Chapter 324: Refinement
A short while later, Han Li appeared on a quiet street in White Jade City.
"Fellow Daoist Han, I require an array to help me refine this Lightning Soul Crystal," Daoist Xie requested.
"What do you need me to prepare?" Han Li asked as he continued to walk down the street without pause.
A stream of information was immediately transmitted into his mind, laying out the method and materials required to set up an array.
"Alright, I'll get everything prepared as soon as possible, then arrange a secret chamber for you back on the Crimson Dawn Peak," Han Li said.
There were quite a few materials on the list, some of which weren't that easy to find, and it would've most likely take him quite some time and effort to gather these materials under normal circumstances, but with all of these powers gathered in White Jade City and his membership in the Transient Guild, he was sure that it wouldn't have been very difficult to gather everything as long as he was willing to do some spending.
Furthermore, the array did appear to have been rather complex, but that wasn't an issue for him.
"There's no need for that, we can just get it done in the inn's secret chamber. With the help of the array, I should be able to completely fuse with the puppet in the next few days," Daoist Xie said.
Han Li nodded in response, then flew toward the nearest materials shop.
Only after night had fallen did he return to the inn where he was staying, and after entering the secret chamber, he flipped a hand over to produce a stack of array flags, then casually tossed them through the air, distributing them around the room in a rather peculiar array.
Immediately thereafter, he began to chant an incantation, and five light barriers of different thicknesses appeared to encompass the entire room.
After that, Han Li swept a hand through the air to release a burst of azure light, which carried all of the furniture into the room to one corner to vacate a large space, then summoned a bunch of different objects, including some lengths of Lightning Restraining Wood.
All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed ever so slightly as he pulled a purple talisman that was riddled with silver patterns out of his storage bracelet. It was that Azure Wind Lock Immortal Talisman, and he had spotted it in a corner of his storage bracelet while summoning all of the other items required for the array.
All of a sudden, it occurred to him that the woman in red was none other than the woman who had given him this Azure Wind Lock Immortal Talisman, Gan Jiuzhen.
Her aura was slightly different from Gan Jiuzhen's, perhaps because she had intentionally altered it, and that was why he had only just made this realization.
"I didn't think that she would be here in White Jade City as well," Han Li murmured to himself, then shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought before stowing the Azure Wind Lock Immortal Talisman away again.
He wasn't particularly close with Gan Jiuzhen, and he didn't care to know the reason behind why she had come to the Blaze Dragon Dao. Presumably, it didn't have anything to do with him.
After taking a moment to settle his thoughts, he began to make some inscriptions on the ground.
After several hours of toil, day had transitioned into night, and a circular array that was around 100 feet in diameter had appeared on the ground in the room. The center of the array was riddled with spirit patterns that were surrounded by lengths of Lightning Restraining Wood, which were crackling with lightning.
Han Li exhaled as he patted his storage pouch, and a streak of golden light flew out before landing at the center of the array to reveal Daoist Xie.
Daoist Xie inspected its surroundings momentarily, then gave Han Li a nod before sitting down with its legs crossed.
"Do you need me to look out for you during the process, Brother Xie?" Han Li asked.
"There's no need for that, I'll be fine on my own," Daoist Xie replied.
"In that case, I'll leave you to it," Han Li replied with a nod.
There were still a few days left until the preaching ceremony, and he wanted to take advantage of this window of opportunity to search for some more dao pill ingredients, so he didn't want to waste any time here unless his presence was necessary.
Meanwhile, Daoist Xie quickly sprang into action, making a hand seal as it began to chant an incantation, and thick arcs of golden lightning emerged from its chest before spreading all over its entire body.
Arcs of golden lightning also emerged from the array on the ground before forming a series of profound lightning runes that resonated with the golden lightning flashing over Daoist Xie's body, quickly intertwining with one another before slowly revolving on the spot.
In the blink of an eye, a flashing ball of golden lightning had appeared around Daoist Xie,and arcs of lightning were surging over its surface, while the occasional bolt of stray lightning would spring forth in a random direction.
Thankfully, five layers of restrictions had already been set up in the room to contain the bolts of stray lightning.
Instead of immediately departing, Han Li remained in one corner of the room to observe the process.
A loud thunderclap rang out from Daoist Xie's head, and arcs of dazzling purple lightning emerged to envelop the entirety of its head.
A crystalline object could be seen within the purple lightning, and it was none other than that Lightning Soul Crystal.
Compared with the lightning released by the clam pearl, this purple lightning was brighter and more translucent.
The purple lightning continued to flash as it rapidly spread over Daoist Xie's body, and the light radiating from the puppet's body became even brighter, as if some important points had been opened up.
