Han Li carefully folded the two golden sheets back into place. Since he would be practicing the Qingyuan Sword Technique and the Three-Transformations Heavy Yuan Power, he knew the green liquid from the mysterious small bottle had to be fully utilized. Therefore, he needed to gather the herbal ingredients listed on the ancient prescriptions as soon as possible. Those he already had would be promptly cultivated; for the rest, he would seek them out—collecting what he could, purchasing what he needed, and never letting anything slip. Indeed, while he had long recognized the presence of spiritual energy in the liquid, the other components still remained mysterious to him. He believed that mere spiritual energy alone could not produce such remarkable effects in stimulating plant growth. After entering Huangfeng Valley, he had studied the liquid several times more. No matter how diluted the liquid was, as long as the animals drank even a small amount of water containing a trace of the green liquid, they all met the same fate—sudden explosive decomposition. It seemed clear that this was not a matter of dilution, but rather the effect of the unknown components within the liquid. After obtaining consistent results several times, Han Li had no choice but to reluctantly abandon his efforts. But now, the miraculous efficacy of using small vials solely for alchemical purposes seems rather narrow! Han Li felt that the ability to nurture herbs and plants surely had much broader potential—some of it was clearly being wasted. After careful consideration, Han Li concluded that during conflicts among cultivators at the Foundation Stage, beyond artifacts and cultivation techniques, mid-level and higher-grade seals were absolutely indispensable. Yet these mid-level seals were priced exorbitantly—often requiring dozens of spiritual stones just to acquire a single one—leaving Han Li constantly shaking his head in disbelief. While mid-level and higher-tier elemental techniques indeed possessed powerful, life-saving capabilities, their high rank meant that even Foundation Stage cultivators had to expend considerable spiritual energy and time to employ them. As a result, purchasing several such seals for emergency use had become an essential necessity. Han Li thus decided to focus on seal-making, specifically on mid-level seals. The blank scroll paper needed for creating talismans, whether of lower or intermediate quality, was produced using certain long-lived spiritual herbs—exactly the kind of advantage that allowed Han Li to fully utilize the unique properties of the bottles, thereby maximizing their effectiveness. Of course, high-grade scroll paper could not be made this way; it required the rare spiritual skins of specific mythical beasts, which Han Li currently could not access. As for the cinnabar used in talisman creation, it was quite satisfactory—typically prepared from the blood of spiritual beasts, mostly drawn from domesticated ones—and thus hardly cost anything. The talisman brushes, however, were somewhat more refined. Yet Han Li still possessed a golden Zhuzhu brush, which should be sufficient. Upon thinking of the golden Zhuzhu brush, Han Li naturally recalled the modest and slightly shy young girl, Han Yunzhi—she must be at the Spirit Beasts' Mountain now, he thought, with a gentle smile. But in a short while, Han Li regained his focus and carefully reassessed the feasibility of creating seals, along with the associated advantages and disadvantages. With the necessary tools and a steady supply of raw materials, the issue of material consumption—which had previously been the greatest limitation for seal masters—was now entirely resolved for him. The only remaining constraint was his own cultivation of intermediate-level or higher-level spells. Since a seal master needed to be able to perform a specific spell before he could manifest it on a scroll, otherwise he could never summon the spell from nothing on the paper, the seal itself merely served as a pre-encapsulated means of storing the spell. The thought of having to cultivate intermediate-level spells made Han Li feel overwhelmed. He wasn't sure whether this truly stemmed from the inherent complexity of his spiritual root—during his study of the Five Elements spells, he seemed to lack natural aptitude, consistently requiring several times the effort and time of an ordinary cultivator, yet still failing to grasp the essential insights. However, since he entered the Foundation Stage, those basic spells had become easy to master, and most of them could now be cast instantly. Yet with mid-level spells, he had once again returned to square one, leaving Han Li only to sigh in frustration! Though he believed he could still grasp several mid-level spells and seal them into scroll-form incantations, he had no expectations of mastering all mid-level spells and making them available at will. With a large number of mid-level scrolls, Han Li would gain a significant advantage in combat, and openly selling them would not draw much attention. Thus, he could finally free himself from the shortage of spiritual stones. He no longer dared to trade medicinal herbs for spiritual stones, as that would be too conspicuous! Moreover, Han Li had another consideration: should he eventually dissolve his current