Chapter 813: Sprouting

Two months later.

In a pavilion outside Dongshan City, Han Li and Shi Chuankong sat facing each other on two long benches.

"Brother Shi, I've been thinking these past few days that we'd better not use the teleportation array directly inside Dongshan City," Han Li said thoughtfully.

"Why is that?" Shi Chuankong asked, puzzled.

"We need to avoid appearing multiple times in the same city as much as possible. There's no guarantee there aren't hidden high-level cultivators or spies planted by your eldest brother. So the less we show ourselves, the safer we'll be," Han Li explained.

"Brother Li makes a good point. Although Eldest Brother's intelligence network isn't as extensive as Third Brother's, he's still well-informed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been the first to know when we returned to the Ten Calamities Mountain Range not long ago," Shi Chuankong nodded.

"According to the map you gave me earlier, the nearest city to Dongshan is Lianfeng. Let's fly there first, then without stopping, head straight to Qize City. Once we arrive, we can rest for a while," Han Li said.

"Brother Li, are you trying to disrupt our pace so Eldest Brother can't predict our movements?" Shi Chuankong raised an eyebrow and asked.

"The more confused they are, the safer we are," Han Li nodded.

"Haha, as expected of Brother Li. Without you, I wouldn't have gotten past that Bone Reflection True Person earlier. I was right to trust you! We'll follow your plan again this time," Shi Chuankong laughed.

Having settled the matter, the two of them took off on a flying shuttle, turning into a streak of black light that shot away.

...

Time flew by, and more than ten years passed.

Above a primeval forest shrouded in black mist, a black flying shuttle streaked through.

On the shuttle stood a Confucian scholar in blue robes and a man in green armor—Han Li and Shi Chuankong, who had changed their appearances once again.

"Who would have thought that traveling from one mountain marsh domain to the adjacent Chenqiu domain would take a full ten years," said Shi Chuankong, clad in green armor, as he piloted the shuttle.

"There's no helping it. Teleportation between cities is fast, but when we're not teleporting, we have to fly, which naturally takes time. Add to that the occasional demon beast attacks, and how fast can we go?" Han Li said with a slight frown but a relaxed expression.

"Haha, most demon beasts in the Holy Domain are ferocious by nature and have a strong sense of territory. Once an outsider intrudes, they often fear neither death nor injury and will relentlessly drive the invader out. If we encounter one that's not good at flying, we can just avoid it. But that Bone-Breaking Demon Kite we met earlier, though only at the early Golden Immortal stage, chased us for over three months," Shi Chuankong said with a wry smile.

"If we weren't worried that the commotion from fighting would attract attention, we would have killed that beast long ago. From now on, we need to be more careful and try to avoid the breeding grounds of powerful demon beasts," Han Li said with a smile.

"Not far ahead is Fengqiu City. Once we teleport from there, we'll reach the Kuangjing Domain in the central-western part of the Holy Domain. Most of that area is under my eldest brother's control, so we'll need to be even more cautious," Shi Chuankong said seriously.

"In that case, let's rest for a while in Fengqiu City," Han Li nodded.

"Good idea. Fengqiu is the second-largest city in the Chenqiu domain after the main city. Trade is thriving there, so we can replenish our resources," Shi Chuankong rubbed his hands together.

Having agreed, the two sped up and raced toward Fengqiu City.

After entering the city, they first found an immortal inn and rented two very ordinary, relatively cheap courtyards to stay in. Then they split up and went to several famous immortal merchant streets in the city to buy supplies.

After all, they were in the Demon Domain, and few items sold in the shops were useful to Han Li. Fortunately, he didn't need to buy much—just some array materials with lightning power, like Thunder-Binding Wood.

After finishing one merchant street, he had already gathered most of what he needed.

"Now only the last item, the 'Thunder Dust Pearl,' remains, and it's a bit tricky..." Han Li stood under a tall, ornate circular arch at the end of the street, looking thoughtful and muttering to himself.

With that, he left the street, turned east, and headed to another street.

It wasn't until evening fell that Han Li returned to the inn by beast-drawn carriage.

As soon as he entered the rented small building, he activated all the restrictions and entered the Flower Branch Cave Heaven.

Han Li didn't go to the Lotus Pond Small Courtyard but headed straight to the new bamboo building near the spirit medicine garden.

Crab Daoist was already waiting outside the bamboo building. When he saw Han Li arrive, he stepped forward and asked:

"How is it? Have you gathered everything?"

"Except for the Thunder Dust Pearl, I've found everything else," Han Li sighed.

"It's indeed difficult to find so many immortal realm items in the Demon Domain. But the Thunder Dust Pearl is essential for activating and replenishing the lightning power of the bean soldiers. Without it, the Dao soldiers' combat power won't improve much," Crab Daoist said regretfully.

