Chapter 373 News at Last

Han Li took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind as much as possible.

The Great Cycle Star Origin Art had only just begun, and since he had already cultivated the first seven hidden apertures, he was able to complete them so quickly. The remaining eleven hidden apertures would likely not be so easy.

Han Li exhaled slowly, then once again formed hand seals and closed his eyes.

Hum!

The formation on the stone platform activated once more, drawing down a vast expanse of starlight that coalesced into several brilliant rivers of stars, winding around his body as specks of star power merged into him.

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

Suddenly, a long cry that pierced heaven and earth rang out from the tranquil sea area where the island was located, soaring straight into the clouds.

The next moment, a figure glowing with blue light shot up from the island, racing back and forth through the air like a swimming dragon.

The cry was like towering waves, each wave grander and higher than the last, filled with unrestrained joy.

For a time, within a thousand miles centered on the island, the void hummed and trembled, the sea surface stirred up waves, and the white clouds in midair were visibly shaken back.

After a while, the long cry ceased, and the blue figure in midair also stopped, revealing Han Li's form.

At this moment, his entire body was wrapped in a crystalline blue light membrane, thick and almost solid.

This membrane adhered to the surface of his skin, quite similar to the True Extremity Membrane he had condensed after cultivating the True Extremity Body back then.

But now, it seemed more appropriate to call it True Extremity Armor rather than True Extremity Membrane.

Streams of intelligent blue light flowed continuously over the membrane, faintly revealing the appearance of countless twinkling stars, appearing mysterious beyond compare.

Additionally, on Han Li's chest and abdomen, eighteen blue light points shimmered, reflecting each other.

After five years of arduous cultivation, he had finally fully mastered the first half of the Great Cycle Star Origin Art.

To be honest, completing this art so quickly was somewhat unexpected for him.

Based on previous circumstances, he had originally thought that cultivating this art would take a considerable amount of time, at least several decades. Yet once he began practicing, he found that what he had assumed would be bottlenecks were broken through as naturally as water flowing, and he easily cultivated each hidden aperture one by one.

The positions of these hidden apertures coincided exactly with the immortal apertures he had already opened.

Thinking back afterward, it was probably because he had already opened the immortal apertures that cultivating the hidden apertures was unexpectedly easy, allowing him to master the Great Cycle Star Origin Art in such a short time.

As a result, Han Li, who had originally worried about having an insufficient number of Star Stones, now had some left over.

What was even more encouraging was that the immortal apertures coinciding with these hidden apertures had also been significantly enlarged and strengthened.

Just then, Han Li let out a low shout and punched toward the sea surface below.

Boom!

A tremendous fist force howled out and struck the sea surface.

The sea surface was blasted into a pitch-black hole in the shape of a fist, with the surrounding seawater automatically retreating to avoid it.

The fist force did not stop; after piercing the sea surface, it struck directly into the seabed.

Rumble!

The seabed shook violently, and a bottomless hole was blasted open, pitch-black and of unknown depth, with faint red light visible at the deepest part.

Han Li's punched fist suddenly opened, then transformed into a palm blade, which he slashed through the air with lightning speed.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The seawater parted again, cleaving a huge dry path.

The seabed was also struck by the force, and with a rumbling roar, a massive deep scar was carved into it, also pitch-black and bottomless.

Seeing this, Han Li slowly withdrew his hand and nodded with satisfaction.

This Great Cycle Star Origin Art was indeed remarkable. Although he had only cultivated half of it, his already formidable physical strength had greatly increased.

He had just used less than thirty percent of his strength; if he had exerted full force, the seabed would probably have been pierced through by now.

Han Li withdrew his hand seals, and the blue light on his body dissipated, along with the True Extremity Membrane on his skin.

Then, his form flickered as he flew toward the island and soon landed on the stone platform.

Han Li waved his hand, sending out a stream of green light that enveloped the entire stone platform.

With a muffled rumble, the stone platform detached from the peak, but was not damaged itself.

He chanted incantations, and as the green light flashed, the stone platform rapidly shrank and was put away.

Although the Great Cycle Star Origin Art had been mastered, he had spent a great deal of effort refining this stone platform, so he naturally could not discard it casually; it might be useful later.

After doing this, Han Li turned and flew toward his cave abode, soon arriving at the bedroom.

At this moment, he appeared somewhat fatigued.

During this period, he had been cultivating the Great Cycle Star Origin Art at night and recovering from cultivation injuries during the day, and had not had proper rest for a long time.

Fortunately, the cultivation had been quite effective, which slightly relaxed his previously tense nerves. As a result, a wave of exhaustion surged over him like an avalanche.

