Within the blood-like glow, the elderly master Xuan Gu's vivid, terrifying eyes flickered several times. "Indeed, the Nine-Curve Ling-Shen Root is still here. Its lingering purity can be faintly perceived on the surface of the stone mountain." After his eyes regained their usual hue, he spoke calmly. Upon hearing the old demon's words, Han Li's mind stirred. He infused inner qi into his eyes and focused intently upon the small mountain. Yet the result was deeply disappointing—he found no special signs on the mountain itself. Noticing the faint green glow appearing in Han Li's eyes, the elderly master naturally understood what he was doing. With a disdainful smile, he replied indifferently, "You cannot hope to perceive the pure essence of the Nine-Curve Ling-Shen Root. This requires a cultivator with exceptionally strong spiritual awareness. At the very least, one must have attained the Yuan Ying stage to achieve this. Though I have shifted my focus to the Ghost Path, my original, powerful spiritual awareness has remained unimpaired." There was a subtle undercurrent of cold sarcasm in his words. Han Li's face showed no expression, yet under the other person's unintentional reminder, the Great Yanshu cultivation technique within him began to flow gently. After a while, Han Li felt a surge of satisfaction. For the first time, his eyes, fixed upon the stone mountain below, caught glimpses of faint, scattered blue glimmers—thin and delicate, barely perceptible. "Thankfully, before I came here, I had already formed the intention of easily capturing this Nine-Curve Immortal Herb. So, I prepared certain special items during my stops at various small islands along the way. Now, I'll first lay a trap—let the Nine-Curve Immortal Herb enter on its own—then it will be simple to capture it." Not realizing that Han Li could clearly perceive the clear, ethereal qi, Xuan Gu observed the stone mountain calmly. Then, he reached into his storage pouch and gently lifted a golden object to his palm. "What is this?" Han Li stared at it, slightly astonished. It was a golden silk orb, about the size of an egg, radiating a soft, gentle luminescence—clearly specially refined. Seeing Han Li's face clouded with a touch of confusion, the Xuan Gu Bone Immortal let out a cold laugh, then suddenly grasped the ball with his five fingers. A flash of black light rippled through his hands. A fine thread of golden hue shot out from the ball, growing longer and longer, swiftly weaving back and forth in front of Xuan Gu's eyes, rapidly forming a delicate, compact golden net—only palm-sized, yet uniquely elegant and shimmering. "The Nine-Curve Immortal Herb can only be captured by pure gold objects. All other artifacts or tools it simply ignores and evades. Hold this carefully, and when you need to catch a fleeing herb, use it." Xuan Gu fixed his gaze on Han Li, delivering the instruction with solemnity. The characters on the small flags are layered one upon another, subtly glowing with a shimmering radiance. "Wow!" Even with the current depth of his array expertise, Han Li was initially startled upon seeing these small flags. After a moment of thoughtful contemplation, however, his expression turned one of profound disbelief. "Indeed, Han, you also recognize this flag?" Xuan Gu noticed Han Li's unusual reaction and felt somewhat surprised. Han Li did not immediately respond. Instead, he fixed his gaze intently on the small flags for a while before lifting his head and speaking seriously: "Could it be that these are precisely the array tools used in the Si-Xiang Xuanwu Array? Aside from this ancient array method, I can't think of any other type of array flag—nothing but these four small flags could form a substantial earth-element array." "I didn't expect you to have such a deep understanding of array principles. It seems I've indeed chosen the right person to assist me. Yes, these are indeed the array flags I crafted en route." Only this array can bind the mountain stones and earth within a radius of several dozen zhang, hardening them as if iron, thus trapping the Nine-Curve Immortal Root. Since you understand the principles of array magic, I shall entrust you with the task of setting it up. Meanwhile, I will investigate the specific whereabouts of the root." The surprise flickered briefly on Xuan Gu's face before fading, and he resumed his usual composure, saying this. Then he calmly handed the four yellow banners to Han Li's hands, himself transforming into a mass of dark clouds and silently ascending toward the small hill. Han Li glanced at the banners in his hands, then at the old demon's back, his eyes expressing a subtle expression of bewilderment. After briefly licking his lips, he gave a cold laugh and turned decisively toward another location below. At that moment, however, within Xuan Gu's body, the deep, resonant voice of the man echoed. "Xuan Gu, why have you handed over the banners to the other party? I don't see any particularly close relationship between you two. Are you perhaps harboring some hidden intentions?" The man spoke with clear familiarity