Han Li lightly flicked his finger. As the scene unfolded, before Han Li could even display a look of joy, a flash of red light surged, and a luminous screen materialized from the wall. The sword's brilliance was suddenly forcefully propelled outward. Han Li's expression darkened. Yet, after a moment's thought, he still held out hope. With one hand extended, a small sword, barely an inch long, shot forth from his palm, circled once above his head, and then settled steadily upon his chest. Han Li subtly activated a sword technique, causing a faint golden electric arc to leap and dance along the blade. The small sword then spun rapidly in the green light and drove straight into the wall. A soft thud echoed, and the Pixie Divine Thunder burst open, revealing a shimmering crimson glow across the wall. A glimmer of anticipation flashed in Han Li's eyes, but soon gave way to a touch of disappointment. Under the path cleared by the thunderlight, the small sword only advanced an inch before being halted. Deep within the wall, faintly reflected hues of five colors still shimmered. It seemed the coral wall had been fortified with an exceptionally powerful, multi-layered seal by the immortal cultivator. It's simply impossible to break through this barrier solely with the divine artifacts! After drawing the artifacts back into his body, Han Li frowned, his hand instinctively resting on the spirit-beast satchel at his waist. He believed that no matter how sophisticated the barrier's enchantments were, they could not withstand the relentless gnawing and biting of the vast army of golden-devouring insects. Yet there was one point that made him hesitant to release the creatures. The time it would take for these insects to consume the enchantments—far from being brief—would surely allow the immortal cultivator Feng Xi to sense the disturbance and come to investigate. With Feng Xi's unusually swift nature, he would have no chance to escape. After反复 pondering, Han Li fixed a stern gaze on the coral wall and, with a grim expression, returned to the jade couch. Now, he felt a growing warmth spreading through his abdomen—clearly, the green-flame wine was beginning to take effect. Though he had no clear understanding of the wine's unique properties, he could not afford to delay, and thus set aside all other concerns, settling into meditation to refine his qi. He closed his eyes and focused inward. Upon frowning, he forced a strand of jade-blue flame out from the four-color golden elixir. The compact mass of emerald liquid was instantly enveloped by the flame. Not long after, Han Li remained motionless and expressionless. The process of refining the jade-flame wine was extremely slow—after over a month, it had still not been reduced by one-quarter. It seemed that the person-shaped crackwind beast's claim of requiring six months was indeed no exaggeration. Yet the pace was too sluggish, causing Han Li growing restlessness. If, by the end of six months, he still failed to advance into the later stage, he was certain that the crackwind beast named Feng Xi would effortlessly seize his life with a single paw. To resolve this, he decided to take a bold risk, fully expelling the flame from his golden elixir. The now nearly doubled, jade-blue flame immediately engulfed the remaining emerald liquid. Han Li poured immense spiritual energy into the process, actively accelerating the refinement. Thus, Han Li's legislative power would also be similarly doubled consumed. At regular intervals, he would sigh with regret, swallowing a drop of the Eternity Immortal Nectar to sustain his internal flame. After two months of such lavish use of his internal flame, the wine had finally been refined to two-thirds of its original form, and it seemed only a matter of time before it was completely transformed. Han Li felt a slight relief. Just then, an unexpected event occurred. That day, driven by his desperate resolve, Han Li had swallowed the Dry Blue Ice Pearl. Subsequently, due to his profound apprehension of the Cracked Wind Beast, he had kept the precious object lodged in his abdomen, never removing it. But on this day, as Han Li's power was just about to deplete and he was about to take a sip of the Eternity Immortal Nectar to restore his vitality, the protective divine lightning on the outer layer of the Dry Blue Ice Pearl suddenly became unstable and began to distort within him. This sudden development startled Han Li so profoundly that he was left breathless, his spirit seemingly flying to the heavens—his internal power now completely drained, leaving him utterly unable to respond. Seeing the surface of the dry blue ice sphere constantly bulging and trembling, Li Han, in a moment of panic, suddenly accelerated the flow of the remaining Bìyàn wine, using it to envelop and stabilize the unstable sphere. His heart pounded fiercely, and his face was pale as paper. He had no idea what reaction the Bìyàn wine would provoke when used to encase the dry blue ice sphere—this was truly something only heaven could know. Thinking back to the scene of the sphere bursting apart inside his body, Han felt his hands grow cold and his back drenched in sweat. Fortunately, whether it was sheer