Chapter 814: The Mountain Wild Town

The green liquid transformed into a jade-like green bead, slowly sliding down along the veins on the leaf surface, eventually gathering at the root stem, and then gradually seeping into it.

Han Li straightened up and put away the small green bottle. The slightly curled leaf blades also returned to their original state as Han Li moved away.

The entire tender green tree sprout showed no change, except that occasionally a gentle breeze would pass by, causing the two leaf blades to tremble slightly, as if nothing had happened before.

Han Li was not anxious either. His eyes stared fixedly at this small tree sprout, his gaze flickering slightly, as if lost in thought.

Time passed bit by bit. Han Li's expression remained unchanged, always maintaining a calm demeanor.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li's expression shifted slightly.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared on the leaf surface, illuminating a strange pattern. Then it gradually spread, covering the entire tree sprout in the blink of an eye.

This pattern was different from the veins of the tender leaves, yet it looked somewhat familiar.

After watching for a long while, Han Li suddenly clapped his hands and murmured to himself, "Why is it so similar to the Dao patterns of time?"

But this pattern only lasted for a few breaths, and soon the pattern on the leaf surface disappeared.

However, Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed, his gaze flickering as if pondering something.

This Dual-Life Tree was planted by Mu Yan, the senior disciple of the True Words Sect's Patriarch Mi Luo. Could it be that when he cultivated it, he also used some method to imbue this tree with the power of time laws? Or is it that this Dual-Life Tree itself is an object containing time laws?

And what about the matter of using this tree to survive the Calamity of Baleful Aura?

Or is it just a false rumor spread by hearsay?

After pondering for a long time, Han Li ultimately could not reach a definite conclusion and had to shake his head and give up.

Regardless, the fact that the remnant root of the Dual-Life Tree had sprouted and revived was a good thing after all.

In the time that followed, Han Li stayed in the garden for another half day, checking the growth of many other spirit herbs before leaving the spirit herb garden. After stepping through the silver light gate, he returned directly to the bamboo building by the pond.

The Soul-Devouring Beast had been in a deep slumber for a long time, showing no signs of waking. So he did not go upstairs again but sat down cross-legged on the first floor.

After sitting quietly and regulating his breath for a moment, Han Li flipped his palm and took out a piece of high-grade Purple Sun Warm Jade, holding it in his hand.

He slowly infused his immortal spiritual power into the warm jade, and immediately a hazy purple light lit up on the jade's surface, spreading out to dye the entire first floor of the bamboo building purple.

Han Li, surrounded by it, felt a warmth all over his body, and an extremely comfortable sensation emerged from the depths of his sea of consciousness, making him so immersed that he was reluctant to wake up.

After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes, withdrew his immortal spiritual power into his body, and the Purple Sun Warm Jade returned to its original state.

"This object is indeed extraordinary, with such a strong benefit to the soul. No wonder those fellows from Black Weasel City were willing to take risks for it... If I use it to assist in cultivating the Divine Refining Art, it might even yield twice the result with half the effort," Han Li murmured to himself with a hint of surprise on his face.

With that said, he raised his hand and gently tossed it, and the Purple Sun Warm Jade flew into the air, hovering above his head.

Han Li then formed hand seals with both hands, silently reciting the incantation for the fifth layer of the Divine Refining Art.

From between his brows, a crystalline light slowly extended, twisting in the void like a spirit snake, and then, as if it had spotted prey, it suddenly shot upward and plunged into the Purple Sun Warm Jade.

The warm jade trembled slightly, and the purple light on its surface lit up again, but this time it did not shine brilliantly; instead, it only emitted a glow about a dozen inches in diameter, barely enough to cover the void above Han Li's head.

Within the purple light, there seemed to be a hazy purple mist, as well as specks of crystalline light, looking like a cluster of purple nebula, quite dreamlike.

With the purple nebula covering his head, Han Li's expression gradually relaxed, and faint, indistinct spiritual sense fluctuations rippled outward from around his head, like water rings, each larger than the last.

...

Time flowed like water, days and months passed like shuttles; in the blink of an eye, another five years went by.

Within the Yellow Millet Domain, amidst a stretch of undulating green mountains, there was a remote mountain town almost completely isolated from the world.

At dusk, wisps of cooking smoke began to rise from the rooftops of every household in the town. Farmers returning late led their single-horned green oxen back from outside the town, passing under the wooden archway at the street entrance.

On the street paved with blue stone slabs in the center of the town, many young魔族 children with two heads and four arms were chasing and playing, while some stout魔族 women stood not far away, chatting about domestic affairs and occasionally glancing at their own children.

