"Your grace is truly brilliant. My lady, please hurry—our master is still awaiting you!" Silver Moon's eyes sparkled, gently urging without breaking her composure. "Very well! I too would like to meet this senior. Could you kindly lead the way ahead?" The white-robed woman was no ordinary cultivator—she quickly regained her usual composure. Silver Moon smiled softly and stepped gracefully out of the chamber. The white-robed woman followed silently, without a word. A short while later, the two women arrived at the main hall in succession. Han Li sat on a stone chair, his gaze clear and steady, fixed upon a large luminous dome at the center of the hall. Inside, a spirit beast was wildly thrashing its head against the dome's walls, yet the earth-element seal remained unshaken—its deep yellow surface seemed as solid and unyielding as a stone. Liu Yu examined the beast closely and observed that it resembled a young water buffalo, with scales covering its back and silver hooves—indeed, a rare iron rhinoceros. Although this spirit beast is not an ancient, rare variety, it is still a rare and precious creature in the immortal cultivation realm. It seems that the Yuanwu Fu family, just recently wiped out, once had such a ancestral Iron Rhinoceros spirit beast passed down through generations. It's said to be able to hold its own against a mid-Jie Dan stage cultivator without being outmatched. Could this very beast be the one? Thus, it appears that the very person standing before us has not only eliminated the entire Fu family but also seized this spirit beast. Li Yu was quietly struck by the severity of Han Li's actions, realizing how perilous it must be to fall into the hands of such a Yuan婴 stage cultivator. At the same time, she found herself slightly puzzled by Han Li's youthful appearance. After all, male cultivators rarely practice techniques that maintain youthful appearance, and once they reach the Yuan婴 stage, they typically appear middle-aged—by the standards of male cultivators, who usually reach middle age around three or four hundred years of age. Indeed, the higher one's cultivation stage, the slower the aging process tends to be. Therefore, in the immortal cultivation realm, it is quite common for elder cultivators to address mid-career practitioners as "Senior Master" or "Senior Ancestor"—this is entirely natural. At this moment, Yin Yue stood before Han Li, her demeanor solemn as she said, "Master, I have brought the guest from Yuling Sect." "Hmm. You may now go down." Han Li nodded casually. "Yes, Master!" Knowing that her transformation could not last long, Han Li had特意 spoken thus, Yin Yue smiled gently and quietly stepped back. Upon witnessing Han Li's subsequent strike that so effortlessly dispatched such a powerful spirit beast, the delicate composure on Liu Yu's face slightly shifted, yet she quickly composed herself, appearing as if nothing had happened. However, Han Li, with a subtle sense of awareness, clearly perceived that the woman's heartbeat had accelerated slightly. At this moment, Han Li's gaze returned to the white-robed woman, and he asked calmly: "May I know your name? Why have you been following me without any apparent reason? It is quite normal for cultivators from the Gui Ling Sect and the Mo Yan Sect to seek me out. As for your Autonomous Spirit Sect—I have not yet done anything to provoke you." "This girl clearly knows that, even without telling the truth, a Yuan婴 cultivator could forcibly extract the information through various soul-searching techniques. She certainly wouldn't end up with her spirit damaged to the point of becoming a mere fool." "By the way, the green spirit infant you mentioned!" Han Li frowned, immediately recalling the strange little being he had personally captured, and said with some surprise. "Exactly this one. This spirit infant was painstakingly crafted by our Yuling Sect—quite significant to our sect. Yet, unexpectedly, it managed to escape during this incident and was even sealed by a senior cultivator." Liu Yu explained with a touch of苦笑. "Crafted? I thought it might have been some kind of spirit creature that had evolved into an infant form. Still, this little one is quite troublesome. Without encountering me, there probably wouldn't be many cultivators capable of handling him." Han Li said, his gaze sharp and cool. On hearing this, Li Yu's delicate features seemed to carry a faint sense of embarrassment, and she didn't know what to say. Fortunately, Han Li was steadily gazing at her flawless complexion, and after a moment of thoughtful reflection, asked her another question. "But how did you know I had captured the Spirit Infant, and how did you manage to track me so swiftly? Did you make any subtle adjustments to the Spirit Infant? If so, my divine awareness should have detected them, right?" "Reported to the senior, Master, we did not install any tracking seals on the Spirit Infant. Instead, we have been practicing a special secret technique with another fellow disciple, which allows us to sense the general location of this primordial wood