luck—Li Han having accidentally succeeded where others had failed—or whether the dry blue sphere had never truly been destined to burst, the sphere eventually settled down and became calm after being enveloped by the liquid. Han exhaled deeply, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and felt as though he had escaped from the very jaws of disaster. He promptly swallowed a drop of the Immortal Liquid of Ten Thousand Years, then, once his inner power had slightly recovered, expelled the sphere and carefully resealed it, deeply relieved. To keep this item inside his body was truly like playing with fire—constantly at risk. When he had finally settled everything and casually examined his internal condition, he suddenly realized something astonishing—he had, without knowing it, surpassed his current bottleneck during this very moment of surprise and excitement, quietly advancing into the late stage of Jiandan. Han Li was first stunned, then filled with overwhelming joy. Honestly, he had never previously sensed the unique effects of the Biyan Wine. Yet now, even before fully absorbing the wine, he had unexpectedly broken through his limit. This made Han Li truly bewildered. He briefly tested his cultivation level and found that he could now simultaneously project twenty-four green bamboo bee-cloud swords with ease and mastery—his strength had immediately surged significantly. Nevertheless, despite his great excitement, Han Li did not waste the remaining Biyan Wine. He remained seated in meditation for over two months, thoroughly absorbing the remaining liquid and simultaneously reinforcing his current cultivation. Only then did he begin to ponder what this nine-tier Liefeng Beast intended for him, and diligently contemplate his escape strategy. As the half-year period drew nearer, Han Li's expression grew increasingly serious, with occasional flashes of anxiety in his eyes. Just a few days after the half-year period began, a hole appeared precisely on the coral wall, and then Feng Xi's calm voice came from outside. "Li, please come out now. The time has come. I don't know your current cultivation level—has it improved?" Seated on the jade couch, Han Li opened his eyes expressionlessly, rose silently, and stepped out. Feng Xi, who had been waiting patiently with one eye half-closed, immediately examined Han Li closely, then clapped his hands and laughed heartily. "Excellent! Excellent! Congratulations, Li! It seems my碧焰 wine hasn't been wasted at all." Feng Xi beamed with delight. Clearly, Han Li's cultivation had truly advanced and proved beneficial to him. Han Li, observing this, felt a subtle stir of recognition. "Li, please follow me. I'd like to introduce you to two close friends of the妖 clan." This time, we need all three of you to work closely together—only then do we have a real chance of success!" Feng Xi said with a cheerful smile, showing especially warm and pleasant demeanor toward Han Li. "And two more senior colleagues?" Han Li was startled upon hearing this. "Yes. My two friends are both at the initial stage of transformation, equivalent to what you humans call Level Eight Immortal Cultivators. However, both of them hail from the Celestial and Earthly Spirit Clans, and their true abilities are actually no weaker than mine. But when you meet them, try to speak as little as possible. They are genuine sea-clan beings, and they don't exactly have the most favorable attitudes toward humans." Feng Xi glanced at Han Li with a meaningful expression, subtly offering a warning. Han Li was taken aback, and responded seriously. A short while later, Feng Xi led Han Li to the hall where they had met the previous day. As soon as Han Li saw his two friends, his expression changed. The two were quite different: one had a dragon's head and steel-like tail, covered in blood-red scales; the other had a green shell and a broad, solemn face, towering in stature. As for the other, let's set that aside. But isn't that very jiangshou—the venomous jiang that had fought fiercely against human cultivators near the misty sea—exactly the one? Though he's never personally seen her, he can certainly guess: she must be the giant turtle who recently succeeded in her celestial transformation. Upon seeing Feng Xi appear, both of these eight-tiered beasts turned to look at him simultaneously. The venomous jiang, just then, caught sight of the subtle flush on Han Li's face, her green eyes flashing with cold intensity as she studied him closely. "Human," she asked, her voice icy and clear despite a slight murmur, "have you seen me before?" Han Li felt a moment of hesitation. It seemed that, due to his blood-colored cloak, the jiang had not clearly recognized his appearance. If he now mentioned their past battle, it would only be to bring trouble upon himself. Thus, he would have to simply brush it off for now. Thinking of this, Han Li cleared his throat and spoke as calmly as he could, saying, "It's my first time meeting you, Master. Though I've been somewhat inexperienced, I've never seen a true dragon before, so I've been a bit at a loss. I hope you'll forgive me." Unable to help it, Han Li had to lower his posture somewhat, in case any trouble arose.