Chapter 968

Three days later, Han Li appeared on another nameless wasteland island.

He stood on a massive boulder by the island’s edge, gazing solemnly at the tiny puppet floating before him, housing the spirit of the Great Expansion Divine Lord.

“Master, are you truly about to pass away on your own? Given your condition, I still have ways to extend your spiritual essence by one or two months.” Han Li spoke slowly.

“What difference does a few more days make to me? Don’t trouble yourself. To naturally return to the cycle of rebirth is, for me, a good thing.” The tiny puppet shook its head calmly.

“If that’s your wish, I won’t say more. I hope the cycle of rebirth truly exists, and that in your next life, you may once again tread the path of cultivation.” Han Li’s voice grew low.

“The path of rebirth is never easy. Even if it exists, whether you’ll be reborn as a human is uncertain. By the way, Han boy! When I helped you devise the imitation method for the Seven-Flame Fan, you once promised me a favor. You still remember, don’t you?” The Great Expansion Divine Lord suddenly brought this up.

“Of course I remember. But since you never mentioned it, I thought you’d forgotten.” Han Li smiled bitterly.

“Now that I’m here, this favor won’t go to waste. My request is simple: if possible, go to the far west and reclaim the Thousand Bamboo Sect. Appoint one of your disciples to lead it, and ensure my lineage endures—don’t let my legacy truly vanish. The current leaders of the Thousand Bamboo Sect aren’t even my disciples. Just thinking of it makes me uneasy.” The Great Expansion Divine Lord grumbled.

“No problem. When the time comes, I’ll take a disciple of outstanding talent and teach them every aspect of puppetry I learned from you, making them the new sect master of the Thousand Bamboo Sect.” Han Li answered without hesitation.

“Ha! With those words, I’m fully satisfied. I’ve engraved all my cultivation methods, secret arts, and lifetime of experiences onto a set of jade slips called the ‘Great Expansion Treasured Scripture.’ I left the slips in the Cave of Heaven’s Blessing. Learn as much as you can from them, then pass the scripture on to the disciple who inherits the Thousand Bamboo Sect. Only then will you truly inherit my legacy.” The Great Expansion Divine Lord let out a thunderous laugh.

Instantly, the tiny puppet opened its mouth, and a fist-sized green light shot skyward, followed by a series of low, obscure incantations drifting down from above.

The green light surged violently, and in an instant, a green wheel, a zhang in diameter, appeared dozens of zhang high in the sky, blindingly radiant. Han Li, watching below, couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

The incantations abruptly ceased, and silence fell around. Moments later, the wheel shrank—and with a thunderous *boom*, it exploded, scattering the lower half of the sky with glittering green sparks, dazzlingly beautiful.

Seeing this, Han Li’s face finally revealed a trace of sorrow.

The Great Expansion Divine Lord, a founding patriarch of his sect, had thus vanished into nothingness.

Gazing upward, he remained silent for a long while, then sighed deeply and lowered his head. His gaze shifted to the tiny puppet still floating before him.

Deprived of its spiritual essence, it now lay utterly lifeless.

With a slight flick of his sleeve, the green aura passed over it—and the puppet vanished. He then raised his hand and tapped the bamboo tube at his back.

Immediately, several jade slips flew out of the tube and landed in his palm.

Han Li’s spiritual sense swept briefly over the slips—indeed, they contained the Great Expansion Divine Lord’s life’s work: numerous secret arts and cultivation methods, along with countless rare tales and secrets of the cultivation world.

After only a brief glance, he tucked the jade slips into his storage bag, then stood motionless, his expression deep in thought.

Now that the puppet was complete, the next step was naturally to forge the Three-Flame Fan. If he could succeed, he might stand a chance against the Ancient Demons.

But forging the Three-Flame Fan was slightly complicated: all materials required refinement using the three true fires—earth, human, and heaven—to become spiritual ingredients.

When he had once observed the Baqiao Academy’s ceremony, Han Li had been deeply intrigued by their Earth Lung Fire Vein—he had actually coveted their earth fire, intending to borrow it to refine part of the ingredients. Now that he was in Da Jin, that was impossible.

To refine the earth-fire component, he must find another pure earth fire pool. Da Jin had no shortage of famous earth fire veins; some even belonged to no sect, lying instead in desolate, spiritually barren regions. Finding such a place wouldn’t be difficult.

Human fire was simply the true fire cultivated by cultivators themselves—the Golden Core’s dantian fire, the Nascent Soul’s nascent fire—none of which posed a problem.

The only difficulty remained the ingredient requiring heavenly fire.

According to the jade slips, heavenly fire was none other than thunderfire—requiring the collection of naturally formed lightning-fire during thunderstorms to refine the material.