of Xuan Gu. "What does this mean? The standard procedure is to hand this flag over to the young man of the Han family, who will then personally arrange the defense and only then will he feel confident enough to advance and capture the spiritual ginseng. Meanwhile, I will seize this opportunity to eliminate him. "Xuan Gu suddenly spoke with a cold, solemn tone, his voice as icy as winter. "Now, eliminate him right now? I didn't catch that. I thought we'd at least wait until we had defeated Jiyin before taking action!" The man with a deep, resonant voice expressed his astonishment. "No. This young Han is too cunning. If we wait too long, I fear that time will work against us. He undoubtedly has his own plans, and I'm not certain I can control him. Should he suddenly betray me to Jiyin, the traitor, that would be disastrous. Though such a scenario is unlikely, I, Xuan Gu, will never again take risks. After all, once I suffered a betrayal, I've decided never to trust anyone again. Moreover—" Xuan Gu spoke with unwavering resolve. "Moreover, from the very beginning, you never intended to hand over the Nine-Curve Ginseng to "Excellent! I've invested so much thought and effort into this spiritual artifact—how could I possibly be content to let it go to others? Even if this spiritual ginseng doesn't prove particularly beneficial for our cultivation, as long as we possess it, we can still use it to exchange for whatever we need. It remains immensely useful. Moreover, this person wields a divine thunder bamboo artifact—eventually, he will become a formidable adversary to our entire spectral and ghostly lineage. It would be wise to eliminate him now. And what do you think of this Han youth's physical body?" The elder with the jade bones spoke with a stern, sharp expression, but then suddenly shifted tone and asked this last question. "When the time comes, as soon as he settles down, with you and I working together in flesh and blood, we shall be able to defeat him decisively." Xuan Gu said with great confidence. "It's been time to act! But did you always intend to eliminate the young man from the Han family from the start? If so, then your deliberate move to ally with him—how truly shrewd of you!" The man expressed deep admiration for Xuan Gu's strategy. "You're quite generous in your assessment. Before meeting you, I truly did intend to collaborate with the other party to counter the extreme yin energy. Even if I had uncovered the weaknesses in the reverse disciples' techniques, having additional allies would have given me greater confidence. But now that I've encountered you—someone I've known before—I no longer need him. It's better to eliminate him now and remove any potential threat altogether." Xuan Gu spoke with complete indifference. "You're truly a master at acting! The anxiety I saw in you during our stay at Yu Ting made me genuinely believe you urgently needed this person's assistance. I never realized you had already laid your plans for elimination." The man sighed, his voice carrying a touch of complexity. "Hmph!" The anxiety back then was very real—yet not because he feared he wouldn’t be able to help me avenge my grievances. Rather, it was because he feared that his several golden thunder bamboo swords and flying spears might fall into the hands of others, which would prove equally detrimental to us ghost practitioners. Xuan Gu coldly snorted. "Given that you're aware of the other party's possession of golden thunder bamboo artifacts, why take such bold, impetuous actions? Does your confidence truly stem from such strong grounds?" The man paused, asking with genuine concern. After all, this directly concerned his own interests, so he naturally wanted to know in greater detail. At that moment, Xuan Gu had already begun circling continuously at a lower altitude above the stone mountain. "My original plan was to, once I successfully captured the Nine-Curve Immortal Herb, use the Four-Element Turtle Array to trap not only the one who entered to capture the herb with golden nets, but also to seal him inside. Yet unexpectedly, the other party also demonstrated a solid command of array techniques. Upon sensing the shift in momentum, I immediately transferred the array flags to them. In fact, this unexpected development has only made my plan even more refined and effective." "Did you do something to that banner?" the man said, now beginning to understand, with a sudden clarity. "Heh! You'll find out when the time comes. For now, we must first locate the Nine-Curve Immortal Ginseng. Otherwise, the boy won't fall for it at all." Xuan Gu avoided the issue, speaking lightly. The man sighed, showing some displeasure. "By the way, the method of cultivation I've been practicing as a demon spirit—was actually taught to me by you! I originally intended to use it to search for that ginseng, but after it was sabotaged by my rebellious disciple, it ended up becoming my lifeline!" Xuan Gu said, a flash of cold light in his eyes. "It wasn't really a teaching, just a mutual exchange of needs," the man replied, with a touch of reflection.