Not long after, Han Li appeared on a secluded street in White Jade City.
"Friend Han, I need to set up a formation to refine this Lightning Soul Crystal right away," Daoist Xie's voice sounded in his mind.
"What do you need me to prepare?" Han Li replied through his spiritual sense.
Immediately afterward, a message was transmitted into his mind. It was a list of required materials and the method to set up the formation.
"I understand, I'll prepare them as soon as possible, then I'll arrange a secret room for you at the Crimson Afterglow Peak," Han Li replied after a brief pause.
Although there were a lot of materials on the list, some of them were not easy to find. If it was in the past, he would have to spend a lot of effort to find them. But now, White Jade City had gathered all the forces and chambers of commerce of the entire Ancient Cloud Continent and even nearby continents. Plus, he had the Anicca Alliance as his backup. As long as he spent some Immortal Meta Stones and Spirit Stones, it shouldn't be difficult to gather all of them.
As for the formation, it looked a little complicated, but it wasn't a difficult task for him.
"There's no need to go through so much trouble. The secret room in the inn will be fine.
As for the problem with the puppet, I've almost resolved it. It should be done in a few days, "Daoist Xie said.
Han Li nodded and flew toward the nearest material store.
Only when night fell did he return to the secret room in the inn.
Han Li flipped his hand and took out a stack of formation flags. With a casual wave of his hand, all of the formation flags flew out and landed in various parts of the room, forming a strange formation.
As he muttered an incantation, five layers of light curtains of varying thickness appeared one after another, enveloping the room layer by layer like an iron bucket.
After doing all of that, Han Li waved his hand, releasing a burst of azure light. All of the tables and chairs in the room were moved to a corner of the room, creating a large space in the middle. He then brought out some Lightning-Gather Wood and a large pile of items of different colors.
"Hmm?"
All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he flipped a hand over to produce a purple talisman from his storage bracelet. The talisman was covered in silver patterns; it was none other than the Azure Wind Immortal Lock Talisman.
When he was taking out the items, he happened to see this item in the corner of his storage bracelet, and he suddenly thought of something.
Wasn't the red-clothed woman who gave him the Azurewind Immortal Lock Talisman, Gan Jiuzhen?
Although this woman's aura was slightly different from Gan Jiuzhen's, she might have deliberately changed it, which was why he had never thought about it.
"Gan Jiuzhen … Jiao San … A high-ranking member of the Anicca Alliance who wears a red mask just like Lin San. I didn't expect that he would also come to the Torch Dragon Path," he muttered to himself. He then shook his head and put away the Green Wind Immortal Lock Talisman, ignoring it.
Back then, he did not have a deep relationship with Gan Jiuzhen, so he did not care why she came to the Fire Dragon Path. He thought that it had nothing to do with him.
After Han Li calmed himself down, he began to draw on the ground.
He busied himself for four to six hours, and when the sun rose, a circular formation with a circumference of around 100 feet appeared on the empty ground in the middle of the room. The center of the formation was densely covered with spirit inscriptions, and the Lightning-Capture Wood around it flickered with faint lightning, as if it was accumulating power.
Han Li exhaled as he patted his storage pouch, releasing a streak of golden light that landed at the center of the formation, revealing Daoist Xie's body.
Daoist Xie looked around before nodding at Han Li, then sitting down with his legs crossed.
"Daoist Xie, do you need me to protect you during this process?" Han Li asked.
"No need, I can handle this on my own," Daoist Xie declined.
"Then take care," Han Li nodded upon hearing this.
There were still a few days until the first dao master's lecture, and he wanted to take this opportunity to search for more dao pill materials. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he did not want to waste his time here.
Without any delay, Daoist Xie made a hand seal and began to chant.
Crackle!
A series of thick golden arcs of lightning emerged from his chest before quickly spreading throughout his body.
Arcs of golden lightning also emerged from the spell formation on the ground, condensing into a series of extremely profound lightning runes that resonated with the golden lightning arcs on the puppet's body. Soon, they intertwined and began to slowly revolve.
In the blink of an eye, a golden ball of lightning had been formed with Daoist Xie at its center. Bolts of lightning were flashing over its surface, and one or two thick bolts of lightning would erupt forth from time to time.
Thankfully, five layers of restrictions had been set up throughout the room, and these bolts of lightning were immediately kept at bay.
However, Han Li did not leave. Instead, he stood in a corner of the room and began to observe.
A string of crackling booms rang out from Daoist Xie's head, following which bolts of piercing purple lightning emerged to enshroud his entire head.
Within the purple lightning, a crystalline projection could be seen; it was none other than the Lightning Soul Crystal.
This purple lightning was slightly different from the lightning unleashed by the clam bead in the past as it was more translucent.
Rumble!
