Han Li, besides regularly nurturing his elixirs, formulating the required "Yellow Dragon Pills" and "Golden Essence Pills," spent his days in seated meditation, fully immersed in rigorous cultivation. Of course, he also followed the御灵宗 cultivators' practices for rearing insects, periodically training his white spiders and other rare creatures, which served as his sole source of enjoyment during cultivation. Yet, as he had anticipated, he reached the ninth level of the Qi Condensation stage in just over a year—a pace truly astonishing compared to his earlier progress. Nevertheless, Han Li remained somewhat dissatisfied with this speed. Once he reached the ninth level, he resolutely discontinued taking three Foundation Pills consecutively. Thanks to the powerful medicinal effects, Han Li then spent another year or so to re-enter the Foundation stage. At this point, he finally gained mastery over the innate true fire. Immediately, he ceased formulating lower-tier pills and began instead preparing the several types of pills suitable for the Foundation stage. According to Han Li's estimation, aside from the "Qi-Dispersion Pills," which had lost their effectiveness due to excessive consumption, the other three formulas should be sufficient to advance his cultivation to the late Foundation Stage. However, according to the original plan, Han Li did not immediately deepen his cultivation through Qi refinement, but instead accumulated the pills and began practicing the "Da Yan Decision," in preparation for the cultivation of his "divided body." Initially, Han Li found the first layer of the "Da Yan Decision" remarkably smooth, achieving it within just six months. This gave him confidence, knowing that although he had a poor aptitude in grasping the Five Elements techniques, he possessed a solid talent in mastering the "Da Yan Decision," thus feeling confident about progressing to the second layer. As described in the half-compiled text of the "Da Yan Decision," upon attaining the second layer, his consciousness would grow several times stronger and be capable of dividing into over a hundred distinct parts. At this point, when combined with the puppet technique, the true terrifying power of the "Dai Yan Ju" finally revealed itself. Although it was known that the second stage would be significantly more difficult than the first, the time required far exceeded what Han Li had anticipated. He had originally expected to achieve the second stage of the Dai Yan Ju within two or three years, but after six years of relentless, day-and-night dedication, Han Li only managed to finally complete it—nearly half the time longer than expected. This left him utterly helpless and frustrated. Moreover, the persistent headaches and mental exhaustion caused by the strenuous cultivation of his awareness, which he had endured throughout the process, made him pale and deeply anxious every time he recalled it, truly fearing for his well-being. Additionally, during the third year of cultivating the Dai Yan Ju, a disciple of the Deng Xian Pavilion—a mid-level cultivator who had previously suffered significant setbacks at Han Li's hands due to his merchant status on the great island—had indeed come to Han Li's Xiao Huan Island, carrying out the mid-level cultivator's orders to challenge him once again. As a result, he remained trapped within Han Li's array for three days and three nights before being discovered by Han Li, who had just successfully emerged from his meditation, and was then released. Han Li, having struggled with the difficulties of refining the Daxian Decision, had long since forgotten this incident. Facing Han Li, whose true cultivation level was concealed by the Unnamed Qi-Conserving Technique, the man, now slightly agitated after being confined for several days, was precisely and skillfully defeated—leading him to believe that Han Li's advantage lay solely in the sharpness of his tools—and thus, he departed reluctantly. Three years later, after achieving the second level of the Daxian Decision, Han Li prepared to embark on the secret technique of "Body-External Avatar." He first rested and stabilized his spirit for several days, then summoned Qu Hun to the inner meditation chamber, where they faced each other and sat cross-legged. Han Li raised his hand, lowering the stone door, and then focused intently upon Qu Hun, remaining silent for a long time. Staring at Qu Hu's unattractive yet familiar face, Han Li felt a surge of emotions, recalling many memories that had long since faded from his mind—the "Seven Xu Sect," the Colorful Mist Mountain, and all those familiar figures. However, after a moment of gazing into Qu Hu's blank, lifeless eyes, Han Li sighed and finally, without further hesitation, began to swiftly manipulate his hand seals in a windmill motion, emitting a faint green glow that bathed the chamber in a lush, emerald hue. At that moment, Han Li's face had turned pale as paper, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, yet the brilliant white streaks in his eyes grew even more radiant, until finally two fine streams of white light shot directly from his eyes and pierced into the two souls locked in mutual gaze, causing both of them to tremble without conscious effort. As for the embodied form still undergoing cultivation, "Qū Hún," since the divided consciousness had not yet fully mastered the body, it had to continue gradually adjusting and