The uproar over the outer sect tournament had not subsided. Instead, as it continued to brew, Han Li's name grew ever more renowned within the Seven Mysteries Sect-and ever more feared. The little courtyard where he lived had become a forbidden zone for the disciples, with no one daring to approach lightly.
Han Li welcomed the peace and quiet, devoting all his time to cultivation. Mo Juren sent people to deliver cultivation resources several more times, each batch better than the last. Clearly, he wanted to keep Han Li placated in preparation for possessing his body later. Han Li accepted every last offering, using the Slaughter System to swiftly turn the resources into his own cultivation.
In just half a month, his cultivation had quietly broken through to the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer, and he was steadily advancing toward its peak. If word of such speed spread, it would be enough to drive the entire Southern Heaven Cultivation World mad.
Yet Han Li was not satisfied. He knew full well that relying solely on these scraps Mo Juren "bestowed" upon him and cultivating step by step was still far too slow. He needed more opportunities, faster ways to improve. Though his memories of his previous life were vast, most concerned high-level cultivation arts and supreme treasures of heaven and earth. For a low-level stage like Qi Refining, he actually lacked methods that could produce immediate results.
Late that night, the moon shone bright among sparse stars.
Han Li finished circulating his spiritual power through a full cycle and was about to rest briefly when the system notification, silent for several days, suddenly sounded in his mind:
[Ding! Faint anomalous spatial fluctuations detected nearby, accompanied by escaping traces of pure life energy. Coordinates: three li southeast of the abandoned mine in the rear mountains, at the edge of Miasma Valley. A rare treasure or spiritual object may have appeared.]
A rare treasure?
A sharp gleam flashed in Han Li's eyes. The system would never loose an arrow without a target. What he lacked most now was an opportunity to improve quickly. These sudden anomalous fluctuations might be just the opening he needed!
Without the slightest hesitation, Han Li moved, slipping soundlessly out of his courtyard like a ghost. Avoiding the disciples patrolling the mountains, he raced toward the coordinates indicated by the system. He used a low-level movement technique called Shadow Step, but powered by dark attribute spiritual power, his figure drifted like smoke at astonishing speed. He melted into the night, leaving almost no trace.
The rear mountains of the Seven Mysteries Sect covered an immense area, filled with precipitous peaks, deep valleys, and dense forests. In some places, excessive mining in earlier years or geological shifts had left abandoned mine tunnels. Few people ventured there, and poisonous miasma even shrouded certain areas. Ordinary disciples did not dare enter their depths.
Following the system's guidance, Han Li soon reached the entrance to a deep valley wedged between two barren mountains. Pale green mist swirled within, and a pungent, sickly-sweet odor permeated the air. It was the dreaded Jade-Phosphor Miasma, whose very name made people blanch. This miasma could not only corrode magical artifacts but also erode a cultivator's spiritual power. Qi Refining disciples who inhaled too much could even lose their lives.
[Warning: high concentration of Jade-Phosphor Miasma ahead. It poses a lethal threat to cultivators below the Qi Refinement Middle Period. The host is advised to circulate spiritual power for protection and pass through quickly.]
Han Li's expression remained unchanged. The pure dark attribute spiritual power within him circulated gently, forming an exceedingly faint black film of light over his body. As the Jade-Phosphor Miasma approached it, the mist silently dissolved like ice and snow beneath the sun, unable to penetrate even a fraction. Dark attribute spiritual power held a natural advantage in both erosion and defense.
He hesitated no longer. With a flicker of movement, he plunged straight into the miasma-filled valley.
The valley was dimly lit and strewn with jagged rocks. The bleached bones of unknown animals lay scattered across the ground, lending it an even more sinister air. The deeper he went, the thicker the miasma grew, severely obstructing his vision. Yet with his powerful spiritual sense and the system's precise guidance, Han Li never strayed from his course.
After traveling roughly three li, the ground began to slope downward, and he could faintly hear the murmur of flowing water. He rounded a bend, and the scene before him suddenly changed.
At the bottom of the valley lay a rare patch of untainted ground, several zhang across, untouched by the Jade-Phosphor Miasma. At its center was a small pool, its clear water giving off a faint chill. Beside the pool grew several herbs with dark green, oddly shaped leaves: netherfrost grass, the principal ingredient in several kinds of antidote pills.
