Chapter 850: A Wonderful Use

Han Li had clearly anticipated the strange bird's sudden attack, and he lay back in a smooth motion, dodging its fierce strike.

But before he could steady himself, the bird stomped its feet hard on the ground, launching itself high into the air, and as it began to descend, it suddenly spread its wings wide.

The bird's wings pushed against Han Li's legs, causing him to lose his balance, and he seemed about to fall off.

At that moment, he let go of the bird's neck, pushed hard against its back, and leaped into the air, only to fall back under the heavy spatial pressure.

As he fell back, Han Li crossed his arms and deliberately exerted his strength, using a weight-dropping technique to land on the bird's back.

The strange bird was already descending, and with Han Li's sudden pressure, it let out a cry like a crow's caw, plummeting like a meteorite and crashing into the ground.

With a loud bang!

A crater dozens of yards wide burst open on the ground. The giant bird, pressed down by Han Li, could not support itself despite its powerful legs, and it knelt down, prostrate at the bottom of the pit.

The surrounding beasts, which had been bathing in the starlight, scattered in fright, and the other strange birds flew away without exception.

Shi Chuankong and the Crab Immortal caught up and looked into the pit, seeing Han Li riding the bird, one hand pressing on its head and the other gently stroking the feathers on its back.

At first, the bird's head struggled fiercely, but after a moment, it stopped resisting and began to rub its head against Han Li's palm, showing great affection.

Han Li lightly patted the bird's back, and it stood up again, bent its legs, and with a burst of air, leaped upward, carrying Han Li out of the pit.

Once out, the bird ran wildly across the plain with Han Li on its back, its speed even faster than before. When it spread its wings and flapped, combined with the gas jets from its feet, it could even fly a foot above the ground.

After some experimentation, Han Li guided the bird to land in front of Shi Chuankong and the Crab Immortal.

“I don't know the name of this bird, so I'll call it a Gliding Bird for now. It's wild and untamable, hard to subdue. Once captured, it must be controlled immediately with divine sense,” Han Li said, dismounting.

Shi Chuankong watched the bird stay by Han Li's side even after he dismounted and laughed, “No wonder you were stroking its head earlier—you were brainwashing it.”

“As you saw, this bird can carry a person and glide through the air, so crossing to the opposite island should be no problem. And it runs fast, making it suitable for riding,” Han Li said, ignoring his teasing.

“Good, good! That solves two problems at once,” Shi Chuankong said, clapping his hands with a smile.

“Brother Shi, when you were kicked by the Gliding Bird earlier, I saw a mysterious aperture light up on your chest. Have you also cultivated some body-refining Mystic Immortal technique?” Han Li suddenly recalled something and asked.

“You could call it a Mystic Immortal technique. Our Saint race is naturally strong in physique, so we sometimes care less about body refinement than you humans. However, my cultivation of spatial law power is quite special and requires a stronger physique. Plus, my recent advancement to the Taiyi realm naturally elevated my physique to another level,” Shi Chuankong said, hesitating briefly but not fully concealing the truth.

“Hearing that reassures me. I imagine you insisted on accompanying me on this trip because you have full confidence in your physical enhancement,” Han Li said with a smile.

As for how strong Shi Chuankong's physique truly was, he did not press further. Matters concerning one's cultivation foundation should be kept private, no matter how close the relationship.

“I wouldn't say full confidence, but I hope to lend you a hand when it counts,” Shi Chuankong laughed.

Han Li smiled and said nothing more.

“There's only one Gliding Bird. Should we take turns riding it to the other shore, or what?” asked the Crab Immortal.

“Let's forget it for tonight. Although beasts emerge at night on this island, they seem to be absorbing starlight and are not aggressively attacking each other. It appears relatively safe. We don't know the situation on the opposite island, so it's better to stay here for the night,” Han Li said after a moment's thought.

“That is indeed safer,” Shi Chuankong nodded in agreement.

So the three sat cross-legged on a slightly sloping hillside below the ridge, closed their eyes, and began to regulate their breathing.

Han Li half-closed his eyes and formed hand seals. As soon as he began to circulate the Grand Five Elements Illusory World Art, his immortal spiritual power seemed to freeze and stagnate, refusing to flow.

After a brief attempt, he opened his eyes, smiled wryly, and stopped.

