Chapter 1682: Missed Opportunity

In that case, this acquired Xuantian Treasure would naturally be of extraordinary significance to Han Li. Even if all five peaks cannot be fully refined, possessing just two or three of them could still help him resist the power of the lightning tribulation.

Now that he was a Void Refinement cultivator, he would need to undergo a major heavenly tribulation every three thousand years. While the interval seemed longer, the power of a major heavenly tribulation was far beyond that of the minor tribulations faced by Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators.

For Void Refinement cultivators, the first major heavenly tribulation could generally be passed safely. However, after the second and third tribulations, casualties would begin to appear.

Those who could survive until the fourth or fifth tribulation were almost exclusively late-stage Void Refinement cultivators with lifespans exceeding ten thousand years. Yet, among them, very few, perhaps only two or three out of ten, managed to survive these two major tribulations.

As for the subsequent major heavenly tribulations, with each successful passage, roughly seven or eight tenths, or even more, of cultivators who existed concurrently would perish.

Legend has it that since humanity established itself in the Spirit Realm, no Void Refinement cultivator has ever been able to survive the ninth heavenly tribulation. Anyone who successfully passed more than nine rounds of major heavenly tribulations was a Body Integration cultivator or higher. Even Void Refinement cultivators whose divine abilities far surpassed their peers would undoubtedly perish when the ninth heavenly tribulation arrived if they had not advanced to the Body Integration stage.

Of course, this describes the tribulation-passing situation for human cultivators. As for demon beasts, once they transformed into human form, their heavenly tribulations were similar to those of humans. However, other non-human races in the Spirit Realm, due to their differing lifespans and cultivation talents, also needed to undergo heavenly tribulations at regular intervals, but the length of these intervals and the severity of the tribulations varied enormously.

It is said that some non-human tribulations, far more formidable than those of humans, only recur once every ten thousand years, but when they do, their power is incomparable to human tribulations. Conversely, some races with lifespans much shorter than humans would face tribulations every few decades, yet their power was less than one or two tenths of a human tribulation of the same rank.

Once a cultivator reached the Body Integration stage, the power of the major heavenly tribulations was, again, far beyond what Void Refinement cultivators faced; each tribulation felt like a perilous journey through life and death. Those who failed to pass were naturally cast back into the cycle of reincarnation, while those who succeeded were like phoenixes reborn from fire, their cultivation increasing to some extent. A select few, under the baptism of the lightning tribulation, could even break through their existing cultivation bottlenecks in one go.

Therefore, beings above the Body Integration stage rarely ventured out, except for matters concerning the survival of their own race, spending almost all their time on cultivation and preparing for their next life-or-death tribulation.

Of course, these major heavenly tribulations were not entirely composed of lightning tribulations, but there was no doubt that each one would certainly include a lightning tribulation, and it would be the dominant element.

Therefore, the importance of the Yuanhe Five Extremes Mountain, which could weaken the lightning tribulation's power by a significant amount, was self-evident.

If he could refine this mountain, it would be equivalent to increasing his chances of survival during tribulations by a considerable margin.

However, aside from the existing Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain he already possessed, Han Li had absolutely no clue about the whereabouts of the other four peaks. In addition to these four peaks of immense power, the other auxiliary materials required to be incorporated into the peaks were all exceptionally rare. Some were merely famous, with Han Li himself never having laid eyes on them.

This greatly frustrated him.

Han Li remained in the secret chamber for a long time, his mood fluctuating between gloom and uncertainty, before his expression gradually returned to calm.

He glanced at the jade slip in his hand, then with a flip of his other hand, a jade box instantly appeared.

He placed the jade slip into the box, and after sealing it with a restrictive talisman, put it away.

Even with the refining method, he had no confidence whatsoever in truly being able to refine two or three of these extreme mountains.

Such supreme treasures likely could not be forced, and it would depend on whether he truly had such great fortune in the future.

Having come to terms with this matter, Han Li sat quietly in meditation for a while longer, his mind finally returning to complete tranquility.

Suddenly, with a flick of his sleeve, a circular ring flew out from its cuff.

After circling once, the ring emitted a radiant glow, from which a black light floated down and gently landed on the ground.

Within the black light, a small black monkey lay motionless, its body curled up.

It was the Soul-Devouring Beast.

After the beast had suddenly unleashed its divine might and annihilated the Cave Spirit that had been possessed by the Outer Realm Demonic Monarch's avatar that day, it had similarly fallen into an exhausted coma and had not yet awakened, even to this day.

Seeing this, Han Li's expression darkened, but he extended a hand and made a grabbing motion towards the monkey.

A streak of green light flew out from between his fingers, instantly enveloping the monkey and effortlessly bringing it before him.

Han Li gazed at the small beast before him, his eyes slightly narrowed. Suddenly, crystalline threads, appearing almost solid, shot out from between his brows, and silently pierced into the monkey's body.

To ascertain the Soul-Devouring Beast's true condition, Han Li had actually condensed his spiritual sense into threads and extended them outside his body to directly test the beast's physique.

As the crystalline threads entered the monkey's body, the Soul-Devouring Beast remained completely still, showing no reaction whatsoever.

Han Li, however, had already half-closed his eyes, and began to meticulously examine all changes within the beast's body by controlling the crystalline threads of his spiritual sense.

After a long while, Han Li murmured in disbelief, "Impossible, how can this be?"

