He needed to participate in a two-to-three-month patrol mission before he would have time to return to his cave abode and continue his cultivation. Three months later, Han Li returned unscathed.

Upon returning to his cave abode, he immediately entered his secret chamber and resumed his seclusion. He only left again when another half-year period was about to expire... In this manner, time passed bit by bit, and sixty years flew by in the blink of an eye.

Such a span of time was negligible for cultivators. However, during this period, undercurrents surged across the Spirit Realm. High-ranking members of various races held frequent meetings almost simultaneously, as if brewing something significant. Nearly all well-informed individuals among the various races sensed the immense danger preceding an impending storm, and secretly alarmed, they began to make precautionary preparations.

As the foremost frontier bordering the human and various other races, Tianyuan City naturally sensed some anomalies. At the very least, the cultivators patrolling outside detected the profound changes occurring. One day, a team of cultivators slowly flew forward at a low altitude above the Fu Li Swamps.

Ten cultivators wore dark, gleaming battle armor. In the center, a short-bearded old man, clad in ancient-looking cyan battle armor, was a Spirit Transformation-stage Cyanwood Guard, leading the team.

Both the ten Black Iron Guards and the leading elder wore solemn expressions, holding Alien Spirit Plates. Their eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, as if something terrifying could leap out from below at any moment.

The team of cultivators flew cautiously for an hour without anyone speaking. Suddenly, the dharma plate in one of the Black Iron Guard's hands emitted a series of buzzing sounds. Though not loud, it caused everyone to look over with greatly changed expressions.

"Another alien detected? This is happening too frequently! What are these aliens up to? Why are they sending their scouts over here so recklessly? Our team just lost two members last time!" A burly man with a fierce appearance, seeing the flashing white alarm light on his companion's Alien Spirit Plate, couldn't help but curse loudly.

"Hmph, that's already good. I heard that the Fourth Squad encountered members of the rare Void-Dwelling Race half a year ago, and as a result, most of the entire squad, including their captain, were annihilated," another middle-aged female cultivator interjected coldly, her face similarly grim.