Chapter 234: Monkey Wine

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li stowed the rest of the heavy water away, then injected his spiritual sense into the axis in an attempt to find out what was happening.

However, as soon as his spiritual sense entered the axis, he felt a burst of enormous churning inside like turbulent waves of the sea, and his spiritual sense was forced out.

After that, he spent close to half a day employing several different methods to find out what had changed within the Heavy Water True Axis, but all to no avail, leaving him to stare at the axis with tightly furrowed brows.

Could it be that the axis underwent some type of mutation after absorbing the heavy water?

Back when he refined the Heavy Water True Axis, he had followed the refinement method recorded in the Mantra Axis Scripture, and he hadn't completely familiarized himself with the fundamental principles of the treasure, so it wasn't impossible for it to have undergone some type of mutation.

With that in mind, Han Li was beginning to regret not taking the Heavy Water True Axis more seriously, but those emotions weren't going to help him.

At this point, he had to focus on thinking of a way to save the axis. He certainly didn't have enough time and resources to refine another one.

There was still a faint connection left between himself and the axis, so he pressed the axis against his lower abdomen where his dantian was, then activated this connection with all his might.

A layer of black light appeared over the Heavy Water True Axis, and it entered his dantian in a flash, residing peacefully in there like before.

The fact that Han Li was able to draw the axis back into his dantian meant that he hadn't completely lost it.

He immediately sat up straight and directed all of the immortal spiritual power in his dantian to envelop the Heavy Water True Axis, and his nascent soul also released bursts of nascent flames to encompass the entire axis.

The Water Dao Runes on the Heavy Water True Axis began to glow faintly, while the axis itself began to spin slowly again.

An elated look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he continued this process.

An entire month passed by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Han Li opened his eyes before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and the Heavy Water True Axis emerged with its spiritual connection to Han Li completely restored.

Not only that, but the color of the Water Dao Rune on its surface seemed to have become slightly darker.

As the axis revolved in mid-air, it released bursts of tremendous force that caused the surrounding space to tremble and quiver.

Han Li was extremely relieved to see this. Not only had the Heavy Water True Axis's weight increased significantly, its power had been given a slight boost as well.

He drew the axis into his grasp, then began to gently stroke its surface.

There were quite a few people in the Blaze Dragon Dao who had cultivated the Mantra Axis Scripture, but never had he heard of anyone creating a faux axis capable of absorbing one of the materials that it had been refined from, and he didn't know if this had something to do with the refinement process, or perhaps it was related to the materials used.

In any case, this was definitely a good thing.

Previously, the Heavy Water True Axis had resembled someone who had consumed too much food at once, resulting in indigestion.

A hint of anticipation coupled with unease appeared in Han Li's eyes as he placed the Heavy Water True Axis in the air in front of himself, then sent a ball of heavy water around the size of a human head drifting toward it.

The Water Dao Rune on the axis began to glow blue once again, and it quickly devoured the entire ball of heavy water.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he clapped his hands together with glee.

He had just confirmed that the Heavy Water True Axis was able to keep absorbing heavy water.

Each intake of heavy water wasn't able to enhance the power of the axis by much, but if he were to repeat this process over and over again, he could envision the axis eventually becoming several times, even over 10 times more powerful than it currently was.

The Heavy Water True Axis was quite formidable to begin with, and once it reached its full potential, it would truly be a force to be reckoned with.

With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but grow a little excited again.

With a sweep of his sleeve, he brought out another large ball of heavy water that descended onto the axis.

The Water Dao Rune on the axis lit up as it began to devour the heavy water again.

However, only about half of the ball of heavy water had been devoured when the axis suddenly fell dark again, and Han Li's spiritual connection with it was once again severely compromised as it fell out of the air, only to be caught by Han Li.

After these two cycles, Han Li was able to roughly determine that the Heavy Water True Axis was able to absorb roughly a bucket's worth of heavy water per intake.

With that in mind, he stowed the Heavy Water True Axis back into his dantian to be refined with his nascent flame.

Over two years passed by in the blink of an eye.

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes sprang open as he swept a sleeve through the air, and a ball of black light flew out of his body.

It was none other than the Heavy Water True Axis, and as soon as it emerged, the space within the secret chamber instantly began to shudder, while a burst of rumbling that resembled faint thunderclaps rang out.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

During the past two years, he had remained exclusively in his secret chamber, focusing on feeding the Heavy Water True Axis more heavy water while also manifesting crystals to be sent to his Earthly Deity Avatar.

After over 20 more intakes of heavy water, the Heavy Water True Axis had become at least three times more powerful than before.

However, after absorbing so much heavy water, the rate at which the axis was absorbing heavy water was becoming slower, and the volume of each intake was also decreasing.

It was still able to absorb more, but Han Li could sense that it was about to reach its limit.

Even so, the Heavy Water True Axis had already become extremely fearsome.

With that in mind, he stowed the axis away before making his way outside.

The gate of the cave abode opened, and Han Li emerged.

A figure quickly approached him from a nearby room, and it was none other than Sun Buzheng, who appeared to have been waiting for him.

"Sun Buzheng pays his respects to Elder Li."

"Is there something you need to speak to me about?" Han Li asked.

