After returning to his cave residence, Han Li first went to see Demonshine. After seeing that Demonshine was still in seclusion and hadn't shown any signs of abnormalities, he returned to his room and took out a brush and paper before starting to draw on it.
As the tip of the brush moved gently, thin lines appeared, gradually forming an octagonal square box. It looked quite mysterious and complicated.
After Han Li finished drawing a frontal image, he examined it for a moment before placing it to the side. He then took out a piece of white paper and continued to draw.
Not long after, seven or eight square box blueprints were laid out on the table from different angles.
Han Li swept his gaze past the blueprints and nodded with satisfaction. He then massaged his aching glabella with two fingers.
Not long after, he took out another piece of white paper and continued to draw the talisman formation that Jing Yang had carved on the ground.
Right at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him. "Hmm? Could this be the 'Eight Elements Disassembly Formation' …"
"Daoist Xie, do you recognize these blueprints?" Han Li asked as he continued to draw.
He didn't even need to turn around to know that it was Daoist Xie.
A hint of confusion flashed through Daoist Xie's eyes, as if he also didn't know why he would call out Daoist Xie's name.
"I don't know why, but I seem to remember these blueprints," he said after a brief hesitation.
"Oh, could it be that some of the memories that your former master sealed away have suddenly been awakened?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know." Daoist Xie shook his head.
He picked up the blueprints and carefully inspected them for a moment before saying, "Something's wrong here. The intersection points of the formation patterns are slightly distorted, which will affect its actual function."
"Do you know how to make this?" Han Li was delighted and hastily asked.
"I can make it as long as I have the materials." Daoist Xie nodded without any hesitation.
With that said, he took the brush from Han Li's hand and began to write on the white paper stroke by stroke.
Moments later, he handed a long list of items to Han Li. "I'll be able to make this Eight Element Key with all the materials on this list."
"Eight Origin Key …"
Han Li muttered as he scanned the various materials written on it. It was no wonder that Venerable Jing Yang wasn't worried that he would learn the Eight-Element Dispelling Array. If he didn't know the ratio of materials, he wouldn't even be able to create this Eight-Element Key.
It was exactly because of this that Han Li was even more perplexed. How did Daoist Xie know all of this?
However, judging from Daoist Xie's expression, it was quite clear that he was just as perplexed.
"This Eight Elements Dispelling Formation seems to only be useful on some special treasures. May I know what item Friend Han is looking to dispel?" Daoist Xie suddenly asked.
Hearing this, Han Li pondered for a moment. With a flip of his palm, he took out the tailbone he obtained from the Greater Rat.
As he handed the tailbone over to Daoist Xie, he stared intently at the latter's expression, trying to detect any minute changes.
Daoist Xie's brows furrowed slightly as a hint of confusion appeared on his face.
"Do you recognize this item, Fellow Daoist Xie?" Han Li asked.
"If you hadn't told me in advance, I wouldn't have been able to tell that this is a treasure of a grotto-heaven," Daoist Xie replied with a shake of his head.
"If I hadn't seen something with the exact same aura as this at the auction, I wouldn't have been able to tell that this is a treasure of a grotto-heaven.
I'll have to trouble you to refine it for me after I prepare these materials, "Han Li said with a nod.
"No problem," Daoist Xie replied.
After that, Han Li inquired about the materials for the Eight-Element Key before leaving the cave abode and making a trip to Jukun City.
…
Over two months later.
On the ground of Han Li's cave abode, a small talisman formation had already been engraved.
Daoist Xie was holding an octagonal box in his hand, and he opened it before placing it at the center of the talisman formation.
"Friend Han, bring out that treasure of a grotto-heaven …" Daoist Xie said as he turned to Han Li.
Han Li flicked his wrist to bring out the tail bone, then placed it on top of the box.
"The incantation to dispel the formation …"
Before Han Li could finish his sentence, Daoist Xie interjected, "It won't make much sense if you only know the incantation; you have to circulate the magic power within your body."
"You must know how to circulate the incantation, right, Fellow Daoist Xie?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"Leave it to me," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.
After that, Daoist Xie made a series of hand seals and began to chant the incantation. The content of the incantation was identical to what Master Jing Yang was chanting.
Moments later, he pointed a finger forward, and a streak of white light flew into the tail bone.
Green light flashed from the surface of the tailbone, following which a layer of dazzling silver light spread over the surface of the tailbone like flowing water, transforming the entire tailbone into a translucent snowy white color.
At the end of the tail bone, a coin-sized flower pattern appeared.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this.
