The hall where Han Li stood was remarkably unusual—a vast cylindrical room with a diameter of about thirty zhang on either side and a height of four to five zhang. Along the walls of the room, pale red crystals were embedded in the green stone, and a thin layer of fine sand covered the floor, giving the hall a clean and neat appearance. However, if one looked up, one would be astonished to see that the ceiling was adorned with numerous white, milk-white stalactites, densely clustered throughout. This was a rare stalactite cave, having been slightly modified by human hands to take on its current form. Three passageways were evenly distributed around the hall: two of them bore ancient inscriptions of the characters "Qi" and "Dan," respectively, while the third passage remained unmarked, with no signs or labels nearby. At that moment, the hall was empty. After a brief pause, Han Li decided to proceed toward the passage inscribed with the character "Dan." The corridor wasn't very long either. After walking only a few steps and turning a corner, a slightly larger room appeared at the far end. Inside, there was a long table and an elderly man standing beside it, smiling warmly at Han Li. Behind the table, several worn shelves stood against the wall, filled with various cauldrons, raw materials, and an assortment of strange items that Han Li had never heard of before. Before Han Li could even speak, the old man eagerly broke in, his face bright with delight: "Young friend, you look so fresh and new—must be your first visit, isn't it? These days, newcomers are becoming rarer and rarer in this eerie place! I've grown quite tired of seeing those pale, expressionless faces. To have someone young and lively like you here is truly a delight!" The old man shook his head and swayed slightly, his demeanor quite casual and unpretentious. But Han Li had already noticed that the Tianyan Technique was ineffective against this elder, revealing no depth in his opponent. This meant the elder was another master at the Juzhi stage—how could he possibly be careless? Thus, he hurriedly bowed and said, "At your service, Senior Un-cousin. My nephew is indeed visiting the Yuelu Hall for the first time, and I would be most grateful if you could guide him." Han Li lowered his posture with great humility. "As long as you have any questions here, just ask away, young friend. By the way, my name is Xu—call me Xu Bo or Xu Old Man, whichever you prefer. I don't care for the formalities of 'Senior Uncle' or 'Senior Brother'—I find them rather tiresome!" The elder quickly corrected Han Li's address, clearly showing his deep concern. "Then... yes, I shall follow your wishes," Han Li hesitated slightly before finally acquiescing, finding the elder rather unusual. "Now that we've settled that, let's move on to the purpose of this visit." Xu elder said with satisfaction. "I would like to browse through some recipes and texts related to elixirs and medicines, so as to Han Li tried to make his words as gentle and indirect as possible, hoping not to draw the elder's attention. "Ah, the alchemy recipes and scrolls? Just go up this staircase!" To Han Li's surprise, the elder made no attempt to question him further. With a casual motion, he produced a black token, activated a spell, and instantly a stone staircase appeared in the space between the shelves and the wall behind him, leading up to the roof. Han Li was delighted and hurried over to the staircase, ready to ascend when suddenly the elder, Xu Luo, revealed a cunning expression. "Visitors to the second floor reading room are charged one low-level spiritual stone per hour. Original documents may not be removed from the premises. For copies, an additional fee of ten spiritual stones per copy is required." Before Han Li even reached the staircase, Xu Luo calmly announced these terms, causing Han Li to pause mid-step, nearly ready to burst into protest. Isn't that a bit excessive? Even without considering the cost of copying lower-tier spiritual stones, the mere fee of one spiritual stone per hour for browsing would make many financially strained disciples hesitate and give up. After all, a lower-tier disciple can only earn twenty to thirty spiritual stones annually through various jobs! When you add up the daily expenses for cultivation and living, the actual amount they can save amounts to just a few stones at most. Therefore, the pricing set by this elder is truly heartless—this has completely reversed韩立's impression of him. What a shrewd, unscrupulous merchant! Though韩立's face now bore a touch of unusual expression, he did not pause at all upon hearing the elder's remarks. Instead, he simply turned around and threw a lower-tier spiritual stone into the elder's hands, then swiftly ascended to the second floor. "Interesting! He wasn't daunted by such pricing—clearly, a small-time wealthy disciple. Hehe, looks like another small fortune is about to be made!" The man who claimed to be Xu Bo, seeing Han Li's enthusiastic and vigorous ascent up the stairs, couldn't help but smile warmly, his eyes narrowing into crescent shapes. He