“Perhaps!” Han Li had no objections to this. Among fire-attribute treasures, regardless of their type, nine out of ten were focused on attack, as fire spiritual power was inherently one of the most destructive among all attributes.
After this exchange with the Great Divinity Being, Han Li said no more. With a flick of his sleeve, the two orbs in his hand shot into the air. He then cast two spells, striking the orbs. Golden and white light flashed, and the orbs hovered motionlessly in the air.
Han Li’s eyes flickered as he patted his storage pouch. Instantly, seven or eight bottles, jade boxes, and a small silver cauldron flew out, landing steadily on the ground before him. The small cauldron remained suspended in the low air in front of him.
With a hand seal and a point of his finger, the cauldron trembled, and its lid flew open, hovering mid-air after a brief rotation. Simultaneously, one of the jade boxes on the ground opened by itself, revealing a pile of green powder. Han Li opened his mouth and exhaled a wisp of azure spiritual energy, which struck the jade box.
Amidst the glow, a portion of the powder was enveloped in the azure light and rose into the air, swirling before entering the cauldron. With a low shout, Han Li spat out another wisp of azure flame. Though slender, the flame blazed fiercely upon touching the cauldron, engulfing its lower half. The moment the flame was expelled, Han Li’s face paled, and he appeared visibly drained.
Han Li couldn’t help but inwardly sigh. He hadn’t expected that forcibly extracting a wisp of infant flame from his Spirit Infant while his cultivation was sealed would be so difficult. Of course, this was also due to his severely damaged vitality, which had yet to fully recover.
At this point, he reached out toward another slender jade vial, which floated up and slowly moved above the cauldron. Its lid opened, and the vial flipped over, pouring a finger-thick stream of emerald-green spiritual liquid into the cauldron, instantly mixing with the powder inside.
Low incantations followed, and under the spell’s influence, the azure flames around the cauldron surged, completely enveloping it. Within moments, a faint medicinal aroma wafted from the cauldron.
Han Li’s brow twitched, and with a wave of his hand, another jade box flew into the air, its contents—a fiery-red spiritual herb—directly poured into the cauldron. Thus, under Han Li’s meticulous control, spiritual medicines and liquids were added at intervals.
After a full day and night, the contents of the cauldron were finally complete. With a sweep of his sleeve, the infant flames vanished without a trace, and the silver cauldron gently landed in Han Li’s hand.
Holding the cauldron, he peered inside to find a thick, emerald-green liquid, shimmering and exuding an extraordinary fragrance. “This is the correct spiritual liquid, isn’t it?” he asked cautiously after a moment, though it matched the jade slip’s description perfectly.
“Indeed, it is. I hadn’t expected your alchemy skills to reach such heights. I thought at least two cauldrons would be ruined in the process. In terms of alchemy alone, your mastery surpasses mine in my prime. Now, simply soak the Corpse Pearl in this liquid for seven days and nights to purge its toxins, after which it can be safely consumed,” the Great Divinity Being said lazily.
Han Li smiled but didn’t respond. Instead, he pointed at the golden pearl still floating mid-air under his levitation spell. The pearl shot into the cauldron as a golden streak, and the lid promptly sealed it shut.
Placing the cauldron in a corner of the chamber, Han Li turned his attention to the Snow Crystal Pearl. Refining this pearl was far simpler. With a flip of his hand and a barely audible incantation, a small purple flame appeared in his palm. He flicked it, and the flame struck the pearl, causing white and purple lights to shimmer intensely on its surface, as if merging with the Purple Heavenly Flame.
A pleased expression flashed across Han Li’s face as he exhaled a stream of azure mist, enveloping the pearl. The pearl shrank rapidly within the mist, condensing to the size of a pill before being drawn back into his mouth.
Closing his eyes solemnly, Han Li formed a meditation seal and focused inward. Inside his dantian, the Snow Crystal Pearl rested atop a lotus of purple flame, spinning steadily. Below it, his Spirit Infant sat cross-legged, mirroring the pearl’s movements in an enigmatic display.
Relieved, Han Li relaxed slightly. At his current Foundation Establishment level, refining the pearl directly was impossible, but his Purple Heavenly Flame allowed him to nurture it within his body for later refinement, doubling its efficacy. Moreover, the flame’s control enabled him to wield the pearl in combat if necessary.
With both pearls settled, Han Li didn’t proceed immediately. Instead, he meditated for half a day to restore his energy before retrieving a spirit beast pouch from his waist and tossing it into the air.
A white mist unfurled, revealing a golden bubble—the unfinished Vajra Shield—within which the Soul Devourer Beast lay curled up, sound asleep. Han Li’s lips twitched in amusement. This beast seemed perpetually drowsy, waking only rarely when summoned.
With a wry smile, Han Li flicked a small azure energy bullet at the golden bubble. The bubble’s surface rippled slightly, deflecting the bullet, but the vibration roused the beast. Blinking sleepily, it spotted Han Li and chirped before darting out as a black streak, landing on his shoulder and nuzzling his neck affectionately.
After years together, the beast regarded Han Li as family. Han Li patted its head before turning to the Vajra Shield still floating in the air. A sweep of his sleeve released an azure mist that engulfed the golden bubble, swirling around it brilliantly. Yet, the bubble remained inert.
Frowning, Han Li tried another treasure-retrieval incantation, but the shield only flickered faintly, showing no significant change. His expression darkened. As a seasoned cultivator, he knew multiple retrieval methods, but none worked here.
After exhausting his repertoire, Han Li finally asked, “Great Divinity Being, what’s going on? Even at Foundation Establishment, I shouldn’t be unable to retrieve this treasure. Is there something peculiar about this Vajra Shield forged from Buddhist relics?”
“The Vajra Shield’s creation—using Buddhist relics refined with corpse flames—is exceedingly rare, as relics and corpse flames are inherently incompatible. Ordinary retrieval methods failing is unsurprising. However, I’ll teach you a relic-specific incantation. Try it,” the Great Divinity Being replied calmly.
“Very well,” Han Li agreed without hesitation.
Half a day later, using the new incantation, Han Li finally shrank the shield and retrieved it, sighing in relief. However, when attempting to complete its refinement as instructed, he hit another snag: his infant flames had no effect. Even the Great Divinity Being was stumped.
The Great Divinity Being speculated that completing the shield required refining it with Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Flames. Han Li rolled his eyes in frustration. “Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Flames? Where am I supposed to find those? Should I kidnap the Frost King from Snow Ridge Mountain again?”
The Great Divinity Being could only grunt helplessly, falling silent.
Just as Han Li resigned himself to using the shield as-is, the bored monkey on his shoulder suddenly spat out a gray-white flame, enveloping the floating shield. The previously inert golden bubble began pulsating and warping within the flames.
Han Li was stunned. “Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Flames!” the Great Divinity Being murmured in astonishment.
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