Chapter 135: The Eight Spirit Vials of the Original Life

Although Han Li felt somewhat disappointed, this thought only flashed through his mind.

He also knew that the crystalline grains formed from the green liquid could greatly accelerate the heavy water refinement for his avatar, which was already heaven-defying. To expect this substance to directly affect his true body was purely a luxury.

Of course, if he ever had the opportunity to glimpse the mysteries of the laws of time, it might not be impossible to apply them to his true body.

With this thought, a surge of excitement could not help but flash through his heart.

But for now, this was merely something to think about.

Let alone mastering the law of time, one of the three supreme laws; even truly mastering one of the three thousand great paths and becoming a true immortal was an extremely difficult feat for the vast majority of rogue cultivators.

Moreover, although he had barely recovered his cultivation, the real crisis was far from resolved.

Thus, his top priority was to enhance his own strength as quickly as possible and recover his lost memories and treasures, to avoid falling victim to some unknown calamity again.

Although the Black Wind Sea was remote, it was not a place to linger. If he stayed too long, his enemies might pick up some clues and come looking for him, which would be a great trouble. When he had unsealed his Nascent Soul earlier, someone might have sensed his approximate location.

As for how to recover his lost memories, he currently had only two leads.

The first was naturally to return to the Immortal Ascension Platform where he had ascended, find the guide Gao Sheng who had received him, and ask what had happened after he left that place.

However, not to mention the vastness of the Northern Frost Immortal Domain and how he would find this person, even if he did find him, it was uncertain how much of Gao Sheng's words could be trusted.

Moreover, as a late-stage True Immortal, it was not a good strategy for Han Li to rashly approach him without ensuring his own safety.

The second lead was the wanted order that had been passed down from the Immortal Realm and the section of the mysterious green-black chain he had sealed in a white jade box.

For some reason, he felt there must be a connection between these two things. He believed that if he could find the person who issued the order or the owner of the chain, he would find important clues related to his lost memories.

Of course, whichever lead he followed to unravel the mystery of three hundred years ago, he would need formidable strength as a guarantee.

"It seems the fastest way to increase my strength is to recover my lost treasures and find Golden Boy and Daoist Crab..." Han Li shook his head and sighed deeply.

Apart from that, there was another method: to have his avatar refine large amounts of heavy water as quickly as possible.

According to the description of heavy water in the Black Sea Heavy Water Classic, even a single layer of heavy water, if abundant enough, could become a trump card capable of crushing powerful enemies.

However, even with an endless supply of crystals formed from the green liquid, achieving the level described in the classic was not something that could be done in a short time.

One morning a month later.

In the courtyard of Han Li's quadrangle, an octagonal bronze vat, covered in verdigris and of ancient, simple design, had somehow appeared.

Each of the vat's eight sides was carved with a strange beast with an open mouth—some resembling a qilin, some a taotie, and some a kui ox—each one ferocious and bizarre, all different.

Around the beasts were carved strings of peculiar ring-shaped patterns, and below them, eight ancient seal-script runes, each the size of a human head, were written in gold lacquer.

On the bluestone slab beneath the bronze vat, eight fan-shaped array patterns, each about ten feet in size, had been engraved with a sharp tool, looking from above like a flower in full bloom.

Inside the vat was filled with clear water, its surface as smooth as a mirror, without a single ripple.

At this moment, Han Li, dressed in a blue robe, stood beside the bronze vat, one hand resting on its rim, gently stroking it.

This vat, named the "Eight Spirit Lifebound Vat," was an item he had obtained three days ago from a cultivator in the Wuchang Alliance's trading formation, at no small cost.

To be precise, this object was not a combat-assisting or cultivation-helping treasure, but a special artifact used solely for locating people and objects.

Unlike ordinary treasures of the same kind, this vat could only locate people or objects connected by bloodline or soul bond.

The reason Han Li spared no expense was to use this vat to find his lifebound flying swords and accompanying items like the Devouring Gold Beetles.

He looked up at the sunlight gradually streaming over the courtyard wall, then turned his wrist, revealing several top-grade spirit stones the size of dragon's eyes in his palm, emitting water-blue and earth-yellow light.

He walked around the vat and embedded the water- and earth-attribute spirit stones into the mouths of the eight strange beasts.

After doing this, he flickered back to his original position, softly murmuring and deducing something, his gaze gradually growing fervent.

