Chapter 418: Forming

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly. With a gentle flick of his fingers, ten spiritual threads snapped apart automatically.

He then lightly patted his storage bag, and a dozen white lights flew out, arranging themselves in a circle beneath the liquids. These turned out to be twelve identical small jade boxes. Each of these jade boxes was exquisitely crafted from flawless white jade, measuring only a few inches in size.

With a gentle flick of Han Li's sleeve, the lids of all the jade boxes slid open. Following this, Han Li uttered a single word: "Fall." Instantly, all the viscous green liquid suspended in the air descended. Each jade box received exactly one piece, no more, no less. Only after Han Li had resealed the boxes did his expression ease, truly feeling relieved.

Even with the aid of spirit stones and elixirs, his magical power was nearly depleted. Thus, Han Li spent several more days in meditation, restoring his state to its peak before resuming the refinement of the remaining five Heavenly Thunder Bamboos.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye. Han Li expended immense effort, finally refining all the Heavenly Thunder Bamboos into an exceedingly pure liquid form. After a brief rest, he began setting up an extremely complex formation within the secret chamber.

Han Li did not know the name of this formation. He only knew that this formation was essential for refining the "Azure Bamboo Cloudswirl Sword," a requirement repeatedly emphasized in the refining method described on the golden page. This indicated it was an absolutely crucial preparatory step. Therefore, even though Han Li was intimately familiar with the setup method, having practiced it numerous times before, he remained exceptionally cautious, unwilling to make the slightest error. After all, a single misdrawn rune could lead to unpredictable complications during the artifact's refinement.

Thus, Han Li meticulously arranged the formation, taking a full half-month to complete. Only after installing over a dozen mid-grade spirit stones for testing and confirming its normal operation did he finally feel at ease.

Next, instead of immediately beginning the artifact refinement, Han Li temporarily exited the secret chamber. Continuously using Dan Fire for half a year, coupled with maintaining a high level of mental concentration, had exhausted even a Core Formation cultivator like Han Li. He desperately needed a period of adjustment. The upcoming stage was, after all, the most critical step in artifact refinement.

However, upon exiting the secret chamber, Han Li was met with an unexpected surprise. The "Gold Devouring Beetles," which he had intermittently fed "Rainbow Skirt Grass," had finally resumed their mutual consumption. This greatly delighted Han Li.

Ever since the Gold Devouring Beetles numbered in the tens of thousands, the limited supply of Rainbow Skirt Grass had made it difficult for them to lay eggs and evolve further. Moreover, over the years, most of the green liquid had been used by Han Li to accelerate the growth of the Heavenly Thunder Bamboos. This made it even more challenging for the Gold Devouring Beetles to undergo any significant changes. However, once the Heavenly Thunder Bamboos had fully matured, Han Li immediately instructed Qu Hun to intensify their cultivation. After all, Han Li still harbored immense expectations for these unusual insects.

Upon receiving this information from Qu Hun, Han Li immediately went to the insect chamber. On the outer shells of the devoured Gold Devouring Beetles, the golden spots now covered nearly half of their body surface. He estimated that the next generation they produced would allow the golden spots to expand even further. However, after observing for a while, the joy on Han Li's face gradually faded, replaced by a slight frown.

At this rate, the complete evolution of all these Gold Devouring Beetles to a golden color seemed quite unlikely. Their numbers would multiply severalfold after each evolution. However, the amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass that could be matured by the green liquid was truly limited. It was impossible to successfully evolve tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles all at once. At this pace, their next evolution seemed a very distant prospect!

Han Li fell into contemplation outside the insect chamber. It seemed the only way was to first cultivate a small portion of them specifically. Otherwise, Han Li doubted he would ever have the chance to witness the golden "Gold Devouring Beetles." With this thought, Han Li immediately made his decision. However, all of this would have to wait until the Gold Devouring Beetles laid their eggs. For now, he could set it aside and prioritize his artifact refinement.

After resting for a full month, Han Li finally chose an auspicious day. He then burned incense and meditated in his bedroom for two days, allowing his mind to reach a state of tranquil serenity before returning to the secret chamber. There, he stood at the core of the formation.

