Chapter 1683: Xu the Old Freak

According to the ancient texts he found, the so-called "True Spirit Origin" indeed existed. It was formed from a wisp of residual primordial chaos qi that separated when true spirit-level beings were born.

If an ordinary person were to consume it, it would indeed have incredible effects. Even if it couldn't lead to evolution into a true spirit of the same origin, it could very likely result in a complete metamorphosis, significant cultivation advancement, and even a breakthrough to the Body Integration stage.

Considering the scarcity of true spirits in the Spirit Realm, one can understand how rare this True Spirit Origin is. Furthermore, over countless years, some of these origins have been found and used by powerful cultivators from various races. Therefore, the True Spirit Origins that might still exist in the Spirit Realm today are exceedingly few.

According to the book, this True Spirit Origin was originally gaseous. However, because the elemental power it contained was so immense, it couldn't be refined quickly if consumed by others. Consequently, if it remained unrefined beyond a certain period, the True Spirit Origin would solidify into a crystalline granule within the refiner's body. This granule contained True Spirit-level elemental energy far beyond imagination. Depending on the individual's physique, it would take anywhere from several decades to several centuries to be truly refined.

When Han Li read this, he was overjoyed, but the following description immediately doused his enthusiasm. The text continued to state that once the True Spirit Origin had solidified into a granule, it meant that the refiner's own elemental energy had assimilated it. It could no longer be absorbed or refined by a second person. If anyone else tried to forcibly extract the elemental energy from it, the granule would revert to ordinary elemental energy of heaven and earth and return to the cosmos. The text also specifically noted that this assimilation was extremely thorough and could not be artificially reversed. Those who acquired the Origin power were to remember this point.

After reading the entire explanation, Han Li was utterly dumbfounded. He now stared intently at the True Origin granule floating out of the small bottle before him, his expression exceptionally complex.

“What the book says isn’t necessarily absolute truth,” he muttered reluctantly after a long silence. “I still have to try it.”

Then, he suddenly formed a hand seal with one hand and pointed an index finger at the granule in the air. With a soft "poof," a wisp of green light shot out, instantly enveloping the granule. Han Li, with a serious expression, cast several incantations, each disappearing into the green light.

Within the green light, the granule suddenly spun rapidly, its color beginning to change erratically. From transparent, it turned faint red. Then, from faint red, it became ink-black. Finally, with a flash of spiritual light, it transformed into a brilliant golden hue, like pure gold.

Seeing this, Han Li narrowed his eyes, and the hand seals he formed suddenly changed. The green light enveloping the granule suddenly revealed numerous runes, which swirled around the granule, instantly forming a miniature spell formation. The golden granule was precisely at the center of the formation.

Upon seeing this, Han Li opened his mouth, and a wisp of azure Nascent Flame shot out, vanishing into the miniature formation in a flash. With a muffled thud, the entire formation glowed intensely, and the azure Nascent Flame effortlessly merged with it. The next moment, wisps of azure flames simultaneously emerged from various points of the formation, enveloping the granule and beginning to refine it.

As the azure flames churned, the golden granule initially remained still. But as time slowly passed, the golden light on its surface began to flicker, growing brighter and brighter, eventually emitting a low humming sound. Han Li’s heart sank at this sight. Before he could change his hand seals, a muffled thud emanated from the formation. The granule inexplicably vanished from its spot, replaced by an egg-sized mass of golden mist.

The mist spun rapidly, emitting a thunderous roar. It then expanded wildly dozens of times its size, growing to about ten feet in diameter, and continued to surge. The surrounding azure flames and shimmering light were instantly torn apart. The golden mist pulsed erratically, clearly out of control and seemingly on the verge of exploding.

Han Li’s face immediately paled at the thought of the terrifying power contained within. Without time to ponder, one of his hands suddenly turned as black as ink, and he reached out to grasp the golden mist before him. With a whooshing sound, like air being torn apart, gray light shot from his fingertips, instantly transforming into a gray barrier that enveloped the golden mist.

As the gray light and golden radiance briefly intertwined, a rumbling thud echoed. The surface of the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light flashed wildly, immediately showing signs of strain and proving unable to suppress the erratic transformation of the golden mist. A look of alarm flashed across Han Li's face. Without rising to his feet, he silently slid towards a corner of the secret chamber as if on wheels, simultaneously sweeping a sleeve in front of him. With a flash of crystalline light, a hazy crystal shield appeared before him, and with a shake, it expanded to several feet in size, completely blocking his front.

Almost the instant Han Li finished these actions, the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light finally emitted a cracking sound, and countless golden rays pierced through it. Han Li’s heart sank at this sight, but his internal magic power surged out instantly, pouring into the giant shield before him. At the same time, a golden light flashed across his body. His skin turned a brilliant gold, and golden scales appeared across it. It seemed he was ready to endure a violent impact, and whether the secret chamber, or even the entire immortal's cave, would remain intact was anyone's guess.

