Chapter 228: Trouble Comes Calling

Flying with all his might, Han Li returned to his cave dwelling in a short while.

Without a word, he first retrieved the jade slip for setting up formations that Qi Yunxiao had given him. He then immersed himself in it, carefully reading the instructions for using the formation artifacts.

Han Li decided to put other matters aside and prioritize setting up the grand protective formation for his cave dwelling. The recent battle location was uncomfortably close, leaving him with a strong sense of insecurity.

The setup of this Inverted Five Elements Formation was remarkably simple and straightforward.

To activate it, one simply had to insert the formation flags and plates at their precise locations and bury them underground. Several spirit stones then needed to be arranged into a small magical formation at the core, providing sufficient spiritual power for the entire grand formation.

Once set, the grand formation would immediately activate. The master of the formation, with even a basic understanding of its manipulation, could use the main formation flag to trigger various patterns, trapping and disorienting enemies.

Han Li carefully inserted and buried the artifacts as required, then gritted his teeth and embedded several mid-grade spirit stones. This alone consumed half of his entire spirit stone reserve, causing him considerable heartache. However, to ensure the grand formation operated at full power, he had no choice but to make the sacrifice.

Although he could easily exchange some well-aged spirit herbs for a substantial amount of spirit stones at the market, doing so would exponentially increase the risk of his secrets being discovered, leading to capture and interrogation. He realized that without extreme caution, he could easily end up being besieged himself, much like the scene he had witnessed earlier. Han Li sighed helplessly.

He tested the grand formation's operation, and it appeared quite effective. Its true power in trapping and defending, however, could only be verified during an actual invasion. Yet, the sheer fact that it could entirely conceal the tens of acres around his cave dwelling, leaving no visible trace from the outside, convinced Han Li that it was well worth the investment.

Reassured, Han Li returned to his bedroom and began to contemplate his cultivation progress.

To have even a sliver of hope of miraculously entering the Core Formation stage, one would require a confluence of extraordinary conditions: a supreme cultivation technique, an exceedingly rare aptitude, and immense fortuitous encounters.

In comparison, the difficulty of Foundation Establishment was negligible. After all, with sufficient aptitude and one or two Foundation Establishment Pills, the probability of successful Foundation Establishment was quite high.

However, for Core Formation, even with all the aforementioned conditions met, very few cultivators truly succeeded. Thus, the emergence of each Core Formation cultivator was almost always met with lavish celebrations by their respective sects or factions, and the news would quickly spread throughout the local cultivation world.

The Hidden Moon Sect's status as the foremost immortal sect in Yue Kingdom stemmed not only from its over a thousand Foundation Establishment disciples, far surpassing other sects, but also from its nearly ten Core Formation cultivators, a number that dwarfed all other factions and allowed them to truly dominate the remaining six sects.

Han Li was acutely aware of his abysmal aptitude, which was certainly far inferior to that of other Foundation Establishment disciples. His only cultivation technique thus far was the "Azure Essence Sword Art," a completely useless scripture that he couldn't possibly cultivate. As for fortuitous encounters, those were intangible and depended entirely on personal luck.

From this perspective, current circumstances appeared overwhelmingly unfavorable for Han Li.

Yet, upon closer analysis, Han Li realized that while his aptitude was indeed dismal, the mysterious small bottle capable of ripening spirit herbs and allowing him to refine pills could potentially compensate for this deficiency. Fortuitous encounters, being beyond human control, were not something he needed to dwell on. Therefore, his sole achievable goal for increasing his chances of Core Formation was to find a superior cultivation technique suitable for his own practice.

The idea of seeking a cultivation technique immediately brought his nominal master, Li Huayuan, to mind.

Since his master had accepted him as a registered disciple, it seemed appropriate for him to now impart some cultivation methods. After all, Li Huayuan had already successfully achieved Core Formation, and perhaps he could even offer some guidance on choosing the right technique.

With this thought, Han Li decided to return to Yellow Maple Valley first thing tomorrow morning to inquire about his master's cave dwelling and seek his guidance. Li Huayuan was likely still unaware of Han Li's successful Foundation Establishment.

It was quite laughable, really. Since accepting him, Li Huayuan had never once summoned Han Li, virtually treating his registered disciple as nonexistent for years. This left Han Li feeling quite disgruntled.

Naturally, despite his frustration, Han Li wouldn't proactively seek out his master and appear presumptuous.

