(Finally finished this chapter! If you all have tickets, please give me a few!) Though the journey to the Sacred Realm lasted only a few dozen days, Han Li felt as though it had taken years. Lying on the bed in the Hundred Medicine Garden, he felt an overwhelming sense of warmth and nostalgia. This perilous journey—on which his life hung in the balance—had finally brought him safe return, and he had achieved his goals perfectly. Now, he fell asleep peacefully and deeply, his slumber both sweet and pure. As if all the struggles of the human world had momentarily vanished from his dreams. He slept until noon the following day. Upon waking, Han Li felt refreshed and energized, and immediately began planning his next steps. His first priority was to hasten the ripening of his three primary medicinal herbs, so as to preserve them. As for the other auxiliary herbs, he would address those matters later. However, preparing everything thoroughly wasn't something that could be accomplished within just a few days or weeks. According to Han Li's estimate, it would take at least several years to finalize all preparations and officially begin the alchemical process. Therefore, despite having a well-stocked supply of medicinal herbs, Han Li didn't feel rushed. Instead, he took the time to organize his other discoveries within the sacred sanctuary. As a result, he gathered over ten mid-tier spiritual stones, hundreds of lower-tier ones, a large number of spiritual artifacts of various ranks, several sections of the giant centipede monster's exoskeleton, various materials harvested from the black dragon-jelly, and one useless silver sword. Nevertheless, two items stood out particularly to Han Li. One was a doll holding a bow and arrow, and the other was a shimmering silver sheet of parchment. The doll was primarily carved from wood, with fully formed ears, nose, mouth, and eyes, appearing lifelike and graceful. It was completely encased in an exceptionally realistic iron armor and helmet, and its long bow was crafted from bronze. This very item—Han Li's original acquisition from his master's estate—was a top-tier spiritual artifact known as the "Automated Bowman." After acquiring this artifact, Han Li had never actually used it. For this artifact requires the practitioner to possess the skill of dividing their consciousness—specifically, to channel a thread of their spirit awareness into the puppet in order to control and operate it. However, the technique of dividing one's consciousness is something only those at the Foundation Stage or beyond can master. After all, only cultivators at the Foundation Stage and above have sufficient spirit awareness to endure the strain of such division. Otherwise, the limited spirit awareness of a Qi-Stage cultivator would likely be insufficient—by the time they managed to split their consciousness, they would have completely collapsed and gone mad. Otherwise, who among them wouldn't have five or six magical items at their disposal? As soon as an enemy appears, they'd simply hurl them all at once—though useless in themselves, they'd certainly leave the opponent scrambling and distracted! Han Li held the doll in his hands, playing with it for a while before finally setting it down, then picked up the silver sheet to study it. This silver sheet had been a prize he received from Chi Jiao Han of the Great Sword Sect. It was textured with various intricate patterns, appearing remarkably mysterious. After pondering it for a long time, Han Li still couldn't make sense of it, so he decided to put it aside for now. Thus, for the days that followed, Han Li continued studying the silver sheet while waiting for news from above, hoping to find out whether, indeed, as the old man had said, his reward had been reduced. On the fourth afternoon, Wang Shishu and another somewhat unfamiliar steward came to visit Han Li, and indeed, they brought only one Juzhi Pill as a reward. The tone of their words was also nearly identical to that of the old man. Yet, instead of explaining that the Master had taken his medicinal herbs, he reframed it as the disciple fulfilling his filial duties. Hearing this, Han Li silently chuckled a few times, but on the surface, he made no objection at all. This pleased the two managers, who had expected to spend considerable time explaining themselves. They both breathed a sigh of relief and departed with a cheerful smile. After watching them go, Han Li chuckled to himself, then carefully stored the newly acquired foundation pills. It wasn't the time to take pills to advance through the stages now—rather, he should first refine all the foundation pills himself and then take them together. Indeed, as long as he hadn't refined the pills each day, he couldn't rest in seclusion even for a single day! Thus, month after month passed. In just three years, all the preparations Han Li had made before beginning his pill-refining journey were finally complete. During this not particularly short period, several events did occur. During this time, Miss Chen, after taking a foundation pill as