Han Li gave a slight nod upon seeing this, and he was just about to depart when the purple lightning erupting out of the Lightning Soul Crystal abruptly swelled.
At the same time, it began to spread over Daoist Xie's body faster than before, and it quickly fused with the golden ball of lightning around it.
The ball of golden lightning instantly began to ripple, and a huge bulge appeared on its surface.
A resounding boom rang out as the bulge exploded, and arcs of purple and golden lightning erupted in all directions to strike the first azure restriction in the room.
The restriction only lasted a second or two before being violently torn apart, and the remaining lightning continued onward to strike the second yellow restriction, which quickly dimmed and appeared to have been on the verge of breaking as well.
Not only that, but a second bulge had exploded on the ball of golden lightning, sending even thicker bolts of lightning erupting everywhere.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and four true spirit projections emerged around him, namely that of the Xuanwu, the Lightning Bird, the Giant Mountain Ape, and the Divine Dragon.
The four beast projections opened their mouths in unison to release bursts of black, silver, yellow, and red light, respectively into the remaining four restrictions.
As a result, the four restrictions were instantly significantly bolstered, becoming several times thicker than before, and the yellow light barrier abruptly brightened as a giant ape projection appeared on its surface.
Thick bolts of lightning struck the yellow light barrier, producing loud clangs that resembled the sound of metal striking against metal, and the light barrier began to flash erratically.
The giant ape projection on its surface quickly began to dim, and it was also rapidly thinning at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.
Han Li immediately began to chant an incantation while making a rapid string of hand seals, and a series of four-colored halos instantly swept out of the four light barriers before proliferating outward in all directions.
The four light barriers then fused into a single four-colored light barrier that was several feet thick and was giving off a metallic sheen.
As soon as it took shape, it was immediately struck by bolts of golden and purple lightning, only for the bolts of lightning to instantly vanish into the light barrier without a trace.
The four-colored light barrier shuddered a few times, but displayed no signs of breaking.
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon seeing this, but he still maintained his hand seal.
As time passed, the four true spirit projections around him became clearer and clearer, and they were continuously releasing pillars of light into the four-colored light barrier to bolster it.
This entire time, Daoist Xie's remained seated at the center of the array with its eyes tightly shut, and it seemed to have been completely oblivious to its surroundings.
Han Li was left feeling a little speechless upon seeing this. If he hadn't intervened in a timely fashion, all five of the light barriers would've been torn apart, and the entire inn would've been destroyed, thereby revealing the Golden Immortal puppet.
After a moment of hesitation, Han Li decided to ask Daoist Xie what was happening through voice transmission, yet he received no response, and it was as if Daoist Xie hadn't heard him at all.
Han Li didn't say anything further, but his plans to leave were naturally foiled, and he decided to stay and observe the unfolding situation.
Several hours quickly passed by, and not only had the purple lightning erupting out of Daoist Xie's head not abated in the slightest, it was only becoming brighter and more powerful.
The ball of golden lightning was becoming more and more unstable as it churned violently, while even thicker bolts of purple and golden lightning were erupting in all directions without displaying any signs of stopping.
Han Li continued to support the four-colored light barrier while standing in the corner of the room, and there was a slightly dark look on his face.
Given this current situation, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon.
Three days later.
Han Li was seated on the ground with his legs crossed, continuing to maintain the four-colored light barrier.
At the center of the array, Daoist Xie's entire body was enveloped in purple lightning, making it appear as if it were wearing a suit of purple lightning armor.
The ball of golden lightning formed by the array had also swelled significantly in size, taking up close to half the entire room, and it didn't seem as if it were going to fade away anytime soon.
Han Li's expression had darkened even further.
The preaching ceremony was going to begin on this day, and he didn't know when this process was going to conclude. If he were delayed any longer, then he would have to miss the preaching ceremony altogether.
If he had known that this would happen, then he would've taken Daoist Xie back to the Crimson Dawn Peak. The restrictions in the cave abode there had been set up by him over the course of many years, and they were far more formidable than the ones here, so even without hsi support, they should've been able to contain the lightning that was constantly erupting in all directions.
However, it was too late to think about that now. At this point, there was no way that he could leave. Otherwise, it was very likely that all of the prior efforts that he had made would go to waste.
Right at this moment, the lightning array began to glow with dazzling radiance while countless lightning runes emerged everywhere.
Han Li hurriedly focused his attention on the array right as a string of crackling rang out.
The purple lightning around Daoist Xie's body swelled drastically before being absorbed into its body in a flash, while the surrounding ball of golden lightning also fluctuated violently before also surging into Daoist Xie's body in a frenzy.
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