Chapter 863: Observing the Ceremony

With a glance, Han Li immediately saw that this elder with sharp eyes was ten to nine likely that Old Monster Jin. After all, among the three, only he had a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation base and appeared to be approaching the peak of this realm.

As soon as this curly-haired elder entered the hall, he didn't stand on ceremony and swept his gaze over Brother Cheng and the others. As a result, his gaze fell on Han Li, and his expression couldn't help but change slightly.

"Is this Fellow Daoist Han? I have long admired your name. But shouldn't you be a Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator? Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han's cultivation has greatly advanced, and you have advanced so quickly?" The curly-haired elder said slowly with a strange look on his face.

"Is it Brother Jin? You make me blush. Han Mou only advanced to the mid-stage not long ago." Han Li stood up and cupped his fists, saying with his usual expression.

Upon hearing this, the elder's heart couldn't help but sink.

"As soon as I came out of seclusion, I heard people talking about your incredible divine abilities. It seems that although the rumors were somewhat exaggerated, they were not far off." The curly-haired elder was silent for a moment before saying with a bitter smile.

Han Li's mouth twitched into a smile, but before he could say anything else, Brother Cheng on the side laughed and stood up as well.

"Brother Jin, why are you staring at Junior Brother Han as soon as you arrive? Let's all sit down together and chat, us old fellows." The elder surnamed Cheng said very enthusiastically.

"Brother Cheng, don't take offense. Jin Mou didn't mean to ignore you. It's just that before coming here, my ears were full of the resounding rumors about this Junior Brother Han of yours, so naturally, my curiosity was a bit greater." Old Monster Jin laughed, saying with a fake smile.

"Is that so? Now that you have seen Junior Brother Han, Brother Jin, do you not feel disappointed?" The elder surnamed Cheng asked with a smile.

"Hehe! Of course, I am not disappointed; on the contrary, it is somewhat beyond Jin Mou's expectations. With Fellow Daoist Han in the Falling Cloud Sect, I imagine you will soar into the sky in the future. However, I heard that Brother Han was not a direct disciple of your sect before, but came from the Yellow Maple Valley!" Old Monster Jin glanced at the elder surnamed Cheng and said with a cold laugh.

"So what if Junior Brother Han had some connections with the Yellow Maple Valley before? It is enough that he is now a Junior Brother and an elder of our Falling Cloud Sect." The elder surnamed Cheng said without changing his expression.

Old Monster Jin rolled his eyes upon hearing this and was about to say something else when the elder surnamed Feng suddenly interjected:

"Fellow Daoists, don't be busy talking. Our Hundred Crafts Academy has newly introduced a type of spirit fruit that tastes quite good; why don't you all taste it first."

After saying this, he clapped his hands lightly.

A team of young female disciples who had been waiting outside for a long time brought up several plates of crimson oval spirit fruits.

Seeing this, Old Monster Jin, Brother Cheng, and the others naturally couldn't reject the host's face and sat down one after another.

"This is the 'Fire Pomegranate Fruit', a spirit fruit discovered by a disciple of our academy on a nameless barren mountain. The flesh is sweet, juicy, and delicious; if mortal humans eat it, it has a certain miraculous effect on improving eyesight." As soon as the female disciples finished placing the spirit fruits, the elder surnamed Feng immediately introduced them.

Han Li and the others had indeed never seen such spirit fruits and curiously tasted them.

They were indeed exceptionally sweet and contained quite a bit of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy. Han Li also felt they were good and ate three in one breath before stopping.

"By the way. Why don't I see Fellow Daoist Fire Dragon coming over for this gathering? And this Fellow Daoist should be Fellow Daoist Mingxin of your sect, right? I heard that Fellow Daoist Mingxin's magic treasure is very rare, refined from ten-thousand-year-old yellow wood, and she also practices the top-tier wood-attribute technique 'Hundred Flowers Spring Technique'." The elder surnamed Ding glanced at the young lady of the Ancient Sword Sect and asked with a smile.

"That's right, this little girl is Mingxin. Senior Brother Fire Dragon heard that someone in the marketplace of Tanyun Mountain was selling 'Fire Ying Beast' eggs and was very interested in this, so he hasn't been in the sect for several months. Although Mingxin has also been in the Nascent Soul stage for fifty or sixty years, I have rarely met people. Being able to meet with several Fellow Daoists this time, I hope you will not hesitate to provide guidance." This young lady, dressed as a married woman, although not a peerless beauty, was gentle and graceful in every move, and a faint, natural floral fragrance emanated from her body, making people feel a natural sense of goodwill.

Han Li clearly sensed that after this woman finished speaking, her bright eyes flowed and paused when looking at him, appearing quite interested in him.

Han Li frowned inadvertently, but his expression remained the same immediately after.

After tasting the fruits, these elders of the three sects who held great power began to converse.

Han Li let the silver-haired elder and Lü Luo chat with the others with hidden barbs, while he himself sat quietly, rarely speaking. Occasionally, when they talked about him, he would just smile without speaking.

However, even so, intimidated by Han Li's reputation, these old monsters of the Hundred Crafts Academy and the Ancient Sword Sect still kept an eye on Han Li's every move, as if wanting to see through his depth.

Just as everyone in the hall was chatting happily, red light flickered at the entrance of the hall, and after the light faded, a middle-aged cultivator wearing a purple robe appeared there.

The middle-aged man had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his momentum was imposing; one look and you could tell he was someone who had held great power for a long time.

