After the disciple went to fetch the spirit beast, Han Li waited quietly at the welcoming platform, merely glancing at the various restrictions around him. Apart from the mountaintop where Han Li stood, the rest of Spirit Beast Mountain was divided into spirit beast habitats of various sizes by colorful restriction arrays. Each area sealed off by a restriction was a training ground for a specific type of spirit beast. Except for the rotating disciples of Qilin Pavilion, no one else was allowed to enter. This was to prevent strangers from startling the spirit beasts, or untrained spirit beasts from harming outsiders. Therefore, although the entire Spirit Beast Mountain appeared quiet, it actually housed at least nearly a thousand different spirit beasts, an undoubtedly impressive scale!
The female disciple didn't make Han Li wait long. After about the time it takes to eat a meal, she emerged from one of the restrictions, cradling a fist-sized beast in her arms, and headed straight for Han Li. "This is the Dual-Pupiled Rat. The rental fee is one low-grade spirit stone per day!" the female disciple said respectfully, gently stroking the beast's soft fur. "Alright. Here are three spirit stones. I only need it for three days!" Han Li replied calmly to the woman. "After three days, Martial Uncle, just release the Dual-Pupiled Rat, and it will return to Qilin Pavilion on its own. During this time, I hope Martial Uncle will treat this beast kindly. This bag contains its favorite food, Earth Pear Fruit. Martial Uncle can feed it a few when you have time." The young woman accepted the spirit stones, handed the spirit beast to Han Li, and took out a small white pouch, speaking to him. Han Li nodded slightly and accepted it with a composed expression. Then, under the respectful gaze of the woman, he mounted his flying sword and departed.
Han Li flew northwestward through the air. As he traveled, he couldn't help but examine the well-behaved Dual-Pupiled Rat in his arms. At first glance, this yellow little beast really did look like an earth rat. It had the same small size, the same yellow fur, and the same slender tail. The only difference was the pair of large eyes on its face, completely unlike those of an earth rat. Despite this single difference, it immediately made this beast appear incredibly cute! Especially since within its eyes, faint five-colored light shimmered, further accentuating its mysterious and extraordinary nature. Even someone as cold as Han Li, upon seeing this beast's obedient appearance, couldn't help but stroke it a few times. It even sparked a thought: should he raise one too?
However, Han Li was also clear that despite this beast's current docile appearance, it was in fact a genuine mid-level first-grade demonic beast. Besides its miraculous dual pupils, this beast possessed steel jaws that could chew through copper and iron, and a pair of front claws that could pierce metal and drill through stone. It was truly not as harmless as it appeared on the surface! Thinking of this, Han Li flicked the beast's small ear, watching it amusingly twitch a few times, and couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed the childish innocence long buried in his heart had resurfaced once more.
With this beast in tow, Han Li flew for an entire day before finally stopping in the outermost region of the northwestern part of the Taiyue Mountain Range. Another hundred li north from here would enter the territory of the Yuanwu Kingdom, the domain of the Celestial Star Sect, a major cultivation sect of the Yuanwu Kingdom, which also had a market town established there, facing the market town of Yellow Maple Valley from east to west. Two hundred li west was the border between Jianzhou and Xizhou, the smallest province of the Kingdom of Yue. This province was the only one among the seven major sects where none had established a presence. Except for the yellow earth slopes, the rest was an endless great desert, occupying more than three-quarters of Xizhou. The entire province's population added up to only about a hundred thousand, so there were virtually no resources or manpower available. Naturally, it wouldn't catch the eye of the seven major sects.
Han Li chose to open his cave dwelling in this vicinity for two reasons. First, this area was in a relatively desolate section of the Taiyue Mountain Range, bordering the Yuanwu Kingdom on one side and near Xizhou on the other, both places rarely visited by fellow disciples or other cultivators. This way, no one would disturb his cultivation. Second, it wasn't far from the Celestial Star Sect's market town. If he wanted to sell some medicinal herbs or buy something, he could easily make transactions there without being recognized! With these two thoughts in mind, Han Li had chosen this location with less-than-ideal spiritual energy, unlike other Foundation Establishment disciples whose cave dwellings were densely clustered in areas with the densest spiritual energy.
After landing, Han Li tied a slender rope he had prepared in advance around the Dual-Pupiled Rat's neck, lest it run too fast and he lose track of the little creature. Then, he took out a round yellow fruit from the small cloth pouch and tossed it to the beast to gnaw on. Moments later, having devoured the Earth Pear Fruit completely, the Dual-Pupiled Rat became energetic. With a couple of soft "shush-shush" sounds, it darted into the nearby grass with a "whoosh" and vanished from sight. Han Li, unhurriedly followed along the rope.
