Chapter 235: An Offering from the Monkey King
The cave appeared to have been formed naturally, and it wasn't special in any way compared with most of the caves on the mountain.
The cave was quite spacious, around 200 to 300 feet in area, and there were several small caves inside that appeared to have been the homes for these monkeys. A tender cry rang out from one of the smaller caves as several small monkeys poked their heads out, only to be immediately pulled back by the arm of another monkey.
Immediately thereafter, a female monkey appeared at the entrance of the cave, looking at Han Li with a cautious expression as it let loose a threatening cry.
The monkey king immediately responded with an authoritative roar, and the female monkey's expression instantly changed as it ducked back into the cave.
The monkey king turned to Han Li to deliver what seemed to have been an apology, then continued onward, quickly reaching the deepest cave.
This was a rather small cave that was only several dozen feet in area, and the entire cave was filled with a rich wine aroma that was coming from a cauldron that was taller than a grown man.
The cauldron was gray in color, and it seemed to have been constructed from some type of unknown rock. It was a round cauldron that was supported by three feet, and there was a lid on the cauldron that was shaped like a conical bamboo hat.
There were eight large runes engraved onto the surface of the cauldron, giving it a remarkable appearance, but the cauldron wasn't giving off even the slightest aura, appearing as if it were nothing more than an ordinary cauldron.
The monkey king cried out a few times as it pointed at the cauldron, then jumped onto it before lifting the lid.
Most of the cauldron was filled with a light red liquid, which was giving off the same aroma as the monkey wine in the gourd.
However, it was clear that the brewing process wasn't yet complete for this batch of wine as it was still looking a little murky.
There were many pieces of fruit skin and cores littered around the cauldron, and Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
He pointed at the fruit scraps on the ground as he asked, "This is what you used to brew your wine?"
The monkey king immediately nodded in response.
Han Li fell silent as he made his way over to the cauldron, and after inspecting it carefully for some time, his eyes gradually lit up.
All of the fruit scraps on the ground belonged to some common wild fruits in the mountains, but due to the fact that they were growing in the Bell Toll Mountain Range, all of them contained some of the world's origin qi. Even so, they could only have been considered to be the most ordinary of spirit fruits.
The fact that these monkeys were able to brew such exquisite wine with such simple ingredients had to have had something to do with their wine brewing expertise, but the main contributing factor was most likely this mysterious stone cauldron.
Han Li inspected the cauldron for a moment, then pressed his hand against it and slowly injected his immortal spiritual power into it, but the cauldron displayed no reaction.
His brows furrowed slightly as he increased the rate of immortal spiritual power outflow while also simultaneously injecting his spiritual sense into the cauldron as well.
The eight runes on the surface of the cauldron suddenly lit up slightly, but then immediately fell dark again.
A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes as he withdrew his immortal spiritual power and spiritual sense.
He still wasn't able to uncover exactly what was so special about this stone cauldron, but it was clearly no ordinary cauldron.
"Where did you get this cauldron from?" he asked as he turned to the monkey king.
The monkey king scratched its head for a moment, then pointed at the cave and tried to communicate something to Han Li.
"You're saying it was always here to begin with?" Han Li asked.
The monkey king immediately nodded in response with an elated expression.
Han Li fell silent upon seeing this.
This was a cave that had been formed naturally, so how had such a mysterious stone cauldron appeared here? Could it be that someone had put it here?
In any case, at the very least, this stone cauldron was clearly a brilliant treasure for brewing wine.
At this moment, some other monkeys also entered the cave and began to play. As a result, the quiet cave instantly became quite lively.
Many of the monkeys were looking into the deepest cave, but none of them stepped inside.
Han Li took a glance outside, then quickly withdrew his gaze as he asked, "This stone cauldron is very useful to me. Would you be able to give it to me? Of course, I'm not going to just take it from you. Here, you can have your pick out of these pills and spirit fruits, or anything else you may like."
Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a bunch of items as he spoke.
The monkey king's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the pills and spirit fruits, but it then shook its head vigorously, as if to free itself from temptation.
After refusing Han Li's proposal, it pointed in the direction of the Crimson Dawn Peak in the distance.
"You want me to take you live on the Crimson Dawn Peak?" Han Li asked.
The monkey nodded vigorously in response, following which a thought occurred to it, and it pointed at the monkeys outside.
"You want me to take them with me as well?" Han Li asked.
The monkey king nodded in response as a hopeful look appeared on its eyes.
The monkeys outside also seemed to have sensed that this was an important moment, and all of them instantly fell silent.
"I can do that. The spiritual qi on the Crimson Dawn Peak is far more abundant than it is here, but it's also a lot colder. Will you be able to handle it?" Han Li asked.
The monkey king nodded vigorously as it thumped its own chest.
Han Li stowed his offerings away, then said, "In that case, I'll take all of you to the Crimson Dawn Peak once you're prepared for the move."
The monkey king cried out in excitement, then rushed out of the cave before calling out loudly to its brethren, and it was met with a wave of ecstatic cheers.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he turned to the stone cauldron, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, stowing the cauldron away along with the batch of unfinished monkey wine instead.
A pleased smile appeared on his face as he made his way out of the cave.
