Chapter 200: The Wheel First Takes Shape

After bidding farewell to the tiger-faced man, Han Li immediately posted a task in the Wuchang League to identify the white giant egg and the cyan feather, then took off the ox-head mask.

After putting away the mask, he promptly took out the Star-Shifting Mother-Child Disk, removed the Star-Shifting Stones from it, replaced them with eight second-grade Star-Shifting Stones, and then cast a spell to activate it.

A dazzling light burst forth from the Star-Shifting Mother-Child Disk, but the disk also trembled violently, emitting an inexplicable spatial fluctuation.

Thanks to the tiger-faced man's reminder, Han Li was not surprised. After a moment's hesitation, he took out a Big Dipper Star Disk and half of the Star-Shifting Stones, placed them on it, and urged the spell formula.

Hum!

The surface of the Star-Shifting Mother-Child Disk immediately lit up with intense light, emitting increasingly strong spatial fluctuations that were very unstable, now strong, now weak.

At this sight, Han Li's pupils slightly contracted.

With a "bang," after this anomaly lasted for less than two or three breaths, the formation disk finally burst apart, shattering into pieces.

And just before it shattered, the Big Dipper Star Disk vanished into the light.

Han Li, seeing this, still felt somewhat uneasy, for this new set of array disks had cost him nearly half of his current possessions; if it were to be destroyed in the spatial fluctuations, it would truly be a painful loss.

He muttered incantations under his breath and hurriedly activated the Big Dipper Star Disk.

As the mysterious inscriptions on the disk's surface lit up ring by ring, a bright blue light finally emerged with a hum, coalescing above the disk into a blue light array. Countless white dots appeared within it, twinkling like stars in the night sky.

The void at the center of the blue light array stirred, and a large mass of black liquid emerged—it was heavy water.

The transmission process was smooth and seamless, without any delay.

Seeing this, Han Li finally breathed a sigh of relief. With a wave of his hand, he stored away the mass of heavy water.

The Big Dipper Star Disk flickered repeatedly, and masses of heavy water emerged one after another. The heavy water that the Earthly Immortal Avatar had refined over the years was all transferred over in just half an hour.

Han Li patted the True Water Pouch at his waist and nodded with satisfaction.

The heavy water inside had reached nearly the volume of two small streams. With so much heavy water, there were many things he could do.

Although it had cost him no small price, as long as it could resolve the problem that had plagued him for years, it was worth it.

After putting away the Big Dipper Star Disk, he sat cross-legged in place for a day, allowing his mind to fully calm down. Then he took out the "True Word Wheel Sutra," carefully reviewed the first-level incantation from beginning to end, and resumed his cultivation and comprehension.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

Inside the cave dwelling, Han Li sat cross-legged, motionless as a statue, while a faint golden light emanated from his body.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, a trace of surprise appearing in them.

Although the "True Word Wheel Sutra" was profound and obscure, over these three months, his cultivation had progressed unusually smoothly. The bottlenecks mentioned in the commentary that were difficult to overcome, he had passed through as naturally as water flowing into a channel, almost effortlessly.

The first time this strange situation occurred, he thought it was a coincidence or luck, but when it happened a second and third time, he began to wonder.

"Could it be... that my physique is particularly suited for this technique?"

It was no wonder he thought so, for according to the commentary, each bottleneck would typically stall a cultivator for years, decades, or even centuries, and many people gave up each year because of them.

Unless there was some special reason, he refused to believe he could be so fortunate.

However, he recalled that from the very beginning of his path to immortality, his aptitude had been mediocre, even inferior to most, let alone possessing any extraordinary spiritual physique.

Yet when he later encountered almost every seemingly insurmountable bottleneck and crossed them with little effort, his heart was filled with doubt and also great joy.

In any case, being able to progress so smoothly was not a bad thing.

At this rate, the True Word Wheel, which most people might fail to condense even after hundreds or thousands of years, he could probably succeed in just a few years.

With this thought, he stopped dwelling on it and continued to cultivate with focused dedication.

Time flew by, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Clouds drifted over Red Cloud Peak, dancing like countless strands of silk. A red sun slowly rose from the east, casting golden light that tinged the peak with a faint gold.

Everything on Red Cloud Peak remained as before. If there was any change, it was that the fire miasma that had once filled the entire mountain had unknowingly receded considerably.

Below the mountainside, the crimson fire miasma still lingered, but above the mountainside, it had already cleared.

Meng Yungui and the others who lived here arrived at the peak early in the morning just as the sky was barely light. After breathing and exhaling in the face of the rising sun, they each took up their duties and began cleaning various parts of the peak.

Everyone had a clear division of labor. Although there were only ten of them, they managed the entire courtyard, including the nearby spirit herb garden and the caves of the guardian spirit beasts halfway up the mountain, in perfect order.