...Han Li stood beneath a rugged mountain peak, staring blankly at the towering cliff face opposite him, over a hundred zhang high! Because the rope in his hand, passing through an extremely narrow crevice, extended straight into the cliff face. It was now the afternoon of the second day. After nearly two days of arduous searching, when the Dual-Pupiled Rat reached the vicinity of this mountain peak, it suddenly began dashing frantically. It had led him in a hurried rush to this location, then slipped directly through the crevice.
Han Li looked at the taut rope in his hand, curiosity welling up. He thought for a moment, then immediately patted his storage pouch. The massive silver sword appeared in Han Li's hand. With one hand gripping the rope and the other wielding the silver sword like wind, in the blink of an eye, he expanded the narrow crevice into a rough passage large enough for a person to crawl through, as if slicing tofu. After squeezing through, he immediately released a protective barrier around himself, then cut through the rock step by step along the rope, slowly advancing. All the scattered debris and dust were blocked by his water-attribute barrier, keeping him neat and clean.
This physical labor continued for over an hour before a crude stone passage tens of zhang long gradually took shape. When Han Li swung his sword down once more, suddenly with a "crash," the rock wall was finally breached. Delighted, Han Li swung his sword vigorously several times, completely severing the rock wall, then strode out in a single leap.
A natural cave roughly ten zhang in size appeared before him. The moment Han Li entered this place, a rich surge of spiritual energy rushed toward his face, greatly astonishing him! However, his gaze inevitably followed the rope in his hand, seeing it extend all the way to the center of the cave, where a tiny spring gurgled with bubbling water. And the Dual-Pupiled Rat was lying in the center of this water basin, several chi across, leisurely swimming about. "This is...?" Han Li was truly shocked this time, because the rich spiritual energy in this stone cave emanated almost entirely from this spring.
He hurriedly walked over a few steps, scooped up a handful of spring water, and examined it carefully. "This is a Spirit Eye Spring, absolutely no mistake!" Han Li confirmed his guess without much difficulty. "Although the spiritual energy contained in the spring water isn't as exaggerated as the rumors suggest, and this spring is very small, it is indeed a Spirit Eye Spring, a rare treasure in the world." Han Li thrust both hands into the water, murmuring to himself in disbelief. Then he closed his eyes, feeling the wisps of spiritual energy rising from the water, his face betraying a mix of surprise and delight.
Speaking of spirit springs, one must mention the concepts of spirit veins and spirit eyes in the cultivation world! The spiritual energy between heaven and earth is not evenly distributed across the world; some places are denser, while others are thinner. Thus, over time, wherever spiritual energy is concentrated, a spirit vein of varying size will generally form. A large spirit vein might stretch continuously for tens of thousands of li, while a small one might be only a few li in size, pitifully narrow. But regardless of their actual size, once these spirit veins form, they will automatically emit a faint spiritual energy, ensuring that the local spiritual energy cycles endlessly without fear of depletion. However, at different points along these same spirit veins, the spiritual energy produced is not identical. Those locations where spiritual energy is most densely concentrated are naturally most suitable for cultivators to meditate and cultivate, and are therefore referred to in the cultivation world as "spirit eyes." And these so-called "spirit eyes" are generally intangible and colorless, existing only through a cultivator's perception. But wherever a place is called a spirit eye, it signifies that this location has the most abundant spiritual energy of the nearby spirit vein—this is beyond doubt.
Although spirit eyes are typically intangible, merely a substitute name for a particular location, if the spiritual energy at a spirit eye becomes too dense and can be maintained for a long period, it will gradually materialize into a physical form, creating what is known as a spirit eye object, such as a Spirit Eye Tree, Spirit Eye Stone, Spirit Eye Spring, and so on. There are even legends of the highest-grade Spirit Eye Pearl! The appearance of these physical spirit eye objects is exceedingly rare. None can be formed without undergoing evolution over tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of years. Therefore, the spiritual energy emitted by these physical spirit eye objects is far denser than that of ordinary spirit eyes. Meditating and cultivating near them will absolutely have the miraculous effect of accelerating one's cultivation speed. The finest spirit eye objects can even increase a cultivator's speed by nearly twenty to thirty percent. Moreover, once these physical objects are formed, even Spirit Eye Trees and Spirit Eye Springs can be relocated by a cultivator's magical power without diminishing their efficacy.