Moments later, a streak of azure light shot out of the waterfall before hurtling away into the distance, flying for several thousand feet before stopping to reveal none other than Han Li.
He had arrived in a rather desolate area with sparse vegetation and only a few black mountains, all of which were covered in a thick layer of snow.
He gently exhaled before rubbing his hands together, and his Heavy Water True Axis emerged.
He chanted an incantation as he activated the axis, and much to his surprise, the immortal spiritual power in his body was being sucked away by the Heavy Water True Axis like flood water out of a broken dam.
Before he had a chance to do anything, the Heavy Water True Axis began to glow with dazzling bright light while expanding to several times its original size in the blink of an eye.
A burst of formidable spiritual pressure erupted out of the axis alongside a series of black halos that proliferated outward in all directions, and the sound of crashing waves could be heard as well.
All of the world's origin qi within a radius of thousands of kilometers was swept up into a frenzy, and countless specks of blue light appeared before converging toward a certain spot.
Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, following which an elated look appeared in his eyes.
The Heavy Water True Axis had swelled to the size of a house, and it was rapidly revolving while giving off piercing black light. The Water Dao Rune on its surface was also glowing a bright blue, and the blue and black light seemed to have been feeding off one another, becoming brighter and brighter until it was as if there were a black and blue sun hovering in mid-air.
At the same time, bursts of invisible fluctuations surged forth in a frenzy, becoming more powerful with each successive wave. The nearby space also began to tremble violently, while gusts of fierce wind swept through the surrounding air.
After a brief pause, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the massive Heavy Water True Axis immediately hurtled through the air before crashing toward the ground.
The ground and the sky began to tremble violently in unison, as if doomsday had descended.
Ripples of black and blue light surged through the air in all directions, sweeping up ferocious gusts of wind that swept away the snow on the ground with ease while also stripping away the top layer of earth beneath the snow.
The clouds in the sky were also churning violently as they spread into the distance like turbulent waves.
The Crimson Dawn Peak that was several thousand kilometers away also shuddered as an immeasurable volume of snow came crashing down.
Sun Buzheng and the others, who were tending to the spirit fields at the foot of the mountain, all looked at one another with surprised expressions, and no one knew what had happened.
"Could it be that Elder Li is using some type of cultivation art? But it doesn't feel like the tremors are coming from the mountaintop," someone mused.
"Who else could cause such a massive commotion aside from Elder Li? He only just came out of seclusion, so perhaps he's mastered some cultivation art of unmatched power or has refined a treasure and is testing it out," Sun Buzheng said as he turned to the direction that the tremors were coming from with a hint of longing in his eyes.
Meng Qianqian also turned to that direction with a look of admiration on her face.
Several thousand kilometers away, the earth-shattering tremors finally faded, and the dust settled to reveal the scene down below.
An enormous chasm that was several thousand feet wide had appeared on the ground, and it extended in either direction as far as the eyes could see, as if the entire earth had been split in half.
Furthermore, the chasm was extremely deep, and faint glimmers of fiery red light could be seen at the bottom, indicating that it reached all the way down into the lava beneath the earth.
The nearby mountains had completely vanished, clearly having already been destroyed.
Han Li was standing in mid-air with the Heavy Water True Axis hovering beside him, and it had already reverted back to its original size.
His face was slightly pale, and around a third of all of his immortal spiritual power had been exhausted from unleashing that all-out attack with the Heavy Water True Axis.
However, there was an elated look on his face.
The Heavy Water True Axis had become far more powerful than he anticipated, and if he were to use it in battle, it would be no less powerful than an Acquired Immortal Treasure of a very high caliber.
He took a deep breath, and his complexion quickly returned to normal. He then stowed the Heavy Water True Axis away before flying toward the Crimson Dawn Peak as a streak of azure light.
……
Half a day later, Han Li appeared in a massive cave halfway up the Crimson Dawn Peak.
He inspected his surroundings briefly, then flicked a finger through the air in rapid succession.
Streaks of sword qi erupted in all directions, shredding through the mountain rock like tofu, quickly digging out around a dozen smaller caves with surfaces that were extraordinarily smooth.
Han Li gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, and with a sweep of his sleeve, the monkeys from the foot of the mountain appeared in the cave amid a flash of light.
The monkeys looked around, and ecstatic looks quickly appeared on their faces as they began to explore their new home.
The monkey king was just as ecstatic as its brethren, and it immediately fell to its knees and kowtowed to Han Li over and over again.
"You can all live here from now on. If you encounter any trouble or difficulties, you can go to the mountaintop to seek out my servants," Han Li said.
The monkey king hurriedly nodded in response.
In the next instant, Han Li had already vanished from the spot.
All of the other monkeys rushed over to the monkey king, and after looking at one another for a moment, all of them kowtowed toward the spot where Han Li had been standing just a moment ago.
At this point, Han Li had already returned to his cave abode on the mountaintop, and he placed the stone cauldron down in a room before setting a few restrictions.
After that, he made his way to his secret chamber.
At this point, the three regular elder missions had already been completed, and the Heavy Water True Axis had also become about as powerful as it could be in its current form, so it was time to think about pills.
A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he sat down with his legs crossed.
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