Not only had the Soul-Devouring Beast's previously depleted magic power long since recovered, but both its physical strength and the magic power contained within its meridians had surged by more than half compared to before. Moreover, during his meticulous observation, the internal changes within the beast were still continuously occurring at an extremely slow pace, as if they had not stopped for a single moment.

"Could it be advancing again?" Han Li gazed at the small monkey before him, his face filled with a strange expression.

Previously, the Soul-Devouring Beast did not seem to have consumed any highly nourishing substances, so how could its physical body and magic power have surged so dramatically? Could all this be related to the unusual phenomenon it experienced in the Demonic Gold Mountain Range that day?

Startled, Han Li continued to amplify his spiritual sense, and kept probing everything within the Soul-Devouring Beast's body.

"No, what is this? It definitely wasn't in its body before," Han Li suddenly exclaimed, his expression shifting.

He had actually discovered countless transparent crystalline particles, almost imperceptible, deep within the Soul-Devouring Beast's Dantian.

These particles were extremely subtle, barely one-tenth the size of a grain of rice, and emitted no aura whatsoever, but they were enveloped by clusters of Soul-Absorbing Aura within the Soul-Devouring Beast's body, seemingly being continuously refined.

Han Li's mind raced, and he immediately recalled the scene in the Demonic Gold Mountain Range where the beast had annihilated the Cave Spirit's Nascent Soul and swallowed it whole.

Could these be remnants of the Cave Spirit's Nascent Soul, or something left behind by the Outer Realm Demonic Monarch who had possessed it?

However, the Soul-Devouring Beast had never undergone such an unusual change before, no matter what kind of fierce ghosts or vengeful spirits it had consumed. He couldn't help but ponder in silence... "Could it be that thing?" A flash of insight struck Han Li's mind, and he suddenly remembered something, his expression instantly changing drastically.

He barely had time to think, as one of the crystalline threads embedded in the Soul-Devouring Beast's body moved, instantly coiling around one of the crystalline particles in the beast's Dantian and swiftly pulling it out of its body.

The crystalline particle that appeared outside the Soul-Devouring Beast's body was almost invisible to the naked eye, and the crystalline thread scattered and vanished in a flash.

Han Li focused intently on this crystalline particle.

A green thread shot through the air, firmly adhering to the crystalline particle and, with a wrap, brought it directly before his eyes.

Han Li's pupils emitted dazzling blue light, as he instantly utilized his Bright Clarity Spirit Eyes to their utmost, staring intently at the crystalline particle without blinking.

After a long while, Han Li let out a long breath, and with a sudden flip of his hand, a thumb-sized jade bottle appeared.

With a movement of the green thread, the crystalline particle was sent into the small bottle. The bottle then flickered and mysteriously vanished from his palm. Following this, Han Li swiftly swept his sleeve through the air.

The spirit beast ring, which had been suspended in the air, instantly dropped, and a burst of light shot out from it, immediately drawing the Soul-Devouring Beast from the ground into its interior.

After Han Li put away the spirit beast ring, he immediately stood up, strode directly towards the stone door, and hastily left the secret chamber.

Almost the moment he stepped out of the secret chamber's door, Han Li's spiritual sense stirred, and he issued a command to "Doll," who was waiting in the medicine garden, to guard the dwelling well. Then, his escape light activated, transforming him into a streak of green rainbow that shot forth rapidly.

A short while later, Han Li appeared outside his dwelling, and quickly traveled to the foot of the mountain. He then hailed a beast-drawn carriage and headed directly for the center of Cloud City.

Over the next ten-plus days, Han Li unexpectedly immersed himself in all the bookstores in Cloud City, selectively purchasing a large number of obscure texts that he previously hadn't paid attention to. These texts were diverse, ranging from specialized cultivation techniques and secret arts to recreational books introducing various strange objects and anecdotes.

Upon bringing these texts back to his dwelling, Han Li would immediately begin to rapidly scan through their contents at an astonishing speed, as if searching for something. However, after a night passed, he would emerge from the secret chamber with a look of disappointment, then leave his dwelling once more to visit other larger bookstores in Cloud City, continuing to purchase a large quantity of various texts.

Several days passed consecutively, with Han Li doing this almost daily. The sheer volume of texts purchased during these days, and the amount of spirit stones spent on them, were astonishing.

However, on this particular day, when Han Li returned from Cloud City once more, and was rapidly scanning an antique jade slip in his secret chamber, a look of mixed surprise and joy suddenly appeared on his face.

"Excellent, I finally found it! I knew it," he muttered to himself, "even if the True Spirit Origin is rarely known, there would always be records of it in some ancient texts."

He muttered to himself, then his expression turned serious, and he settled down to carefully read the contents of the jade slip in his hand.

Han Li remained motionless as if carved from stone, his entire mind captivated by the jade slip in his hand.

After an unknown period of time, he stirred slightly, then let out a long sigh, and tossed the jade slip onto the ground, his face filled with extreme dejection.

"How could this be? Such a tremendous opportunity has just slipped right past me."

He muttered in disappointment, and almost subconsciously flipped his hand, making the small bottle containing the crystalline particle appear.

As the lid opened, the crystalline particle slowly flew out and hovered motionless at the bottle's mouth. Gazing at the seemingly ordinary crystalline particle, Han Li's lips twitched slightly, and he let out a bitter laugh.