Chapter 1410: Mutation

A massive boom that was louder than the previous one rang out as countless streaks of golden light exploded on the stone block.

Silver flames then enshrouded the entire stone block, and the sound of exploding firecrackers erupted.

However, the stone block's condition remained completely unchanged, but after Han Li scanned over the surface of the block with his spiritual sense, a hint of elation appeared on his face.

He immediately sat down beside the stone block with his legs crossed as he made a hand seal, continuing to scorch the stone block with his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

A burst of pure azure spiritual power flowed relentlessly into the silver flames from between his hands. Time passed by slowly, and a day and a night flew by in a flash.

All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a low cry, and the silver flames were withdrawn before reverting back to its Fire Raven form, then disappearing up his sleeve.

At this moment, Han Li had already risen to his feet, and he made his way over to the stone block again to conduct a thorough examination.

At first glance, the stone block appeared to be completely identical to how it was in the past. However, as blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, he was able to identify that there were some signs of melting on the surface of the stone; those signs were virtually undetectable to the naked eyes, but they certainly weren't going to escape the notice of Han Li's spirit eyes. By his estimations, it would take at least several decades to completely melt the stone at this rate.

Upon arriving at this conclusion, Han Li became quite elated rather than dejected!

For cultivators like them, several decades was nothing, but this stone block was most definitely an extraordinary treasure. He didn't know how that Lord of Treasured Light had discovered this thing, but there was no way that it would've been able to move this stone block. It was most likely the case that it constructed its cave abode around the stone block instead.

It would be quite a troublesome prospect to take this stone block away from here. After all, it was extraordinarily heavy, and if he were to stow it away into his storage bracelet, it would instantly crush the storage space.

Hence, he could only move it through manual labor. However, even if he were to completely activate his Provenance True Devil Arts, he'd only be able to move a third of this stone block at a time. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to take flight.

Han Li stared at the stone and fell into deep thought for a long time.

He then rustled his sleeve, and a faint buzzing sound rang out as two golden flowers shot forth from within. The two golden flowers then immediately transformed into a pair of thumb-sized golden beetles.

These were none other than two of his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

The beetles let loose a sharp screech before immediately flying onto the stone block and attempting to devour it from two different directions.

Meanwhile, Han Li looked on with an intense unblinking gaze.

Even though Gold Devouring Beetles were supposed to be capable of devouring all things, Han Li didn't have much confidence in their ability to chip away at such an extraordinary stone block.

However, in the next instant, the concerns in Han Li's heart were completely erased.

Even though the Gold Devouring Beetles were eating away at the stone block at an extremely slow rate, two small divots had indeed appeared on the surface of the material after a while.

Sure enough, these beetles really were capable of devouring this object.

Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this.

However, mere moments later, the two Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly fell off the stone block and plummeted to the ground amid a couple of massive thumps.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this. He raised a hand, and golden light flashed as one of the Gold Devouring Beetles was drawn into his grasp. He immediately discovered that this Gold Devouring Beetle was immensely heavier than a normal beetle.

Han Li raised his eyebrows with a hint of surprise on his face. Thankfully, aside from its staggering weight, nothing else was amiss about the beetle, and its wings and legs were still tremoring incessantly.

After appraising the beetle for a while longer, Han Li finally figured out what had to have happened.

It was quite clear that due to the extraordinary attributes of this stone block, even Gold Devouring Beetles weren't able to immediately digest the material. As such, even devouring such a small amount in one sitting had exceeded their tolerance limits. It appeared that the two beetles would require some time before they returned to normal.

With that in mind, Han Li stowed away these two Gold Devouring Beetles, but another two beetles flew out of his sleeve to replace.

The same process was repeated, and the two Gold Devouring Beetles were soon also unable to cope with their massive bodyweight any longer as they plummeted to the ground before being picked up by Han Li.

However, on the next occasion, four Gold Devouring Beetles were released to replace them...

After most of a day had passed by and over 1,000 Gold Devouring Beetles had been released in succession, around a tenth of the stone block had finally been devoured and as a result, the block had also been divided up into three sections.

Han Li nodded with satisfaction at the sight of the three smaller stone blocks, which were roughly equal in size.

After making a hand seal, brilliant golden light erupted from his body once again. At the same time, the golden projection of the three heads and six arms appeared behind him once again.

Han Li bent down and heaved, finally managing to slowly lift up one of the three blocks.

Even though he felt as if a small mountain were weighing down upon him, he was able to fly with this weight, albeit with quite a bit of difficulty.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face, but he put down this stone block to conduct another careful search of this cave abode, trying to see if there were anything else that could catch his interest.