Spirit Infant from a distance. That's why our senior was assigned to track you. Of course, this sensing ability has a certain range—once the distance exceeds it, and if the Spirit Infant travels beyond ten thousand miles, even we, along with our fellow disciple, would be at a loss." Li Yu appeared completely sincere, with no hint of concealment—she not only answered Han Li's questions but also willingly shared additional relevant details. Han Li nodded slightly, impressed. Regardless of whether what she said was true or not, he found her particularly well-suited. However, then he asked a question that sent a sudden shock through Liu Yu's expression. "Since your Yuling Sect has invested so much effort in cultivating this spiritual infant, it must surely have a significant purpose. Could you please tell me about it?" After saying this, Han Li narrowed his eyes, his gaze now cold and sharp, silently waiting for her response. On her flawless face, a hint of hesitation appeared, but as soon as her bright eyes met Han Li's icy stare, she shivered and immediately answered without further hesitation: "This Zhi-Mu Spiritual Infant is indeed no ordinary one. It can merge and combine with a wood-spirit-root cultivator who has practiced a special cultivation method, allowing the cultivator to directly use the infant as a spiritual embryo—thus attaining the qualifications and powers of a Yuanjing stage cultivator." Although she knew that revealing this secret would surely bring trouble upon her return to the Yuling Sect. But she was more certain that, if she didn't speak up now, she would surely fail this trial. This seemingly young Yuan婴 cultivator was far from being a delicate or sentimental person. She could only focus on securing her immediate safety first. "A direct path to Yuan婴 stage—there's actually such a cultivation method. If this is true, then wouldn't your Yuling Sect have already unified the Magedom long ago? How could it still remain beneath the Huhuan Sect? Is there some other restriction on this secret technique?" Han Li was startled by the young woman's words, but after regaining his composure, he responded with sharp clarity. "Your insight is truly piercing. Such a Ling婴 is indeed impossible to produce on a large scale. Though this secret technique has been established for a long time, the cultivation of Ling婴 is extremely difficult. Not only are the materials exceptionally rare, but it also appears to require cooperation from senior elders within the sect, especially those whose Yuan婴 stages dissolve and disperse at the time of their final limits. These elders' Yuan婴 seem to be an essential condition. Moreover, each Ling婴's emergence is only possible through fortunate coincidences. Out of several attempts, it's uncertain whether even one A fusion can only be achieved if five distinct types of spiritual infants with different properties are gathered simultaneously. Should any one of these five be missing, the five elements will be incomplete, and the fusion will fail. Our Yuling Sect has been accumulating various spiritual infants for years, yet we have only amassed six or seven so far. We have always been lacking the rare metallic-type spiritual infants—only recently, over a few decades ago, did we unexpectedly succeed in refining one of these. As a result, we immediately selected ten cultivators who have reached the Dan-jin stage, each designated as potential candidates for the fusion process, and they have been specifically training in the relevant secret techniques. We can only proceed with the fusion ceremony once the conditions are fully mature, and then select five of us to carry out the ritual. Li Yu's voice was smooth and pleasant, narrating the relevant details one by one. Han Li listened attentively, his face showing no outward expression, yet his heart was deeply moved. He gently lifted his chin and pondered thoughtfully. After a while, he finally spoke slowly: "Since these cultivators reached the Yuan婴 stage through mere skill and shortcuts, they must differ from true Yuan婴 cultivators—there should be quite a few shortcomings!" This method of fusing a spiritual infant reminded Han Li of the Shada cultivators, seemingly belonging to the same category of accelerated techniques. Of course, the cultivation of such a spiritual infant was even more difficult. "You're absolutely right," the woman said. "While I may not be fully aware of other aspects, the most remarkable feature of Yuan婴 cultivators—their extraordinary longevity—is entirely absent in those who have fused a spiritual infant. Instead, they retain only the lifespan they had at the Ji Dan stage. Moreover, once this secret technique is employed, they seem to lose the chance of truly forming their own infant stage, and their cultivation stagnates, unable to advance further. In short, there are both advantages and disadvantages to this approach." Having already shared part of this information, she now braved to reveal everything—after all, by now, the difference between what was said and what remained unsaid seemed to matter little.