The purple lightning quickly spread over Daoist Xie's body, and the light emanating from the puppet became brighter and brighter, as if some key nodes had been unlocked.
Han Li nodded upon seeing this and was just about to leave.
Right at this moment, the Lightning Soul Crystal projection above Daoist Xie's head abruptly jolted, and purple lightning abruptly surged through his body. At the same time, bolts of purple lightning flew out and fused with the golden lightning ball outside.
The golden ball of lightning suddenly began to ripple, and a massive bump appeared on its surface.
A resounding thump erupted!
One of the bumps abruptly exploded, and bolts of golden lightning intertwined with purple lightning shot forth in all directions, striking the first azure restriction in the room.
Crackle!
The azure restriction only lasted for a few breaths before being torn apart.
The remaining bolts of two-colored lightning continued to strike the second layer of the yellow restriction.
The yellow barrier quickly dimmed, becoming thinner and thinner. It looked like it was about to shatter again.
Not only that, but the second bump on the golden ball of lightning also shattered.
A string of resounding booms erupted as bolts of even thicker two-colored lightning erupted in all directions.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of this.
In the next instant, he spun around on the spot, and the projections of the Xuan Wu, Lightning Peng, Giant Ape, and Divine Dragon emerged around him.
At the same time, the projections opened their mouths to blast forth black, silver, yellow, and red light, all of which disappeared into the four layers of restrictions.
The four layers of restrictions seemed to have been fed a potent tonic, and they instantly became several times thicker. The dim yellow light barrier also instantly regained its luster, and the projection of a giant ape appeared on its surface.
Crackle!
Bolts of thick lightning struck the yellow light barrier amid loud clanging sounds, as if metal and stone were clashing.
The yellow light barrier flashed erratically again, and the giant ape projection quickly dimmed as the thick light barrier thinned at a rate discernible to the naked eye.
Han Li wore a solemn expression as he began to chant something while making a series of hand seals.
Light flashed from the four layers of restrictions, and a series of four-colored halos swept forth in all directions.
As the light flickered, the four layers of light curtains fused into one, turning into a four-colored light curtain that was several feet long, emitting a metallic four-colored light.
As soon as it was formed, the golden and purple lightning snakes hit the light curtain. However, as the four-colored spiritual light flowed on the surface of the light curtain, the originally violent lightning disappeared like a clay ox entering the sea.
The four-colored light barrier only tremored slightly, but it didn't show any signs of cracking.
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon seeing this, but he still didn't release his hand seals.
As time passed, the projections of the four Holy Beasts became clearer and clearer, and the four-colored pillars of light they were blasting forth continued to fuse into the four-colored light barrier, thereby further stabilizing it.
Throughout this entire process, Daoist Xie sat at the center of the formation with his eyes tightly shut, seemingly oblivious to what was happening around him.
Han Li was rather speechless upon seeing this. If he hadn't intervened in time, the power of that lightning would've been enough to tear apart the remaining four restrictions.
If that were to happen, the entire inn would most likely be destroyed, and the secret of the Golden Immortal puppet would be exposed.
After a brief pause, Han Li transmitted his voice to Daoist Xie to inquire about the situation.
However, Daoist Xie didn't respond at all, as if he hadn't heard anything at all.
Han Li didn't say anything further, but he changed his mind and decided to stay and observe the situation for a while longer.
Time passed by slowly, and four to six hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Not only did the purple lightning erupting from Daoist Xie's head not diminish in the slightest, it was becoming brighter and denser.
The golden ball of lightning around him was becoming more and more unstable, and bolts of golden and purple lightning were surging forth in all directions with no signs of stopping.
In a corner of the room, Han Li maintained the four-colored light barrier with a dark expression.
Under these circumstances, he clearly wasn't going to be able to leave.
Three days later.
Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground and continued to maintain the four-colored light barrier with a series of hand seals.
At the center of the formation, Daoist Xie's entire body had been enshrouded in purple lightning, forming a suit of purple lightning armor at first glance.
The golden ball of lightning had also expanded significantly, filling almost half of the room, and the golden lightning showed no signs of abating.
Han Li's expression darkened even further upon seeing this.
The Dao discussion convention was going to commence today, and Daoist Xie didn't know when it would end. If he delayed any longer, he would most likely miss the convention.
If he had known this was going to happen, he would've taken Daoist Xie back to the Crimson Afterglow Peak. The restriction in the cave abode had been set up by him over many years, and it was far more powerful than this one. Even without anyone to assist him, it should be able to keep the lightning at bay.
It was too late now, and he couldn't leave at a time like this. Otherwise, all of his previous efforts would have been in vain.
Right at this moment, a sudden turn of events took place!
Scintillating light erupted from the lightning formation, and countless lightning runes appeared all over the formation.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he hurriedly turned toward the source of the sound.