"But since Du Dong has the Cold Moon Wheel, it's no surprise that he's reached this stage. Then what about Han Li? Does he also have a high-tier artifact?" the man with a beard asked again. "That's not the case. Although we don't know whether Han's junior has a high-tier artifact, he certainly has a generous touch when it comes to his actions." The man in the late Foundation stage spoke with a wry smile. "What do you mean? How is his generosity related to the competition?" This time, the elder with a pale complexion showed genuine interest. "In his first round, Han's junior launched over thirty fire projectile scrolls at once, forcing the opponent to fail even before they could summon their artifact, as the protective shield shattered. In the subsequent rounds, he also demonstrated secular martial techniques and a refined method of flame manipulation, supported by scrolls, which together managed to secure a victory." The man explained. "Beyond martial arts and techniques, this isn't particularly surprising. Many people come to join a master with their own skills and techniques." Yet, using so many scrolls at once would indeed require a considerable number of spiritual stones—something that wouldn't be much of a burden for us, but rather a luxury for a cultivator at the Qi Condensation stage. Have you checked on this disciple?" the elder with white hair asked, his expression slightly serious. "Yes, I have. Several lower-level disciples who have interacted with him mentioned that although he is a self-cultivating practitioner, he seems well-versed in scroll-making and has a solid financial background. That's why he can afford to use such extensive lower-tier scrolls." The young man replied respectfully. "Ah, that makes sense. It appears both of them are quite reliable. Still, since he has some skill in scroll-making, assigning him to the Huayun Peak would be more appropriate." The elder's tone softened as he murmured. "Rein, that's not quite accurate. Our Tianquan Peak also has disciples skilled in scroll-making. We can certainly support and promote him. As for Duan, you really expect us to send someone, don't you?" The Xinhua cultivator smiled gently. "Haha!" Our fire-cloud peak seal-making disciples are neither more nor less—we never compete with Xing Sheng's disciples. The red-robed cultivator waved his hand and said with ease. Xing, the middle-aged man with the surname Xing, simply smiled and remained silent. After discussing a few more matters concerning the sect, the Dan-stage cultivators gradually bid farewell and departed. To his surprise, when he stepped outside the chamber housing the spirit beast, he was struck by the scene within the stone chamber. The light had dimmed, casting a gloomy, eerie atmosphere, with dark, ghostly vapors swirling everywhere, and a pervasive chill radiating from the stone walls. The spirit beast was nowhere to be seen, yet in one corner of the chamber, a large, oval, dark, lustrous cocoon had appeared—black with faintly shimmering black spines, as though something was actively developing within it. Han Li didn’t need to think much to know that the spirit beast was now enclosed within this black cocoon. Though excited, he also adopted a more cautious demeanor. Without rushing in, he settled cross-legged outside the chamber. As he recalled from ancient texts, when a spirit beast underwent evolution, the cultivator should remain nearby, not leaving, yet should avoid interfering too much in the process. Only when the spirit beast fails to evolve and its life hangs in the balance would he intervene. Now, he intends to carry out exactly as he has said. Amid his growing anxiety, time passed slowly. According to his initial estimate, it should have taken at least several days for the Ti-Hun beast to complete its evolution and emerge from its chrysalis. Yet, by the second morning when he had merely sat outside the stone chamber, the black luminous chrysalis suddenly underwent a transformation. While seated on the ground, eyes closed in meditation, Han Li suddenly heard a clear, crisp sound of rupture—though soft, it stirred him deeply, prompting him to open his eyes in delight. He observed that the cold, ghostly aura within the chamber seemed to be violently drawn toward one corner, precisely where the black luminous chrysalis was located. Immediately, the black light within the chamber brightened dramatically, and Han Li instinctively closed his eyes. Then, a subtle, somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar sensation suddenly emerged within the chamber. Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly, stood up without a thought, and gently tapped the stone door with both hands—immediately, the gate of the spirit-beast chamber opened. Standing at the doorway, Han Li scanned the room with his eyes and found the black silk cocoon had shriveled into two flat pieces, now completely empty. The rest of the chamber was equally bare. Han Li was momentarily stunned, about to send out his awareness to investigate further, when a patch of black light suddenly appeared in one corner of the room. After a low hum, a dark shape shot toward Han Li at high speed. Han Li was startled and had almost moved to step aside, but at the last moment, he held his ground. As a result, a small, cold object flew straight into his arms and was caught firmly. "Wha—?" Han Li looked at the small creature in his hands, his face filled with surprise. In his hands lay a miniature monkey, about the size of a clenched fist—clearly the evolved form of the Ti-Hun spirit-beast. At first glance, this monkey appeared unchanged except that its fur, once silvery-white, had turned completely black. However, after carefully examining it repeatedly, Han Li finally noticed two differences from before. Beneath the large nostrils of the Tihun Beast, a small additional opening had formed between the two nostrils—something that went unnoticed upon a casual inspection. Since the Tihun Beast is known to control ghosts and spirits, relying on the soul-consuming light emitted from its nostrils, could this new opening make it more formidable than ever before? Han Li found himself both amused and somewhat helpless, still holding out a little hope. Another peculiar feature of the Tihun Beast was the emergence of a blood-red, ominous ghostly image on its back fur, resembling a ghostly shadow. Though faint, the ghost depicted in the image bore a single horn on its head and had three eyes, and despite its subtlety, it conveyed a vivid sense of fierce and intimidating presence. The Silver Moon was also marveling at the changes in this Ti-Hun Beast, though she could offer no particularly useful suggestions. Thanks to having absorbed the Míngún Pearl, the beast had grown notably more affectionate toward Han Li, constantly rubbing its soft, furry head against his garments. Han Li, holding the dark little monkey in one hand, felt an intuitive sense of understanding the creature's emotions—joy, sorrow, anger, and contentment—giving him a serene smile. He played and interacted with the beast for a while, then, noticing it seemed slightly weary, chuckled and gently placed it into the spirit-beast satchel. After leaving the spirit-beast chamber, Han Li paused to take a glance at the adjacent insect chamber. The golden and silver gold-devouring insects there now numbered only a few dozen, nearly all having consumed one another, and were now preparing to lay eggs. Observing these insects, which had grown noticeably larger than before, he smiled with satisfaction and then departed the chamber, entering the quiet meditation room to begin his regular practice. After securing victory in the selection trials, the judge who officially declared his win informed him that the newly selected disciples could receive one-on-one guidance from several Jin-Dan stage cultivators. However, prior to that, they would have to focus on their own rigorous self-cultivation. The guidance from the Jin-Dan cultivators would last only a few days, and he would be notified personally via a sealed message when it was his turn. As Silver Moon herself stated, although her spirit artifact's cultivation level reached the late Jiadan stage, the physical form of the fox spirit she embodied only possessed the level of a lower-tier beast, barely having crossed into the first rank of beast cultivation. Thus, while she could leverage the fox body to manifest an impressive level of cultivation, this effect was only sustainable for a short duration, and she would never be able to enhance her spirit artifact's cultivation through practice. While the fox body's cultivation level was still relatively shallow, it was fortunate that it could gradually improve over time—this would become the foundation of her future stability and livelihood. Therefore, after embodying the fox body, with the consumption of several low-rank pills provided by Han Li, her cultivation level surged at an astonishing pace.