Chapter 152 Two Years Later
Han Li encountered intermediate-grade spirit stones for the first time. One was a shiny red fire attribute spirit stone, and the other was a deep yellow earth attribute spirit stone, both of which were the most common types of intermediate-grade spirit stones.
Indeed, they looked completely different from the lower-grade spirit stones with only faint attribute colors. Not to mention their different luster, their powerful spiritual waves alone would never cause any confusion.
The three magical treasures were also good, crafted by a master during the Foundation Establishment Stage. Compared to the junk Han Li had seen at the Tai Nan Meeting, they were much stronger.
One was a seemingly steel-made ring that, when activated, could automatically lock onto enemies and change size within a certain range.
Once, Han Li impulsively poured all his mana into it, causing the ring to emit a faint yellow light that expanded to a terrifying extent, enough to engulf the cottage he lived in, leaving Han Li speechless.
The other was a small black triangular flag, even simpler to use.
By injecting spiritual power into it, then waving it, a cloud of black mist would immediately appear around the flag's owner, blinding enemies in front of them and concealing their own tracks.
It was a good defensive magical treasure.
The first two magical treasures were already rare high-quality items in the outside world, but what excited Han Li the most was the last one, an auxiliary magical treasure, a brass bottle capable of preserving the spiritual power of items stored inside.
As soon as Han Li got his hands on this bottle-shaped magical treasure, he immediately thought of a method to store the mysterious green liquid that had been troubling him for a long time.
You see, ever since Han Li learned about the existence of spiritual power, he had long suspected that the small bottle absorbed condensed natural spiritual energy every night.
However, due to the lack of suitable means to confirm it in the past, this idea could only be buried deep in his heart as a speculation.
Now, with the appearance of this brass bottle magical treasure, he finally had a method to confirm this speculation. So, that night, he placed the condensed green liquid into the brass bottle, wanting to see if the magical treasure could retain the liquid.
However, the result of this test disappointed him greatly.
The brass bottle only extended the preservation time of the green liquid from the original fifteen minutes to a full day, after which the liquid still disappeared from the bottle without a trace.
It seemed that this liquid was not simply the condensation of natural spiritual energy; there must be something more complex mixed in.
After completing this test, Han Li was very self-aware, knowing that he couldn't easily solve this mystery at his current stage. So, he decided to stop worrying about it and go with the flow. Anyway, the current function of the small bottle already brought him endless benefits.
With his worries resolved, Han Li began to utilize the effect of the green liquid to produce batches of "Yellow Dragon Pills" and "Golden Marrow Pills," intending to consume these highly effective pills while trying to find even more exquisite alternative pill formulas in the valley.
However, Han Li was well aware that this matter couldn't be rushed.
As a newly recruited junior disciple, if he went around inquiring about pill formulas openly, wouldn't he be telling others that he had ulterior motives? That might bring disaster upon himself!
So Han Li decided to honestly cultivate in the medicinal garden for several years, until he thoroughly understood the affairs within the sect and became an old-timer of Huang Feng Valley, attracting less attention from others before considering the issue of pill formulas.
As for the medicinal herbs he had to turn in every period, he didn't need to worry anymore.
With the help of the diluted green liquid, he could mature any kind of herb overnight, which was a trivial matter.
He was prepared to settle down in this medicinal garden for a long time, and he believed Master Ma wouldn't have any objections to that.
So, Han Li busied himself with his daily tasks in an orderly manner.
After reading the old man's experience notes during the day, he began to frequently visit Senior Brother Wu Feng's place to learn some practical spell incantations, then return to the medicinal garden to ponder and comprehend by himself.
Moreover, Han Li consumed the "Yellow Dragon Pills" and "Golden Marrow Pills" like candy every day. Since the quality wasn't good enough, couldn't he make up for it with quantity? These pills, if accumulated, would also be effective.
Thus, time flew by unknowingly! Before he knew it, Han Li had been in Huang Feng Valley, one of the seven major immortal sects, for more than two years.
