This Flower Fairy of the Heavenly Fox Clan was once a ruthless figure who rebelled against her own clan. She once drained the true yang energy of hundreds of “young talents” from the demon race in one go and was even personally hunted by the Heavenly Fox King for a considerable period, yet still managed to escape with her life.
The old Taoist naturally wouldn’t dare let others easily discover his close connection with this woman.
“Alright, since Fellow Daoist Han has made initial contact, this old man will be going into seclusion for the next few days. I’ve recently gained some insights in my cultivation and need to meditate on them carefully. My humble abode isn’t suitable for the Fairy to stay, so I’ll have to bid you farewell now.” After casually exchanging a few more words with her, the old Taoist made it clear that it was time for her to leave.
“You old fox! Clearly afraid I’ll target your disciples, yet you pretend it’s about inconvenience. With such a vast place, do you really think I’d take it all for myself? That said, some of the disciples you’ve brought do have decent potential. I heard that a few of Venerable Wangu’s favorite descendants are among them—he’d better keep a close eye on them.” The woman let out a seductive chuckle, her figure flickering before vanishing on the spot. In the next moment, a flash of spiritual light appeared in the teleportation array, revealing her standing there.
By then, however, her appearance had shifted back to that of Venerable Wangu’s favored concubine.
Hearing her earlier words, the old Taoist paled slightly and hastily raised a hand, summoning a silver token. With a wave toward the array, the teleportation formation hummed, instantly whisking the woman away without a trace.
Venerable Wangu could only shake his head with a bitter smile before turning to leave.
Meanwhile, Han Li, having returned to his own residence, sat alone in the main hall’s seat of honor, deep in thought.
What exactly was Venerable Wangu plotting?
If the old Taoist claimed it was a spontaneous friendship born of mutual affinity, Han Li wouldn’t believe a word of it.
Moreover, the concubine in the old man’s embrace had employed an exceptionally high-level illusion technique to conceal her true appearance—another suspicious detail.
Yet, sensing no malice in the other party’s actions, Han Li had engaged in a lengthy and peaceful conversation before taking his leave.
Even if Venerable Wangu harbored ulterior motives, given Han Li’s current abilities, he could hold his own even against a late-stage Body Integration cultivator. There was no need for excessive fear.
On the other hand, if the Black Domain Exchange truly was as mysterious as described, it would be worth attending.
After all, he had never expected to gain much from the overtly public Myriad Treasures Convention.
His reasons for coming here were twofold: first, due to an unknown demon woman’s invitation from Tian Yuan City, and second, to take the opportunity to network with fellow high-level cultivators and observe the so-called Three Emperors and Seven Demon Kings—how they compared to the Saint-level beings he had encountered among the other races.
If he could indeed procure a large quantity of demon beast materials from the demon woman and also reap significant gains at the Black Domain Exchange, he stood a good chance of gathering the supplementary materials needed to forge his second Extreme Mountain.
With that, Han Li could swiftly add another supreme treasure to his arsenal.
And with two Extreme Mountains in his possession, the first few rounds of Heavenly Tribulation would be trivial to withstand.
Moreover, the third Extreme Mountain wasn’t entirely out of reach—though it would require patience over many years to see if his newly accepted nominal disciple could truly master the Frost Soul Divine Art.
One of the five mountains composing the Primordial Unity Five Extreme Mountains was the incomparably frigid Haoyin Frost Soul Mountain.
Unlike Profound Jade, Haoyin Stone, the material forming this mountain, existed in the coldest regions but normally emitted no unusual chill. Only when activated could it unleash its bone-piercing Frost Soul Qi.
Typically buried tens of thousands of zhang beneath glaciers and concealed by the surrounding frigid aura, even divine sense couldn’t detect its presence.
The only way to locate it was through someone who also possessed Frost Soul Divine Art, using their own Frost Soul Qi to sense the Haoyin Stone from afar.
The range of detection depended entirely on the size of the Haoyin Stone and the cultivator’s mastery of the Frost Soul Divine Art.
The Haoyin Frost Soul Mountain Han Li sought was naturally enormous. As long as the Frost Soul Divine Art was sufficiently advanced, sensing it within tens of thousands of zhang was entirely possible.
Of course, whether he could actually find it was another matter. Fortunately, he knew of many extreme cold regions within the territories of both humans and demons.
Compared to the other Extreme Mountains, this one’s materials were relatively easier to locate.
But whether he could truly find the Haoyin Frost Soul Mountain remained to be seen.
Still, considering the Heavenly Tribulations ahead, Han Li couldn’t afford to abandon even the faintest hope.
