Chapter 153: Comprehending the Heavy Water Thunder Pearls

When Han Li heard Wen Hua say "two thousand top-grade spirit stones," he couldn't help but grin wryly and let out a bitter laugh.

With such a high starting bid, this Dao Pill was astonishingly expensive; at least with his current wealth, he could not hope to obtain it.

After Wen Hua announced the start of the bidding, most people in the hall fell silent, holding their breath and watching intently, all wanting to see who would ultimately win this Dao Pill.

"Two thousand top-grade spirit stones!"

After a brief silence, someone finally broke it—a voice from a box on the third floor in the southeast corner, which sounded like an old man.

Speaking of which, today all the major powers of the Black Wind Sea had gathered here, and many were wealthy enough to be interested in this Dao Pill; immediately, others began to bid.

"Two thousand two hundred!"

"Two thousand five hundred!"

…

Without exception, all these bidders came from various boxes on the third floor.

In just a dozen breaths, after seven or eight rounds of competition, the price of this first-grade Dao Pill was easily pushed above three thousand top-grade spirit stones!

"Four thousand!"

A somewhat ethereal female voice suddenly rang out, also from a box on the third floor, stunning everyone present and temporarily suppressing all other voices.

The entire auction hall fell into silence once more.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, finding the voice somewhat familiar; it seemed to be the same cultivator who had previously won the Phoenix Blood Flame Jade Crystal.

"Four thousand two hundred!" Another voice sounded, also from the third floor.

As soon as the words fell, the ethereal female voice calmly reported an incredibly high price:

"Five thousand!"

The other voice hesitated and did not bid higher.

The whole venue erupted, and almost everyone's gaze converged on that box, as if trying to see what kind of being was inside.

"Five thousand top-grade spirit stones, first call!"

"Five thousand top-grade spirit stones, second call! If anyone else is tempted, seize the moment! Miss this day, and you might have to wait a thousand years for another chance!"

"Sold! Congratulations to this fellow Daoist!"

With Wen Hua's final hammer blow, the last Dao Pill was taken by that unknown mysterious cultivator.

This also meant that the Black Wind Sea's centennial auction had finally come to an end.

After saying some polite words, Wen Hua soon announced the conclusion of the auction.

Han Li mingled with the crowd and slowly walked out of the hall.

The people around were still buzzing about what they had seen and heard at the auction, enthusiastically discussing the various unheard-of items, especially the legendary first-grade Dao Pill at the end, which became the talk of most people.

Listening to the clamor around him and the excitement on everyone's faces, Han Li gained a deeper understanding of the rarity and preciousness of Dao Pills.

After returning to his temporary cave dwelling, Han Li immediately activated all the restrictions and then entered the secret chamber.

Sitting down in the secret chamber, he flipped his hand and took out the three Heavy Water Thunder Pearls. He picked up one between two fingers and examined it closely.

This seemingly ordinary black pearl, no larger than a longan, had wisps of black mist lingering on its surface without dispersing, yet it exuded no special aura, making it impossible to gauge its depth.

However, Han Li believed, judging from the fervor with which people had pursued this item at the auction, that the power contained in this small Heavy Water Thunder Pearl far exceeded his imagination.

Of course, the reason he had spent such a great price to acquire it was not entirely for that; more importantly, he wanted to glean from it the method of utilizing heavy water.

After all, although he could now manipulate heavy water, without the proper technique, its power might be inferior to that of an ordinary spirit treasure.

Han Li placed the pearl flat in his palm, closed his fingers, and carefully rubbed the patterns on its surface, feeling its texture.

After a long while, he slowly opened his hand, a strange expression appearing on his face.

In terms of material, this Heavy Water Thunder Pearl was no different from the heavy water refined by his Earthly Immortal incarnation, but where his fingers touched, he could also find fine, hair-like grooves that connected to form strange patterns.

Even with his vast experience, he could not make heads or tails of it.

After pondering for a moment, Han Li closed his eyes slightly, and a strand of crystalline silk suddenly extended from between his brows, penetrating the black mist and then entering the pearl.

Inside the pearl, it seemed to form a world of its own. At first glance, it was pitch black, but upon closer inspection, one could see specks of black starlight and occasional flashes of green and purple lightning.

At the same time, he could feel traces of law power lingering within.

These three forces blended together harmoniously and stably, interconnected yet latent, like a tiger gathering all its strength, waiting only for the cage to open before suddenly erupting and going on a killing spree.

After about half an hour, Han Li finally opened his eyes with a slight flutter of his eyelashes.

He shook his head and sighed, then put away the three Heavy Water Thunder Pearls, stood up abruptly, left the cave dwelling, transformed into a rainbow light, and shot straight toward a certain direction, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

……

On a stretch of uninhabited sea tens of thousands of miles from Black Wind Island, gale winds howled and turbid waves surged skyward.

A streak of azure light flashed and came to a halt high in the air, revealing Han Li's figure.

