Chapter 1540: Spring Dawn, Green Coil

Han Li took a step, seemingly not fast, but his body flickered, and he was already seventy to eighty feet away. In a short while, he had covered dozens of miles.

This was because he remained cautious and dared not sprint. Otherwise, at full speed, he would have long since reached a hundred miles away.

He had previously skirted most of this Black Mist Sea. Even at full speed, it would take him one or two months to traverse one side.

Now, although he didn't know his exact location in the Zero Sea, he assumed it was impossible to walk out of this area in just a few days.

Therefore, Han Li was not overly anxious. He simply walked forward calmly, while quietly contemplating the gains and losses from his adventures in the Underworld Abyss and Nether River. This venture had exposed him to extreme dangers multiple times, even nearly turning him into a puppet for several great demon kings.

First, he obtained the true method of wielding the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning and a bottle of Five-Colored Peacock True Blood from Mu Qing. Then, from the Blood Fiend Elder, he acquired the puppet refining method for Spirit Servants, which allowed him to comprehend the refining techniques for the Nine-Palace Heavenly Qian Talisman and the Jia Yuan Talisman. Secondly, in the Nether River region, the elder named Jiang taught him the new Azure Yuan Sword Art, along with a method to re-refine his Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords. This indicated that with some effort in the future, his sword array's power could be elevated to a new level.

However, none of these acquisitions were as valuable as the Nether River Divine Milk promised by the elder.

He now knew that this milk possessed the miraculous ability to reverse one's constitution, allowing one to absorb more primordial qi from heaven and earth. He naturally had no intention of missing out on such an incredible item.

With this divine milk, it was equivalent to saving countless hours of cultivation. This was absolutely crucial for Han Li, who possessed ordinary aptitude.

Even though most items on the elder's list were hard to find, there was still hope if he could gather the majority of them.

After all, this transaction wouldn't be completed in a moment. As long as he found the items within a millennium, it wouldn't be too late. And with such a long time, Han Li felt somewhat confident he could achieve this.

However, what he needed to do now was to immediately return to his island cave dwelling, digest and absorb what he had gained from this outing, and diligently cultivate his magic power in seclusion. Once his cultivation reached the peak of the late Spirit Transformation stage, he could take the Black Flame Pill to attempt breaking through to the Void Refinement stage.

During this recent outing, he had encountered many existences at or above the Integration stage and personally witnessed their battles and spellcasting. He vaguely felt he now had a better grasp of breaking through to the late Spirit Transformation stage.

Although these beings didn't offer much direct guidance, existences like Mu Qing were two major realms higher than him, and simply observing them yielded considerable benefits. After all, how many ordinary cultivators ever had the chance to witness battles involving Integration stage beings? Han Li's thoughts raced, and in a short while, he had planned out his future cultivation. Then, with a sweep of his hand over his storage bracelet, a jade slip appeared in his palm. This was the item given by Elder Jiang Qi, containing the new Azure Yuan Sword Art.

Han Li instantly split his divine sense in two. A small part continued to control his body, walking forward and staying alert to his surroundings, while the larger part entered the jade slip, beginning to read the sword art.

Initially, his expression was calm, but as he delved deeper into the sword art, his demeanor gradually became serious, and finally, his brows furrowed deeply!

After about the time it takes to eat a meal, he exhaled a long breath, flipped his hand, and the jade slip vanished in a flash of green light. Han Li's eyes flickered as he pondered. He had quickly scanned and memorized the sword art.

It was clear that this so-called new sword art didn't significantly alter the original thirteen layers of techniques, and even if there were changes, they didn't affect what he had learned before. The most significant change, naturally, was the addition of five more layers of sword art at the end.

These sword arts corresponded to the three major stages of the Spirit Transformation realm and the early and middle stages of the Void Refinement realm. If fully cultivated, one could reach the late Void Refinement stage. If Han Li hadn't cultivated the Sanskrit Holy True Devil Art, he might have been very interested in this art.

Now, he could only select some useful secret techniques and divine abilities from the latter layers of the sword art to cultivate. After all, he was already cultivating both his physical body and magic power, making it impossible to spend a large amount of time cultivating this art further.

This was also because he already had the first thirteen layers of the sword art as a foundation and was a late Spirit Transformation cultivator himself. Otherwise, other high-level cultivators who obtained this sword art would truly only be able to stare blankly, most likely unable to cultivate anything from it.

However, among the contents, what interested Han Li most were the two new sword arrays attached to the latter five layers of the sword art.

One was named "Spring Dawn," and the other was "Green Serpent."

If these two sword arrays were combined with the latter five layers of the sword art, their power would naturally be incredibly formidable, allowing one to challenge higher-level existences beyond their realm. If they lacked the support of the latter five layers of the sword art, these two sword arrays could still be deployed, but the requirements for the flying swords used would be extremely high; they would need to be flying swords of pure wood attribute, cultivated to a very high level.

