Chapter 383: Departure

As the black clouds spun faster and faster, black lightning bolts crackled deep within the central vortex, hissing and popping, looking terrifying beyond compare.

“Boom!”

With a sudden, deafening roar, a thick black pillar of light crashed down from the center of the vortex, heading straight for Han Li’s secluded cave.

At that moment, a gray light blazed above Han Li’s cave, intertwining and weaving together to instantly form the phantom of a gray mountain peak.

No sooner had the mountain phantom formed than the black pillar of light slammed into it with tremendous force. Amid a thunderous, earth-shaking roar, the pillar pierced straight through the phantom and continued its descent into the cave below.

A cataclysmic explosion erupted, causing the entire secret realm to tremble violently. The void quaked, and countless cracks appeared all over the mountain peaks, with large and small stones raining down like a storm.

After the black pillar of light struck, the black clouds in the sky rapidly shrank and dissipated.

In just a few breaths, all the black clouds vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed, and the secret realm returned to its former clarity.

The enormous golden light array that covered the entire secret realm also ceased its trembling as the black clouds disappeared, its surface light gradually dimming.

Seeing this, Jiao San formed a hand seal and waved his hand, causing the golden pillar of light rising from his body to dissipate as well.

A trace of anxiety flickered in his eyes. Without waiting for the golden light on his body to fully fade, he flew toward Han Li’s cave.

The scar-faced man was about to fly over as well, but then his brow twitched as he remembered something, and he halted.

With a “whoosh,”

Jiao San’s figure appeared at the entrance of Han Li’s cave, peering inside.

Han Li’s cave was now shrouded in a myriad of lights, flickering with spiritual radiance. From the outside, nothing could be seen inside, and even divine sense could not penetrate it.

Though anxious, Jiao San did not force his way in.

The various lights swirled and churned for a full quarter of an hour before slowly dissipating, revealing the cave’s entrance, which now stood wide open.

“Brother Jiao San, please come in.” Han Li’s voice suddenly came from within the cave.

Hearing Han Li’s calm voice, Jiao San felt slightly relieved and immediately stepped inside.

Han Li was standing in the main hall of the cave, his face slightly pale, appearing somewhat out of breath.

On the table before him lay a black jade box. Though the lid was tightly sealed, faint fluctuations of law power emanated from within.

Once Jiao San’s gaze shifted from Han Li to the jade box, he could not look away.

“Brother Jiao San, what you want is inside.” Han Li smiled faintly and made a gesture of invitation.

Jiao San nodded slightly. With a single motion, he drew the jade box into his hand. Taking a deep breath, he carefully opened the lid with his other hand.

Inside the jade box lay a black pill, the size of a dragon’s eye, emitting a crystalline black light. A dark law pattern stretched across the pill, radiating intense law fluctuations.

“Void Essence Pill!” Jiao San’s eyes lit up, and he murmured to himself, his tone somewhat excited.

Han Li, on the other hand, smiled faintly and sat down.

“Good! Brother Long Wu is indeed a man of his word, having refined the Void Essence Pill on schedule.” Jiao San closed the lid, put the box away, and looked up at Han Li.

“I am fortunate to have fulfilled my mission. My refining technique for this Void Essence Pill is still unskilled; I used up all the materials and only managed to refine this single pill by luck.” Han Li shook his head, seemingly dissatisfied with his alchemy results.

“A few materials are nothing. As long as the Void Essence Pill was successfully refined, that’s what matters.” Jiao San waved his hand and put away the jade box.

“Thank you for your understanding, Brother.” Han Li cupped his hands in gratitude.

“Judging by your appearance, you have suffered a considerable loss of vitality. Here is a bottle of Heavenly Essence Pills, which are very effective for restoring vitality. If you don’t mind, please accept them as a small token of my appreciation.” Jiao San’s gaze swept over Han Li’s pale face, then he took out a red jade bottle and handed it over.

“In that case, I will not stand on ceremony. Thank you very much.” Han Li took the bottle, swept it with his divine sense, and nodded in thanks.

Inside the bottle were several crimson pills, each enveloped in a dense red halo, faintly emitting astonishing spiritual power fluctuations, clearly of considerable value.

“You’re welcome. Brother Long Wu has done me a great favor this time. If anyone should be thanking, it is I. In fact, this can be considered a test before your formal admission to the Reincarnation Hall. Congratulations on officially joining the Reincarnation Hall.” Jiao San chuckled, then took out a red jade token. With a flick, a red light shot out and merged into the mask on Han Li’s face.

Light flashed on Han Li’s mask, projecting a beam of white light that condensed into the phantom of the Earth List.

The contribution points below had increased by sixty points.

"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Jiao San. I have completed this task. As previously agreed, I should be free to move about for the next thousand years, correct?" Han Li's heart rejoiced, but he asked further.

"Of course. But I wonder what Fellow Daoist Long Wu plans to do next?" Jiao San's eyes flickered as he asked.

