Four years after Han Li entered seclusion, Silvermoon was in her human form respectfully waiting outside the sealed seclusion room. On the day before, she received a voice transmission from Han Li while she was nurturing the spirit medicines with the green liquid, and she was now waiting on Han Li to emerge from the room.
She didn't have to wait for long. The stone door eventually began to groan and slowly open. However, when she raised her head and gazed inside, she didn't catch sight of Han Li. Instead, she saw a black Yin wind that suddenly blew out from the room. Then with a muffled chuckle, the three-meter-large black cloud made its way towards Silvermoon.
Silvermoon paled and took several steps back in her alarm as she looked at the black cloud in shock. Then the black cloud came to a sudden stop and softly shined with light as if made from black silk.
"This is..." Silvermoon's mind began to stir.
The black cloud suddenly condensed into an inch-large, black-green Nascent Soul and it said, "How is it? It should be considered a success for my second Nascent Soul to have reached this stage."
"Congratulations on Master's achievement!" Silvermoon sweetly smiled and curtseyed at the Nascent Soul. Apart from the Nascent Soul's slightly smaller size, it appeared exactly the same as his original.
A familiar voice sounded out, "It has come as a surprise that I was able to complete my second Nascent Soul so quickly. However, it does feel a bit strange now that it's done." Han Li then walked out from the secluded room.
At that moment, the black-green Nascent Soul grinned before flying a circle around Han Li and landing on his head.
Silvermoon took a good look at Han Li and smiled, "It is only natural to feel a bit odd after acquiring a second Nascent Soul. But with a bit of time, Master should become accustomed to it."
"Oh! From your tone of voice, it seems you know something about having a second Nascent Soul. Did you remember something?" Han Li curiously asked.
After a pause, Silvermoon answered, "It isn't very clear to me. I don't know why I said it. Perhaps I knew about a similar technique in the past."
Han Li nodded when he heard her explanation and said nothing else. Then, the Nascent Soul sitting on his head summoned a small flag with a wave of its hand and began to play with it. It was the Ghost Sifting Banner that had absorbed the devilish Qi.
When Silvermoon saw this, she couldn't help but look at the Nascent Soul in surprise, asking,
"Could it be that your second Nascent Soul cultivates a Devil Dao art?"
"It is only natural that the second Nascent Soul should cultivate something exceptional, but it cannot cultivate a new technique alone since it doesn't have its own body yet, so I am using my own body and the Ghost Sifting Banner's devilish Qi to have it cultivate a few of the Profound Yin Art transformation techniques. As for whether or not I will grant it a body, I've yet to decide," Han Li said with a frown, "Once it has its own body, there is a possibility of backlash and betrayal. I must be careful about it." He then patted his head and in a flash of black light, the Nascent Soul entered his skull without a trace.
Han Li's spiritual sense allowed him to clearly see within him. Both his main and second Nascent Soul were sitting cross-legged across from one another in his Dantian and were meditating.
Silvermoon tilted her head and said, "It is right for Master to be cautious. I've never heard of the Profound Nascent Formation Arts before and other cultivation incarnation techniques are generally a division of attention. As for higher grade incarnation techniques such as the Moulan Divine Sage Zhong's [1], they are grand abilities that are employed through a forceful division of your primal soul."
"Hehe! Their incarnation techniques don't make them stronger. They are only either for survival or producing superior numbers, but they can be considered formidable techniques regardless. Alright, enough of that for now. Did anything happen while I was in seclusion?" Once that was said, he beckoned to Silvermoon and walked into the main hall.
Silvermoon closely followed after him with soft steps and said, "A year after Master entered seclusion, Lady Mu succeeded in her Core Formation. As per your instructions, I gave the Copulation Essence Arts to her along with some medicine pills suitable for a Core Formation stage cultivator. As for Lady Nangong, she remains safe within the restricted area while the demon beast core is further weakening the Soul Seal Curse day by day. I reckon that even without the curse's removal method, it should be dissolved in another hundred years. Of course, that is simply my own speculations. Master should go have a look for himself."
Han Li rejoiced after hearing the good news, but just as he was about to ask about other matters, Silvermoon added, "There is also one other thing I must report to Master. The Six-winged Frost Centipedes have been continuously fed the Rainbow Skirt Grass over the years. They should've grown and laid eggs, but for some unknown reason, their growth had slowed to a standstill, having only molted once and showing no further signs of reproduction."
"Molted?" When Han Li heard this, he stopped walking and revealed an odd expression.