This required the right opportunity. The Heaven Thunder Substances Han Li had once used were also crafted from celestial thunderfire, but those relied on the raw lightning energy, whereas he needed the lightning energy transformed into thunderfire for his ingredients.

As long as conditions were right, he estimated it would take only a few months to refine all the materials.

Imitating the Three-Flame Fan was merely a matter of time for him.

He had agreed to meet the elderly man of the Nine You Sect in the southern frontier, and judging by the timeline, it was nearly due.

Though Han Li placed little weight on such agreements where both parties harbored ulterior motives, the southern frontier housed Silver Snake Mountain—a place famed for its constant volcanic eruptions and one of Da Jin’s most prominent fire veins. Many cultivators traveled there specifically to forge magic treasures. It was an ideal place to refine his materials, and he could conveniently fulfill his appointment with the elderly man.

He was somewhat curious why the man had so solemnly arranged to meet him.

In truth, he had now completed half his goals: the remaining tasks were to obtain the spell to dispel the Soul-Sealing Curse from the Yin Luo Sect, reclaim his two flying swords from the Ancient Demon, and meanwhile search widely for Geng Essence to gather enough for another full set of flying swords.

After much deliberation, Han Li finally made his decision. But before that, two matters remained.

He immediately transformed into a green rainbow and flew toward a small mountain range on the island, then released the Heaven’s Mechanism Mansion beneath one of the hills. After setting a few seals to conceal the cave, he entered a secret chamber.

He spent five or six days refining a fraction of the Transformation Spirit Talisman he had obtained from the Heaven Fu Sect, absorbing it into his body. Then, seated on a meditation mat, he unfastened a spirit beast bag from his waist and tossed it into the air.

As the bag opened, a white aura surged out, and a yellow beast, several chi in size, appeared on the ground.

It was the Earth Armor Dragon he had captured years ago.

The beast resembled a typical pangolin, its entire body covered in colorful talismans, with several shimmering golden needles inserted into its limbs, motionless on the ground.

When Han Li released it, the beast’s tiny eyes darted wildly, then fixed on Han Li with a pitiful expression.

Clearly, years confined in the spirit beast bag had tamed much of its wild nature.

“Stop pretending to be foolish. You’re a seventh-level beast with high spiritual awareness—you understand human speech. I have no time to waste. Be direct: if you agree to submit to me, open your spiritual sense and let me cast the Spirit-Sealing Art upon you. If not, I’ll kill you immediately. Your scales and seventh-level beast core are still worth many spirit stones.” Han Li spoke coldly.

The Earth Armor Dragon shuddered, fear flashing in its eyes, then it glared at Han Li with venomous hatred.

“Serving me is far better than being enslaved by other cultivators. Beasts live far longer than humans. I don’t intend to make you a lineage beast—only serve me during my lifetime. When I ascend to the higher realm or perish, you’ll be free at once.” Han Li met the beast’s gaze unflinchingly.

The Earth Armor Dragon froze, its eyes flickering uncertainly, its face displaying a human-like expression of hesitation.

Seeing this, Han Li’s lips curled in a faint, knowing smile. He suddenly slapped his storage bag, and a small emerald bottle appeared in his hand.

A purple flash enveloped his palm in purple flame. Simultaneously, the bottle’s cap shot upward, and a chilling light erupted from within—the room’s temperature plummeted instantly.

The Earth Armor Dragon, though armored, shivered violently from the cold, its eyes filled with shock and suspicion.

Han Li gently shook his hand, and a single drop of silver liquid rose from the bottle, solidifying into a bead the moment it left the mouth, spinning rapidly.

At the sight of the silver bead, the Earth Armor Dragon’s gaze locked in place. Its nose twitched excitedly, and it let out a series of incomprehensible beast roars, clearly agitated.

“You recognize it, good. If you agree to become my spirit beast, I’ll give you two drops of this Frost Marrow—enough to help you survive your Transformation Thunder Tribulation. The terms are set. Now choose.” Han Li spoke coldly.

The Earth Armor Dragon continued staring at the Frost Marrow bead, its face twitching, its expression torn—its resolve hard to make.

After waiting a moment and seeing no clear response, Han Li snorted, fell silent, and retracted the bottle. He flicked his hand—and instantly, the purple flame on his palm flared, coalescing into a slender purple fire sword that slowly hovered above his palm.

His fingers twitched, and the fire sword shot free, drifting gently toward the Earth Armor Dragon.

Seeing this, the beast’s expression changed drastically. As the sword neared its head, and the terrifying spiritual power within it became undeniable, it finally opened its mouth in terror, emitting several pitiful cries of submission.

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