Chapter 812: Cultivation and Refinement

The Mountain Swamp Domain was located in the southern region of the entire Demon Domain, adjacent to the Southern Wilderness Domain, and was a vast area of many mountains and swamps.

Dongshan City was an unremarkable border town within the Mountain Swamp Domain, standing at the foot of a mountain called Dongwang Mountain, west of a vast marsh called Feng Lake that spanned a thousand li in circumference. With the mountain at its back and the water before it, the scenery was quite unique.

Every morning, as the rising sun first appeared over Feng Lake, billowing demonic qi would rise along with it, and the golden light of the morning sun would float atop the thick black demonic qi, ascending together until they reached the level of Dongshan City’s tower—a peculiar spectacle.

Dongwang Mountain, though only a thousand zhang tall, offered an excellent view, making it the best spot to observe the strange sight of golden light and demonic qi.

Many demonic cultivators, by witnessing this scene, could cause their own demonic qi to resonate with it, thereby promoting their cultivation to a certain extent. Thus, almost every morning, a large number of low-level demonic cultivators gathered at the mountaintop.

On this day, just after the strange phenomenon over the great marsh had disappeared, the cultivators on Dongwang Mountain’s summit began to fly away one after another.

An old man with a hunched back, clad in a gray robe, and a tall young man with a dull expression walked one behind the other along the stone steps from the mountaintop, slowly heading toward the mountainside.

The tall young man appeared dull and foolish, but in truth, his eyes held a restrained, clear, and extremely pure light.

"Brother Shi, why did you specifically come to see this demonic qi spectacle? With your current cultivation level, you shouldn't care about such minor cultivation benefits, should you?" He looked at the hunched old man walking ahead with his hands behind his back and asked.

"Brother Li, you're overthinking it. I've just been feeling really down lately, hiding and dodging all the time. Knowing there was such a sight here, I thought I'd come take a look, just to relax a bit." The hunched old man stopped and turned back to reply.

The two were none other than Shi Chuankong and Han Li, disguised as they were.

"Actually, I've been wondering all this time why Tian Yue Hou let us off and warned us not to go to Chuyu City," Han Li, transformed into the tall young man, asked.

"To be honest, I don't know either. I was almost ready to fight it out back then... Maybe it has something to do with my third brother. I'm well aware that my own standing alone would never be enough to make him do that," Shi Chuankong shook his head and said.

"It must have been hard for him, having to pretend to attack us while secretly letting us go, and even sacrificing a teleportation hall. That's no small loss," Han Li said with a smile.

"But his warning made me realize one thing: not only can we not go to Chuyu City, but we also can't go to any other city that has a teleportation array directly to Yeyang City," Shi Chuankong suddenly said seriously.

"That's right. Everyone thinks we're in a hurry to return to Yeyang City, so they'll surely set traps in those cities. If we show up, we'll definitely be spotted. And if another Great Luo cultivator comes after us, we really won't be able to handle it," Han Li nodded and said.

"So precisely at this moment, we can't afford to be impatient. We'll have to rely on the teleportation arrays between domains, one transmission at a time, to gradually approach Yeyang City," Shi Chuankong said with a bitter smile.

"This way, although it will certainly take more time, it also has many advantages. After all, there are many cities between domains, and the teleportation routes between them offer too many choices. No one can predict which city we'll use to teleport, which greatly protects our safety," Han Li said thoughtfully and slowly.

"But the matter I promised you earlier, Brother Li, will have to be postponed. Your return to the Immortal Realm will also be delayed," Shi Chuankong said with a hint of guilt.

"That's fine. If possible, let's stay a bit longer on Dongwang Mountain. I have some things to take care of. After that, we can set off again, how about that?" Han Li waved his hand, hesitated briefly, and then spoke again.

"Of course. We'll wait until you finish your business before we leave," Shi Chuankong said with a smile.

The two chatted as they walked, following the winding mountain path downward, and soon arrived at a hidden cliff on the mountainside.

As they approached, Shi Chuankong raised his hand and waved, and a spatial barrier slowly withdrew, revealing two newly excavated cave dwellings adjacent to each other.

They exchanged farewells and each returned to their own cave dwelling.

Entering his cave, Han Li casually waved his hand, and a silver light door appeared. He stepped inside and found himself at the gate of the Spirit Medicine Garden.

Crab Daoist was already waiting at the entrance. Seeing Han Li approach, he quickly came forward to meet him.

"Fellow Daoist Han, this batch of Dao soldiers in the garden has matured. I've temporarily suppressed them with a formation, waiting for you to handle them," Crab Daoist said.

"Thank you for your trouble." Han Li clasped his hands slightly and quickly walked into the garden.