Although Red Cloud Peak was not among the best spirit veins in the entire Bell Toll Mountain Range, the density of heaven and earth spiritual energy here was still far beyond what could be found elsewhere on the Ancient Cloud Continent. It could be considered a blessed cave paradise suitable for cultivation. Coupled with some elixirs previously bestowed by Han Li, their cultivation levels had all improved to varying degrees.

Meng Qianqian in particular had broken through two minor realms in succession and was now a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. Her aura was restrained, and she was only one step away from forming a golden core, having reached the false core stage.

Compared to three years ago, the childishness on her face had faded considerably. Her features appeared even more delicate and well-proportioned, and she had grown increasingly pure and beautiful.

"Elder Li has been in seclusion for quite a while now," Meng Qianqian said while cleaning the spirit herb garden, her big eyes frequently glancing toward the tightly shut cave dwelling behind.

"For someone at Elder Li's immortal level, a single seclusion lasting hundreds or thousands of years is common. You're at a critical moment for forming your golden core—are you short on spirit stones or elixirs?" Meng Yungui asked.

"Not at all," Meng Qianqian spat lightly.

"Qianqian, you must remember that being chosen by Elder Li to come here and serve is already a tremendous stroke of luck. Although Elder Li doesn't put on airs with us, as servants we must never forget our place." Meng Yungui stopped his work and admonished her with some gravity.

"Brother is right. Qianqian understands." Meng Qianqian lowered her head and nodded slowly.

"I still have some spirit stones here. Take them first..." Seeing this, Meng Yungui relaxed his expression, rubbed Meng Qianqian's head, and was about to say something.

Rumble!

A thunderous roar like a divine thunderbolt from the nine heavens suddenly exploded, shaking the entire Red Cloud Peak and causing it to tremble. Many of the birds and beasts dwelling there fled in all directions.

Immediately after, the clear blue sky, which had been cloudless, abruptly changed. Large patches of black clouds appeared out of nowhere, covering the entire sky above Red Cloud Peak and churning endlessly.

Heaven and earth spiritual energy surged wildly, gathering in rolling torrents to form an enormous vortex of spiritual energy.

At the center of the spiritual energy vortex was precisely the cave dwelling at the rear mountain.

Faced with such a dramatic change, Meng Yungui and Meng Qianqian showed surprise on their faces but were not overly shocked.

The others were the same.

Their Elder Li was unfathomably profound, cultivating some divine technique or wondrous method that often caused such heaven-and-earth-altering phenomena. It happened almost every month, and they had long grown accustomed to it.

Meng Yungui looked at the dark clouds in the sky and furrowed his brow slightly.

The scene before him seemed somewhat different from the usual upheavals.

"Meng Yungui, Meng Yungui! You just told Qianqian the same thing, yet you yourself forget. How can you presume to guess at Elder Li's affairs? Just be content as a servant. Ignorance is bliss!" He immediately shook his head, cut off his thoughts, and continued cleaning with his head down.

Inside the secret chamber of the cave dwelling, Han Li's entire body was enveloped in a dazzling pale golden light, making his features appear somewhat blurred.

Heaven and earth spiritual energy converged from all directions. The pale golden light on his body grew brighter and brighter, forming a sea of pale golden light that was almost impossible to look at directly, flooding the entire secret chamber.

Huge spiritual fluctuations surged outward like a tide, but were blocked by the restrictions around the cave dwelling.

A full hour passed before the convergence of heaven and earth spiritual energy gradually ceased.

The black clouds above Red Cloud Peak slowly dissipated, restoring the previously azure sky. The sky was clear and the air fresh, as if the scene of black clouds covering the sky had been an illusion.

Inside the secret chamber, the vast sea of light trembled once, then converged toward Han Li's body like a whale drinking water, completely entering his body within a few breaths.

A golden light spot appeared on Han Li's lower abdomen, flickering on and off—dazzling when bright, nearly invisible when dim.

The golden light spot seemed to breathe like a small mouth, and with each flicker, a large amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy poured into it.

At the same time, a pale golden wheel about a foot in size appeared on his back with a hum, rotating slowly.

Auspicious clouds transformed from golden auspicious vapors appeared around the wheel, resonating strongly with the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy, producing a wondrous sound of Sanskrit chanting, as if praising the golden wheel.

The auspicious vapors and clouds spun rapidly around the wheel, gradually turning into semi-transparent light threads that gathered together. With a flash, they formed two clusters of semi-transparent runes that were inscribed on the wheel.

The runes were incredibly lively, constantly flickering and twisting like living things.

A faint but discernible wave of law power emanated from the two runes.

Han Li slowly opened his eyes, looked down to examine his body, and paused briefly on the golden light spot. A hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

After three years of arduous cultivation, he had finally opened the first immortal aperture on his body, truly taking the first step in True Immortal realm cultivation.

And the pale golden wheel behind him was precisely the "True Word Treasure Wheel."