Yet now, having successfully established his foundation, he truly needed to find his master. The sheer awkwardness of a disciple having to inquire about his own master's whereabouts from outsiders was not lost on him.

Han Li reflected on this with a self-deprecating smile for a moment before slowly drifting to sleep in the stone chamber.

He didn't know how long he had slept when violent tremors abruptly jolted Han Li awake from his slumber. For a moment, disoriented, he almost dismissed the shaking as an illusion.

However, another violent tremor, accompanied by rumbling explosions from outside his cave dwelling, instantly dispelled any lingering sleepiness. It was clear someone had triggered his defenses and was forcibly attacking his grand formation.

A mix of surprise and anger surged through Han Li. He swiftly darted from his bedroom, rushing directly towards the cave entrance.

As he emerged, the sight that greeted him nearly made him bite his tongue: a dense barrage of glowing arrows and light beams, accompanied by mechanical puppets filling the sky above his cave dwelling.

What was happening? To avoid trouble, he had deliberately refrained from interfering in yesterday's events. Yet, now back at his dwelling, they had come directly to him. Their aggressive stance suggested no misunderstanding. Could he have been targeted or tracked when he flew away yesterday?

In this moment of crisis, Han Li's mind became remarkably clear, and various countermeasures swiftly flooded his thoughts.

"Listen up, inside!" a man's voice boomed from the sky. "Hand over the one who fled here. Once you surrender them, we guarantee we will no longer trouble the master of this place! Why offend our Thousand Bamboo Sect and take the fall for someone else?"

Perhaps realizing their fierce assault was completely neutralized by the Inverted Five Elements Formation's restrictions, yielding no effect whatsoever, a man's voice echoed from the air. It was Huang Long.

Hearing this, Han Li instinctively looked up.

He saw a colossal emerald green bamboo raft suspended in the air, directly amidst the densest concentration of puppets. Standing on it were six or seven individuals in diverse attire, with Huang Long, the speaker, at the forefront. Behind him, besides the pair Han Li had previously encountered, stood four additional identical, lean men – a rare sight of quadruplet brothers. It appeared the Thousand Bamboo Sect's reinforcements had arrived.

When Han Li heard the demand to surrender someone, he was momentarily stunned. Full of doubt, he peered into the heart of the Inverted Five Elements Formation, where he saw a person lying face down near the cave entrance, motionless and their fate unknown.

The sight of this person resolved Han Li's doubts, but it also filled him with deep distress.

Why, of all places, did Senior Brother Lin have to blunder into his cave dwelling's perimeter, causing him such immense trouble? How was he to deal with this? Nevertheless, witnessing the incomplete grand formation's incredible power, capable of repelling such a furious assault, significantly calmed Han Li, dispelling his initial panic.

Frowning slightly, Han Li, holding a formation flag, parted the formation and walked towards Senior Brother Lin.

As Han Li used both hands to turn Senior Brother Lin's body over and carefully examined his face, his expression immediately turned grim, rendering him speechless.

There was nothing to say to a dead man. Senior Brother Lin's face was utterly black, blood streamed from his seven orifices, and he had been dead for quite some time.

Han Li sighed. After a moment of hesitation, he reached into the deceased's robes, hoping to find a storage pouch containing puppets. He had recently become very interested in this method of overwhelming opponents with numbers.

However, just as Han Li's hand lifted a corner of the robe, a ghostly green light cluster suddenly shot out from the deceased's chest. It moved with the speed of a meteor, rocketing directly towards Han Li's face. Startled, Han Li gasped, "Oh!", and stumbled backward.

Yet, just as the light cluster was about to make contact with Han Li's face, his right hand suddenly flashed white and snapped back like lightning, firmly seizing the green orb. The orb squeaked loudly under his grip, emitting painful moans.

"Junior Brother, spare me!" Senior Brother Lin's voice suddenly echoed in Han Li's mind, accompanied by a desperate plea. "I was harmed by my enemies and had no choice! If you let me go, I, Lin, guarantee to bestow upon you an extraordinary benefit!"

"You were just attempting to seize my body, weren't you?" Han Li said with a grim expression, choosing not to press for details about the promised benefits.

"Th-that's true," Senior Brother Lin's voice stammered awkwardly, followed by a torrent of apologies. "But I, Lin, was only temporarily misguided! I will certainly compensate Junior Brother greatly for your distress! I hope Junior Brother can be magnanimous and not hold this against me!"