Han Li's current seventy-two Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords could not yet meet the requirements for these two sword arrays and would need to be re-tempered.

Of course, the "Spring Dawn" sword array among them could be immediately cultivated and deployed with his current cultivation level, provided the flying swords were suitable. As for the other sword array, "Green Serpent," he would only be qualified to study it after advancing to the middle Void Refinement stage. With this in mind, Han Li then focused his attention on the method for tempering flying swords recorded at the end of the sword art. But after a brief contemplation, his expression immediately became one of surprise and uncertainty.

This method wasn't complicated, but the process of tempering the flying swords was lengthy, and during this period, the flying swords would be extremely fragile and unusable for combat.

Only after thorough completion, when they were tempered to the state of "Sword Heart Enlightenment," could their true power be fully unleashed.

According to the text, the Geng Metal originally mixed in the flying swords also had to be removed. If so, the Great Geng Sword Array could no longer be deployed. This made Han Li's heart waver.

A longer duration and temporary inability to use flying swords were not issues. He didn't rely solely on this set of Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords for combat. However, the loss of the Great Geng Sword Array truly made him ponder.

Although the new sword art stated that the "Spring Dawn" and "Green Serpent" sword arrays were far more powerful than "Great Geng," making the abandonment of the latter logical, Han Li had not personally witnessed the latter two sword arrays, whereas the Great Geng Sword Array had helped him defeat enemies more than once, so he naturally felt some hesitation.

He did not plan to cultivate the latter five layers of the Azure Yuan Sword Art. Relying solely on the power of the re-tempered flying swords, to what extent could the power of the latter two sword arrays be unleashed? This was truly hard to say.

If the power of the latter two sword arrays in his hands turned out to be inferior to the original Great Geng Sword Array, then he would have suffered a loss and made a huge mistake.

Just as Han Li was hesitating over the sword array matter, his expression suddenly changed, and he stopped abruptly, standing still. He swept his gaze towards the black mist to one side, his face sinking, and he coldly stated, "Hiding there so stealthily, do you intend to ambush me?"

As he spoke, he raised one hand, and with a clap of thunder, a thick golden arc shot out, instantly contracting and expanding violently, transforming into a golden lightning ball the size of a human head.

On the surface of this ball, crackling sounds continued incessantly, and faint golden runes flickered, creating an astonishing display of power! "You are not a Sky Roc?" A somewhat surprised voice suddenly came from the direction Han Li was looking. "Who are you, and how do you know?" Han Li squinted his eyes, slowly asking. "Heh heh, if it were truly a Sky Roc, let alone a mere Spirit General-level existence, even a Spirit Commander would never be safe here," the voice said coldly.

"Oh, your tone suggests you know a lot about Sky Rocs and this place. However, why hide? It's better to come out and talk!" Han Li's words had barely fallen when the golden lightning ball in his single hand suddenly flickered and vanished.

The next moment, a golden light flashed in the black mist, and the lightning ball strangely reappeared from the void, exploding with a roar.

Amidst the flashing golden light, a dark shadow darted out of the mist, flashing several times before suddenly appearing about ten feet in front of Han Li. Han Li took a careful look and was taken aback. Before him was a young man with white curved horns on his head and a greenish-blue face.

He swept his divine sense over the other party and found him to be a Void Refinement stage existence, and he exuded an aura that felt somewhat familiar to Han Li. Surprised, Han Li merely thought for a moment before suddenly exclaiming,

"Hao Beast! You are a master of the Hao Beast clan! No, the yin energy on your body is so heavy; you've cultivated a ghost cultivation art!"

When the bull-horned youth heard Han Li instantly identify his origin, his face changed drastically, but then a murderous glint flashed in his eyes, revealing a ferocious expression: "Junior, I originally intended to let you go, but now that you've recognized my origin, no matter which branch of the Flying Spirit Race you belong to, you won't leave here alive."

No sooner had his voice fallen than the youth suddenly opened his mouth, and a grayish, misty yin wind surged forth, sweeping towards Han Li. This person immediately harbored murderous intent at first sight.

Han Li had blurted out the other party's origin and already regretted it somewhat, but seeing the other party truly make a move, he instead laughed.

He didn't make any significant movement. The gray light on his body merely surged several times, then spun around Han Li. When the gray yin wind reached Han Li, it immediately split in two, as if oil and water, and rolled past on both sides.

The youth opposite was startled by this, but then he suddenly slapped his hands on his head. The two curved horns on his head silently detached, instantly transforming into two white, glittering scimitars, which fell into the demon's hands.

With the twin blades in hand, the youth immediately let out another confident, sinister laugh. With a "bang," he stomped his foot hard on the ground and immediately charged towards Han Li, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Seeing that this demon intended to engage in close combat, a strange glint flashed in Han Li's eyes. He stood motionless, his body suddenly radiating golden light. A layer of golden scales appeared on the surface of his skin, and at the same time, a low hum sounded from behind him as a three-headed, six-armed golden phantom emerged.