After distancing himself from Yuan Yao, Han Li grew restless and immediately retrieved the Xutian Ding, taking off into flight. However, not long after, he began to feel an urgent need to expel blood. Despite employing every possible method, the lid of the Ding remained firmly fused to the body, as if cast in one piece, and refused to budge even a single seam. Whether he poured immense spiritual energy into it or, in frustration, used various divine artifacts to directly strike the Ding's walls, it merely flashed a few times with blue light before maintaining its immovable stance. Han Li's heart sank. Now, aside from being able to enlarge or shrink the Ding, he had no other means to influence it at all. Upon realizing this, Han Li grew deeply frustrated and launched into a heated tirade against the nonexistent Master of the Xutian Hall, shouting for half a day on the open sea. It was clearly evident that the Xutian Ding possessed some hidden peculiarity—it could not be operated simply by infusing spiritual energy, nor could it be opened by any ordinary means. Only a specific technique or method, perhaps one requiring the expertise of a Yuan婴-level cultivator, would suffice. What relation does this have to the dry blue ice flames that originally surrounded the tripod? Han Li was utterly puzzled and could only make hasty guesses. Yet, upon a moment's reflection, this was quite reasonable. The Virtual Sky Tripod was hailed as the first treasure of the Chaotic Star Sea, so it was only natural that it held some mysterious qualities—nothing surprising at all. Yet now, despite possessing the treasure, he could not use it. This deeply frustrated Han Li. In a fit of frustration, he tossed the tripod back into his storage scroll, intending to study it thoroughly later when he had more time. Then Han Li drew out the wolf-headed jade如意 and began to explore its functions. To his surprise, within a short period, this ancient artifact had revealed to him two remarkable abilities. The simplest one was to directly channel spiritual energy into the如意, which would then manifest as a protective shield of yellow and red hues around his body. Han Li had personally witnessed this shield's defensive power in the Virtual Sky Hall—it had withstood a single, powerful strike from the Qing Yi Resident's great hand, proving its exceptional strength. Another ability requires Han Li to silently recite several ancient incantations inscribed on the如意side, then project his consciousness into the wolf heads at both ends. Depending on the situation, he can either summon the red and yellow young wolves separately, or summon the silver giant wolf all at once. The red young wolf appears to be formed entirely from pure fire spirit energy and naturally possesses several strong fire-based spiritual techniques. The yellow young wolf, on the other hand, embodies earth spirit energy and excels in earth-based techniques—among which is the earth-transcendence technique, a skill Han Li has long desired to master but consistently failed to grasp. This proved to be a pleasant surprise. As for the silver giant wolf, Han Li found himself rather troubled. He simply could not control it. Though he issued various commands, the silver wolf would always respond, yet its actions remained sluggish and half-hearted. Whenever Han Li wished to observe what magical abilities the wolf possessed, the silver wolf would deliberately act indifferent, pretending to be ill or dazed. When Han Li finally saw the profound sense of apathy reflected in the silver wolf's eyes, he was left utterly speechless. He also observed that whether it was the yellow wolf or the red wolf, they were merely manifestations of the silver wolf—clearly, the silver wolf itself was the true spirit of the jade如意. The silver wolf's unruly nature might stem from the fact that it had not yet been fully refined. That was all韩立could reasonably conjecture. Yet韩立remembered clearly the astonishment the Xuan Gu Old Demon had shown upon first seeing the silver wolf, even going so far as to launch his golden thunder bamboo arrow. This silver wolf spirit must indeed be no ordinary one—there was no doubt about it. Thus,韩立did not grow impatient and simply kept the jade如意for now. He then proceeded to organize the other treasures obtained from the Xutian Hall. The rings, the Lingxi Pair, the Cold Ice Pearl, and other items gifted by the elder demons,韩立reexamined them thoroughly and found nothing amiss, though he still decided not to wear them continuously—instead, he stored them all in his storage bag. Only the "Imperial Scale Armor" bestowed by the bearded elder did韩立feel reluctant to part with, due to its exceptional defensive power. After careful consideration, he decided to As for the "puppet parts fragments" he had secured, the half-bottle of "Eternal Nourishing