However, something utterly unexpected occurred. The golden mist, having broken free, did not continue to expand or explode. Instead, it suddenly transformed into a column of light and pierced through the secret chamber's ceiling, shooting into the sky. The ceiling and the restrictions placed upon it offered no resistance, as if made of paper, and were instantly pierced, leaving behind a half-foot wide hole. The golden mist vanished without a trace from the secret chamber.

Han Li looked up in astonishment, seeing several streaks of white sunlight shining directly down through the hole. However, a moment later, a terrifying surge of spiritual energy suddenly emanated from the sky, and the elemental energy of heaven and earth throughout the entire Spirit Mountain seemed to churn violently. His lips twitched slightly, but with a flick of his hand, he cast a white spell, which vanished into the secret chamber's ceiling. Immediately, the previously pierced ceiling of the secret chamber began to glow with white light, and the hole rapidly mended itself at an incredible speed, returning to its original state in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Han Li himself flashed with green light, instantly transforming into a dazzling rainbow and flying directly out of the secret chamber. After a few flashes, his escape light receded, and Han Li appeared above his immortal's cave. Looking up at the sky, he couldn't help but frown. In the sky, faint golden hurricanes had appeared, roaring and tearing at the high altitudes. Below the golden hurricanes, countless specks of five-colored light emerged everywhere, gathering from all directions towards him with an astonishing momentum.

Seeing this, Han Li was inwardly astonished and couldn't help but grimace slightly. He was fortunate not to have directly swallowed and refined the granule, or the tragic consequences, had it erupted, would have been unimaginable.

Such a huge commotion naturally alarmed cultivators from various races who also had immortal's caves on the Spirit Mountain. Spiritual lights flickered across the Spirit Mountain, and figures of various races appeared one after another. Some acquaintances even gathered, pointing and discussing the astonishing celestial phenomenon in the sky. Seeing this, Han Li couldn't help but rub his forehead, his thoughts racing as he pondered what excuse he could use to conceal the matter if anyone came to inquire.

But just then, a burst of wild laughter suddenly echoed from somewhere on the Spirit Mountain. "Haha, who is experimenting with a new secret art? To gather so much heaven and earth elemental energy, and so pure at that! I happen to need a large amount of elemental energy as a catalyst for refining a treasure, and this saves me a lot of trouble.”

As the words fell, a dazzling crimson rainbow shot forth from below. After a flash, it was about to plunge into the celestial phenomenon in the sky. But just then, the crimson rainbow suddenly erupted with flames several feet high, instantly transforming into a crimson fire dragon over ten feet long, shaking its head and tail, and opening its massive maw. With a thunderous roar, a brilliant crimson light immediately gushed forth from the fire dragon's mouth. The sky-filling specks of light and those seemingly astonishing golden winds were swept away by the crimson light in just a few breaths.

The crimson fire dragon had now grown to over twenty feet in size, and then, amidst a long laugh, it suddenly flared with crimson light, transforming into a human figure about ten feet tall, slowly hovering high in the air. The person appeared to be over sixty, with a rugged face and a head full of white hair. Dressed in a purple robe, he wore a triumphant expression as he held an object in one hand. It was a vermilion gourd, half a foot tall, its surface inscribed with clusters of flame-like markings and a shimmering red evil dragon. It looked exactly like the fire dragon that had just materialized.

“What, it’s Old Monster Xu!” “When did that old monster come back?” “That old monster’s divine abilities seem even more powerful than before!”

Upon seeing the purple-robed old man, the many alien cultivators below stirred, most of them seemingly recognizing him, and began to whisper amongst themselves. Han Li was also startled by this sight, but after sweeping his spiritual sense over the old man in the sky, he immediately ascertained that the other party was a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator. Such a cultivation level, on a Spirit Mountain where no Body Integration cultivators resided, naturally made him a top-tier existence. Yet, it didn't seem enough to make so many other Void Refinement level alien cultivators so wary. A hint of suspicion arose in Han Li's heart.

However, since the celestial phenomenon caused by the Origin granule had been collected by someone else and hadn't drawn too much attention, he naturally let out a huge sigh of relief. Thus, Han Li’s body flashed with green light, and he immediately transformed back into an azure rainbow, retreating towards his immortal's cave below.

When he reappeared in his immortal's cave, he first cast spells to repair the outer layer of the cave and the restrictions within the secret chamber before settling back down to meditate in the secret room. With a lift of his hand, a sheet of black light rolled down, and the Spirit Devouring Beast reappeared, gently hovering close by. Han Li gazed blankly at the beast for a long moment before finally letting out a long sigh.