vigorously wiped the spiritual stone against the edge of his robe several times before holding it up close to examine it carefully, his frugal demeanor now unmistakable—quite a contrast to the approachable expression he had first displayed. At this moment, Han Li, suppressing his inner frustration and calming his mood, began to carefully observe the furnishings on the second floor. It was entirely different from his expectations: he had imagined a spacious, bright room filled with countless books and bamboo scrolls. Instead, though the room itself was not small, the furnishings were surprisingly sparse. Only two dark bookshelves, a dusty table, and a worn-out chair occupied the space—these were the room's entire possessions. Of course, the bookshelves still held about twenty or thirty yellowed old books, and the table bore a few bundles of tattered bamboo scrolls and two jade tubes that had lost their original color. "So humble," Han Li thought. Could it be he had gone to the wrong place? This surely isn't the hidden library of a great immortal sect! It looks more like the cluttered study of some humble scholar. Han Li was deeply struck by the scene. If it weren't for his concern for Xu Lao's seemingly boundless magical prowess, he would have nearly rushed downstairs to grab the man by the collar and demanded answers with great force. After taking a deep breath, Han Li calmly approached a bookshelf, pulled out a worn volume at random, and began to read it carefully. "The Five Elements of Heaven and Earth, corresponding to the Five Zang-organs; acupuncture points that stimulate essence and generate vital energy..." Just a few lines into the book, Han Li was astonished and immediately closed it, turning to examine the cover. The words "Hua Family's Secret Acupuncture Techniques" appeared clearly before him. Han Li's face grew pale. It wasn't that the book was poor in quality—on the contrary, the content was indeed a rare and exceptional method for treating illnesses with acupuncture, even capable of reviving the dying and unlocking the patient's latent potential. But how could this golden needle technique be related to alchemy? Even more frustrating, he had already read this book countless times at Doctor Mo's place, and could even recite it by heart. Clearly a mundane medical text, how could it appear so formally here? A series of questions surged through Han Li's mind, tightening his brows and leaving him deeply puzzled. Yet when his gaze settled on the remaining books on the shelves, a deeper sense of unease settled over him. Han Li hurriedly flipped through each of the old volumes one by one. With every book completed, his expression grew darker. After having gone through every book on the second shelf as well, Han Li's demeanor had turned as gloomy as the sky before a storm. Among these twenty or so books, not a single one was about alchemy—some dealt with secret healing techniques, others with rare and complex remedies for various ailments. Most astonishing of all was that among them was a book detailing a master of poison therapy's personal account of his techniques—books that were entirely ordinary, meant for the mundane world. "One hour has passed—should you continue, an additional spirit stone will be required!" suddenly, the elder Xu called out from downstairs. Hearing this, Han Li felt somewhat puzzled. How could such a pile of trash books demand spirit stones? Yet, when his gaze turned to the items on the table, he still managed to pull out another spirit stone from his robes and tossed it down the stairs. "The spirit stone is received, young friend. Please continue reading. I shall not disturb you!" said the elder Xu cheerfully from downstairs. Han Li paid no further attention to the elder, for he knew well that, to someone so openly eager, his politeness mattered little—what truly mattered was that he could keep producing spirit stones to continue bringing him benefit. Yet Han Li had no intention of wasting another piece of spiritual stone in vain. Thus, his movements as he went through the bamboo scrolls on the table this time were noticeably faster than before, and he only skimmed the contents, no longer reading them sentence by sentence. Under the gentle, soft white light of a large moonstone atop the roof, Han Li's expression shifted constantly—sometimes bright with joy, sometimes clouded with concern—flickering between moods. After finishing all the scrolls, he carefully returned them to their original positions and took a deep, quiet breath. The scrolls this time indeed contained formulas for several kinds of elixirs and some notes on ingredient pairing. Unfortunately, upon examining the ingredients, Han Li found that these elixirs were quite similar in effect to his own "Yellow Dragon Elixir" and "Golden Essence Pills"—medicines that already served his needs well. For Han Li, now at the eleventh level of the Changchun Technique, these offerings offered little added value. Thus, his sole hope now rested upon the two jade cylinders, the size of clenched fists, hoping that what they contained would not leave him empty-handed.