In the end, nothing else caught his eyes aside from a few marine materials and some spirit stones.

Han Li wasn't feeling very disappointed as he wasn't harboring any high hopes in the first place. After stowing away those items, he returned to the hall once again.

On this occasion, he carried the other two stone blocks to an extremely obscure place in the cave abode, then set up an illusionary formation to conceal them.

After that, he picked up the final block and flew out of the cave abode.

When Han Li reappeared over the surface of the ocean, brilliant spiritual light was shimmering from his body, and his Thunderstorm Wings appeared along with the projections of the azure bird and the rainbow phoenix.

With a flap of his wings, his body shot forth as a translucent line, disappearing into the distance in a flash.

The stone block he was carrying was truly extraordinarily heavy, and despite the fact that he had unleashed his Thunderstorm Wings, he still had to take breaks every few hours to recover his energy before continuing onward.

Three days later, Han Li returned to his cave abode in the Hidden Black Mountain Ranges and set the stone block down in his secret chamber.

During the following two days, Han Li was in no hurry to leave the cave abode again. Instead, he began to conduct all types of experiments on the stone block that he'd transported back with him.

As a result, he discovered that aside from the fact that it was extremely hard, sealing the stone block with ice, striking it with lightning, and corroding it with devilish Qi all proved to be completely ineffective. Furthermore, aside from his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, none of his other flames were capable of melting this stone block at all.

Of course, the effect that the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flame had on the stone block was also very infinitesimal.

This material really was perfect for refining top-grade defensive treasures. However, with its staggering weight, it would also be extremely powerful if it were to be refined into an offensive treasure like the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

Following a series of experiments, those were the conclusions that Han Li had arrived at. As for how exactly he was going to use this stone block, that required further contemplation.

A thought then occurred to Han Li, and he decided to examine the Gold Devouring Beetles in his spirit beast bracelet that had consumed this material, and the sight that greeted him gave him quite a surprise.

The mature Gold Devouring Beetles had all fallen into a hibernating state, appearing as if they were about to evolve once again.

These beetles were already fully mature, so if they were to evolve once again, then mutation was the only possibility.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this. However, this only made it even more difficult to decide just what he was going to do with this special material.

After pondering the issue for half a day, Han Li decided to examine what changes the Gold Devouring Beetles were going to take on after their evolution before making a final verdict.

Two more days passed by in a flash.

The third day was the seventh day since Han Li made that agreement with the cow-headed demon beast.

Early in the morning, not only did those two demon beasts arrive outside his cave abode, even the golden ape and the massive boar had turned up.

All of the demon beasts were staring at the azure light outside Han Li's cave abode with fear in their eyes, and they didn't dare to make even the slightest sound to announce their arrival, silently waiting outside instead until when Han Li was ready to see them.

When it was close to noon, the azure light disappeared like bubbles in the sunlight, revealing a massive stone gate that was over 200 feet tall.

Following a loud rumbling sound, the stone gate opened of its own accord, revealing a shimmering white passageway.

"Come in." An indifferent voice sounded from within the passageway.

The demon beast stirred upon hearing this, and they naturally didn't dare to oppose Han Li's orders as they entered the passageway one after another. Aside from the small cow-headed beast, the other demon beasts all had to shrink their bodies significantly before they were able to enter through the stone gate.

A short while later, Han Li sat upon a stone chair within an antiquated stone hall in the cave abode, looking down at the four demon beasts, and his eyes lingered on the golden ape for slightly longer than when he was appraising the others.

Before the demon beasts had a chance to say anything, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a massive object flew forth before thudding to the ground.

It was a massive blue wyrm head.

The four demon beasts were all given a massive fright upon seeing this.

"This is the head of that Lord of Treasured Light. Now that I've killed him, your deal with him is naturally void. Seeing as you've arrived here today, I trust that you've made your decision. Have you brought the items I asked for?" Han Li asked in an implacable tone.

Looking at the shimmering blue wyrm head, all four beasts were able to sense the residual aura of an eighth grade demon beast emanating from it, and chills ran down their spines in unison.

"What other choice do we have? We've indeed brought along the items you've asked for, Senior," the cow-headed beast replied with a forced smile after exchanging glances with three other beasts.

"Good. I've also prepared the Woodbud Flowers that you require. I can hand them over to you as soon as I ascertain that the items you've brought to me are satisfactory," Han Li said in an indifferent voice before sweeping a hand over the storage bracelet on his wrist.

White light flashed, and a massive rectangular jade box appeared in his hand.

After the lid of the box was lifted, a mesmerizing floral scent immediately wafted through the air.

The jade box was filled with thumb-sized golden bell-shaped flowers, and there appeared to be over 100 of them.