Such tiny talisman characters weren’t something that could be created in the current cultivation world in the Heavenly South. That meant this chain was an extremely rare ancient treasure.

With that thought, silver light flashed from his hands and the cut pieces of silver chain were withdrawn into his storage pouch. When he had the time later, he planned on seeing whether or not he could restore the chain and test their might.

With the silver chain gone, he lowered his head to look down at the Cadaver Demon’s sinister body. His expression grew sullen and he flicked his fingers, piercing several parts of the Cadaver Demon’s body with azure threads. Han Li then began to examine it, revealing an expression of satisfaction afterwards.

Apart from the missing arm, the Cadaver Demon was ideal for a refined corpse. Not only was its body incredibly formidable to the point where common magic treasure couldn’t harm it in the slightest, but just a small amount of the corpse fire and poison that it produced could immediately kill a cultivator.

But when he looked at the Cadaver Demon’s destroyed arm, a thought appeared in Han Li’s mind. He slapped a spirit beast pouch at his waist and released a swarm of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. They loudly buzzed as they circled around his head before he raised his hand and struck them with a spell seal. Then with a mental command, the beetles condensed around the corpse demon’s missing arm. A moment later, a new black, silver, and gold arm appeared in the gap. Apart from the color contrasting with the green fur on the rest of its body, it appeared exactly the same as its other arm.

Han Li smiled, revealing a trace of satisfaction.

In the following moments, he took out several formation flags and formation discs and arranged them in a profound spell formation.

...

After spending two months at the center of the mountain, Han Li returned to his cave residence. His face was extremely pale as if he had exhausted much of his vitality. After Silvermoon greeted him, he wordlessly secluded himself in a hidden room and didn’t mention anything about the Cadaver Demon.

After a month, the large door opened once more and Han Li calmly walked out from the room.

Standing guard outside his room, Silvermoon respectfully said, “Master, the Six-winged Frost Centipedes have already begun to hatch in the insect room.” 

Han Li smiled upon hearing her and said, “Let’s go and have a look then.” Soon after, he quickly made his way to the insect room with Silvermoon following him in an elegant motion.

Han Li opened the restrictions guarding the way to the insect room and clearly saw what laid within. The newly hatched Six-winged Frost Centipedes were larger than the first generation and the glacial Qi they breathed was far stronger than before.

Although it wasn’t comparable to the Celestial Ice Flames, it would still be fatal to cultivators at the Core Formation stage. Of course, when fused into the Purple Apex Flames, they became far more deadly.

The eggs of the Six-winged Frost Centipedes shined with black light at the center of the insect room. They were fist-sized and surrounded by three-meter-wide chunks of ice. The ice Qi pervading the room clearly originated from these eggs.

Han Li swept his gaze across the room. The huge centipedes seemed to have sensed something and raised their heads, snarling in the direction of the stone door as if they felt threatened. With a changed expression, Han Li glanced down at the insect eggs and closely examined them.

After counting the number of eggs, Han Li nodded and said, “There are twenty-four eggs, enough to use. Silvermoon, call for my in-name disciple to come over and tell her she can take her centipedes.”

“Yes, I will send the voice transmission talisman.” Silvermoon agreed and took out a talisman. After whispering a few words into it, she tossed it into the air and it flew off in a streak of red light. 

Finished with the centipede eggs, Han Li turned his attention to the Gold Devouring Beetles in the next room. Because the green liquid had been prioritized for the Six-winged Frost Centipedes, Han Li hadn’t paid much attention to his specifically selected Gold Devouring Beetles.  

There were no changes to the beetles in the room. They were still concentrated in a huge golden ball, suspended on a spirit tree that Han Li had specifically planted there. 

Although he had anticipated this, Han Li still frowned at the sight. When those flying beetles evolved once more, they could be considered fully mature. Even with the acceleration from the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the long process of their evolution was nearly unbearable. Han Li hadn’t thought that in a mere several tens of years, the Gold Devouring Beetles would finally reach the last stage of maturation. 

Han Li withdrew his gaze from the insect room and asked, “Silvermoon, how is the Profound Goddess Palm? It's been several months. That should be enough to tell if it can be saved.”

Silvermoon replied with hesitation, “It’s... hard to say. It would be better if Master took a look personally.” 

“What could be hard to say?” Han Li appeared puzzled. But after a moment of thought, he ordered Silvermoon to take him to the medicine garden.

A trace of astonishment appeared in Han Li’s eyes when he saw the stalkroot of the Profound Goddess Palm. Its original faint yellow color was turning green, but it was still bare and small, without any hint of emerging buds.

“How can this be? Is the plant alive or dead?” Contrary to what he saw, Han Li didn’t sense any aura of life from it.

