Chapter 312: Thunder Beans

"Of course. I recently came across something by chance. I wonder if you might be interested, Senior?" Han Li smiled slightly and, without further ado, flipped his hand over, revealing a thin, pale golden paper page in his palm.

"A pill formula? Heh, with my experience, don't try to fool me with an ordinary formula. It must be at least an Earth-grade pill formula." Hu Yan chuckled as he glanced over.

With that, he waved his hand, and the pale golden paper page floated up from Han Li's hand and landed in his own.

"Chengwan Pill? Tsk tsk, an Earth-grade formula suitable for True Immortal realm mid-to-late stage cultivators... Not bad, I suppose." Hu Yan clicked his tongue in admiration, then put away the paper page. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a white stone tablet and handed it to Han Li.

After receiving the stone tablet, Han Li pressed it to his forehead and examined it.

"The diagram for the formation arrangement and the required materials are all clearly marked. Setting it up shouldn't be difficult. However, when actually using it, make sure to prepare sufficient spirit stones to maintain the formation's operation. Otherwise, if the spiritual power runs out midway, all your efforts will be wasted. The puppet won't suffer much damage, but that mother bean will be destroyed." Hu Yan reminded him.

"Thank you for the advice, Senior." Han Li removed the stone tablet from his forehead and nodded.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, you can leave. I have other guests to attend to shortly." Hu Yan was blunt with Han Li and directly gave him his dismissal.

"Then I won't disturb you any longer, Senior." Han Li rose to take his leave, left the Hundred Wines Manor, and transformed into a streak of light as he flew away.

He had just flown out of the mountain's range when he saw another beam of light approaching from afar and descending toward the Hundred Wines Manor.

The figure within the light was not unfamiliar to Han Li; it was Bai Suyuan's master, Yun Ni, one of the thirteen Dao Masters of Candle Dragon Dao.

Back then, on the plaza of the Sacred Puppet Sect, Bai Suyuan had openly addressed Lin San as 'Master,' which naturally allowed Han Li, who knew Bai Suyuan's identity, to learn that Lin San's true identity was none other than Yun Ni.

Afterward, although he hadn't sought Lin San for his reward, he had learned through certain channels that the one who had lent a hand at the critical moment was none other than this seemingly perpetually drunken old Daoist Hu Yan, and thus discovered that he was also one of the thirteen Golden Immortal Dao Masters of Candle Dragon Dao.

Combining this with the matter of Bai Suyuan's ancestor Bai Fengyi, he vaguely guessed something.

But since Old Daoist Hu Yan hadn't brought it up, he naturally pretended not to know.

Of course, the reason he had investigated this matter was not out of gossip about the old Daoist, but to confirm whether the Sacred Puppet Sect had subsequently pursued the whereabouts of that immortal puppet. However, not long after the attack on the Sacred Puppet Sect, they seemed to have quietly withdrawn from their original stronghold and then vanished without a trace.

Han Li's thoughts only briefly stirred, after which he went straight back to Red Cloud Peak.

After returning to his cave dwelling, he went directly to the secret chamber, flipped his hand, and took out the jade slip that Hu Yan had given him.

A hint of excitement appeared on his face. He closed his eyes and extended his divine sense into it, carefully examining its contents.

The Dao soldier inscription formation depicted in the jade slip was very similar to the formation that Crab Daoist had set up before, at least sharing many principles in common, though differing in some details and requiring slightly different materials for setup.

After reviewing the formation layout diagram, Han Li continued to look at the materials and setup methods below, discovering that depending on the attribute of the mother bean, the jade slip recorded five sets of configuration materials corresponding to the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Among these, he focused on the earth-attribute materials, since the immortal puppet was originally earth-attributed, and his mother bean came from the Yellow Turban Bean Soldiers, so it was highly likely also earth-attributed.

"Boundless Sand... I didn't expect to need something like this." After a long while, Han Li opened his eyes and muttered to himself.

He raised his hand, and two cyan masks appeared in his palm—one with an ox head, the other with a tiger head.

Han Li's gaze swept over both briefly, and in the end, he chose the tiger-head mask and put it on.

The identity of 'Jiao Fifteen' was no longer very safe; it was better to switch to a different one.

This was the first time he had used this mask since obtaining it, and he learned that its serial number was Hao Eleven.

After adjusting to it slightly, he posted a task in the task column to search for Boundless Sand.

After thinking for a moment, he reposted the task of collecting Dao pill materials that he had previously posted using the ox-head mask.

Having done this, he put away the mask, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to regulate his breathing.

...

Time flew by, and another ten-plus years passed.

One day, Han Li was meditating in the secret chamber when he suddenly heard a series of loud popping sounds coming from one side of the cave dwelling.

He abruptly opened his eyes, immediately stood up, left the secret chamber, and headed straight for the spirit medicine field.

As soon as he entered the spirit medicine field, the thunderous popping sounds became even clearer.

