Chapter 234: Han Li

Ordinary medicinal pills in this world had long since lost any effect on Core Formation stage cultivators.

Only spiritual pills refined from herbs aged over several hundred years and certain naturally occurring spiritual herbs could accelerate their cultivation speed. Therefore, most of the time during the long journeys of Core Formation stage cultivators was spent scouring for extremely rare medicinal herbs.

This was the fundamental reason why Li Li Huayuan, who had seen Han Li with so many spiritual herbs after he came out of the Forbidden Area, had tried every possible way to accept him as a disciple. These heaven-and-earth spiritual herbs made him truly envious!

In fact, even if the person leading the team back then hadn't been Li Li Huayuan, but Lei Lei Wanhe or other Core Formation stage cultivators, they probably wouldn't have let go of Han Li's share of spiritual herbs. Ten to one, they would have used the same methods. It was just that Li Li Huayuan was indeed a bit stingy, only willing to accept Han Li as a named disciple.

However, taking medicinal pills was only an auxiliary means to refine magic power; it could only shorten the time spent in meditation and absorbing spiritual energy! Diligent cultivation was the proper path to truly transform spiritual energy into one's own magic power.

Otherwise, no matter how many medicinal pills one took, if one didn't spend time refining the spiritual energy they contained bit by bit, it would be useless and wouldn't increase any magic power. After all, external spiritual energy and one's own magic power were fundamentally two different things.

There had even been cases where people took heaven-defying medicinal pills found in ancient ruins, only to have too much spiritual energy in their bodies, causing them to explode and die. Therefore, casually taking medicinal pills far exceeding one's own realm was an extremely dangerous thing.

Additionally, using the spiritual power of medicinal pills to break through bottlenecks when encountered was a common means used by many cultivators and had been proven to be a very effective method.

Cultivators who could break through cultivation bottlenecks on their own without the help of any medicinal power were too rare in the entire cultivation world, and every one of them was a cultivation genius seen only once in a century!

Those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots were this kind of universally recognized top-tier aptitude. Even those with variant spiritual roots couldn't avoid taking medicinal pills to break through when encountering such cultivation bottlenecks; in this regard, there was no difference between them and ordinary spiritual root cultivators.

And this cultivator, Lei Lei Wanhe, was encountering such a bottleneck. Therefore, to refine auxiliary medicinal pills, he had actually just returned from seeking herbs outside.

But his luck this time was truly not very good. Besides finding two herbs aged over four hundred years, he had found nothing else, which left him full of pent-up frustration!

This was also the main reason why he struck to kill the moment he saw people from the Thousand Bamboo Sect. Because if he hadn't vented a little at that time, he was afraid his mood wouldn't have improved for a very long time. It could only be said that Huang Long and the others were just too unlucky to have run into this ill-tempered star.

At this moment, Lei Lei Wanhe's thoughts were fluctuating.

He had experienced over three hundred years of cultivation and had seen all kinds of herbs. As soon as these two spiritual herbs fell into his eyes, he immediately judged their exact age, which made him overjoyed.

You must know, the Zengyuan Pills he wanted to refine now were missing herbs over five hundred years old, which was why he had gone on this journey of nearly a year. But he had searched all the large and small marketplaces in the Yue Kingdom and the medicinal shops in the mortal world, yet he hadn't found a single herb that satisfied him.

He could only reluctantly accept two herbs aged over four hundred years as second-rate goods, preparing to use them reluctantly!

However, he also knew in his heart that using such herbs that didn't meet the age requirement to refine Zengyuan Pills would probably result in a great reduction in medicinal effect, even if the pill was successfully refined, and wouldn't be of much help to him. But he had no suitable main herbs in his hands; what choice did he have?

Continuing to search was just a waste of time.

Because if good herbs really appeared somewhere, they would have long been snatched up by the local sects or cultivation families. By the time he rushed over, he wouldn't even be able to get a single hair of the herb. As for going to the cultivation worlds of neighboring countries to search, he was unfamiliar with the places, so the hope was even more remote!

So when he heard this junior disciple say outside the cave dwelling that he had some aged herbs, his heart stirred, and he held onto the thought of just taking a look, which was why he entered this extremely crude cave dwelling.

In Lei Lei Wanhe's mind, what good herbs could a Foundation Establishment disciple have! At most, they would be herbs with two or three hundred years of fire-age!

After all, even after running for such a long time, he had only obtained herbs aged four hundred years. And that was only because people saw he was a Core Formation stage expert and no one dared to compete with him for the purchase.

Now, these two spiritual herbs with six or seven hundred years of fire-age appeared before his eyes so suddenly. This made him almost unable to believe it, and he was overjoyed!

Therefore, although he looked as if he was staring fixedly at the herbs in his hand, seemingly judging their age, in reality, he was already considering how to get the herbs from this junior disciple.

