Chapter 46: Two Solutions
Inside his secret chamber, Han Li watched as Mo Guang gradually vanished back into his shadow, and a wry smile appeared on his face. He no longer wanted to think about the seal that was imposed on his nascent soul.
He raised his head to look up at the starry night sky through the huge hole in the ceiling, and a short while later, he rose to his feet before making his way over to Mizar star, the sixth star of the Big Dipper Energy Gathering Array. Once there, he sat down with his legs crossed again, then made a hand seal to cast several incantation seals in succession to activate the entire array.
After taking a moment to prepare himself, Han Li closed his eyes and fell completely still.
Close to an hour later, right as he began to cultivate the sixth level of the Big Dipper Origin Arts, an unexpected turn of events unfolded.
For some reason, the starpower that he was able to draw from the night sky was several times more potent than before, and within the span of just a few seconds, six massive pillars of starlight had taken shape.
If one were to inspect the scene from afar, they would see six pillars of light descending straight from the night sky, giving off immense starpower fluctuations.
Han Li was quite surprised to see this.
He had triggered similar phenomena while cultivating the fifth level of the Big Dipper Origin Arts, but they hadn't been anywhere near as spectacular. There were quite a few cultivation arts in the Spirit Domain Realm that relied on harnessing the power of starlight, so such a phenomenon wasn't all that remarkable. However, given how much of a spectacle he was putting on here, it was going to be very difficult to avoid drawing attention.
He shook his head, not paying the matter much heed as he continued to focus on cultivation.
……
In the air above a certain cave abode stood a burly man, who was looking at the six enormous pillars of light with a surprised and solemn expression.
In the next instant, black light appeared over his entire body, and he flew through the air as a blurry shadow before quickly landing near Han Li's cave abode in a stealthy manner.
The closer he drew to the cave abode, the more he was able to sense the unfathomably immense starpower contained within those pillars of light, which was spreading through the air in powerful waves.
After a brief hesitation, he decided to take a risk and draw even closer for a more thorough examination.
Right at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out beside him without any warning. "Hold on, Luo Jun."
In the next instant, a scholarly-robed figure appeared in front of him in a flash, and it was none other than Nangong Changshan, the master of the Cloudrise Peak.
Luo Jun faltered slightly upon seeing this, following which the black light around him faded, and he immediately cupped his fist in a salute. "Peak Master, I..."
Nangong Changshan raised a hand to cut him off. "There's no need to say anything. Come with me."
Before Luo Jun had a chance to reply, Nangong Changshan sped away toward the pinnacle of the Cloudrise Peak as a streak of white light.
Luo Jun seemed to want to say something, but at this point, Nangong Changshan was already far away, so he could only follow along.
A short while later, Luo Jun descended in front of the hall at the pinnacle of the Cloudrise Peak.
Nangong Changshan was already making his way into the hall with his hands clasped behind his back, and Luo Jun hurriedly approached him.
"Peak Master, given the phenomenon that Han Li has triggered, he's definitely not practicing any ordinary cultivation art. On top of that, his origins have always been suspicious. If we don't investigate this matter properly, what are we going to do if the sect decides to hold us accountable?"
"The supreme elder personally sent me a message not to investigate this matter," Nangong Changshan replied as he continued to make his way into the hall.
A stunned look appeared on Luo Jun's face upon hearing this. "The supreme elder? Why..."
Nangong Changshan suddenly stopped in his tracks, then turned around as he said, "The supreme elder must have his reasons. All we need to do is follow his orders."
"Alright, in that case, it seems we have no choice," Luo Jun replied with a nod.
"Issue an order to all of the disciples of our peak. Tell them that no one is to approach Han Li's cave abode, and disrupting during his cultivation is strictly prohibited!" Nangong Changshan instructed.
"Yes, Peak Master!" Luo Jun immediately departed to carry out the orders assigned to him.
"Who exactly are you, Han Li? The supreme elder is always in seclusion and rarely ever makes an appearance for anything, yet..." Nangong Changshan murmured to himself as he fell into deep thought.
