Chapter 789

"What is it?" Han Li turned his head to look at Yin Yue, a strange expression flickering in his eyes.

"Since becoming your vessel spirit, Master, you have never once allowed me to enhance your sword's power in my spirit form, nor have you ever summoned me to fight. May I ask why?"

"Why are you asking about this now?" Han Li frowned, slightly surprised.

"Nothing much. I just asked out of curiosity. After all, Yin Yue's true nature is merely a vessel spirit."

"Vessel spirit? Do you think you're just an ordinary vessel spirit? Ordinary vessel spirits have no sentience—how could they ask such a question? In truth, summoning a vessel spirit into physical form can greatly enhance a treasure's power, but it drains considerable essence from the spirit itself. There have even been cases where masters overused their vessel spirits, causing them to disintegrate. To me, your fox form provides me with substantial assistance. Unless absolutely necessary, I will not transform you into a vessel spirit for battle—your cultivation base would suffer, and that serves no purpose to me." After a moment of silence, Han Li spoke coolly, then turned and walked out of the hall without another word.

Yin Yue, left alone in the hall, blinked her bright eyes several times, a thoughtful expression appearing on her jade-like face, as if lost in thought.

After a while, she lowered her head to gaze at the jade box in her hand, a faint smile rising on her lips, before she too stepped out.

…

The next day, Han Li appeared in the secret chamber of his cave dwelling, preparing to begin cultivating the Divine Art of the Second Nascent Soul.

Ordinary techniques simply could not compare to such a great divine art; thus, Han Li had already begun preparing for this day long ago.

Now, Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground, holding a pale green jade slip, his spiritual sense submerged within, studying something intently.

This jade slip contained the "Mysterious Mother Transformation of the Nascent Soul."

After a moment, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense, closed his eyes in thought, then formed a hand seal and murmured a few low incantations. His body stiffened, becoming utterly motionless.

Above his crown, a faint blue light flickered—and suddenly, a tiny infant wrapped in blue light appeared there. It was his Nascent Soul, cultivated over two hundred years.

Compared to several years ago, this Nascent Soul appeared slightly more robust. Its black, clear eyes radiated sharp vitality.

With a Nascent Soul cultivated for only a few years, he dared not let it leave his body except in the safest possible place. Otherwise, any sudden disturbance could shatter his fragile Nascent Soul.

After sitting atop his head for a while, the Nascent Soul tilted its head, surveying the chamber. A flash of blue light enveloped it, transforming into a floating orb of spiritual light that began drifting slowly through the chamber.

At first, its flight seemed clumsy, but gradually it mastered the technique. The blue light grew faster and faster—until finally, the entire chamber was filled with nothing but a phantom-like blue glow, flickering unpredictably, leaving one in awe.

After a while longer, the Nascent Soul suddenly halted its flight, hovering in a corner of the chamber as if remembering something. Its tiny white hands formed a seal—there was a flash of spiritual light, and the Nascent Soul vanished from its spot, reappearing instantly atop Han Li's head. Its small face was slightly pale, as if drained of much essence.

This was the unique divine art of the Nascent Soul: true teleportation.

The Nascent Soul stretched lazily, then transformed back into a streak of blue light and vanished into Han Li's crown.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly, then slowly opened, revealing a solemn expression.

"It seems my Nascent Soul has finally solidified after years of cultivation. Though still far from those ancient monsters', it's now stable enough to begin cultivating the Second Nascent Soul without major risk." Han Li murmured.

He slapped his storage bag, and a jade box appeared in his hand, covered in numerous talismans.

With a solemn expression, Han Li swept his sleeve, and all the talismans fell off automatically. He gently tapped a corner of the lid with his finger—the lid opened, revealing a golden sphere glowing brilliantly inside.

Inside was the sealed Supreme Wood Nascent Soul.

"The Soul Separation Technique I used back then should be fully effective by now," Han Li muttered, gazing at the golden sphere.

After a moment's thought, he raised his hand and pressed his five fingers against the sphere.

A thunderclap rang out. Golden light flashed, and countless fine lightning arcs shot from the sphere, swiftly sinking into Han Li's hands and vanishing. Instantly, the golden sphere dissolved, revealing a tiny, green figure no more than a few inches tall—clear-eyed and delicate—the true form of the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul.

But now, the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul was covered head to toe with countless fine black needles, eyes tightly shut, unconscious. These hair-thin needles flickered faintly with green light, appearing utterly eerie.

Han Li did not dare to be careless. He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the Nascent Soul and the black needles meticulously.

Seeing everything matched his expectations, his expression eased slightly. He extended one index finger and slowly, steadily, pressed it toward the Nascent Soul's forehead.