During these two years, many things happened.
Shortly after Han Li started his secluded cultivation, it happened to be the once-in-a-decade event of recruiting new disciples.
Over a thousand teenagers with excellent aptitude from various cultivation families were recruited into Huang Feng Valley.
There were even two siblings with the same "Spirit Root," known for their destructive power—the "Thunder Spirit Root. "
The appearance of these siblings completely attracted the attention of the high-level figures in the valley.
Even a Foundation Establishment Stage elder who had been in seclusion for a long time made an exception to inspect them.
After examining their aptitude, he publicly declared that if the two could successfully build their foundations, he would personally accept them as disciples and teach them.
This declaration caused envy among other disciples. However, apart from these siblings, there were also several outstanding talents among this batch of disciples.
For example, a young man named Li from a small family, who, at the age of eleven or twelve, had already practiced the basic techniques to the ninth level peak without taking any pills. His progress was astonishing, seemingly not inferior to those with Spirit Roots.
Another boy named Wang, seven or eight years old, was even more remarkable.
He not only came from the prestigious Wang family of cultivators, but he also possessed the innate "Mystic Yin Eyes" and could practice the long-lost "Soul-Chilling Divine Light," which could restrain all ghosts and spirits in the world.
Apart from these two, there were also some other outstanding talents among the new disciples.
Compared to the previous recruitments, this time was an extraordinary harvest, making Sect Master Zhong happy for several days in a row.
He even wondered if heaven had finally opened its eyes and intended to let Huang Feng Valley surpass the other sects!
However, when news came from outside the valley that the strongest sect among the seven major sects, the "Moon Concealment Sect," had found a "Heavenly Spirit Root" girl among its new disciples, Sect Master Zhong, who had just been ambitious for a few days, was left speechless for a long time.
But regardless of external developments, this group of new disciples completely captured the attention of everyone in Huang Feng Valley. Even those who had joined earlier were discussing which talented junior brother had progressed or made remarkable achievements today.
Under the brilliance of so many dazzling newcomers, Han Li, who had only entered with an Ascension Token, was completely forgotten by Sect Master Zhong and the supervisors in the valley.
Moreover, since Han Li spent all his time in the medicinal garden and rarely went out to meet people, those who knew him were even fewer.
Perhaps only Senior Brother Wu Feng and the steward from the Hundred Mechanisms Hall occasionally remembered Han Li.
After all, they would meet when consulting about spells and receiving spirit stones every month.
No matter
how others viewed him, Han Li was very satisfied with his current semi-secluded cultivation.
And he was even more pleased with the little old man who came every few months to collect certain herbs from him!
After all, where else could Master Ma find a gardener disciple like Han Li, who always delivered the required items on time and never delayed?
So, in order to keep Han Li, this talented gardener, the little old man's rewards of spirit stones became heavier and heavier each time, from the initial two low-grade spirit stones per month to the current five per month.
This made Han Li a truly high-income junior disciple.
You should know that the average income of other ordinary disciples was only three spirit stones per month.
This increased Han Li's favor towards Master Ma even more.
As for the Main Hall Master Ye, who reneged on most of his items, Han Li heard that his highly anticipated nephew, after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, still failed to build his foundation and remained stuck at the peak of Qi Refinement Stage, leaving him quite distressed.
When Han Li heard about this, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself, feeling much relieved.
In addition, due to the strong promotion of countless elixirs, Han Li's Longevity Art finally broke through two layers in a row, reaching the eleventh layer, placing him at the intermediate level among the low-level disciples in the valley.
At this time, the "Yellow Dragon Pills" and "Golden Marrow Pills" had completely lost their effectiveness.
Even if he consumed more, there would be no effect at all!
As a result, Han Li had to advance his plans and focus on other elixirs.
Fortunately, at this time, no one in the valley would be interested in him, an unknown small fry. As long as he was a bit more cautious, his actions would not attract the attention of others anymore.