Chapter 856: If I Can't Beat Them, I Can At Least Run
"I see. Thank you for answering my questions, Fellow Daoist Chen. Fellow Daoist Shi and I would like to join Profound City," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute, and Shi Chuankong also stood up to join him.
"Great! From this day forth, you two will be fellow brothers of our Profound City, and I'll take you to Green Goat City as soon as the furious winds subside," Chen Yang replied in an elated manner.
Right at this moment, the red-haired man also arrived in the cave, and he immediately chimed in, "Welcome, fellow daoists."
With Han Li and Shi Chuankong agreeing to join Profound City, the atmosphere instantly became much more relaxed and harmonious, but there were still bursts of glacial qi seeping into the cave, so everyone quickly sat down again to ward off the glacial qi.
Thankfully, most of the glacial qi had been kept out by the mountain, and what little managed to sneak through posed no threat for powerful Profound Immortals like Han Li and the others.
As soon as Han Li sat down onto the ground, Daoist Xie's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Are you alright, Brother Xie?" Han Li asked through voice transmission as he turned to Daoist Xie, who was seated not far away.
Ever since his body was sealed by the dragon whisker needles, Daoist Xie had remained silent, even when Han Li had tried to communicate with him, and that had left him feeling rather concerned.
"I'm fine. In fact, those needles have stimulated my memories and allowed him to recollect some things," Daoist Xie replied.
"Are these memories pertaining to the Scalptia Spatial Domain?" Han Li asked."Some are, while some aren't. A lot of information flooded into my mind at once this time, and it's taken me quite some time to make sense of everything," Daoist Xie replied.
"What exactly have you recalled?" Han Li asked.
"The most important things that I've recalled are that there's a place called the Carefree Palace, and also two names, E Kuai and Sha Xin," Daoist Xie replied.
"E Kuai? That's the city lord of Profound City! Are you somehow related to him?" Han Li asked in a surprised manner.
"I don't know. The memories are too hazy. I've only recalled their names, while the rest is a complete blur," Daoist Xie replied in a frustrated voice.
"Don't worry too much about it. I'll find a way to look into things once we reach Profound City," Han Li said.
"Aside from that, I also recalled something else that may be of help to you," Daoist Xie said as a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Oh? What is it?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Daoist Xie offered no response as he rose to his feet and made his way over to Han Li's side, then pointed a finger at his glabella.
A beam of golden light flew out of his fingertip before fusing into Han Li's mind, where it exploded into countless tiny golden characters.
Han Li's eyes instantly widened as an ecstatic look appeared on his face, following which he immediately closed his eyes again.
The passage of tiny golden text was a bodily refinement cultivation art called the Wingform Ascension Arts. The cultivation art contained eighteen profound acupoints, all of which were on the legs, and mastering the cultivation art not only enhanced one's physical prowess, but also allowed one to take flight by treading air using the power of their legs alone.
The entirety of Han Li's attention was captured by the cultivation art, and only after a long while did he reopen his eyes, then said through voice transmission, "Thank you, Brother Xie. This is exactly what I need."
He didn't know much about bodily refinement cultivation arts, but he could still sense that even though the Wingform Ascension Arts couldn't allow one to open that many profound acupoints, it would still significantly enhance the power of one's legs, and it was particularly valuable given that he was currently unable to fly in this domain.
If I can't beat them, I can at least run.
Daoist Xie nodded in response, then sat down with his legs crossed and paid no further heed to Han Li.
As for Han Li, he immediately began cultivating the Wingform Ascension Arts.
Just like the Great Universe Origin Arts, the Wingform Ascension Arts used starpower to refine the physical body and open profound acupoints, making it perfect for the starpower-rich environment of the Scalptia Spatial Domain.
Even though he was currently underground and sheltered from the stars, he had devoured many beast cores on the way here, and the starpower from those beast cores had been stored in his body up to this point.
After carefully examining the entirety of the Wingform Ascension Arts again, he commenced his cultivation, and the starpower accumulated in his body immediately surged into a profound acupoint on his leg.
