Chapter 42: Lost and Found

In the alchemy chamber of the cave dwelling.

Han Li opened the lid of the Heaven's Bottle, placed it on the open ground beside the furnace, then stepped back a few paces, raised his hand to cast a spell, activating the formation beneath the furnace, causing flames to surge within.

After a moment, he took a deep breath, extended a pale finger, and gently beckoned toward the furnace.

With a whoosh, a ball of crimson flame flew out from beneath the furnace, spun in midair, and transformed into a slender thread of fire like a small snake. Under his control, it shot into the nearby dark green bottle.

The small bottle immediately flashed with red light, its jade-like walls becoming translucent, leaf-like patterns revealing specks of dark red that flickered as if alive.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and stood still for a long while.

After a moment, the red light within the bottle suddenly converged and disappeared.

The dark green bottle returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

But Han Li fixed his gaze on the bottle, staring unblinkingly, as if waiting for something.

Time passed bit by bit. After about a quarter of an hour, he raised his hand again, drawing a slightly larger flame from the furnace and sending it into the bottle.

As before, the bottle flashed red and then fell silent.

But this time, the flash seemed to last a bit longer than before.

Seeing this, Han Li wore a contemplative expression.

In the following time, he repeated the process, continuously drawing furnace flames into the bottle, with intervals growing shorter.

As he expected, the duration of the red flash in the bottle grew longer.

After who knows how long, when Han Li drew another flame into the bottle and it flashed red, the flash lasted a full quarter of an hour without any sign of stopping.

Han Li's eyes brightened slightly.

At that moment, a clear chirp sounded from within the bottle, and strands of silver light began to emerge, visibly devouring all the red light.

The next moment, with a swoosh, a dazzling ball of silver light shot out from the bottle's mouth, straight toward the ceiling of the chamber.

With a dull thud,

the silver light struck the ceiling, dropped slightly, and its radiance filled the entire alchemy chamber, illuminating the room.

Han Li looked up at the silver light, a blue gleam flashing in his pupils, a mix of surprise and joy on his face, but then he frowned slightly.

The silver light spun in midair a few times, then contracted and transformed into a small silver firebird. Spreading its wings, it dove straight toward him.

Han Li raised a hand, and the silver firebird stopped nimbly half a foot from his palm. Then, spreading its wings, it circled around his raised index finger, chirping happily as if delighted.

This firebird was none other than the Essence Flame Firebird, born from the Essence Flame after it gained a spark of intelligence.

Thinking back, in the human world, he had cultivated the Purple Luo Extreme Flame from the Dry Blue Ice Flame and the cold air emitted by the Six-Winged Frost Centipede, then merged it into the Lunar True Flame. Later, in the spirit realm, he had the Lunar True Flame devour many other flames, finally forming this wisp of Essence Flame.

This flame could naturally devour various spirit flames and was extremely effective against fire-attributed spirit beasts. It had been one of his key aids in roaming the spirit realm.

Han Li sighed softly, setting aside his turbulent thoughts. He raised his arm slightly, and the firebird obediently folded its wings and landed on his palm.

For some reason, since waking up, he had been unable to sense this flame. He had thought it was lost, but it had not been lost; instead, it had been sleeping in his Heaven's Bottle.

Just now in the chamber, his spiritual sense had suddenly detected a faint connection with this flame, prompting him to rush to the alchemy chamber and try to awaken the firebird using furnace flames. Unexpectedly, he succeeded in one go.

He looked at the silver firebird hopping in his palm, his face flickering with uncertainty under the silver light.

The bird was now less than three inches tall, its firepower weak, its might at least ten times less than before.

This added to the anger he had been suppressing, with no outlet.

Needless to say, the bird's current state was definitely related to the loss of his cultivation and memories.

Han Li silently vowed that no matter who had reduced him to this state, he would make them pay back every bit.

After a moment, he composed himself, his expression gradually calming. With a sweep of his sleeve, a green glow rolled up and absorbed the silver firebird into his body, disappearing from sight.

The bird would likely need to be nurtured inside his body for a while to recover some of its vitality.

About the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Han Li left the cave dwelling again and arrived at a corner northwest of the spirit field.

He released his spiritual sense to scan the surroundings, and after confirming nothing was amiss, he raised his hand and flicked his wrist several times. One by one, small triangular flags flew out, marking a circular area of moderate size on the field.

Then, chanting a low incantation and forming a hand seal, a faint purple light flashed on the ring of triangular flags, forming a blurry light barrier that enveloped the area within.

After doing all this, he stepped into the area. The purple light on the barrier vanished, blending into the night and concealing itself.

If any outsider passed near the cave dwelling at this moment, unless their cultivation reached the Nascent Soul stage, they would not notice anything unusual. If a cultivator above the Nascent Soul stage approached, he would detect them immediately and respond in time.

Inside the light barrier, Han Li waved his hand, and more than twenty exquisite wooden boxes appeared, floating before him.

He raised his hand casually, and the lids of the boxes flipped open, releasing a medicinal fragrance.

Dozens of white spirit herbs with plump roots and intact forms flew out from the boxes one by one, falling to the ground and taking root.

These spirit herbs, resembling ordinary ginseng, were century-old Cloud Crane Grass.

Over the past few days, he had made several trips to Tongyi Valley during the day, buying up almost all the available grass there.

To avoid attracting attention, he had deliberately concealed his cultivation and changed his appearance.

Han Li glanced at the white spirit herbs on the ground, then took out the dark green bottle again from his bosom.

He took a deep breath, opened the lid, shook it gently, then tilted the bottle over the Cloud Crane Grass below.

The drop of green liquid slowly slid out from the bottle mouth and dripped onto the spirit herbs.

Watching the green liquid slowly seep into the roots of the herbs, Han Li curled his lips slightly, revealing a hint of a smile, then turned and walked out of the light barrier.