"Elder Li, all of the spirit fields in your territory have already been cleared up, and I wanted to ask which types of spirit plants you wanted to have planted in these fields," Sun Buzheng replied in a respectful manner.

Han Li nodded in response, then flipped a hand over to produce a storage pouch that he handed to Sun Buzheng. "The seeds and the planting methods are all in here. Just do as the instructions say."

"Yes, Elder Li," Sun Buzheng accepted the storage pouch before departing.

Han Li took a few steps forward, then looked down from his vantage point.

Some restrictions had been set up around the spirit fields at the foot of the mountain, and Meng Qianqian and the others were all busy at work, tending to the fields.

Meanwhile, the Two-headed Griffin was soaring through the air nearby, constantly patrolling the area.

Han Li nodded with a pleased expression upon seeing this. He didn't have a large number of servants, but even so, his territory was beginning to look quite prosperous.

A smile appeared on his face, and in the next instant, he abruptly vanished from the spot before reappearing near a waterfall at the foot of the Crimson Dawn Peak.

The weather was becoming even colder, and the entire landscape was covered in snow. Even the water had mostly frozen, reduced to only around a third of its original size.

Thankfully, the spiritual qi around the Crimson Dawn Peak was quite abundant, so the valley was still filled with lush greenery.

After taking a brief glance at his surroundings, Han Li summoned his Heavy Water True Axis, yet before he had a chance to do anything, an elated cry suddenly rang out from nearby.

Han Li turned in that direction, and a smile appeared on his face.

As it turned out, a group of monkeys were playing in the nearby forest, and it seemed that they were the same ones that he had run into last time.

All of a sudden, a large crimson monkey sprang out of the forest, then landed not far away from Han Li, and it was none other than the monkey king.

The monkey king had become more physically imposing since last time, and its crimson fur had also become more vibrant.

Furthermore, it was only very faint, but it was giving off a burst of demonic qi fluctuations.

"Looks like you've made some good progress in your cultivation," Han Li remarked with a smile.

A grateful look appeared in the monkey king's eyes as it knelt down onto the ground before kowtowing respectfully to Han Li.

The other monkeys also jumped down to pay their respects to Han Li.

"I did give you some minor assistance last time we met, but your aptitude is the main reason behind the progress you've been able to make. On top of that, you're residing in a blessed paradise, so even without my help, you would've been able to reach this level with a few more years of cultivation," Han Li said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

The monkey king shook its head as it attempted to communicate something to Han Li, following which it swept an arm through the air.

One of the monkeys behind it immediately jumped forward with a yellow gourd in its hands, which it set down in front of Han Li.

The aroma of wine was wafting out from within the gourd, and Han Li was silent for a moment as he glanced at the gourd on the ground before asking, "Could it be that you've been waiting here for me this entire time?"

The monkey king immediately nodded in response.

Han Li was rather touched by this gesture, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light, which split up into several dozen bursts, each of which surged into one of the monkeys present.

All of the monkeys immediately cried out in elation.

He then produced a pill that he tossed at the monkey king, and the latter immediately caught the pill in its mouth before swallowing it.

A burst of crimson light appeared over its body, and only after a long while did it subside, following which the demonic qi radiating from the monkey king's body became significantly more pronounced. An ecstatic look appeared on its face as he pushed the yellow gourd closer to Han Li's foot.

"Did you brew this wine yourselves? I have previously heard that monkey wine is extremely sweet and delectable, I didn't think I would ever get to taste it," Han Li said with a smile as he picked up the gourd before removing the stopper.

The aroma of the wine inside instantly became 10 times stronger, and it flowed straight into his nostrils as if it had a mind of its own.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face. He had only picked up the gourd as he didn't want to disappoint these thoughtful monkeys, but the fragrance of the monkey wine was unexpectedly delectable, and his eyes immediately lit up as he took a small sip.

Not only was the wine extremely delicious, it had a special aroma, and it wasn't inferior even compared with the immortal wines that Han Li had tried from Elder Hu Yan's collection.

"How are you able to brew such fine wine? Is there some secret?" Han Li asked.

The monkey king scratched its head as a hesitant look appeared on its face.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this. The monkey king's hesitant reaction indicated that they really did have a secret, and it would be extremely useful if he could obtain this secret. Despite how erratic Elder Hu Yan was, it seemed that he was quite an important figure in the sect, and there was a good chance that Han Li would have to interact with him in the future.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Right as he was about to pull out a few pills to offer a deal to the monkey king, it suddenly cried out before turning and rushing away into the distance.

Han Li was rather taken aback to see this, and the monkey king rushed to over 100 feet away before stopping in its tracks and turning around to call out to Han Li.

Han Li followed along behind the monkey king, and the other monkeys also trailed along behind him.

The monkey king moved as swiftly as the wind, quickly covering close to 10 kilometers before arriving at a mountain stream.

The weather here was warmer, but the landscape was very rocky, and there wasn't much vegetation.

There was an even larger waterfall here, and it was giving off a loud rumbling while water vapor churned all around it, presenting a breathtaking sight to behold.

The monkey king leaped straight into the waterfall, and Han Li raised an eyebrow before following along.

Upon passing through the waterfall, they arrived in a massive cave.