“You wish to enter the Cleansing Spirit Pool and consume the Pure Spirit Lotus!” Bao Hua’s expression darkened slightly as she spoke slowly, her gaze turning cold.
“Having taken such great risks to seek even a sliver of opportunity to reach the Mahayana stage, I naturally won’t give up now that I’ve endured countless hardships to reach this place,” Han Li replied calmly, his expression unchanged.
“Even if you were allowed into the Cleansing Spirit Pool and obtained one or two Pure Spirit Lotuses, do you truly believe you’d succeed? Let me be frank—you are not the only ones capable of reaching this place,” Bao Hua said with deep meaning.
“I’m well aware of that. If not for the fact that some predecessors from the Spirit Realm once came here, how would we have known about the existence of the Cleansing Spirit Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus?” Han Li replied without hesitation.
“The Spirit Realm? You underestimate the allure of these treasures to powerful beings. Over the long ages of our Demon Realm’s existence, countless experts from other realms, including the Spirit Realm, have entered the Cleansing Spirit Pool. Some had such formidable backing that even we, the Demon Ancestors, dared not refuse them. Others possessed unfathomable abilities, forcing us to merely collect compensation and turn a blind eye. Yet, among all these individuals, fewer than one in ten truly ascended to a higher realm with the help of the Cleansing Spirit Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus,” Bao Hua explained unhurriedly.
“Experts from other realms… A one-in-ten chance is enough for me to take the gamble,” Han Li frowned briefly before replying with a cold snort.
“But I wonder, what will you do when you learn that those who fail to advance after leaving the Cleansing Spirit Pool lose all hope of ever reaching a higher realm?” Bao Hua asked with a faint, mocking smile.
“Lose all hope of advancement?” This time, Han Li was genuinely shocked.
“Indeed. To my knowledge, those who fail to advance with the Cleansing Spirit Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus may gain some temporary benefits, but none have ever reached the Mahayana stage afterward. Otherwise, do you think a place as crucial as Bitter Spirit Island would be so lightly guarded? If not for this restriction, we Demon Ancestors would have long destroyed everything on this island, even at great cost. After all, the Cleansing Spirit Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus are utterly useless to us demons. Rather than letting experts from other realms benefit, it’s better to eliminate them entirely. So, Fellow Daoist Han, do you still wish to enter the Cleansing Spirit Pool?” Bao Hua’s beautiful eyes flickered, revealing a trace of amusement.
“Such a thing exists!” Han Li’s expression shifted uncertainly before he suddenly glanced toward Yuan Yao the Sacred Ancestor.
The black-robed youth chuckled darkly and said in a sinister tone,
“Han brat, on this matter, we have no reason to deceive you. The Cleansing Spirit Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus possess the heaven-defying power to aid in breaking through the Mahayana bottleneck, but they also carry severe hidden dangers. Nothing in this world is perfect. The choice is yours to weigh.”
“Is there truly no way to mitigate these consequences?” Han Li murmured, half to himself, his gaze grave.
“There are methods, of course. But in my opinion, Fellow Daoist Han, you’d do well to abandon such hopes. These solutions are beyond your reach—no, even we wouldn’t dare entertain them,” Bao Hua shook her head, a hint of mockery in her voice.
“What? There are ways to nullify the dangers of the Cleansing Spirit Pool?” Yuan Yao exclaimed in shock.
“Yuan Yao, don’t be surprised. You’ve only been an Ancestor for a short time. How many tens of thousands of years have I and Nie Pan spent at the Mahayana stage? There are many secrets you don’t know,” the white-robed woman said coldly, casting a disdainful glance at Yuan Yao.
The black-robed youth’s face darkened with fury, but he suppressed it with visible effort.
“Since methods exist, Senior might as well enlighten me. Perhaps I happen to have the means to fulfill one of them,” Han Li said without hesitation.
“Very well. Since you refuse to give up, I see no harm in telling you. But first, hand over some of that spirit-nurturing spring water in your possession so I may examine it,” Bao Hua blinked, suddenly smiling.
“The spirit spring? Of course.” Han Li agreed without a second thought.
With a flick of his finger toward the spring, a fist-sized globule of milky liquid shot out, darting through the air before stopping before Bao Hua.
The white-robed woman’s face lit up with delight as she reached out, an invisible force drawing the liquid into her palm, where it hovered and spun.