He steadied himself and glanced around, seeing that the Crab Immortal and Shi Chuankong were also sitting quietly with their eyes closed, with no trace of spiritual energy flowing from their bodies.

Han Li withdrew his gaze and sat quietly again, silently circulating his Soul-Refining Art to nourish his spirit.

The night deepened.

Suddenly, Han Li opened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

The pitch-black canopy was densely packed with stars, each one dazzling and brilliant. Starlight poured down, illuminating the island brightly, creating a scenery that seemed even more beautiful than the Immortal Realm.

After watching for a while, he had a sudden idea. He changed his hand seals and began to circulate the Great Cycle Star Origin Art.

As soon as the technique started, one after another of his mysterious apertures lit up, flickering like the stars in the sky.

Shi Chuankong and the Crab Immortal were both startled by the commotion and opened their eyes one after another to look over.

The former looked intrigued, while the latter closed his eyes again.

After a long while, Han Li sighed silently and opened his eyes.

He had already completed the Great Cycle Star Origin Art and reached its peak. No matter how he circulated the technique now, he could no longer attract the starlight to pour into him.

He withdrew his hands, and the light in his apertures faded, returning to normal.

Only at the spot on his chest did a white light continue to glow.

With a thought, Han Li reached into his bosom and took out a yellowish-brown crystal the size of a dragon's eye, which shimmered with white light—it was the beast core of the long-tailed giant lizard.

Compared to when it was first taken from the beast, the core's aura had faded, but the starlight power within it had become more apparent.

Han Li frowned slightly, holding the core in his hand, trying to refine it.

After waiting a moment and seeing no reaction from the core, he suddenly remembered that he could no longer use his immortal spiritual power, so how could he refine it?

He slapped his forehead and laughed at himself. Just as he was about to put it away, he caught a glimpse of the Gliding Bird standing beside him and suddenly recalled how they had pecked at the white-armored crab earlier.

After a moment's hesitation, Han Li raised his hand and tossed the beast core into his mouth, swallowing it with a gulp.

As soon as the core entered his stomach, before the foreign sensation in his esophagus had even faded, a warm current surged in his abdomen, transforming into a not-so-strong but distinctly different energy that flowed toward his thigh.

He quickly looked down and saw a slight change in a new aperture on the inside of his thigh.

But that small change filled Han Li with惊喜, because he found that the mysterious apertures, which had shown no change since he completed the Great Cycle Star Origin Art, were now showing signs of transformation.

A brand-new aperture was showing signs of opening.

More importantly, he felt no discomfort in his body.

Shi Chuankong saw this from afar, a flash of surprise in his eyes, and couldn't help but get up and walk over.

“Brother Li, what are you...” He crouched down and asked hesitantly.

“Do you still have the beast core I gave you earlier?” Han Li asked, his eyes full of surprise.

“Yes,” Shi Chuankong was taken aback, quickly took out the centipede's beast core from his sleeve, and handed it to Han Li.

Han Li took it, examined it briefly, then raised his hand and tossed it into his mouth, swallowing it again.

Immediately, the warm current from his abdomen reappeared, transforming into a weak force that surged toward the new aperture on his thigh.

“Not enough, I need more,” Han Li looked up at Shi Chuankong and said excitedly.

“Brother Li, what is going on?” Shi Chuankong frowned and asked.

“The beast cores of those two earlier beasts contain starlight power, which has a special effect on opening mysterious apertures. Although I can't refine them now, I can absorb them into my body by swallowing them,” Han Li calmed down and explained.

“Is that true?” Shi Chuankong raised an eyebrow and asked eagerly.

“The beasts on this island worship the stars at night to absorb starlight power. Catch one, take out its core, and you'll see,” Han Li said with a smile.

Shi Chuankong's eyes lit up, and he immediately got up and ran off into the distance.

Before long, he returned, dragging a beast about ten feet long, shaped like a mongoose but covered in scales.

Coming closer, Shi Chuankong threw the dead beast to the ground, split open its head with his black long knife, and pulled out a crystal core the size of a little finger.

“Those small ones don't even have cores in their heads; if they do, they're only the size of a grain of rice. The big ones are few and run fast. This one was just unlucky,” Shi Chuankong complained.

“Never mind, let's try it first,” Han Li said with a smile.