Just as he had expected, this Giant Rat Tailbone was one of the four Heavenly Abode treasures, the Flowers, Birds, Fish, and Insects, refined by the third generation Mountain Master of Mount Hundred Creation.
"This item has been dispelled, and Friend Han only needs to refine it slightly to open it," Daoist Xie said as he handed the tail bone back to Han Li.
"Thank you," Han Li said with a nod.
After receiving the "flower branch", he examined it for a moment before sitting down cross-legged. He clasped his hands together and held the jade bone in his palms, refining it.
About four hours later, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes, and he wiped away the sweat on his forehead before standing up.
He couldn't hide the joy in his eyes, and after taking a glance at Daoist Xie, he gently swiped his hand across the flower branch.
The jade bone shuddered and began to become transparent, releasing a dazzling silver light that turned into a gate of light that was around 10 feet tall.
"Daoist Xie, why don't you take a look at this grotto-heaven treasure with me?" Han Li said with a smile.
Then, he took a step forward and stepped into the silver door of light.
Daoist Xie was just about to step into the gate of light when his body suddenly faltered for a moment before returning to normal. He then stepped into the gate of light and disappeared.
After passing through the gate of light, Han Li's figure appeared in a spacious grassland.
He looked around and saw that there was a dense forest at the end of the grassland. There was faint smoke rising from the forest, and it looked rather blurry.
Han Li wasn't in a hurry to enter the forest. Instead, he flew around the interior of the grotto-heaven first.
The sky within the grotto-heaven wasn't very high; it was only around 100,000 feet tall, and there was a thick spatial barrier that prevented one from flying upward. The same was true for the edges of the grotto-heaven, which limited the space within the grotto-heaven to a certain extent.
After patrolling around, Han Li discovered that compared to Master Jing Yang's "fish branch", this "flower branch" was much larger, but the concentration of the world's spiritual Qi within it was basically the same.
After patrolling around, he descended into the forest with Daoist Xie.
As soon as he entered the forest, Han Li could clearly sense a faint baleful aura.
There was a small white path in front of him that had all types of strange patterns laid out on it. The path led deep into the forest, and this seemed to be the source of the baleful aura.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he bent down to carefully inspect the path.
After inspecting it for a while, he discovered that the white path was not paved with white stone slabs or beautiful jade. Instead, it was paved with human and beast bones of different sizes and shapes.
"No wonder the baleful aura emanating from the giant rat's carcass was so strong; it had such a fetish…" Han Li couldn't help but sigh.
As he continued along the path, the baleful aura in the forest began to lessen significantly. There were many spirit flowers and plants on either side of the path, some of which Han Li was familiar with, but there were also many that he had never seen before. It appeared that they were all quite old.
Han Li wasn't in a hurry to collect them. Instead, he followed the path and arrived at a purple bamboo forest that was only several thousand feet in radius.
Purple smoke rose into the air within the forest, and a two-story building could be vaguely seen. There was no longer any baleful aura lingering in the surroundings, and it appeared to be the residence of an immortal.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he carefully inspected the purple bamboo forest to ensure that there were no restrictions within it before making his way in.
After entering the bamboo forest, the two of them walked for several hundred steps before arriving at a fenced courtyard. There was a small pond within the courtyard with purple smoke billowing within it, and a series of purplish-golden lotus flowers had been planted at the center of the pond.
"Looks like the core of this grotto-heaven treasure is this pond and these purplish-golden lotus flowers," Han Li mused as he stood on the edge of the pond.
"Indeed, this is the foundation of this grotto-heaven," Daoist Xie agreed with a nod.
After that, the two of them walked along a purple bamboo arch bridge over the pond and arrived in front of the two-story building on the other side of the pond.
The entire building was constructed from purple bamboo, and the base of the building seemed to be planted into the ground with some faint purple roots. There was a layer of purple light around the building, and it was quite apparent that there were restrictions on the building.
"This Purple Bamboo Building is quite interesting. It has borrowed the power of the purplish-golden lotus flowers in the pond and fused a portion of its roots with them.
If we break the restrictions by force, we'll be able to open the door, but the foundation of this grotto-heaven will definitely be damaged, "Han Li said as he withdrew the blue light in his eyes.
"That won't be a problem. As long as we make some adjustments to the Nine Spirit Absorption Technique, we'll be able to break the restrictions without damaging the purplish-golden lotus flowers," Daoist Xie replied.
"You're making it sound so easy, Fellow Daoist Xie; I'm sure you're very confident in your ability to do so," Han Li said with a smile.
Daoist Xie nodded in response before beginning to break the restrictions.