With a solemn expression, Han Li waved his hands. Dozens of jade boxes containing the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo liquid descended onto various parts of the formation, arranged according to some inherent law. Next, various other caskets and wooden boxes flew out of his storage bag one after another, landing before Han Li and automatically opening their lids to reveal the pre-processed auxiliary materials.

Han Li glanced at the materials, took a deep breath, and slowly sat cross-legged. He then closed his eyes and gradually entered a state of meditation.

After the time it takes to eat a meal, Han Li's eyes snapped open, and a greenish aura emanated from his body. As soon as this aura appeared, the spirit stones embedded in the formation emitted a dazzling light, and the entire formation began to operate with a low hum.

Han Li's body remained still, but his fingers deftly moved, sending out spiritual threads that guided the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo liquid to fly out of the boxes. From the formation below, a series of "pffft" sounds erupted, and bowl-sized pillars of light shot out from various points. These pillars perfectly encased the liquids, rendering them immobile within.

Witnessing this, Han Li closed his eyes once more and unhurriedly released his formidable divine sense, bringing all the pillars of light under his complete control. Immediately, the pillars of light seemed to come alive, beginning to flicker and change colors erratically. A bizarre phenomenon unfolded: after countless incessant transformations, the colors of the light pillars gradually converged. After one final color change, all the pillars of light turned a fiery red and solidified, making the green liquid encased within them appear even more brilliantly emerald.

Han Li's face remained expressionless. He opened his mouth, and a stream of emerald Dan Fire shot forth, striking precisely one of the pillars of light. With a "whoosh," the entire pillar of light burst into fierce flames, instantly transforming into a scarlet fire pillar. Without hesitation, Han Li continuously spat out Dan Fire, igniting all the pillars of light. Seventy-two two-zhang-tall fire pillars shone with a dazzling red light within the secret chamber.

He sighed softly. In terms of raw power, his Dan Fire was far superior to these seemingly ostentatious fire pillars. However, when refining flying swords, greater flame power was not necessarily an advantage. This compelled him to risk a temporary severe depletion of his vital energy, thus expending a significant amount of Dan power.

After contemplating this with a hint of frustration, the green liquid within the fire pillars began to slowly deform under the precise manipulation of his divine sense and the formation's power. Gradually, the round blobs elongated and flattened, slowly taking the initial form of sword embryos, each four to five inches long. While this sounds simple, in reality, it took Han Li a full day and night of continuous manipulation for the seventy-two glistening green liquid flying swords to formally appear within their respective fire pillars.

Han Li let out a long sigh of relief. As his mind slightly relaxed, he felt a faint throbbing in his head and couldn't help but offer a wry smile. Simultaneously manipulating the formation of seventy-two flying swords was an incredibly demanding task, even for someone with Han Li's powerful divine sense.

Even though the crucial divine sense shaping was now complete, Han Li dared not relax his vigilance. Forming a hand seal, Han Li caused all the fire pillars to flicker several times before suddenly vanishing into thin air, leaving only the emerald-green small swords suspended in the air.

Han Li rapidly gestured with his hands, causing all the small swords to slowly fly towards him and encircle him. Gazing at the seventy-two small swords surrounding him, he suddenly clenched his teeth and pricked the tip of his tongue. A mouthful of vital blood spurted out, condensing into an egg-sized blood globule in front of him. Under Han Li's control, several drops from the blood globule were then dripped onto each sword embryo. As soon as the vital blood touched the liquid flying swords, it swiftly permeated them, vanishing without a trace.

Once this was completed, Han Li pointed at a box of silver, powdery auxiliary materials on the ground. The silver powder immediately rose and automatically sprinkled evenly over each sword embryo, causing them to instantly shimmer with silver light. Next, came another box of black powder...

Han Li carefully followed the refining method, adding each auxiliary material into the seventy-two sword embryos. He then re-summoned the seventy-two fire pillars, allowing the flying swords to enter them and resume refinement. This time, Han Li did not refine all the flying swords simultaneously; instead, he meticulously crafted them one by one. Following the instructions exactly, he began to inscribe miniature formations onto the flying swords with his divine sense. These were formations he didn't fully comprehend, but he ensured they were identical to the diagrams provided on the golden page.