After all, having such rare things in the other party's hands made him feel it was too much of a pity! It was better to give them to him, Lei the Great Cultivator, for alchemy to best exert their effects.

However, he was also an old fox who had lived for so many years, and in the blink of an eye, he had already thought of an excuse.

So, he coughed twice, reluctantly put the herbs back into the box, and then twisted his neck, which was almost invisible, and said to Han Li with a kind and pleasant expression:

"These two spiritual herbs of yours are truly rare treasures, with six or seven hundred years of fire-age! I'm afraid you spent quite a lot of effort to get your hands on them, Junior Brother!"

"Yes, the disciple spent a great deal of effort to snatch them at an auction of a secret shop! At that time, there was also a thousand-year spiritual herb for sale, but unfortunately, the disciple was powerless to buy it and had to watch helplessly as it was bought by someone else, which left the disciple quite regretful!" Han Li said, half-truthfully.

"Secret shop? And a thousand-year spiritual herb!"

Hearing this, the fatty almost jumped up from the stone stool!

To him, this wasn't just a matter of regret; it was heart-wrenching, as if a piece of his heart had been gouged out.

As a Core Formation stage cultivator, he had gone through so much trouble to find spiritual herbs, even visiting seven or eight secret shops everywhere. How come he hadn't encountered such a good thing? If he had been there at the time, he would never have let such a rare treasure slip through his fingers! Even if he had to exchange it for more spirit stones, he would have been absolutely willing!

Thinking that such a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity had actually been missed by this kid before him, the fatty felt an urge to grab the other party by the neck and question him! Although he knew very well that it was very normal for a Foundation Establishment disciple not to be able to afford such a sky-high price.

"Alright, missed is missed! Perhaps there will be such an opportunity next time!"

The fatty finally calmed himself down and had to comfort Han Li with insincere words. After all, he still had to plot for these two spiritual herbs of the other party! These were things he absolutely couldn't let go of now.

"Han Junior Brother, how do you plan to deal with these two spiritual herbs? Do you intend to hand them over to the sect's alchemists to handle? However, as your Uncle-Master, I must remind you that the level of those alchemists in our Yellow Maple Valley is truly terrible! If you hand such precious things to them to handle, it would be an absolute waste of heaven's gifts. Your loss would be truly great!" The fatty advised with the demeanor of a senior elder.

"How could I give them to them to refine! The disciple actually intends to use these spiritual herbs to exchange for something more useful! You must know, the disciple almost went bankrupt buying these spiritual herbs! How could I waste them easily?" Han Li shook his head repeatedly, saying something that made Lei Lei Wanhe feel extremely surprised. The lines he had prepared were immediately stuck.

However, the fatty thought about it, and felt that this junior disciple wanting to exchange the herbs for something else was even more to his liking! With his status as a Core Formation stage cultivator, besides those extremely scarce raw materials for alchemy and refining, what could he not satisfy the other party with? This was the perfect opportunity to exchange for the things openly!

Thinking of this, Lei Lei Wanhe's eyes narrowed even more with his smile, and he looked even more cordial.

"I wonder what Han Junior Brother needs? My collection over the past few hundred years is quite extensive! Perhaps I have what you need." The fatty blinked his small eyes and suddenly said happily.

"Ah! Does Uncle-Master also need these spiritual herbs? If so, the disciple can let one go to Uncle-Master as a token of respect from a junior!" Han Li seemed to have suddenly realized and said hurriedly, looking terrified.

Seeing Han Li so clever, actually not mentioning the exchange and immediately wanting to give one spiritual herb to him for free, Lei Lei Wanhe was overjoyed and felt even more favorably toward Han Li.

However, the fatty's goal was to have both! He was equally reluctant to let go of the remaining one.

Therefore, Lei Lei Wanhe waved his hand and said with great boldness:

"What are you saying, Han Junior Brother? Do you think I, Lei Lei Wanhe, am someone who covets a junior's things! Just say whatever you need. Uncle-Master will find it immediately and exchange it with you fairly, and I will definitely not let you suffer any loss! Do you want to exchange for a top-tier magic tool? Or medicinal pills that you happen to need right now?"

Hearing the other party's bold words, Han Li was overjoyed in his heart. He had gone through such a big circle just to wait for this sentence from the other party. But on the surface, he scratched his scalp, looking very troubled:

"To tell Uncle-Master Lei, the disciple has always been very interested in the way of alchemy. But in the storage room of the Yuelu Hall, there aren't many practical medicinal pill formulas at all. The disciple only learned later that the alchemy methods left behind from ancient times have long since been mostly lost. The alchemy methods of the various senior brothers and uncles are either painstakingly researched by their families over dozens of generations, or occasionally found in ancient ruins, and each one is precious to the extreme, not easily shown to others. Therefore, the disciple wants to exchange these two spiritual herbs for a pill formula suitable for my own use!"

【End of Chapter】 ***