Chapter 2071: (Untitled)

The entire palm swelled and transformed into a golden giant hand, which grabbed the crystal pearl in one swift motion.

Fingers shimmering with golden light, countless golden runes surged wildly from the palm, instantly enveloping the crystal pearl tightly and turning it into a golden sphere.

Seeing this, Han Li let out a light sigh of relief. As he murmured an incantation, slender crystalline threads shot out from his fingertips and vanished into the golden sphere in a flash.

The next moment, along the threads, a faint, almost imperceptible grayish-white gas emerged from the golden sphere. Restrained by an invisible force, it was drawn into Han Li’s palm.

For the next while, Han Li closed his eyes and silently refined this strange energy.

At this moment, his body was faintly glowing with golden light, and the aura he emitted fluctuated unpredictably between strong and weak, appearing rather eerie.

After several hours, when he opened his eyes again, his face was filled with joy—he could clearly sense that his spiritual power had grown slightly stronger.

“Excellent. This is indeed the same energy as that from the previous Demon Gold. If that’s the case, as long as I find more of this Demon Gold, it’s not impossible to directly elevate my cultivation to the late-stage Body Unity realm. This could save me over a thousand years of arduous cultivation. It seems I must visit the Blue Waterfall Lake if the opportunity arises,” Han Li murmured to himself, his expression shifting between excitement and contemplation.

After pondering for a short while, Han Li suddenly raised a finger in front of him.

A faint green mist silently emerged from his fingertip, hovering lightly above it.

“As expected, this thing followed me out. It seems I’ll have to temporarily store it within the Demon Infant and keep it sealed.”

Han Li shook his head slightly, his brows furrowing.

However, the grayish-white gas he had refined accounted for less than a tenth of the energy contained within the crystal pearl. If he refined all the energy within the entire crystal sphere, it would likely increase his spiritual power by more than ten percent—an unexpected boon.

But to be cautious, Han Li decided not to refine all the energy at once. Instead, he planned to take over ten days, refining small portions at a time and consolidating his cultivation after each session.

This way, he could avoid any unforeseen consequences from a sudden surge in power.

After all, the amount of mysterious energy he had obtained this time was ten times greater than before.

Having made up his mind, Han Li flicked his sleeve, releasing over a dozen gold and silver talismans that swiftly attached themselves to the golden sphere, sealing it firmly.

He then took out a small, jade-white bottle and gave it a slight shake. A five-colored mist sprayed out, enveloping the golden sphere and drawing it inside.

With a faint smile, Han Li stored the bottle away, placed his hands on his knees, and closed his eyes to meditate once more.

Over ten days later, Han Li finally refined all the energy within the crystal sphere into pure spiritual power, significantly boosting his cultivation.

In the following days, however, he began frequently visiting various parts of Illusion Night City, collecting rare texts and local specialties. Among these, he made multiple trips to the Ten Thousand Slaves Tower, eventually purchasing a set of secret techniques for crafting Demon Crystal Puppets from the two Void Refinement-stage demonic beings stationed there.

For this, Han Li not only handed over several top-tier demonic artifacts but also paid an astronomical sum of spirit stones—enough to make even a Demon Venerable wince.

Yet Han Li felt it was well worth the price.

The puppet-crafting techniques of the demon world were fundamentally different from those of the spirit world.

Unlike spirit-world puppets, which required the attachment of divine sense to operate, these Demon Crystal Puppets were activated through pre-arranged restrictions and tokens embedded within them. This meant that as long as the puppet itself was powerful enough, even low-level cultivators could easily control them. Moreover, there were no limits on the number of puppets one could command—even low-level demonic beings could effortlessly control an entire puppet army.

When Han Li learned of this, his astonishment was palpable.

Unfortunately, nothing in the world was perfect. While these Demon Crystal Puppets were undeniably alluring, they also had significant drawbacks.

The most critical was that, due to their inability to be controlled by divine sense, they could only execute simple commands based on their core restrictions, making them incapable of performing complex tasks.

Because of this flaw, Demon Crystal Puppets were far less versatile and powerful compared to spirit-world puppets of the same rank.

Additionally, the core mechanisms of these puppets were extremely troublesome to craft, and the materials required were exceedingly rare. As a result, the cost was far beyond what most could afford—the higher the puppet’s rank, the more staggering its price.

To Han Li’s frustration, the puppet-crafting techniques he had obtained at such great cost were only for low- and mid-tier puppets. According to the two Void Refinement-stage demons at the Ten Thousand Slaves Tower, the techniques for high-tier Demon Crystal Puppets were held exclusively by the tower’s highest-ranking Demon Venerable elders and were never leaked.

