Published: August 28, 2025
Chapter 449: The Hidden Plot
Within the blood-red glow, the revered master of the mysterious bones’ terrifying crimson eyes rolled a few times before the light gradually faded away.
“Not bad. That Nine-Twisted Spiritual Ginseng is indeed still here. The residual pure spiritual energy it leaves behind can be faintly seen on the surface of Stone Mountain,” the mysterious bone master said calmly after his eyes returned to their normal color.
Hearing the old demon’s words, Han Li’s heart stirred. He infused spiritual power into his eyes and focused intently to carefully observe the small mountain below.
But the result left him greatly disappointed—he found nothing unusual on the mountain.
Seeing Han Li’s eyes flash with a faint blue light, the mysterious bone master naturally knew what he was doing. With a disdainful smile, he spoke indifferently:
“Don’t entertain the delusion that you can see the pure spiritual energy of the Nine-Twisted Spiritual Ginseng. Only cultivators with sufficiently strong spiritual awareness can do that. At the very least, one must have formed a nascent soul to have this ability. Though I have since studied the path of the undead, my once powerful spiritual awareness remains completely intact.”
There was a faint hint of mockery in his words.
Han Li showed no expression on his face, but spurred on by the other’s unintentional reminder, the great yin technique inside his body began to flow slowly.
After a moment, Han Li’s heart leapt with joy.
Because at last, his eyes caught faint wisps of blue light on the Stone Mountain below—scattered randomly and extremely faint.
“Luckily, before I arrived, I already planned to conveniently grab this Nine-Twisted Spiritual Ginseng. So I prepared some special items on a small island I passed earlier. Now I’ll set the trap first and let the ginseng jump right into it, making it easy to capture.”
Unaware that Han Li could also clearly see the pure spiritual energy, the mysterious bone master looked down at the Stone Mountain calmly and said.
Then he reached into his storage pouch and pulled out something glittering golden, holding it in his palm.
“What’s this?” Han Li asked, a little startled as he glanced at it.
It was a golden silk orb about the size of an egg, emitting a faint radiance as if specially refined.
Seeing Han Li’s puzzled expression, the mysterious bone master sneered coldly, suddenly clutched the orb with five fingers, and a black light flashed in his hand.
A thin golden thread shot out from the orb, growing longer and longer. It quickly weaved back and forth before the master’s eyes, forming a small but exquisite golden silk net, only palm-sized but shining brilliantly.
“The Nine-Twisted Spiritual Ginseng can only be captured by pure gold objects. Other magical treasures or tools it can easily avoid or escape from. Hold onto this carefully—use it to catch any ginseng that tries to escape,” the master instructed Han Li seriously.
Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly and, after some thought, beckoned to the golden net without hesitation.
With a whoosh, the net flew automatically into Han Li’s hand and was tossed into his storage pouch without a second glance.
A faint smile appeared on the mysterious bone master’s face. He flipped his palm and produced four small earth-yellow flags.
These small flags were covered with layers of intricate runes, shimmering with a faint light.
“Ah!” With Han Li’s current mastery of formations, he was surprised at first by the flags but after some contemplation, his expression turned to disbelief.
“What? Han Li, you recognize these flags too?” The mysterious bone master was a little surprised at Han Li’s reaction.
Han Li didn’t respond immediately but stared fixedly at the flags for a while longer before looking up solemnly and saying:
“Could these be the formation tools for the Four Symbols Black Tortoise Formation? Besides this ancient formation, I can’t think of any formation flags that can form an earth-element grand formation just by using four small flags.”