Chapter 1427: Mutation

A bang louder than before erupted, and countless golden rays burst across the stone block. Han Li's expression changed. As he withdrew his long sword, the stone block reappeared, completely undamaged. Even the exceptionally sharp Azure Bamboo Cloudswirl Sword couldn't harm it in the slightest. A glint flashed in Han Li's eyes. He flicked his sleeve towards the stone block, and a silver fireball suddenly shot out.

With a soft pop, the silver flames enveloped the stone block, crackling with sparks. Yet, the stone block lay there silently, showing no signs of change. However, as Han Li's spiritual sense swept over its surface, a hint of joy appeared on his face.

Without going elsewhere, he immediately sat cross-legged beside the stone block, forming hand seals. He began to continuously melt the object using the Spirit-Devouring Heavenly Flame. A continuous stream of pure, verdant spiritual power flowed from his hands into the silver flames. And so, time passed, moment by moment, until a day and a night had gone by.

Han Li let out a low cry. The silver flames instantly reverted into a firebird, which peeled away and flew back. After a single hover, it vanished into his sleeve. By then, Han Li had already stood up and once again approached the stone block, examining it closely.

At first glance, the stone block appeared no different than before, completely normal. However, with a blue light shimmering in Han Li's eyes, he could discern some melted traces on its surface, though they were so faint they were almost imperceptible to the naked eye. Based on his estimation, completely melting this object would take at least several decades – an unimaginable feat otherwise. Yet, Han Li was not worried; instead, he was delighted!

For cultivators like them, a few decades were insignificant. However, the object's unique properties certainly marked it as a rare treasure.

The Revered Master Baoguang must have stumbled upon this object somehow. Given his divine abilities, he would naturally not have been able to affect this stone block in the slightest. It was more likely that he simply used it as the central point to directly establish this cave dwelling, probably intending to figure out how to deal with this treasure later. In an instant, Han Li had roughly pieced together the Blue Flood Dragon's past actions. However, how to take this object away was truly a troublesome matter.

After all, this object was so incredibly heavy that putting it into a storage bracelet would likely cause the storage space to immediately explode. He could only carry it away using his physical body.

Even with his Brahma True Devil Arts fully activated, he could only carry away one-third of its weight at a time. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to control his escape light. Han Li gazed at the stone, pondering for a long time.

He flicked his sleeve, and with a buzzing sound, two golden flowers shot out from his cuff. After a single hover, they immediately transformed into two thumb-sized golden beetles. These were mature Spirit-Devouring Goldbeetles.

With a sharp chirp, the Goldbeetles immediately flew onto the stone block and began devouring it from top to bottom, from two different directions. Han Li stared intently at the Goldbeetles' actions.

Although Goldbeetles were said to devour anything, this stone block was so unique that he wasn't very confident they would be effective. However, the next moment, Han Li's apprehension vanished.

Although the Goldbeetles' devouring speed was extremely slow, after a while, two small indentations indeed appeared on the stone block. It could indeed be bitten into!

Han Li was overjoyed.

But just a moment later, the two Goldbeetles suddenly twitched their wings, and with two soft thuds, they fell from the stone block, landing with a heavy, dull thump as if a heavy object had dropped. Han Li was stunned. After a moment, he raised his hand, and with a flash of golden light, he drew one of the Goldbeetles into his palm. He found that the Goldbeetle was incredibly heavy, far exceeding the normal weight of a spirit insect. Han Li's eyebrows twitched, unable to hide the surprise in his eyes.

Fortunately, apart from being excessively heavy, the beetle was otherwise normal; its wings and limbs still vibrated continuously. Han Li observed the beetle, and after a brief contemplation, he understood what was happening.

Clearly, due to the unique properties of the stone block's material, even the Goldbeetles couldn't digest it immediately. Thus, devouring even a small amount at a time quickly exceeded their limit. It seemed they would need some time to recover to their normal state.

Having understood, Han Li retrieved these two Goldbeetles, but then two more spirit insects flew out from his sleeve.

They chewed just the same, but after a short while, these two Goldbeetles also became unable to bear their own weight and fell to the ground, only to be retrieved by Han Li again. However, the next time, four golden flowers flew out from his sleeve...

After more than half a day, when nearly a thousand Goldbeetles had been successively released and retrieved, the stone block in front of him was finally devoured by the Goldbeetles, losing about one-tenth of its mass. This process successfully divided it into three large pieces. Han Li nodded in satisfaction, looking at the three roughly equally sized stone pieces.

Forming hand seals with both hands, his body once again emitted a brilliant golden light. Simultaneously, a golden halo emerged behind him, transforming in an instant into a golden phantom with three heads and six arms. Han Li bent down, and with a powerful heave of both arms, finally managed to slowly lift one of the pieces.

