Han Li's eyes slightly narrowed, and with a gentle shake of his fingers, he lightly tapped his storage bag. From it,十几 beams of white light soared out, arranging themselves in a circle beneath the liquid—forming exactly twelve identical small jade boxes. Each box was crafted from flawless white jade, exquisitely refined and only a few inches in size. With a gentle sweep of his robe, he lifted the lids of all the boxes. Then, as he uttered the character "Luo," the viscous green liquid floating in the air promptly dropped down, one box receiving precisely one piece. Only when Han Li sealed the lids once more did his expression ease, and he finally felt at ease. Though aided by spiritual stones and pills, his inner energy had nearly been fully expended. Thus, Han Li resumed meditation for several days, restoring his condition to its peak, and then began refining the remaining five Heavenly Thunder Bamboo stalks. In the course of time, three months passed. Han Li had labored tirelessly, finally transforming all the Tianlei Bamboo into an exceptionally pure liquid state. After a brief rest, he began setting up an intricately complex spell array within the chamber. He did not know the name of this array, only that it was an essential component in the creation of the "Qingzhu Fengyun Sword," a point repeatedly emphasized in the refining method inscribed on the golden scroll. Clearly, it was a crucial preparatory step. Despite having the layout perfectly memorized and having attempted it several times before, he remained extremely cautious at this moment, unwilling to make even the slightest mistake. For even a single carelessly drawn symbol could lead to unforeseen complications during the crafting of his divine artifacts. Thus, under Han Li's careful and anxious efforts, the spell array was fully completed after a span of fifteen days. Only after installing several mid-tier spiritual stones and confirming that the array functioned smoothly did he feel confident and at ease. Then, Han Li did not immediately begin crafting the法宝, but instead stepped out of the chamber temporarily. After continuous use of the elixir flame for six consecutive months, with his spirit constantly maintained at a high level of concentration, even a Dan-stage cultivator like Han Li found it increasingly difficult to sustain—some adjustment was necessary. This was precisely because the most crucial phase of crafting the法宝 lay ahead. Yet, as soon as Han Li stepped out of the chamber, he was greeted with another unexpected delight. The "gold-devouring insects," which had been intermittently fed on fragments of Nishang grass, finally resumed their mutual consumption. Han Li was overjoyed! Since the population of these insects reached tens of thousands, the limited supply of Nishang grass had long been insufficient to enable them to lay eggs or undergo further evolution. Over the years, most of the green liquid had been used to mature the thunder bamboo, making it even harder for the insects to show any significant development. However, once the thunder bamboo had been fully matured, Han Li promptly instructed Qu Hun to intensify their cultivation. After all, Han Li had high expectations for these unusual insects. As soon as he received the information from Qu Hun, he immediately went to the insect chamber. The golden spots on the outer shells of the insects that had consumed the gold had already covered about half of their body surfaces. He expected that the next generation would expand these spots further. However, after observing them for a while, Han Li's initial delight faded, and his brows furrowed. At this pace, it seemed rather unlikely that all of these insects would eventually turn fully golden. Each time they evolved, their numbers multiplied significantly, and the supply of Nishang grass—whose sap could accelerate their evolution—was limited. It would be impossible to successfully evolve thousands of these insects in a single go. If this trend continued, the next evolution might not occur for years to come. Han Li found himself pondering deeply outside the chamber. It seemed clear that he would have to focus on cultivating only a small portion of them first. Otherwise, he began to doubt whether he would ever see golden "gold-devouring" insects again. With this thought, Han Li immediately made up his mind. However, all of this could only be carried out after the Phagocytic Golden Insects laid their eggs. For now, it was best to temporarily put it aside and focus instead on refining his divine artifacts. Thus, after resting continuously for a month, Han Li finally chose a favorable day according to the celestial calendar. He then spent two days incensing and praying in his bedroom, calming his mind until it reached a state of serene composure, before returning to the inner chamber and standing at the central point of the magical array. With a solemn expression, Han Li raised both hands, and dozens of jade boxes containing the liquid of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo fell gently onto various positions of the array, arranged according to a hidden principle. Subsequently, one after another, various boxes and wooden containers emerged from his storage bags and landed before him, automatically opening to reveal the pre-processed auxiliary materials. Han Li glanced at these materials, took a deep breath, settled into a comfortable seated posture, closed his eyes, and gradually entered a state of meditation. After just one meal, Han Li opened his eyes and a faint, shimmering glow emerged from his body. As soon as this glow appeared, the spiritual stones embedded in the spell array flashed brilliantly, and the entire array began to hum and activate. Han Li remained still, yet his fingers moved swiftly, drawing one after another threads of spiritual essence from the bamboo-green liquid inside the container. From beneath the array, a series of "pff" sounds echoed, and luminous columns of light, thick as dinner plates, shot out from various points, precisely enveloping the liquid and immobilizing it within the beams. Seeing this, Han Li closed his eyes again, calm and composed, and gradually extended his powerful spiritual awareness, bringing all the light columns firmly under his control. Instantly, the light columns began to pulsate and shift colors dynamically. To Han Li's surprise, after countless such changes, the colors of the beams gradually began to converge and become more uniform. After the final transformation, all the light beams stabilized in a deep crimson hue, the green liquid within them shimmering with an even more vivid, emerald luster. Han Li remained expressionless, opening his mouth and expelling a stream of jade-green elixir flames that precisely struck one of the beams. "Pffft!" The entire beam surged into vigorous combustion, instantly transforming into a towering column of bright red flame. Han Li continued without hesitation, spouting one stream of elixir flame after another, igniting every single beam. Seventy-two towering columns of flame, each two zhang high, now glowed brilliantly within the chamber. He sighed lightly. While the elixir flames were far more potent than these seemingly ornamental beams, the art of forging flying swords did not necessarily benefit from greater flame intensity. Thus, he had to endure a temporary depletion of his vital energy, sacrificing a considerable amount of elixir power in the process. Han Li, somewhat exasperated after pondering, began to gently manipulate the green liquid within the flame pillars through the power of his divine awareness and the magical array. The liquid, initially in rounded clusters, gradually stretched and flattened, slowly taking on the form of slender sword embryos, each about four or five inches long. Though this process seemed simple in description, in reality, it took Han Li a full day and night of continuous effort before the seventy-two luminous, liquid swords finally materialized within the flame pillars. After finally releasing a long-held breath of relief and relaxing his spirit slightly, he felt a growing dull ache in his head, prompting a faint, wry smile. Even for his exceptionally strong divine awareness, orchestrating the formation of these seventy-two swords was an extremely demanding task. Nevertheless, even after successfully shaping the swords, Han Li could not afford to slacken his vigilance. With a swift gesture of his hands, he activated a series of hand seals, and the flame pillars flashed briefly before suddenly vanishing entirely, leaving only the slender, emerald-green swords floating in midair. Han Li waved his hands randomly, and gradually, all the small swords drifted toward him, encircling him tightly. Gazing at the seventy-two small swords nearby, he suddenly clenched his teeth slightly, pressing his tongue until it nearly ruptured, then spurted a stream of refined blood that coalesced into a blood orb the size of an egg in front of him. Under his control, the blood orb dripped several drops onto each sword mold. As soon as the refined blood touched the liquid swords, it swiftly vanished, merging seamlessly into them. After completing this, Han Li lightly touched a box of silver powder—auxiliary material on the ground—and immediately, the powder rose into the air, evenly spreading over each sword mold, making them gleam with a silvery sheen. Next came another box of black powder… With careful attention to the refining method, Han Li gradually incorporated each type of auxiliary material into the seventy-two sword molds, then summoned seventy-two pillars of flame once more, guiding each flying sword into the flames to begin the refining process anew. This time, Han Li didn't rely on crafting numerous flying swords simultaneously—he meticulously refined each one individually. Following the pattern, he began inscribing on the swords some miniature spell arrays that he himself barely understood, ensuring they matched exactly with the diagrams provided in the Golden Scroll.