"Is the Thunder Dust Pearl only used for that?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

"That's its main function. The rest are minor details that can be ignored," Crab Daoist said.

"Oh, if that's the case, I don't think we need the Thunder Dust Pearl," Han Li suddenly laughed.

"No need? Why is that!" Crab Daoist asked, puzzled.

Han Li smiled without speaking. He turned his hand over and produced the Xuantian Gourd. He gently tapped the bottom of the gourd.

A beam of purple-gold light shot out, turning into a golden bean that landed in front of Crab Daoist.

Crab Daoist frowned slightly, raised his hand, and pinched the bean. Immediately, he felt a powerful electric current flow through his body.

With a slight thought, he increased the pressure on the bean, and a loud crackling sound erupted.

A massive flash of purple and gold lightning, like two huge lightning wings, burst forth from the tiny bean between his fingers, releasing an immensely powerful force.

"How is this possible? Thunder Marsh Rest Soil alone couldn't produce bean soldiers with such strong lightning. Fellow Daoist Han, what's going on?" Crab Daoist asked in surprise.

"Earlier, I absorbed all the beans into the Xuantian Gourd, hoping to improve their quality using the gourd's special abilities. Unexpectedly, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords stored inside the gourd sensed the bean soldiers entering and began to resonate with the lightning law power they carried, transferring some of their own lightning power to the beans. After ten years of accumulation, this is the result," Han Li explained.

"Such a fortunate turn of events! It's like divine aid. With this, we truly don't need the Thunder Dust Pearl," Crab Daoist laughed.

"It's not entirely good news. The slow loss of lightning power has caused some problems with the refinement of my Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, making it much slower than before," Han Li shook his head.

"Fellow Daoist Han, don't be ungrateful. Your Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords contain lightning law power, first fused with Evil-Cleansing Divine Lightning and then with Bone-Washing Golden Lightning—both are the most supreme yang lightning in the world. The Dao soldiers only absorbed a little, yet their power increased greatly. In the future, if you encounter large-scale attacks by yin and ghostly entities, these Dao soldiers will truly shine," Crab Daoist said, with a rare hint of teasing in his tone.

Han Li thought to himself that if he used such Dao soldiers to set up formations, their power would be even greater. He couldn't help but smile.

"Since everything is ready, I'll begin refining the Dao soldiers," Crab Daoist said.

"What do you need me to do?" Han Li asked.

"Not for now. The initial refinement of this batch of Dao soldiers will take at least three years. I can handle it alone during that time. However, when it comes to inscribing the runes later, it will require powerful divine sense, so you'll have to do it yourself," Crab Daoist said after thinking for a moment.

"Then I'll leave it to you," Han Li said sincerely.

With that, he took the gourd he had used to store the bean soldiers from Crab Daoist, poured out all the beans stored in the Xuantian Gourd, and put them into the gourd.

Crab Daoist took the gourd back from Han Li, shook it gently, and nodded with satisfaction upon hearing the rustling sound inside.

Just as he was about to turn and go up to the second floor of the bamboo building, he seemed to remember something and stopped, turning to Han Li:

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Han, a few days ago I noticed that the tree root in the spirit medicine garden seems to have sprouted."

"Tree root?"

Han Li was momentarily stunned, then suddenly understood. He quickly ran into the spirit medicine garden.

In a clearing deep inside the garden, Han Li saw a withered tree root protruding no more than three feet from the ground. From it, a tender green sprout as thick as a finger had emerged, with two leaf blades unfurling.

Under the sky's light, the extremely fine veins on the leaves were as clear as human blood vessels. They looked soft and fragile, yet they exuded a stubborn vitality reaching toward the sun and sky.

Han Li walked over, crouched down, and carefully examined the small sprout before him. A hint of a smile appeared in his eyes:

"You little one, after consuming so much green liquid from my small bottle, you've finally decided to sprout and be reborn?"

The small sprout before him was none other than the remnant root of the Two-Life Tree he had obtained from the ruins of the True Word Sect.

Han Li gently reached out his hand, wanting to lightly touch the leaf blades of the sprout.

But as soon as his hand extended, the two leaf blades suddenly swayed gently and moved closer to his finger.

Han Li frowned and immediately released his divine sense to investigate. He discovered that the leaf blades had sensed the time law power within his body and responded by moving toward him.

His finger touched the leaf blades of the Two-Life Tree. Han Li gently stroked them twice, but no unusual phenomena occurred.

He raised his hand, took out the dark green small bottle from his chest, opened it, and dripped the newly condensed drop of green liquid directly onto the two leaf blades.