adapting within the inner chamber. Within just a few months, Han Li had fully recovered his damaged vital energy, yet he did not emerge from meditation—he instead directly began studying the cultivation methods of the "San Zhuan Zhong Yuan Technique." The technique clearly outlines that when a cultivator reaches the late stage of Foundation Period cultivation, they should largely dissipate the accumulated merits of the "Qing Yuan Jian Jue" technique, re-initiate cultivation from the early Foundation Period, and simultaneously compress and condense their true energy, gradually transforming the liquid true energy of the Foundation Period into a more solid state, thus reducing the resistance encountered during the process of forming a Golden Elixir. According to the master who established this technique, after such a cycle of repetition occurs three times, there should be approximately a fifty-percent chance of successfully forming a Golden Elixir. Although Han Li had unexpectedly dispersed his cultivation merits at the mid-Foundation Period stage—rather than reaching the late Foundation Period—he did not find this matter at all significant. In Han Li's view, the difference between the late and mid-stages of the Foundation Period in terms of dispersing the internal energy was merely a matter of how much internal energy was compressed and consolidated. As long as the fundamental approach of compressing and solidifying internal energy remained unchanged, and as long as he dispersed his internal energy a second time when reaching the late Foundation Period, there should be no significant issues. After dedicating several months to in-depth study of the "Three-Transformations and Replenishment of Primordial Energy Technique," Han Li felt he had fully grasped the essence of the technique. He then entered the inner chamber with a large supply of pills. This time, he had made a firm decision: unless he achieved the first transformation of the technique, he would not leave the abode, even if it meant mastering the Qingyuan Sword Technique up to its sixth level. As for the curved soul that had integrated into his body, Han Li ensured it continuously consumed pills to strengthen its qi, preparing it for the Foundation Period. Since the curved soul possessed a "Three-Rooted" nature, superior to Han Li's own aptitude, it advanced in cultivation at a pace nearly equal to Han Li's own retraining speed, thanks to Moreover, Han Li had already selected the magical technique "Xuelian Shengguang," which Yue Huang practiced, from the jade scroll emitting a pale gray aura, and assigned it for Qu Hun to cultivate after establishing his foundational stage. He had personally witnessed the power of this technique in Yue Huang's body. As for the issue that after achieving Dan stage, the technique lacked subsequent techniques to advance further, Han Li didn't give it much thought. Even if the Shada Dan was formed, Qu Hun, as a fragmented being, could only maintain the level of early Dan stage, so the absence or presence of further techniques made no difference. Han Li's cultivation journey had truly been long! As the saying goes, "cultivation knows no time"—in just over twenty years, time had passed swiftly. Throughout this lengthy period, Han Li had never stepped out of his sanctuary, nor had he appeared before the island's residents. Since Han Li's arrival as a celestial master, the lives of the hundreds of townspeople on Xiao Huan Island had remained virtually unchanged. Fishing as usual, farming as usual. Certainly, the two distinct mountain peaks, once clearly visible, were now obscured by dense white mist and became indistinct. This initially made the ordinary inhabitants of Xiao Huan Island feel somewhat uneasy. However, over time, as the years passed, the people of the town grew accustomed to this sight and began to take it for granted. Nevertheless, the elders would still remind their younger children not to approach the mist near the mountain peaks. For once someone entered the mist, they would immediately lose their way and be unable to find their way out. Only after being trapped for several days, enduring great hardship, and calling out repeatedly, "Master Han," would they eventually regain their bearings and find their way back. After several such incidents, the residents naturally learned to adapt, understanding that Master Han disliked being disturbed. As long as they stayed away from the mountain peaks and simply went about chopping wood and gathering fruit in the vicinity of Xiao Huan Mountain, there was no issue at all. Moreover, whenever the town's protective spell required additional spiritual stones, the town magistrate would simply raise his voice and call out toward the mountain peaks from outside the mist. A stone of a single year would automatically rise from the white mist and appear on a tray, allowing the visitor to take it away without any delay—never having been missed. Of course, by the time twenty years had passed, the original town magistrate had long since passed away. The current magistrate was Black Gui, the black-faced fisherman whom Han Li first encountered when he arrived on Xiao Huan Island; yet he was equally effective when requesting the stones. As a result, although the people of Xiao Huan Island did not hold Han the magisterial esteem, they generally held him in good regard. Yet on this day, Han Li still stepped out of his dwelling.