a reward, diligently cultivated for a full year and finally achieved foundation stage two years ago, entering the Foundation Period. Her elder brother, however, was less fortunate—he took his second foundation pill in life, yet still failed to pass the threshold, lingering just outside the Foundation Period. It's said that this eldest son of the Chen family has completely lost faith in the path of immortality, and has thus resigned from the monastery to return and manage affairs within his family. It was precisely the elderly man with the surname Ye, who had previously owed him half his belongings, who suddenly sent over all the items he had been delaying, in one go, and even sent a few extras! This made Han Li deeply appreciate the grace of being under the shade of a great tree, and he couldn't help but feel quietly satisfied. It seemed his status as a named disciple of Li Master truly proved useful! Yet when it came to his newly appointed master, Han Li found himself at a loss for words. Besides sending a named disciple with a personally copied copy of the "Qingyuan Sword Technique" manual, there had been not a single word or message from him over the past three years—seemingly as if Han Li had been completely forgotten. Aside from a few muttered complaints, Han Li actually welcomed the current situation. With his full focus now on refining the foundational pills, he naturally didn't want anyone to interrupt him. But this nearly semi-retired life finally came to an end today. Three days ago, Han Li hastened the maturation of the most crucial auxiliary elixir—everything was in place, only lacking the final push! After several days of adjustments, Han Li gathered all the fully matured elixirs and headed toward Yuelu Hall. Yuelu Hall remained exactly as it had been when Han Li visited several years prior; of course, the guards at the transmission array had been replaced by two other Jinji-level cultivators. Yet, the same formalities and the same patient, slightly impatient expressions left Han Li quietly amused. Regardless, he managed to smoothly enter the interior of Yuelu Hall. Along an unmarked corridor, he encountered the man he deeply disliked—the awkward, unattractive one—now sound asleep within a stone pavilion. Han Li furrowed his brow, paused thoughtfully, then reached out and pulled forth his bell artifact. He took a few steps to the man’s side and gently shook the bell near his ear. To Han Li’s ears, the sound of the bell was nothing special. Yet the hulking man seemed as if set on fire from the inside, leaping up immediately and stammering, "What's going on? Who is it? Oh, what's your business?" Clearly still half-drowsy, he had not yet fully addressed Master Han with any formality. Seeing this, Han did not hesitate—he immediately introduced himself as a disciple of his new master. "My name is Li Hua Yuan, a disciple of Master Li. I would like to borrow your earth-fire for a moment. Please open the gate!" "Master Li?" The hulking man immediately recognized the name, jumping up in surprise and quickly nodding in affirmation, then turning to walk toward the stone gate. But just as he took two steps, he suddenly recalled something and turned back, casting a skeptical gaze upon Han. Han immediately understood the man's thoughts. After a moment's hesitation, he took out the *Seventh Chapter of Qingyuan Sword Technique* delivered by Li Huayuan's attendant and placed it in front of the awkward man. The book bore Li's senior master's personal signature. Unexpectedly, the man not only knew the name of Li's senior master but also recognized the handwriting to some extent. After glancing at it briefly, he respectfully returned the book to Han Li and immediately brightened up, saying, "I'm not sure, but if this young disciple intends to craft weapons or elixirs, I'll certainly make sure to arrange everything accordingly!" Han Li had originally hoped to rely on Li's senior master's reputation to secure some special treatment regarding geothermal resources. Seeing the man's thoughtful initiative in voicing this clearly, his expression softened slightly. "I plan to prepare some elixirs," he said, "so I would greatly appreciate it if you could arrange a geothermal room with a steady and moderate heat output. I'm truly grateful for your attention to this matter." Before coming, Han Li had already inquired with the old man about the general conditions of the geothermal areas and learned that rooms were assigned to individuals based on their usage of geothermal energy—hence "This won't be difficult. I'll immediately arrange it for my younger brother! Though, the procedure fee..." The hunched man seemed a bit hesitant. Upon hearing this, Han Li smiled slightly and reached out, suddenly producing a mid-tier spiritual stone, which he handed to the hunched man, while slowly saying, "As for how many spiritual stones to pay, I'll certainly follow the standard. Since this alchemy process takes a longer duration, this mid-tier spiritual stone serves as a deposit. Any excess or shortfall will be adjusted accordingly."