Chapter 828: First Visit to the Market

To Han Li's disappointment, the descriptions in these ancient texts—whether regarding prolonged coma caused by soul trauma or the unending slumber induced by infant-seal—did not match the current condition of the Heaven-devouring Beast.

The Heaven-devouring Beast's soul had no trauma; even if it had, it should have been fully repaired by the Purple Sun Warm Jade. As for infant-seal, that was even more absurd.

After consulting all the texts, Han Li could only sigh and prepare to make other plans.

As for Shi Pokong's suggestion to seek help from the Grand Priest under the Great Prince, Han Li did not hold high hopes. After all, the two sides were mortal enemies vying for the throne, with significant conflicts of interest. From what he could see, the Great Prince was no simple character—why would he willingly lend a hand to the other side?

In the following days, Han Li continued to peruse books. After reading a vast amount of content about the spirit domain, it was as if a new door to the world had suddenly opened for him. He realized how shallow his previous understanding of the spirit domain had been.

He had encountered the spirit domain quite early on. Back then, Bao Hua had displayed a pseudo-spirit domain of the Profound Heaven variety, and later, Xiao Jinhan and others had exhibited true spirit domains, including some at the Creation Realm.

Later, he had condensed his own spirit domain with the help of the Gray Immortal Mo Yu, but the latter had not revealed many details to him.

Now, he finally had a systematic understanding of the spirit domain.

It turned out that although the spirit domain was divided into the Creation Realm and the Spirit Transformation Realm, there was no strict order in cultivation. It was not necessary to reach the Creation Realm first if one wanted to raise a domain spirit within the spirit domain.

However, under normal circumstances in the Immortal Realm, most cultivators chose to first cultivate their spirit domain to the Creation Realm before proceeding to the Spirit Transformation Realm.

This was not difficult to understand. It was like building a house in the mortal world: only after the house was firmly constructed and all furniture and items were properly arranged would one invite people to move in. This was the safest approach.

Cultivating the Spirit Transformation Realm spirit domain directly was not impossible, but it was equivalent to letting one's domain spirit grow in a barren wilderness, which was detrimental to the domain spirit's own consumption and future growth.

Moreover, such a spirit domain, when used, would have limited effects, mostly having form but lacking essence.

Whether condensing the Creation Realm or cultivating the Spirit Transformation Realm, both required an extremely long time, not only consuming a large amount of resources but also draining a great deal of the cultivator's mental energy.

Back then, Han Li had spent considerable time and mental energy just to condense an ordinary spirit domain.

Taking the Creation Realm alone, its condensation required units of ten thousand years. One had to refine law objects compatible with one's own Dao and integrate them into the spirit domain to create various tangible objects, such as buildings, landscapes, and so on.

Moreover, this process was not guaranteed to succeed just by spending time. Like alchemy and artifact refining, there was a certain chance of failure. If it failed, the law objects would be lost.

Even if successful, these law objects, after integration, accumulated bit by bit over many years, gradually forming a scale. For instance, the eight Bone Skull Mounds of True Person Zhao Gu had taken millions of years to construct.

As for making law objects develop spiritual awareness and transform into domain spirits to integrate into the spirit domain, that was even more difficult.

Most cultivators, to avoid delaying their own cultivation progress, were rarely willing to spend a great deal of time on this matter.

Thus, among the many cultivators Han Li had encountered before—whether Great Ascension cultivators, Taiyi Jade Immortals, Golden Immortals, or True Immortals—most of the spirit domains they released were only ordinary spirit domains, with very few at the Creation Realm or Spirit Transformation Realm.

After closing all the ancient texts, Han Li sighed with emotion. In the future, if he encountered these two types of spirit domains again, even if the opponent's cultivation was not high, he must not take them lightly.

However, he did not have that much time for now, so he did not plan to spend effort on this in the short term.

After a brief adjustment of his breath, Han Li sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

Previously, during the escape, time had been too rushed. The "Great Five Elements Illusion World Art," which he had derived from integrating five time-based techniques, had actually never been properly studied.

With the foundation of having previously practiced the "True Word Wheel Art," the "Water Evolution Four Seasons Art," and the "Illusion Chen Treasure Canon," and with a certain level of understanding of the law of time, cultivating this "Great Five Elements Illusion World Art" should not pose too many problems, right?

...

Time passed, and more than three years went by.

Shi Chuankong still had not emerged from seclusion, but Han Li had already come out.

After three years of careful study, his cultivation of the Great Five Elements Illusion World Art had not advanced much; instead, he had discovered many deviations in his understanding of the technique from when he had previously organized it.

In terms of cultivation level, he was now comparable to the state of having cultivated the Great Five Elements Illusion World Art to the third layer. He had thought that cultivation would be smooth, but once he actually began, he found it was not that simple.

The Great Five Elements Illusion World Art was not a simple superposition of the previous five techniques. After integration, its operational system was completely different, becoming more profound and subtle. Cultivation required the mutual generation of the five elements to proceed smoothly.

