Published: August 27, 2025
Chapter 372: Little Huan Island
Han Li took the illustrated atlas and slowly unfolded it, only to find that it was a complete map of Kui Xing Island, where golden light and white light intermingled, shimmering with a mysterious glow.
However, the sparkling areas were all concentrated in the large bluish region at the center of the map.
Only now did Han Li realize that the area covered by Qingyun Mountain was far larger than he had imagined. The central bluish zone accounted for more than a quarter of the entire island.
Han Li looked at the twinkling white light spots and couldn’t help but squint slightly, focusing carefully.
Compared to the golden light, the white light was obviously much more abundant. However, the brightness of the white light varied considerably.
Some were dazzlingly bright, while others emitted only faint glimmers.
The places marked as mountain peaks were extremely glaring and bright, but Han Li didn’t consider those spots at all. Because a middle-aged cultivator’s voice rang in his ears, adding:
“Various mountain peaks are off-limits for qi refining stage cultivators to select. Other places have no such restriction. As long as it’s a spot with white light, you can choose it!”
This matched exactly what the young cultivator named Wen had told him.
The remaining spots, however, were natural valleys and caves where the white light was much dimmer.
“I have a question,” Han Li said after studying the atlas for a while, suddenly looking up and asking the middle-aged man in a low voice. “How large a secluded mansion can I establish in these places? Are there any limitations?”
“Within a radius of ten miles around your secluded mansion is your private domain, where you can freely set up formations and restrictions, provided you’re capable of enclosing such an area,” the middle-aged cultivator responded, showing a hint of surprise, then a trace of sarcasm.
“Then may I select this place?” Han Li asked calmly. “Since it also has white light, there should be a spiritual vein there, right?”
He then lightly tapped a spot on the map with his finger, and the white light at that location instantly turned yellow.
Han Li handed the atlas back.
“That place!” The middle-aged cultivator’s gaze flicked over the spot Han Li pointed to, his pale face showing a look of surprise.
Han Li’s finger had landed on a location outside Kui Xing Island, where a faint white light flickered.
“This is Little Huan Island. It’s only about sixty or seventy miles long but does have a small spiritual vein stretching a few miles on it. We’ve set up a small protective formation on the island and built a small town with several hundred residents,” the middle-aged cultivator said with an ambiguous smile, faintly tinged with mockery.
Han Li remained silent, knowing that the expression the man showed meant this island was definitely not so simple.
“This island is like a chicken rib to us on Kui Xing Island. Because it has a spiritual vein, it’s a pity to discard it, but its spiritual energy concentration is much lower than other islands and the area is too small.”
“If you really choose this place, although no other cultivators will disturb you during your cultivation, the spiritual energy concentration here is at least one-third weaker than that offered by Qingyun Mountain. That means your cultivation speed will be significantly slower than other cultivators.”
“A few cultivators like you, who prefer to monopolize a place for secluded cultivation, have chosen this island before. But none stayed more than a few years; they all obediently returned. They would rather spend large sums of spirit stones to relocate than stay on this island. After all, spiritual energy is the most important thing for us immortal cultivators.”
“Moreover, the regulations state that cultivators who select this island must take on the obligation of protecting it. That means the spirit stones required for the island’s protective formations must be paid from your own pocket. Of course, you can charge the island’s residents some spirit stones as compensation, and you won’t have to annually pay spirit stone tribute to the main island anymore. But I must warn you: the spirit stones the residents pay are far from enough to cover the daily wear of the protective formation. Until now, the spirit stones required for this island’s consumption have been directly borne by Kui Xing Island, which is why it’s been sustainable.”