Chapter 415: Peizhu

"Is this the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo?" Han Li asked, his expression shifting uncertainly.

Inside the box was a short, ordinary piece of withered bamboo, about two inches long and as thick as a pinky finger, with some clearly shriveled roots.

No matter how he looked at it, it was no different from common bamboo.

As doubt filled Han Li's mind, he couldn't help but glance at Fairy Ziling with an expressionless face.

The young woman clearly understood Han Li's skepticism. With a light chuckle, she held the half-yellow, half-green withered bamboo between her jade-like fingers. Then, with a flick of her wrist, a dazzling, crystal-clear dagger appeared in her other hand.

With a crisp 'clang', Fairy Ziling swiftly and forcefully struck the bamboo with the dagger. The moment the blade made contact, a thin electric arc shimmered across the bamboo's surface, immediately deflecting the dagger.

Seeing this, Han Li's doubts vanished completely. He carefully placed the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo back into the box and put it away.

Afterwards, Fairy Ziling gave Han Li an elder's token from the Wonderful Sound Sect. After chatting for a while, Han Li bid farewell and left.

Not long after Han Li departed, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting returned to the inn together. After hearing Fairy Ziling recount the events, the two women exchanged perplexed glances for a long time.

"Junior Sister, this is different from what we originally discussed. Aren't we at too great a disadvantage? With the reputation of this Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, we could have found other Core Formation cultivators. Why be so accommodating to him?" Madam Fan couldn't help but complain slightly.

Although Zhuo Ruting remained silent by her side, her slender eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and she also looked puzzled.

"Seniors, you don't understand. When I proposed that he become an elder of our sect, his expression turned very ugly. And from his eyes, I could tell at a glance that he has an extremely firm will; he wouldn't have agreed to this, even if he didn't want the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo. Moreover, as you both said, he isn't afraid of our enchanting arts at all."

"As for using the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo to invite other cultivators, Seniors, you overestimate the value of this rather useless item. You should know that although the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo is reputed to be one of the three divine bamboos in the cultivation world, very few practitioners can actually make use of it. Unless one intends to refine top-tier wood-attribute magic treasures, who would use this as a material? And for those who know how to refine such treasures, our small piece of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo is utterly useless. Furthermore, as you also know, Heavenly Thunder Bamboo is categorized into different grades. Our piece is merely a White Thunder Bamboo, several thousand years old. Even if it were refined into a magic treasure, its power wouldn't be significant. It's better to use this item now to establish a good relationship with him. What's more, since he has agreed to become an elder of our sect, as long as we sisters treat him with respect and offer continuous annual tributes, when our sect truly faces a formidable enemy, would he be too embarrassed to refuse assistance?" Fairy Ziling said leisurely, appearing calm and unperturbed.

"Moreover, even if someone else were genuinely interested in the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo and willing to become an elder of our sect, would our sect, in its current state, dare to accept them? At that point, we might be 'driving a tiger out the front gate only to let a wolf in through the back!' My mother, back then, could only employ a strategy of checks and balances because she herself was a Core Formation cultivator, allowing Elders Zhao and Meng to honestly contribute to our sect. After all, relying solely on enchanting arts and feminine charm to win over high-level cultivators can easily backfire!" The young woman added, revealing a faint bitter smile.

Hearing these words, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting both fell silent.

After the recent mass betrayal within the sect, both of them had lost some confidence in their enchanting arts. They felt that what their junior sister said seemed to make some sense.

"Now, the sect's affairs will be handled jointly by the three of us. We won't appoint a sect master for now. It won't be too late to appoint one once one of us three or one of our female disciples achieves Core Formation!" the young woman stated resolutely.

This time, the other two women showed no intention of objecting.

"Will Elder Han, relying on his profound cultivation, forcefully interfere with our sect's affairs? Should we take precautions beforehand?" Zhuo Ruting suddenly asked with a cold tone.

"No, he won't. Although I haven't interacted much with him, I can tell from his demeanor that he seems to be a diligent cultivator. Perhaps nothing besides cultivation can truly move him. Otherwise, when I offered to give him a female disciple as a concubine, he wouldn't have shown absolutely no reaction. It's probably because of this single-mindedness that he was able to reach the Core Formation stage!" Fairy Ziling shook her head, speaking with a hint of envy.

"Sigh! I wonder if we sisters still have a chance to reach Core Formation?" Madam Fan let out a faint sigh, seemingly holding little hope for achieving Core Formation.

