The talismans stuck to the pegasus seized the moment, fusing together into layers of rainbow light that imprisoned the silver flames.

Under Han Li’s command, the Greatyin Fire Raven floating within the purple ice turned into a ball of scarlet flame, enveloping the Puresun Flame Essence.

Then with his hands in an incantation gesture, he struck the purple ice with several spell seals.

Light flashed as they passed into it, and the huge glacier glistened as it suddenly shrank.

In the blink of an eye, it turned into a fist-sized ball.

Han Li waved his hand, summoning it into his grasp and examining it with interest.

At that moment, Han Li heard a child’s sigh at his ear, followed by words containing a hint of envy, “I didn’t expect you to be lucky enough to truly acquire Greatsun Essence Fire. If you are able to fuse it with Greatyin True Flame, you will gain far more than what you imagined. I fear there are many Immortal spirit flames in the spirit realm that don’t exceed it.

“Immortal spirit flames?” Han Li’s expression stirred but he didn’t continue pursuing the topic. Rather, he clasped his hands, resulting in a roll of thunder.

Thin arcs of golden lightning shot out and tightly coiled around the ice until it was fastened and secure.

In the blink of an eye, all trace of the purple ice was replaced with golden lightning.

He shook his sleeve and summoned a small azure cauldron, spinning in front of him before arriving in front of him.

It was the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

He flicked his finger on the cauldron, sounding a clear front from it. The cauldron lid shot up in the air, and a mass of azure threads streaked out from it, coiling around the ball of golden lightning and dragging it inside.

Then with the use of his artifact imprint technique, he sealed the cauldron.

At that moment, he let out a long sigh but a trace of excitement appeared in his eyes.

Having acquired this flame, he’ll be able to refine the Returning Sun Water. If he could truly extend his lifespan by several hundred years, he should be able to cultivate the Divine Essensefuse Light, even if it were more difficult than he imagined.

Having thought that, Han Li withdrew his puppet and the five devils, then moving on to tear down the large-scale spell formation he placed down. It was only after eliminating all traces of his presence did he leave.

With that done, he completed all his objectives in the Great Jin and set off on his journey back to the Heavenly South seemingly without any hesitation.

After he returned, he would first refine the Returning Sun Water, relieving any worries about his lifespan or Nangong Wan’s. Following that, he would a spatial pocket out of Devilfall Valley’s spatial tear. And lastly, he would use the Ghost Sifting Banner’s soul producing ability to refine the spatial treasure, the Crimson Soul Flag.

Using this flag, he would absorb the Essensefuse Mountain and bring it back to him to the Heavenly South where he would hide in his spatial pocket, cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light to completion, then tackling the barrier to Deity Transformation stage.

In order for this to succeed, he would use the peak grade wood-attributed spirit stone he had been saving from the last time he attempted to use the five glacial flames to break through a bottleneck.

Not to mention that the Devil Essence Pill that Xiang Zhili mentioned when he rescued Violet Spirit from Devil Cliff Mountain. Before he departed, he used the Myriad Year Profound Jade to trade from three of the Devil Essence Pills from the old devil, increasing his chances of Deity Transformation just slightly.

However, just the thought of the price for these three pills caused Han Li to feel a pang of sorrow.

He didn’t know how that old devil knew so much about the movements of the North Night Palace’s Myriad Year Profound Jade, but he was greedy enough to take half of it in one swoop. It was unknown if the Devil Essence Pills made for a fair trade, or if he was using it as a pretext for robbery.

In any case, no matter how rare the Myriad Year Profound Jade may be, Han Li viewed the aid of the Devil Essence Pills to be far more important. Any greater chance of Deity Transformation, no matter how small, is something he couldn't easily relinquish.

Even under the circumstances with Xiang Zhili, he could only pinch his nose and accept the trade.

When he recalled the smug face on the old devil’s face after the trade, he felt somewhat gloomy. But soon, he tossed the matter to the back of his mind and began to contemplate his future plans.

Several days later, he arrived at the end of the red mist, disappearing from the edge of the fire prison.

Not long after, a few in the Great Jin who discovered the power of Han Li’s existence also noticed his sudden disappearance.

This caused quite a few attentive individuals to become restless. It was only after Han Li’s departure from the Great Jin was confirmed that they all happened to sigh with relief.

Although Han Li’s name didn’t resound in the cultivation world of the Great Jin, there were several fantastical rumors that were related to him and he was mentioned in the higher echelon of a few great sects.

There was a cultivator who wasn’t of Deity Transformation stage but was able to befriend Deity Transformation cultivators on equal footing and even able to easily kill late-Nascent Soul cultivators of the same grade. He also had no fear of his essence eroding from the worldly Qi of Heaven and Earth.

