Chapter 611: Blood Shadow Escape

Volumes 4 & 5: The Wind Rises Overseas; Renowned Throughout the Region

The Mù family woman’s aloofness toward Han Li only pleased him more. He would have been even happier if she had completely forgotten about this place and didn't disturb his cultivation.

A month later, Han Li had finally gained a thorough understanding of the Spirit-Binding Formation. Once he succeeded in comprehending it, he wasted no time, immediately setting up the formation outside his cave dwelling according to his newfound knowledge.

As a result, the faint spiritual energy fluctuations from the formations disappeared. From the outside, the small stone mountain appeared completely normal, showing no unusual signs. Han Li was very satisfied with this.

Over the next two to three months, the refinement of the Soul-Cry Pearl and the expulsion of the Wind Spirit Qi were both successfully completed. To Han Li’s surprise, after the Soul-Cry Pearl was refined to be connected with his spiritual sense, he didn't experience any headaches or discomfort. It seemed the unexpected evolution of the Weeping Soul Beast had led to unforeseen changes in the Soul-Cry Pearl, which was intimately connected to its life and death. Han Li was overjoyed.

As for the malevolent Wind Spirit Qi, although it was initially very difficult to expel, often leaving him utterly exhausted after a single attempt, once the majority of it was forced out, the remaining portion became much easier to handle. Not only did the pain from the evil qi’s attacks lessen considerably, but the time required to force it out also greatly shortened. In the final few attempts, Han Li effortlessly cleared the remaining evil qi. After carefully checking several times and confirming there were no longer any anomalies within his body, he finally felt at ease.

With the most urgent matters handled, Han Li then focused on his cultivation and the refinement of the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng Pills.

Regarding cultivation, after several days of deliberation, he decided to cultivate both the fourth level of the Great Evolution Art and the Azure Essence Sword Art simultaneously. Based on his previous experience in forming his Golden Core, a strong spiritual sense seemed to be greatly beneficial for breaking through bottlenecks. Even though the fourth level of the Great Evolution Art was extremely difficult to practice, Han Li still intended to try it. After all, even if a powerful spiritual sense didn't significantly aid in forming a Nascent Soul, it offered numerous advantages in combat and in anticipating and overpowering enemies. Even if it delayed his entry into the Fake Nascent Soul realm, he didn't consider it a wrong choice. He could afford to spend this extra time.

As for refining the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng Pills, Han Li would not be careless. Other ingredients were manageable, but the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng, level-eight Spirit-Attendant Grass, and Agate Horn were three materials that were utterly impossible to find in the Heavenly South Region, even with spirit stones. If the alchemy failed, Han Li would be utterly helpless. Therefore, when not cultivating, Han Li began to study the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng pill recipe. He also frequently refined other elixirs with similar steps and techniques to the recipe, thereby improving his alchemy skills.

Thus, time passed bit by bit amidst continuous cultivation and alchemy. During this period, Han Li also learned the language of the demon race, intending to figure out the contents of the copper plate and the beast skin book in his possession. With Han Li's photographic memory, he naturally mastered the ancient demon script very smoothly and first translated the contents of the beast skin book.

The beast skin book contained a demonic cultivation technique called "Nine Transformations of Gale." After reading for a while, Han Li discovered that this technique seemed specifically designed for avian demon beasts. It included a set of cultivation formulas, a set of movement techniques, and two secret arts. The cultivation formulas and movement techniques were clearly meant for demon cultivators; unless he possessed the powerful physique of a demon race, he would explode and die if he cultivated them halfway.

One of the two secret arts, the Wind Concealment Art, was essentially the same as the nameless breath-concealing technique he had learned before, though it was slightly modified to be more suitable for human cultivation. It had little real value to Han Li beyond providing some reference. However, the other secret art, "Blood Shadow Escape," greatly piqued Han Li's interest.

As the name suggested, this "Blood Shadow Escape" was a peculiar escape technique that allowed one to instantly flee hundreds of miles away by drawing upon the power of one’s vital essence. Many sects, especially demonic cultivators, possessed secret arts that utilized vital essence to instantly unleash powerful divine abilities. However, the Blood Shadow Escape differed somewhat from human secret arts.

Firstly, when casting this secret art, the distance could not be controlled. Once activated, the practitioner would instantly transform into a blood shadow and shoot out to a distance of one hundred miles.

