"To take me as a disciple? And do you think I would accept a female cultivator at the Foundation Stage as one of my disciples? Considering only the slight favor we once had, I shall not hold this impulsive decision against you—just go your way!" Han Li surveyed the beautiful woman who had suddenly appeared before him, his expression cold and dismissive. "Senior! I—!" Upon hearing Han Li's words, the woman with the courtesy name Mu grew visibly startled, hurriedly reaching for words to respond. But Han Li merely brushed his sleeve gently, and a sudden gust of wind surged forth, sending her staggering and unbalanced, her initial words instantly swept back into her chest. When she finally steadied herself, she searched in vain for Han Li, only to find him gone—disappeared without a trace. Seeing this, the woman looked utterly dejected, standing motionless in place for a long while, reluctant to leave. After all, this unexpected "Senior Han" was now her only lifeline. At that moment, Han Li had already appeared inside the small stone mountain's dwelling and promptly headed straight for the insect chamber. There, nearly ten thousand golden-bodied gold-devouring insects were stored—almost entirely resembling solid gold. These were the gold-devouring insects that had successfully hatched over twenty years ago and then further advanced in their development into silver-gold varieties. On their exoskeletons, the once-silvered patches now remained only as small, pinhead-sized speckles. Unless observed closely, the human eye could hardly detect any shimmer of silver within the golden hue. This indicated that these insects were still one step away from reaching their final, fully mature state. While Han Li was excited, he also felt a touch of disappointment. Nevertheless, the remarkable capabilities of these nearly solid-gold insects truly opened his eyes. He had once placed several groups of hundreds of three-colored gold-devouring insects alongside the newly advanced golden ones, only to see the three-colored insects completely devoured within moments—by insects that were even one full size larger than themselves. Regardless of their feeding capacity or physical resilience, these newly evolved gold-devouring insects far surpass the three-colored flying insects. As they approach maturity, they begin exuding a terrifying, formidable aura, and they particularly favor blood meals, exhibiting an exceptionally bloodthirsty and fierce nature—so drastically different from their earlier state that they seem like entirely separate creatures. He believes that had he not previously applied a divine control seal to them, these insects would have certainly retaliated harshly against him. Even so, Han Li has begun to sense subtle signs of loss of control in these insects. It appears that once they undergo a further evolution, ordinary sealing techniques will no longer be sufficient to tame their innate ferocity. Although recognizing this, Han Li continues to follow his established method, selecting a fresh batch of the largest gold and silver insects, isolating and nurturing them separately to accelerate their maturation—aiming to cultivate them into mature body-spirit insects, a form that only emerged during the wild, untamed era. However, based on the observation that each successive advancement takes progressively longer. It probably wouldn't be possible to complete the final step of evolution within a hundred years. Fortunately, with this period of time to buffer, he now had the leisure to discover a better method of controlling the spirit insects. While quietly pondering, Han Li carefully stored the gold-devouring insects inside the insect chamber, then proceeded to the medicinal garden, gently removing the Spirit-Eye Tree and the Nine-Curve Spirit Ginseng, which had now grown nearly as tall as its original form. The Nine-Curve Spirit Ginseng, though it had lost some of its vital energy due to recent use in preparing pills, had been largely restored by Han Li's green elixir. It now posed no serious issues. As for the Spirit-Eye Tree, after years of nurturing, it was drawing near to the moment when it would begin to flow its rich, pure nectar. Han Li was eager to use this nectar to prepare large quantities of Qing-Ming Spirit Water, and to see what kind of divine abilities would emerge after washing his eyes with it. Beyond the spirit insects and medicinal plants, Han Li had no desire to tidy up the rest of the clutter—thus, he simply took flight from the abode. As he passed overhead the herb garden, Han subconsciously glanced down again. Yet the lady with the Mu surname remained standing before the herb garden, gazing toward the stone mountain, her lips slightly pressed together in evident dissatisfaction, completely unaware that Han had deliberately flown past her from above. Han gently shook his head. To him, settling such matters seemed no more than a simple matter of routine. Yet he was determined not to appear domineering right from the start as the newly appointed Senior Grand Elder of Luoyun Sect. After all, both the Mu and Yan families were significant cultivation clans within Xiqiu State. Given the rather ordinary relationship between him and the lady, he had no clear grounds to intervene. It would be unreasonable to expect that every Luoyun Sect disciple who knew him previously would automatically bring matters to him whenever they needed help. He genuinely had no interest in intruding upon the internal affairs of others' families. Han then silently drifted away from