Chapter 43: Everything is Ready

During this period, a major event also occurred in the Seven Mysteries Sect.

The idol of the new generation of disciples, "Senior Brother Li," was alert and extraordinary, identifying the two spies from the Wild Wolf Gang on the spot, who were plotting to steal the list of disciples going down the mountain for training, and together with more than ten fellow disciples, captured them in one fell swoop, establishing quite a bit of merit.

A few days later, Sect Leader Wang, in front of numerous disciples, granted Li Feiyu the position of Protector, making him officially enter the middle echelon of the Seven Mysteries Sect, causing quite a sensation, and Li Feiyu's reputation became even more resounding.

Han Li knew nothing about this. He was undergoing special training in a closed wooden house. Apart from occasionally going out to the kitchen to get some food, he hadn't been in contact with others for quite a few days, so naturally, he didn't know about his friend's infinite glory at this time.

Summer passed and autumn came, time flew like a shuttle, and the day finally arrived on the last day before the appointment.

In the thorn forest at the bottom of the gully, a weird figure appeared and disappeared among the branches covered with sharp thorns. Those dangerous thorns couldn't pose any hindrance to him. He was like green smoke, ghost-like flashing through the dense net woven by thorn branches, appearing nearby for a while, and then popping out from afar for a while, the whole process silent, as if it really wasn't a flesh-and-blood body, but a formless body.

Finally, this figure stopped on a tree trunk, standing straight on the branch and gazing into the distance. It was Han Li, whose cultivation had achieved some success.

At this time, the clothes on his body had long been torn to shreds, even the skin and flesh inside were exposed, his hair was disheveled, and his face was even more black and white, unable to see his original appearance. What was most surprising was that on his neck, waist, arms, thighs, ankles, and other parts, small iron bells were hung respectively.

Seeing these iron bells, and then thinking of Han Li's ghostly movement in the forest, it wasn't hard to know how eerie the body technique just now was.

He stood motionless, gazing in the direction of God Hand Valley, and muttered to himself:

"The time is just right. Finally, I managed to master the Luo Smoke Step on the last day. With it, I have one more point of certainty for self-protection."

Although he couldn't see the expression on his face, the joy in his eyes still flowed out without any obstruction.

After months of research and hard practice, Han Li had mastered several secret techniques with considerable power. He had quite a bit of confidence in these secret techniques, believing that even if he couldn't fight against Doctor Mo's unfathomable skills, he still had a few points of confidence for self-protection.

A breeze blew, and Han Li felt a chill on his body. He lowered his head to look at his "hole-filled outfit," imagined his current appearance, and couldn't help but feel a bit bitter in his heart.

Recalling the situation of practicing the Luo Smoke Step, he still had a few lingering fears. Practicing body techniques in the thorn forest was truly a life-risking thing. Because his body technique was unfamiliar at the beginning, he was inevitably scratched by the hard thorns on the branches, covered in blood.

Fortunately, he still had the "Nourishing Essence Pill" with him. It could not only treat internal injuries but also had miraculous effects on external injuries. After taking one, it could stop bleeding and form a scab immediately, and by the next day, even the scars could be eliminated without a trace.

Regarding this, Han Li marveled for a long time. This medicine was much stronger than ordinary knife-wound medicine. It was just that he didn't know why this medicine was named "Nourishing Essence Pill." In his view, calling it "Scar-Removing" or "Bleeding-Stopping" would be more appropriate.

If the expert who created the "Nourishing Essence Pill" knew Han Li's thoughts, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood. His carefully refined sacred healing medicine was actually placed together with the ordinary "Gold Sore Medicine" of Jianghu wild doctors to compare their merits. How could this not anger this expert!

However, it was precisely because of practicing in such a dangerous environment that Han Li could stimulate all his potential, allowing the "Luo Smoke Step" to achieve a few levels of success in a short time, which could be put to use immediately.

Moreover, Han Li's "Everlasting Spring Technique" had, unexpectedly, reached the sixth layer a few days ago. This was the highest layer of the mantra Doctor Mo gave him. If it weren't for the assistance of those dozen bottles of spiritual medicine, even if he used all his strength, he wouldn't necessarily be able to master it in his lifetime.

After years of cultivation, Han Li also had quite a few insights into the Everlasting Spring Technique, feeling that this cultivation technique was very peculiar, whether in the cultivation method or in the efficacy, it was very different from ordinary martial arts.

First of all, Han Li believed that whether the cultivation of this technique was successful or not, and the speed of cultivation, mainly depended on the person, looking at whether the cultivator's aptitude was compatible with this technique.

Those with superior aptitude could naturally go smoothly and unimpeded. It was estimated that even without external help, they could reach a higher level through hard work.

Moreover, those with poor aptitude, after reaching a certain level, would become difficult to move an inch without the help of spiritual medicine. Han Li speculated that they could only stop there for the rest of their lives, with no room for further progress. Just like himself, he was very smooth in the cultivation of the first three layers, but suddenly became extremely difficult at the fourth layer, with no progress at all.

But if there were spiritual pills and medicines, then the impossible became possible, and one could break through the limitations of aptitude and advance to the next level. From this, it could be seen how much this technique relied on medicinal power!

However, like him, eating spiritual medicines like snacks, one or two pills a day, it was estimated that there were not many people in the whole world. Therefore, logically speaking, the fifth and sixth layers, which were even harder to practice, were mastered by him without any effort, completely without the difficult experience of the fourth layer.

However, the sixth-layer Everlasting Spring Technique, apart from making Han Li feel more energetic and his brain sharper, hadn't discovered other magical uses for the time being. It was strange to say that since the cultivation of this Everlasting Spring Technique, it had only strengthened his spirit, brain, and five senses at each layer, while its effect on the body was minimal, only making his body strong and his steps light. The energy flow it formed—which Han Li called pseudo-true qi—although it could run through the meridians at will like ordinary true qi, apart from making his senses more sensitive, it had no practical effect and couldn't be as powerful as true qi.

In addition, he practiced to this point and felt that there must be incomplete mantras after the sixth layer. Perhaps its magical uses were all in the last few layers.

Thinking of this, he shook his head helplessly and sighed. Given his current relationship with Doctor Mo, the cultivation techniques for the later layers were something he shouldn't even think about.

Stopping his wild thoughts, Han Li jumped down and landed softly on the ground without making any sound, then strode toward the small wooden house.

Tomorrow he would meet Doctor Mo. Before that, he had to make full use of his talent to plan the steps for the meeting in his mind in advance, carefully ponder every subtle link that might occur, and formulate the best response plan for various dangers that hadn't happened yet.

===== CHAPTER 44 =====