Silvermoon sighed and slowly said, “This was what I wished to tell Master. The Profound Goddess Palm’s root was watered several times by the green liquid without any change. It was only after using both the Myriad Year Spirit Milk combined with the Wine Nectar that I was able to change its color.

“I originally believed it was brought back to life, but apart from the change in color, it’s exactly the same. The green liquid also had no effect on it. As a result, I was left with my hands tied. It’s unknown whether the Profound Goddess Palm root is actually alive or dead.”

Looking at the Profound Goddess Palm root, Han Li indifferently said, “Since it reacted, there is still a chance of reviving it. We simply need to find another method, but now is not the time to continue experimenting with it. We’ll have to settle our affairs in the Far West first. It is about time for us to leave.”

“We’re going now?” Silvermoon asked.

Han Li firmly replied, “We’re leaving tomorrow. In a moment, I am going to bid farewell to Senior Martial Brother Cheng. Afterwards, I will seal my cave residence and take the most important items. The Far West shouldn’t have any formidable high-grade cultivators, so it shouldn’t prove very dangerous, just time consuming. Also, we must make it back within three years, or we’ll miss the prime window to enter Devilfall Valley.”

Silvermoon nodded after he finished speaking.

Soon, the two left the medicine garden. As Han Li left to see his Senior Martial Brother Cheng, Silvermoon was left behind in the cave residence to put it in order for their departure the next day.

The next morning, Han Li brought Silvermoon out of the cave residence to discover there was a beautiful woman of graceful stature waiting outside for Han Li.

A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes as he asked, “What is it? Didn’t I give you enough medicine pills to last you for several years of peaceful cultivation?”

Mu Peiling lowered her head and whispered, “My Lord, after some thought, I’ve decided it may be better for me to go on this journey with you since my cultivation has reached a bottleneck. As your concubine, serving my Lord is only natural. Will you bring me?” Her beautiful appearance was capable of arousing a feeling of great adoration.

When Han Li heard her, he gave her an appraising look and pondered to himself for a moment. As Silvermoon stood behind him, her eyes wandered and she mysteriously smiled.

Not long after, Han Li nodded and said, “Since you wish to go, then so be it. On the way, I can give you some guidance on cultivation. The sooner you can reach Core Formation stage, the better it will be for me.”

“Many thanks, my Lord!” Mu Peiling was overjoyed upon hearing this and wore an expression of excitement.

When Han Li saw this, he smiled and flung his sleeve, releasing the Wind Riding Chariot in a streak of white light. When Silvermoon saw the carriage, she giggled and entered Han Li’s sleeve in a blur.

When Mu Peiling saw this, her jaw dropped in shock. 

Han Li paid this no mind and calmly said, “I’ll talk to you about Silvermoon on the way. Let’s head out first!” 

“Yes, my Lord!” Mu Peiling quickly restored her calm and made her way toward the carriage with lithe steps.

Just as she stepped inside, Han Li entered the carriage in an azure blur. He formed a hand incantation and a layer of white light suddenly covered the flying carriage. Then with a clear ring, the Wind Riding Chariot streaked across the sky and disappeared from sight.

Not long after, some information began to spread in the Drifting Cloud Sect that their Elder Han had suffered a slight loss in vitality as a result of a confrontation with a devil cultivator, and would be secluding himself for several years to restore his cultivation.

When the two other sects in the Dreamcloud Mountains heard this, they sent several people to inquire about the state of Han Li’s injuries, but Elder Cheng didn’t give them a concrete answer. The cultivators that were friends of the Drifting Cloud Sect were also denied an answer over the matter.

Thus, news that the newly famous Elder Han of the Drifting Cloud Sect had sustained heavy injuries quickly spread throughout the State of Xi and through the sects of neighboring countries. The cultivators of these sects didn’t suspect this news in the slightest. After all, the last devil cultivator that injured him was an elder of the Jin Empire’s Yin Sifting Sect that was rumored to be at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage. It was no surprise that killing him would result in a large loss in vitality. But even so, Han Li quickly became viewed as a vastly powerful cultivator who stood on par with Eccentric Heavenvenge.

Likewise, the fame of the Drifting Cloud Sect rose rapidly alongside him and there were few sects that didn’t begin trying to befriend the sect. There were even a few vagrant cultivators with profound cultivation that came to the Dreamcloud Mountains to enter the Drifting Cloud Sect.

In a short amount of time, the Drifting Cloud Sect gained a faint standing of the top sect in the State of Xi. Many Drifting Cloud Sect disciples grew excited about their mysterious Elder Han and he rose to be their most well-regarded idol for a time.