cultivation and begin anew, during the period of rebuilding his spiritual power, he would undoubtedly be at his most vulnerable. If enemies or rivals come knocking at this very moment, wouldn't he be in serious danger? After all, the immortal realm is far from stable—anything could happen. However, with a large supply of scrolls at his disposal, he can maintain a solid level of strength, and even if he fails to defeat his opponents, he still has a good chance of escaping through the use of scrolls. Although practicing scroll-making will inevitably slow down his refinement of inner energy, looking at the overall picture, the benefits clearly outweigh the drawbacks. After circling his bedroom several times, Han Li decided to simultaneously cultivate the Qingyuan Sword Technique and practice scroll-making. Having thought everything through, he immediately set about taking action. In the past few days, he had visited the merchant markets of his own sect and the Tianxing Sect twice, gathering raw materials for alchemy and seedlings and young plants suitable for producing scroll paper. Since these alchemical ingredients were specified in ancient formulas, they were naturally both valuable and rare. Fortunately, Han Li had no specific requirements regarding the age of these herbs, and by sheer luck, he had successfully gathered all the necessary raw materials for one of the elixirs—the "Qi-Refining Powder"—which left him exceedingly delighted. As for the raw materials for the talismans, since he began with the simpler ones, they were naturally easy to obtain; of course, a large quantity of cinnabar was also indispensable. A few days later, Han Li fully opened the outer array and seals of his dwelling, closed the dwelling itself, and began his first period of closed meditation since establishing his foundation. … Time in cultivation knows no bounds—four years passed swiftly. Since that day, the gate of the dwelling had remained closed, never reopened, thanks to the protective array. Until this day, a bright blue light suddenly appeared from afar on the horizon, circling the outer array several times before materializing into a cheerful scholar, holding in his hands a uniquely shaped blue wooden board. "This is indeed Xiao Shishi's dwelling!" "How could they have chosen such a remote location, with rather limited spiritual energy? If it weren't for Master Lei's guidance, I truly would have struggled to find it!" the scholar murmured, expressing his surprise. He then glanced at the outer array of the dwelling, his expression suddenly brightening with eager anticipation. "Master Lei said that the young disciple's protective array is truly outstanding—even a cultivator at the Jiadian stage wouldn't be able to secure a favorable position within it. Is this truly the case? Or is it just an exaggeration? Should we try it out?" After a moment's thought, however, he sighed and said quietly, "Perhaps we should just let it be—after all, we don't want to delay Master's important affairs!" Then, he produced a transmission scroll, gently placed it inside the array, and watched as it instantly transformed into a streak of flame, silently seeping into the array. Finally, he raised his wooden board into the air and took off, gliding upward on the board. At this moment, within the immortal abode, in the meditation chamber of the Spirit-Eye Spring, Han Li was in the midst of closing his eyes and meditating. His appearance seemed unchanged from four years ago, with not a single trace of alteration—only a soft, faint glow of pale green light shimmering continuously around him, like a dream woven into mist. Yet, if one looked beyond his immediate vicinity, one would be utterly speechless. Everywhere else, scattered across the floor were numerous scrolls of varying ranks, ranging from the lower-tier junior spells such as "Fire Ball Technique" and "Ice Arrow Technique," to the upper-tier junior spells like "Earth Wall Technique" and "Fire Cloud Technique," as if the chamber had become a vast repository of spell scrolls. In addition, there were several empty boxes filled with vermilion ink and numerous blank spell scrolls scattered among them, adding to the overall disorder. At the very moment he stood up, all the talismans and other items on the ground were silently gathered into his storage scroll, leaving the room completely clean. As soon as he stepped out of the meditation chamber, he waved his hand, and a small yellow flag appeared in his grasp. He then threw it forward, and the flag transformed into a beam of yellow light, shooting outward. Within just a moment, before he even reached the bedroom, the yellow light returned, followed by a trail of fiery light. Seeing this, Han Li remained calm, gestured with one hand, and the flag returned to his palm. With the other hand, he spread his fingers, and a surge of green light erupted from his palm, instantly sweeping the fiery light into view. (We've been resting all day today—after several days of intense mental effort, we simply couldn't keep up. So we've taken an extra half-day off! But we'll still deliver two chapters tonight. In the final few days, once we recover, Wen Yu will keep delivering consistently. Please continue supporting us!) Hehe, definitely, having more support tickets is even better!