Chapter 878: Refining

A Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volume 6: Heavenly Spiritual Treasures

"Grand Elder?" Han Li was genuinely stunned to hear this.

"Indeed. To be frank, Junior Brother Han, when you were still in the early Nascent Soul stage, I had intended for Junior Brother Lu to take on the Grand Elder position, with you assisting him. However, now that you possess such formidable divine abilities, have advanced to the mid Nascent Soul stage, and have rendered such immense service to our sect, the Grand Elder position naturally belongs to you. Junior Brother Lu also has no objections. After all, the Grand Elder of any sect is typically the one with the greatest power and divine abilities," the elder surnamed Cheng said with an amused chuckle.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Senior Brother! However, I'm afraid I cannot accept the Grand Elder position." After a moment of silence, Han Li flatly refused.

"Junior Brother, there's no need for excessive modesty. This position is truly befitting of you, and only you can truly fill it. How could we possibly allow a mere early Nascent Soul cultivator like Lu to serve as the Grand Elder of our nation's foremost sect?" He continued, urging Han Li without hesitation, sighing with a wry smile.

"Senior Brother, I'm not being modest; I genuinely do not wish to take on the Grand Elder position. You two Senior Brothers should know that I am a diligent cultivator, solely dedicated to my cultivation. I approach anything that might interfere with my practice with the mindset that 'less trouble is better than more.' How can someone with such a mindset serve as a sect leader? Furthermore, I often need to enter long periods of seclusion for cultivation in the future, leaving me no time to manage the sect or lead the Falling Cloud Sect's development. An important point is that I joined this sect midway. Not to mention the low-level disciples, even among the Core Formation stage juniors, I scarcely know anyone. Under these circumstances, serving as the Grand Elder of this sect is even more inappropriate. I am content to remain a regular Elder. Let Junior Brother Lu assume the Grand Elder position!" Han Li reeled off a string of reasons without a second thought.

"But Junior Brother..." Senior Brother Cheng frowned, about to say more.

"If you continue to bring this up, Senior Brothers, you will be forcing me to leave the Falling Cloud Sect." Han Li's expression became serious, and he interrupted them with a hint of solemnity.

"Alright! Since Junior Brother has said so, we will discuss this matter later." The elder surnamed Cheng and Luo exchanged glances, realizing that Han Li was not being polite; he truly was adamant about not accepting the Grand Elder position. Faced with his steadfastness, they could only temporarily set the matter aside.

"Exactly! Although I won't assume the Grand Elder position, as long as I am still part of the Falling Cloud Sect, I will naturally look after its interests. I can ensure that, barring any major unforeseen circumstances, our sect will maintain its current standing for over a thousand years," Han Li stated with a firm expression, speaking slowly.

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Cheng could only offer a wry smile and dropped the subject. Instead, he asked about the purpose of Reverend Zhiyang's visit this time.

There was nothing to hide about this matter, so Han Li briefly explained it in a calm tone.

Finally, he added to the elder surnamed Cheng: "From what Reverend Zhiyang implied, it seems this matter might be related to the newly appeared Seven Spirits Island and the Great Vortex. This place isn't far from our Xiang Nation. Senior Brother, haven't you heard any news about it?"

"It's not that there's no news. The current rumors seem to be true. The Great Vortex and Seven Spirits Island recently appeared close to our Cloud Dream Mountain. Our sect dispatched some disciples to investigate personally, and their findings matched the rumors. Aside from the abundant spiritual energy flowing from the vortex and the relatively rare spirit veins found on the seven islands, there was nothing unusual. As for the conference where the seven islands were divided, our sect did not participate because Junior Brother was still missing at the time," Senior Brother Cheng said, frowning.

Han Li, meanwhile, directly went to the forbidden ground where Nangong Wan was sealed. It was several hours before he emerged from the forbidden ground, his expression somewhat weary. He immediately transformed into a streak of green light and flew towards his cave dwelling on Son-Mother Peak. Earlier, in the forbidden chamber, he had expended a good deal of vital energy to perform a secret technique, examining the status of the Soul Sealing Curse within Nangong Wan's body.

The results left Han Li both happy and worried!

The good news was that the Fiery Glare Beast's demon core indeed had an effect. It seemed to have weakened the Soul Sealing Curse in Nangong Wan's spiritual consciousness even further. The worrying news was that the demon core's effect was significantly weaker than initially anticipated. It was still uncertain whether this would truly be enough to lift the curse. He would need to observe it for a longer period to draw a definite conclusion.

Fortunately, what brought Han Li relief was that even if this elixir couldn't completely lift the curse in one go, it could extend the time until the curse's onset, and even weaken its ultimate effect. His trip to the Demonfall Valley to slay the beast and retrieve the core had not been in vain after all.

