txolops Chapter 20 First Encounter with Han Li!
Chapter 20 First Encounter with Han Li!
Chapter 20 First Encounter with Han Li!
It was noon when I left Wanbaolou.
The streets of the market were teeming with people, it was the busiest time of day.
Lin Chuan blended into the crowd, weaving through several alleys. After confirming that no one was following him, he quietly arrived at the market exit.
He did not immediately wield the magical artifact, but walked for a while until he was several miles away from the market and arrived at a secluded mountain forest, where he then summoned the White Feather.
The Hidden Spirit Technique was activated at full power, and the aura was contained to the extreme.
Bai Ling transformed into an inconspicuous streak of light, skimming close to the ground and choosing routes through dense forests and complex terrain to avoid being exposed in the air as much as possible.
Half an hour later, a barren, grayish-yellow slope appeared ahead.
The area is filled with strangely shaped rocks and overgrown weeds, which is exactly what the divination indicated as "Huangshipo".
Lin Chuan spread his divine sense, covering an area of fifty feet in radius.
Soon, he found a dusty storage bag in a crevice in the rocks.
The bag was half-hidden in the rubble, its edges worn, suggesting it had been there for some time.
Lin Chuan did not approach rashly. He first used his Qingfeng sword to clear away the rubble from a distance. After confirming that there were no traps, he used his object manipulation technique to take the storage bag into his hand.
A probe of the bag revealed a small interior containing only about a hundred low-grade spirit stones, a few bottles of low-level pills, a few ordinary talismans, and a jade slip containing basic cultivation techniques.
The original owner seemed to be a rogue cultivator in the Qi Refining stage, with a meager background.
"As expected, it's 'Little Lucky'." Lin Chuan shook his head and chuckled, putting away the spirit stones and pills, and casually discarding the rest of the miscellaneous items.
He continued on his way, remaining vigilant the entire time.
Perhaps those cultivators finally lost patience and left, or perhaps Lin Chuan's route was well concealed. Even when the familiar protective array of the Yellow Maple Valley's mountain gate came into view, nothing unusual was observed.
Bai Ling landed in front of the mountain gate, and the gatekeepers allowed her to pass after verifying her identity.
The moment Lin Chuan stepped through the mountain gate, the tension that had been building up in his heart for months finally eased.
Xuankun Mountain is in sight, still verdant.
Back in his courtyard, he activated the shielding formation, and a familiar sense of peace enveloped him.
"It's safer to stay inside." Lin Chuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Even if we miss out on some opportunities, it's worth it."
He sat down cross-legged and began to tally up his gains from the trip.
His cultivation was stable at the late stage of the twelfth level of Qi Refining, he had barely entered the "Limitless Array Scripture", achieved minor success in the "Hidden Spirit Technique", reached the second level of the "Awakening Insect Divine Sword", nurtured his divine consciousness with Soul Jade, and used Heavenly Thunder Child and Talisman Treasure as his trump cards...
More importantly, his understanding of the "golden finger" of divination has deepened.
"The divination results are like a mirror, reflecting the good or bad fortune ahead. And I... should act with the mirror in mind, without greed or impatience, seeking progress steadily."
As dusk deepened outside the window, Xuankun Mountain was enveloped in the tranquil glow of the evening sun.
Lin Chuan closed his eyes and slowly began to circulate the Fire Separation Technique.
Within the sect, although there are fewer opportunities and excitement from the outside world, there is a more stable environment for cultivation.
The days ahead should be spent reflecting and calming down.
…………
Time flies, and two months have passed since Lin Chuan returned to Xuankun Mountain.
The quiet room was filled with spiritual energy.
Lin Chuan slowly finished his practice, and the crimson-gold spiritual energy around him subsided like a tide, returning to his dantian.
After two months of dedicated cultivation, his Qi Refining level 12 cultivation has been completely stabilized, his spiritual power is solid and abundant, and he is one step closer to the later stage of perfection.
He opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and restrained, his aura deep and composed.
Checking the divination results every morning has become a habit, and today was no exception.
The golden light appeared as expected:
Today's divination result: Very auspicious.
[The divination indicates that you will attend the Xuankun Mountain exchange meeting and trade a fragment of a magical artifact with your fellow disciple Zhao Yong. Activating this fragment with a Void Stone will grant it a wondrous use.]