Silvermoon bit her lip and slowed her steps. "That's right. After they molted, they became far more powerful. Additionally, they became irritable as if they were about to molt once more."
"Let me take a look at them." Han Li frowned and then changed direction, walking towards the passage that led to the insect rooms.
A short moment later, Han Li had arrived. He walked towards one of the insect rooms and looked inside. Before he could clearly see the centipedes, he felt a gust of glacial Qi that blew past him.
All he saw was a thick layer of sparkling ice covering the entire insect room. There were also several various sized mounds of ice with thick holes dug into them. Half-feet-long snow-white streaks were currently roaming around them.
Having already imprinted Han Li as their master with his blood, they immediately recognized him when he appeared. They grew restless and immediately pounced in Han Li's direction, grabbing onto the walls closest to him.
With a wave of his hand, Han Li opened the restriction to the room with a mental command. Several inch-large masses of white light floated towards him.
He nimbly grabbed one of them with his hand and brought it to his face. It was a larva with a skin completely snow-white. Apart from the two small protrusions from its back, it appeared exactly the same as when he last saw them.
Han Li looked at the larva in his hand and muttered to himself for a moment. Silvermoon stood at his side in silence.
At that moment, Han Li extended his finger and brought it to the larva's mouth. With a crackle, blue flame appeared on his fingertip.
The centipede larva opened its mouth and spat out a thin thread of glacial Qi towards the blue flame. Suddenly, the blue flame surged several time its size before being completely wrapped by the Qi.
Han Li then slowly closed his eyes as if attempting to sense something.
"It seems your words held true. They have become far more powerful after they molted. There isn't much difference between reproduction by cannibalism and continuous molting." Han Li opened his eyes and then vanished the blue flame with a flick of his finger.
"It doesn't come as a great surprise why they aren't continuing to devour one another," Han Li continued, "These ancient insects are all fantastical oddities. Perhaps they are only able to reproduce several times, or if the Rainbow Skirt Grass simply causes changes in their body. In any case, it is no problem as long as we can further mature them with the green liquid."
"Master's words come as a relief." Silvermoon sighed and then sweetly smiled, displaying a bewitching charm.
Han Li ignored this and instead made his way to the main hall as he sullenly said, "During my seclusion, I've become well rested. Let's make the trip to the Great Jin Empire. Whether it be to dispel the baleful Qi present on my body or find rare materials, the journey is absolutely necessary. And regardless of how effective the Ancient Flame Toad's demon core is at dissolving the Soul Seal Curse, I am still worried of something unexpected happening to Wan'er. It is best that I pay a visit to the Yin Sifting Sect and find the incantation to dissolve the curse. I've also already cultivated a second Nascent Soul to brave any dangers that I may find in the Great Jin."
"So it was like that. But with Master's abilities, there should be seldom few cultivators capable to matching him." Silvermoon said with a smile.
"Hehe, there are many miraculous and fantastical treasures in the cultivation world. There is nothing that is certain. Also, I am already at odds with the Devil Dao cultivators of the Yin Sifting Sects. If they discover that I've arrived, there is be certain to be trouble; it is better to tread on the side of caution. I'm going to first take a look at how Wan'er is doing before going to see Senior Martial Brother Cheng. Then I will see if I can gather any more of the missing materials for the puppets and Sevenflame Fan. If everything goes smoothly, we can set a departure date after half a month."
"Yes, Master! I also wish to see what the Great Jin is like as it's renown to be the holy land of cultivators."
Once that was said, the room became quiet once more.
...
Half a month later, an azure streak shot out from the Dreamcloud Mountains and flew south. Not long after, a few well-informed cultivators received information that the Drifting Cloud Sect's renown Elder Han had left the Dreamcloud Mountains to go on a distant journey. The specifics were unknown. It was possible he was roaming the Heavenly South or had left it entirely.
After the news was spread around, the Heavenly South grew restless before growing calm once more. Han Li's departure hadn't been followed by any further events.
The Dreamcloud Mountain's Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion still treated the Drifting Cloud Sect sincerely and didn't make any moves against them, allowing them to hold the position as the top sect in the State of Xi.
As years slowly passed by, cultivators passed away from reaching the end of their lifespan and new characters emerged from the gaps left behind. The cycle of the Heavenly South cultivators began one more.
As for Han Li, any trace of him had disappeared from the Heavenly South. For over a hundred years, there had been no word of him.
[1] One of the Moulan's Late-Nascent Soul Cultivators. First seen in Chapter 746, he is capable of creating clones of himself.