"Puff!" Before his fingertip even touched, a pea-sized green light burst forth from his tip, then transformed into a slender emerald thread that pierced directly into the Nascent Soul's forehead.

Han Li's finger did not tremble at all—calm and steady—as if using the green thread to probe the Nascent Soul's inner condition.

After nearly a full meal's time, Han Li exhaled slowly, withdrew his finger, and retracted the green spiritual thread, which vanished with a flash.

He rubbed his chin, pondered briefly, then suddenly raised his hand and summoned the black needles. Hundreds of them shot out as dark streaks and vanished into his sleeves.

The Nascent Soul remained unconscious, lying still in the jade box, showing no sign of awakening.

Han Li had clearly made up his mind. Without hesitation, he formed a strange hand seal and cast a spell toward the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul.

Instantly, the Nascent Soul floated gently out of the jade box, rising to the same height as Han Li's head. Its limbs moved autonomously, assuming a cross-legged meditation posture, facing Han Li directly and remaining perfectly still.

Han Li gently closed his eyes, activated his inner spell, and his crown blazed with brilliant blue light—his own Nascent Soul reappeared.

This time, his Nascent Soul's face bore no trace of mirth. Instead, its small features were tightly drawn, expression grave.

It lifted its head, fixing its gaze on the motionless Supreme Wood Nascent Soul across from it.

With a slight movement, it flew across and sat cross-legged opposite the other.

The Supreme Wood Nascent Soul stood two inches tall; Han Li's Nascent Soul was barely an inch high. The two side by side appeared grossly disproportionate.

Yet now, Han Li's Nascent Soul moved its lips slightly, muttering a few obscure incantations.

Then it opened its mouth and spat out a dense, pure sphere of blue spiritual energy directly onto the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul's face.

Instantly, the Nascent Soul's features twitched, and slowly, its eyes opened—but its gaze was vacant, lifeless, like a puppet's.

Han Li's Nascent Soul, as if facing a dire enemy, rapidly formed hand seals with both tiny hands, eyes wide open, never blinking, locked on the other's eyes.

Suddenly, two strands of blue light shot from its eyes and plunged directly into the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul's eyes.

Both forms trembled violently. The Supreme Wood Nascent Soul let out a pained scream, then plummeted from the air, rolling and writhing on the ground as if enduring unbearable torment.

Han Li's Nascent Soul remained hovering steadily in midair, its small face twisted in agony—but it still managed to suppress the pain.

The cries of agony in the chamber came in intermittent bursts, rising and falling, lasting an entire day and night before finally fading away.

Two more days passed before Han Li emerged from the chamber, weary but with a faint glimmer of triumph in his eyes.

Originally fearing that forcibly seizing the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul's spiritual sense might trigger backlash, Han Li had not immediately cast the Second Nascent Soul. Instead, he had used a Soul Separation Technique from the Yin Yin Scripture, applying it to the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul that very day, causing its spiritual sense to slowly weaken and dissipate under the effect of the separation needles.

Now, after such a long time, the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul's core spiritual sense had dwindled to the barest trace.

Under these conditions, relying on his own spiritual sense—stronger than even a late-stage Nascent Soul—he could effortlessly erase the last remnants of its consciousness.

Now that the Nascent Soul's spiritual sense had been forcibly erased, Han Li had injected a portion of his own spiritual sense into it, then sealed the Nascent Soul within his body using a secret method, slowly assimilating and adapting it.

Though there remained the risk that his spiritual sense might be reversed and assimilated by the Nascent Soul's instinct, Han Li trusted his spiritual sense to be exceptionally firm and stable—he doubted such a thing would occur. Even if it did, he could simply abandon that portion of his spiritual sense. With his immense spiritual strength, such a loss would not impair his intellect.

The duration of this assimilation process, however, was uncertain. It might take three to five years—or seven, eight, even over ten. It varied from cultivator to cultivator.

Han Li had never expected this Second Nascent Soul to be useful during his journey to the Fallen Demon Valley, so he was in no hurry.

After leaving the chamber, he rested for a day, then went to the marketplace and purchased a batch of alchemical materials. He spent half a month in the alchemy chamber before emerging again.

In his hand now were a dozen giant nails, each capable of freely changing size.

Han Li took them and headed directly to the swamp where he had captured the Snow Cloud Fox.

When he appeared in the stone chamber within the mountain, Han Li immediately saw the Corpse Ghoul lying peacefully on the stone platform. Though he had expected this, he still exhaled a quiet sigh of relief.

He pulled a jade box sealed with a golden talisman from his storage bag, then laid out the silver giant nails one by one, half-closing his eyes as he stared at the Corpse Ghoul.

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