Before his departure, Han Li brought Shi Jian back to the Heavenly South, so he could go to the Far West and fight for leadership for the Thousand Bamboo School.

As Han Li had already told Shi Jian about inheriting the legacy of Monarch Soul Divergence, he naturally didn’t object to the matter.

When they arrived back at the Heavenly South, Shi Jian left for the Far West of his own accord.

With his current cultivation, it was a trivial matter to take ahold of the Thousand Bamboo School. Han Li also had no worries about this.

As soon as Han Li returned to Devilfall Valley, he immediately resumed his cultivation. Because of the three transplant techniques that Feng Xi had given him, the spirit medicines that were originally restrained in the spatial pocket could now be taken outside. With this, the Fuchsia Cloud Pill no longer had any restrictions for its refinement.

Although the Fuchsia Cloud Pill was a medicine pill for Nascent Soul cultivators, it had overbearing medicinal strength and was quite useful for Deity Transformation cultivators as well.

With this medicine pill freely refined, the originally difficult cultivation of early-Deity Transformation stage passed by quickly.

After a hundred years of bitter cultivation, he reached the peak of early-stage and reached the final stage of the Azure Essence Sword Art, fulfilling it to grand completion.

At this point, taking any further Fuschia Cloud Pills no longer had an effect. And since the spiritual Qi in the mortal world was too sparse, it was impossible for him to enter mid-Deity Transformation stage.

As such, he had no qualms about leaving seclusion.

During his time in seclusion, he encountered several bottlenecks in his cultivation and used the Myriad Distance Talismans to contact that old eccentric Xiang Zhili many times. He also began to divulge some of the information that Silvermoon had left behind for him.

As a result, after countless years of persistent searching, Xiang Zhili finally found a usable spatial node.

This caused the old Deity Transformation cultivators to rejoice. Han Li joined in their celebrations upon hearing the news as well.

As a result, Xiang Zhili, Old Eccentric Feng, Old Devil Hu, and Old Demon Che joined together in a hundred years of preparation and entered the spatial node.

But not long after, three of the four primal soul lanterns that were left behind were soon extinguished. And the one belonging to Old Devil Hu was still lit but it was extremely dim.

Several days later, his primal soul lantern was extinguished as well.

It was unknown if the old devil managed to successfully ascend to the spirit realm, severing its connection to the lantern, or if it dropped into the spatial node.

Eventually, Han Li was informed by a Myriad Distance Talisman of this news the the disciples of these great cultivators. He was completely shocked.

It appeared the danger of these spatial nodes was greater than what he expected. Even with their vast ability, the Deity Transformation cultivators were completely wiped out.

This left him ill at ease.

It appeared Silvermoon’s warning over the dangers of the spatial nodes weren’t exaggerated. It truly was a path that would kill most who go through it.

Fortunately, Xiang Zhili also kept his promise and had already given him the location of the spatial node. Han Li didn’t have to worry about finding it.

As of current, since he wasn’t able to progress his cultivation even an iota further, he planned on taking a look at the spatial node and making full preparations.

After all, the more prepared he was, the greater his odds of successfully making it through.

The information passed through the Myriad Distance Talisman wasn’t something he could rely on.

However, the spatial node wasn’t located in the Great Jin, Heavenly South, or anywhere else he had been. It was in an unfamiliar territory called the Five Dragon Seas.

This was the place in the Great Jin that rarely anyone knew, but Xiang Zhili and the other old eccentrics managed to find a teleportation formation that led directly to the area. He would have to first go to the Great Jin to use this formation.

As this journey would take quite a long time, he decided he would first pay another visit to the Scattered Star Seas.

Having come to a decision, Han Li left behind his puppet to guard the spatial pocket and left Devilfall Valley.

...

On a small island with beautiful scenery, there were several Nascent Soul cultivators gathered together on a stone pavilion on top of a mountain. There were having a lively discussion.

A white-haired old man wearing wide grey robes twirled his beard and smiled at a green-robed woman sitting across from him, “Fairy Bi, I heard you refined a Sweet Fragrance Pill, a top-grade pill that can cleanse one’s essence. Do you think I could ask for some of them?”

Before the fair lady could reply, a middle-aged blue-robed cultivator laughed and said, “Brother Kan must be joking! Everyone knows of your skill in pill refinement. Why would you care for a few Sweet Fragrance Pills? Rather, I will trade for a few of them on behalf of my disciples.”

