Two months later, Han Li finally walked out of the secret chamber.
Although his face looked somewhat haggard at this moment, his heart was filled with excitement.
Whenever he thought of the seventy-two "Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords" that had been drawn into his body, Han Li couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing an unconcealable delight.
He had spent over twenty years of painstaking effort on this set of lifebound magic treasures, and in the end, they had been refined without a single mishap.
Although he had not yet tested the power of these treasures, after a certain period of nurturing, even a single flying sword would surely far surpass ordinary magic treasures like the Green Radiance Sword.
Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, his spiritual sense received news from Qu Hun that the Gold Devouring Beetles had laid eggs.
This added joy upon joy!
After resting for a day in his bedroom, Han Li paid a visit to the insect chamber.
As it turned out, the insect chamber was covered in a great expanse of white—snow-white Gold Devouring Beetle eggs were everywhere.
Han Li did not hesitate. He immediately opened up another insect chamber nearby and made it identical to the original one, then inscribed a huge mind-controlling formation on the floor of the new chamber and dripped in a large amount of his essence blood.
After that, he moved most of the eggs into the formation in the new chamber and performed the master-recognition mind-control ritual.
In the original insect chamber, he left behind nearly a thousand eggs with the most vigorous auras.
Only after finishing all this did Han Li truly relax. He went to visit the few cultivators he had befriended in the nearby cave abodes, then settled back into his normal cultivation.
During the years Han Li had been in seclusion, a series of major events had occurred in the entire Scattered Star Seas cultivation world, making it appear turbulent and unrestful.
The most influential of these was that some seven or eight powers, big and small, including the "Six Linked Palaces," suddenly saw rebellions among their subordinates or disciples overnight. Their leaders and sect masters were toppled one after another, replaced by people who had originally been complete nobodies.
Meanwhile, some unremarkable small sects had suffered the extermination of their entire membership and the theft of their sect's most important treasures.
For a time, everyone in every power across the Scattered Star Seas feared for their own safety. Almost simultaneously, they all pulled in their personnel and began to suspect one another.
But worst of all, at some unknown point, a rumor had spread through the cultivation world that the "Heavenly Star Twin Sages" had long ago suffered qi deviation and had their cultivation completely crippled.
It was even said that they had now been stripped of all real power by a few subordinates and were no longer capable of controlling the Star Palace at all.
As soon as this news came out, there was an immediate uproar.
Almost everyone who cared about this matter was watching for the Star Palace's reaction to the rumor.
But what stunned everyone was that the Star Palace showed no reaction whatsoever. It neither came out to refute the rumor nor acknowledged it.
As a result, the entire Scattered Star Seas became even more panic-stricken.
At the same time, powers with long-held ambitions lying in wait began to stir restlessly.
Some began secretly scheming, while others started forming offensive and defensive alliances that could not bear the light of day.
Yet on the surface, not long after the rumor spread, all manner of chaos suddenly vanished without a trace, and everything seemed to return to normal.
But those with discerning eyes understood that this was merely an illusion before the coming storm.
So when Han Li met with these cultivators he had befriended and the matter came up in conversation, they all showed traces of worry.
Han Li didn't much care about this!
To him, it mattered not whether the Star Palace continued to dominate the Scattered Star Seas or some other power rose abruptly to take its place.
He was alone in the world anyway. As long as he was careful when the time came and didn't get dragged in without reason, that would be enough.
According to Han Li's own plans, he intended to spend the next few years entirely on nurturing his flying swords and refining several sets of powerful formation implements.
After that, he would go out to sea to hunt those rank six demonic beasts.
After all, for a Core Formation cultivator, only pills refined from the cores of rank six demonic beasts had any noticeable effect on advancing one's cultivation.
So in the days that followed, Han Li refined artifacts and studied the Dao of formations by day, and at night sat cross-legged in meditation, slowly polishing the seventy-two "Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords" in his body with the fire of his dantian.
Not long after, the Gold Devouring Beetle eggs finally hatched.
Delighted, Han Li packed all the master-acknowledged Gold Devouring Beetles into several high-grade spirit beast pouches, and in his spare time slowly trained and commanded them, so they would serve him well when driving them against future enemies.
In his heart of hearts, Han Li was quite satisfied with his current peaceful life of cultivation.
Since he had succeeded in forming his core, he naturally set his sights on the Nascent Soul stage, wanting to try whether he might one day form a Nascent Soul as well.