Milk," and the short segment of "Soul-Nourishing Wood" root barely as long as a fingertip, Han Li also handled them with care. Han Li gazed at the round beads in his palm, pondering for a long time before solemnly placing them back. Once he had settled on his direction, he drew out his crimson cloak and sped forward with full vigor. The entire figure surged through the air, blazing with blood-like light, streaking toward the Tianxing City like a meteor. Though this method consumed considerable spiritual energy, his speed was several times faster than that of an ordinary Ju Dan stage cultivator. Now, he needed to reach his dwelling in Tianxing City before other cultivators emerged from the Xutian Hall. While he could part with most of the other items, he absolutely could not let any of the Jin-Eating Insects go. He didn’t want these creatures to fall into the hands of the elder cultivators who might come seeking them later—perhaps these elders themselves possessed secret techniques capable of producing such rare insects! Moreover, he had already planned that, as soon as he returned to Tianxing City, he would abandon his dwelling and immediately use the Star City teleportation array to journey to the Outer Star Sea. He needed to eliminate妖beasts, gather their immortal essences, and temporarily avoid the spotlight of this treasure hunt, allowing his cultivation to steadily advance to the initial stage of Condensation. After flying for some time, Han Li found his inner energy nearly depleted and immediately switched back to ordinary flight, holding a mid-tier spiritual stone to restore his energy gradually. Once his energy levels were restored, he would then continue his journey using the ancient crimson cloak artifact for faster travel. As a result, Han Li's speed was truly remarkable—he covered the distance that previously took him fifteen days in just a few days. Along the way, he did encounter other cultivators, though they were mostly Foundation or Qi-level practitioners. Han Li paid them no attention, simply passing by. Upon seeing Han Li's swift flight, these cultivators naturally recognized him as a high-level Condensation-stage master and dared not approach or disturb him. However, as he drew closer to Tianxing City, the number of cultivators he encountered gradually increased. Several, even as many as a dozen, groups of senior cultivators were encountered. Finally, after a month, Han Li saw his first Jin Dan stage cultivator along the way. Yet, as soon as this cultivator spotted Han Li, he immediately became alert, retreating far away without so much as a word or attempt to speak. That was understandable. But after encountering two more such cultivators—both displaying the same demeanor and actions—within just a few days, Han Li began to feel something was amiss. Could it be that something significant had happened in the Luan Xing Sea during his stay at Xutian Pavilion, gathering treasures? Once this thought arose, Han Li could no longer simply keep moving without making an effort. That day, as Han Li was slowly gliding across the sea surface, holding a spiritual stone in hand, a group of cultivators approached from the opposite direction. The group consisted of no less than seven or eight members, all at the Juzhi stage, clearly belonging to a specific sect or organization. Without hesitation, Han Li transformed into a streak of emerald light and charged straight toward them. Han Li did not conceal his gliding light at all, so as soon as he flew in, the cultivators immediately grew restless. But finally, under the commanding voice of the leading elder, they all settled down and stood respectfully. "May I ask, Senior, what service would you have us render?" the elder said promptly, extending his bow even before Han Li had reached him. Though his hair was gray, he appeared very spirited, and his courtesy was truly impeccable. As the shimmering light faded, Han Li's form appeared clearly before the group of cultivators. He glanced calmly at several of them before asking quietly, "Where do you come from, and where are you going?" "We are cultivators from the San Xian Sect, dispatched under the orders of the Sect Master to Tianxing City!" the elder replied respectfully. "Going to Tianxing City? On my journey, I've noticed an increasing number of cultivators heading toward Tianxing City, and their atmosphere seems tense." Han Li furrowed his brow and remained silent for a moment before slowly asking. "Ah! It seems the elder has been away from the main hubs recently and thus unaware of this matter. Just recently, a major incident occurred in Tianxing City—almost every sect and influential faction has sent representatives there!" The elder was momentarily surprised but breathed a quiet sigh of relief, quickly brightening his expression and speaking warmly.