Chapter 96: Re-emergence of the Green Liquid
With that in mind, Han Li temporarily stowed the Heaven Controlling Vial away. His plan was to continue to let it absorb moonlight every night to see if any changes arose.
As for the maturation of the Soulbirth Flower that was required to refine his Earthly Deity Avatar, he would just have to find another way.
Thus, he returned to his secret chamber and made his way over to a wooden table.
At this moment, there was a jade plate sitting on the table, and on the plate was a head-sized blue object. It was none other than the head of the Earthly Deity Avatar that had previously been worshipped in the underwater cavern.
During his previous visit to the underground cavern with Luo Feng, he had borrowed the head for examination.
He picked up the head from the jade plate before placing it onto the ground, then sat down onto his futon with his legs crossed and began to chant an incantation.
A layer of azure light rose up over his body, then enveloped the blue head and carrying it forward, suspending it in mid-air in front of him.
He then began to make a series of strange gestures with his hands, like the movements used by people from primitive, savage tribes when praying to the heavens. At the same time, he began to chant another complex incantation.
As he was doing all of this, a layer of strange blue light appeared over the surface of the head, and the light was flashing incessantly while an indistinct sound that resembled the collective prayers being uttered by countless people rang out from within.
Specks of blue light then began to emerge in the surrounding area before converging into the head.
These specks of blue light were none other than the power of faith that the head of the Earthly Deity Avatar was gathering from all of its followers all over Dark Veil Island.
As the blue light continued to flash, it began to release an indescribable burst of energy fluctuations, sending ripples that were visible to the naked eye spreading through the air, causing the secret chamber and even the entire courtyard to tremble incessantly.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but his chanting was becoming more urgent.
The blue light emanating from the head flickered a few times before returning to a stable state.
This was a significant amount of power, consisting of all of the power of faith that had accumulated over the course of the past 10,000 years, but unfortunately, Luo Meng had already perished and was unable to control the power gathered within the head of his Earthly Deity Avatar.
Han Li had used the method recorded in the jade slip to try and get a sense of what the power of worship was like in preparation for the cultivation of his own Earthly Deity Avatar in the future.
Right at this moment, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and made a beckoning motion with one hand, upon which a gap opened up in the restriction surrounding the secret chamber to grant passage to a shimmering white talisman.
He drew the talisman into grasp before injecting his spiritual sense into it, then immediately stopped what he was doing, placing the blue head back onto the jade plate on the table before departing from the secret chamber.
In the courtyard outside, Luo Feng was waiting with a respectful expression.
"It's not like you to request an audience with me so urgently, Chief Luo. Could it be that there's been some news about a high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation art?" Han Li asked.
An elated look appeared on Luo Feng's face as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute toward Han Li. "Indeed, Senior Liu, that's exactly why I've come to see you. Yesterday, I was holding a gathering with some acquaintances of mine, and one of them told me that a high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation art was going to appear during the next auction to be held on Black Wind Island. I immediately came here to pass this information onto you, Senior Liu."
Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in response. "Thank you for your efforts, Chief Luo. If I recall correctly, there are still more than 10 years to go until the auction is scheduled to be held. During this time, I'll have to trouble you to continue to keep an eye out for news regarding Soulbirth Flowers and other high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation arts."
"Rest assured, Senior Liu, you can count on me." Luo Feng nodded in response before cupping his fist in a parting salute.
However, Han Li stopped him before he could leave. "Hold on a second, Chief Luo."
"Is there something else you need, Senior Liu?" Luo Feng asked with an inquisitive expression.
Han Li opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to decide against it, and in the end, he replied, "No. I just want to let you know that I'll remember everything you've done for me during this time."
Luo Feng was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly waved his hands as he said, "You're far too kind, Senior Liu. I'm just doing what's expected of me."
After that, the two of them chatted for a while longer before Luo Feng departed.
Han Li looked on as Luo Feng faded into the distant sky, then returned to his secret chamber.
He was about to tell Luo Feng about the remains of Luo Meng that he had discovered, but in the end, he decided that this wasn't the right time to do so.
This piece of news had far-reaching implications. In particular, the knowledge of the existence of that 8,000-year-old Soulbirth Flower was very dangerous and could potentially lead to a great deal of trouble, so it was best to withhold this information for a later date.
......
One morning, half a month later.
The sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon, and warm sunlight was shining down from the sky, casting shimmering reflections on the surface of the sea.
The entire Dark Veil Island was basked in a warm glow, and large numbers of island residents and cultivators were gathered in front of the Luo Meng statues on the island in a collective ritual of prayer.
The small courtyard that Han Li was staying in was also illuminated by the bright sunlight.
In the courtyard's secret chamber, Han Li opened his eyes with a thoughtful look on his face.
