Chapter 237: Book Page

Li Huayuan showed a hint of satisfaction when he saw how sensible Han Li was. He then reached out and lightly grabbed the air; a red glow immediately flew from his hand, enveloped a jade slip, and brought it back to him.

Without even glancing at it, Li Huayuan handed it directly to Han Li. He then repeated the same method, gathering seven or eight more items before stopping. By this point, Han Li was holding a large pile of items, too numerous for his eyes to take in.

“These cultivation methods are all designed for faster spiritual power progression and are relatively easy to cultivate. Choose one as your primary cultivation method. The rest must be returned. Let me know once you’ve made your selection!” Li Huayuan said calmly to Han Li, then sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the stone chamber.

Han Li felt his eyes blurring from trying to decide. Although there weren't many cultivation methods, each indeed had its unique features.

For example, one of them, the “Returning Essence Art,” not only increased spiritual power quickly but also came with a very practical minor divine ability called “Returning Essence Spirit Armor.” In addition to adding a layer of defensive magic during combat, it could also condense spiritual energy into spirit armor, providing an extra layer of protection. This made it an excellent life-saving technique, and the armor's defensive power gradually increased as the Returning Essence Art progressed.

Another jade slip contained the “Illusory Spirit Art,” which was also quite good. Its accompanying divine ability, “Phantom Image,” allowed the user to conjure identical duplicates of themselves at any time or place to confuse enemies. The higher the cultivation level, the more duplicates could be created, making it even more effective at misleading opponents.

Besides these two, the minor divine abilities accompanying the other cultivation arts, though not powerful, were extremely effective for self-preservation and escape. It seemed the creators of these techniques understood that these methods weren't for fierce combat but rather for survival, which was paramount.

However, after Han Li had browsed through everything, a golden page inside a jade box surprised him.

The style and size of this page were incredibly familiar. Han Li was certain it was identical to the silver page he possessed. The only difference was that this page seemed thinner and lacked the strange patterns. Instead, it was covered in dense ancient text. Upon closer inspection, however, it described a common cultivation art called "Condensing Essence Art," and its accompanying divine ability was an extremely ordinary辅助法决 (auxiliary spell/method) called "Spirit Gathering Technique," which merely accelerated the speed of gathering spiritual energy during cultivation.

Han Li flipped the golden page over and over several times, his mind filled with questions. But he knew this was not the time for hesitation or solving mysteries, despite his strong urge to immediately take out the silver page from his storage pouch and compare them.

He had to make a decision now, or he would arouse suspicion from his master.

With this thought, Han Li weighed the golden page in his hand. He instantly made his choice.

He then spoke to Li Huayuan, who was resting with his eyes closed:

“Master, I have made my choice. I’ll take this cultivation method!”

Hearing this, Li Huayuan opened his eyes and saw the golden page in Han Li’s hand. He was slightly surprised but said nothing. After nodding, he led Han Li out of the stone chamber.

Back in the main hall, the young woman was waiting for the master and disciple. When she saw them, she first smiled gently before asking:

“How was it? Did you make your choice?”

“Thank you for your concern, Mistress. This disciple has made his selection!” Han Li replied respectfully.

“Then I’m relieved!” the young woman said, smiling joyfully again. She seemed even more concerned about the matter than Han Li, which slightly surprised him.

“Alright, since you have repaid your mistress’s life-saving kindness, it’s time to discuss taking you as my disciple! Are you truly willing to join my sect and formally become my disciple, Li Huayuan’s?” Li Huayuan suddenly asked with a stern expression.

Han Li's heart tightened. He quickly knelt and said:

“This disciple Han Li is absolutely sincere; I would not dare to have any falsehood.”

Although Han Li spoke these words, he muttered to himself inwardly:

“If you are truly sincere towards me, I will naturally be fully sincere and fulfill my duties as a disciple. But if you have any ill intentions, I won’t be foolish enough to let you manipulate me!”

Li Huayuan, of course, was unaware of Han Li’s thoughts, otherwise, he would have instantly struck Han Li down.

“Good. We cultivators keep things simple. From today onwards, you are my official disciple, Li Huayuan. I hope you will diligently cultivate the immortal path in the future and not tarnish my name!” Li Huayuan’s expression softened, and he said with a smile.