If a child fell or bumped into something, they could not help complaining as they helped them up.

Among the children, a particularly clever little one was about to sneak up on a companion a few years older when he suddenly saw two figures under the memorial archway outside the town, silhouetted against the setting sun, walking into the town.

The town was not large, and everyone living here was of the same clan, so the child recognized them as strangers at a glance. He felt no fear, but instead curiously sized them up.

Both of them had only one head and two arms, looking nothing like the people in their town, somewhat unappealing, but the clothes they wore were really beautiful, with various patterns he had never seen before.

One of the two, a young man with ordinary features, saw the child staring at him and grinned back; the other, a man with white hair, remained silent and expressionless.

These two were none other than Han Li and Shi Chuankong, who had traveled from Chenqiu Domain to this place.

Seeing that his spying had been discovered, the child immediately looked away, but soon couldn't help glancing back.

Seeing this, Han Li, dressed in a green robe, smiled even more warmly. Wasn't that young fool who first met his third uncle back then just like this魔族 child?

Brother Shi, I originally thought that all魔族 were born cultivators, but I didn't expect there to be those who live like ordinary humans. This mountain village, hidden in the Baxia Mountains, really feels like a paradise," Han Li said, withdrawing his gaze.

All races in the Holy Domain are born with strong physiques, and the average lifespan is three to four hundred years. However, few have the aptitude for cultivation. Except for body refinement, which anyone can practice, not everyone can or is willing to cultivate," Shi Chuankong said, scanning the townspeople.

Indeed. But what race are the people in this town? Their bloodline aura doesn't seem weak; they don't appear to be ordinary魔族," Han Li nodded and said.

In the Holy Domain, aside from some high-level races, many lower races don't value bloodline purity, so there is a lot of intermarriage. With impure bloodlines, it's often hard to distinguish their race. The people in this town seem to have relatively pure bloodlines, but I've never seen them elsewhere in the Holy Domain, so I can't identify them for now," Shi Chuankong frowned and said.

As they spoke, the two passed through the playing children and, under the curious gazes of the women and farmers, sat down at a small tea stall in the center of the town.

The owner of the tea stall was a hunchbacked old man with disheveled hair. He brought them a pot of tea, then turned and went back into the house without saying a word to Han Li and the others.

Now that the refinement of the Dao soldiers is at its final stage, there's no other way; we have to delay here for a while," Han Li said, taking a sip of the tea from the black clay bowl, unexpectedly finding it sweet.

No matter. There's no rush to go back; stopping and starting is actually better. Although the spiritual energy in the Baxia Mountains is mediocre, the demonic energy is also much thinner than elsewhere. Brother Li refining his Dao soldiers here is quite suitable," Shi Chuankong glanced at the black clay bowl but didn't drink, waving his hand.

Han Li was about to speak when he suddenly felt the ground shake violently beneath him. He quickly stood up and grabbed the teapot and his own tea bowl from the table.

Shi Chuankong's tea bowl fell to the ground with a "smack," spilling tea everywhere.

Before they could figure out what was happening, they heard children running down the street, shouting excitedly, "The mountain is running! The mountain is running! The Mountain God is moving his nest!"

Looking at the women, they stood as steady as mountains, as if this were a common occurrence, showing no fear at all, their bodies barely swaying.

The violent trembling of the earth lasted for about ten breaths before finally stopping.

Han Li sat down again and placed the teapot and tea bowl back on the table.

The bench Shi Chuankong had been sitting on was wet with tea, so he moved to sit on Han Li's left.

Was that an earthquake just now?" Han Li asked, puzzled.

I didn't sense any unusual fluctuations; it should indeed be an earthquake," Shi Chuankong nodded.

Before they finished speaking, another violent tremor came from underground.

This time Han Li didn't stand up. He pressed his hands on the corners of the table, stabilizing the wooden table that was creaking as if about to fall apart, and even the tea in the bowl didn't ripple.

The intermittent earthquakes continued, repeating more than ten times before finally ceasing.

By then, the sky had darkened. The hunchbacked old man finally came out with a dim lantern, hung it under the low eaves, and then bent down to pick up the broken tea bowl.

When the hunchbacked old man straightened up, the two guests had already disappeared, leaving only a small black demon stone the size of a pinky finger on the table.

The old man looked around, saw no sign of the two, then swept the demon stone into the pocket of his clothes with a swipe of his hand.

On the mountain path outside the town, Han Li and the other man both looked tense, walking hurriedly.

Brother Li, are you sure you saw correctly?" Shi Chuankong didn't speak aloud but asked through telepathy.