The profound acupoint greedily devoured the starpower, and a feeling of extreme relaxation spread through his leg, almost making him moan with pleasure.
The profound acupoint slowly began to open as it absorbed more and more starpower, and close to an entire month flew by in a flash.
Han Li had remained seated with his legs crossed this entire time, but a speck of starlight had appeared on his calf, and it was flashing incessantly.
All of a sudden, his eyes sprang open, and a faint crack rang out from the profound acupoint on his calf as the starlight radiating from it abruptly brightened significantly.
After close to a month of arduous cultivation, he had finally opened up the profound acupoint.
An excited look appeared in his eyes, and as he looked around, he discovered that Chen Yang and the red-haired man had entered their stone rooms to cultivate, while Shi Chuankong and Daoist Xie were also cultivating far away and didn't seem to have noticed what had happened to him.
The starlight emanating from the profound acupoint on his calf slowly dissipated, and a perplexed look appeared in his eyes.
According to the Wingform Ascension Arts, opening these profound acupoints was supposed to be a very difficult and time-consuming process.
Even though he had accumulated a great deal of starpower in his body from consuming beast cores, opening an acupoint in less then twenty days was still progress that was far faster than expected.
Han Li speculated internally about the potential contributing factors for a while, then shook his head and rid himself of that train of thought.
In any case, faster cultivation progress was definitely a good thing.
There was still a thunderous commotion ringing out outside, clearly indicating that the furious winds were still raging.
The glacial qi within the cave had become more pronounced than before, but not by much.
Han Li had been immersed in his cultivation this entire time, so he hadn't detected this change in the environment.
He took a glance at Shi Chuankong and Daoist Xie to verify that both of them also remained unaffected by the glacial qi, then closed his eyes and began working on opening his next profound acupoint.
Another week passed by in a flash.
On this day, Han Li slowly exhaled as he opened his eyes, having exhausted the last of the starpower in his body.
Without starpower, no further progression could be made.
At this point, the furious winds were already on the wane, and the glacial qi within them had faded away.
Chen Yang and the others had also emerged from their stone rooms and were ready to set off.
Many of them were quite curious about the three new recruits, but they quickly accepted Han Li's trio after hearing Chen Yang's explanation.
Everyone quickly emerged from the underground cave into the valley above, and even though the glacial qi had faded away, the winds outside were still strong enough to cause everyone to sway unsteadily.
At this point, the valley outside had already taken on a completely different appearance. A thick layer of the ground had been stripped away, while the nearby mountains were also clearly shorter than before, reflecting just how fearsome the furious winds had been.
"Let's go," Chen Yang said.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, why don't we wait a few more days until the winds have completely subsided?" Han Li asked.
"The furious winds may be a natural disaster, but they also present an opportunity. Whenever the furious winds pass through, many scaled beasts will fall to their deaths or freeze to death, and we have to go out early to find them. Otherwise, their carcasses could be eaten by other scaled beasts," Chen Yang explained.
"I see. Risk and reward really do come hand in hand," Han Li replied with an enlightened expression.
With that, the group set off into the distance, quickly vanishing out of sight.
……
The bright sun was hanging high up in the sky, while howling winds were blowing over a desert.
A hunting party was trudging arduously through the wind, and there were several giant scaled beasts blocking the way ahead, with roughly ten men walking among them.
All of the men had thick clothes over their faces that covered even their necks, yet that still wasn't able to keep out the coarse sand being blown into their faces by the fierce winds.
Due to the spatial pressure in this domain, even these sand particles packed immense power, making their advance quite difficult.
There was an azure-robed man in the group, and he peered through a gap between the giant beast to see what appeared to be a giant shadow in the distance.
"How much longer until we reach Green Goat City, Fellow Daoist Chen?" the azure-robed man asked.
"It's just up ahead," Chen Yang replied with a hint of elation in his voice.
"Finally! Rest assured, Brother Li, we'll definitely be able to find out some information about Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit once we reach the city. There's no way anyone can forget someone so beautiful as long as they've laid eyes on her," Shi Chuankong jibed.
"I certainly hope so," Han Li replied.