Yet Han Li's gaze barely lingered on these valuable spiritual herbs. Instead, it instantly fixed on a spot at the edge of the pool, beside a black pebble half submerged in the water.
An object lay there quietly.
It was a pale green bottle no larger than a thumb. Its body appeared to have been carved from some kind of jade, with a smooth, lustrous texture, yet its surface showed no fluctuations of spiritual light. It looked plain and unadorned, even rather inconspicuous, like a trinket a child might play with.
But the instant Han Li saw the little bottle, his heart gave a violent leap!
An indescribable sense of familiarity welled up within him, mingled with a tremor from the depths of his soul. It was as though some bond of destiny connected him to this object.
Stranger still, when he swept his powerful spiritual sense over it, he could detect no trace of the bottle's presence. It was as if it did not exist in this world at all. Yet his eyes could clearly see it lying there.
"Could it be the Heavenvoid Bottle? It doesn't look like it!"
When something defies the ordinary, something uncanny must be at work!
Han Li did not rashly step forward. Instead, he warily examined his surroundings. His spiritual sense carefully swept the pool, the rock walls, and every inch of ground, confirming that no demonic beasts or traps lay hidden.
He approached cautiously, stopping three feet from the little bottle. The closer he came, the stronger that strange familiarity and soul-deep tremor grew.
[Ding! Unknown extraordinary object detected. Energy level cannot be analyzed. Contains extremely obscure fluctuations of the laws of time and life. No matching record exists in the system database. The host is advised to exercise caution when making contact.]
Even the system can't analyze it?
Han Li's heart tightened. After pondering briefly, he circulated spiritual power to shield his palm and made a grasping motion through the air. A suction force drew the pale green bottle into his hand.
It felt slightly cool and delicately smooth. The little bottle was almost weightless, its mouth tightly sealed by a stopper of the same material, without the slightest gap.
Han Li tried pulling hard, but the stopper would not budge. He then attempted to inject a thread of spiritual power. Like a clay ox entering the sea, it vanished without a trace, and the bottle gave no response. When he probed it with his spiritual sense, an invisible barrier blocked him as well.
"Strange..." Han Li frowned slightly. The object appeared ordinary, yet everything about it hinted otherwise. He could neither open nor examine it, so what was the significance of its appearance here?
Just as he pondered this, something suddenly changed!
The dark attribute spiritual power that had been circulating steadily within him seemed to come under some kind of pull and abruptly accelerated on its own. A thread of exceptionally pure dark spiritual power surged uncontrollably toward his right hand, which held the bottle, and tried to burrow inside.
Hum!
The little bottle trembled faintly. An exceedingly complex, ancient, indistinct rune of pale silver flashed across its surface and vanished, so quickly it could almost have been mistaken for an illusion.
Then everything fell still again. The bottle remained plain and antiquated, showing no sign of movement. The thread of dark spiritual power that had tried to enter it was repelled as well.
But Han Li had keenly caught that fleeting rune-and the extremely faint suction from within the bottle as the rune lit up, as though it had come from the primordial wilderness of ancient times!
Though it had lasted only an instant, he was certain that this little bottle was no inert object! It needed energy, and it seemed to react to dark attribute spiritual power in some special way!
"Does it require a particular kind of energy, or... a particular moment before it can be opened?" Han Li looked thoughtful. He held the little bottle tightly, and that strange feeling of being linked to it by blood grew clearer.
Though he could not use it for now, Han Li had an intuition that this little bottle was a supreme treasure beyond imagination! Its value might far exceed his present understanding.
"This is no place to linger."
He tucked the little bottle safely against his body, then swiftly harvested the stalks of netherfrost grass. Just as he was about to leave, his ears twitched. From the distance came faint sounds of movement cutting through the air and voices, heading toward the valley!
Someone's coming!
Han Li's gaze turned cold. Like a ghost, he melted into the shadows of the nearby rocks, suppressing his aura completely and blending into his surroundings.
A few breaths later, two figures passed through the dense Jade-Phosphor Miasma and landed at the edge of the untainted ground.
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