His divine sense suddenly expanded, instantly enveloping the sea area within ten thousand miles as he carefully probed.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual nearby and no other cultivators, he flipped his hand and took out another Heavy Water Thunder Bead.

A flash of azure light appeared in his palm, and a wisp of immortal spiritual power was infused into the round bead.

A flash of azure light appeared on the bead's surface, and the dense spiritual patterns engraved on it flickered briefly before dimming.

Han Li then tossed the bead forward, and the black orb shot out without any fluctuation of aura, flashing to a spot several thousand zhang away.

A thunderous boom was heard.

The Heavy Water Thunder Bead suddenly exploded, and a black sun as massive as a mountain abruptly materialized out of thin air. Hundreds of azure-purple lightning bolts, each over a hundred zhang long, emerged within it, crackling and snapping like divine whips wielded by heavenly gods, lashing wildly in all directions, exuding a law power that made one's heart tremble.

Wherever each lightning bolt struck, the void hummed violently, twisting and trembling madly as if about to be torn apart.

Where the black sun spread, a huge deep pit appeared in the sea below, and the fish and water beasts within were instantly reduced to powder.

The next moment, the black sun exploded again, transforming into patches of black radiance that swept wildly in all directions.

Han Li's body was already covered by a layer of True Extremity Membrane, and azure light flickered in his eyes as he carefully observed every detail after the Thunder Bead's explosion.

The black radiance soon reached him, and his pupils suddenly contracted as he tried to shoot backward.

But it was too late; he hadn't flown far before the black radiance caught up.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

A sound like rain beating on banana leaves arose. Within the black radiance were countless black needles as fine as hairs, piercing the True Extremity Membrane on his body.

The True Extremity Membrane flickered wildly with light before stabilizing after a while, its surface covered with countless white spots.

Han Li breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the True Extremity Membrane was extremely tough and hadn't shattered; otherwise, he would have been pierced by thousands of black needles by now.

Those black needles were all condensed from heavy water and possessed astonishing penetrative power. Even his body, without any protection, would probably be unable to withstand them.

The sea below churned violently, forming a huge pit nearly a thousand zhang in radius.

Han Li spread his divine sense and was startled again.

Centered on the explosion site of the Heavy Water Thunder Bead, everything within a radius of over ten li was pierced by those heavy water needles, and all sea beasts were completely annihilated.

If the mere aftermath had such power, being directly hit by the black sun would have seriously injured even him.

At this moment, Han Li finally understood why this item had caused such a frenzy of bidding when it appeared at the auction.

After about a few more breaths, the disturbance from the explosion gradually dissipated.

Only after sensing that the aura of law power had completely vanished did Han Li flash back to the center of the Heavy Water Thunder Bead's explosion.

A smell like burnt charcoal lingered in the air, refusing to dissipate.

The deep pit in the sea below had been refilled by the returning seawater, but a turbulent vortex formed by the aftermath could still be seen churning violently.

A Heavy Water Thunder Bead worth several hundred top-grade spirit stones had been used up like this. If anyone who had attended that auction were here, they would probably be so shocked that their eyes would pop out.

Yet at this moment, there was no trace of pain on Han Li's face; he nodded slightly and remained silent.

After a long while, he seemed to have realized something and murmured to himself:

"It seems to use law power to forcibly seal lightning power into heavy water, then trigger it with immortal spiritual power to release it suddenly, but..."

As if thinking of some unclear point, he stopped speaking and fell into deep thought.

Judging from the release process and final result of the Heavy Water Thunder Bead, if it were merely releasing stored lightning and law power, it would absolutely be impossible to have such great power.

Han Li closed his eyes and carefully recalled the scene in his mind over and over again. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came, and he understood some of the key points.

At the moment of release, the spiritual pattern restrictions on the Heavy Water Thunder Bead were activated, causing the lightning to disperse the heavy water, turning it into heavy water dust containing traces of law power, which continuously collided within a region.

Any object falling into this region would be like a foreign body disrupting the delicate balance, and would be simultaneously attacked by heavy water, lightning, and law power. Not only would its movement be suppressed and unable to escape, but it would also suffer continuous impacts that even ordinary True Immortals could not withstand.

Although he seemed to understand the general principle, Han Li couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Earlier, to avoid contaminating his own magic power with the power of faith, he had not accepted the law power within the Earthly Immortal incarnation's body. Now that he wanted to use it to refine these Heavy Water Thunder Beads, he naturally couldn't do so.

However, he was not without gains. Through this observation, he had gained many new insights into the use of heavy water.

After a moment's deliberation, Han Li once again shot into the high sky.

After flying several hundred li, he descended toward a small island reef in his field of vision, which was only a few li in circumference.

After landing, he flipped his hand, and the True Water Pouch containing heavy water appeared in his hand.

Over the past three years, while using the small bottle's spiritual liquid to hasten the maturation of the Birth Soul Flowers, he had also intermittently refined crystal grains to help the Earthly Immortal incarnation condense heavy water.

Up to now, he had only accumulated heavy water equivalent to about half a small stream.