Chapter 2212: The Third Extreme Mountain

A Work by Wang Yu

Volume Thirteen

Han Li thought happily to himself, gently clenching the five fingers of his other hand. After a sharp whistle, countless golden threads appeared out of thin air, swirled around his fist for a moment, then mysteriously vanished in a flash. At the same time, a continuous sound like thunder and firecrackers erupted within Han Li's body, and a surge of immense power, far stronger than before, burst forth from various parts of his meridians.

After a faint blue light flickered in Han Li's eyes, the sounds within him abruptly ceased. With a flick of his fist, he struck out into the void towards the distant stone door. Suddenly, an explosive roar erupted in the air. A five-colored glow flashed across the surface of the stone door, and then, with a "boom," it shattered open. Han Li nodded in satisfaction. With a flick of his sleeve towards the scattered debris in the distance, a wave of green light swept out. After a flash of spiritual light, the scattered stones miraculously re-coalesced, mending themselves as new and transforming back into the stone door.

For the next period, Han Li sat cross-legged, meticulously examining every part of his body and sensing the profound changes in each area. A faint smile appeared on his face.

Three days and three nights later, Han Li had thoroughly mastered the various mysteries of the Myriad Vein Refinement Art. Withdrawing his thoughts from it, he pondered for a moment, then with a flick of his wrist, took out two emerald green crystals of different sizes from his storage bracelet. One was about a foot in diameter, and the other was only the size of a fist. Both emitted a misty green glow. These were precisely the crystal cores containing the Yin-Yang Grand Five Elements True Light. One was obtained from an underground mine, and the other was acquired by directly refining the demonic core of the Magnetic Light Beast. With these two items, combined with some other rare materials he had already prepared, he should be able to barely refine the third Extreme Mountain.

As Han Li looked at the crystal cores in his hands, his mind was silently contemplating the refining method for the relevant parts of the Primordial Union Five Extreme Mountains. After a full hour, Han Li's gaze sharpened. He suddenly tossed the two emerald green crystals into the air. A clear chime sounded from his wrist, and his storage bracelet trembled, then spontaneously detached and flew up. He unhurriedly pointed a finger at it. The storage bracelet spun rapidly, and immediately, large swathes of light mist surged out from it, flashing across the ground. The next moment, jade boxes, bottles, jars, and other items frantically appeared on the ground, neatly arranged and piled high beside Han Li.

Once all the items had appeared, there was another dull thud from the storage bracelet, and a flash of silver light shot out, revealing a silver-white cauldron. This cauldron was initially only about an inch tall, but as it met the wind, it expanded into a massive object a zhang (approx. 3.3 meters) tall, then heavily dropped downwards. With a loud thud, the entire secret chamber trembled slightly. A massive silver-white cauldron stood firmly on the ground, its three legs embedded half a foot deep into the ground, which was as hard as refined steel.

Han Li gestured at the two emerald green crystals in the air. The two objects immediately transformed into two balls of green light and flew into the giant cauldron. With a "whoosh" sound, Han Li then opened his mouth and spat out a silver fire ball. After circling once, it transformed into a silver fire bird about a foot in size. With a spread of its wings, it soared towards the bottom of the giant cauldron. The silver spiritual flames instantly roared around the outside of the giant cauldron. The surrounding temperature dramatically surged, blurring the nearby space as if it could melt and penetrate anything. Han Li, meanwhile, rapidly pointed his fingers at the boxes, bottles, and other containers in quick succession. Immediately, the lids of these items opened, and they blurred into existence above the giant cauldron, then quickly inverted, pouring their contents into it. Meanwhile, under Han Li's intense magical urging, the silver fire bird hovering around the giant cauldron below dramatically increased its size by more than double, causing the flames to almost completely engulf the lower half of the silver cauldron. Five-colored light flickered on the surface of the silver giant cauldron, and colorful, bean-sized runes emerged, swirling and dancing around it. This made the giant cauldron appear extraordinarily mysterious for a time!

At this point, Han Li slowly closed his eyes in front of the giant cauldron, but the hand seals he was performing did not stop at all; instead, they became even faster. The two emerald green crystals and numerous rare materials within the giant cauldron, under an unimaginable scorching heat, began to flicker with various strange lights. The surfaces of some materials even slowly started to melt...

It was unclear whether it was due to a slight insufficiency of materials, or if the Yin-Yang Grand Five Elements Extreme Mountain was inherently more difficult to refine than the previous two Extreme Mountains. This refining process actually took over a month, finally succeeding with a thunderous roar echoing in the secret chamber. At this moment, in the secret chamber, the silver giant cauldron had shattered into countless pieces scattered across the floor. In the air, a zhang (approx. 3.3 meters) above the ground, a foot-tall, resplendent mountain peak quietly floated. This mountain peak was not only entirely crystalline but also emitted faint five-colored piercing rays from its surface. Looking at it, one felt a strange warmth in their eyes, making it impossible to gaze at directly for too long.

