Chapter 240: Drug Effect

With a flick of his finger, a green light shot into the blaze. The flame instantly flared several feet high, and from within it, Li Huayuan's voice, brief and clear, suddenly resonated:

"Come to Greenwave Cave immediately! I have something for you."

As soon as the message finished, the firelight vanished with a soft pop, dissolving into countless sparks and disappearing without a trace.

Han Li listened calmly from his room.

Entering his bedroom, Han Li pulled a small wooden box from under his stone bed. Inside were over a dozen storage bags of various styles. He took out the one he was carrying, emptied out the large pile of talismans he had previously stored, and then sorted them by type and grade, placing them into different bags.

After pushing the box back into its place, Han Li hesitated for a moment before leaving the bedroom and heading straight for the cave entrance.

Standing on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li recalled his cultivation and talisman-making over the past four years, his expression somewhat heavy.

When he first sealed off his cave dwelling, Han Li had simultaneously cultivated and excavated a very secret inner medicinal garden within the dwelling. Although small, it was sufficient for cultivating herbs he needed to accelerate growth. The benefit of this was that during his secluded cultivation, he wouldn't have to worry about his growing herbs being discovered, allowing him to be self-sufficient without ever leaving the cave.

For this purpose, he had even deliberately opened countless tiny, concealed holes in the rocky ceiling of this medicinal garden, just enough to let sunlight in and allow the small bottle to absorb spiritual energy. Of course, the locations of these holes were well within the coverage of the grand array, so there was no need to worry about them being discovered.

As for the larger outer medicinal garden, Han Li planned to use it solely as a cover!

With the small medicinal garden, Han Li felt secure in simultaneously cultivating spirit herbs and refining elixirs using his Innate True Fire. Although True Fire was slightly inferior to Earth Fire, its advantage lay in its safety and reliability, and he didn't have to fear the number of failures during refinement!

The elixirs refined from ancient formulas were indeed extraordinary.

When Han Li consumed the Qi-Refinement Pills he had refined, he re-experienced the sensation of spiritual energy surging, similar to when he established his foundation. This startled him, and he immediately sat in meditation to refine the energy, not daring to show the slightest negligence.

Such astonishing effects naturally led to his magical power advancing by leaps and bounds in the first year, far exceeding his expectations.

This extravagant method of consumption completely saved Han Li the time of absorbing spiritual energy, allowing him to fully dedicate himself to cultivating and refining it into magical power. The efficiency of his magical power advancement naturally increased severalfold!

This made Han Li overjoyed for a time! Revisiting the Azure Essence Sword Art three times seemed entirely possible!

Although the Azure Essence Sword Art did indeed exhibit the strange phenomenon, as others said, of magical power receding a portion every few days, by consuming a packet of Qi-Refinement Pills every six or seven days, he could completely ignore this flaw.

During this period, Han Li also curiously took a Foundation Establishment Pill once, but the effect was negligible, causing him to completely abandon that idea.

However, in the following three years, something highly unexpected occurred.

Starting from the second year, the feeling of abundant spiritual energy after taking the Qi-Refinement Pills gradually diminished, becoming less effective year by year. By the fourth year, it had become completely ineffective, just like the Yellow Dragon Pills and Gold Marrow Pills he had taken previously. No matter how many packets he consumed, he couldn't feel any spiritual energy.

This gave Han Li a headache, and he was greatly puzzled!

This was definitely not due to his magical power increasing to the point where the spiritual energy provided by the Qi-Refinement Pills couldn't keep up with his current progress. Given the potency of these Qi-Refinement Pills, they should have been effective even if he took them until the late stage of Foundation Establishment. These were elixirs refined according to ancient formulas! They might even have a considerable effect on Core Formation cultivators!

This was entirely different from the previous失效 of the Yellow Dragon Pills and Gold Marrow Pills. Their ineffectiveness was due to their medicinal power being insufficient for his cultivation level, which he had already anticipated.

After much deliberation, Han Li, using his previously acquired medical knowledge, reached a conclusion he wasn't sure was correct. He speculated that his body might have developed a certain resistance due to too frequent consumption of these overly potent Qi-Refinement Pills, causing the elixir to gradually lose its effect on him.

Han Li could not verify the correctness of this conclusion. After all, in the cultivation world, no one had ever practiced such a luxurious method of consuming elixirs every few days! Naturally, there were no precedents to check or experiences to draw upon.

However, Han Li still hoped that after stopping the consumption of this elixir for a period, the Qi-Refinement Pills would become effective again.