"Another exchange meeting?" Lin Chuan raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
After several months, it's definitely time to hold a small-scale exchange meeting at Xuankun Mountain.
At the last exchange meeting, he obtained an ancient map from Zhang Yuan and gained clues about the ancient cultivator's cave in Panlong River, reaping considerable rewards.
This time, the divination directly indicated "great fortune" and pointed to a "fragment of a magical artifact"!
Fragments of magical artifacts, as the name suggests, are the pieces of magical artifacts after they have been damaged.
Even though it is damaged, its material and residual power far exceed those of ordinary magical artifacts.
Generally speaking, magical treasures cannot be used until one reaches the Core Formation stage.
However, some auxiliary magical artifact fragments, if activated by special methods, may indeed have unexpected and wonderful uses.
In the original story, Han Li exchanged a pill for a fragment of a magic weapon at the Tai Nan Small Gathering, which he used to conceal the existence of the little green bottle.
"Void Stone..." Lin Chuan murmured, repeating the key words from the divination text.
This is a rare spatial attribute spiritual material, usually used to refine storage artifacts or set up teleportation arrays.
Can the Void Stone be used to activate the fragment of a magical artifact?
That's unheard of.
"This divination is becoming increasingly secretive," Lin Chuan chuckled, shaking his head, but a sense of anticipation rose within him.
Since returning to Xuankun Mountain two months ago, although the divination results have been updated daily, the "great fortune" result has not appeared again.
Most of them are "minor good fortune", and occasionally there are "medium good fortune", which all indicate some minor opportunities that are not very useful - such as finding a few common spiritual herbs that are fifty years old in some place in the back mountain, or picking up a few worthless low-grade ores in the mountain stream, or exchanging a few useful talismans at a low price with a fellow disciple.
As for the "inauspicious" hexagram, there was not one.
Lin Chuan was quite unfazed by this.
You can acquire some resources without taking risks. Although it may not be as great as the opportunities you might have when venturing out into the world, it is more secure.
With his current cultivation level and wealth, these small opportunities, if accumulated, are enough to sustain his daily cultivation needs.
"Finally, a big one has arrived today." Lin Chuan was in a good mood and got up to straighten his robes.
He changed into a clean blue disciple's robe and maintained his aura at the early stage of the eleventh level of Qi Refining.
This way, it won't appear too ostentatious, nor will it make people look down on it.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, a morning breeze caressed my face. Xuankun Mountain was shrouded in a thin mist, and the sound of the morning bell could be heard in the distance.
Lin Chuan walked along the familiar bluestone path towards the Listening Pine Pavilion at the top of the mountain.
The mountain path winds its way through the area, flanked by ancient, verdant trees.
After walking for about half an incense stick's time, a person appeared from around the corner ahead.
The newcomer was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in ordinary Huangfeng Valley disciple clothing, with an unremarkable face, the kind that would be easily lost in a crowd.
His cultivation level was around the tenth level of Qi Refining, and his aura was slightly weak, as if he had just broken through not long ago.
Upon seeing Lin Chuan, he paused slightly, a hint of hesitation on his face. He then stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said in a somewhat reserved voice, "Greetings, senior brother. May I ask... is the exchange meeting at Xuankun Mountain held at the summit?"
Lin Chuan stopped and sized up the other person.
The residents of Xuankun Mountain are all fellow disciples at the tenth level of Qi Refining. Although they are not all familiar with each other, most of them are familiar with each other's faces.
The person in front of me was completely unfamiliar.
"The exchange meeting was indeed held at Tingsongting."
Lin Chuan nodded and casually asked, "Junior brother, you look unfamiliar. Are you new to Xuankun Mountain?"
The young man quickly shook his head: "Senior brother, you misunderstand. I am not cultivating at Xuankun Mountain, but working at the Hundred Herbs Garden. I heard that there is an exchange meeting at Xuankun Mountain today, so I came to see it and see if I can trade some cultivation resources."
"The Hundred Herbs Garden?" Lin Chuan's heart skipped a beat.
The Hundred Herbs Garden in Huangfeng Valley is an important place for cultivating spiritual herbs in the sect, and it is managed by Master Ma, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
His gaze lingered on the young man's face for a moment longer before he asked, "Junior Brother, what is your surname?"
The young man bowed and said, "My surname is Han, and my given name is Li. May I ask how you should address me, senior brother?"
Han Li!
Lin Chuan's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.