Inside the cave sanctuary, a figure shimmered into view—a person with disheveled hair, face obscured—slowly stepping out of the inner chamber. At that moment, golden light flickered, and Qu Hu immediately appeared beside him, expression utterly composed. "Ha ha! Golden Dan stage achieved! Finally, the Great Golden Dan is complete!" Gazing at the outer chamber and at Qu Hu by his side, the man suddenly raised his head and burst into laughter, his voice rising to a deep, resonant roar, reminiscent of a dragon's or a tiger's cry. The face emerging from his tangled hair was that of Han Li, who had entered the chamber sixty years ago. Yet now, his eyes gleamed with sharp brilliance, and every gesture exuded an imposing presence—so different from before, as though he had been completely transformed. After finishing his laughter, Han Li looked around the outer chamber and felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity. Six decades of detached seclusion had left him with a profound sense of change—of things unchanged, yet people and events long gone, as if all that had happened before were now distant memories. Han Li did not linger in place but followed the memory of his own room and made his After just a meal, Han Li stepped out of his dormitory looking radiant, having regained his appearance and attire from decades ago—still that of a young man in his twenties. Yet now, his expression was exceptionally calm and composed as he walked steadily toward the insect chamber. The gold-eating insects inside the chamber had changed dramatically since the days of a decade ago! Not only had their numbers grown to a terrifying scale of tens of thousands, but the once-silver shells now bore golden spots, making them look fierce and menacing. Seeing this, Han Li showed no surprise. Years earlier, through the technique of "Dividing Body and Soul," he had already learned of this development. Now, he simply witnessed it firsthand. Indeed, Han Li himself had never anticipated that his initial inspiration—using these gold-eating insects as test subjects for the Nishang grass—would unexpectedly resolve the very problem of cultivating the insects. After his retreat into meditation, the Soul-Weaver continued to feed the insects with newly unfurling Nishang grass each month, and as a result, the insects grew increasingly irritable with each feeding. After three or four years of feeding, the gold-devouring insects finally underwent a transformation. After completely consuming a single Nishang grass, they began to devour and fight each other. Within a few days, the hundreds that once existed dwindled down to just a dozen or so. However, the surviving insects were not only larger in size but also far more vigorous in spirit than their predecessors. Soon after consuming their fellow insects, these survivors began laying eggs on their own, each one eventually laying over a hundred eggs before slowly dying. Han Li immediately collected more than a thousand eggs. Just one year after hatching, these eggs began to hatch spontaneously. Thus, Qu Hun continued feeding them with Nishang grass, encouraging constant cycles of mutual consumption and egg-laying. After several such cycles, the population of the gold-devouring insects began to surge dramatically. Were it not for the limited quantity of Nishang grass that could accelerate their maturation, causing the periods of mutual consumption to be progressively delayed, their numbers would surely have grown even further! More astonishing still, the offspring of these gold-devouring insects, through mutual consumption and reproduction, grew progressively stronger and fiercer with each generation. Even their chitinous exoskeletons, once pure silver, began to show subtle golden spots—spots that were steadily growing in size and prominence. This made him wonder whether the insects would truly achieve their full evolution only when their entire exoskeletons had fully transformed into gold. Standing outside the insect chamber, Han Li gazed at these gold-devouring insects for a full half-hour without uttering a word. He was certain that this method of breeding and cultivating the insects—through successive generations of reproduction—was not the traditional approach employed by ancient beast-taming cultivators. For he firmly believed that the remarkable maturation effect of the mysterious vial was unparalleled in the mundane world. Perhaps this very method even surpassed the techniques used by earlier generations! With this thought in mind, Han Li smiled slightly and walked toward the adjacent insect chamber, where two blood-jade spiders were housed. Although under Fu Hun's instructions, only a small portion of the annual green liquid output was used to cultivate the spiritual herbs for refining the Feeding Spirit Pills, the two Blood Jade Spiders had already advanced several ranks over time and are now at the peak level of fourth-tier spirit beasts. Today, they appear exactly as the White Jade Spiders seen originally in the underground cavern—crystal-clear and resplendent, truly beautiful. Fu Lin's arrival evidently stirred the two White Spiders, who, already deeply attuned to his mind, swiftly flew toward the stone gate, eager to greet and play with him. Fu Lin was delighted and immediately opened the gate. The two Blood Jade Spiders leapt out and circled swiftly around him. After gently stroking their backs, Fu Lin marveled at their luminous, jade-like bodies. Then he carefully stored them in his spirit-animal bag and turned to leave the insect chamber. As for the Gold-Eating Insects, Fu Lin had no intention of using them yet. He intended to wait several generations for these insects to hatch, until their bodies had fully transformed into golden hues, then use them as his hidden trump card. After that, Han Li made a thorough tour of the various chambers of his dwelling before returning to his dormitory with great enthusiasm. Lying on the comfortable wooden bed, Han Li recalled the scene of his successful jade cultivation