Thus, in terms of progress in the technique, Han Li was still in the initial stage, remaining at the first layer. The reason he was eager to leave seclusion was not that there was anything wrong with his retreat, but rather that he was truly worried about the Heaven-devouring Beast.

After checking, Han Li found that the Heaven-devouring Beast's condition remained the same as before—still unconscious, with no signs of waking. Meanwhile, Shi Pokong had made no move.

In fact, since Shi Chuankong went into seclusion, the other party had not actively sought him out, but the faint surveillance on him had not ceased.

Han Li knew that waiting idly was not a solution, so he thought he might try his luck in Yeyang City to see if he could find another way to save the Heaven-devouring Beast.

One day, Han Li left Changting Garden, intending to exit the Third Prince's residence and head outside the imperial city.

Along the way, he encountered many demon cultivators from the palace. Most of them had been instructed by Shi Chuankong, so they all bowed to Han Li when they met him.

Just as he was about to leave the garden, he suddenly heard someone calling from behind: "Senior Li, please wait a moment..."

Turning to look, he saw a petite, pretty black-clad girl running toward him.

The girl looked no more than thirteen or fourteen, with curved eyebrows and a pleasing appearance. From the aura she emitted, she was a cultivator at the early Integration stage.

"Miss, may I ask what you need?" Han Li stopped and waited for her to catch up before asking.

"I wouldn't dare, Senior. Please don't overwhelm me. Earlier, the Third Prince specifically instructed me, fearing you might be unfamiliar with the area, to serve as your guide when you go out," the girl said, stepping forward and bowing.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this.

It seemed that the Third Prince was still wary of his human identity, and his suspicions had not been dispelled by Shi Chuankong's few words.

The previous monitor, who was skilled at concealing his aura, had been withdrawn a few days ago. Han Li had thought that Shi Pokong had finally trusted him, but now he was not so sure.

Thus, for this outing, instead of sending someone to follow him secretly, Shi Pokong had openly arranged for an Integration-stage cultivator to accompany him—a small, open ploy.

"Then I'll trouble you, miss," Han Li said with a smile.

"Senior, please wait a moment. Let's take the scale carriage," the girl said cheerfully.

Saying this, she took a spirit beast pouch from her waist, opened the mouth, and a green light flashed.

Two strange beasts appeared, resembling horses but with a single horn on their heads and bodies covered in green scales. They pulled a black two-wheeled carriage inlaid with gold threads. The carriage had no cabin, only a soft large seat that could seat three side by side.

After Han Li boarded and sat down, the girl also got on and asked, "Senior, where would you like to go?"

"Anywhere in Yeyang City where merchants gather and trade thrives," Han Li said casually.

"Alright, then I'll take you to Dijiang Market first. It's one of the eight largest markets in Maha District and the closest one to us. Senior can look around there today," the girl replied.

"Miss, you don't need to call yourself 'servant.' As fellow cultivators, just refer to yourself as 'junior.' But may I ask your name?" Han Li said with a smile.

"My name is Hu Jingjing, Senior. You can call me Jingjing or Jing'er," the girl said, first surprised, then after a slight hesitation, she quickly answered.

"Alright, let's go," Han Li nodded.

Hearing this, the girl grabbed the reins and gave a gentle shake. The two scale beasts began to trot.

The carriage sped along the wide road paved with smooth black stones, heading straight for Dijiang Market.

...

Luojia District covered a vast area, including not only the imperial city but also large palace gardens.

The area where Dijiang Market was located was at the junction of Maha District and Luojia District, separated by a branch of the sacred Bilan River called Diyuan River.

To the left of the river was Maha District, and to the right was Luojia District. A huge white arch bridge called Tongji Bridge spanned between the two districts.

Once across Tongji Bridge, one entered the territory of Dijiang Market.

The name Dijiang Market came from Diyuan River. It stretched for dozens of li, facing the gardens of Luojia District across the river, distributed along the left bank.

"Senior, after crossing Tongji Bridge and entering Dijiang Market, we can no longer ride in the carriage. We'll have to get off and walk. That's a rule set by our Great Prince, applicable to all markets within the city," the demon girl Hu Jingjing said apologetically as the carriage reached the bridgehead.

"No matter," Han Li nodded.

"May I ask what Senior wishes to buy? Dijiang Market has everything. If you have no particular goal and just want to look around, it might take ten days or half a month to cover it all," Hu Jingjing added.

"That's a coincidence. I do plan to just browse. Miss Jingjing, could you give me a rough overview of Dijiang Market?" Han Li asked with a calm smile.

"Certainly, Senior. Although Dijiang Market is large, it is not the most concentrated commercial area in Yeyang City. There are also Tongyi Garden and Jiantian Street, both larger and more popular. However, the former focuses on artifact trading, and the latter on elixir and material businesses. In terms of variety, Dijiang Market is superior," Hu Jingjing introduced with familiarity.