And as soon as this person appeared at the hall entrance, the elder surnamed Feng and the elder surnamed Ding immediately stood up to welcome him.

"Senior Brother Master Liehuo. The Fellow Daoists from the Falling Cloud Sect and the Ancient Sword Sect have all arrived. Is everything prepared for the ceremony?"

"Hmm, everything is arranged. You Fellow Daoists can just go and observe the ceremony." The middle-aged cultivator replied casually, but his gaze swept over the cultivators in the hall.

At this time, the other cultivators also stood up one after another to greet this person. After all, the other party was the Great Elder of the Hundred Crafts Academy; they naturally didn't dare to be negligent.

"Brother Master Liehuo, you have finally come out. We haven't seen each other for a long time. I wonder if your 'Heavenly Fire Technique' has improved. After the ceremony, why don't the two of us spar a bit." Old Monster Jin seemed to have some friendship with this person and said boldly.

"Hmph! Forget it. Even though my Heavenly Fire Technique has considerable power, it is a whole realm lower than yours; what benefit could I get from sparring with you? You'd better find someone else." Old Monster Master Liehuo rolled his eyes and said with displeasure.

At this time, Brother Cheng also introduced Han Li. Old Monster Master Liehuo was naturally shocked in his heart that Han Li had advanced to the mid-stage so quickly and was exceptionally polite to Han Li.

Subsequently, this Great Elder of the Hundred Crafts Academy didn't say any nonsense and immediately invited the few to go and observe the master-recognition ceremony.

The others naturally had no objections, and the group walked out of the cave and arrived at the airspace above the platform they had just seen.

At this time, the nearby high altitude and mountain walls were already empty, and directly in front of the massive pavilion, hundreds of Foundation Establishment disciples were waiting in several teams.

At the very front were more than a dozen Core Formation cultivators, standing side by side with solemn faces.

Ten zhang in front of these people, there was a uniquely styled furnace tripod placed there.

And this tripod was a zhang in diameter, short and square, with mysterious flame-shaped patterns carved on it, covering its entire body. What was even more peculiar was that although there was nothing around the furnace tripod at this moment, it was glowing crimson red, and as long as one walked within ten zhang of this object, one could feel a scorching high temperature rushing toward one's face.

But all of this did not attract the attention of the cultivators; their gazes fell on a young man kneeling and bowing a zhang away in front of the tripod.

This man appeared to be young, kneeling on a golden silk cushion, chanting in a low voice. But because his head was bowed, his face could not be seen clearly.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li and the others landed in front of that group of cultivators. After a commotion, those dozen disciples immediately surrounded them and greeted them respectfully.

"Greetings, Martial Uncle, Seniors. Junior Brother Yu has already bathed and worshipped for more than half an hour; in a little while, we can open the furnace tripod and hold the ceremony." After the greetings, the elder surnamed Fu walked out from the group of Core Formation cultivators and said respectfully to Han Li and the others.

"Understood, you go down first." Old Monster Master Liehuo nodded and led Han Li and the others to stand in front of the crowd, gazing at the young man who was worshipping.

"Fellow Daoist Master Liehuo, is this the disciple who formed his Core Formation in less than a hundred years? His aptitude is truly outstanding; now with the Qiankun Tower as his life-bound magic treasure to cultivate, I fear in another two or three hundred years, your academy will have another Nascent Soul cultivator." The curly-haired elder looked at the disciple carefully and suddenly said.

"Hehe, who can form a Nascent Soul is just a matter of chance; it's not that if your aptitude is good, you will definitely be able to advance to the Nascent Soul stage. It's just that by comparison, disciples with good spiritual roots have a greater hope." Old Monster Master Liehuo shook his head, appearing to disagree.

The curly-haired elder smiled faintly and didn't say anything else. The others were also silent, not opening their mouths to speak.

The disciples behind, seeing that not only their sect's ancestor was here, but also so many Nascent Soul cultivators, were even more extremely careful, not daring to even breathe loudly. In the blink of an eye, apart from the young disciple's low chanting, there was no other sound on the platform.

Han Li listened for a while; it was just an ordinary article worshipping Heaven and Earth, chanted repeatedly, without any special meaning. He didn't know if these old monsters wanted to temper this disciple's will, or if the Hundred Crafts Academy's master-recognition ceremony really had such strange rules.

With the concept of these old monsters cultivating in years, half an hour naturally passed in the blink of an eye.

Just as Han Li estimated that the time was about right, the scorching giant cauldron that had been sitting steadily in front of him suddenly had its lid tremble slightly, followed by a clear, resonant chime that drifted out from within the cauldron, and the spiritual light suddenly flared brilliantly.

The temperature around the giant tripod also rose sharply in a moment, and a circle of almost visible micro-red heat waves rushed out in all directions.

Han Li and the others in front were fine; after the heat wave rushed over and spiritual light flashed, they remained indifferent. But the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation disciples behind them flashed their protective shields one after another to resist this extremely hot wind.

As for the young disciple kneeling a zhang away, his body lit up with a fiery red light shield, firmly resisting the heat wave.

A moment later, the hot wind passed. The disciple let out a long breath and finally raised his head, staring at the giant tripod with fiery eyes.

This was a thin young man with delicate features, looking as if he were only twenty-seven or twenty-eight. To have formed a Golden Core at such a young age, no wonder the elders of the Hundred Crafts Academy were willing to entrust such a treasure as the Qiankun Tower to this person.

Han Li couldn't help but ponder this in his heart.

Web ===== CHAPTER 864 =====