But one day, while Han Li was nurturing his flying swords within his abode, his expression suddenly froze. He stood up at once and slowly walked outside.
Outside the cave abode stood a middle-aged man in his forties. His skin was fair, his eyes narrow and his brows long, giving him a refined and courteous appearance.
"Fellow Daoist Han, pardon the intrusion!" Seeing Han Li emerge from within, the middle-aged man immediately greeted him warmly.
"Brother Jin! What brings you to my humble abode? Please, come in quickly!" Han Li dared not be negligent. After hurriedly returning the greeting, he invited the middle-aged man into his abode for a chat.
This man's full name was Jin Qing, a Core Formation cultivator living near Han Li. He was fairly upright, and had even given Han Li some pointers when Han Li had just formed his core, making him the closest of all the cultivators Han Li knew.
Last time Han Li had gone to visit him, he found the man was not in his cave abode. Upon asking around, he learned that Fellow Daoist Jin had gone out traveling years ago and had not yet returned.
Seeing him now, Han Li was naturally somewhat pleased.
"No need. I can just say it here. I have other matters to attend to shortly." Jin Qing waved his hand and said with a faint smile.
"Whatever it is, Brother Jin, just say it. I'm all ears." Han Li said half-jokingly.
Hearing this, Jin Qing smiled slightly and slowly said:
"I hadn't been back long when I heard from the other nearby fellow Daoists that you, Fellow Daoist Han, have been devoting these years to studying the Dao of formations and have now achieved quite some success. That is truly a matter worth congratulating! As luck would have it, on this trip I happened upon a difficult matter—I must break through a formation restriction somewhere. So I have come this time hoping to make use of your attainments in formations, and I hope you will not refuse."
"A restriction! May I ask where?" Han Li was taken aback for a moment, then asked with an unchanged expression.
"Fellow Daoist, please look at this!"
Jin Qing did not answer him. Instead, he fished an object out of his storage pouch and handed it to Han Li.
Taking it and examining it, Han Li saw that it was a white pearl the size of a thumb.
"This is...?" Han Li glanced at Jin Qing with a surprised look.
"Inject some spiritual power into it, and you will know." Jin Qing said with a light laugh, a mysterious air about him.
Han Li frowned, and helplessly channeled some spiritual power into it.
The moment Han Li's spiritual power poured in, a dazzling white light burst forth from the pearl.
To a mortal, such radiance might warrant averting the eyes somewhat, lest it harm their sight. But Han Li was a Core Formation cultivator; once he discovered that it was only ordinary white light, he fixed his gaze on the pearl and examined it closely.
As a result, the expression on Han Li's face stirred slightly.
Because at this moment, something seemed to have appeared within the pearl.
This time, without waiting for Jin Qing's prompting, Han Li took the initiative to extend his spiritual sense into it. As time passed, his expression grew solemn.
"An ancient cultivator's ruin?" As soon as Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense, he took a deep breath and asked the middle-aged cultivator this question.
"Not too sure. But a map preserved in such an ancient way—only those ancient cultivators would do such a thing." A trace of excitement rose on Jin Qing's face as he spoke somewhat hurriedly.
Hearing this, Han Li nodded.
Using pearls, shells, and the like to store important information was indeed something the ancient cultivators of the Scattered Star Seas often did.
And within this pearl was stored half of something that looked like a map.
At this point, Jin Qing continued from the side:
"There were two such pearls in all. Put together, they form a complete map. A fellow cultivator and I discovered them together in a certain small shop. At the time, they were strung together with other ordinary pearls on a necklace, and he and I each took one, then joined forces to search for the place on the map."
"So you have already found the place shown on the map!" Han Li stroked his chin and asked thoughtfully.
"Indeed. We spent five or six years in all, and finally found the place on the map not long ago. Unfortunately, the site is completely shrouded by a grand formation. Neither of us knew the first thing about the Dao of formations, so we had no choice but to return disappointed."
"However, he and I agreed that after returning home, each of us would find an expert in formations and come back to break the formation. As you know, Fellow Daoist Han, among us rogue cultivators, those who cultivate the Dao of formations are exceedingly few. Even the two or three there are, I am not familiar with them. After I returned, just as I was fretting over this, I unexpectedly heard about you, so I had no choice but to shamelessly come and ask for your help. Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han! As long as the grand formation can be broken, whatever appears within the ancient cultivator's ruin, we will be sure to count out a share for you when the time comes." Seeing that Han Li looked somewhat hesitant, Jin Qing hastily explained everything to him in detail and made this promise.