Bao Hua stared intently at the water, releasing a wisp of divine sense that silently merged into it.
After a long moment, she parted her lips slightly, and the droplet transformed into a streak of white light, vanishing into her mouth. A faint white aura flickered across her face before she slowly closed her eyes, as if savoring the taste.
Han Li and Yuan Yao exchanged glances but remained silent.
After a while, Bao Hua reopened her eyes, her expression brimming with satisfaction.
“Good. Before, I was only sixty to seventy percent certain, but now I’m at least ninety percent sure. This is indeed the spiritual medicine I seek. As for the methods to nullify the dangers of the Cleansing Spirit Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus, I’ve recorded them in a jade slip. Consider it a gift.”
With a flick of her hand, a blue light flew toward Han Li—a pale blue jade slip.
Han Li caught it effortlessly, his divine sense immediately probing its contents.
Inside were several lifelike illustrations accompanied by dense explanatory text.
“Immerse in the Dao Treasury Exquisite Flame for forty-nine days, then consume three Heaven-Transforming Supplements…” Han Li’s face darkened as he read the first two methods.
Weren’t these legendary treasures even in the Immortal Realm? Rumor had it that not only were they unheard of in the Spirit Realm, but even in the True Immortal Realm, they were coveted by many immortals—some valuing them above the Cleansing Spirit Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus themselves.
Where would he ever find such rarities?
Fortunately, the jade slip listed other methods. Suppressing his frustration, Han Li continued reading.
“Grind the World-Uniting Flower into powder… Use the demon core of a Seven-Clawed True Crow as the main ingredient, refining it with other spiritual medicines into a solution to bathe in for a hundred years. The formula is as follows…” Han Li’s expression grew even grimmer.
The Seven-Clawed True Crow was a renowned true spirit, though not as formidable as a Celestial Dragon or a Rainbow Phoenix—still far beyond his means to hunt.
As for the World-Uniting Flower, he had never even heard of it, but he didn’t need to think hard to know it was beyond his reach.
However, when his divine sense swept over the next illustration, his heart skipped a beat.
The drawing depicted a small golden bird, but at its center was a golden pill covered in intricate patterns, exuding an air of profound mystery.
Han Li stared at the image for a long moment before reading the accompanying text.
“Supreme Void Miraculous Pill: When consumed by a Body Integration cultivator, it greatly enhances cultivation and significantly increases the chance of breaking through to the late Body Integration stage. For late-stage Body Integration cultivators aspiring to reach Mahayana, it also possesses wondrous effects. If taken before entering the Cleansing Spirit Pool and consuming the Pure Spirit Lotus, it offers a fifty percent chance of nullifying future cultivation impediments.”
“Supreme Void Miraculous Pill… Void Spirit Pill!” Han Li silently repeated the names, his heart surging with excitement.
The pill in the illustration was none other than the so-called “Void Spirit Pill” he had obtained from the restricted area of the Cold Moon Realm!
With his prodigious memory, he instantly recognized that the Supreme Void Miraculous Pill and the Void Spirit Pill were one and the same.
Back then, several Body Integration experts from the Thunder Continent had nearly come to blows over it.
Through cunning, he had secretly kept one pill but had never deciphered its true purpose, storing it carefully ever since.
Now, reading the explanation, everything became clear.
No wonder those foreign Body Integration cultivators had been so desperate—this pill could aid in breaking through to Mahayana!
After finishing the text beneath the illustration, Han Li skimmed the remaining images before withdrawing his divine sense from the jade slip, his face unreadable as he pondered.
“A one-in-ten chance to reach Mahayana… A fifty percent chance to avoid the hidden dangers…”
He swiftly weighed the pros and cons.
Bao Hua observed his expression, her eyes flickering with faint surprise.
After an indeterminable silence, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes and said coolly to the white-robed woman,
“I stand by my decision. I will enter the Cleansing Spirit Pool. Once I emerge, I will deliver what you seek.”
Without waiting for her response, he turned to Yuan Yao and added, word by word,
“Senior Yuan Yao, if you agree not to obstruct my entry into the Cleansing Spirit Pool or my search for the Pure Spirit Lotus, I will likewise gift you the Demon-Suppressing Grass afterward. If either of you refuses, I will destroy both spiritual medicines here and now. Then, the three of us shall fight—let’s see if your combined strength can truly keep me on this island forever.”
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