Chapter 867

"Chief Elder?" Hearing this, Han Li was truly stunned.

"Indeed. I won't hide it from you, Brother Han—when you were just at the early Foundation Establishment stage, I intended for Brother Lu to take the position of Chief Elder, with you assisting him. But now you've achieved such extraordinary abilities and advanced to mid-Foundation Establishment, and have rendered this sect immense service. The position of Chief Elder naturally belongs to you alone. Brother Lu has no objections whatsoever. After all, the Chief Elder of any sect is almost always the one with the greatest prowess."

"Thank you for your kindness, Brother, but I cannot accept the position of Chief Elder." After a moment of silence, Han Li flatly refused.

"Brother, don't be so modest. Only you are worthy of this post. You wouldn't let Brother Lu, a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator, become Chief Elder of the first sect in Xi Country, would you?" Lu Luo sighed bitterly and urged without hesitation.

"It's not modesty—I truly don't want the position. You two brothers know I'm a hardworking cultivator devoted solely to cultivation. I always avoid anything that might disturb my practice. How could I possibly serve as sect leader under such a mindset? Moreover, I'll be spending long periods in seclusion in the future, with no time to manage the sect or guide its development. Most importantly, I joined this sect mid-way. I don't know many of the junior disciples, let alone the Core Formation elders. Under these circumstances, becoming Chief Elder would be inappropriate. A regular Elder is enough. Let Brother Lu take the Chief Elder position."

"But Brother—" Brother Cheng frowned, about to speak further.

"If you persist in this matter, you two brothers are effectively forcing me to leave the Luoyun Sect." Han Li's expression turned serious, his tone carrying a hint of gravity as he cut him off.

"Alright. Since you say so, we'll put this matter aside for now." Brother Cheng and Lu Luo exchanged glances, both realizing Han Li wasn't merely being polite—he truly refused outright.

The two looked at each other helplessly and temporarily set the matter aside.

"That's settled! Though I won't become Chief Elder, as long as I remain an Elder of the Luoyun Sect, I'll still protect it. Unless something major goes wrong, I can still manage to keep the sect prosperous for a thousand years or more." Han Li's expression relaxed as he spoke slowly.

Hearing this, Brother Cheng could only sigh and dropped the subject. Instead, he asked about the purpose of Brother Zhiyang Cangkun Shiren's visit.

There was nothing to hide. Han Li calmly recounted the events briefly, then asked Brother Cheng:

"From Brother Zhiyang's tone, it seems this matter may be connected to the newly appeared Seven Spirit Isles and the Great Vortex. This place isn't far from our Xi Country. Have you heard any unusual reports about it?"

"Unusual reports? I haven't heard any. The rumors circulating now should all be true. When the Great Vortex and Seven Spirit Isles first appeared, since they were close to our Mount Yunmeng Mountain, our sect sent some disciples to investigate firsthand. The reality matched the rumors exactly. Aside from the abundant spiritual energy surging from the vortex and the rarity of the spiritual veins on the seven islands, there was nothing abnormal. As for the meeting to divide the seven islands, we didn't attend because you were still missing."

"If that's the case, we'll have to wait until the meeting to learn the truth. I hope Brother Zhiyang Cangkun Shiren is right—that they merely wish to harness the power of the Exorcising Thunder, and that there'll be no danger." Han Li sighed.

"Still, no matter what, you must be cautious. Even the Three Great Cultivators are coordinating their efforts, and they're gathering mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators again. This can't possibly be ordinary." Lu Luo also expressed concern.

"I'll be careful. But I doubt they'll ask me to do anything too extreme." Han Li suddenly smiled.

"That's true! You've reached mid-Foundation Establishment so young, and your prowess rivals theirs. Even the Three Great Cultivators won't dare provoke you lightly!" Lu Luo laughed heartily.

Han Li gave a faint smile and said no more.

For the rest of the journey, the three said nothing. Soon after, they arrived at the Luoyun Sect.

Brother Cheng and Lu Luo parted from Han Li and immediately headed for the sect's Grand Assembly Hall. They needed to summon key disciples to announce that the Luoyun Sect had become the top sect of Mount Yunmeng Mountain, and to discuss changes and strategies arising from this development.

Han Li went directly to the sealed sanctuary where Nangong Wan was imprisoned. He remained there for several hours before emerging, looking somewhat weary.

As soon as he left the sanctuary, he transformed into a streak of green light and flew toward the Mother-Son Peak's cave dwelling.

Earlier, in the sanctuary's secret chamber, he had expended considerable spiritual energy to perform a secret technique to examine the status of Nangong Wan's Soul-Sealing Curse.

The result left Han Li both pleased and worried.