The old man took no offense, rather answering him with a beaming smile, “Fellow Daoist Zhao is mistaken! My mastery in medicine pills is only towards cultivation progression. Pills with regards to advancing magic power are beyond my expertise. Now that a seldom opportunity to acquire some has arrived, I must take it.”

The green-robed woman spoke with a gentle tone, more expected from that of a sheltered noblewoman, “There is no need to fight one another for them. We can participate in an exchange. I’ve brought most of the Sweet Fragrance Pills with me, enough for the both of you. Please bring out what you wish to trade for them. I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

The old man and the scholarly man both inwardly sighed and politely replied.

These cultivators were holding a small-scale trade meeting.

There were two more people sitting down that have yet to speak. When they saw this, they couldn’t help but smile. One of them was a large yellow-skinned man who put a golden wooden box on the table. He pushed it to the center and solemnly stared at the old man. “This is something that I, Fan, and Fellow Daoist Sun used our strength to collect. I will exchange it for two of Brother Kan’s Wyrmshift Pills. Only with these pills can my Swift Wind Python evolve into a wyrm.”

The old man appeared displeased and shook his head, “You hadn’t mentioned it during the last trade. I will not let them go. I also need them for my own Green Spirit Serpent.”

The cultivator surnamed Fan smiled and confidently said, “Hehe, don’t refuse so quickly. You can give me an answer after you take a look.”

The old man felt his heart throb, but he relented, saying, “Apart from the Azure Spirit Mushroom and other such materials, I won’t be agreeing no matter how previous the box’s materials may be.” He then waved his hand and summoned the box into his hand.

He opened it to find a blue glistening pearl.

“A Thunder Whale’s core!” The old man shouted in surprise.

The others were shocked and couldn’t help but look in their direction.

Cultivator Fan grinned and said, “Brother Kan is quite experienced to recognize it at a glance. It truly is the demon core of a grade-seven Thunder Whale. Although it is only a grade seven demon beast, it is incredibly rare. It is something Brother Sun and I pursued for three entire days. How do you feel about trading for it now?”

The old man stared at the box in his hand with longing, but the Wyrmshift Pills were something he also had great use for.

He hesitated for a time.

“The demon core of a Thunder Whale is quite rare. Do you think you could let me have a look at it?”

Suddenly, a man’s calm voice sounded from outside. None of the cultivators recognized it.

“Who is it?” Startled, the cultivators all looked outside.

It was unknown when he arrived, but an azure-robed man had appeared outside the pavilion. He appeared young and had a common face, but an exceptional intelligence shined from his eyes.

The cultivators in the pavilion couldn’t help but take a look at one another.

None of them recognized this man. And while the pavilion didn’t appear out of the ordinary, it was concealed with restrictions. How could this unfamiliar man find them? And the reason why none of them turned hostile was that, at a glance, they couldn’t detect a trace of magic power from his body. But since it was impossible for a mortal to be here, then...

Cultivator Fan hesitated and cautiously asked, “May I ask for your esteemed self...”

The youth saluted them, “It’s nothing. I only came here for directions. If I am bothering you I hope you won’t take offense.”

Of course, this was Han Li who now found himself in the Five Dragon Seas.

Han Li found this place unfamiliar and need to find the lay of the land. He needed to buy a map.

Although the illusion restrictions as of present were uncommon, they couldn’t escape his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. As such, when he spotted a gathering of high-grade cultivators, he promptly descended.

“Directions?” Cultivator Fan asked with doubt of his face.

“Fellow Daoist, if any of you have maps of the nearby area, it would be great.” Han Li spoke casually and then glanced at the box and smiled, “Ah yes, the Thunder Whale’s demon core may look intact, but its demonic power has already scattered. Even if you use it to make medicine, it wouldn’t be very useful.”

“Is this true?”

“What nonsense are you saying!”

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The old man was startled, but Cultivator Fan’s expression changed to that of fury.

“Whether you trust my words is up for you to decide. It’s merely something I said in passing. However, if you are willing to sell me a map, I can answer several of your questions. I am also willing to present a Thunder Whale’s demon core as a gift. Although its grade is lower, it will have more medical potency.

Han Li took out a sparkling blue pearl that was clearly bigger than the one that was brought out before.

The cultivators in the pavilion were absolutely dumbstruck and odd expressions all appeared on their faces. There were a few with bright eyes and others wore disbelief as they all stared at Han Li’s face.

Cultivator Fan finally looked away from the demon core in his hand and shouted with a harsh expression, “May as I ask where you have come from? Have you come here to amuse yourself?”