Chapter 533: Uninvited Guest

The door of the alchemy room remained shut for a full three years.

One day, three years later, Han Li calmly emerged. All the demon cores had been transformed into various precious elixirs.

For the first two years, Han Li naturally dedicated all his time to refining elixirs primarily using Level Five demon cores. Although these elixirs had no significant effect on him now, any one of them, if it fell into the hands of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, would undoubtedly be an object of immense joy and fervent desire.

The refinement of these elixirs allowed Han Li to elevate his understanding and application of alchemy to a new level. After all, even a genuine alchemy grandmaster would not have the opportunity to freely expend so many demon cores for practice. For an ordinary alchemist, using thirty or forty demon cores in a lifetime for refining elixirs would be considered a remarkable achievement. Even though the refining methods for each elixir varied significantly, there were always some commonalities that Han Li could draw upon.

Consequently, through refining these numerous rare elixirs, Han Li's alchemy skills were forcibly elevated to a level even higher than that of the legendary alchemy grandmasters. As a result, when Han Li later used Level Six and Seven demon cores, his success rate in forming elixirs naturally increased significantly. This brought immense satisfaction to Han Li! Otherwise, given the rarity of Level Six and Seven elixirs, even Han Li would be reluctant to waste them easily.

After the alchemy was complete, Han Li rested for a month. During this time, Han Li made several trips to the insect rooms, checking on the three-color Gold Devouring Beetles and the unevolved Gold Devouring Beetles in separate chambers. While in the alchemy room, he had instructed his puppets to take turns feeding both types of Gold Devouring Beetles with the blooming Neichang Grass. The result was extremely bad news for Han Li.

Although the three-color Gold Devouring Beetles continued to eat the Neichang Grass, the grass seemed to have lost its special effect of making them agitated and excited. After consuming it, there was no unusual change whatsoever. Initially, Han Li thought the effect of the Neichang Grass was so subtle because too little time had passed or there were too many Gold Devouring Beetles. Therefore, harboring doubts, he now had hundreds of three-color Gold Devouring Beetles specially isolated and fed this grass to observe any changes in their behavior. However, after several feedings, these Gold Devouring Beetles remained unchanged, showing no unusual reactions. This left Han Li feeling a wave of frustration.

He could now conclude that the Neichang Grass had truly lost its miraculous effect of stimulating rapid reproduction in the evolved Gold Devouring Beetles. Although he didn't know the reason behind it, there was no doubt he had lost the method for quickly breeding and advancing the three-color Gold Devouring Beetles. These beetles were now a finite resource, one less with each loss!

He had no choice but to revert to his old methods, instructing the puppets to concentrate on feeding the Neichang Grass to the unevolved, gold and silver colored Gold Devouring Beetles. These Gold Devouring Beetles were becoming increasingly restless. It seemed their next breeding cycle was not far off.

After handling all these matters, Han Li gathered his thoughts and entered the secluded cultivation chamber. With the assistance of various elixirs, he planned to first cultivate the eighth level of the Azure Essence Sword Art, preparing to break through to the Mid Core Formation stage.

Sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the secret chamber, Han Li pulled out a pre-prepared medicine bottle from his storage pouch. He then poured out a lychee-sized, reddish glowing elixir, brought it to his mouth with one hand, and swallowed it with a tilt of his head. Feeling the warmth of the elixir slowly spreading within his abdomen, Han Li silently recited the eighth level of the Sword Art and slowly closed his eyes.

Time flew by relentlessly. As Han Li dedicated himself to arduously cultivating the Sword Art and mana within his cave dwelling, time passed imperceptibly. The process of continuously taking elixirs, then refining their medicinal power into spiritual energy, was exceedingly tedious. Fortunately, Han Li was entirely focused on achieving mastery in his cultivation technique, hoping to gain the power to protect himself. With this mindset, he didn't feel overly bored or frustrated.

Fifteen or sixteen years passed in the blink of an eye. Han Li finally broke through the bottleneck of the Mid Core Formation stage, successfully cultivating the eighth level of the Azure Essence Sword Art. Despite his excitement, he wasn't in a hurry to emerge from seclusion. Since he still had most of his elixirs left, he naturally wouldn't stop until he had refined them all. Thus, Han Li, having just entered the Mid Core Formation stage, forced himself to calm down and continued cultivating the ninth level of the Sword Art. The ninth level of the Sword Art was naturally more difficult than the previous one, by several degrees.