Han Li gazed at the mountain peak, a look of satisfaction on his face. No one knew better than him the terrifying power contained within this seemingly small mountain peak. His efforts had finally not been in vain. However, such a long period of continuous refining had greatly drained his mental energy, and he needed to recuperate before proceeding. Thinking this, Han Li raised his hand and beckoned to the mountain peak in the air. Instantly, the resplendent mountain peak flashed, transforming into a miniature magic artifact about an inch tall, which landed in his hand. With another turn, it mysteriously vanished into his palm.

After carefully putting away the newly refined Extreme Mountain, Han Li, feeling somewhat weary, closed his eyes and began to recuperate. After two full days and nights, he opened his eyes again. The weariness on his body had vanished without a trace, and he was once again full of vigor.

Han Li lowered his head slightly and pondered for a moment. Then, with a single-hand incantation, a golden light flashed behind him, and the three-headed, six-armed Brahma Saint Avatar reappeared. With another flick of his sleeve, seventy-two small green swords darted out like fish, swirling and dancing up and down around his body. Next, he flipped his hand, revealing a misty green jade slip. With a single point of his finger, countless hazy white runes flew out from it, swirling to form a passage of scripture that quietly floated motionless before him. Upon closer inspection, the scripture was none other than the Azure Essence Sword Art he had cultivated previously.

Facing this spell art he had long mastered, Han Li's expression became unusually solemn. After gazing at it for a moment without blinking, his vision seemed to become as still as clear water. He had entered a state of tranquil contemplation, once again meditating on this cultivation art that he had primarily practiced in his early years. During the contemplation, some of the seventy-two small green swords gathered together, while others dispersed. Some would momentarily form small sword formations, while others would then let out sharp cries, flying solo into the air and emitting chilling gleams. These seventy-two small green swords seemed to have each gained a life of their own in an instant, appearing truly incredible.

This contemplation lasted for a full five years. After a soft sigh echoed in the secret chamber, the seventy-two small swords, with a prolonged cry, successively vanished into Han Li's body. His eyes flickered slightly, regaining their former agility. Without a word, he put away the green jade slip, then took out a pale golden jade tablet. With another light tap of his finger, countless golden runes surged out, also forming another passage of scripture. Judging by the profoundness revealed in every line of the scripture, it was clearly the main text of the Brahma Saint True Devil Arts.

Han Li stared intently at the scripture, his body unmoving. But behind him, the Brahma Saint Avatar suddenly opened its six eyes, and its six hands simultaneously blurred, each forming different incantations. Almost simultaneously, his main body, seated on the ground, shimmered with golden light. Golden runes surged from his skin, transforming into reddish-gold scales that covered his entire body. At the top of his head, a green glow flickered, and a single horn faintly appeared and disappeared.

This re-contemplation of his primary cultivation art, which he had practiced until now, took Han Li much longer than the previous one. Spring turned to summer, autumn passed to winter; eleven years slipped by unnoticed. When a joyful long howl echoed from the secret chamber, Han Li's fierce avatar behind him dispersed. The golden scales and single horn on his body simultaneously vanished, and he instantly returned to his normal human form. When Han Li opened his eyes, his face was filled with an uncontainable smile.

This total of six years spent in profound new contemplation not only allowed him to thoroughly understand previously unclear parts of his original cultivation arts but also enabled him to derive several new divine abilities from these two main cultivation arts. He believed that once used in combat, they would greatly surprise his opponents. His reason for doing this was naturally based on the experience he had gained earlier from Mo Jianli and Ancestor Ao Xiao regarding breaking through the Mahayana bottleneck.

Now, not only had he completed his cultivation of the Myriad Vein Refinement Art, but he also possessed three Extreme Mountains to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation. Furthermore, with the newly comprehended divine abilities and the medicinal power of the Spirit Purification Lotus he had consumed earlier now almost entirely refined, he estimated he had a six to seven tenths chance of breaking through the Mahayana bottleneck. Such a high probability would leave any other Integration stage cultivator who heard about it utterly dumbfounded and consumed by extreme envy. One must understand that for ordinary late-Integration stage old monsters, even after exhausting their life's savings and spending tens of thousands of years preparing, those who had even a ten percent chance of breaking through to the Mahayana stage were exceedingly rare. Some with slightly inferior spiritual root aptitudes couldn't even withstand the Heavenly Tribulation during the breakthrough, perishing directly under its power. Otherwise, over these tens of thousands of years, the various races in the Spirit Realm would often hear of individuals perishing under Heavenly Tribulations, but those who successfully passed the tribulation and advanced to the Mahayana stage remained few and far between.

Han Li now believed that, whether in terms of his mental and physical state or his preparation of elixirs and treasures, he was far beyond what any ordinary cultivator could achieve. Naturally, he would not delay any longer and immediately decided to prepare to attempt breaking through the Mahayana bottleneck. The act of breaking through the Mahayana bottleneck was naturally incomparable to previous breakthroughs of the Void Refinement and Integration stages' bottlenecks. The violent elemental energy of heaven and earth drawn during this breakthrough would be powerful enough to destroy the world, so it was naturally impossible to directly trigger the Mahayana Tribulation within the secret chamber. A look of determination flashed across Han Li's face. He immediately stood up and strode towards the stone door.