The two passed through the ridges of the medicine garden and soon arrived at the area where the Dao soldiers were planted. From afar, they could hear the muffled crackling of suppressed lightning.

As they drew closer, Han Li saw that the area originally laid with Thunder Swamp Earth had become almost dry. The muddy purple swamp had nearly dried up, with large patches of the ground forming plate-like dry clods, the lightning power within them exhausted.

In stark contrast, the Dao Soldier Tree standing there was enveloped in a layer of purple radiance. On its branches hung dense, plump pods, with extremely fine purple electric threads leaping back and forth, crackling and popping.

Compared to the previous batch of Dao soldiers, the number of pods on the tree was noticeably greater, and the aura within them was also significantly stronger.

This scene delighted Han Li.

Last time in the Ten Plague Mountains, all his Dao soldiers had been consumed to protect him during his meditation; this time, he could just replenish them.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, remove the formation. It's time to harvest." Han Li took a deep breath and said with a smile.

Crab Daoist nodded, then formed a hand seal and waved it forward.

Golden light flashed on the ground around the Dao Soldier Tree, and seven or eight golden formation plates burst out of the earth, flying back into Crab Daoist's hands.

A transparent light screen then vanished from the tree's trunk. The previously faint thunderclaps suddenly swelled into rumbling roars, and a dazzling purple light began to expand in all directions.

Seeing this, Han Li was slightly surprised. He waved his hand, and a green light flew out, condensing into a light screen around the Dao Soldier Tree to block the spread of the purple lightning, preventing it from damaging the other spirit herbs in the medicine garden.

Amid the thunderous sounds, the Dao Soldier Tree withered at a visible speed, its energy dispersing into all the beans.

With a series of crackling sounds, the expanding purple lightning burst apart, and golden beans shot out in all directions, each inscribed with purple lightning patterns, scattering like heavenly maidens scattering flowers.

Seeing this, Han Li flipped his hand, and the emerald Xuan Tian Calabash appeared.

He tilted the calabash's mouth, tapped its bottom, and a green vortex lit up at the opening. The countless beans were drawn in by the vortex's attraction, flying into the calabash.

The explosions in the spirit medicine garden continued for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn before finally falling silent.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had collected thousands of beans into the Xuan Tian Calabash.

He shook the calabash in one hand, while pinching a golden mother bean the size of a broad bean in the other, a hint of regret in his eyes—this time, the Dao Soldier Tree had only produced one mother bean.

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

"Sizzle—"

The purple lightning patterns on the mother bean flashed brightly, and a large swath of purple lightning burst forth, numbing his entire arm.

"This purple lightning is not weak in power, and it seems to retain some of the sticky properties of the Thunder Swamp Earth," Crab Daoist remarked, frowning slightly as he watched.

"Indeed. I wonder if this property can be better utilized after refining them into Dao soldiers," Han Li said.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I happen to know a 'Purple Extreme Trap Thunder Formation' that might be more suitable for these Dao soldiers than the 'Inscribed Thunder Locking Element Formation.' If you trust me, you could leave the refining of these Dao soldiers to me," Crab Daoist said after a slight hesitation.

"Why wouldn't I trust you? After I nurture them in the Xuan Tian Calabash for a while, I'll hand them over to you for refining. Just list the materials needed for the formation," Han Li said with a smile.

Crab Daoist said nothing more, only clasped his hands in salute to Han Li.

"By the way, if you remember anything else about your master, let me know. Since your master was once from the Demon Domain, and we are now in the Demon Domain, we might be able to resolve it all at once," Han Li added.

"I have been trying to recall these days, but there has been no progress," Crab Daoist shook his head helplessly.

"No matter. Barring any accidents, we will be staying in the Demon Domain for some time," Han Li nodded.

After chatting for a while longer, Han Li left the spirit medicine garden and went to the pond and bamboo building.

Han Li ascended to the second floor. On the bed in the bedroom, the Soul-Devouring Beast still lay asleep.

The Purple Sun Warm Jade suspended above its head had been mostly consumed, now only the size of a thumb remained.

Knowing it would be of little use, Han Li silently took out another piece of mid-grade Purple Sun Warm Jade, gently lifted it, and placed it above the Soul-Devouring Beast's head.

Fortunately, although the Soul-Devouring Beast had not woken, the fluctuations of its aura grew increasingly stable, which reassured Han Li somewhat. However, he was at a loss regarding its current condition, hoping only that things would be resolved smoothly upon reaching Ye Yang City.

But reaching Ye Yang City was still a long and arduous journey.

Earlier, those who had made a move on Shi Chuankong included not only his eldest brother, Shi Zhanfeng, but also his fifth sister, Shi Jingyan. Who knew if others would follow? The journey to Ye Yang City was bound to be fraught with turmoil.

Thinking of this, Han Li's brow furrowed deeply.