This caused many eccentrics to hold him in fear.

Now that they knew Han Li had no intention of founding a sect in the Great Jin, they sighed with relief and didn’t keep him in mind.

...

Since the day Han Li disappeared, time slowly passed by. It was as if forty years passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, the cultivation world of the Great Jin was exceedingly peaceful. Although there were events that burst forth on occasion, there was nothing world shaking. But at that same time, overjoyed laughter bellowed in a cave residence a myriad of kilometers away in the Heavenly South.

“All my hard work has finally paid off. I’ve finally refined the fire. With this, I can create the Returning Sun Water.”

Eventually, the laughter in the cave died down until there was only silence.

Then a month later, the silhouette slipped out from the mountain cave and tore through the sky in an azure streak.

Three months later, a young man appeared inside Devilfall Valley, quietly making his way to the valley depths before disappearing once more.

More months passed, and a small mountain inside the valley suddenly emitted an endless dark ghostly Qi.

It was a mist as pitch-black as ink and thoroughly enveloped fifty kilometers around it. Yin winds swept through the fog, carrying countless ghostly wails. If anybody walked through it, they would believe they were in the underworld.

This extraordinary event continued for half a year before the Yin Qi gradually dissipated.

A month later, the young man strangely appeared from Devilfall Valley and left as quietly as he appeared.

Because his movement and concealment techniques were superb, none had detected any trace of him.

Of course, this person was Han Li, who recently finished refining the Crimson Soul Flag and the spatial pocket.

Several decades before, when he returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect from the Great Jin, he spent a great deal of effort before eventually refining the Returning Sun Water and taking it himself. And a few months later, he refined several more bottles.

Because Nangong Wan was still in seclusion, he delivered one of the bottles to her cave residence with a flying sword. Then he set off to Devilfall Valley to refine the Crimson Soul Flag.

With tensome Ghost Sifting Flags’ abundant souls and the guidance of the Soaring Sky Beast, he was able to smoothly refine it despite the time it took.

The remnant of the Black Wind Banner had finally turned into the Crimson Soul Flag.

As of present, Han Li had returned to the sect and began to comprehend the first two layers of the Divine Essencefused Light. After all, even with the Crimson Soul Flag in hand, he needed to be able to command the Essencefused Mountain if he wanted it to enter the flag.

Before he entered seclusion, he suddenly thought of something and hesitated before bringing a bottle of the Returning Sun Water to the medicinal garden. Afterwards, he immediately returned to seclusion.

The human-like puppet was placed inside the cave residence responsible for using the small mysterious bottle to nurture spirit insects and a few medicines.

...

Ten years later, Han Li eventually woke from meditation with a trace of perplexion on his face.

“As expected, the Divine Essencefused Light is incredibly difficult to cultivate. It seems without the aid of the Essencefused Mountain, cultivating the divine light is impossible. Now that I’ve finished cultivating the first layer, it seems I’ll have to go to the Star Palace and retrieve it.”

A child’s image appeared suddenly in front of Han Li and said, “If I were you, I’d first prepare a pure metal-attributed demon core to fully complete five elemental spirit roots. Although this is the first I’ve heard of this method, This technique simultaneously contains the power of all five elements. Without the corresponding spirit roots, it would put a vast strain on your body.

“I know, you already mentioned it. However, metal-attributed demon beasts are incredibly rare, and I will require the core from a beast that has metamorphosed. It won’t be easy to find.” Han Li sighed and he flipped his hand to produce a beautiful, glistening rainbow light in his hand.

The child rolled his eyes and said, “Didn’t you already meet that metal-attributed flood dragon king in the Scattered Star Seas? That was a genuine grade ten demon beast. Its demon core should suffice.”

Han Li frowned and slowly said, “Of course, but the demon beast lives in the outer seas. It won’t be easy to reach. I should first prepare several metal-type magic tools before I consider it. I recall you saying that I can use magic tools to replace spirit roots as well.”

The boy shook his head, “Admittedly, it is true you can use tools instead of demon cores to replace spirit roots, However, it will be far slower to refine and there is a certain level of risk.”

“With the Returning Sun Water, a bit of time doesn't matter to me. Let’s continue talking about this after I arrive at the Scattered Star Seas.” Han Li nodded and stood up, stretching his limbs before walking out of the secluded room.

In a flash of silver light, another “Han Li” appeared in front of him.

Han Li didn’t take it to mind and mentally exchanged a bit of information with the second Nascent Soul in his puppet. In a sudden change of expression, his face changed and he cried out, “What! The Profound Goddess’ Palm has revived!?”