A look of joy appeared on Han Li's face as he quickly walked over. He saw that the originally quite sturdy Dao soldier tree had become withered and shriveled, and the bean pods on it had turned from green to yellow, bursting open one after another.

Dark yellow beans were shooting out from the constantly bursting pods, scattering all over the ground.

Han Li approached and caught a bean that had just shot out.

He picked up the bean with two fingers and looked closely, only to find that on its surface was engraved a golden, lightning-shaped zigzag pattern, so faint that it was almost invisible unless carefully examined.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly, and a stream of immortal spiritual power flowed from his two fingers into the bean.

"Crackle."

The lightning pattern on the bean flashed with golden light, immediately releasing a large amount of golden electric light.

At this, a clear smile appeared on Han Li's face. He had not expected that after the bean soldiers mutated, they would actually possess the attribute of lightning.

Just then, a cracking sound distinctly different from the others rang out.

Han Li looked up and saw two large pods at the top of the Dao Soldier Tree burst open simultaneously, and two fava-bean-sized mother beans shot out.

He quickly reached out and grabbed the two mother beans from the air, bringing them back into his hand for a closer look.

Apart from their size, the mother beans were not significantly different from ordinary beans, except that the lightning patterns engraved on them were deeper, and the lightning power contained within was purer.

With the maturation and ejection of the two mother beans, all the beans on the Dao Soldier Tree had ripened and fallen. The tree began to wither completely, turning from yellow to gray at a visible rate, and within a few breaths, it turned to dust and vanished.

Han Li flipped his hand and took out a yellow gourd. He patted the bottom, and a yellow light lit up at the gourd's mouth, from which a strong attracting force emanated.

The yellow beans scattered all over the ground immediately flew back and fell into the gourd.

The container for the bean soldiers naturally could not be an ordinary item. This gourd was refined by him according to the notes given by the old man Hu Yan.

This object had a function similar to a storage pouch but was not the same; it seemed closer to a spirit beast pouch. The bean soldiers stored inside could still absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Even if one wanted to continue nurturing the bean soldiers to improve their quality, they could fill the gourd with some prepared spiritual liquid. Daoist Hu Yan himself did this.

After collecting all the beans, Han Li turned around and walked back to the secret chamber with great enthusiasm.

Two days later.

Inside Han Li's cave abode's secret chamber, a circular formation about ten feet in diameter was carved into the ground.

Around the formation were many sunken grooves, containing various spiritual materials and several immortal spirit stones brimming with spiritual energy.

At the center of the formation stood a modest golden platform, shaped like the beacon towers common in the mortal world, with raised walls around its top and a slightly lower center, where the hundreds of Dao Soldier beans were placed.

This formation was called the 'Thunder-Sealing Spirit-Locking Formation,' a lightning-attribute formation for refining Dao Soldiers recorded in Hu Yan's notes.

The golden platform at the center was none other than a small altar built by Han Li from Thunder-Restraining Wood, serving as the core of the entire formation.

The refining formation for Dao Soldiers often needed to be chosen based on the attributes of the mature beans. Han Li had originally thought his beans would mostly inherit the attributes of the Yellow Turban Giant, thus being primarily earth-attribute.

But unexpectedly, due to the mutation of the beans, although they contained earth-attribute power, in terms of content and power, it was inferior to the lightning-attribute power generated by the mutation, so they could be called 'Thunder Beans.'

Therefore, when selecting the refining formation, Han Li decisively chose the 'Thunder-Sealing Spirit-Locking Formation.'

After confirming everything was properly arranged in the chamber, he sat cross-legged in front of the formation, flipped his palm, took out a pill, and put it into his mouth.

He had not forgotten Hu Yan's advice: setting up this formation had consumed much of his immortal spiritual power, and he needed to fully recover before starting to refine the Dao Soldiers.

He sat quietly with eyes closed, regulating his energy for a long time, then opened his eyes and began to activate the formation.

He formed a hand seal before his chest, pointed his fingers toward the golden platform at the center of the formation, and a wisp of golden lightning shot from his fingertips like a spiritual snake, striking into the platform.

"Crackle!"

A sound of electric current surged, and the entire golden platform blazed with light. Countless golden arcs shot out, spreading around and forming a pale golden spherical light barrier that enveloped the entire circular formation.

At the same time, the top-grade spirit stones embedded in the ground grooves also shone brightly, flowing out as wisps of pure spiritual energy along the formation patterns on the ground, spreading outward.

With bursts of light, the golden platform began to tremble violently, and the dark yellow beans placed inside also jumped restlessly.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes glowed blue, and he raised both palms. The beans were immediately lifted by an invisible giant hand, flew out of the platform, and hovered within the spherical light barrier.

Below the light barrier, two mother beans hung at the apex of the dome like two full moons, while the other beans scattered around them like stars orbiting the moon, flickering with radiance.