Luoyun Sect, arriving at the mountain peak where his new dwelling stood. Gently parting the sealing mist, Han Li strode directly toward the newly established abode on the central mountain peak. Having previously handled the arrangements of his spiritual insects and medicinal herbs with ease, he promptly entrusted the management of the estate to Yin Yue, then entered the meditation chamber without delay to begin refining his immortal embryo. During this period, the two silver-haired elders, aware that Han Li needed time to establish the initial form of his embryo, did not disturb his meditation. After a hundred days, Han Li successfully solidified his immortal embryo and achieved a preliminary unification of his mind and spirit with the embryo. Now, whenever his embryo manifested beyond the body, Han Li could effortlessly control its movements. When Han Li stepped out of the meditation chamber, Yin Yue, as customary, transformed into a young woman and respectfully waited outside. Yet upon seeing him, a slight oddity appeared on her delicate features. "Is there something you'd like to say to me?" Han Li asked, frowning slightly. "Master, just over half a month ago, when you first entered the stillness chamber, the 'Musi Senior Brother' has come again to visit us. He's been waiting for you on a small mountain outside Zifeng Peak for several days now." Yin Yue smiled gently. "This woman is truly unaware of when to make her move. If she wishes to wait, let her wait. After all, I won't go out of my way to create any trouble." Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly, speaking with a composed expression. "But, Master, shortly after the woman arrived, we received two message scrolls—delivered by representatives from the Yan family and the Mu family—on behalf of them. Since you were in seclusion, I copied and preserved these messages for you. Would you like to take a look?" Yin Yue subtly shifted her gaze, hesitatingly asking. "Message scrolls? From the Yan and Mu families? Surely this is connected to the woman of the Mu surname. From your expression, it seems you've already seen them. Is there any issue?" Han Li stroked his chin thoughtfully, speaking calmly. "Ah-hah! Master truly has a gift for anticipating events. However, I didn't need Yin Yue to "The master truly has a small bother." Yin Yue smiled gently. "Here!" Hearing this, Han Li didn't bother to speculate any further—he simply extended his hand. Yin Yue immediately produced two scrolls, one red and one white, and with a bright, cheerful gesture, offered them to Han Li. Han Li, without ceremony, shook them gently. The red and white scrolls instantly formed glowing orbs, lighting up in succession on his palms. Han Li focused his mind into the two luminous orbs, listening intently. But after a while, a look of astonishment spread across his face, quickly giving way to deep annoyance. "Hmph! This girl is truly bold. Does she really think that, merely by being my nominal senior for several years, I'll tolerate such outrageous behavior?" After listening to the entire message, Han Li's expression grew as serious as still water, and his voice turned icy. "Of course she knows this approach will surely offend the master. Yet, though she has not had much direct contact with the master, she probably already senses that the master is not truly as cold-hearted as he appears." Otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to seek out a Yuan-Enping cultivator like me for protection on that very day. Moreover, even if she were truly punished, she might still feel it was better than serving as the partner for the "Yan Brother" in a dual cultivation arrangement." Silver Moon said, suppressing a smile. "But she truly has the courage to speak up. She directly informed both families that I have taken her as my personal concubine. As a result, the heads of both families hurried to send messages apologizing, and the head of the Yan family immediately stated that they were unaware of this development and had already decided to dissolve their marriage alliance with the Mu family, hoping I wouldn't hold it against them. Since she has the audacity to do this, it seems she has also gained some awareness of her own situation." Han Li glanced at Silver Moon with a rather exasperated expression and said. "What does the Master mean?" Silver Moon blinked her bright eyes, showing a touch of surprise. "Isn't it strange that, once I've achieved Yuan-Enping stage, I would take a concubine?" Moreover, this young lady truly stands out in beauty. As a regular male cultivator, I’ve simply decided to go with the flow and experience the joys of dual cultivation—what could be better? Han Li suddenly stretched out lazily, conveying a sense of relaxed ease, yet a subtle cold smile lingered at the corner of his lips. "But Master has always been reserved when it comes to women, and previously declined several opportunities when they came knocking—such as Ms. Wen, and even earlier cases..." Yin Yue was momentarily stunned, then gently pressed her alluring red lips together, puzzled. "That was then, this is now. Back then, my Yuan-Pei stage was still forming, and my cultivation level was quite modest. Naturally, I had no interest in pursuing romantic or marital affairs. If Ms. Wen Siyue were to meet me now, I would certainly not have let her go so easily." Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, speaking in a calm, composed tone, as though deeply serious. Yin Yue, upon hearing this, stood speechless, at a loss for words.