The following day, Han Li appeared in his cultivation chamber within his cave dwelling, sitting motionless with his eyes lightly closed, in meditation. He could only now use intense cultivation to force himself to temporarily forget about Nangong Wan's situation; otherwise, constantly dwelling on it could easily lead to inner demons.

From the moment he entered the chamber, Han Li had been in a state of deep meditation. When his mind finally became as still as water, he slowly opened his eyes. With an open mouth, a golden silk-like ball the size of a longan shot out, spinning briskly in the air before hovering motionless. Han Li, expressionless, raised a finger and flicked it, sending a streak of green magic art towards the silk-like ball.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar erupted, and thin arcs of electricity sprang from the golden ball. It then transformed into a flash of golden light that flickered several times before all the electrical arcs vanished without a trace, leaving only a small, broad bean-sized blue flame in its place. As soon as this flame appeared, Han Li didn't wait for any reaction. He opened his mouth again, and a wisp of flame of the same color shot out, engulfing the blue flame. In an instant, it transformed into an egg-sized ball of fire, shooting back and being swallowed by Han Li.

Without a word, Han Li immediately formed a strange hand seal, closed his eyes again, and began refining the final wisp of Azure-blue Ice Flame obtained from the Heavenly Void Cauldron. If he could refine this, it would enable him to soon fully control the Heavenly Void Cauldron, allowing him to traverse this realm without significant hindrance.

More than half a month later, Han Li awoke from his deep meditation. After his eyes flickered once, he suddenly formed a hand seal, and a small cluster of blue flames emerged at his fingertip with a soft "whoosh." He gazed at the blue flame, his lips sealed, uttering no sound. But after a moment, his finger trembled slightly. The flame, with a flicker, instantly transformed into a slender blue fire snake, which then swiftly coiled itself tightly around his finger.

"Go!" Han Li uttered a low command, and instantly, a pair of fiery wings sprouted from the miniature blue fire snake's back. With a flap of its wings, it flew from his finger and shot towards the ceiling. But just as it neared the ceiling, it began to circle, flying nimbly around the walls of the chamber. Han Li silently watched the fire snake's every move. After a full fifteen minutes, he suddenly extended a finger and pointed.

With a "bang," the fire snake exploded in mid-air. The scattered fiery specks, like a shower of falling stars, shot towards Han Li but vanished in a flash, all entering his body without a trace.

Only then did a faint smile appear on Han Li's face, and he muttered to himself, "It seems refining this Azure-blue Ice Flame is getting faster and faster. Initially, it took half a year or even a year to refine a single wisp, but now I've refined the same amount in just half a month." Han Li then tilted his head slightly, deep in thought. He patted the storage bag at his waist, and a flash of green light revealed a small, flattened round cauldron in his hand. It was only a few inches in size but antique and exquisite—this was precisely the Heavenly Void Cauldron that Han Li had carefully put away. Gazing at the cauldron, Han Li's face showed a thoughtful expression. He then gently tossed the cauldron into the air. The small cauldron tumbled for a moment before stably hovering in mid-air. Han Li rubbed his hands together, and blue flames suddenly burst forth between his palms, forming a fist-sized blue fireball. Then, from the center of each palm, a thin strand of blue flame shot out, striking the blue fireball. Instantly, the fireball tumbled and rapidly expanded.

A moment later, a massive, head-sized fireball silently appeared before his chest. This fireball flickered, constantly changing between large and small, its surface shrouded in rolling blue flames, yet it emitted no heat whatsoever, presenting a truly eerie sight.

Han Li raised his gaze to the small cauldron in the air. With a thought, the fireball instantly transformed into a ball of blue light and shot out, striking the small cauldron. A bizarre scene unfolded: not only did the small cauldron not get knocked away or explode, but instead, it seemed to merge with the flame as if water and fire were blending. The ice flame began to burn steadily on the cauldron. And the Heavenly Void Cauldron slowly began to rotate within the ice flame.

Han Li silently stared at the small cauldron enveloped in the flames, his eyes slightly narrowed. Then, he unleashed his powerful divine sense, enveloping the cauldron, and began to carefully observe whether the small cauldron underwent any unusual changes within the ice flame, unlike before.

Time passed bit by bit, and Han Li's brows gradually furrowed. Even after being thoroughly refined and enveloped by the Azure-blue Ice Flame, the small cauldron remained unchanged, exactly as it was before, showing no differences whatsoever. Han Li lowered his head, pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head, his pupils blazing with a blinding blue light. Spiritual power surged wildly into his eyes, and he stared intently without blinking.