Chapter 2054: Light Sphere and Green Gas

Novel:

This flying sword, emanating astonishing demonic energy, was naturally a trophy Han Li obtained from killing one of the many Demon Lords in the Spirit Realm. Since it was useless to Han Li, he was naturally happy to generously offer it in exchange for the ore he held.

"Thank you for your generous gift, Senior! This piece of Exotic Demonic Gold was acquired by me from a fellow tribesman not long ago, and it seems to have changed hands multiple times before that. Its original source is now difficult to trace," the short, stout demonic cultivator said, his face filled with mixed surprise and joy as he took the flying sword and probed it with his spiritual sense, thanking Han Li repeatedly. He had just told the Blackhoof clansman that he wanted to exchange for a top-tier demonic artifact, which was naturally a rather exorbitant demand. Now that he had truly obtained it, his joy was immense. For a cultivator at his level, the Nascent Soul stage, a top-tier treasure was exceedingly rare.

"In that case, never mind. This piece of demonic gold should be enough for my needs," Han Li said, his brow furrowing slightly before quickly relaxing. After saying this, he did not linger, turning and departing on his own. The short, stout demonic cultivator had originally intended to seize the opportunity to get closer to Han Li, but seeing the situation, he dared not say more and simply offered a respectful farewell gesture.

With his acquisitions, Han Li's initial intention to leave immediately was naturally cast aside. Over the next two hours, he meticulously examined everything on the remaining stalls along the entire street. He genuinely found two types of spiritual herbs that did not exist in the Spirit Realm, allowing him to gather the ingredients to refine a kind of pill, the Heart-Stabilizing Spirit Pill, useful for cultivators at the Integration Stage. When taken during cultivation of arts or divine abilities, this pill could slightly enhance the efficiency of one's cultivation and comprehension, proving to be quite useful in the long run. Han Li had long possessed the formula for this pill, but he had been unable to refine it due to the lack of these two spiritual herbs, which had long since become extinct in the Spirit Realm.

Having made his acquisitions, Han Li enthusiastically visited some large shops nearby after leaving the street. Unfortunately, almost all the items sold in these shops were intended for high-level demonic cultivators, and he did not discover anything else of value to himself. By this time, the sky had gradually darkened. Pedestrians on the street quickly thinned out, and one by one, shops closed their doors, seemingly preparing for a curfew.

Han Li found a random place to stay, rented a private secret chamber, and temporarily settled in. After setting up several layers of restrictions in the secret chamber, he confidently took out the piece of Exotic Demonic Gold he had obtained during the day and silently examined it. It had a bright luster, but its surface was extremely pitted and uneven. Strangely, not only did it emit strong demonic energy, but it also contained traces of pure spiritual energy mixed within. This was, in fact, a rare material that could accommodate both spiritual and demonic energy simultaneously. However, Han Li had not bought this ore merely for that reason.

After pondering for a while, he suddenly tossed the ore in front of him, where it floated in mid-air. He then drew a line in the empty space with a finger. With a soft 'puff'! A flash of green light appeared and vanished instantly. The black and white ore silently split into two halves from the middle, and a bean-sized object dropped out. With a swift single-handed grab, an invisible force swept out, and the revealed object was immediately drawn into his palm. Han Li focused his gaze, and it was indeed a murky gray crystalline bead.

"As expected, my Spirit Eyes weren't mistaken; there really was something hidden inside. I just don't know if it's useful to me; I need to confirm that," Han Li murmured with a smile after examining the crystal bead. He then probed it with his spiritual sense.

But the next moment, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he abruptly threw the crystal bead from his hand. With a 'boom,' the ejected crystal bead suddenly emitted a muffled thunder-like roar, and a terrifying aura spread outwards. A grayish-white pillar of light, as thick as a bowl, erupted from the bead and, with a flash, struck the restrictions arranged on the ceiling. Several layers of light barriers were torn apart like paper confetti by the light pillar, which then fiercely struck the outermost restriction. Only then did the light pillar pause slightly, its advance halted.

During this brief delay, Han Li's expression darkened. His body flickered, and he instantly appeared above the light pillar, pressing his palm downwards into the empty space. Immediately, a giant golden hand materialized, radiating myriad rays of light, and astonishingly, it completely suppressed the light pillar. However, Han Li's expression showed no sign of ease. His fingers trembled slightly, erupting with dazzling golden light, and his arm was actually forced to retreat slightly by the grayish-white light pillar, unable to completely block it. Han Li's face first showed a hint of surprise, but then it hardened. With a cold snort, his arm flashed with golden light, instantly growing much thicker. His sleeve burst open inch by inch, revealing glistening golden scales.