In fact, the tower rarely even sold high-tier Demon Crystal Puppets to outsiders.

This left Han Li somewhat disappointed.

However, he didn’t dwell on it too much. Unless amassed in large numbers, high-tier Demon Crystal Puppets wouldn’t be of much use to him in his current state.

The reason he had paid such a steep price was simply to study and integrate these techniques into his own puppet-crafting methods, hoping to refine and advance his skills further.

Han Li secluded himself once more, immersing himself in deep study.

During this time, he experimented with crafting low-tier Demon Crystal Puppets to test his understanding, making notable progress.

One day, while attempting to activate a four-armed Demon Crystal Puppet within the restrictions on the top floor of his pavilion, a low hum sounded from his waist. A ball of white light flew out, transforming into a silken scroll before him.

Han Li’s expression shifted slightly. He raised a hand and sent a streak of azure light into the scroll.

A moment later, faint silver light flickered across the scroll’s surface, revealing a line of small silver characters.

Han Li’s gaze swept over them, and after a brief pause, he waved his hand.

The scroll turned back into white light and vanished into his sleeve. Without hesitation, Han Li turned and descended the stairs.

In the pavilion’s main hall, Zhu Guo’er was engrossed in reading a slightly yellowed beast-skin book. Startled by Han Li’s arrival, she quickly stood and bowed.

“Master, is there something you need me to do?” she asked cautiously.

“Has anyone visited me these past few days?” Han Li asked casually.

“No, Master. I’ve been here the whole time, and no seniors have come to see you,” Zhu Guo’er replied carefully.

“Good. Stay here. I’m going out,” Han Li said with a faint nod. Before she could respond, he strode out the door.

Zhu Guo’er blinked in confusion, but Han Li had already vanished from sight. Soon after, he hailed a beast-drawn carriage on the street and headed straight for the city gates.

Several hours later, Han Li’s flying light appeared over a secluded mountain several hundred miles from Illusion Night City. Below, a thin white mist shrouded the entire peak, obscuring the view for ordinary eyes.

Seeing this, Han Li relaxed slightly and exhaled. With a flick of his wrist, a streak of fire shot out and vanished into the mist below.

A moment later, a calm male voice echoed from the mountain:

“Brother Han, is that you? I’ll open the restriction for you.”

The speaker seemed to have confirmed Han Li’s identity, as the mist parted to reveal a clear path.

Recognizing the voice, Han Li’s expression shifted. His flying light flashed, transforming into an azure streak that vanished into the opening.

As the mist dissipated before his eyes, Han Li found himself standing on a flat stretch of land atop the mountain.

Seated on two smooth boulders nearby were two figures—one with a pale golden complexion, the other clad in black robes. They were none other than the Long Family’s Patriarch and another elder of the Long Family, the one surnamed Hui.

However, when Han Li’s gaze swept over them, his eyes narrowed slightly.

The Long Family Patriarch appeared mostly unharmed, though his face was slightly pale. He smiled faintly at Han Li. The Hui Elder, however, looked haggard, his face shadowed with dark energy, and—most strikingly—he was missing an arm.

“Brother Hui, what happened? Did the two of you encounter a powerful enemy on the way?” Han Li asked, his expression grave.

“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later,” the Long Family Patriarch said with a bitter smile. Then, his expression turned serious. “First, tell me—are you the only one from our group who’s arrived in Illusion Night City?”

“If you’ve already used your summoning treasure and no one else has come, then it’s likely just me. At the very least, I haven’t seen anyone else at the previously agreed-upon inn,” Han Li replied, frowning slightly.

“In that case, let’s wait a little longer. A few more moments won’t hurt,” the Long Family Patriarch said after a brief hesitation.

Han Li nodded in agreement and found a nearby boulder to sit on.

Time passed slowly. After about an hour, Han Li’s expression shifted. He raised his head, his pupils flashing with blue light as he scanned the sky.

“It seems someone else is coming. Let’s see who it is,” he said calmly.

The Long Family Patriarch looked up in surprise, peering intently into the mist above.

Soon after, a melodious female voice rang out from the sky:

“Which fellow Daoist is below? This little sister is late—please forgive me!”

The voice unmistakably belonged to the youthful-looking Ye Family Matriarch.

Hearing this, the Long Family Patriarch’s face brightened. With a hand seal, he parted the mist once more.

A streak of radiant light descended from the sky.