Pleased, because the fire toad beast's core had indeed worked—it had slightly weakened the Soul-Sealing Curse within Nangong Wan's spiritual sense. Worried, because the effect of the fire toad core was far weaker than he had anticipated. Whether it could fully remove the curse remained uncertain. He'd need to observe for a much longer time before drawing a conclusion.

Fortunately, what comforted Han Li was that even if the pill couldn't remove the curse outright, it could delay its recurrence and reduce its ultimate potency. At least his journey to the Fallen Demon Valley to kill the beast and harvest the core hadn't been in vain.

…

Half a day later, Han Li appeared in the meditation chamber of his cave dwelling, motionless, eyes gently closed, seated in deep meditation.

He now had to force himself into cultivation to temporarily forget Nangong Wan's plight—otherwise, constant worry would easily give rise to mental demons and emotional obstacles.

Since entering the chamber, Han Li had remained in deep stillness. Now his mind was as calm as still water, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He spat out a golden thread-ball the size of a dragon's eye. It spun rapidly in front of his chest, then hung motionless.

Gazing at the thread-ball, Han Li raised his hand and flicked a finger, sending a green spell-seal striking it.

A thunderous crack echoed. Thin arcs of electricity shot from the golden ball, then flashed into brilliant golden light before vanishing entirely, leaving behind only a small blue flame the size of a silkworm bean.

The moment the blue flame appeared, Han Li didn't wait for it to react. He opened his mouth again and spat out a strand of identical blue flame, engulfing the flame-ball. Instantly, it swelled into an egg-sized fireball, shot back, and was swallowed whole.

Han Li said nothing. He immediately formed a strange hand seal and closed his eyes again.

He began to refine the last trace of Dry Blue Ice Flame he had obtained from the Xu Tian Ding. If he could truly master this flame, he might soon command the Xu Tian Ding—and with it, he could roam this realm without fear.

…

More than half a month later, Han Li awoke from meditation. His eyes flickered, then he raised one hand and extended a single finger.

"Puff." A small blue flame flickered into existence at his fingertip.

He closed his lips tightly, saying nothing. But after a moment, his finger trembled slightly.

The flame wavered, instantly transforming into a slender blue fire snake, which coiled tightly around his finger in an instant.

"Go," Han Li murmured.

Instantly, miniature wings of fire sprouted from the snake's back. It flapped once and flew upward toward the ceiling—but just before reaching it, it looped back, darting nimbly around the chamber's walls.

Han Li watched the fire snake's movements silently. After a full cup of tea passed, he suddenly pointed a finger.

"Boom!" The fire snake exploded in midair. Sparks of flame rained down like a sudden storm, striking Han Li—but vanished instantly, absorbed into his body.

Only then did Han Li smile faintly, murmuring to himself:

"It seems refining the Dry Blue Ice Flame is getting faster. At first, it took half a year—or even a year—to refine a single trace. Now I've refined the same amount in just half a month."

Han Li paused, thought for a moment, then tapped his waist pouch. A streak of green light flashed, and a small, flat, round cauldron appeared in his hand. Only a few inches tall, yet exquisitely crafted and ancient in appearance.

This was the Xu Tian Ding, carefully preserved by Han Li.

He gazed at the cauldron, his expression thoughtful. Then he gently tossed it into the air. The small cauldron rolled once, then hovered steadily.

Han Li rubbed his palms together. Blue flame erupted between them, forming a fist-sized blue fireball. Then, from the center of each palm, a thumb-thick strand of blue flame shot out, striking the fireball. Instantly, the fireball swelled violently.

Moments later, a massive fireball the size of a human head appeared silently before his chest.

The fireball pulsed, growing and shrinking irregularly, its surface swirling with blue flames—yet radiating not a trace of heat. It was deeply strange.

Han Li looked up at the hovering cauldron. With a thought, the fireball transformed into a streak of blue light and struck the cauldron.

A strange sight occurred: the cauldron did not fly away or shatter. Instead, it merged seamlessly with the flame, as if water and fire had blended. The ice flame blazed fiercely across its surface, and the Xu Tian Ding began to rotate slowly within it.

Han Li stared coldly at the cauldron within the flames, eyes half-lidded. He released his powerful spiritual sense, enveloping the cauldron entirely, carefully observing whether any unusual changes had occurred within the ice flame.

Time passed slowly. Han Li's brow gradually knitted tighter.

Encased in the fully refined Dry Blue Ice Flame, the cauldron remained unchanged—identical to how it had always been.

Han Li lowered his head, thought again, then snapped his gaze upward. He poured spiritual power into his eyes. His pupils blazed with piercing blue light as he stared unblinkingly at the Xu Tian Ding.

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