Thinking this, Han Li fell straight onto the bed and began to snore loudly.

After a day and a night, he woke up, refreshed and energetic, and walked out of the bedroom.

Han Li first checked the general condition of the medicine garden. Seeing that all the spiritual herbs were growing well and there was nothing unusual.

Following Han Li's instructions, the giant ape puppet had used most of the green liquid on the mother bean, which had now grown considerably. It seemed it would not be long before it could be harvested.

As thoughts turned in his mind, Han Li made a round of the cave abode, then sat down in the secret chamber to begin planning his next cultivation steps.

At present, he had basically completed everything he needed to do. Next, he needed to find the Divine Refining Art and break through to the Golden Immortal realm.

However, he was currently deep in the Black Wind Sea, and it was not easy to either find the latter half of the Divine Refining Art or gather methods for breaking through to the Golden Immortal realm.

As these thoughts turned in his mind, Han Li could not help but consider leaving the Black Wind Sea.

Now that several hundred years had passed, the Northern Frost Immortal Palace's pursuit of him had likely eased considerably. Moreover, his strength had greatly improved compared to when he fought Tao Yu back then.

With his current strength, even if the Crab Immortal did not act, he was confident he could handle Tao Yu.

Once this thought appeared, it swelled uncontrollably in his mind.

These years of seclusion and bitter cultivation in the Black Wind Sea, though yielding great progress, had also been extremely stifling.

After careful consideration, Han Li shook his head and temporarily suppressed the urge to leave, deciding to wait and see for a while, at least until he had investigated the situation outside.

He flipped his hand and took out the Wuchang Alliance mask, summoned the task interface, and routinely checked the tasks he had previously posted.

Upon looking, Han Li's eyes lit up, and a rare look of great joy appeared on his face.

Someone had actually responded to his task of finding the Divine Refining Art.

Han Li immediately formed a hand seal and pointed. A green light emerged from the text of the posted task, flickering unsteadily.

After about a quarter of an hour, the task interface rippled slightly, and a stream of green light shot out, condensing into a gray figure.

This person was wrapped in a gray cloak and wore a green cat-face mask inscribed with the number 'Sixteen'.

A sharp gaze shot out from behind the mask, seemingly appraising Han Li.

After looking for a while, the person withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

“Greetings, fellow Daoist,” Han Li said, cupping his hand in salute.

“No need for formalities,” the gray figure replied indifferently, his voice somewhat hoarse.

“Since you have accepted my task, you must understand what I want, right?” Han Li probed.

“No need to hide it, fellow Daoist. Tasks like this often involve shady dealings in the Wuchang Alliance. What you want is the latter half of the Divine Refining Art, isn’t it?” the gray figure said with a light laugh.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, then also laughed, saying, “Since you are so straightforward, I will be direct. Do you have the subsequent cultivation method?”

“Since I dared to accept your task, of course I do,” the gray figure said flatly.

“Can we conduct the transaction today? As for the reward, rest assured, I will not disappoint you,” Han Li said immediately.

“Heh, the reward you offer is indeed generous, but the latter half of the Divine Refining Art is extremely precious. To think you could exchange it for these things is far too naive,” the gray figure said with a light laugh.

Han Li frowned at this, and after a moment of silence, said, “What do you mean by that?”

“If you truly want to obtain the Divine Refining Art, come to this place one month from now, and we will discuss it face to face,” the gray figure said with another laugh, naming a location.

Then, without waiting for Han Li to reply, he raised a hand and terminated the communication.

With a flash of gray light, the figure vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned deeply and slowly removed the mask.

After a moment, he flipped his hand and took out a jade slip containing a map of the Black Wind Sea, his gaze falling on a border area.

That was the place the gray figure had mentioned, a true frontier region of the Black Wind Sea.

Han Li stared at the jade slip map in silence, his eyes flickering continuously, lost in thought.

After sitting for a full half day, he suddenly raised his head, his gaze firm, as if he had made a decision.

He put away the jade slip map, stood up, and walked outside, soon arriving at the medicine garden.

Han Li slowly swept his gaze over the garden, then suddenly raised a hand. As his hand seals changed, streams of green light shot out.

The restrictions in various parts of the garden flashed once, then disintegrated with a rumble. One by one, formation flags, formation plates, and other items flew out from all over the garden and returned to his hand.

In an instant, all the restrictions in the garden disappeared.

Han Li’s movements did not stop. He sent out streams of green light, collecting the spiritual herbs from all over the garden along with the spiritual soil beneath them.

The mother bean was also collected in the same way.

Soon, the once vast medicine garden became empty.

After collecting the spiritual herbs from the garden, he turned and walked elsewhere, packing up everything in the cave abode.