With this thought, Han Li stopped taking the elixir in the last year and instead cultivated the Azure Essence Sword Art through normal means.

But after getting used to the rapid cultivation speed achieved by consuming spiritual elixirs, it was unbearable for him to resume cultivating at the slow pace of ordinary methods. Moreover, if he truly cultivated in this manner, given his aptitude, let alone completing the Azure Essence Sword Art three times, even once would be an absolute luxury in his lifetime!

After enduring a year of snail-paced cultivation, Han Li was still extremely disappointed. When he resumed taking the Qi-Refinement Pills, they still had no effect. It seemed these elixirs had completely lost their efficacy for him, and he would have to seek other spiritual elixirs.

Therefore, under these circumstances, even if Li Huayuan hadn't summoned him with a sound-transmitting talisman, Han Li had already planned to leave his cave dwelling for a trip.

After all, he still lacked some raw materials for another ancient formula. Only by refining this Spirit Gathering Pill could his magical power surge again. He also intended to seek more elixir formulas. If the Spirit Gathering Pill were to become ineffective like the Qi-Refinement Pills, Han Li would simply have to switch elixirs every few years.

As for his talisman-making practice, it progressed extremely smoothly.

Every day, he set aside half a day to practice spells that could be instantly cast, starting from the lower-level ones, and tirelessly refined talismans without the slightest regard for materials. This luxurious and wasteful method, unimaginable to other talisman masters, allowed Han Li's talisman-making skills to soar. He could now barely produce intermediate-level high-grade talismans, although the success rate was still pitifully low!

He had decided that during his next secluded cultivation, he would begin practicing intermediate-level spells and attempt to refine intermediate-level talismans, which was his main goal in talisman-making.

Additionally, during his seclusion, besides the Qi-Refinement Pills, Han Li also took advantage of his relatively free time to refine seven or eight Youth Retaining Pills and curiously took one. If it could truly preserve his appearance, Han Li would, of course, be very happy, as no one wished to see themselves with white hair, even though cultivators' aging process was incredibly slow.

At this moment, the ineffectiveness of the elixirs greatly annoyed Han Li as he flew, but he was also curious about his master Li Huayuan's sudden summons. He couldn't help but wonder why he would actively seek him out after four years.

Thus, with a mind full of concerns, Han Li arrived at Greenwave Cave. However, after transmitting his message, the one who opened the restrictions was no longer his senior disciple, but a handsome young man of about twenty, with rosy lips and white teeth.

Before Han Li could speak, the young man spoke to him indifferently:

"You must be Junior Brother Han. I am Wu Xuan, the sixth disciple under Master. Master has asked me to wait for you for a long time. Please follow me!"

After speaking, Wu Xuan turned and left without even glancing at Han Li, which made Han Li inexplicably touch his face.

"My face can't be that repulsive, can it?"

Somewhat annoyed, Han Li reluctantly followed closely behind him. Naturally, not a single word was exchanged between them as they proceeded directly to the reception hall. Three people were seated in chairs within the hall, with two others standing beside them.

Seated were Li Huayuan and his wife, along with an unfamiliar woman in red. The woman appeared to be around thirty years old, and while she was attractive and still possessed charm, her face was cold, subtly emanating a fierce aura rarely seen in cultivators.

At this moment, Li Huayuan seemed to be speaking with the woman, and from his expression and words, he appeared to hold her in great respect.

Standing nearby were two individuals: one was Han Li's Fourth Senior Brother Song Meng, whom he had met before, and the other was a ten-year-old girl, also dressed in red. Her appearance was quite delicate, but there was a hint of allure in her eyes and eyebrows, and her appearance suggested a strong connection to the woman in red.

"Han Li, come and greet your Senior Aunt Hong Fu!"

Upon seeing Han Li enter, Li Huayuan immediately greeted him happily. Meanwhile, Wu Xuan walked silently to Song Meng's side and stood with his hands clasped.

"Senior Aunt Hong Fu!" Although Han Li didn't know what was going on, he certainly wouldn't neglect proper etiquette.

The woman in red did not immediately respond to Han Li's greeting. Instead, she thoroughly scrutinized him from head to toe.

After a long moment, a faint smile appeared on her face, and she spoke somewhat stiffly:

"Hmm, very good!"

"Haha! It seems Senior Sister Hong Fu is quite pleased! Although this disciple of mine has an ordinary appearance, he is a genuine Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he is obedient and clever, much to my liking!" Li Huayuan's face lit up with joy when he saw the woman in red's satisfied expression, and he praised Han Li profusely.

Han Li was utterly bewildered, not understanding the reason behind it.