……
The phenomenon triggered above Han Li's cave abode didn't last very long. Close to three hours later, the six giant pillars of starlight disintegrated into nothingness.
Despite the spectacular nature of the phenomenon, not a single person from the sect approached Han Li's cave abode to investigate. It was as if no one had even noticed what was happening.
Inside his cave abode, Han Li was still seated with his legs crossed, and his eyes were already open, but he remained completely still, seemingly a little concerned about something.
The cultivation of the sixth level of the Big Dipper Origin Arts was far more difficult than he imagined. Not only was the process far more complex than it was for the fifth level, most importantly, the amount of starpower required also increased dramatically.
With his current spiritual sense, he was able to satisfy the starpower requirements, but the more spiritual sense he used, the more magic power he would have to expend.
Prior to this, the Cloud Crane Herbs that he had grown were sufficient to support his cultivation, but at this point, even if he were to constantly use the Heaven Controlling Vial to accelerate the maturation of the Cloud Crane Herbs, there was still no guarantee that he would have a sufficient supply to support his cultivation.
At this rate, if he wanted to master the sixth level of the cultivation art, it would take at least a decade.
With that in mind, Han Li's brows furrowed tightly with concern.
He had to return to the Immortal Realm as soon as possible, and he couldn't afford to wait 10 years.
Objectively speaking, mastering the sixth level of the Big Dipper Origin Arts in just 10 years was already completely unheard of. If Patriarch Cold Flame were to hear about this, his jaw would've most likely dropped straight to the ground.
Han Li stroked his chin in contemplation, and a short while later, a thought seemed to have suddenly occurred to him.
He closed his eyes as he sifted through the scriptures of the Cold Flame Sect stored in his mind.
Moments later, his eyes sprang open as a faint smile appeared on his face.
As expected of one of the three dominant powerhouses of the Spirit Domain Realm, the scriptures of the Cold Flame Sect really did contain two potential solutions, the first of which was directly tied to the Origin Realm Temple.
There were many cultivation arts in the Origin Realm Temple that relied on harnessing the power of starlight, and it was said that the founding patriarch excelled in such cultivation arts.
Inside the temple was a Star Gathering Platform, which had been constructed using countless precious materials, and the platform had an ancient star array engraved upon it.
The array had been personally set up by the immortal founder of the Origin Realm Temple, and it was far more potent than the Big Dipper Energy Gathering Array that Han Li had created.
The array was vastly renowned across the entire Spirit Domain Realm, and it was said that with the assistance of the array, one would be able to easily draw four to five times the power of starlight they would've normally been capable of.
However, this platform was an extremely cherished resource of the Origin Realm Temple, and only the brightest disciple and elders could access it. As for people outside of the sect, it was prohibited for them to even catch a glimpse of the platform.
The second potential solution was to use a treasure known as the Starmoon Mirror, the refinement method for which was recorded in one of the jade slips from the inner library.
The Starmoon Mirror wasn't a powerful offensive treasure. Instead, it was an auxiliary treasure that could attract a vast amount of starpower with an injection of only a tiny amount of magic power.
The refinement method for the mirror was found by chance in a secret area by a Body Integration Stage elder of the Cold Flame Sect.
However, there weren't many star-based cultivation arts in the Cold Flame Sect, and a huge amount of precious materials were required to refine the treasure, so even though this was an extremely precious jade slip, no one had actually used it to refine any Starmoon Mirrors.
Most importantly, the main material used for refining this treasure was the Yin Dawn Stone, which was not only an extremely rare material, but also something that the Heavenly Ghost Sect held in the utmost regard.
It was said that when cultivating the Great Heavenly Ghost Arts, the premium cultivation art of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, a large amount of Yin Dawn Stones had to be expended in the cultivation of the final few levels.
As a result, the few known Yin Dawn Stone mines in the Spirit Domain Realm were all under the Heavenly Ghost Sect's control.
Hence, access to the Star Gathering Platform and refining Starmoon Mirrors were both rather difficult options to pursue.
After a moment of contemplation, Han Li rose to his feet before leaving his cave abode.
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