within the sealed chamber. To be honest, this swift achievement of reaching the jade stage had greatly surpassed his own expectations. He had not completed the third transformation of the "Three-Stage Restoration and Vitality Technique"—he had only managed the second stage after spending thirty years on it. Since he had relied entirely on consuming pills to advance in this technique, the progress had been far faster than he had initially anticipated. He had originally believed that completing all three stages would be extremely taxing, if not utterly impossible. Yet, within just a century, he had accomplished the second stage, leaving him ample time and strength to complete the third transformation within his remaining lifespan. Thus, Han Li's thoughts became active, yet he no longer dared to place all his hopes for Jin-Dan cultivation solely on the "San Zhuan Zhong Yuan Technique." After all, this technique was uniquely created by the master himself and had never been practiced by anyone else before! Moreover, the technique claimed that even after completing the three transformations, only half of the cultivators would succeed in achieving Jin-Dan status—meaning that even if he finished the three transformations, there was still a fifty-percent chance of failing to reach Jin-Dan. This filled him with growing concern, prompting him to adopt additional measures to enhance his chances of success. At that moment, the statement he had heard from his former superior, Lin, who had been defeated during the battle, about the potential for increased Jin-Dan success rates when the "Da Yan Ju" is advanced to a high level, resurfaced in his mind. After careful consideration, he decided to switch to practicing the third-level technique of the "Da Yan Ju." "Whether or not this statement is true, practicing it can't possibly do any harm," was his simple thought at the time. The third layer of the Daxian Decision naturally takes much longer to master than when he first began practicing the second layer. Han Li spent over twenty years struggling to break through the bottleneck and finally managed to achieve it with great difficulty. As for the fourth layer of the Daxian Decision, Han Li simply never intended to pursue it—since the time investment required was still within the range of what he could afford to spare at this stage. Only later, with the aid of various medicinal herbs, did Han Li begin his several-year journey toward the Dan stage. Honestly, after his disastrous performance during the previous transition to the Dan stage, Han Li had little confidence in succeeding in the second transition. He merely approached it with a mindset of giving it a few years' worth of effort, hoping for a modest outcome. The formation of Qu Hu's Shada Dan took four years, while due to his relatively inferior nature, Han Li himself required over five years to finally achieve a remarkable success in his Golden Dan stage. Even as he felt the celestial qi rushing into his body with great intensity, and as his true energy violently churned in the dantian, finally coalescing into a pearl the size of a thumb—four colors shimmering together—Han Li still felt as though he were dreaming. "Is that it? Just like this, I've entered the Jiandan stage?" He still couldn't quite believe it! The unexpected triumph, so sudden and grand, nearly caused his nascent golden elixir to collapse again, despite having only minimal expectations. Startled, he quickly focused his mind and calmed his inner state, just in time to avoid a major mishap that would have sent him back to the Foundation Stage. As he thought of this, Han Li, lying in bed, couldn't help but lift a corner of his mouth with a gentle, barely perceptible smile. "Huff," he exhaled, then sat up and stepped out of bed. Even now, after so many years since the moment he first achieved the Jiandan stage, his heart still surged with excitement, making it impossible for him to remain still. Reaching the Jiandan stage not only signifies that he has now become a seasoned master in the immortal realm, but also grants him an astonishing lifespan of five to six hundred years, allowing him to focus peacefully on his cultivation. Most importantly, he can finally harness the Dan Fire to refine and polish his own treasures. When it comes to his treasures, Han Li has two at his disposal. One, the "Hun Yuan Basin," has already been fully integrated by Qu Hun. The other, the "Lü Huang Sword," he intends to use primarily for protection, setting it aside for immediate use. His ultimate goal, however, is to refine the "Qing Zhu Peak Yun Sword," which has long been a cherished object on the "Jin Ye" scroll. This sword is part of a complete set, and once successfully refined, it will possess immense power, capable of sweeping away rivals of his level. Furthermore, with his Qing Yuan Sword Technique now reaching its seventh layer, he has finally mastered the divine skill of "Sword Shadow Division." This gives him great anticipation for his journey in cultivation after achieving the Jiandan stage! What he needs to do now is quickly gather the materials for the divine artifact "Cloud Sword of Qingzhuyu Peak," so as to cultivate its power effectively within the elixir flame and his spirit essence. (Heh, actually, originally we hadn't planned for韩立 to achieve his true transformation so easily. But if we keep delaying, our book-loving readers would surely complain bitterly. So we've had to trim away two less crucial plot points, allowing the protagonist to reach his stage of transformation sooner. This has certainly lightened our load! Also, everyone, don't wait any longer—today we won't be staying up late anymore. After all these days of working late, we've started to feel night and day reversed, and it's simply becoming unbearable. We'll continue writing tomorrow! Please all get some rest—early to bed is truly the best. Hehe! Tomorrow is the beginning of the month—don't forget to cast your monthly votes for this book, and give it your support!)