"Having just obtained the Divine Refining Art incantation, I naturally plan to return to my cave dwelling to ponder it carefully and begin cultivation," Han Li said frankly.

"Since Fellow Daoist Long Wu insists on leaving, I won't stop you. This place is a secret stronghold of our Reincarnation Hall, absolutely safe. If you are discovered outside, you can come here for refuge at any time. Here is a token for entry and exit." Jiao San nodded, then took out a black token and handed it to Han Li.

"That said, I don't think I have the ability to cross the Desolate Gale alone, let alone seek refuge here," Han Li said with a wry smile as he took the token.

"Hehe, my oversight. This is a Wind-Calming Pearl, a small gift from me to help you cross the Desolate Gale and travel safely to and from the Black Wind Sea. And this is my personal communication array plate. If you have any questions, Fellow Daoist Long Wu, you can contact me directly. If it's within my power, I will not refuse." Jiao San chuckled, took out a black pearl and a black array plate, and handed them over.

Han Li raised an eyebrow. The pearl was exactly the same as the black pearl Li Shiliu had earlier, emitting an identical aura, clearly a treasure uniformly refined by the Reincarnation Hall.

The black array plate emitted rings of black light, with countless black runes flowing on it like myriad stars, also appearing quite extraordinary.

"Then many thanks." Han Li unceremoniously put away the two items and nodded in thanks.

Moments later, a beam of green light flew out from the secret realm and headed outward.

In front of the secret realm, black light flickered in the void, and a spatial exit appeared. The green遁光 flashed and flew into it, vanishing without a trace.

Jiao San stood on the black mountain peak, quietly watching all this, his eyes flickering as if lost in thought.

Just then, the void behind him shimmered, and the scar-faced man's figure materialized.

"You don't plan to bring this person along for this entry into the Immortal Mansion? He can refine Void Origin Pills, which might be useful," the scar-faced man glanced at Jiao San and asked.

"This man has only recently become a Child of Reincarnation; his reliability is not yet assured. This mission is of great importance; it's better to be cautious," Jiao San said indifferently.

"Now that we have the Void Origin Pill, but the hall is short-handed. Bai Lian's whereabouts are unknown, and Hu Yan the Daoist is also missing. There is no one left who can face Xiao Jinhan head-on," the scar-faced man said thoughtfully.

"As far as I know, Bai Lian should not be dead. Now that the Minghan Immortal Mansion is about to appear, if he still wants to break through to Taiyi, he should show up. As for Xiao Jinhan, we should avoid direct confrontation and let the Cangliu Palace and Fuling Sect handle him," Jiao San said.

"By the way, news just came that a strange person has appeared near Red Moon Island," the scar-faced man suddenly recalled something and said.

"Oh? Who is it?" Jiao San asked.

"A silver-robed woman who drives a golden beetle. Her origin is unknown, but her cultivation should be at the Golden Immortal stage," the scar-faced man said thoughtfully.

"A silver-robed woman, a golden beetle... As far as I know, none of the three major sects have such a person. Since she appears near Red Moon Island, she likely has designs on the Minghan Immortal Mansion," Jiao San murmured to himself.

"To be safe, I have sent people to follow her. One person alone shouldn't cause much trouble. Since we have the Void Origin Pill, everything can proceed as planned. I need to go prepare as well," the scar-faced man changed the subject.

With that, before Jiao San could respond, black light surged from his body, and he merged into the void, vanishing silently.

Jiao San did not linger either. His body rose in a beam of light and flew toward the depths of the secret realm.

...

Meanwhile, Han Li had already left the secret realm, greeted by the endless Desolate Gale all around.

He did not immediately activate the Wind-Calming Pearl. Instead, he raised a hand and condensed a green light mass outside his body, enveloping himself to block the endless阴风.

Although the阴风 was blocked, the soul-rending ghostly wails within the wind still seeped through.

Han Li stood with his hands behind his back, quietly listening to the howling outside for a moment, then nodded slightly.

At this moment, his divine sense was perfectly stable, completely unaffected by the external sounds. It seemed the隐患 in his divine sense had indeed been fully dispelled.

The next moment, Han Li waved a hand, and a gray mountain the size of a human head flew out from his sleeve. It spun and hovered in the void before him—it was the Yuanhe Five Extremes Mountain.

He looked at the gray mountain, swept it with his divine sense, and nodded with satisfaction.

This time, during the refining of the Void Origin Pill, only one pill tribulation was triggered before the pill was completed, and this mountain easily withstood it.

He thus confirmed that this treasure could effectively resist pill tribulations, better than any other immortal artifact.

As for the pale complexion he showed afterward, it was merely feigned to deceive Jiao San.

Moreover, when he told Jiao San that the refining materials were used up, that was not true either.

In his storage bracelet, there were still seven sets of materials left. He planned to find a secluded place later to refine one or two more pills and study them carefully.

He always felt that there seemed to be some relationship between the Void Origin Pill formula and the Dao Pill. If he could figure it out, it might help with future pill refining.