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Ruting's face also showed a touch of desolation.

It seems these beautiful women also deeply yearned for Core Formation.

He didn't busy himself with other matters but immediately consulted the numerous ancient texts he had stored.

After considerable effort, he finally found the cultivation method for the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo within a jade slip. Han Li then painstakingly transplanted the bamboo into his medicinal garden.

Gazing at the extremely slender and frail Heavenly Thunder Bamboo he had just transplanted, Han Li felt utterly thrilled.

He naturally knew very well about the different grades of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo. However, he didn't take this to heart at all.

This was because the quality of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo was entirely determined by its spiritual age.

Heavenly Thunder Bamboo under two thousand years old could only release ordinary white lightning. Above five thousand years, the lightning would turn blue, and its power would increase significantly.

When the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo reached ten thousand years or more, the lightning would transform into a pale golden color. At this point, the lightning's power would reach an unimaginable level, possessing extraordinary suppressive effects against various evil arts and demonic cultivation, earning it the name "Evil-Repelling Thunder" among cultivators.

This was also the oldest Heavenly Thunder Bamboo ever seen in the cultivation world, the legendary "Golden Thunder Bamboo."

This type of Golden Thunder Bamboo had appeared only once in the Starfall Sea back then. No one could say where it came from, and there was only a small piece of it.

As a result, this item caused decades of bloody conflict in the Starfall Sea, with numerous factions openly contending and secretly scheming for it. It passed through the hands of countless cultivators.

However, ultimately, no one managed to keep it long enough to refine it into a magic treasure. This was because the bamboo, as mysteriously as it had appeared, suddenly vanished without a trace. This infuriated the various factions at the time, who continued to investigate for a long period before gradually calming down.

From the commotion above, the value of this ten-thousand-year Golden Thunder Bamboo was evident.

As for cultivating spiritual items over ten thousand years old, Han Li had never done such a thing before. This was because the spiritual herbs needed for the elixirs he usually refined were perfectly sufficient if they were one or two thousand years old at most.

This made him feel a mix of anticipation and a slight uneasiness about ripening the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo into a Golden Thunder Bamboo.

In the following days, Han Li continuously used the green liquid to accelerate the bamboo's growth while frequently wandering through the markets of Tianxing City.

This was because the "Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords," in addition to using spirit wood as their primary material, also required the addition of some rare auxiliary materials to be finally refined with alchemical flames.

Moreover, these swords were a complete set of magic treasures, so the required materials naturally far exceeded those for similar items. Although Han Li had collected some before, many were still missing, so he naturally had to search everywhere.

The Starfall Sea was indeed far richer in resources than the Southern Heavenly Region. Han Li spared no expense, spending vast amounts of spirit stones and nearly bankrupting himself, yet finally managed to gather these materials two years later. To do so, he even had to risk attracting unwanted attention by selling the few rare demon cores he still possessed.

As Han Li gazed at his empty storage bags, he could only sigh deeply.

Refining magic treasures, especially good ones, was truly not something an ordinary rogue cultivator could afford.

On this day, Han Li, with unconcealed anticipation, headed towards the medicinal garden.

A few days prior, before his cultivation session, he had just dripped what should have been the ten-thousand-year-old drop of green liquid. Now, the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo in the garden should have become a ten-thousand-year spiritual item.

Thinking of the legendary immense power of the Golden Thunder Bamboo, Han Li was naturally extremely excited.

The bamboo in the medicinal garden, originally about two inches long, was now completely different.

Not only had it grown to about a foot tall, but its entire body was glistening emerald green, enveloped in a faint layer of radiant light.

Han Li observed it intently for a moment. With a flip of his hand, a small sword-type magic artifact appeared. The small sword then transformed into a beam of white light, shooting directly towards the bamboo.

A pale golden electric arc emanated from the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo without any warning.

With a muffled 'whoosh', the white light, after being struck by the pale golden electric arc, transformed into a visible wisp of green smoke and vanished without a trace.

Han Li was startled at first but then immediately burst into laughter, laughing very happily!

He now really wanted to know what an interesting expression Fairy Ziling would have if she knew that this White Thunder Bamboo had actually transformed into Golden Thunder Bamboo.

This transaction was probably the greatest bargain he had ever gotten since entering the cultivation world!

Unfortunately, he would not have the chance to witness that scene.