Following this, Han Li and Li Huayuan naturally interacted as a benevolent master and dutiful disciple. Not long after receiving Li Huayuan’s teachings, Han Li bid farewell and departed.

Upon exiting the cave dwelling, he once again encountered the Grandmaster Yu.

As Han Li stood on the small boat, he couldn't help but recall everything that had happened over the past two days.

His impression of Master Li Huayuan had improved significantly; his attitude towards him was starkly different from their previous trip to the forbidden area. Han Li wondered if it was due to his indirect life-saving kindness towards the mistress, or if it was because he had successfully established his Foundation, finally gaining the attention of this Core Formation stage cultivator.

Regardless, Han Li felt that his trip had not been in vain. Not only did he now have a genuine powerful backer in the cultivation world, but he had also obtained a golden page, which might finally help him unravel the mystery of the silver page.

Even if he couldn't unravel it, Han Li didn't care. At most, he would just cultivate the "Condensing Essence Art" written on it. Although this cultivation method didn't have powerful divine abilities, Han Li had other plans for self-preservation and wasn't overly concerned about this matter.

Upon returning to his cave dwelling, Han Li immediately entered his bedroom and eagerly took out both the golden and silver pages from his storage pouch to carefully compare them.

The silver page remained unchanged. When Han Li placed it together with the golden page under his eyes and overlapped them, their size and outline were indeed identical. It was clear at a glance that they were closely related.

Han Li separated the two pages, holding one in each hand, and weighed them. The silver page was heavier. It seemed his feeling that the golden page was thinner was not a misconception; their thicknesses were indeed different.

Han Li tilted his head, thinking, then suddenly brought the silver page alone closer to his eyes, carefully examining the strange patterns and continuously running his fingers over them.

At this moment, his eyes flickered, as if a significant problem made him indecisive.

However, a resolute expression appeared on Han Li's face.

He suddenly placed the page between his hands, then gently rubbed them together. Immediately, the silver page was enveloped in a ball of fiery red flames, casting a crimson glow on Han Li’s face. But he paid no attention, staring unblinkingly at the page in the flames. At this point, due to the high temperature, the surface of the page had begun to melt.

Suddenly, Han Li's expression shifted, then brightened with joy. As the outer layer melted, the silver page revealed a golden radiance, indeed hiding something within.

Seeing this, Han Li carefully controlled the flames, not allowing them to damage the golden inner layer. But Han Li was clearly overly worried; the newly exposed golden page seemed completely impervious to the intense heat, showing no signs of deformation.

Once a brand new golden page was fully revealed, Han Li waved his hand, and the flames immediately vanished. Then, with his heart pounding, he began to read the newly acquired page.

He only read the beginning before freezing, his face turning extremely grim.

This page, it turned out, was a sword cultivation technique that taught how to manipulate flying swords and specifically cultivate sword aura. Although it seemed profound, it was not at all what Han Li was looking for.

It seemed that the barefoot man from the Giant Sword Sect had cultivated something from this. These techniques might be treasures for Qi Condensation cultivators, but for Han Li, who had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, they were quite ordinary and failed to pique his interest.

Han Li still refused to give up!

He flipped it over and over, examining it again, even going so far as to burn it with fire once more, but he found nothing else.

After bustling about for half a day, the more Han Li looked at the golden page, the more annoyed he became.

It was incredibly frustrating to have put so much effort into something only to get a useless item. The words "sword aura" particularly irritated Han Li, as he already cultivated the Azure Essence Sword Aura. Did he really need to cultivate another type of sword aura?

With a gloomy face, Han Li suddenly grabbed the page, tossed it into the air, then raised his right hand. A bowl-sized blue sword aura shot out from his hand, striking directly onto the page. Han Li intended to completely destroy this item, saving himself from the irritation of seeing it.

With a "poof," the explosion Han Li expected did not occur. Instead, the blue sword aura vanished without a trace upon hitting the page, as if swallowed, like a clay ox entering the sea.

“This is…” Han Li was startled, but then his heart stirred, and he suddenly became excited.