Three days later, Han Li appeared at a nameless island.

He stood on a huge boulder on the shore and solemnly watched Monarch Soul Divergence’s small puppet body.

Han Li slowly asked, “Does Senior truly wish to pass away of his own accord? I still have methods that can allow your soul to persist for another month or two.”

The miniature puppet shook its head and said, “What does a few more days matter to me? I don’t want to trouble you in this matter..”

“In that case, I won’t say anything else... I hope you’ll be able to reincarnate and have the opportunity to cultivate in your next life.”

“How could the path of reincarnation be so easily tread? Even if I reincarnate, I might not take the body of a human. Ah yes, Youngster Han, do you remember that you’d agree to one request since I researched the refinement process for the Triflame Fan?”

“Of course I remember. Do you think I’d forget if you hadn’t mentioned it?” Han Li said with a wry smile.

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted. “In that case, I will make good use of it. My request is quite simple. If it is possible, I hope you will reclaim the Thousand Bamboo School in the Far West, take in a disciple on my behalf, and continue my legacy. Do not allow my teachings to die out.

The current head of the school is not someone that had stemmed from my own personal disciples. I feel ill at ease over the matter.”

“It is no problem,” Han Li quickly replied, “When the time comes, I will take in a talented disciple and teach them all of your puppet techniques. Later, I will have them become the Thousand Bamboo Sect Master.”

Monarch Soul Divergence bellowed with laughter. “Your words have put my heart at ease. I’ve collected all my techniques, life’s experiences, and knowledge into a set of jade slips I call ‘The Great Development Treasure Scriptures.’ I’ve left them all in my Heavenfortune Cask. Learn as much of it as you can, and teach them to the succeeding disciples of the Thousand Bamboo School. Only then will my legacy be truly passed on.”

A fist-sized ball of green light then shot out from the puppet body and soared to the skies. As a series of cryptic incantations sounded out from it, the light suddenly surged, quickly turning into a blinding three-meter-wide wheel a hundred meters in the air, forcing Han Li to squint his eyes at the sight.

Then, the incantations came to a sudden halt and the area become silent. A quarter hour later, the wheel shrank and loudly ruptured, filling half of the sky with specks of green light in a marvelous display.

Han Li sadly watched this funeral unfold. With this, the sect establishing grandmaster known as the Monarch of Soul Divergence had passed away.

He quietly peered upon sky for a long while and drew a deep breath before lowering his gaze to find a lifeless small puppet floating in midair.

After putting it away in a wind of azure light, he slapped the bamboo tube on his back and summoned several jade slips out from it.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense through the jade slips and read that they did indeed contain the experiences of Monarch Soul Divergence’s life, including many secret techniques as well as many strange secrets of the cultivation world. After a while, he put away the jade slips in his storage pouch and muttered to himself as he sank into thought.

Now that the grand puppet was complete, the next step was to refine the Triflame Fan. Then, he should have enough strength to face the Elder Devil.

However, the fan would be somewhat troublesome to create. He would need the assistance of the true flames of earth, heaven, and man. 

During his time at the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion [1], he grew quite interested in their vein of earthlung fire. In truth, he had wanted to use the flames to assist him in refining the materials, but now that he was in the Great Jin, the matter was impossible.

If he wanted to refine the materials that required earthfire, he’d have to find another pure reservoir. There were many in the Great Jin and quite a few famous ones that didn’t belong to any sect. Rather, these areas were easy to find but they were desolate lands that lacked spiritual Qi.

As for flames of man, a true fire of any cultivator would do, including his Nascent flame.

The sole problem was finding the flames of heaven. According to the jade slip, the so-called heavenfire was the flames produced from heavenly lightning. It would require a violent storm as he would be using the naturally occurring lightning in the refinement process.

Even if he were to use a Heavenly Lightning Bead, something that was refined from worldly lightning, it wouldn’t require lightning but that power turned into flame.