Although it felt like a small mountain pressing down on him, this amount of weight was just enough for him to barely activate his escape light and depart. Han Li's mouth curled slightly, but he first put down the object in his hands. He then thoroughly searched the rest of the cave dwelling to see if there were any other surprises. Apart from some unique marine materials and spirit stones, there was nothing else that caught his attention. Han Li wasn't particularly disappointed. After collecting everything, he returned to the main hall.

This time, he carried two of the three stone block fragments to an extremely secluded spot within the cave dwelling, then set up a concealing illusion array to hide them. Next, he picked up the last fragment and flew out of the cave entrance.

When Han Li reappeared above the sea, spiritual light blazed behind him. With a flash of the Azure Bird and Rainbow Phoenix phantoms, his Wind-Thunder Wings manifested. With a flap of his twin wings, he suddenly shot out like a crystalline streak, vanishing in a flash towards the horizon.

The object in his hand was incredibly heavy. Even though he had activated the extreme speed divine ability of his Wind-Thunder Wings, Han Li still had to stop and recover his stamina after every few hours of flight before he could continue his journey.

Three days later, Han Li returned to his cave dwelling in the Black Hidden Mountain Range and, without a word, placed the stone piece in a secret chamber.

For the remaining two days, Han Li was not in a hurry to leave the cave. Instead, he began testing the acquired stone block fragments using other methods in the secret chamber.

The results showed that besides being incredibly hard, the material was impervious to all attacks, including freezing, lightning strikes, and demonic qi corrosion, without sustaining any damage. As for flame-based refinement, no other flames, not even his Nascent Soul True Flame, could melt the stone in the slightest, with the sole exception of the Spirit-Devouring Heavenly Flame. Of course, the Spirit-Devouring Heavenly Flame's effect on the stone was also minimal.

This would be an excellent material for refining top-tier defensive treasures. However, given its weight, if it were refined into an offensive treasure similar to a Primordial Magnetic Mountain, its power would also be astonishing.

Immediately after the tests were complete, Han Li thought this to himself. As for how exactly he would process it, he would naturally need to deliberate carefully.

However, a thought suddenly crossed Han Li's mind, prompting him to check on the spirit insects that had previously devoured this material, which were now lying in his spirit beast bracelet. He couldn't help but be stunned.

These nearly one thousand mature Spirit-Devouring Goldbeetles had, at some unknown point, fallen into a deep slumber, seemingly on the verge of another evolution.

His Goldbeetles were already mature. If they were to evolve again, it seemed the only possibility was some form of mutation.

Han Li was naturally overjoyed.

But in this case, deciding how to use these special stone materials became even more difficult.

After deliberating for half a day, Han Li finally decided to observe what changes would occur after the Goldbeetles advanced before reconsidering the matter.

Two days passed in an instant.

The third day marked the end of the seven-day period Han Li had set with the ox-headed beast and the other demon.

Early that morning, not only did these two demons arrive outside his cave dwelling, but the golden-haired giant ape and the massive wild boar also appeared there.

These demonic beasts looked at the green spiritual light outside Han Li's cave dwelling, their eyes filled with fear. They all waited quietly, not daring to make the slightest noise.

It was almost noon when the green mist dispersed like bubbles, revealing a massive stone gate over twenty feet high. With a rumbling sound, the stone gate opened by itself, revealing a passage emitting milky white light. "Come in!" a detached voice echoed from the passage.

The few demonic beasts felt a chill in their hearts but, daring not to disobey, walked into the passage one after another. Of course, apart from the ox-headed beast, the other few demonic beasts had to shrink their bodies several times their size to enter through the stone gate.

A moment later, in an ancient stone hall within the cave dwelling, Han Li sat centrally on a stone chair, looking down at the four demonic beasts before him. His gaze lingered for a moment longer on the golden-haired giant ape.

*Thud!* Before the demonic beasts could speak, Han Li flicked his sleeve, and an object suddenly flew out, rolling onto the ground. It was, astonishingly, a massive blue flood dragon's head. Upon seeing this, the ox-headed beast and the other demons were startled.

"This is the head of Revered Master Baoguang," Han Li said in an unyielding tone. "Now that he is dead, your previous transaction with him is naturally nullified. Since you have arrived as per our agreement, you should have considered over these past few days whether you have brought the items."

Looking at the shimmering blue flood dragon's head before them, the few demonic beasts instantly recognized the lingering aura of an eighth-level demonic beast, and a chill ran through each of their hearts. "What other choice do we have, junior?" the ox-headed beast replied with a forced smile after exchanging glances with the other three beasts. "We have indeed brought what Senior requested."

"Very well. I have also prepared the Wooden Spirit Flowers you need," Han Li said calmly, then tapped his storage bracelet with one hand. "As long as the items are satisfactory, I can hand them over to you immediately."

After a flash of white light, a large, rectangular jade box appeared in his hand.

As he opened the lid, a refreshing floral scent wafted out. The jade box was filled with hundreds of thumb-sized, gleaming golden-yellow bells.