Through his examination of the Earthly Deity Avatar head left behind by Luo Meng in the past half-month, he had developed some insights on how to gather and convert the power of faith.
In other words, if he could refine an Earthly Deity Avatar of his own and obtain a suitable high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation art, then harness and convert the power of faith from the people of Dark Veil Island, there was a 50% to 60% chance that he would be able to free his nascent soul from those mysterious chains and recover his cultivation base.
However, the Heaven Controlling Vial was still unable to produce any green liquid, so it appeared that he would have to pin his hopes for securing a high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation art and a Soulbirth Flower of sufficient age entirely on the auction to be held on Black Wind Island.
"The auction is scheduled to be held more than 10 years away from now, and that's still too long," Han Li murmured to himself, then left his secret chamber and made his way over to a certain spot in the courtyard in a familiar routine to pick up his Heaven Controlling Vial.
As soon as he picked the vial up from the ground, he immediately raised an eyebrow. It seemed that the vial was significantly heavier than it normally was.
A thought quickly occurred to him, and hurriedly tried to remove the vial's stopper.
This time, he was able to remove the stopper without any effort, and he hurriedly peered into the vial through its opening, upon which an ecstatic look appeared on his face.
A soybean-sized drop of dark green liquid was slowly flowing over the inside of the vial on the bottom.
It had managed to produce green liquid again!
However, this drop of green liquid was slightly different from what Han Li was used to seeing. Its color was much darker, closer to black than green, and it basked the entire inside of the vial in a green glow.
Han Li held the vial in his hand and examined the drop of liquid inside over and over again before his excitement finally subsided.
Even though he was already prepared for the worst, he had still been hoping for the best. After all, if the vial really did permanently lose its ability to produce that precious green liquid, then that would be a heavier loss to him than the loss of any of his other treasures.
Thankfully, it appeared that the crisis had been averted, and he had reached the light at the end of the tunnel.
In total, it had taken around a month to produce that drop of green liquid, which was far longer than the duration of time previously required at any point.
Han Li couldn't help but wonder how effective the drop of green liquid produced over such a long period of time was going to be.
With that in mind, he eagerly returned to his secret chamber, then quickly activated all of the restrictions inside. After that, he flipped a hand over to produce the jade badge, then opened up the spatial passageway to the secret area.
Inside the secret area, everything was still the same as Han Li had left it.
The Soulbirth Flower was still standing on its own in the clearing, cutting a lonesome figure. However, Luo Meng's remains had already been buried in a small grave next to the wooden hut.
Han Li made his way over to the purple flower, then removed the stopper of his Heaven Controlling Vial without any hesitation before pouring the drop of green liquid onto the center of the flower's stamen.
He watched with an unblinking gaze as the drop of green liquid slowly seeped into the Soulbirth Flower's stamen, and he was feeling rather anxious.
This was the same feeling of anticipation that he had felt back when he first conducted an experiment after learning about the effects of the green liquid.
After waiting for a day and a night, Han Li entered the secret area again first thing in the morning, then made his way over to the Soulbirth Flower.
To his surprise, even though only a day had passed by, the Soulbirth Flower was already displaying some astonishing changes.
A faint golden line had appeared on each of its petals along the edges, as if a thin golden border had been embroidered around the flower petals.
According to the jade slip left behind by Luo Meng, this golden line would only appear on the Soulbirth Flower once it reached 10,000 years of age. This Soulbirth Flower was already around 8,000 years old, so that drop of green liquid had to have had a maturation effect of at least 2,000 years.
A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face after arriving at that conclusion.
Even though the green liquid was far slower to come by in the Immortal Realm, this one drop of green liquid was several dozen times more efficacious than a drop of green liquid produced back in the Spirit Domain Realm.
After that, he spent another month to verify that the Heaven Controlling Vial did indeed take roughly a month to produce a drop of green liquid, and he was greatly relieved to have that notion confirmed.
At the same time, he was also keeping up with his research into the refinement method of an Earthly Deity Avatar, and he would regularly bring out the statue head for careful examination.
Another three months passed by in the blink of an eye, and during this time, Han Li would run through the detailed steps of the Earthly Deity Avatar refinement method in his mind virtually once every single day.
At this point, he had completely memorized the refinement method, and he was confident that he would be able to successfully refine an Earthly Deity Avatar once the Soulbirth Flower reached full maturity and the rest of the refinement materials were gathered.
Furthermore, under the nurturing of the green liquid produced by the Heaven Controlling Vial, a second golden line had appeared on all of the Soulbirth Flower's petals.
By Han Li's estimates, it required roughly a month in the Immortal Realm for each drop of green liquid to be produced, and one drop of the liquid had a maturation effect of roughly 3,000 years.
At this rate, assuming no mishaps, it would only take him about three or four more years to obtain a 100,000-year-old Soulbirth Flower.
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