Spring turned to winter, autumn gave way to summer. Year after year passed. The door of the seclusion chamber remained tightly shut, and everything inside the cave dwelling began to accumulate a thick layer of dust. It was as if the place was slowly becoming an ancient tomb ruin!

It was a calm morning in the sea area near the Fog Sea. Early rising seabirds continuously circled low over the water, occasionally emitting sharp cries, and an atmosphere of peace permeated the surroundings. A moment later, lights suddenly flickered on the distant horizon, followed by several streaks of blue and red light, darting towards the Fog Sea with lightning speed. After a while, the figures within the distant lights finally became clear: three women and two men, cultivators, desperately rushing towards them. Among them, only one, a middle-aged man in his forties, was at the early Foundation Establishment stage. The other four were Qi Condensation stage cultivators, all very young, ranging from seventeen or eighteen to twenty-three or twenty-four years old. As they rushed frantically forward, they kept glancing back, as if something were pursuing them.

In the blink of an eye, these individuals flew near the Fog Sea.

"Uncle Sun! There's a patch of sea fog ahead, let's rest inside for a moment! Otherwise, we won't be able to hold on until those things catch up." Among the five, a yellow-clad girl, only fifteen or sixteen years old, said breathlessly to the middle-aged man. The girl had a round face, dark, large eyes, and a baby-faced appearance, making her look quite pretty and adorable. But at that moment, her face was covered in sweat, and she was pale, looking as if her spiritual energy was about to give out.

"This..." The middle-aged man paused upon hearing this, then looked at the other three individuals. He found that although their condition was slightly better, it wasn't by much.

"Alright. Let's recover some spiritual energy in the sea fog, then leave immediately. Even if we gain some distance, those guys will relentlessly pursue us. It's better to be cautious; if we're truly caught, we'll have no way out." The middle-aged cultivator hesitated, glanced back again, and then reluctantly agreed.

These words immediately brought expressions of joy to the young men and women. Their cultivation levels were truly shallow, and reaching this point by continuous flight was already an extreme effort. Even though they knew stopping now was extremely dangerous, they could no longer afford to care. Changing direction, they flew towards the sea fog.

"The sea fog here is really dense. Maybe if we stay here, we can hide from their pursuit!" another sturdy young man, in his twenties, exclaimed with surprise shortly after entering the sea fog.

"Don't be delusional," the middle-aged cultivator retorted unceremoniously, causing the sturdy young man's face to flush slightly. "Although I don't know how they're relentlessly pursuing us, a bit of sea fog won't hide us. Let's fly lower and see if there are any reefs or similar places to rest below. Recovering spiritual energy through meditation will be faster." The middle-aged cultivator then led the way, descending. The others naturally dared not fall behind and followed closely.

"Oh! There's an island here!" A moment later, the yellow-clad girl suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Without her prompting, the others had also clearly seen the island hidden by the dense fog and exchanged surprised glances.

"There won't be any other demonic beasts here, will there?" a young female cultivator in a blue dress, with an ordinary appearance, asked nervously.

"There shouldn't be such a coincidence. Besides, we can't afford to worry about it now; let's quickly go to the island to recover our spiritual energy!" The middle-aged man initially hesitated but then made up his mind. Seeing this, the others naturally said no more and gracefully descended onto the small island.

"The spiritual energy over there seems quite good; let's meditate there!" As soon as the middle-aged man landed, he released his divine sense to survey the island's situation, then pointed in surprise and said. The direction he pointed to was precisely where the island's only small mountain range was located. Upon hearing this, the young men and women's spirits immediately lifted. The middle-aged cultivator then, without a word, led the way, flying over, while the other four male and female cultivators hurriedly followed. Every bit of spiritual energy they could recover now might help them escape danger. Naturally, they wouldn't miss this rare place with spiritual roots.

A short while later, the group arrived at the small mountain range, which was covered in lush greenery. They casually found a low, small peak, each holding a spirit stone in their hands. Impatiently, they began to sit cross-legged in meditation, absorbing the dense spiritual energy from the vicinity.