The giant golden hand's five fingers slowly closed. Roaring sounds reverberated! Immense restrictive power instantly surged around the grayish-white light pillar, compressing it into a light sphere several feet in diameter. Then, with a flash, it was grasped by the giant golden hand. At this point, Han Li chanted incantations, his ten fingers continuously flicking streaks of spell runes towards the giant golden hand. The golden palm blurred, surprisingly transforming into numerous golden runes that enveloped the grayish-white light sphere. The light sphere, which had been expanding and contracting erratically as if it might explode at any moment, instantly dimmed and became silent, no longer emitting any sound.

Only then did Han Li's expression relax. With a movement of his body, he returned to the ground and raised a hand in a summoning gesture. The light sphere fell and landed steadily in Han Li's palm. The power contained within this light sphere was truly extraordinary; even Han Li, without activating his Vajra Sacred Demonic Art, had almost failed to block it. However, now, under Han Li's restrictive arts, it had become completely calm, showing no trace of its terrifying nature from moments before. Han Li held the light sphere in one hand, staring at it silently with tightly furrowed brows. For him, the immense power of this light sphere was certainly unexpected, but the energy composing it was what truly concerned him.

The reason Han Li had unhesitatingly and forcibly purchased the Exotic Demonic Gold from the demonic cultivator earlier was not only because his Spirit Eyes detected something else hidden within the demonic gold, but also because of an extremely profound premonition he felt with his spiritual sense. The value of this object was undoubtedly extraordinary, and it seemed very important to him. For cultivators at Han Li's level, premonitions and spiritual senses were naturally of utmost importance. Even though these sensations rarely appeared and were sometimes effective and sometimes not, no one would ever ignore them. Although his spiritual sense had only briefly probed the crystal bead before he withdrew it in surprise, he still sensed something. However, to truly get results, he would need to probe it again with his spiritual sense. However, the energy composing the light sphere was incredibly peculiar; it seemed that any ordinary spiritual sense, upon contact, would immediately become extremely violent. This made what should have been a simple matter suddenly become tricky!

As Han Li's thoughts raced, he suddenly took a deep breath, his face turning solemn. Simultaneously, he activated the Great Evolution Art and the Soul Connection Art, causing his spiritual sense in his mind to surge by more than half. Following this, his eyes flickered with blue light, and a loud crackling sound erupted! Numerous nearly transparent crystalline threads shot out from between his eyebrows and, with a flash, all submerged into the restricted grayish-white light sphere. This was the materialized form of spiritual sense, numbering over a hundred threads, indicating that Han Li's spiritual sense had reached a terrifying level of power. The instant the crystalline threads entered, the light sphere trembled slightly, emitting a low humming sound, and again showed signs of instability. Seeing this, Han Li immediately activated a spell incantation in his mind. The golden runes enveloping the light sphere instantly burst forth with light, forming a golden net that abruptly tightened inwards. The light sphere, which had been stirring restlessly, immediately calmed down with a jolt. Han Li's slightly anxious heart immediately settled. After closing his eyes, his spiritual sense began to meticulously probe the light sphere.

A moment later, his face first showed a hint of astonishment, but after a low exclamation, it immediately changed to an expression of wild joy. However, this look of ecstasy only lasted for a short while before his face became somewhat puzzled again, finally settling into a completely shifting and uncertain expression. With a single-handed incantation, a whooshing sound echoed again as all the crystalline threads retracted with a flash. Han Li slowly opened his eyes, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

"It's truly incredible that something capable of perfectly merging demonic and spiritual energy actually exists in this world. If that's the case, isn't this object naturally meant for the Vajra Sacred Demonic Art? It should be easily convertible into my own magic power without needing refinement. But can such a convenient thing truly exist in this world? Moreover, there seems to be no relevant record in any ancient texts," Han Li muttered to himself, looking hesitant.

"Never mind, I'll try it first and see," he decided. Han Li's hesitation didn't last long; he quickly made up his mind. He chanted an incantation towards the light sphere, his hands constantly changing spell gestures, and then suddenly pointed a finger outwards. The surface of the light sphere, enveloped by numerous golden runes, began to deform unevenly. Finally, with a flash, an egg-sized portion was isolated and separated from it. Before this isolated portion could begin to explode, Han Li's incantation ceased. A hand shot out like lightning, seizing the portion, and then he activated the Vajra Sacred Demonic Art, causing golden light to flicker.

A golden phantom, about a *zhang* (approx. 3.3 meters) in height, appeared behind him, gradually becoming remarkably clear. At the same time, the grayish-white light sphere in his hand rapidly shrunk at a visible speed. In roughly the time it takes to breathe, the entire light sphere completely vanished.

"It's just as I suspected. My True Essence has indeed increased by that much! If I absorb the entire sphere, wouldn't the amount gained be astonishingly immense?" Han Li could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart. The corners of his mouth curved slightly upwards, and his eyes were full of joy. "But what is this thing? It clearly has no impurities at all, so how could something extra appear out of nowhere after conversion?" The next moment, Han Li suddenly raised a finger and muttered again to himself. A fluctuation arose at his fingertip, and a wisp of green energy, almost too faint to see, emerged. It was only a few inches tall and exceptionally thin.