So long as the conditions were fulfilled, he’d be able to refine all the materials in about three months. Then, the completion of the Triflame Fan would only be a matter of time.

Additionally, he still had enough time to meet with the Nine Serenities Sect’s Elder Wei at the empire’s south border.

Although Han Li had agreed to his request with ulterior motives and didn’t regard it with importance, there was a volcano at the southern border named Silver Snake Mountain. It erupted yearlong and was a famous fire vein in the Great Jin. Many cultivators would go there to refine their magic tools and treasures, allowing him to kill two birds with one stone.

He was also quite interested in the matter, given how seriously Elder Wei treated the request.

To tell the truth, he had completed about half of his objectives in the Great Jin. All that was left was for him to acquire the removal incantation for the Soul Seal Curse from the Yin Sifting Sect and seize back the two flying swords from the Elder Devil. Before then, he would have to refine another set of his flying swords with the new Auric Essence.

After thinking about this for a long while, he settled on a plan of action, but there were still two matters he had to handle first.

He promptly flew towards a small mountain range on the island and released his Hidden Fortune Mansion on top of one. After placing down a few concealment formations, he entered his hidden chambers.

Six days later, he had taken in the Spiritform Talisman that he acquired into his body. With that done, he sat down cross-legged and flung a spirit beast pouch from his waist into the air.

The bag opened and white mist spilled out to reveal a meter-long yellow demon beast that resembled a pangolin. It was the Armored Earth Dragon he acquired several years prior.

The beast had various colored restriction talismans stuck all around its body, and its limbs were pierced with several sparkling golden needles, leaving it motionlessly lying on the floor. When Han Li released it, its eyes anxiously wandered and it looked at Han Li with a miserable appearance.

It appeared that these few years had greatly weakened the beast’s unruliness.

Han Li eerily said, “There is no need to play the fool, demon beast. You will agree to pay allegiance to me, release your spiritual senses of your own accord, and allow me to subject you to a soul restraint. Otherwise, I’ll simply kill you. Your demon core and scales should fetch me a good price.”

When the Armored Earth Dragon heard this, its body trembled and fear betrayed in its eyes. But then, it resentfully glared at him.

Han Li looked at the beast and bluntly said, “I won’t have you become an inherited spirit beast. You will only be under control during my lifetime. During this, if I perish or ascend to the next realm, you’ll be freed. Since your lives are far longer than ours, this will only be a moment of your time.”

The dragon’s gaze wavered and appeared to show hesitation.

Han Li mysteriously smiled and slapped his storage pouch, summoning a small green bottle into his hand. Foosh. Purple flames ignited, enveloping the bottle and releasing its lid into the air. Then, a glacial mist quickly shot out and rapidly dropped the temperature in the room.

When the dragon felt this glacial Qi, its entire body began to tremble and astonishment appeared in its eyes.

Han Li flicked his wrist and a drop of silver liquid flew out from the bottle and quickly condensed into a pearl.

Its eyes grew dull and its nose began to twitch towards the pearl. Suddenly, bestial snarls began to leave its mouth as if in a show of excitement.

“Good, you recognize it. If you agree to become my spirit beast, I’ll give you two drops of Glacial Quintessence, allowing you an opportunity to survive ascension tribulation. Now choose,” Han Li coldly said.

Though the dragon was tempted by the pearl, its face still twitched with hesitance.

After a long while, the demon beast still didn’t make any clear signs. Han Li snorted and then put the bottle away. Then, purple flames flickered from his hand and slowly condensed into the form of a sword.

When the Armored Earth Dragon sensed the sword's fearsome spiritual power, its expression shifted. Han Li then released the sword, causing the demon beast to scream out in terror and yelp out in submission.

[1] The Hundred Possibilities Pavilion is a sect allied to the Drifting Cloud Sect and share the Dreamcloud Mountains with them alongside the Ancient Sword Sect in the Heavenly South. Han Li visited it when he fought against the Ancient Sword Sect’s Eccentric Jin in chapter 869.