Secondly, the amount of vital essence required to cast this secret art was large and fixed. Once activated, the vital essence would automatically ignite within the practitioner's body. If there wasn't enough vital essence, the caster's body would explode midway, turning into a cloud of blood mist and perishing. It was an extremely dangerous secret art.

Finally, casting this art required a pair of wings. Because the Blood Shadow Escape was incredibly fast, without wings to maintain balance and a special lightness technique, the practitioner wouldn't fly far before tumbling uncontrollably. They might crash headfirst into the ground or spin in place. In short, a straight escape would be impossible.

Han Li meticulously reread this secret art several times, and the more he looked, the more it seemed he could cultivate it himself. Others might not have wings, but he possessed a pair of Wind-Lightning Wings. These spiritual wings, conjured by a treasure, moved as he willed, making them indistinguishable from real ones. If this Blood Shadow Escape was truly so miraculous, it would undoubtedly be the best escape technique against powerful enemies. After all, even when he used the lightning escape with his Wind-Lightning Wings, he could only flash around within a small area, unable to escape so thoroughly.

Han Li secretly memorized the cultivation method for the Blood Shadow Escape and then began to examine the copper plate. The demon script on the copper plate had no name for the technique or explanation of its origin; it was just a disjointed incantation and some strange cultivation postures, which left Han Li utterly confused. The more he pondered these techniques, the more disoriented and lost he felt. After a moment of thought, Han Li recalled that the poisonous蛟 had mentioned that this item, suspected to be a fragment of the Sanskrit Sacred True Scripture, seemed incomplete. No wonder the techniques on it were incomprehensible. Once Han Li realized this, he felt greatly disappointed and had no choice but to put it away.

Subsequently, while cultivating the Great Evolution Art and the Azure Essence Sword Art, Han Li also began practicing the Blood Shadow Escape secret art. Although he later felt he had mastered the art, he dared not practice it in a real-life scenario easily. After all, a significant loss of vital essence was no laughing matter.

And so, time passed unknowingly until half a year later.

One day, Han Li was meditating in his quiet room, cultivating the Great Evolution Art. Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he opened his eyes, a trace of surprise flashing across his face. Immediately, a blue light flickered around him, and he transformed into a blue streak, flying directly out of the quiet room and heading straight for the medicine garden outside his cave dwelling.

A moment later, Han Li put away the puppet in the medicine garden and stood before the thatched hut. He gazed in the southeast direction, pondered for a moment, then turned and entered one of the thatched huts, sat down, and brewed himself a cup of tea, appearing calm and unhurried.

After a while, a remarkably polite voice came from outside the medicine garden's restriction:

"Excuse me, is Senior Sister Yuan inside? I am Kui Huan from Hidden Sword Peak." It was a young man's voice, slightly sharp.

"Senior Sister Yuan? Is that the female disciple who used to manage the medicine garden?" Han Li's expression remained normal. After the other party called out a few more times, he slowly drank the clear tea in his hand and leisurely replied:

"This Senior Brother, no need to call out. Senior Sister Yuan left this place more than a year ago. This medicine garden is currently managed by me. If you wish to find Senior Sister, please inquire at Martial Uncle Mu’s cave dwelling."

"What? The medicine garden has a new manager!" The young man sounded somewhat surprised. His tone suggested he wasn't just looking for someone, but had some other business at this medicine garden.

"Hehe, since Senior Sister Yuan is not here, it's the same if I speak with this Junior Brother. May I ask if Junior Brother would allow me to enter for a discussion?" The man chuckled and said amiably.

Han Li rubbed his chin. Since the other party spoke so politely, it would be a bit unreasonable for him to flatly refuse! After some thought, Han Li walked out of the hut. He took out the yellow token, and a beam of light shot out, slowly dispersing the thick fog around the medicine garden.

Beyond the restriction in the southeast, stood a young man in a yellow robe. This man had small eyes, thick eyebrows, and an upturned nose. Yet, his head was strangely smaller than an average person's. While not truly ugly, he looked rather comical. His cultivation was only at the eighth or ninth layer of the Qi Refinement stage, actually slightly lower than Han Li's outwardly displayed cultivation. Han Li truly wondered how this person managed to join the Falling Cloud Sect.

(Phew, finally done. I'm going to sleep now. Apologies for finishing so late, there's nothing I could do when unexpected things came up, it was very frustrating.)