This was also why he hadn’t hesitated to rescue Bai Guo’er upon discovering her Ice Marrow Frost Soul Body.
Otherwise, even with ample spirit pills to offset the time cost, saving the girl would still have delayed his cultivation by over a century.
If he could forge the Frost Soul Extreme Mountain and further advance his abilities, he might even find a way to suppress his avatar’s power and return to the human realm.
In the world he ascended from, traces of the Northern Polar Primal Light existed in two locations, making the chances of finding the Northern Polar Primal Mountain exceptionally high.
With that, aside from the final Extreme Mountain, he could potentially gather four of the five.
If fortune truly favored him and he found the last one, forging the Primordial Unity Five Extreme Mountains would render the Heavenly Tribulations a non-threat for a very long time.
With ample time on his hands, he believed that whether it was advancing to the Mahayana Realm or taking the final step, neither would be beyond reach.
Han Li’s expression remained calm, but his thoughts churned rapidly.
After a while, he rose from his seat and headed toward a side door in the hall.
For the next two days, he planned to rest and recuperate before paying another visit to the Tian Yuan Sage Emperor to collect the supplementary materials for brewing the Crimson Luo Immortal Wine.
Since he intended to attend the Black Domain Exchange, having the wine ready in advance would be invaluable—especially if he encountered any alcohol-obsessed cultivators.
Otherwise, despite his vast collection of treasures and spirit medicines, few were suitable for exchange. While ten-thousand-year spirit medicines were rare, they weren’t exceptionally precious to Body Integration cultivators. As for his other treasures, most were too useful to part with.
By evening, Hai Da Shao and Qi Ling Zi returned, brimming with excitement.
Sensing their arrival at the first-floor teleportation array, Han Li remotely activated the restriction token to let them in, issuing a few brief instructions.
Though bursting with things to say, the two could only obediently return to their quarters.
Two days later, Han Li visited the Tian Yuan Sage Emperor in another Welcome Immortal Palace, obtaining a large quantity of materials for brewing the immortal wine.
A slight disappointment was learning that the two Demon Kings, the Black Phoenix King and the Blaze Flood Dragon King, who had arrived earlier, were currently away from Nine Immortals Mountain due to other matters.
However, they were expected to return by the time the Myriad Treasures Convention officially began.
Though regretful, Han Li was too preoccupied with brewing the wine to dwell on it.
He didn’t linger long with the Tian Yuan Sage Emperor, soon taking his leave and returning to his residence.
In a pre-prepared chamber within the main hall, Han Li began brewing the Crimson Luo Immortal Wine according to ancient texts, using a large number of Crimson Luo Fruits.
He immersed himself in the task, not leaving the chamber for half a month.
Naturally, he didn’t brew all the fruits at once.
Aside from the two flasks promised to the Tian Yuan Sage Emperor, he only prepared an additional seven or eight.
Han Li was well aware that even though the Crimson Luo Immortal Wine had never appeared in the Spirit Realm—being a celestial wine—flooding the market with it would drastically diminish its value.
Moreover, since the wine itself could improve constitution and prolong life, he planned to savor it slowly over time.
With the wine brewed, Han Li set aside one concern. In the following days, though he mostly meditated in the hall, he also began mingling with other early-arriving high-level cultivators.
He even struck up friendships with two or three, finding them quite congenial.
As for Venerable Wangu, he remained exceptionally warm toward Han Li, even inviting him to a small private exchange restricted to Void Refinement cultivators and above. There, Han Li managed to trade for several needed materials.
This left Han Li with a rather favorable impression of the old Taoist.
As time passed, more and more Body Integration experts took up residence in the Welcome Immortal Palaces.
By the time only a month remained before the Myriad Treasures Convention, most of the palaces were nearly full.
Among the newcomers were grand elders of major factions and regional overlords. True lone cultivators like Han Li were few and far between.
Of the Three Emperors and Seven Demon Kings, aside from the Tian Yuan Sage Emperor, only the Cave Heaven Rat King had arrived.
However, the Rat King had secluded himself immediately upon arrival, refusing all visitors—an air of mystery surrounding him.
Then again, the Cave Heaven Rat King had always been the most enigmatic of the Seven Demon Kings. Rumor had it he perpetually concealed his form with secret arts, and few in either the human or demon race had ever seen his true appearance.
Stranger still, almost no one could accurately describe his abilities.
This Demon King never fought in public, yet those who had crossed him in the past had all mysteriously vanished from both races.
No one could confirm whether the Rat King was behind their disappearances.
Thus, though not the most famous of the Seven Demon Kings, none dared provoke him lightly.
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