As the first ray of morning sunlight just crossed the courtyard wall and shone on the vat, the water surface, brimming over the rim, reflected a faint golden light.

Seeing this, Han Li pressed both hands on the vat's rim, his gaze turning solemn, and he began to chant a cryptic incantation.

With the chanting rising, the fan-shaped array patterns beneath the vat immediately lit up with cyan light, and the eight ancient seal-script runes on the vat's body also blazed with radiance.

At the same time, ripples began to spread across the originally mirror-like water surface, and bright light also shone from the mouths of the strange beasts around the bronze vat.

Two streams of light, one water-blue and one earth-yellow, penetrated from either side of the vat's walls, casting the water surface into a yellow-and-blue pattern resembling a Tai Chi Yin-Yang diagram.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, raised a palm, and extended it flat over the water surface.

A faint flash of light appeared on his index finger, and a drop of golden essence blood slowly emerged and fell.

Dong.

A sound of dripping water, as if from the depths of his sea of consciousness, rang in Han Li's mind.

His gaze was fixed on the vat, and he saw that the drop of essence blood, instead of dissolving, began to spin rapidly like a top.

Driven by this drop of blood, the water in the entire vat began to churn quickly, and the originally distinct yellow and blue lights somehow mixed together, merging into strange lines shaped like mountains and rivers.

Seeing this, Han Li began to chant again.

The drop of essence blood, as if receiving a command, abruptly stopped spinning. With a sudden flash of light and a twist, it transformed into a tiny, miniature golden sword.

Its shape was clearly identical to Han Li's life-bound flying sword, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.

Go!

At Han Li's command, the golden sword immediately trembled rapidly on the water surface, then abruptly changed direction and swiftly swam eastward.

The bronze vat was quite small, and the sword's speed was very fast, so it should have soon hit the vat's wall.

However, in reality, the tip of the golden sword always remained about a foot away from the wall, never colliding.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the mountain-and-river patterns on the water surface were continuously flowing backward, creating the illusion of the floating golden sword moving forward.

After about a quarter of an hour, the mountain-and-river patterns gradually stopped, and the golden sword hovered over a dense, blurry set of lines.

Han Li could not discern the terrain indicated by these lines, only that it must be outside the Black Wind Sea, far to the east.

After watching for a moment, he raised his finger and pointed at the golden sword on the water, hoping to sense the condition of his life-bound flying sword more clearly.

However, the moment his finger touched the golden sword, his sea of consciousness rippled slightly, and he sensed an extremely faint, familiar aura in his soul.

Could this be...

After a brief hesitation, Han Li immediately closed his eyes, composed his mind, and carefully sensed it.

A moment later, his eyes snapped open, a look of surprise appearing on his face. He could not help but say:

No mistake, it is indeed the soul aura of Crab Daoist...

But soon, he became somewhat puzzled. Was the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword together with Crab Daoist, or were they merely coincidentally close to each other?

Thinking this, another thought arose in Han Li's mind, and he murmured to himself: "I wonder if Gold Devourer... might also be with them?"

Having said this, he began to chant another incantation, then gently swept his hand over the water surface.

The golden sword in the water immediately contracted and reverted to its essence blood form.

Go! After finishing the incantation, Han Li gave another low shout.

However, the drop of essence blood merely trembled slightly, then began to spin aimlessly in the vat like a headless fly.

A moment later, it suddenly sank, drilling into the bottom of the vat and disappearing.

With the disappearance of the drop of essence blood, the spirit stones around the bronze vat also exhausted their energy, their light gradually dimming. The strange scene in the vat vanished, leaving only a vat of clear water.

Seeing this, Han Li could not help but sigh.

Whether due to the great distance or some other reason, the essence blood in the vat had been unable to sense the location of the Gold Devourer Beetle King, nor even determine its general direction.

If not for the fact that Han Li could still feel the faint soul connection with the Gold Devourer Beetle King, he might have thought it had perished.

However, at least he now had news of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword and Crab Daoist. Though it was only a direction, it was not without gain.

He believed that as long as he headed in the direction indicated by the Eight Spirit Vat, once he was close enough, he would have no trouble finding them through bloodline and spiritual sense.

Thinking this, Han Li wished he could set off immediately.

But he also knew that even if he were to leave, he must first settle everything here.